Datasets:

hieunguyen1053

/

wikipedia_envi

like 0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta%20Caves

Ajanta Caves

The Ajanta Caves are approximately thirty rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar District of Maharashtra state in India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form. They are universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art. The caves were built in two phases, the first starting around the second century BCE and the second occurring from 400 to 650 CE, according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480 CE according to later scholarship. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries (Chaityas) and worship-halls (Viharas) of different Buddhist traditions carved into a wall of rock. The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities. Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India. While vivid colours and mural wall painting were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-painting. The Ajanta Caves are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval-era Chinese Buddhist travellers. They were covered by jungle until accidentally "discovered" and brought to Western attention in 1819 by a colonial British officer Captain John Smith on a tiger-hunting party. The caves are in the rocky northern wall of the U-shaped gorge of the river Waghur, in the Deccan plateau. Within the gorge are a number of waterfalls, audible from outside the caves when the river is high. With the Ellora Caves, Ajanta is one of the major tourist attractions of Maharashtra. It is about from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, from the city of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, and east-northeast of Mumbai. Ajanta is from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu, Jain and Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta style is also found in the Ellora Caves and other sites such as the Elephanta Caves, Aurangabad Caves, Shivleni Caves and the cave temples of Karnataka. History The Ajanta Caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct phases, the first during the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, and a second several centuries later. The caves consist of 36 identifiable foundations, some of them discovered after the original numbering of the caves from 1 through 29. The later-identified caves have been suffixed with the letters of the alphabet, such as 15A, identified between originally numbered caves 15 and 16. The cave numbering is a convention of convenience, and does not reflect the chronological order of their construction. Caves of the first (Satavahana) period The earliest group consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. The murals in these caves depict stories from the Jatakas. Later caves reflect the artistic influence of the Gupta period, but there are differing opinions on which century in which the early caves were built. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Hindu Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period of the Maurya Empire (300 BCE to 100 BCE). Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa containing worship halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead. According to Spink, once the Satavahana period caves were made, the site was not further developed for a considerable period until the mid-5th century. However, the early caves were in use during this dormant period, and Buddhist pilgrims visited the site, according to the records left by Chinese pilgrim Faxian around 400 CE. Caves of the later or Vākāṭaka period The second phase of construction at the Ajanta Caves site began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over an extended period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Hindu Emperor Harishena of the Vākāṭaka dynasty. This view has been criticised by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example, Huntington and Harle. The second phase is attributed to the theistic Mahāyāna, or Greater Vehicle tradition of Buddhism. Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some refurbishing and repainting of the early caves. Spink states that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th–6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". According to Spink, the construction activity at the incomplete Ajanta Caves was abandoned by wealthy patrons in about 480 CE, a few years after the death of Harishena. However, states Spink, the caves appear to have been in use for a period of time as evidenced by the wear of the pivot holes in caves constructed close to 480 CE. The second phase of constructions and decorations at Ajanta corresponds to the very apogee of Classical India, or India's golden age. However, at that time, the Gupta Empire was already weakening from internal political issues and from the assaults of the Hūṇas, so that the Vakatakas were actually one of the most powerful empires in India. Some of the Hūṇas, the Alchon Huns of Toramana, were precisely ruling the neighbouring area of Malwa, at the doorstep of the Western Deccan, at the time the Ajanta caves were made. Through their control of vast areas of northwestern India, the Huns may actually have acted as a cultural bridge between the area of Gandhara and the Western Deccan, at the time when the Ajanta or Pitalkhora caves were being decorated with some designs of Gandharan inspiration, such as Buddhas dressed in robes with abundant folds. According to Richard Cohen, a description of the caves by 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuanzang and scattered medieval graffiti suggest that the Ajanta Caves were known and probably in use subsequently, but without a stable or steady Buddhist community presence. The Ajanta caves are mentioned in the 17th-century text Ain-i-Akbari by Abu al-Fazl, as twenty four rock-cut cave temples each with remarkable idols. Colonial era On 28 April 1819 a British officer named John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tigers discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 when a local shepherd boy guided him to the location and the door. The caves were well known by locals already. Captain Smith went to a nearby village and asked the villagers to come to the site with axes, spears, torches, and drums, to cut down the tangled jungle growth that made entering the cave difficult. He then deliberately damaged an image on the wall by scratching his name and the date over the painting of a bodhisattva. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional and unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery. In 1848, the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. During the colonial era, the Ajanta site was in the territory of the princely state of the Hyderabad and not British India. In the early 1920s, Mir Osman Ali Khan the last Nizam of Hyderabad appointed people to restore the artwork, converted the site into a museum and built a road to bring tourists to the site for a fee. These efforts resulted in early mismanagement, states Richard Cohen, and hastened the deterioration of the site. Post-independence, the state government of Maharashtra built arrival, transport, facilities, and better site management. The modern Visitor Center has good parking facilities and public conveniences and ASI operated buses run at regular intervals from Visitor Center to the caves. The Nizam's Director of Archaeology obtained the services of two experts from Italy, Professor Lorenzo Cecconi, assisted by Count Orsini, to restore the paintings in the caves. The Director of Archaeology for the last Nizam of Hyderabad said of the work of Cecconi and Orsini: Despite these efforts, later neglect led to the paintings degrading in quality once again. Since 1983, Ajanta caves have been listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of India. The Ajanta Caves, along with the Ellora Caves, have become the most popular tourist destination in Maharashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Sites and monasteries Sites The caves are carved out of flood basalt rock of a cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous geological period. The rock is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality. This variation within the rock layers required the artists to amend their carving methods and plans in places. The inhomogeneity in the rock has also led to cracks and collapses in the centuries that followed, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; as evidenced by some of the incomplete caves such as the partially-built vihara caves 21 through 24 and the abandoned incomplete cave 28. The sculpture artists likely worked at both excavating the rocks and making the intricate carvings of pillars, roof, and idols; further, the sculpture and painting work inside a cave were integrated parallel tasks. A grand gateway to the site was carved, at the apex of the gorge's horseshoe between caves 15 and 16, as approached from the river, and it is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective Naga (snake) deity. Similar methods and application of artist talent is observed in other cave temples of India, such as those from Hinduism and Jainism. These include the Ellora Caves, Ghototkacha Caves, Elephanta Caves, Bagh Caves, Badami Caves, Aurangabad Caves and Shivleni Caves. The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons to gain merit, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave. The later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites, again for merit in Buddhist afterlife beliefs as evidenced by inscriptions such as those in Cave 17. After the death of Harisena, smaller donors motivated by getting merit added small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone. Monasteries The majority of the caves are vihara halls with symmetrical square plans. To each vihara hall are attached smaller square dormitory cells cut into the walls. A vast majority of the caves were carved in the second period, wherein a shrine or sanctuary is appended at the rear of the cave, centred on a large statue of the Buddha, along with exuberantly detailed reliefs and deities near him as well as on the pillars and walls, all carved out of the natural rock. This change reflects the shift from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. These caves are often called monasteries. The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more-or-less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase. The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels. Worship halls The other type of main hall architecture is the narrower rectangular plan with high arched ceiling type chaitya-griha – literally, "the house of stupa". This hall is longitudinally divided into a nave and two narrower side aisles separated by a symmetrical row of pillars, with a stupa in the apse. The stupa is surrounded by pillars and concentric walking space for circumambulation. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave. The oldest worship halls at Ajanta were built in the 2nd to 1st century BCE, the newest ones in the late 5th century CE, and the architecture of both resembles the architecture of a Christian church, but without the crossing or chapel chevette. The Ajanta Caves follow the Cathedral-style architecture found in still older rock-cut cave carvings of ancient India, such as the Lomas Rishi Cave of the Ajivikas near Gaya in Bihar dated to the 3rd century BCE. These chaitya-griha are called worship or prayer halls. The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs carved into the rock, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs and are now smooth, the original wood presumed to have perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall. The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were later painted with images of the Buddha, people and monks in robes. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface with floral motifs and Mahayana deities, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1. Paintings The paintings in the Ajanta caves predominantly narrate the Jataka tales. These are Buddhist legends describing the previous births of the Buddha. These fables embed ancient morals and cultural lores that are also found in the fables and legends of Hindu and Jain texts. The Jataka tales are exemplified through the life example and sacrifices that the Buddha made in hundreds of his past incarnations, where he is depicted as having been reborn as an animal or human. Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 10 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of ancient painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painters had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars". Some connections with the art of Gandhara can also be noted, and there is evidence of a shared artistic idiom. Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which, states James Harle, "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and represent "the great glories not only of Gupta but of all Indian art". They fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them in the 5th century as well, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The Ajanta frescos are classical paintings and the work of confident artists, without cliches, rich and full. They are luxurious, sensuous and celebrate physical beauty, aspects that early Western observers felt were shockingly out of place in these caves presumed to be meant for religious worship and ascetic monastic life. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster. All the paintings appear to be the work of painters supported by discriminating connoisseurship and sophisticated patrons from an urban atmosphere. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian mural painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal bands like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as deer or elephant or another Jataka animal. The scenes depict the Buddha as about to renounce the royal life. In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in places including cave 4 and the shrine of cave 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done. Spink's chronology and cave history Walter Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, dating of nearby cave temple sites, comparative chronology of the dynasties, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries". This changed during the Hindu emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477, who sponsored numerous new caves during his reign. Harisena's rule extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south. According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in many caves simultaneously about 462. This activity was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Thereafter work continued on only Caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers. Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 CE major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site". However, there exists a Rashtrakuta inscription outside of cave 26 dateable to end of seventh or early 8th century, suggesting the caves were not abandoned until then. Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases". Hindu and Buddhist sponsorship The Ajanta Caves were built in a period when both the Buddha and the Hindu gods were simultaneously revered in Indian culture. According to Spink and other scholars, the royal Vakataka sponsors of the Ajanta Caves probably worshipped both Hindu and Buddhist gods. This is evidenced by inscriptions in which these rulers, who are otherwise known as Hindu devotees, made Buddhist dedications to the caves. According to Spink, A terracotta plaque of Mahishasuramardini, also known as Durga, was also found in a burnt-brick vihara monastery facing the caves on the right bank of the river Waghora that has been recently excavated. This suggest that the deity was possibly under worship by the artisans. According to Yuko Yokoschi and Walter Spink, the excavated artifacts of the 5th century near the site suggest that the Ajanta caves deployed a huge number of builders. Cave 1 Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horseshoe-shaped scarp and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This cave, when first made, would have been in a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the last caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Spink states that the Vākāṭaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jataka tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal. The cliff has a steeper slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carvings, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river and lost. This cave (35.7 m × 27.6 m) has one of the most elaborate carved facades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two-pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a forecourt with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells at both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggests that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become customary. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors. Each wall of the hall inside is nearly long and high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside, supporting the ceiling and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The paintings of Cave 1 cover the walls and the ceilings. They are in a fair state of preservation, although the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the chalukya corutstories about Persian ambasidar in pulikeshin 2nd corut tells the relationship btw chalukya empire and Persian Empire Jataka stories of the Buddha's former lives as a bodhisattva, the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-lifesize figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). Other significant frescoes in Cave 1 include the Sibi, Sankhapala, Mahajanaka, Mahaummagga, and Champeyya Jataka tales. The cave-paintings also show the Temptation of Mara, the miracle of Sravasti where the Buddha simultaneously manifests in many forms, the story of Nanda, and the story of Siddhartha and Yasodhara. Cave 2 Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation. This cave is best known for its feminine focus, intricate rock carvings and paint artwork yet it is incomplete and lacks consistency. One of the 5th-century frescos in this cave also shows children at a school, with those in the front rows paying attention to the teacher, while those in the back row are shown distracted and acting. Cave 2 (35.7 m × 21.6 m) was started in the 460s, but mostly carved between 475 and 477 CE, probably sponsored and influenced by a woman closely related to emperor Harisena. It has a porch quite different from Cave 1. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine motifs. Major carvings include that of goddess Hariti. She is a Buddhist deity who originally was the demoness of smallpox and a child eater, who the Buddha converted into a guardian goddess of fertility, easy child birth and one who protects babies. The paintings on the ceilings and walls of Cave 2 have been widely published. They depict the Hamsa, Vidhurapandita, Ruru, Kshanti Jataka tales and the Purna Avadhana. Other frescos show the miracle of Sravasti, Ashtabhaya Avalokitesvara and the dream of Maya. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasise kingship, those in cave 2 show many noble and powerful women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior. Cave 3 Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. This is an incomplete monastery and only the preliminary excavations of pillared veranda exist. The cave was one of the last projects to start at the site. Its date could be ascribed to circa 477 CE, just before the sudden death of Emperor Harisena. The work stopped after the scooping out of a rough entrance of the hall. Cave 4 Cave 4, a Vihara, was sponsored by Mathura, likely not a noble or courtly official, rather a wealthy devotee. This is the largest vihara in the inaugural group, which suggests he had immense wealth and influence without being a state official. It is placed at a significantly higher level, possibly because the artists realized that the rock quality at the lower and same level of other caves was poor and they had a better chance of a major vihara at an upper location. Another likely possibility is that the planners wanted to carve into the rock another large cistern to the left courtside for more residents, mirroring the right, a plan implied by the height of the forward cells on the left side. The Archaeological Survey of India dates it to the 6th century CE. Spink, in contrast, dates this cave's inauguration a century earlier, to about 463 CE, based on construction style and other inscriptions. Cave 4 shows evidence of a dramatic collapse of its ceiling in the central hall, likely in the 6th century, something caused by the vastness of the cave and geological flaws in the rock. Later, the artists attempted to overcome this geological flaw by raising the height of the ceiling through deeper excavation of the embedded basalt lava. The cave has a squarish plan, houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above. It consists, of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. This monastery is the largest among the Ajanta caves and it measures nearly (35m × 28m). The door frame is exquisitely sculpted flanking to the right is carved Bodhisattva as reliever of Eight Great Perils. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of litany of Avalokiteśvara. The cave's ceiling collapse likely affected its overall plan, caused it being left incomplete. Only the Buddha's statue and the major sculptures were completed, and except for what the sponsor considered most important elements all other elements inside the cave were never painted. Cave 5 Cave 5, an unfinished excavation, was planned as a monastery (10.32 × 16.8 m). Cave 5 is devoid of sculpture and architectural elements except the door frame. The ornate carvings on the frame has female figures with mythical makara creatures found in ancient and medieval-era Indian arts. The cave's construction was likely initiated about 465 CE but abandoned because the rock has geological flaws. The construction was resumed in 475 CE after Asmakas restarted work at the Ajanta caves, but abandoned again as the artists and sponsor redesigned and focussed on an expanded Cave 6 that abuts Cave 5. Cave 6 Cave 6 is two-storey monastery (16.85 × 18.07 m). It consists of a sanctum, a hall on both levels. The lower level is pillared and has attached cells. The upper hall also has subsidiary cells. The sanctums on both level feature a Buddha in the teaching posture. Elsewhere, the Buddha is shown in different mudras. The lower level walls depict the Miracle of Sravasti and the Temptation of Mara legends. Only the lower floor of cave 6 was finished. The unfinished upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha. The lower level of Cave 6 likely was the earliest excavation in the second stage of construction. This stage marked the Mahayana theme and Vakataka renaissance period of Ajanta reconstruction that started about four centuries after the earlier Hinayana theme construction. The upper storey was not envisioned in the beginning, it was added as an afterthought, likely around the time when the architects and artists abandoned further work on the geologically-flawed rock of Cave 5 immediately next to it. Both lower and upper Cave 6 show crude experimentation and construction errors. The cave work was most likely in progress between 460 and 470 CE, and it is the first that shows attendant Bodhisattvas. The upper cave construction probably began in 465, progressed swiftly, and much deeper into the rock than the lower level. The walls and sanctum's door frame of the both levels are intricately carved. These show themes such as makaras and other mythical creatures, apsaras, elephants in different stages of activity, females in waving or welcoming gesture. The upper level of Cave 6 is significant in that it shows a devotee in a kneeling posture at the Buddha's feet, an indication of devotional worship practices by the 5th century. The colossal Buddha of the shrine has an elaborate throne back, but was hastily finished in 477/478 CE, when king Harisena died. The shrine antechamber of the cave features an unfinished sculptural group of the Six Buddhas of the Past, of which only five statues were carved. This idea may have been influenced from those in Bagh Caves of Madhya Pradesh. Cave 7 Cave 7 is also a monastery (15.55 × 31.25 m) but a single storey. It consists of a sanctum, a hall with octagonal pillars, and eight small rooms for monks. The sanctum Buddha is shown in preaching posture. There are many art panels narrating Buddhist themes, including those of the Buddha with Nagamuchalinda and Miracle of Sravasti. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos. The veranda has eight pillars of two types. One has an octagonal base with amalaka and lotus capital. The other lacks a distinctly shaped base, features an octagonal shaft instead with a plain capital. The veranda opens into an antechamber. On the left side in this antechamber are seated or standing sculptures such as those of 25 carved seated Buddhas in various postures and facial expressions, while on the right side are 58 seated Buddha reliefs in different postures, all placed on lotus. These Buddhas and others on the inner walls of the antechamber are a sculptural depiction of the Miracle of Sravasti in Buddhist theology. The bottom row shows two Nagas (serpents with hoods) holding the blooming lotus stalk. The antechamber leads to the sanctum through a door frame. On this frame are carved two females standing on makaras (mythical sea creatures). Inside the sanctum is the Buddha sitting on a lion throne in cross legged posture, surrounded by other Bodhisattva figures, two attendants with chauris and flying apsaras above. Perhaps because of faults in the rock, Cave 7 was never taken very deep into the cliff. It consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in. The cave artwork likely underwent revisions and refurbishments over time. The first version was complete by about 469 CE, the myriad Buddhas added and painted a few years later between 476 and 478 CE. Cave 8 Cave 8 is another unfinished monastery (15.24 × 24.64 m). For many decades in the 20th-century, this cave was used as a storage and generator room. It is at the river level with easy access, relatively lower than other caves, and according to Archaeological Survey of India it is possibly one of the earliest monasteries. Much of its front is damaged, likely from a landslide. The cave excavation proved difficult and probably abandoned after a geological fault consisting of a mineral layer proved disruptive to stable carvings. Spink, in contrast, states that Cave 8 is perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". It may well be the oldest Mahayana monastery excavated in India, according to Spink. The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain. Cave 9 Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya or worship halls from the 2nd to 1st century BCE – the first period of construction, though both were reworked upon the end of the second period of construction in the 5th century CE. Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m) is smaller than Cave 10 (30.5 m × 12.2 m), but more complex. This has led Spink to the view that Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period. These were commissioned by individuals. Cave 9 arch has remnant profile that suggests that it likely had wooden fittings. The cave has a distinct apsidal shape, nave, aisle and an apse with an icon, architecture, and plan that reminds one of the cathedrals built in Europe many centuries later. The aisle has a row of 23 pillars. The ceiling is vaulted. The stupa is at the center of the apse, with a circumambulation path around it. The stupa sits on a high cylindrical base. On the left wall of the cave are votaries approaching the stupa, which suggests a devotional tradition. According to Spink, the paintings in this cave, including the intrusive standing Buddhas on the pillars, were added in the 5th century. Above the pillars and also behind the stupa are colorful paintings of the Buddha with Padmapani and Vajrapani next to him, they wear jewels and necklaces, while yogis, citizens and Buddhist bhikshu are shown approaching the Buddha with garlands and offerings, with men wearing dhoti and turbans wrapped around their heads. On the walls are friezes of Jataka tales, but likely from the Hinayana phase of early construction. Some of the panels and reliefs inside as well as outside Cave 10 do not make narrative sense, but are related to Buddhist legends. This lack of narrative flow may be because these were added by different monks and official donors in the 5th century wherever empty space was available. This devotionalism and the worship hall character of this cave is the likely reason why four additional shrinelets 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D were added between Cave 9 and 10. Cave 10 Cave 10, a vast prayer hall or Chaitya, is dated to about the 1st century BCE, together with the nearby vihara cave No 12. These two caves are thus among the earliest of the Ajanta complex. It has a large central apsidal hall with a row of 39 octagonal pillars, a nave separating its aisle and stupa at the end for worship. The stupa has a pradakshina patha (circumambulatory path). This cave is significant because its scale confirms the influence of Buddhism in South Asia by the 1st century BCE and its continued though declining influence in India through the 5th century CE. Further, the cave includes a number of inscriptions where parts of the cave are "gifts of prasada" by different individuals, which in turn suggests that the cave was sponsored as a community effort rather than a single king or one elite official. Cave 10 is also historically important because in April 1819, a British Army officer John Smith saw its arch and introduced his discovery to the attention of the Western audience. Chronology Several others caves were also built in Western India around the same period under royal sponsorship. It is thought that the chronology of these early Chaitya Caves is as follows: first Cave 9 at Kondivite Caves and then Cave 12 at the Bhaja Caves, which both predate Cave 10 of Ajanta. Then, after Cave 10 of Ajanta, in chronological order: Cave 3 at Pitalkhora, Cave 1 at Kondana Caves, Cave 9 at Ajanta, which, with its more ornate designs, may have been built about a century later, Cave 18 at Nasik Caves, and Cave 7 at Bedse Caves, to finally culminate with the "final perfection" of the Great Chaitya at Karla Caves. Inscription Cave 10 features a Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script that is archaeologically important. The inscription is the oldest of the Ajanta site, the Brahmi letters being paleographically dated to circa the 2nd century BCE. It reads: Paintings The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernisation in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images for votive purposes, around the 479–480 CE, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible. The paintings are numerous and from two periods, many narrating the Jataka tales in a clockwise sequence. Both Hinayana and Mahayana stage paintings are discernable, though the former are more faded and begrimed with early centuries of Hinayana worship. Of interest here is the Saddanta Jataka tale – the fable about six tusked elephant, and the Shyama Jataka – the story about the man who dedicates his life serving his blind parents. According to Stella Kramrisch, the oldest layer of the Cave 10 paintings date from about 100 BCE, and the principles behind their composition are analogous to those from the same era at Sanchi and Amaravati. Cave 11 Cave 11 is a monastery (19.87 × 17.35 m) from the later 5th century. The cave veranda has pillars with octagonal shafts and square bases. The ceiling of the veranda shows evidence of floral designs and eroded reliefs. Only the center panel is discernible wherein the Buddha is seen with votaries lining up to pray before him. Inside, the cave consists of a hall with a long rock bench opening into six rooms. Similar stone benches are found in Nasik Caves. Another pillared verandah ends in a sanctum with seated Buddha against an incomplete stupa, and has four cells. The cave has a few paintings showing Bodhisattvas and the Buddha. Of these, the Padmapani, a couple gathered to pray, a pair of peafowl, and a female figure painting have survived in the best condition. The sanctum of this cave may be among the last structures built at Ajanta because it features a circumambulation path around the seated Buddha. Cave 12 According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Cave 12 is an early stage Hinayana (Theravada) monastery (14.9 × 17.82 m) from the 2nd to 1st century BCE. Spink however only dates it to the 1st century BCE. The cave is damaged with its front wall completely collapsed. Its three sides inside have twelve cells, each with two stone beds. Cave 13 Cave 13 is another small monastery from the early period, consisting of a hall with seven cells, each also with two stone beds, all carved out of the rock. Each cell has rock-cut beds for the monks. In contrast to ASI's estimate, Gupte and Mahajan date both these caves about two to three centuries later, between 1st and 2nd-century CE. Cave 14 Cave 14 is another unfinished monastery (13.43 × 19.28 m) but carved above Cave 13. The entrance door frame shows sala bhanjikas. Cave 15 Cave 15 is a more complete monastery (19.62 × 15.98 m) with evidence that it had paintings. The cave consists of an eight-celled hall ending in a sanctum, an antechamber and a verandah with pillars. The reliefs show the Buddha, while the sanctum Buddha is shown seated in the Simhasana posture. Cave 15 door frame has carvings of pigeons eating grain. Cave 15A Cave 15A is the smallest cave with a hall and one cell on each side. Its entrance is just to the right of the elephant-decorated entrance to Cave 16. It is an ancient Hinayana cave with three cells opening around a minuscule central hall. The doors are decorated with a rail and arch pattern. It had an inscription in an ancient script, which has been lost. Cave 16 Cave 16 occupies a prime position near the middle of site, and was sponsored by Varahadeva, minister of Vakataka king Harishena (r. c. 475 – c. 500 CE). He was a follower of Buddhism. He devoted it to the community of monks, with an inscription that expresses his wish, may "the entire world (...) enter that peaceful and noble state free from sorrow and disease" and affirming his devotion to the Buddhist faith: "regarding the sacred law as his only companion, (he was) extremely devoted to the Buddha, the teacher of the world". He was, states Spink, probably someone who revered both the Buddha and the Hindu gods, as he proclaims his Hindu heritage in an inscription in the nearby Ghatotkacha Cave. The 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuan Zang described the cave as the entrance to the site. Cave 16 (19.5 m × 22.25 m × 4.6 m) influenced the architecture of the entire site. Spink and other scholars call it the "crucial cave" that helps trace the chronology of the second and closing stages of the entire cave's complex construction. Cave 16 is a Mahayana monastery and has the standard arrangement of a main doorway, two windows, and two aisle doorways. The veranda of this monastery is 19.5 m × 3 m, while the main hall is almost a perfect square with 19.5 m side. The paintings in Cave 16 are numerous. Narratives include various Jataka tales such as Hasti, Mahaummagga and the Sutasoma fables. Other frescos depict the conversion of Nanda, miracle of Sravasti, Sujata's offering, Asita's visit, the dream of Maya, the Trapusha and Bhallika story, and the ploughing festival. The Hasti Jataka frescos tell the story of a Bodhisattva elephant who learns of a large group of people starving, then tells them to go below a cliff where they could find food. The elephant proceeds to sacrifice himself by jumping off that cliff thereby becoming food so that the people can survive. These frescos are found immediately to the left of entrance, in the front corridor and the narrative follows a clockwise direction. The Mahaummagga Jataka frescos are found on the left wall of the corridor, which narrates the story of a child Bodhisattva. Thereafter, in the left corridor is the legend surrounding the conversion of Nanda – the half brother of the Buddha. The story depicted is one of the two major versions of the Nanda legend in the Buddhist tradition, one where Nanda wants to lead a sensuous life with the girl he had just wed and the Buddha takes him to heaven and later hell to show the spiritual dangers of a sensual life. After the Nanda-related frescos, the cave presents Manushi Buddhas, followed by flying votaries with offerings to worship the Buddha and the Buddha seated in teaching asana and dharma chakra mudra. The right wall of the corridor show the scenes from the life of the Buddha. These include Sujata offering food to the Buddha with a begging bowl in white dress, Tapussa and Bhalluka next to the Buddha after they offering wheat and honey to the Buddha as monk, the future Buddha sitting alone under a tree, and the Buddha at a ploughing festival. One mural shows Buddha's parents trying to dissuade him from becoming a monk. Another shows the Buddha at the palace surrounded by men in dhoti and women in sari as his behavior presents the four signs that he is likely to renounce. On this side of the corridor are also paintings that show the future Buddha as a baby with sage Asita with rishi-like looks. According to Spink, some of the Cave 16 paintings were left incomplete. Cave 17 Cave 17 (34.5 m × 25.63 m) along with Cave 16 with two great stone elephants at the entrance and Cave 26 with sleeping Buddha, were some of the many caves sponsored by the Hindu Vakataka prime minister Varahadeva. Cave 17 had additional donors such as the local king Upendragupta, as evidenced by the inscription therein. The cave features a large and most sophisticated vihara design, along with some of the best-preserved and well-known paintings of all the caves. While Cave 16 is known for depicting the life stories of the Buddha, the Cave 17 paintings has attracted much attention for extolling human virtues by narrating the Jataka tales. The narration includes attention to details and a realism which Stella Kramrisch calls "lavish elegance" accomplished by efficient craftsmen. The ancient artists, states Kramrisch, tried to show wind passing over a crop by showing it bending in waves, and a similar profusion of rhythmic sequences that unroll story after story, visually presenting the metaphysical. The Cave 17 monastery includes a colonnaded porch, a number of pillars each with a distinct style, a peristyle design for the interior hall, a shrine antechamber located deep in the cave, larger windows and doors for more light, along with extensive integrated carvings of Indian gods and goddesses. The hall of this monastery is a square, with 20 pillars. The grand scale of the carving also introduced errors of taking out too much rock to shape the walls, states Spink, which led to the cave being splayed out toward the rear. Cave 17 has one long inscription by king Upendragupta, in which he explains that he has "expended abundant wealth" on building this vihara, bringing much satisfaction to the devotees. Altogether, Upendragupta is known to have sponsored at least 5 of the caves in Ajanta. He may have spent too much wealth on religious pursuits however, as he was ultimately defeated by the attacks of the Asmaka. Cave 17 has thirty major murals. The paintings of Cave 17 depict Buddha in various forms and postures – Vipasyi, Sikhi, Visvbhu, Krakuchchanda, Kanakamuni, Kashyapa and Sakyamuni. Also depicted are Avalokitesvara, the story of Udayin and Gupta, the story of Nalagiri, the Wheel of life, a panel celebrating various ancient Indian musicians and a panel that tells of Prince Simhala's expedition to Sri Lanka. The narrative frescos depict the various Jataka tales such as the Shaddanta, Hasti, Hamsa, Vessantara, Sutasoma, Mahakapi (in two versions), Sarabhamiga, Machchha, Matiposaka, Shyama, Mahisha, Valahassa, Sibi, Ruru and Nigrodamiga Jatakas. The depictions weave in the norms of the early 1st millennium culture and the society. They show themes as diverse as a shipwreck, a princess applying makeup, lovers in scenes of dalliance, and a wine drinking scene of a couple with the woman and man amorously seated. Some frescos attempt to show the key characters from various parts of a Jataka tale by co-depicting animals and attendants in the same scene. Cave 18 Cave 18 is a small rectangular space (3.38 × 11.66 m) with two octagonal pillars and it joins into another cell. Its role is unclear. Cave 19 (5th century CE) Cave 19 is a worship hall (chaitya griha, 16.05 × 7.09 m) datable to the fifth century CE. The hall shows painted Buddha, depicted in different postures. This worship hall is now visited through what was previously a carved room. The presence of this room before the hall suggests that the original plan included a mandala style courtyard for devotees to gather and wait, an entrance and facade to this courtyard, all of whose ruins are now lost to history. Cave 19 is one of the caves known for its sculpture. It includes Naga figures with a serpent canopy protecting the Buddha, similar to those found for spiritual icons in the ancient Jain and Hindu traditions. It includes Yaksha dvarapala (guardian) images on the side of its vatayana (arches), flying couples, sitting Buddha, standing Buddhas and evidence that its ceiling was once painted. Cave 19 drew upon on the plan and experimentation in Cave 9. It made a major departure from the earlier Hinayana tradition, by carving a Buddha into the stupa, a decision that states Spink must have come from "the highest levels" in the 5th-century Mahayana Buddhist establishment because the king and dynasty that built this cave was from the Shaivism Hindu tradition. Cave 19 excavation and stupa was likely in place by 467 CE, and its finishing and artistic work continued into the early 470s, but it too was an incomplete cave when it was dedicated in 471 CE. The entrance facade of the Cave 19 worship hall is ornate. Two round pillars with fluted floral patterns and carved garlands support a porch. Its capital is an inverted lotus connecting to an amalaka. To its left is standing Buddha in varada hasta mudra with a devotee prostrating at his feet. On right is a relief of woman with one hand holding a pitcher and other touching her chin. Above is a seated Buddha in meditating mudra. Towards the right of the entrance is the "Mother and Child" sculpture. A figure with begging bowl is the Buddha, watching him are his wife and son. The worship hall is apsidal, with 15 pillars dividing it into two side aisles and one nave. The round pillars have floral reliefs and a fluted shaft topped with Buddha in its capitals. Next, to the Buddha in the capitals are elephants, horses and flying apsara friezes found elsewhere in India, reflecting the style of the Gupta Empire artwork. According to Sharma, the similarities at the Karla Caves Great Chaitya, built in the 2nd century CE, suggest that Cave 19 may have been modeled after it. The walls and the ceiling of the side aisles inside the worship hall are covered with paintings. These show the Buddha, flowers, and in the left aisle the "Mother and Child" legend again. Cave 20 Cave 20 is a monastery hall (16.2 × 17.91 m) from the 5th century. Its construction, states Spink, was started in the 460s by king Upendragupta, with his expressed desire "to make the great tree of religious merit grow". The work on Cave 20 was pursued in parallel with other caves. Cave 20 has exquisite detailing, states Spink, but it was relatively lower on priority than Caves 17 and 19. The work on Cave 20 was intermittently stopped and then continued in the following decade. The vihara consists of a sanctum, four cells for monks and a pillared verandah with two stone cut windows for light. Prior to entering the main hall, on the left of veranda are two Buddhas carved above the window and side cell. The ceiling of the main hall has remnants of painting. The sanctum Buddha is in preaching posture. The cave is known for the sculpture showing seven Buddhas with attendants on its lintel. The cave has a dedicatory Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script in its verandah, and it calls the cave as a mandapa. Many of the figural and ornamental carvings in Cave 20 are similar to Cave 19, and to a lesser degree to those found in Cave 17. This may be because the same architects and artisans were responsible for the evolution of the three caves. The door frames in Cave 20 are quasi-structural, something unique at the Ajanta site. The decorations are also innovative in Cave 20, such as one showing the Buddha seated against two pillows and "a richly laden mango tree behind him", states Spink. Cave 21 Cave 21 is a hall (28.56 × 28.03 m) with twelve rock-cut rooms for monks, a sanctum, twelve pillared and pilastered verandah. The carvings on the pilaster include those of animals and flowers. The pillars feature reliefs of apsaras, Nagaraja and Nagarani, as well as devotees bowing with the namaste mudra. The hall shows evidence that it used to be completely painted. The sanctum Buddha is shown in preaching posture. Cave 22 Cave 22 is a small vihara (12.72 × 11.58 m) with a narrow veranda and four unfinished cells. It is excavated at a higher level and has to be reached by a flight of steps. Inside, the Buddha is seated in pralamba-padasana. The painted figures in Cave 22 show Manushi-Buddhas with Maitreya. A pilaster on the left side of the Cave 22 veranda has a Sanskrit prose inscription. It is damaged in parts, and the legible parts state that this is a "meritorious gift of a mandapa by Jayata", calling Jayata's family as "a great Upasaka", and ending the inscription with "may the merit of this be for excellent knowledge to all sentient beings, beginning with father and mother". Cave 23 Cave 23 is also unfinished, consisting of a hall (28.32 × 22.52 m) but a design similar to Cave 21. The cave differs in its pillar decorations and the naga doorkeepers. Cave 24 Cave 24 is like Cave 21, unfinished but much larger. It features the second largest monastery hall (29.3 × 29.3 m) after Cave 4. The cave 24 monastery has been important to scholarly studies of the site because it shows how multiple crews of workers completed their objectives in parallel. The cell construction began as soon as the aisle had been excavated and while the main hall and sanctum were under construction. The construction of Cave 24 was planned in 467 CE, but likely started in 475 CE, with support from Buddhabhadra, then abruptly ended in 477 with the sponsor king Harisena's death. It is significant in having one of the most complex capitals on a pillar at the Ajanta site, an indication of how the artists excelled and continuously improved their sophistication as they worked with the rock inside the cave. The artists carved fourteen complex miniature figures on the central panel of the right center porch pillar, while working in dim light in a cramped cave space. The medallion reliefs in Cave 24 similarly show loving couples and anthropomorphic arts, rather than flowers of earlier construction. Cave 24's sanctum has a seated Buddha in pralamba-padasana. Cave 25 Cave 25 is a monastery. Its hall (11.37 × 12.24 m) is similar to other monasteries, but has no sanctum, includes an enclosed courtyard and is excavated at an upper level. Cave 26 (5th century CE) Cave 26 is a worship hall (chaityagriha, 25.34 × 11.52 m) similar in plan to Cave 19. It is much larger and with elements of a vihara design. An inscription states that a monk Buddhabhadra and his friend minister serving king of Asmaka gifted this vast cave. The inscription includes a vision statement and the aim to make "a memorial on the mountain that will endure for as long as the moon and the sun continue", translates Walter Spink. It is likely that the builders focussed on sculpture, rather than paintings, in Cave 26 because they believed stone sculpture will far more endure than paintings on the wall. The cave drew upon the experiences in building Cave 10, with attached wings similar to the ancient Cave 12 Hinayana-style vihara. The Cave 26 complex has two upper stories and it shows evidence that four wings of the cave were planned, but these were abandoned and only the carved Buddhas on the right and left wall were completed. The sculptures in Cave 26 are elaborate and more intricate. It is among the last caves excavated, and an inscription suggests late 5th or early 6th century according to ASI. The cave consists of an apsidal hall with side aisles for circumambulation (pradikshana). This path is full of carved Buddhist legends, three depictions of the Miracle of Sravasti in the right ambulatory side of the aisle, and seated Buddhas in various mudra. Many of these were added later by devotees, and therefore are intrusive to the aims of the original planners. The artwork begins on the wall of the aisle, immediately the left side of entrance. The major artworks include the Mahaparinirvana of Buddha (reclining Buddha) on the wall, followed by the legend called the "Temptations by Mara". The temptations include the seduction by Mara's daughters who are depicted below the meditating Buddha. They are shown scantly dressed and in seductive postures, while on both the left and right side of the Buddha are armies of Mara attempting to distract him with noise and threaten him with violence. In the top right corner is the image of a dejected Mara frustrated by his failure to disturb the resolve or focus of the ascetic Buddha. At the center of the apse is a rock-cut stupa. The stupa has an image of the Buddha on its front, 18 panels on its base, 18 panels above these, a three tiered torana above him, and apsaras are carved on the anda (hemispherical egg) stupa. On top of the dagoba is a nine-tiered harmika, a symbolism for the nine saṃsāra (Buddhism) heavens in Mahayana cosmology. The walls, pillars, brackets and the triforium are extensively carved with Buddhist themes. Many of the wall reliefs and images in this cave were badly damaged, and have been restored as a part of the site conservation efforts. Between cave 26 and its left wing, there is an inscription by a courtier of Rashtrakuta Nanaraj (who is mentioned in the Multai and Sangaloda plates), from late 7th or early 8th century. It is the last inscription in Ajanta. Cave 27 Cave 27 is a monastery and may have been planned as an attachment to Cave 26. Its two storeys are damaged, with the upper level partially collapsed. Its plan is similar to other monasteries. Cave 28 Cave 28 is an unfinished monastery, partially excavated, at the westernmost end of the Ajanta complex and barely accessible. Cave 29 Cave 29 an unfinished monastery at the highest level of the Ajanta complex, apparently unnoticed when the initial numbering system was established, and physically located between Caves 20 and 21. Cave 30 In 1956, a landslide covered the footpath leading to Cave 16. In the attempts to clear and restore the walkway, a small aperture and votive stupa were noticed in the debris by the workers, in a location near the stream bed. Further tracing and excavations led to a previously unknown Hinayana monastery cave dated to the 2nd and 1st century BCE. Cave 30 may actually be the oldest cave of the Ajanta complex. It is a 3.66 m × 3.66 m cave with three cells, each with two stone beds and stone pillows on the side of each cell. The cell door lintels show lotus and garland carvings. The cave has two inscriptions in an unknown script. It also has a platform on its veranda with a fine view of the river ravine below and the forest cover. According to Gupte and Mahajan, this cave may have been closed at some point with large carefully carved pieces as it distracted the entrance view of Cave 16. Other infrastructure Over 80% of the Ajanta caves were vihara (temporary traveler residences, monasteries). The designers and artisans who built these caves included facilities for collecting donations and storing grains and food for the visitors and monks. Many of the caves include large repositories cut into the floor. The largest storage spaces are found, states Spink, in the "very commodious recesses in the shrines of both Ajanta Cave Lower 6 and Cave 11". These caves were probably chosen because of their relative convenience and the security they offered due to their higher level. The choice of integrating covered vaults cut into the floor may have been driven by the need to provide sleeping space and logistical ease. Recent excavations A burnt-brick vihara monastery facing the caves on the right bank of the river Waghora has been recently excavated. It has a number of cells facing a central courtyard, in which a stupa was established. A coin of the Western Satraps ruler Visvasena (ruled 293–304 CE) as well as a gold coin of the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II (ruled 402-450 CE) were found in the excavations, giving further numismatic confirmation for the dating of the caves. A terracotta plaque of Mahishasuramardini was also found, which was possibly under worship by the artisans. Copies of the paintings The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. A number of attempts to copy the Ajanta paintings began in the 19th century for European and Japanese museums. Some of these works have later been lost in natural and fire disasters. In 1846 for example, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras Presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to make copies of the frescos on the cave walls. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863. He made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display. Gill returned to the site, and recommenced his labours, replicating the murals until his death in 1875. Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths to work with his students to make copies of Ajanta paintings, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred of the paintings in storage in a wing of the museum. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some . A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI. A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore. Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955). Some slightly creative copies of Ajanta frescos, especially the painting of the Adoration of the Buddha from the shrine antechamber of Cave 17, were commissioned by Thomas Holbein Hendley (1847–1917) for the decoration of the walls of the hall of the Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur, India. He had the work painted by a local artist variously named Murli or Murali. The museum was opened to the public in 1887. This work is otherwise presented as characteristic of the end of the 19th century. Another attempt to make copies of the murals was made by the Japanese artist Arai Kampō (荒井寛方:1878–1945) after being invited by Rabindranath Tagore to India to teach Japanese painting techniques. He worked on making copies with tracings on Japanese paper from 1916 to 1918 and his work was conserved at Tokyo Imperial University until the materials perished during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Significance Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta The Ajanta cave arts are a window into the culture, society and religiosity of the native population of India between the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE. Different scholars have variously interpreted them from the perspective of gender studies, history, sociology, and the anthropology of South Asia. The dress, the jewelry, the gender relations, the social activities depicted showcase at least a lifestyle of the royalty and elite, and in others definitely the costumes of the common man, monks and rishi depicted therein. They shine "light on life in India" around mid 1st millennium CE. The Ajanta artworks provide a contrast between the spiritual life of monks who had given up all materialistic possessions versus the sensual life of those it considered materialistic, luxurious, symbols of wealth, leisurely and high fashion. Many frescos show scenes from shops, festivals, jesters at processions, palaces and performance art pavilions. These friezes share themes and details of those found in Bharhut, Sanchi, Amaravati, Ellora, Bagh, Aihole, Badami and other archaeological sites in India. Ajanta caves contributes to visual and descriptive sense of the ancient and early medieval Indian culture and artistic traditions, particularly those around the Gupta Empire era period. The early colonial era description of Ajanta caves was largely orientalist and critical, inconsistent with the Victorian values and stereotyping. According to William Dalrymple, the themes and arts in the Ajanta caves were puzzling to the 19th-century Orientalists. Lacking the Asian cultural heritage and framework that sees "nothing odd in the juxtaposition of monk and dancing girl", and with no knowledge of Jataka Tales or equivalent Indian fables, they could not comprehend it. They projected their own views and assumptions, calling it something that lacks reason and rationale, something that is meaningless crude representation of royalty and foreigners with mysticism and sensuousness. The 19th-century views and interpretations of the Ajanta Caves were conditioned by ideas and assumptions in the colonial mind, saw what they wanted to see. To many who are unaware of the premises of Indian religions in general, and Buddhism in particular, the significance of Ajanta Caves has been like rest of Indian art. According to Richard Cohen, Ajanta Caves to them has been yet another example of "worship this stock, or that stone, or monstrous idol". In contrast, to the Indian mind and the larger Buddhist community, it is everything that art ought to be, the religious and the secular, the spiritual and the social fused to enlightened perfection. According to Walter Spink – one of the most respected Art historians on Ajanta, these caves were by 475 CE a much-revered site to the Indians, with throngs of "travelers, pilgrims, monks and traders". The site was vastly transformed into its current form in just 20 years, between early 460 CE to early 480 CE, by regional architects and artisans. This accomplishment, states Spink, makes Ajanta, "one of the most remarkable creative achievements in man's history". Foreigners in the paintings of Ajanta The Ajanta Caves painting are a significant source of socio-economic information in ancient India, particularly in relation to the interactions of India with foreign cultures at the time most of the paintings were made, in the 5th century CE (Common Era). According to Indian historian Haroon Khan Sherwani: "The paintings at Ajanta clearly demonstrate the cosmopolitan character of Buddhism, which opened its way to men of all races, Greek, Persian, Saka, Pahlava, Kushan and Huna". Depictions of foreigners abound: according to Spink, "Ajanta’s paintings are filled with such foreign types." They have sometimes been a source of misinterpretation as in the so-called "Persian Embassy Scene". These foreigners may reflect the Sassanian merchants, visitors and the flourishing trade routes of the day. The so-called "Persian Embassy Scene" Cave 1, for example, shows a mural fresco with characters with foreigner faces or dresses, the so-called "Persian Embassy Scene". This scene is located at the right of the entrance door upon entering the hall. According to Spink, James Fergusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that this scene corresponded to the Persian ambassador in 625 CE to the court of the Hindu Chalukya king Pulakeshin II. An alternate theory has been that the fresco represents a Hindu ambassador visiting the Persian king Khusrau II in 625 CE, a theory that Fergusson disagreed with. These assumptions by colonial British era art historians, state Spink and other scholars, has been responsible for wrongly dating this painting to the 7th century, when in fact this reflects an incomplete Harisena-era painting of a Jataka tale (the Mahasudarsana jataka, in which the enthroned king is actually the Buddha in one of his previous lives as King) with the representation of trade between India and distant lands such as Sassanian near East that was common by the 5th century. International trade, growth of Buddhism Cave 1 has several frescos with characters with foreigners' faces or dresses. Similar depictions are found in the paintings of Cave 17. Such murals, states Pia Brancaccio, suggest a prosperous and multicultural society in 5th-century India active in international trade. These also suggest that this trade was economically important enough to the Deccan region that the artists chose to include it with precision. Additional evidence of international trade includes the use of the blue lapis lazuli pigment to depict foreigners in the Ajanta paintings, which must have been imported from Afghanistan or Iran. It also suggests, states Branacaccio, that the Buddhist monastic world was closely connected with trading guilds and the court culture in this period. A small number of scenes show foreigners drinking wine in Caves 1 and 2. Some show foreign Near East kings with wine and their retinue which presumably add to the "general regal emphasis" of the cave. According to Brancaccio, the Ajanta paintings show a variety of colorful, delicate textiles and women making cotton. Textile probably was one of the major exports to foreign lands, along with gems. These were exported first through the Red Sea, and later through the Persian Gulf, thereby bringing a period of economic and cultural exchange between the Indians, the Sasanian Empire and the Persian merchants before Islam was founded in the Arabian peninsula. While scholars generally agree that these murals confirm trade and cultural connections between India and Sassanian west, their specific significance and interpretation varies. Brancaccio, for example, suggests that the ship and jars in them probably reflect foreign ships carrying wine imported to India. In contrast, Schlinghoff interprets the jars to be holding water, and ships shown as Indian ships used in international trade. Similar depictions are found in the paintings of Cave 17, but this time in direct relation to the worship of the Buddha. In Cave 17, a painting of the Buddha descending from the Trayastrimsa Heaven shows he being attended by many foreigners. Many foreigners in this painting are thus shown as listeners to the Buddhist Dharma. The ethnic diversity is depicted in the painting in the clothes (kaftans, Sasanian helmets, round caps), hairdos and skin colors. In the Visvantara Jataka of Cave 17, according to Brancaccio, the scene probably shows a servant from Central Asia holding a foreign metal ewer, while a dark-complexioned servant holds a cup to an amorous couple. In another painting in Cave 17, relating to the conversion of Nanda, a man possibly from northeast Africa appears as a servant. These representations show, states Brancaccio, that the artists were familiar with people of Sogdia, Central Asia, Persia and possibly East Africa. Another hypothesis is offered by Upadhya, who states that the artists who built Ajanta caves "very probably included foreigners". Impact on later painting and other arts The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka. Some influences from Ajanta have also suggested in the Kizil Caves of the Tarim Basin, in particular in early caves such as the Peacock Cave. The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists with examples from ancient India to follow. Nandalal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore and Syed Thajudeen also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration. Anna Pavlova's ballet Ajanta's Frescoes was inspired by her visit to Ajanta, choreographed by Ivan Clustine, with music by Nikolai Tcherepnin (one report says Mikhail Fokine in 1923). and premiered at Covent Garden in 1923. Jewish American poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote about the caves in "Ajanta," the opening poem of her third collection Beast in View (1944). Rukeyser was inspired in part by writings on the caves by artist Mukul Dey in 1925 and art historian Stella Kramrisch in 1937. See also Cetiya Bedse Caves Bhaja Caves Dambulla cave temple Kanheri Caves Karla Caves Nasik Caves Pitalkhora Caves Shivneri Caves List of colossal sculptures in situ Notes References Bibliography "ASI": Archaeological Survey of India website, with a concise entry on the Caves, accessed 20 October 2010 Burgess, James and Fergusson J. Cave Temples of India. (London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1880. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2005). Burgess, James and Indraji, Bhagwanlal. Inscriptions from the Cave Temples of Western India, Archaeological Survey of Western India, Memoirs, 10 (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1881). Burgess, James. Buddhist Cave Temples and Their Inscriptions, Archaeological Survey of Western India, 4 (London: Trubner & Co., 1883; Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1964). Burgess, James. "Notes on the Bauddha Rock Temples of Ajanta, Their Paintings and Sculptures," Archaeological Survey of Western India, 9 (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1879). Behl, Benoy K. The Ajanta Caves (London: Thames & Hudson, 1998. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998). . Cohen, Richard S. "Nāga, Yaksinī, Buddha: Local Deities and Local Buddhism at Ajanta," History of Religions. 37/4 (May 1998): 360–400. Cohen, Richard S. "Problems in the Writing of Ajanta’s History: The Epigraphic Evidence," Indo-Iranian Journal. 40/2 (April 1997): 125–48. Cohen, Richard S. Setting the Three Jewels: The Complex Culture of Buddhism at the Ajanta Caves. A PhD dissertation (Asian Languages and Cultures: Buddhist Studies, University of Michigan, 1995). Cowell, E.B. The Jataka, I-VI (Cambridge: Cambridge, 1895; reprint, 1907). Dhavalikar, M.K. Late Hinayana Caves of Western India (Pune: 1984). Griffiths, J. Paintings in the Buddhist Cave Temples of Ajanta, 2 vols. (London: 1896–1897). Halder, Asit Kumar. "AJANTA" Edited and annotated by Prasenjit Dasgupta and Soumen Paul, with a foreword by Gautam Halder LALMATI. Kolkata. 2009 Kramrisch, Stella. A Survey of Painting in the Deccan (Calcutta and London: The India Society in co-operation with the Dept. of Archaeology, 1937). Reproduced: "Ajanta," Exploring India’s Sacred Art: Selected Writings of Stella Kramrisch, ed. Miller, Barbara Stoler (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press: 1983), pp. 273–307; reprint (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1994), pp. 273–307. Majumdar, R.C. and A.S. Altekar, eds. The Vakataka-Gupta Age. New History of Indian People Series, VI (Benares: Motilal Banarasidass, 1946; reprint, Delhi: 1960). Mirashi, V.V. "Historical Evidence in Dandin’s Dasakumaracharita," Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 24 (1945), 20ff. Reproduced: Studies in Indology, 1 (Nagpur: Vidarbha Samshodhan Mandal, 1960), pp. 164–77. Mirashi, V.V. Inscription of the Vakatakas. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Series, 5 (Ootacamund: Government Epigraphist for India, 1963). Mirashi, V.V. The Ghatotkacha Cave Inscriptions with a Note on Ghatotkacha Cave Temples by Srinivasachar, P. (Hyderabad: Archaeological Department, 1952). Mirashi, V.V. Vakataka inscription in Cave XVI at Ajanta. Hyderabad Archaeological Series, 14 (Calcutta: Baptist mission Press for the Archaeological Department of His Highness the Nizam's Dominions, 1941). Mitra, Debala. Ajanta, 8th ed. (Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1980). Nagaraju, S. Buddhist Architecture of Western India (Delhi: 1981) Parimoo, Ratan; et al. The Art of Ajanta: New Perspectives, 2 vols (New Delhi: Books & Books, 1991). Schlingloff, Dieter. Guide to the Ajanta Paintings, vol. 1; Narrative Wall Paintings (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1999) Schlingloff, Dieter. Studies in the Ajanta Paintings: Identifications and Interpretations (New Delhi: 1987). Shastri, Ajay Mitra, ed. The Age of the Vakatakas (New Delhi: Harman, 1992). Singh, Rajesh Kumar. An Introduction to the Ajanta Caves (Baroda: Hari Sena Press, 2012). Singh, Rajesh Kumar. 'The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta,’ South Asian Studies (London: March 2012), vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 37–68. Singh, Rajesh Kumar. 'Buddhabhadra’s Dedicatory Inscription at Ajanta: A Review,’ in Pratnakirti: Recent Studies in Indian Epigraphy, History, Archaeology, and Art, 2 vols, Professor Shrinivas S. Ritti Felicitation volume, ed. by Shriniwas V. Padigar and Shivanand V (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 2012), vol. 1, pp. 34–46. Singh, Rajesh Kumar, et al. Ajanta: Digital Encyclopaedia [CD-Rom] (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, 2005). Singh, Rajesh Kumar. "Enumerating the Sailagrhas of Ajanta," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai 82, 2009: 122–26. Singh, Rajesh Kumar. "Ajanta: Cave 8 Revisited," Jnana-Pravah Research Journal 12, 2009: 68–80. Singh, Rajesh Kumar. "Some Problems in Fixing the Date of Ajanta Caves," Kala, the Journal of Indian Art History Congress 17, 2008: 69–85. Spink, Walter M. "A Reconstruction of Events related to the development of Vakataka caves," C.S. Sivaramamurti felicitation volume, ed. M.S. Nagaraja Rao (New Delhi: 1987). Spink, Walter M. "Ajanta’s Chronology: Cave 1’s Patronage," Chhavi 2, ed. Krishna, Anand (Benares: Bharat Kala Bhawan, 1981), pp. 144–57. Spink, Walter M. "Ajanta’s Chronology: Cave 7’s Twice-born Buddha," Studies in Buddhist Art of South Asia, ed. Narain, A.K. (New Delhi: 1985), pp. 103–16. Spink, Walter M. "Ajanta’s Chronology: Politics and Patronage," Kaladarsana, ed. Williams, Joanna (New Delhi: 1981), pp. 109–26. Spink, Walter M. "Ajanta’s Chronology: The Crucial Cave," Ars Orientalis, 10 (1975), pp. 143–169. Spink, Walter M. "Ajanta’s Chronology: The Problem of Cave 11," Ars Orientalis, 7 (1968), pp. 155–168. Spink, Walter M. "Ajanta’s Paintings: A Checklist for their Dating," Dimensions of Indian Art, Pupul Jayakar Felicitation Volume, ed. Chandra, Lokesh; and Jain, Jyotindra (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 1987), p. 457. Spink, Walter M. "Notes on Buddha Images," The Art of Ajanta: New Perspectives, vol. 2, ed. Parimoo, Ratan, et al. (New Delhi: Books & Books, 1991), pp. 213–41. Spink, Walter M. "The Achievement of Ajanta," The Age of the Vakatakas, ed. Shastri, Ajaya Mitra (New Delhi: Harman Publishing House, 1992), pp. 177–202. Spink, Walter M. "The Vakataka’s Flowering and Fall," The Art of Ajanta: New Perspectives, vol. 2, ed. Parimoo, Ratan, et al. (New Delhi: Books & Books, 1991), pp. 71–99. Spink, Walter M. "The Archaeology of Ajanta," Ars Orientalis, 21, pp. 67–94. Weiner, Sheila L. Ajanta: Its Place in Buddhist Art (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1977). Yazdani, Gulam. Ajanta: the Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescos Based on Photography, 4 vols. (London: Oxford University Press, 1930 [31?], 1955). Yazdani, Gulam. The Early History of the Deccan, Parts 7–9 (Oxford: 1960). Zin, Monika. Guide to the Ajanta Paintings, vol. 2; Devotional and Ornamental Paintings (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2003) External links Ajanta Caves Bibliography, Akira Shimada (2014), Oxford University Press The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta The Greatest Ancient Picture Gallery. William Dalrymple, New York Review of Books (23 Oct 2014) Ajanta Caves in UNESCO List Google Streetview Tours of each Cave of Ajanta Inscriptions with Translations: Ajanta Caves, Richard Cohen 2nd-century BC establishments 1819 archaeological discoveries Architecture in India Indian art Indian painting Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Caves of Maharashtra World Heritage Sites in Maharashtra Caves containing pictograms in India Former populated places in India Tourist attractions in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra Indian rock-cut architecture Buddhist caves in India Buddhist paintings Gupta art Indian Buddhist sculpture World Heritage Sites in India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmer

Ajmer

Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "Ajayameru" (translated as "Invincible Hills") by a Chahamana ruler, either Ajayaraja I or Ajayaraja II, and served as their capital until the 12th century CE. Ajmer is surrounded by the Aravalli Mountains. Ajmer has been a municipality since 1869. Ajmer has been selected as one of the heritage cities for the HRIDAY and Smart City Mission schemes of the Government of India. History Ajmer was originally known as Ajayameru. The city was founded by an 11th-century Chahamana king Ajaydeva. Historian Dasharatha Sharma notes that the earliest mention of the city's name occurs in Palha's Pattavali, which was copied in 1113 CE (1170 VS) at Dhara. This suggests that Ajmer was founded sometime before 1113 CE. A prashasti (eulogistic inscription), issued by Vigraharaja IV and found at Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra (Sanskrit college), states Ajayadeva (that is Ajayaraja II) moved his residence to Ajmer. A later text Prabandha-Kosha states that it was the 8th-century king Ajayaraja I who commissioned the Ajayameru fort, which later came to be known as the Taragarh fort of Ajmer. According to historian R. B. Singh, this claim appears to be true, as inscriptions dated to the 8th century CE have been found at Ajmer. Singh theorizes that Ajayaraja II later expanded the town area, constructed palaces, and moved the Chahamana capital from Shakambhari to Ajmer. In 1193, Ajmer was annexed by the Ghurids and later was returned to Rajput rulers under condition of tribute. In 1556, Ajmer came under the Mughal Empire after being conquered by Mughal Emperor Akbar. It was made the capital of the eponymous Ajmer Subah. The city enjoyed special favour under the Mughals, who made frequent pilgrimages to the city to visit the dargah of Moinuddin Chishti. The city was also used as a military base for campaigns against Rajput rulers, and on a number of occasions became the site of celebration when a campaign bore success. Mughal Emperors and their nobles made generous donations to the city, and endowed it with constructions such as Akbar's palace and pavilions along the Ana Sagar. Their most prominent building activities were in the dargah and its vicinity. Jahanara Begum and Dara Shikoh, children of Shah Jahan, were both born in the city in 1614 and 1615 respectively. Mughal patronage of the city had waned by the beginning of the 18th century. In 1771, the Scindias conquered the city, and in 1818, the British gained authority over the city. A municipality was established at Ajmer in 1866. Colonial-era Ajmer served as the headquarters of the Ajmer-Merwara Province and possessed a Central jail, a large General Hospital, and two smaller hospitals according to Gazetteer, 1908. It was the headquarters of a native regiment and of a Railway Volunteer corps. From the 1900s, the United Free Church of Scotland, the church of England, the Roman Catholics, and the American Episcopal Methodists have mission establishments here. At that time there were twelve printing presses in the city, from which eight weekly newspapers were published. At the time of India's independence in 1947, Ajmer continued as a separate state with its own legislature until its merger with erstwhile Rajputana province then called Rajasthan. The Legislature of Ajmer State was housed in the building which now houses T. T. College. It had 30 MLAs, and Haribhau Upadhyay was the first chief minister of the erstwhile state, with Bhagirath Chaudhary as the first Vidhan Sabha speaker. In 1956, after acceptance of the proposal by Fazil Ali, Ajmer was merged into Rajasthan to form Ajmer District with the addition of Kishangarh sub-division of Jaipur district.url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Rajasthan/tosMAQAAMAAJ |page=1166}}</ref> Colonial-era Ajmer served as the headquarters of the Ajmer-Merwara Province and possessed a Central jail, a large General Hospital, and two smaller hospitals according to Gazetteer, 1908. It was the headquarters of a native regiment and of a Railway Volunteer corps. From the 1900s, the United Free Church of Scotland, the church of England, the Roman Catholics, and the American Episcopal Methodists have mission establishments here. At that time there were twelve printing presses in the city, from which eight weekly newspapers were published. Other Names A Gujarati historic Novel named Gujaratno Jay written by Zaverchand Meghani, based on various Jain Prabandhas, describes the city as sapādalakṣaṇa (સપાદલક્ષણ). Geography Ajmer is in the northwest of India and is surrounded by the Aravali Mountains. It is situated on the lower slopes of the Taragarh Hill of that range. To the northwest is the Nagapathar Range of the Aravali Mountain Ranges which protects it from desertification from the Thar Desert. Climate Ajmer has a hot, semi-arid climate with over of rain every year, but most of the rain occurs in the monsoon months, between June and September. Temperatures remain relatively high throughout the year, with the summer months of April to early July having an average daily temperature of about . During the monsoon there is frequent heavy rain and thunderstorms, but flooding is not a common occurrence. The winter months of November to February are mild and temperate with average temperatures ranging from with little or no humidity. There are, however, occasional cold weather fronts that cause temperatures to fall to near freezing levels. Transportation Air The Kishangarh Airport is the nearest airport. It is 25 km from Ajmer city. The Ajmer Airport ground breaking ceremony was done by then Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2012. The airport was finally completed and inaugurated by then Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 11 October 2017. The Airport is operational since then and regular flights to/from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Indore and Surat are currently available. The airport is now amongst main and busy airports of Rajasthan. Currently SpiceJet and Star Air operate from Ajmer Airport on daily basis. Kishangarh Airport, Ajmer is being managed and operated by Airport Authority of India (AAI). The Jaipur International Airport which is 135 km from Ajmer is the nearest International Airport. Rail The Ajmer Junction is the main railway station situated in the city. and was built during colonial times. Tourism Pushkar: Located few kilometres from Ajmer, is an important tourist and pilgrimage destination and a satellite town of Ajmer city. It is famous for Pushkar Lake and the 14th century Brahma Temple at Pushkar, dedicated to Brahmā, according to the Padma Purāņa, Pushkar is important pilgrimage site for Lord Brahmā. Around the world, Lord Brahma Temple is only situated at Pushkar Lake, Rajasthan, India. Taragarh Fort: It is reputed to be the oldest hill fort in India. It stands, with precipitous surroundings, at a height of 2,855 ft. above sea-level, and between 1,300 and 1,400 ft. above the valley at its base; and it is partially enclosed by a wall some 20 feet thick and as many high, built of huge blocks of stone, cut and squared and are about in circumference. This hill fort guarding Ajmer, was the seat of the Chauhan rulers. It was built by King Ajaypal Chauhan on the summit of Taragarh Hill and overlooks Ajmer. The battlements run along the top of the hill. When it fell to the British Raj, the fort was dismantled on the orders of Lord William Bentinck in 1832 and was converted into a sanatorium for the British troops stationed at the garrison town of Nasirabad. Within it stands the shrine of a Muhammadan saint, Saiyid Husain, known as the Ganj Shahldan.In the older city, lying in the valley beneath the Taragarh hill and now abandoned, the Nur-chashma, a garden-house used by the Mughals, still remains, as also a water-lift commenced by Maldeo Rathor, to raise water to the Taragarh citadel. Ajmer Sharif Dargah: It is a shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti which is situated at the foot of the Taragarh hill, and consists of several white marble buildings arranged around two courtyards, including a massive gate donated by the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Akbari Mosque, built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and containing the domed tomb of the saint. Akbar and his queen used to come here by foot every year on pilgrimage from Agra in observance of a vow when he prayed for a son. The large pillars called "Kose ('Mile') Minars" (Kos Minar), erected at intervals of about along the entire way between Agra and Ajmer mark the places where the royal pilgrims halted every day, they are also seen today, one such is near private bus station in Ajmer City. About 125,000 pilgrims visit the site every day. The Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is celebrated every year on the 6th and 7th of Rajab. Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra: Literally meaning "shed of two-and-a-half days", it is an ASI protected monument near Ajmer Sharif Dargah and a converted mosque built after the partial destruction of earlier Hindu and Jain temples there on orders of Muhammad Ghori after he defeated Prithviraj Chauhan at the second battle of Tarain. Mayo College: The college was founded in 1875 at the suggestion of Lord Mayo as a college where the sons of chiefs and nobles might receive an education to fit them for their high positions and important duties. It was known as "Indian Eton", as a number of Indian princes studied in this college. The main building, in white marble, is a classic example of Indo-Saracenic architecture. In front of the college is memorial marble statue of Lord Mayo. The boarding-houses are arranged in the form of a horseshoe, with the college in the centre of the base. Some of the Native States built boarding-houses, while the Government of India presented the college park, comprising 167 acres and formerly the site of the old Residency, and erected the main building, the residences of the principal and vice-principal, and the Ajmer boarding- house. It provided the salaries of the English staff. The foundation-stone of the college was laid in 1878, and the building was opened by the Marquis of Dufferin in 1885. John Lockwood Kipling, father of Nobel Laureate, Rudyard Kipling, had been principal of Mayo College. Soni Ji Ki Nasiyaan: It is architecturally rich Jain temple built in the late nineteenth century whose main chamber Swarna Nagari "City of Gold", has prominent depiction of Ayodhya made from 1000 kg of gold. Akbari Fort & Museum: The city's museum was once the residence of Prince Salīm, the son of the Emperor Akbar, and presently houses a collection of Mughal and Rajput armour and sculpture. This is a magnificent example of Mughal architecture, construction of which was commissioned by Akbar in 1570. This is where Salim, as the Emperor Jahangir, read out the firman permitting the British East India Company to trade with India. It is a massive square building, with lofty octagonal bastions at each corner. It was the headquarters of the administration in their time and in that of the Marathas. It was here that the emperors appeared in state, and that, as recorded by Sir Thomas Roe, criminals were publicly executed. The interior was used as a magazine during the British occupation until 1857; and the central building, used as a tahsil office. With the fort, the outer city walls, of the same period, are connected. These surround the city and are pierced by the Delhi, Madar, Usri, Agra, and Tirpolia gates. Nareli Jain Temple: is a Jain temple complex of fourteen temples recently built. It is known for its architecture and intricate stone carvings which gives it both a traditional and contemporary look. Ana Sagar Lake: This is an historic man-made lake built by Maharaja Anaji (1135–1150 CE). By the lake is the Daulat Bagh, a garden laid out by Emperor Jahangir. Emperor Shah Jahan later added five pavilions, known as the Baradari, between the garden and the lake embankment of the Ana Sagar supports the beautiful marble pavilions erected as pleasure-houses by Shah Jahan. The embankment, moreover, contains the - site of the former hammam (bath-room). Three of the five pavilions were at one time formed into residences for British officials, while the embankment was covered with office buildings and enclosed by gardens. The houses and enclosures were finally removed in 1900–1902, when the two south pavilions were re-erected, the marble parapet completed, and the embankment restored, as far as practicable, to its early condition.The Baradari has since been closed for the public because of increased crowd and pollution caused by people.A new garden called Subhash Udhyan has been opened in the recent years in place of Baradari. Lake Foy Sagar: It is a picturesque artificial lake that was created as a famine relief project in 1892 some 3 miles to the west of the city. It offers excellent views of Aravali mountains range as well migrating birds. The city used to derive its water-supply from it during colonial times. The water was conveyed into the city and suburbs through pipes which were laid underground. The capacity of the lake is 150,000,000 cubic feet. Prithviraj Smark: Prithviraj Smark is dedicated to Prithviraj Chauhan. It is located on the way to Taragarh Fort. This place has a life-size statue of King Prithviraj Chauhan mounted on a horse. Tomb of Khwaja Husain Ajmeri: Khwaja Husain Ajmeri also known as Shaikh Husain Ajmeri, he was a Grandson of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty of Ajmer from the line of Khwaja Fakhruddin's son Khwaja Husamuddin Jigar Sokhta, he was SajjadaNasheen and Mutwalli of Ajmer Dargah before and during the time of Emperor Akbar and Emperor Jahangir, his tomb is situated near the Sola Khamba (Tomb of Khwaja Alauddin another grandson of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty of Ajmer), Behind Shahjahani Mosque Dargar Sharif Ajmer, he died sometime between the year 1619 and 1620. his tomb was built in the year 1637–38. Manibandh : Also known as Chamunda Mata Mandir is one among the 108 Shakti Pitha at Gayatri hills near Pushkar, 11 km from Ajmer. It takes 14 minutes to travel from Pushkar Lake to Chamunda Mata Mandir (about 5–6 km) Education The city has many schools and colleges. Among them, Mayo College is a prominent college. The regional office of CBSE is located here. Demographics According to the 2011 census, Ajmer had a population of 542,321 in the city, 551,101 including its suburbs. The female to male ratio in the city was 947/1,000. The literacy rate in the city was 86.52%, male literacy being 92.08% and female literacy being 80.69%. Ajmer's population growth in the decade was 18.48%; this compares to a growth figure of 20.93% in the previous decade. Villages Ajaysar Village, Rajasthan, located in Srinagar block of Ajmer district Ashok Nagar Ajmer (1989), colony See also Delhi Gate, Ajmer Ajmeri Gate Ajmeri Gate metro station Qabil Ajmeri Ajmeri Kalakand Marwari language, also known as Ajmeri, spoken around Marwar and Ajmer References Bibliography W.D. Begg: The Holy Biography of Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (Millat Book Centre, Delhi, 1999). Ajmer The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 5, p. 137-146. External links Ajmer District website R. Nath Mughal Architecture Image Collection, Images from Ajmer - University of Washington Digital Collection Cities and towns in Ajmer district Holy cities Tourist attractions in Rajasthan 1818 in British India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abatement%20of%20debts%20and%20legacies

Abatement of debts and legacies

Abatement of debts and legacies is a common law doctrine of wills that holds that when the equitable assets of a deceased person are not sufficient to satisfy fully all the creditors, their debts must abate proportionately, and they must accept a dividend. Also, in the case of legacies when the funds or assets out of which they are payable are not sufficient to pay them in full, the legacies abate in proportion, unless there is a priority given specially to any particular legacy. Annuities are also subject to the same rule as general legacies. The order of abatement is usually: Intestate property The residuary of the estate General Devises—i.e., cash gifts Demonstrative Devises—i.e., cash gifts from a specific account, stocks, bonds, securities, etc. Specific Devises—i.e., specified items of personal property, real property, etc. Non-probate property—i.e., life insurance policies—do not abate. Definitions A specific devise, is a specific gift in a will to a specific person other than an amount of money. For example, if James's will states that he is leaving his $500,000 yacht to his brother Mike, the yacht would be a specific devise. A general devise, is a monetary gift to a specific person to be satisfied out of the overall estate. For example, if James's will states that he is leaving $500,000 to his son Sam then the money would be a general devise. A demonstrative devise, is money given from a particular account. For example, "$10,000 to be paid from the sale of my GM stock." A residual devise is one left to a devisee after all specific and general devices have been made. For example, James's will might say: "I give all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to my daughter Lilly." Lilly would be the residual devisee and entitled to James's residuary estate. References Common law Wills and trusts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd%20al-Rahman%20I

Abd al-Rahman I

Abd al-Rahman I ibn Mu’awiya (in full: Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan; 7 March 731 – 30 September 788; Arabic: عبد الرحمن الأول) was the founder of the Umayyad Arab dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries (including the succeeding Caliphate of Córdoba). Abd al-Rahman was a member of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus, and his establishment of a government in Iberia represented a break with the Abbasids, who had overthrown the Umayyads in Damascus in 750. He was also known by the surnames al-Dakhil ("the Entrant"), Saqr Quraish ("the Falcon of Quraysh") and as "the Falcon of Andalusia". Variations of the spelling of his name include Abd ar-Rahman, Abdul Rahman I, Abdar Rahman, and Abderraman. Biography Flight from Damascus Abd al-Rahman was born in Palmyra, near Damascus in the heartland of the Umayyad Caliphate, the son of the Umayyad prince Mu'awiya ibn Hisham and his concubine Raha, a Berber woman from the Nafza tribe, and thus the grandson of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, caliph from 724 to 743.<ref>Arnold Joseph Toynbee, A study of history, Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1934, Volume 8, p. 372</ref> He was twenty when his family, the ruling Umayyads, were overthrown by the Abbasid Revolution in 748–750. Abd al-Rahman and a small part of his family fled Damascus, where the center of Umayyad power had been; people moving with him included his brother Yahya, his four-year-old son Sulayman, and some of his sisters, as well as his Greek mawla (freedman or client), Bedr. The family fled from Damascus to the River Euphrates. All along the way the path was filled with danger, as the Abbasids had dispatched horsemen across the region to try to find the Umayyad prince and kill him. The Abbasids were merciless with all Umayyads that they found. Abbasid agents closed in on Abd al-Rahman and his family while they were hiding in a small village. He left his young son with his sisters and fled with Yahya. Accounts vary, but Bedr likely escaped with Abd ar-Rahman. Some histories indicate that Bedr met up with Abd al-Rahman at a later date. Abd al-Rahman, Yahya, and Bedr quit the village, narrowly escaping the Abbasid assassins. On the way south, Abbasid horsemen again caught up with the trio. Abd al-Rahman and his companions then threw themselves into the River Euphrates. The horsemen urged them to return, promising that no harm would come to them; and Yahya, perhaps from fear of drowning, turned back. The 17th-century historian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari poignantly described Abd al-Rahman's reaction as he implored Yahya to keep going: "O brother! Come to me, come to me!" Yahya returned to the near shore, and was quickly dispatched by the horsemen. They cut off his head and left his body to rot. Al-Maqqari quotes earlier historians reporting that Abd al-Rahman was so overcome with fear that from the far shore he ran until exhaustion overcame him. Only he and Bedr were left to face the unknown. Exile years After barely escaping with their lives, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr continued south through Palestine, the Sinai, and then into Egypt. Abd al-Rahman had to keep a low profile as he traveled. It may be assumed that he intended to go at least as far as northwestern Africa (Maghreb), the land of his mother, which had been partly conquered by his Umayyad predecessors. The journey across Egypt would prove perilous. At the time, Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri was the semi-autonomous governor of Ifriqiya (roughly, modern Tunisia) and a former Umayyad vassal. The ambitious Ibn Habib, a member of the illustrious Fihrid family, had long sought to carve out Ifriqiya as a private dominion for himself. At first, he sought an understanding with the Abbasids, but when they refused his terms and demanded his submission, Ibn Habib broke openly with the Abbasids and invited the remnants of the Umayyad dynasty to take refuge in his dominions. Abd al-Rahman was only one of several surviving Umayyad family members to make their way to Ifriqiya at this time. But Ibn Habib soon changed his mind. He feared the presence of prominent Umayyad exiles in Ifriqiya, a family more illustrious than his own, might become a focal point for intrigue among local nobles against his own usurped powers. Around 755, believing he had discovered plots involving some of the more prominent Umayyad exiles in Kairouan, Ibn Habib turned against them. At the time, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr were keeping a low profile, staying in Kabylie, at the camp of a Nafza Berber chieftain friendly to their plight. Ibn Habib dispatched spies to look for the Umayyad prince. When Ibn Habib's soldiers entered the camp, the Berber chieftain's wife Tekfah hid Abd al-Rahman under her personal belongings to help him go unnoticed. Once they were gone, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr immediately set off westwards. In 755, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr reached modern-day Morocco near Ceuta. Their next step would be to cross the sea to al-Andalus, where Abd al-Rahman could not have been sure whether or not he would be welcomed. Following the Berber Revolt of the 740s, the province was in a crisis, with the Muslim community torn by tribal dissensions among the Arabs (the Qays–Yemeni feud) and racial tensions between the Arabs and Berbers. At that moment, the nominal ruler of al-Andalus, emir Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri—another member of the Fihrid family and a favorite of the old Arab settlers (baladiyun), mostly of south Arabian or "Yemeni" tribal stock—was locked in a contest with his vizier (and son-in-law) al-Sumayl ibn Hatim al-Kilabi, the head of the "Syrians"—the shamiyun, drawn from the junds or military regiments of Syria, mostly of north Arabian Qaysid tribes—who had arrived in 742. Among the Syrian junds were contingents of old Umayyad clients, numbering perhaps 500, and Abd al-Rahman believed he might tug on old loyalties and get them to receive him. Bedr was dispatched across the straits to make contact. Bedr managed to line up three Syrian commanders—Ubayd Allah ibn Uthman and Abd Allah ibn Khalid, both originally of Damascus, and Yusuf ibn Bukht of Qinnasrin. The trio approached the Syrian arch-commander al-Sumayl (then in Zaragoza) to get his consent, but al-Sumayl refused, fearing Abd al-Rahman would try to make himself emir. As a result, Bedr and the Umayyad clients sent out feelers to their rivals, the Yemeni commanders. Although the Yemenis were not natural allies (the Umayyads are a Qaysid tribe), their interest was piqued. The emir Yusuf al-Fihri had proven himself unable to keep the powerful al-Sumayl in check and several Yemeni chieftains felt their future prospects were poor, whether in a Fihrid or Syrian-dominated Spain, so that they had a better chance of advancement if they hitched themselves to the glitter of the Umayyad name. Although the Umayyads did not have a historical presence in the region (no member of the Umayyad family was known to have ever set foot in al-Andalus before) and there were grave concerns about young Abd al-Rahman's inexperience, several of the lower-ranking Yemeni commanders felt they had little to lose and much to gain, and agreed to support the prince. Bedr returned to Africa to tell Abd al-Rahman of the invitation of the Umayyad clients in al-Andalus. Shortly thereafter, they set off with a small group of followers for Europe. When some local Berber tribesmen learned of Abd al-Rahman's intent to set sail for al-Andalus, they quickly rode to catch up with him on the coast. The tribesmen might have figured that they could hold Abd al-Rahman as hostage, and force him to buy his way out of Africa. He did indeed hand over some amount of dinars to the suddenly hostile local Berbers. Just as Abd al-Rahman launched his boat, another group of Berbers arrived. They also tried to obtain a fee from him for leaving. One of the Berbers held on to Abd al-Rahman's vessel as it made for al-Andalus, and allegedly had his hand cut off by one of the boat's crew. Abd al-Rahman landed at Almuñécar in al-Andalus, to the east of Málaga, in September 755; however, his landing site was unconfirmed. Fight for power Upon landing in al-Andalus, Abd al-Rahman was greeted by clients Abu Uthman and Ibn Khalid and an escort of 300 cavalry. During his brief time in Málaga, he was able to amass local support quickly. Waves of people made their way to Málaga to pay respect to the prince they thought was dead, including many of the aforementioned Syrians. One famous story that persisted through history related to a gift Abd al-Rahman was given while in Málaga. The gift was a beautiful young slave girl, but Abd al-Rahman humbly returned her to her previous master. News of the prince's arrival spread like wildfire throughout the peninsula. During this time, emir al-Fihri and the Syrian commander al-Sumayl pondered what to do about the new threat to their shaky hold on power. They decided to try to marry Abd al-Rahman into their family. If that did not work, then Abd al-Rahman would have to be killed. Abd al-Rahman was apparently sagacious enough to expect such a plot. In order to help speed his ascension to power, he was prepared to take advantage of the feuds and dissensions. However, before anything could be done, trouble broke out in northern al-Andalus. Zaragoza, an important trade city on the Upper March of al-Andalus, made a bid for autonomy. Al-Fihri and al-Sumayl rode north to quash the rebellion. This might have been fortunate timing for Abd al-Rahman, since he was still getting a solid foothold in al-Andalus. By March 756, Abd al-Rahman and his growing following of Umayyad clients and Yemeni junds, were able to take Sevilla without violence. He managed to break the rebellion attempt in Zaragoza, but just about that time the Cordovan governor received news of a Basque rebellion in Pamplona. An important detachment was sent by Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman to quash it, but his troops were annihilated. After the setback, al-Fihri turned his army back south to face the "pretender". The fight for the right to rule al-Andalus was about to begin. The two contingents met on opposite sides of the River Guadalquivir, just outside the capital of Córdoba on the plains of Musarah. The river was, for the first time in years, overflowing its banks, heralding the end of a long drought. Nevertheless, food was still scarce, and Abd al-Rahman's army suffered from hunger. In an attempt to demoralize Abd al-Rahman's troops, al-Fihri ensured that his troops not only were well fed, but also ate gluttonous amounts of food in full view of the Umayyad lines. An attempt at negotiations soon followed in which it is likely that Abd al-Rahman was offered the hand of al-Fihri's daughter in marriage and great wealth. Abd al-Rahman, however, would settle for nothing less than control of the emirate, and an impasse was reached. Even before the fight began, dissension spread through some of Abd al-Rahman's lines. Specifically, the Yemeni Arabs were unhappy that the prince was mounted on a fine Spanish steed and that his mettle was untried in battle. The Yemenis observed significantly that such a fine horse would provide an excellent mount to escape from battle. Being the ever-wary politician, Abd al-Rahman acted quickly to regain Yemeni support, and rode to a Yemeni chief who was mounted on a mule named "Lightning". Abd al-Rahman averred that his horse proved difficult to ride and was wont to buck him out of the saddle. He offered to exchange his horse for the mule, a deal to which the surprised chief readily agreed. The swap quelled the simmering Yemeni rebellion. Soon both armies were in their lines on the same bank of the Guadalquivir. Abd al-Rahman had no banner, and so one was improvised by unwinding a green turban and binding it round the head of a spear. Subsequently, the turban and the spear became the banner and symbol of the Andalusian Umayyads. Abd al-Rahman led the charge toward al-Fihri's army. Al-Sumayl in turn advanced his cavalry out to meet the Umayyad threat. After a long and difficult fight "Abd ar-Rahman obtained a most complete victory, and the field was strewn with the bodies of the enemy.". Both al-Fihri and al-Sumayl managed to escape the field (probably) with parts of the army too. Abd al-Rahman triumphantly marched into the capital, Córdoba. Danger was not far behind, as al-Fihri planned a counter attack. He reorganized his forces and set out for the capital Abd al-Rahman had usurped from him. Again Abd al-Rahman met al-Fihri with his army; this time negotiations were successful, although the terms were somewhat changed. In exchange for al-Fihri's life and wealth, he would be a prisoner and not allowed to leave the city limits of Córdoba. Al-Fihri would have to report once a day to Abd al-Rahman, as well as turn over some of his sons and daughters as hostages. For a while al-Fihri met the obligations of the one-sided truce, but he still had many people loyal to him--people who would have liked to see him back in power. Al-Fihri eventually did make another bid for power. He quit Córdoba and quickly started gathering supporters. While at large, al-Fihri managed to gather an army allegedly numbering 20,000. It is doubtful, however, that his troops were "regular" soldiers, but rather a hodge-podge of men from various parts of al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman's appointed governor in Sevilla took up the chase, and after a series of small fights, managed to defeat al-Fihri's army. Al-Fihri himself managed to escape to the former Visigoth capital of Toledo in central al-Andalus; once there, he was promptly killed. Al-Fihri's head was sent to Córdoba, where Abd al-Rahman had it nailed to a bridge. With this act, Abd al-Rahman proclaimed himself the emir of al-Andalus. However, in order to take over southern Iberia, al-Fihri's general, al-Sumayl, had to be dealt with, and he was garroted in Córdoba's jail. Still, most of central and northern al-Andalus (Toledo, Zaragoza, Barcelona, etc.) was out of his rule, with large swathes remaining in the hands of Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri's supporters until 779 (submission of Zaragoza). Rule It is unclear whether Abd al-Rahman proclaimed himself caliph. There are documents in the archives of Cordoba that state that this was his first act upon entering the city. However, historically he is recorded as Emir and not Caliph. Abd al-Rahman's 7th descendant, Abd al-Rahman III, would, however, take up the title of caliph. In the meantime, a call went out through the Muslim world that al-Andalus was a safe haven for friends of the house of Umayya, if not for Abd al-Rahman's scattered family that managed to evade the Abbasids. Abd al-Rahman probably was quite happy to see his call answered by waves of Umayyad faithful and family. He was finally reacquainted with his son Sulayman, whom he last saw weeping on the banks of the Euphrates with his sisters. Abd al-Rahman's sisters were unable to make the long voyage to al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman placed his family members in high offices across the land, as he felt he could trust them more than non-family. The Umayyad family would again grow large and prosperous over successive generations. One of these kinsmen, Abd al-Malik ibn Umar ibn Marwan, persuaded Abd al-Rahman in 757 to drop the name of the Abbasid caliph from the Friday prayers (a traditional recognition of sovereignty in medieval Islam), and became one of his top generals and his governor in Seville. By 763 Abd ar-Rahman had to get back to the business of war. Al-Andalus had been invaded by an Abbasid army. Far away in Baghdad, the current Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, had long been planning to depose the Umayyad who dared to call himself emir of al-Andalus. Al-Mansur installed al-Ala ibn-Mugith as governor of Africa (whose title gave him dominion over the province of al-Andalus). It was al-Ala who headed the Abbasid army that landed in al-Andalus, possibly near Beja (in modern-day Portugal). Much of the surrounding area of Beja capitulated to al-Ala, and in fact rallied under the Abbasid banners against Abd al-Rahman. Abd al-Rahman had to act quickly. The Abbasid contingent was vastly superior in size, said to have numbered 7,000 men. The emir quickly made for the redoubt of Carmona with his army. The Abbasid army was fast on their heels, and laid siege to Carmona for approximately two months. Abd al-Rahman must have sensed that time was against him as food and water became scarce, and his troops morale likely came into question. Finally Abd al-Rahman gathered his men as he was "resolved on an audacious sally". Abd al-Rahman hand-picked 700 fighters from his army and led them to Carmona's main gate. There, he started a great fire and threw his scabbard into the flames. Abd al-Rahman told his men that time had come to go down fighting rather than die of hunger. The gate lifted and Abd al-Rahman's men fell upon the unsuspecting Abbasids, thoroughly routing them. Most of the Abbasid army was killed. The heads of the main Abbasid leaders were cut off, preserved in salt, identifying tags pinned to their ears, and then bundled together in a gruesome package and sent to the Abbasid caliph, who was on pilgrimage at Mecca. Upon receiving the evidence of al-Ala's defeat in al-Andalus, al-Mansur is said to have gasped, "God be praised for placing a sea between us!" Al-Mansur hated, and yet apparently respected Abd al-Rahman to such a degree that he dubbed him the "Hawk of Quraysh" (the Umayyads were from a branch of the Quraysh tribe). Despite such a tremendous victory, Abd al-Rahman had to continuously put down rebellions in al-Andalus. Various Arab and Berber tribes fought each other for varying degrees of power, some cities tried to break away and form their own state, and even members of Abd al-Rahman's family tried to wrest power from him. During a large revolt, dissidents marched on Córdoba itself; However, Abd al-Rahman always managed to stay one step ahead, and crushed all opposition; as he always dealt severely with dissidents in al-Andalus. Problems in the Upper March Zaragoza proved to be a most difficult city to reign over for not only Abd ar-Rahman, but his successors as well. In the year 777–778, several notable men including Sulayman ibn Yokdan al-Arabi al-Kelbi, the self-appointed governor of Zaragoza, met with delegates of the leader of the Franks, Charlemagne. "[Charlemagne's] army was enlisted to help the Muslim governors of Barcelona and Zaragoza against the Umayyad [emir] in Cordoba...." Essentially Charlemagne was being hired as a mercenary, even though he likely had other plans of acquiring the area for his own empire. After Charlemagne's columns arrived at the gates of Zaragoza, Sulayman got cold feet and refused to let the Franks into the city, after his subordinate, al-Husayn ibn Yahiya, had successfully defeated and captured Abd al-Rahman's most trusted general, Thalaba Ibn Ubayd. It is possible that he realized that Charlemagne would want to usurp power from him. After capturing Sulayman, Charlemagne's force eventually headed back to France via a narrow pass in the Pyrenees, where his rearguard was wiped out by Basque and Gascon rebels (this disaster inspired the epic Chanson de Roland). Charlemagne was also attacked by Sulayman's relatives, who had freed Sulayman. Now Abd al-Rahman could deal with Sulayman and the city of Zaragoza without having to fight a massive Christian army. In 779 Abd al-Rahman offered Husayn, one of Sulayman's allies, the job of Zaragoza's governorship. The temptation was too much for al-Husayn, who murdered his colleague Sulayman. As promised, al-Husayn was awarded Zaragoza with the expectation that he would always be a subordinate of Córdoba. However, within two years al-Husayn broke off relations with Abd al-Rahman and announced that Zaragoza would be an independent city-state. Once again Abd al-Rahman had to be concerned with developments in the Upper March. He was intent on keeping this important northern border city within the Umayyad fold. By 783 Abd al-Rahman's army advanced on Zaragoza. It appeared as though Abd al-Rahman wanted to make clear to this troublesome city that independence was out of the question. Included in the arsenal of Abd al-Rahman's army were thirty-six siege engines. Zaragoza's famous white granite defensive walls were breached under a torrent of ordnance from the Umayyad lines. Abd al-Rahman's warriors spilled into the city's streets, quickly thwarting al-Husayn's desires for independence. Legacy and death Social dynamics and construction works After the aforementioned period of conflict, Abd al-Rahman continued in his improvement of al-Andalus' infrastructure. He ensured roadways were begun, aqueducts were constructed or improved, and that a new mosque was well funded in his capital at Córdoba. Construction on what would in time become the world-famous Great Mosque of Córdoba was started circa the year 786. Abd al-Rahman knew that one of his sons would one day inherit the rule of al-Andalus, but that it was a land torn by strife. In order to successfully rule in such a situation, Abd al-Rahman needed to create a reliable civil service and organize a standing army. He felt that he could not always rely on the local populace in providing a loyal army; and therefore bought a massive standing army consisting mainly of Berbers from North Africa as well as slaves from other areas. The total number of soldiers under his command was nearly 40,000. As was common during the years of Islamic expansion from Arabia, religious tolerance was practiced. Abd al-Rahman continued to allow Jews and Christians and other monotheistic religions to retain and practice their faiths, in exchange for the jizya. Possibly because of tribute taxes, "the bulk of the country's population must have become Muslim". However, other scholars have argued that though 80% of al-Andalus converted to Islam, it did not truly occur until near the 10th century. Christians more often converted to Islam than Jews although there were converted Jews among the new followers of Islam. There was a great deal of freedom of interaction among the groups: for example, Sarah, the granddaughter of the Visigoth king Wittiza, married a Muslim man and bore two sons who were later counted among the ranks of the highest Arab nobility. Abd al-Rahman I was able to forge a new Umayyad dynasty by standing successfully against Charlemagne, the Abbasids, the Berbers, and other Muslim Spaniards. His legacy started a new chapter for the Umayyad Dynasty ensuring their survival and culminating in the new Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba by his descendants. Death Abd al-Rahman died c. 788 in Córdoba, and was supposedly buried under the site of the Mezquita. Abd al-Rahman's alleged favorite son was his choice for successor, and would later be known as Hisham I. Abd al-Rahman's progeny would continue to rule al-Andalus in the name of the house of Umayya for several generations, with the zenith of their power coming during the reign of Abd al-Rahman III. Family Abd al-Rahman was the son of Mu'awiya, son of Hisham, son of Abd al-Malik, according to Abd el-Wahid Merrakechi when reciting his ancestry. Abd al-Rahman's mother was a member of the Nafza Berbers with whom he found refuge after the murder of his family in 750. Abd al-Rahman married a Spanish Sephardi woman named Hulal. She is said to have been very beautiful and was the mother of Hisham. Abd al-Rahman was the father of several sons, but the identity of their mother(s) is not clear: Sulayman (745–800), Governor of Toledo. Exiled after he refused to accept his brother Hisham's rule. Returned to challenge his nephew in 796, captured and executed in 800. Omar (died before 758), captured in battle and executed by Fruela I of Asturias. Hisham I (757–17 Apr 796), Emir of Cordoba. Abdallah Legends In his lifetime, Abd al-Rahman was known as al Dakhil ("the Entrant"), but he was also known as Saqr Quraish ("The Falcon of the Quraish"), bestowed on him by one of his greatest enemies, the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur. According to the chroniclers, al-Mansur once asked his courtiers who deserved the exalted title of "Falcon of the Quraysh" (Saqr Quraish'', foremost of the Quraysh). The obsequious courtiers naturally replied "You, O Commander of the Faithful!", but the Caliph denied this. Then they suggested Mu'awiya (founder of the Umayyad Caliphate), but the Caliph again denied it. Then they suggested Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (one of the greatest of the Umayyad caliphs), but again no. They asked who it was, and al-Mansur replied: See also Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula Abbasid Revolution al-Andalus Caliphate of Córdoba Abd al-Malik ibn Umar Sara al-Qutiyya Further reading Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (2002) Andrea Pancini, L'immigrante (2016) References External links Emirs of Córdoba 731 births 788 deaths 8th-century Arabs 8th-century rulers in Europe Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd%20al-Rahman%20V

Abd al-Rahman V

Abd ar-Rahman V () was an Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. In the agony of the Umayyad dynasty in the Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia), two princes of the house were proclaimed Caliph of Córdoba for a very short time, Abd-ar-Rahman IV Mortada (1017), and Abd-ar-Rahman V Mostadir (1023–1024). Both were the mere puppets of factions, who deserted them at once. Abd-ar-Rahman IV was murdered the same year he was proclaimed at Cadiz, in flight from a battle in which he had been deserted by his supporters. Abd-ar-Rahman V was proclaimed caliph in December 1023 at Córdoba, and murdered in January 1024 by a mob of unemployed workmen, headed by one of his own cousins. References 1001 births 1024 deaths Umayyad caliphs of Córdoba 11th-century caliphs of Córdoba

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidiarrhoeal

Antidiarrhoeal

An anti-diarrhoeal drug (or anti-diarrheal drug in American English) is any medication which provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Types Electrolyte solutions, while not true antidiarrhoeals, are used to replace lost fluids and salts in acute cases. Bulking agents like methylcellulose, guar gum or plant fibre (bran, sterculia, isabgol, etc.) are used for diarrhoea in functional bowel disease and to control ileostomy output. Absorbents absorb toxic substances that cause infective diarrhoea, methylcellulose is an absorbent. Anti-inflammatory compounds such as bismuth subsalicylate. Anticholinergics reduce intestinal movement and are effective against both diarrhoea and accompanying cramping. Opioids' classical use besides pain relief is as an anti-diarrhoeal drug. Opioids have agonist actions on the intestinal opioid receptors, which when activated cause constipation. Drugs such as morphine or codeine can be used to relieve diarrhoea this way. A notable opioid for the purpose of relief of diarrhoea is loperamide which is only an agonist of the μ opioid receptors in the large intestine and does not have opioid affects in the central nervous system as it doesn't cross the blood–brain barrier in significant amounts. This enables loperamide to be used to the same benefit as other opioid drugs but without the CNS side effects or potential for abuse. Octreotide (somatostatin analogue) may be used in hospitalized patients to treat secretory diarrhea. See also ATC code A07 Antidiarrheals, intestinal anti-inflammatory/anti-infective agents References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abencerrages

Abencerrages

The Abencerrages or Abencerrajes (from the Arabic for "Saddler's Son") were a family or faction that is said to have held a prominent position in the Kingdom of Granada in the 15th century. The name appears to have been derived from Yussuf ben-Serragh, the head of the tribe in the time of Muhammed VII, Sultan of Granada (1370–1408), who did that sovereign good service in his struggles to retain the crown of which he was three times deprived. Little is known of the family with certainty. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary records that they arrived in Spain in the 8th century but the name is familiar from the romance by Ginés Pérez de Hita, Guerras civiles de Granada, which celebrates the feuds of the Abencerrages and the rival family of the Benedin (Arabic banu Edin), and the cruel treatment to which the former were subjected. J. P. de Florian's Gonsalve de Cordoue and Chateaubriand's Le dernier des Abencerrages are adaptations of Pérez de Hita's story. The story is told that one of the Abencerrages, having fallen in love with a lady of the royal family, was caught in the act of climbing up to her window. The assassinations were ordered by Ibrahim Benedin, who had a feud with the family. He was enraged and shut up the whole family in one of the halls of the Alhambra, and gave orders to kill them all. The apartment where this is said to have taken place is one of the most beautiful courts of the Alhambra, and is still called the Hall of the Abencerrages. Washington Irving in Tales of the Alhambra (1832) disagrees, saying the massacre was a fiction, but that a number of Abencerrages were killed in one of the battles at the time. Nonetheless, many poems and plays, the novella The Abencerraje and two operas (Les Abencérages, by Luigi Cherubini, and L'esule di Granata, by Giacomo Meyerbeer) mention the legend. Notes External links The Abencerrages–Part 17 of Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra Nasrid dynasty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberavon%20%28UK%20Parliament%20constituency%29

Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)

Aberavon (Welsh: Aberafan) is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Stephen Kinnock of the Welsh Labour Party. It includes the town of Aberavon, although the largest town in the constituency is Port Talbot. History The constituency was created for the 1918 general election by the dividing of the Swansea District. With the exception of the first term, it has always been held by the Labour Party. Ramsay MacDonald, who became Labour's first Prime Minister in 1924, held the seat from 1922 to 1929. Its current MP, Stephen Kinnock, is the son of Neil Kinnock, who was Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1992. It is one of the most consistently safe seats for Labour; since the end of the Second World War, the Labour candidate has always won Aberavon with a majority at least 33%, and with the exception of 2015, the Labour candidate has also always won an overall majority of the vote in the seat. In 2015, Kinnock only won 48.9% of the vote in Aberavon, against a surge in the vote for the UKIP candidate; however, in 2017, Kinnock's vote share rose by 19.2 percentage points, the biggest increase in the Labour vote in the seat's history, and his majority increased to 50.4%, the highest for an Aberavon MP since 2001. The 2017 result also made Aberavon the safest Labour seat in Wales, however the seat saw a significant swing against Labour in 2019. Boundaries 1918–1950: The Borough of Aberavon, the Urban Districts of Briton Ferry, Glencorwg, Margam, and Porthcawl, and part of the Rural Districts of Neath and Penybont. 1950–1983: The Borough of Port Talbot, the Urban Districts of Glyncorrwg and Porthcawl, and part of the Rural District of Penybont. 1983–1997: The Borough of Afan, and the Borough of Neath wards nos. 3 and 6. 1997–2010: The Borough of Port Talbot, and the Borough of Neath wards of Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North and Coedffranc West. 2010–present: The Neath Port Talbot County Borough electoral divisions of Aberavon, Baglan, Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Bryn and Cwmavon, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North, Coedffranc West, Cymmer, Glyncorrwg, Gwynfi, Margam, Port Talbot, Sandfields East, Sandfields West, and Tai-bach. The constituency is in South Wales, situated on the right bank of the River Afan, near its mouth in Swansea Bay. Commenting on the 1983 boundary changes to the constituency when moving the 2000 Loyal Address of the Blair Government in Parliament, the seat's then-MP Sir John Morris, who would retire at the next general election, said: Members of Parliament Elections Elections in the 1910s Jones withdrew in favour of Edwards on 13 December 1918. Elections in the 1920s Elections in the 1930s Elections in the 1940s Elections in the 1950s Elections in the 1960s Elections in the 1970s Elections in the 1980s Elections in the 1990s Elections in the 2000s Elections in the 2010s Of the 44 rejected ballots: 29 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. 14 voted for more than one candidate. 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. Of the 57 rejected ballots: 37 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. 20 voted for more than one candidate. Of the 57 rejected ballots: 41 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. 16 voted for more than one candidate. Of the 82 rejected ballots: 61 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. 19 voted for more than one candidate. 2 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. See also Aberavon (Senedd constituency) List of parliamentary constituencies in West Glamorgan List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales References External links Politics Resources (election results from 1922 onwards) Electoral Calculus (election results from 1955 onwards) 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report A Vision Of Britain Through Time (constituency elector numbers) Further reading Parliamentary constituencies in South Wales Politics of Neath Port Talbot Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom represented by a sitting Prime Minister

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdare

Aberdare

Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, north-west of Cardiff and east-north-east of Swansea. During the 19th century it became a thriving industrial settlement, which was also notable for the vitality of its cultural life and as an important publishing centre. Etymology The name Aberdare means "mouth/confluence of the river dare", as the town is located where the Dare river () meets the Cynon (). While the town's Welsh spelling uses formal conventions, the English spelling of the name reflects the town's pronunciation in the local Gwenhwyseg dialect of South East Wales. Dâr is an archaic Welsh word for oaks (the plural of derwen), and the valley was noted for its large and fine oaks as late as the nineteenth century. In ancient times, the river may have been associated with Daron, an ancient Celtic goddess of oak. As such, the town would share an etymology with Aberdaron and the Daron river. As with many Welsh toponyms, it is likely that the locality was known by this name long before the development of the town. History Early history There are several cairns and the remains of a circular British encampment on the mountain between Aberdare and Merthyr. This may have led to the mountain itself being named Bryn-y-Beddau (hill of graves) although other local traditions associate the name with the Battle of Hirwaun Wrgant. Middle Ages The area is traditionally given as the scene of the battle of Hirwaun Wrgant, where the allied forces of the Norman Robert Fitzhamon and Iestyn ap Gwrgant, the last Welsh prince of Glamorgan defeated Rhys ap Tewdwr, prince of Dyfed. The battle is thought to have started at Aberdare, with the areas now known as upper and lower Gadlys (The battle Court(s)), traditionally given as each armies' headquarters. The settlement of Aberdare dates from at least this period, with the first known reference being in a monastic chapter of 1203 concerning grazing right on Hirwaun Common. It was originally a small village in an agricultural district, centred around the Church of St John the Baptist, said to date from at least 1189. By the middle of the 15th century, Aberdare contained a water mill in addition to a number of thatched cottages, of which no evidence remains. Industrial Aberdare Aberdare grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century through two major industries: first iron, then coal. A branch of the Glamorganshire Canal (1811) was opened to transport these products; then the railway became the main means of transport to the South Wales coast. From the 1870s onwards, the economy of the town was dominated by the coal mining industry, with only a small tinplate works. There were also several brickworks and breweries. During the latter half of the 19th century, considerable improvements were made to the town, which became a pleasant place to live, despite the nearby collieries. A postgraduate theological college opened in connection with the Church of England in 1892, but in 1907 it moved to Llandaff. With the ecclesiastical parishes of St Fagan's (Trecynon) and Aberaman carved out of the ancient parish, Aberdare had 12 Anglican churches and one Catholic church, built in 1866 in Monk Street near the site of a cell attached to Penrhys monastery; and at one time there were over 50 Nonconformist chapels (including those in surrounding settlements such as Cwmaman and Llwydcoed). The services in the majority of the chapels were in Welsh. Most of these chapels have now closed, with many converted to other uses. The urban district includes what were once the separate villages of Aberaman, Abernant, Cwmaman, Cwmbach, Cwmdare, Llwydcoed, Penywaun and Trecynon. Population growth In 1801, the population of the parish of Aberdare was just 1,486, but the early 19th century saw rapid industrial growth, first through the ironworks, and later through the iron and steam coal industries. By the 1840s the parish population was increasing by 1,000 people every year, almost exclusively migrant workers from west Wales, which was suffering from an agricultural depression. This growth was increasingly concentrated in the previously agricultural areas of Blaengwawr and Cefnpennar to the south of the town. The population of the Aberdare District (centred on the town) was 9,322 in 1841, 18,774 in 1851, and 37,487 in 1861. Despite a small decline in the 1870s, population levels continued to increase, with the first decade of the 20th century seeing a notably sharp increase, largely as a result of the steam coal trade, reaching 53,779 in 1911. The population has since declined owing to the loss of most of the heavy industry. The Aberdare population at the 2001 census was 31,705 (ranked 13th largest in Wales). By 2011 it was 29,748, though the figure includes the surrounding populations of Aberaman, Abercwmboi, Cwmbach and Llwydcoed. Language Welsh was the prominent language until the mid 20th century and Aberdare was an important centre of Welsh language publishing. A large proportion of the early migrant population were Welsh speaking, and in 1851 only ten per cent of the population had been born outside of Wales. In his controversial evidence to the 1847 Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales - the report of which is known in Wales as the Brad y Llyfrau Gleision (Treason of the Blue Books), the Anglican vicar of Aberdare, John Griffith, stated that the English language was "generally understood" and referred to the arrival of people from anglicised areas such as Radnorshire and south Pembrokeshire. Griffith also made allegations about the Welsh speaking population and what he considered to be the degraded character of the women of Aberdare, alleging sexual promiscuity was an accepted social convention, that drunkenness and improvidence amongst the miners was common and attacking what he saw as exaggerated emotion in the religious practices of the Nonconformists. This evidence helped inform the findings of the report which would go on to stigmatise Welsh people as "ignorant", "lazy" and "immoral" and found the reason for this was the continued use of the Welsh language, which it described as "evil". The controversial reports allowed the local non-conformist minister Thomas Price of Calfaria to arrange public meetings, from which he would emerge as a leading critic of the vicar's evidence and, by implication, a defender of both the Welsh language and the morality of the local population, It is still contended that Griffiths was made vicar of Merthyr in the neighbouring valley to escape local anger, even though it was over ten years before he left Aberdare. The reports and subsequent defence would maintain the perceptions of Aberdare, the Cynon Valley and even the wider area as proudly nonconformist and defiantly Welsh speaking throughout its industrialised history. By 1901, the census recorded that 71.5% of the population of Aberdare Urban District spoke Welsh, but this fell to 65.2% in 1911. The 1911 data shows that Welsh was more widely spoken among the older generation compared to the young, and amongst women compared to men. A shift in language was expedited with the loss of men during the First World War and the resulting economic turmoil. English gradually began to replace Welsh as the community language, as shown by the decline of the Welsh language press in the town. This pattern continued after the Second World War despite the advent of Welsh medium education. Ysgol Gymraeg Aberdâr, the Welsh-medium primary school, was established in the 1950s with Idwal Rees as head teacher. According to the 2011 Census, 11.6% of Aberdare residents aged three years and over can speak Welsh, with 24.8% of 3- to 15-year-olds stating that they can speak it. Industry Iron Industry Ironworks were established at Llwydcoed and Abernant in 1799 and 1800 respectively, followed by others at Gadlys and Aberaman in 1827 and 1847. The iron industry began to expand in a significant way around 1818 when the Crawshay family of Merthyr purchased the Hirwaun ironworks and place them under independent management. In the following year, Rowland Fothergill took over the ironworks at Abernant and a few years later did the same at Llwydcoed. Both concerns later fell into the hands of his nephew Richard Fothergill. The Gadlys Ironworks was established in 1827 by Matthew Wayne, who had previously managed the Cyfarthfa ironworks at Merthyr. The Gadlys works, now considered an important archaeological site, originally comprised four blast furnaces, inner forges, rowing mills and puddling furnaces. The development of these works provided impetus to the growth of Aberdare as a nucleated town. The iron industry was gradually superseded by coal and all the five iron works had closed by 1875, as the local supply of iron ore was inadequate to meet the ever-increasing demand created by the invention of steel, and as a result the importing of ore proved more profitable. Coal industry The iron industry had a relatively small impact upon the economy of Aberdare and in 1831 only 1.2% of the population was employed in manufacturing, as opposed to 19.8% in neighbouring Merthyr Tydfil. In the early years of Aberdare's development, most of the coal worked in the parish was coking coal, and was consumed locally, chiefly in the ironworks. Although the Gadlys works was small in comparison with the other ironworks it became significant as the Waynes also became involved in the production of sale coal. In 1836, this activity led to the exploitation of the "Four-foot Seam" of high-calorific value steam coal began, and pits were sunk in rapid succession. In 1840, Thomas Powell sank a pit at Cwmbach, and during the next few years he opened another four pits. In the next few years, other local entrepreneurs now became involved in the expansion of the coal trade, including David Williams at Ynysgynon and David Davis at Blaengwawr, as well as the latter's son David Davis, Maesyffynnon. They were joined by newcomers such as Crawshay Bailey at Aberaman and, in due course, George Elliot in the lower part of the valley. This coal was valuable for steam railways and steam ships, and an export trade began, via the Taff Vale Railway and the port of Cardiff. The population of the parish rose from 6,471 in 1841 to 14,999 in 1851 and 32,299 in 1861 and John Davies described it as "the most dynamic place in Wales". In 1851, the Admiralty decided to use Welsh steam coal in ships of the Royal Navy, and this decision boosted the reputation of Aberdare's product and launched a huge international export market. Coal mined in Aberdare parish rose from in 1844 to in 1850, and the coal trade, which after 1875 was the chief support of the town, soon reached huge dimensions. The growth of the coal trade inevitably led to a number of industrial disputes, some of which were local and others which affected the wider coalfield. Trade unionism began to appear in the Aberdare Valley at intervals from the 1830s onwards but the first significant manifestation occurred during the Aberdare Strike of 1857–8. The dispute was initiated by the depression in trade which followed the Crimean War and saw the local coal owners successfully impose a reduction in wages. The dispute did, however, witness an early manifestation of mass trade unionism amongst the miners of the valley and although unsuccessful the dispute saw the emergence of a stronger sense of solidarity amongst the miners. Steam coal was subsequently found in the Rhondda and further west, but many of the great companies of the Welsh coal industry's Gilded Age started operation in Aberdare and the lower Cynon Valley, including those of Samuel Thomas, David Davies and Sons, Nixon's Navigation and Powell Duffryn. During the early years of the twentieth century, the Aberdare valley became the focus of increased militancy among the mining workforce and an unofficial strike by 11,000 miners in the district from 20 October 1910 unyil 2 February 1911 attracted much attention at the time, although it was ultimately overshadowed by the Cambrian dispute in the neighbouring Rhondda valley which became synonymous with the so-called Tonypandy Riots. In common with the rest of the South Wales coalfield, Aberdare's coal industry commenced a long decline after World War I, and the last two deep mines still in operation in the 1960s were the small Aberaman and Fforchaman collieries, which closed in 1962 and 1965 respectively. On 11 May 1919, an extensive fire broke out on Cardiff Street, Aberdare. With the decline of both iron and coal, Aberdare has become reliant on commercial businesses as a major source of employment. Its industries include cable manufacture, smokeless fuels, and tourism. Government As a small village in the upland valleys of Glamorgan, Aberdare did not play any significant part in political life until its development as an industrial settlement. It was part of the lordship of Miskin, and the ancient office of High Constable continued in ceremonial form until relatively recent times. Parliamentary elections In 1832, Aberdare was removed from the Glamorgan county constituency and became part of the parliamentary borough (constituency) of Merthyr Tydfil. For much of the nineteenth century, the representation was initially controlled by the ironmasters of Merthyr, notably the Guest family. From 1852 until 1868 the seat was held by Henry Austen Bruce whose main industrial interests lay in the Aberdare valley. Bruce was a Liberal but was viewed with suspicion by the more radical faction which became increasingly influential within Welsh Liberalism in the 1860s. The radicals supported such policies as the disestablishment of the Church of England and were closely allied to the Liberation Society. 1868 general election Nonconformist ministers played a prominent role in this new politics and, at Aberdare, they found an effective spokesman in the Rev Thomas Price minister of Calfaria, Aberdare. Following the granting of a second parliamentary seat to the borough of Merthyr Tydfil in 1867, the Liberals of Aberdare sought to ensure that a candidate from their part of the constituency was returned alongside the sitting member, Henry Austen Bruce. Their choice fell upon Richard Fothergill, owner of the ironworks at Abernant, who was enthusiastically supported by the Rev Thomas Price. Shortly before the election, however, Henry Richard intervened as a radical Liberal candidate, invited by the radicals of Merthyr. To many people's surprise, Price was lukewarm about his candidature and continued to support Fothergill. Ultimately, Henry Richard won a celebrated victory with Fothergill in second place and Bruce losing his seat. Richard thus became one of the-first radical MPs from Wales. 1874–1914 At the 1874 General Election, both Richard and Fothergill were again returned, although the former was criticised for his apparent lack of sympathy towards the miners during the industrial disputes of the early 1870s. This led to the emergence of Thomas Halliday as the first labour or working-class candidate to contest a Welsh constituency. Although he polled well, Halliday fell short of being elected. For the remainder of the nineteenth century, the constituency was represented by industrialists, most notably David Alfred Thomas. In 1900, however, Thomas was joined by Keir Hardie, the ILP candidate, who became the first labour representative to be returned for a Welsh constituency independent of the Liberal Party. Twentieth century The Aberdare constituency came into being at the 1918 election. The first representative was Charles Butt Stanton who had been elected at a by-election following Hardie's death in 1915. However, in 1922, Stanton was defeated by a Labour candidate and the party has held the seat ever since. The only significant challenge came from Plaid Cymru at the 1970 and February 1974 General Elections but this performance has not since been repeated. From 1984 until 2019 the parliamentary seat, now known as Cynon Valley was held by Ann Clwyd of Labour. Local government Aberdare was an ancient parish within Glamorgan. Until the mid-nineteenth century the local government of Aberdare and its locality remained in the hands of traditional structures such as the parish vestry and the High Constable, who was chosen on an annual basis. However, the rapid industrial development of the parish resulted in the situation where these traditional bodies could not cope with the realities of an urbanised, industrial community which had developed without any planning or facilities. During the early decades of the century the iron masters gradually imposed their influence over local affairs and this remained the case following the formation of the Merthyr Board of Guardians in 1836. During the 1850s and early 1860s, however, as coal displaced iron as the main industry in the valley, the ironmasters were displaced as the dominant group in local government and administration by an alliance between mostly indigenous coal owners, shopkeepers and tradesmen, professional men and dissenting ministers. A central figure in this development was the Rev Thomas Price. The growth of this alliance was rooted in the reaction to the 1847 Education Reports and the subsequent efforts to establish a British School at Aberdare. In the 1840s there were no adequate sanitary facilities or water supply and life expectancy was low. Outbreaks of cholera and typhus were commonplace. Against this background, Thomas Webster Rammell prepared a report for the General Board of Health on the sanitary condition of the parish, which recommended that a local board of health be established. The whole parish of Aberdare was formally declared a local board district on 31 July 1854, to be governed by the Aberdare Local Board of Health. Its first chairman was Richard Fothergill and the members included David Davis, Blaengwawr, David Williams (Alaw Goch), Rees Hopkin Rhys and the Rev. Thomas Price. It was followed by the Aberdare School Board in 1871. By 1889, the Local Board of Health had initiated a number of developments which included the purchase of local reservoirs from the Aberdare Waterworks Company for £97,000, a sewerage scheme costing £35,000, as well as the opening of Aberdare Public Park and a local fever hospital. The lack of a Free Library, however, remained a concern. Later, the formation of the Glamorgan County Council (upon which Aberdare had five elected members) in 1889, followed by the Aberdare Urban District Council, which replaced the Local Board in 1894, transformed the local politics of the Aberdare valley. At the 1889 Glamorgan County Council Elections most of the elected representatives were coalowners and industrialists and the only exception in the earlier period was the miners' agent David Morgan (Dai o'r Nant), elected in 1892 as a labour representative. From the early 1900s, however, Labour candidates began to gain ground and dominated local government from the 1920s onwards. The same pattern was seen on the Aberdare UDC. Aberdare Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The area became part of the borough of Cynon Valley within the new county of Mid Glamorgan. The area of the former urban district was made a community, later being subdivided in 1982 into five communities: Aberaman, Cwmbach, Llwydcoed, Penywaun, and a smaller Aberdare community. The Aberdare community was further divided in 2017 into two communities called Aberdare East and Aberdare West. Aberdare East includes Aberdare town centre and the village of Abernant. Aberdare West includes Cwmdare, Cwm Sian and Trecynon. No community council exists for either of the Aberdare communities. Cynon Valley Borough Council and Mid Glamorgan County Council were both abolished in 1996, since when Aberdare has been governed by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. The town lies mainly in the Aberdare East ward, represented by two county councillors. Nearby Cwmdare, Llwydcoed and Trecynon are represented by the Aberdare West/Llwydcoed ward. Both wards have been represented by the Labour Party since 2012. Culture Aberdare, during its boom years, was considered a centre of Welsh culture: it hosted the first National Eisteddfod in 1861, with which David Williams (Alaw Goch) was closely associated. The town erected a monument in the local park to commemorate the occasion. A number of local eisteddfodau had long been held in the locality, associated with figures such as William Williams (Carw Coch) The Eisteddfod was again held in Aberdare in 1885, and also in 1956 at Aberdare Park where the Gorsedd standing stones still exist. At the last National Eisteddfod held in Aberdare in 1956 Mathonwy Hughes won the chair. From the mid nineteenth century, Aberdare was an important publishing centre where a large number of books and journals were produced, the majority of which were in the Welsh language. A newspaper entitled Y Gwladgarwr (the Patriot) was published at Aberdare from 1856 until 1882 and was circulated widely throughout the South Wales valleys. From 1875 a more successful newspaper, Tarian y Gweithiwr (the Workman's Shield) was published at Aberdare by John Mills. Y Darian, as it was known, strongly supported the trade union movements among the miners and ironworkers of the valleys. The miners' leader, William Abraham, derived support from the newspaper, which was also aligned with radical nonconformist liberalism. The rise of the political labour movement and the subsequent decline of the Welsh language in the valleys, ultimately led to its decline and closure in 1934. The Coliseum Theatre is Aberdare's main arts venue, containing a 600-seat auditorium and cinema. It is situated in nearby Trecynon and was built in 1938 using miners' subscriptions. The Second World War poet Alun Lewis, was born near Aberdare in the village Cwmaman and there is a plaque commemorating him, including a quotation from his poem The Mountain over Aberdare. The founding members of the rock band Stereophonics originated from the nearby village of Cwmaman. It is also the hometown of guitarist Mark Parry of Vancouver rock band The Manvils. Famed anarchist-punk band Crass played their last live show for striking miners in Aberdare during the UK miners' strike. Griffith Rhys Jones − or Caradog as he was commonly known − was the Conductor of the famous 'Côr Mawr' of some 460 voices (the South Wales Choral Union), which twice won first prize at Crystal Palace choral competitions in London in the 1870s. He is depicted in the town's most prominent statue by sculptor Goscombe John, unveiled on Victoria Square in 1920. Aberdare was culturally twinned with the German town of Ravensburg. Religion Anglican Church The original parish church of St John the Baptist was originally built in 1189. Some of its original architecture is still intact. With the development of Aberdare as an industrial centre in the nineteenth century it became increasingly apparent that the ancient church was far too small to service the perceived spiritual needs of an urban community, particularly in view of the rapid growth of nonconformity from the 1830s onwards. Eventually, John Griffith, the rector of Aberdare undertook to raise funds to build a new church, leading to the rapid construction of St Elvan's Church in the town centre between 1851 and 1852. This Church in Wales church still stands the heart of the parish of Aberdare and has had extensive work since its erection. The church has a modern electrical, two-manual and pedal board pipe organ, that is still used in services. John Griffith, vicar of Aberdare, who built St Elvan's, transformed the role of the Anglican church in the valley by building a number of other churches, including St Fagan's, Trecynon. Other churches in the parish are St Luke's (Cwmdare), St James's (Llwydcoed) and St Matthew's Church (1891) (Abernant). In the parish of Aberaman and Cwmaman is St Margaret's Church, with an old, but beautiful, pipe organ with two manuals and a pedal board. Also in this parish is St Joseph's Church, Cwmaman. St Joseph's has recently undergone much recreational work, almost converting the church into a community centre, surrounded by a beautiful, floral garden and leading to the Cwmaman Sculpture Trail. However, regular church services still take place. Here, there is a two-manual and pedal board electric organ, with speakers at the front and sides of the church. In 1910 there were 34 Anglican churches in the Urban District of Aberdare. A survey of the attendance at places of worship on a particular Sunday in that year recorded that 17.8% of worshippers attended church services, with the remainder attending nonconformist chapels. Nonconformity The Aberdare Valley was a stronghold of Nonconformity from the mid-nineteenth century until the inter-war years. In the aftermath of the 1847 Education Reports nonconformists became increasingly active in the political and educational life of Wales and in few places was this as prevalent as at Aberdare. The leading figure was Thomas Price, minister of Calfaria, Aberdare. Aberdare was a major centre of the 1904–05 Religious Revival, which had begun at Loughor near Swansea. The revival aroused alarm among ministers for the revolutionary, even anarchistic, impact it had upon chapel congregations and denominational organisation. In particular, it was seen as drawing attention away from pulpit preaching and the role of the minister. The local newspaper, the Aberdare Leader, regarded the revival with suspicion from the outset, objecting to the 'abnormal heat' which it engendered. Trecynon was particularly affected by the revival, and the meetings held there were sais to have aroused more emotion and excitement than the more restrained meetings in Aberdare itself. The impact of the revival was significant in the short term, but in the longer term was fairly transient. Once the immediate impact of the revival had faded, it was clear from the early twentieth century that there was a gradual decline in the influence of the chapels. This can be explained by several factors, including the rise of socialism and the process of linguistic change which saw the younger generation increasingly turn to the English language. There were also theological controversies such as that over the New Theology propounded by R.J. Campbell. Of the many chapels, few are still used for their original purpose and a number of closed since the turn of the millennium. Many have been converted for housing or other purposes (including one at Robertstown which has become a mosque), and others demolished. Among the notable chapels were Calfaria, Aberdare and Seion, Cwmaman (Baptist); Saron, Aberaman and Siloa, Aberdare (Independent); and Bethania, Aberdare (Calvinistic Methodist). Independents The earliest Welsh Independent, or Congregationalist chapel in the Aberdare area was Ebenezer, trecynon, although meetings had been held from the latter years of the eighteenth century in dwelling houses in the locality, for example at Hirwaun. During the nineteenth century, the Independents showed the biggest increases in terms of places of worship: from two in 1837 to twenty-five (four of them being English causes), in 1897. By 1910 there were 35 Independent chapels, with a total membership of 8,612. Siloa Chapel was the largest of the Independent chapels in Aberdare and is one of the few that remain open today, having been 're-established' as a Welsh language chapel. The Independent ministers of nineteenth-century Aberdare included some powerful personalities but none had the kind of wider social authority which Thomas Price enjoyed amongst the Baptists. Of the other Independent chapels in the valley Saron, in Davis Street, Aberaman, was used for regular services by a small group of members until 2011. For many years, these were held in a small side-room, and not the chapel itself. The chapel has a large vestry comprising rows of two-way-facing wooden benches and a stage, with a side entrance onto Beddoe Street and back entrance to Lewis Street. Although the building is not in good repair, the interior, including pulpit and balcony seating area (back & sides), was in good order but the chapel eventually closed due to the very small number of members remaining. In February 1999, Saron was made a Grade II Listed Building. Baptists The Baptists were the most influential of the nonconformist denominations in Aberdare and their development was led by the Rev. Thomas Price who came to Aberdare in the early 1840s as minister of Calfaria Chapel. In 1837 the Baptists had three chapels, but in 1897 there were twenty, seventeen of them being Welsh. By 1910 the number of chapels had increased to 30, with a total membership of 7,422. Most of these Baptist chapels were established under the influence of Thomas Price who encouraged members to establish branch chapels to attract migrants who flocked to the town and locality from rural Wales. The chapels came together for regular gatherings, including baptismal services which were held in the River Cynon As a result, Price exerted an influence in the religious life of the locality which was far greater than that of any other minister. Calvinistic Methodists By 1910 there were 24 Calvinistic Methodist chapels in the Aberdare Urban District with a total membership of 4,879. The most prominent of these was Bethania, Aberdare, once the largest chapel in Aberdare. Derelict for many years, it was demolished in 2015. The Methodists were numerically powerful and while some of their ministers such as William James of Bethania served on the Aberdare School Board and other public bodies, their constitution militated against the sort of active political action which came more naturally to the Baptists and Independents. Other denominations In 1878 Mother Shepherd, a native Welsh speaker, was sent to Aberdare by the Salvation Army at the start of a period of growth for their mission. After five years she had created seven new stations before she was recalled to London. Shepherd would return to Aberdare working for the community. In 1930 she was given a public funeral. The Wesleyan Methodists had 14 places of worship by 1910. There was also a significant Unitarian tradition in the valley and three places of worship by 1910. Highland Place Unitarian Church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2010, with a number of lectures on its history and the history of Unitarianism in Wales taking place there. The church has a two-manual pipe organ with pedal board that is used to accompany all services. The current organist is Grace Jones, the sister of the former organist Jacob Jones. The connected schoolroom is used for post-service meetings and socialising. Judaism Seymour Street was once home to a synagogue which opened its doors in the late 1800s and which closed in 1957. The site now has a blue plaque. Education The state of education in the parish was a cause for concern during the early industrial period as is illustrated by the reaction to the 1847 Education Reports. Initially, there was an outcry, led by the Rev Thomas Price against the comments made by the vicar of Aberdare in his submission to the commissioners. However, on closer reflection, the reports related the deficiencies of educational provision, not only in Aberdare itself but also in the communities of the valleys generally. In so doing they not only criticised the ironmasters for their failure to provide schools for workers' children but also the nonconformists for not establishing British Schools. At the ten schools in Aberdare there was accommodation for only 1,317 children, a small proportion of the population. Largely as a result of these criticisms, the main nonconformist denominations worked together to establish a British School, known locally as Ysgol y Comin, which was opened in 1848, accommodating 200 pupils. Funds were raised which largely cleared the debts and the opening of the school was marked by a public meeting addressed by Price and David Williams (Alaw Goch). Much energy was expended during this period on conflicts between Anglicans and nonconformists over education. The establishment of the Aberdare School Board in 1871 brought about an extension of educational provision but also intensified religious rivalries. School Board elections were invariably fought on religious grounds. Despite these tensions the Board took over a number of existing schools and established new ones. By 1889, fourteen schools were operated by the Board but truancy and lack of attendance remained a problem, as in many industrial districts. In common with other public bodies at the time (see 'Local Government' above), membership of the School Board was dominated by coal owners and colliery officials, nonconformist ministers, professional men and tradesmen. Only occasionally was an Anglican clergyman elected and, with the exception of David Morgan (Dai o'r Nant), no working class candidates were elected for more than one term. Colleges Coleg y Cymoedd Secondary schools Aberdare Community School St. John the Baptist School (Aberdare) Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun Transport The town is served by Aberdare railway station and Aberdare bus station, opposite each other in the town centre. The town has also been subject to an extensive redevelopment scheme during 2012–13. Sports Aberdare was noted as "very remarkable" for its traditions of Taplasau Hâf (summer games), races and gwrolgampau ("manly sports") which were said to have been a feature of the area since at least the 1640s. The town is also home to Yr Ynys, an historic sports ground which has the distinction of hosting the first Rugby League international, a professional Rugby League team, a football League side and an All Blacks' tour match. Today the Ynys hosts the town's Rugby Union and Cricket teams, as well as the Sobell Leisure Centre and the Ron Jones Athletics Stadium, a 263-seat stadium with crumb rubber track and field sports facilities, home to Aberdare Valley AAC. Cricket A cricket club was re-established at the Ynys in 1968 and was named Riverside Cricket Club in reference to its location on the banks of the river Dare. The club would later be renamed Dare Valley CC, before finally changing its name to Aberdare CC. In 2008 the club was granted a 25-year lease on the land outside the boundary of the Ynys' pitch 1, where a club house and training nets were soon constructed. This was followed by the building of a Community Hub and Café in the 2010s. Today, the club runs 3 adult teams and 4 junior sides. Rugby League The Northern Union hired the Ynys on the 1 January 1908 to host what would be the first ever international rugby league match. Played on a near frozen pitch, the match between Wales and the New Zealand All Golds proved to be a close and exciting game. The decisive score came from local star and former Aberdare RFC player, Dai "Tarw" Jones, who scored a try just minutes before the final whistle, giving Wales a 9–8 victory. The match attracted 15,000 paying spectators, with the gate receipts of £560 highlighting the commercial potential of rugby league at the Ynys. This took place at a time when the Northern Union was looking to establish professional teams across south Wales and just months after the Welsh Rugby Union had sanctioned Aberdare RFC for professionalism (banning Jones for life). As such, discussions on the establishment of a Rugby League club in Aberdare advanced quickly and on 21 July 1908, Aberdare RLFC were admitted to the Northern Union's Rugby League. On 5 September 1908 the new team played their first match against Wigan in front of a crowd of 3,000 at the Ynys. The potential for crowd support was again demonstrated when on the 10th November 1908 the Ynys hosted its second international side as 5,000 spectators watched Aberdare take on the first touring Australian team. However the Aberdare club side could not replicate the heroics of the Welsh team, losing the match 10–37. Indeed, Aberdare struggled under Northern Union rules and initially high crowd numbers deteriorate with the poor results, which saw Aberdare finishing their only season in the Rugby Football League as the bottom club. Finally on 10 July 1909, Aberdare reported 'unexpected difficulties' in its finances and resigned from the Northern Rugby League. Rugby Union A rugby club representing Aberdare was recorded as early as 1876, but the modern Aberdare RFC traces its history back to a foundation of 1890. The club had great success in the early twentieth century with local star Dai 'Tarw' Jones captaining the club from 1905 to 1907. Jones gained recognition as a player in club, representative and international games. Most notably, Jones played an important part in the "Match of the century", when Wales defeated the New Zealand All Blacks. In 1907, Jones and the Aberdare club played a pivotal role in the professionalism scandal, with the Welsh Rugby Union permanently suspending the club's entire committee and a number of players (including a lifetime ban for Jones). These events would quickly lead to many of the town's players and fans switching to rugby league, with the first ever rugby league international and the founding of Aberdare RLFC in 1908. Despite the suspensions, rugby union continued in the town as the club (renamed Aberaman RFC) moved to Aberaman Park. The Ynys Stadium would host its first international rugby union side on 12 December 1935, when the 1935-36 All Blacks played a tour match against a Mid-Districts side. The All Blacks won the match 31–10 in front of a crowd of 6,000. Aberaman RFC returned to the Ynys in the 1960s. In February 1971, a clubhouse was opened at the old Crown Hotel in Gloucester Street, this was followed by the construction of a grand stand at the Ynys costing £20,000. Following the advent of professionalism in rugby union, the WRU sanctions against Aberdare were no longer applicable. As such, the club took the name Aberdare RUFC once again. Aberdare is also home to Abercwmboi RFC and Hirwaun RFC. Soccer The Ynys stadium was also home to Aberdare Athletic F.C., members of the Football League between 1921 and 1927. Aberdare finished bottom in their final season and folded in 1928 after failing to be re-elected to the league. Aberaman Athletic F.C. continued to play until World War II, and was succeeded by Aberdare & Aberaman Athletic in 1945 and Aberdare Town F.C. in 1947. The club continue to play in the Welsh Football League. Today, Aberdare Town plays in the South Wales Alliance League and are based at Aberaman Park. Notable people See also :Category:People from Aberdare Notable current and former residents and natives of Aberdare include: Henry Austin Bruce – 1st Baron Aberdare & Home Secretary (1868–1873) Les Cartwright - Former Association Footballer and Wales international, played for Coventry City and Wrexham AFC Rose Davies – Labour politician and feminist Ian Evans – Former Rugby Union Player and Wales international, played for Ospreys and Bristol. Currently coaching at the Dragons Lyn Evans – particle physicist and project leader of the Large Hadron Collider Ioan Gruffudd – actor, born in Llwydcoed, Aberdare Patrick Hannan (presenter) – broadcaster David "Tarw" Jones – Dual code rugby international Alun Lewis – War poet Arthur Linton - cyclist Lee Lucas - Association Footballer, played for Swansea City and Motherwell. Jimmy Michael – World cycling champion 'Big' Jim Mills – Wales & Great Britain rugby league international John Morgan – Canadian comedian, Royal Canadian Air Farce Mihangel Morgan – Welsh language writer, born in Trecynon, some of his literary works feature Aberdare Roy Noble – Welsh broadcaster, has lived near Aberdare for the past 30 years R. Ifor Parry – Congregationalist Minister and schoolteacher Jason Price - Former Association Footballer, played for Swansea City and Doncaster Rovers Thomas Price (Baptist minister) – Baptist Minister and radical politician Ieuan Rhys – actor, from Trecynon Rhys Hopkin Rhys – 19th century industrialist and prominent local figure Rhian Samuel – composer and professor of music Bethan Sayed – member of the Senedd for the South Wales (West) Region Stereophonics – all three original members, Kelly Jones, Richard Jones and Stuart Cable were brought up in Cwmaman, Aberdare Rees Thomas - Former Association Footballer, played for Cardiff City, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and Portsmouth Jo Walton – fantasy novelist, now living in Montreal, Quebec David Young – rugby player and coach, raised in Penywaun See also List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom Aberdare Park References Sources Books Journals Newspapers Aberdare Leader Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian Online External sources BBC website on Aberdare Website of the Parish of St Fagans Aberdare External links www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Aberdare and surrounding area Towns in Rhondda Cynon Taf Former communities of Rhondda Cynon Taf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur%20William%20%C3%A0%20Beckett

Arthur William à Beckett

Arthur William à Beckett (25 October 1844 – 14 January 1909) was an English journalist and intellectual. Biography He was a younger son of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett and Mary Anne à Beckett, brother of Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and educated at Felsted School. Besides fulfilling other journalistic engagements, Beckett was on the staff of Punch from 1874 to 1902, edited the Sunday Times 1891–1895, and the Naval and Military Magazine in 1896. He gave an account of his father and his own reminiscences in The à Becketts of Punch (1903). A childhood friend (and distant relative) of W. S. Gilbert, Beckett briefly feuded with Gilbert in 1869, but the two patched up the friendship, and Gilbert even later collaborated on projects with Beckett's brother. He was married to Suzanne Frances Winslow, daughter of the noted psychiatrist Forbes Benignus Winslow. He is buried in the churchyard at St Mary Magdalen, Mortlake. Works He published: Comic Guide to the Royal Academy, with his brother Gilbert (1863–64) Fallen Amongst Thieves (1869) Our Holiday in the Highlands (1874) The Shadow Witness and The Doom of Saint Quirec, with Francis Burnand (1875–76) The Ghost of Greystone Grange (1877) The Mystery of Mostyn Manor (1878) Traded Out; Hard Luck; Stone Broke; Papers from Pump Handle Court, by a Briefless Barrister (1884) Modern Arabian Nights (1885) The Member for Wrottenborough (1895) Greenroom Recollections (1896) The Modern Adam (1899) London at the End of the Century (1900) With F. C. Burnand he co-authored: The Doom of St. Querec (1875) The Shadow Witness (1876) He wrote for the theatre two three-act comedies: L.S.D. (Royalty Theatre, 1872); About Town (Court Theatre, 1873, it ran for over 150 nights); and On Strike (Court Theatre, 1873, a domestic drama in one act) ; Faded Flowers (The Haymarket); Long Ago (Royalty Theatre, 1882); From Father to Son (Liverpool, 1881, a dramatised version of his novel Fallen among Thieves written in 3 acts in cooperation with J. Palgrave Simpson). Notes References External links 1844 births 1909 deaths English male journalists English humorists Burials at St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdour

Aberdour

Aberdour (; Scots: , ) is a scenic and historic village on the south coast of Fife, Scotland. It is on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, looking south to the island of Inchcolm and its Abbey, and to Leith and Edinburgh beyond. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 1,633. The village's winding High Street lies a little inland from the coast. Narrow lanes run off it, providing access to the more hidden parts of the village and the shoreline itself. The village nestles between the bigger coastal towns of Burntisland to the east and Dalgety Bay to the west. The parish of Aberdour takes its name from this village, and had a population of 1,972 at the 2011 Census. Etymology Aberdour means 'mouth of the Dour'. The first element is the Pictish word aber 'river mouth'. The name of the Dour Burn, which enters the River Forth at the village's harbour, is from Pictish 'water'. A cognate of this word is also seen in Dover and Andover. The Pictish word was subsequently changed to Gaelic dobhar. Aberdour is recorded in 1179 as Abirdoure and in 1126 as "Abirdaur". History For much of its history Aberdour was two villages, Wester Aberdour and Easter Aberdour, on either side of the Dour Burn; however this distinction was blurred by the 19th century arrival of the railway. In the 18th century Aberdour's harbour was improved by the addition of a stone pier to help handle the coal traffic from nearby collieries. However, in the 1850s the traffic changed dramatically, and Aberdour Harbour became a popular destination for pleasure steamers from Leith. This in turn led to the building of a deeper water pier a little around the bay at Hawkcraig, and to the development of hotels and many of the other services still on view today in the village. The railway came to Aberdour in 1890, with the building of the line east from the newly opened Forth Bridge. The station has won many "best kept station" awards. Geography The A921, the main road along the south coast of Fife, leads down the High Street of Wester Aberdour, before kinking sharply left to cross the railway line, then right again to progress through Easter Aberdour's Main Street. Wester Aberdour has a narrow through road more closely hemmed in by shops and hotels. A number of vernacular buildings of the 17th-early 19th centuries add to the historic scene. Close to the railway bridge, three lanes continue eastwards, presumably once the route of the original High Street before the arrival of the railway. One now leads to Aberdour railway station, a beautifully kept and cared for example of a traditional station, in keeping with its role of transporting at least a quarter of the village's working population to their work each day. A second lane leads alongside the railway line to Aberdour Castle, while a third leads to the restored Aberdour House. A little further west, a narrow road closely lined with high walls, Shore Road, leads down to the West Sands and the Harbour. For many this area is the highlight of any visit to Aberdour; parking at the foot of Shore Road is usually at a premium. Another road leads coastwards from Easter Aberdour. Hawkcraig Road leads past St Fillan's Church and through Silversand Park, home to Aberdour Shinty Club, en route to the much better parking area on Hawkcraig. This was formerly a sandstone quarry and then used as the council refuse tip before becoming a carpark, part of the overgrown and rocky bluff separating Aberdour's two bays. From here is it a short walk to the Silver Sands, Aberdour's busiest and most popular beach. On the west side of Hawkcraig Point there is a short concrete jetty that was used as part of the development of radio controlled torpedoes during World War I. The foundations of the Radio Hut can still be seen in the lea of the hill. Landmarks Virtually between the two former settlements, though actually part of Easter Aberdour, lies Aberdour Castle. This started life as a modest hall house on a site overlooking the Dour Burn in the 13th century. The oldest part of the present semi-ruin constitutes one of the earliest surviving stone castles in mainland Scotland. Over the next four hundred years the Castle was successively developed according to contemporary architectural ideas. Notable are the parts, still largely roofed, built by the Earls of Morton, with refined Renaissance detail, in the second half of the 16th century. A fire in the late 17th century was followed by some repairs, but in 1725 the family purchased 17th-century Aberdour House, on the west side of the burn and in Wester Aberdour, and the medieval Castle was allowed to fall into relative decay. Aberdour Castle is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland and open to the public (entrance charge). After a period of dereliction Aberdour House was developed for residential use in the early 1990s. Neighbouring St Fillan's Church is one of the best-preserved medieval parish churches in Scotland, dating largely to the 12th century and originally under control of Inchcolm Abbey. A south arcade was added to the nave in the early 16th century (open in summer). It was controversially considered for closure by the Church of Scotland in 2022, but a campaign was mounted to keep it open. The Aberdour obelisk was built by Lord Morton on his departure from the village to relocate to a large home in Edinburgh, it was built so he could see his former hometown from his new house when he looked through binoculars - it stands in a cowfield between the castle and the beach. The ruined 16th-century church of St Drostan stands beside Dour Burn. It is all that is left of the kirktown of Aberdour. Its bellcote was reused in New Aberdour Parish Church. Culture Aberdour hosts an annual festival, which runs from late July to early August and features musical events, shows, sporting events and children's events. Aberdour was a 2005 finalist in the prestigious "Beautiful Scotland in Bloom" awards. It was nominated for "Best Coastal Resort" in Scotland along with St Andrews in Fife, North Berwick in East Lothian, and Rothesay in Argyll and Bute. In 2014 Aberdour was voted Best Coastal Village in Fife and Best Small Coastal Village in Scotland. It also received a Gold Award in Beautiful Fife and Beautiful Scotland. In 2018 Aberdour was voted the second-best place to live in Scotland by The Sunday Times list of Best Places to Live Aberdour is home to Fife's only senior shinty club. Aberdour Shinty Club field teams in both the men's and women's senior national leagues. Aberdour's beaches Aberdour has two beaches - the Silver Sands, and the Black Sands. The Silver Sands are located on the East side of the village, and has previously held a "Blue flag" beach award, which denotes an exemplary standard of cleanliness, facilities, safety, environmental education and management. New facilities are currently under construction by Fife Council, which will much improve the beach throughout the year. The Black Sands (also known as the West Beach), as the contrasting name would suggest, have a rockier and darker sand, and are also popular with visitors exploring the rock caves and fascinating sea life. During the summer months (April–September), dogs are banned from the Silver Sands but they are allowed all year round at the West Beach. The two beaches are linked by part of the Fife Coastal Path which also takes you past the harbour and the Hawkcraig - a popular rock climbing location. Silver Sands is becoming more popular with open water swimmers, who swim daily in the sea, both as a leisure pursuit, and as training for open water competition. The bay provides safety from the currents, although only the adventurous swim round to the harbour. Several scenes of Richard Jobson's 2003 movie 16 Years of Alcohol were filmed at the Black Sands in Aberdour. Inchcolm The island of Inchcolm, or Island (Gaelic innis) of Columba, a quarter of a mile from the shore, forms part of the parish of Aberdour. Its name implies associations dating back to the time of Columba and, although undocumented before the 12th century, it may have served the monks of the Columban family as an 'Iona of the east' from early times. During the First and Second World Wars, Inchcolm was occupied by the army as part of the defences of the Firth of Forth. There are extensive remains of gun emplacements, barracks, etc. from these periods. The island is notable for its wildlife, especially seabirds and seals. These draw many visitors in summer, along with the remains of the historic Abbey, and is a popular setting for weddings. Notable residents Notable past and present residents of the town include: Rev Robert Liston Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1787 Geoffrey Keyes, recipient of the Victoria Cross William Wotherspoon, rugby union player Twin cities/towns Corte Franca, Italy (since 31 July 2004) See also Aber and Inver as place-name elements Aberdour Shinty Club List of places in Fife References External links Aberdour Festival website Villages in Fife Parishes in Fife

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abettor

Abettor

Abettor (from to abet, Old French abeter, à and beter, to bait, urge dogs upon any one; this word is probably of Scandinavian origin, meaning to cause to bite), is a legal term implying one who instigates, encourages or assists another to commit an offence. An abettor differs from an accessory in that he must be present at the commission of the crime; in addition they are equally guilty as they knowingly and voluntarily assist in the commission of that crime. All abettors (with certain exceptions) are principals, and, in the absence of specific statutory provision to the contrary, are punishable to the same extent as the actual perpetrator of the offence. A person may in certain cases be convicted as an abettor in the commission of an offence in which he or she could not be a principal, e.g. a woman or boy under fourteen years of age in aiding rape, or a solvent person in aiding and abetting a bankrupt to commit offences against the bankruptcy laws. More recently, an abettor is generally known as an accomplice. See also Aiding and abetting References Criminal law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders%20Celsius

Anders Celsius

Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germany, Italy and France. He founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741, and in 1742 proposed (an inverted form of) the Centigrade temperature scale which was later renamed Celsius in his honour. Early life and education Anders Celsius was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on 27 November 1701. His family originated from Ovanåker in the province of Hälsingland. Their family estate was at Doma, also known as Höjen or Högen (locally as Högen 2). The name Celsius is a latinization of the estate's name (Latin celsus "mound"). As the son of an astronomy professor, Nils Celsius, nephew of botanist Olof Celsius and the grandson of the mathematician Magnus Celsius and the astronomer Anders Spole, Celsius chose a career in science. He was a talented mathematician from an early age. Anders Celsius studied at Uppsala University, where his father was a teacher, and in 1730 he, too, became a professor of astronomy there. Noted Swedish dramatic poet and actor Johan Celsius was also his uncle. Career In 1730, Celsius published the (New Method for Determining the Distance from the Earth to the Sun). His research also involved the study of auroral phenomena, which he conducted with his assistant Olof Hiorter, and he was the first to suggest a connection between the aurora borealis and changes in the magnetic field of the Earth. He observed the variations of a compass needle and found that larger deflections correlated with stronger auroral activity. At Nuremberg in 1733, he published a collection of 316 observations of the aurora borealis made by himself and others over the period 1716–1732. Celsius traveled frequently in the early 1730s, including to Germany, Italy and France, when he visited most of the major European observatories. In Paris he advocated the measurement of an arc of the meridian in Lapland. In 1736, he participated in the expedition organized for that purpose by the French Academy of Sciences, led by the French mathematician Pierre Louis Maupertuis (1698–1759) to measure a degree of latitude. The aim of the expedition was to measure the length of a degree along a meridian, close to the pole, and compare the result with a similar expedition to Peru, today in Ecuador, near the equator. The expeditions confirmed Isaac Newton's belief that the shape of the earth is an ellipsoid flattened at the poles. In 1738, he published the (Observations on Determining the Shape of the Earth). Celsius's participation in the Lapland expedition won him much respect in Sweden with the government and his peers, and played a key role in generating interest from the Swedish authorities in donating the resources required to construct a new modern observatory in Uppsala. He was successful in the request, and Celsius founded the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741. The observatory was equipped with instruments purchased during his long voyage abroad, comprising the most modern instrumental technology of the period. He made observations of eclipses and various astronomical objects and published catalogues of carefully determined magnitudes for some 300 stars using his own photometric system (mean error=0.4 mag). In 1742 he proposed the Celsius temperature scale in a paper to the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, the oldest Swedish scientific society, founded in 1710. His thermometer was calibrated with a value of 0 for the boiling point of water and 100 for the freezing point. In 1745, a year after Celsius's death, the scale was reversed by Carl Linnaeus to facilitate more practical measurement. Celsius conducted many geographical measurements for the Swedish General map, and was one of earliest to note that much of Scandinavia is slowly rising above sea level, a continuous process which has been occurring since the melting of the ice from the latest ice age. However, he wrongly posed the notion that the water was evaporating. In 1725 he became secretary of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, and served at this post until his death from tuberculosis in 1744. He supported the formation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm in 1739 by Linnaeus and five others, and was elected a member at the first meeting of this academy. It was in fact Celsius who proposed the new academy's name. Works See also Celsius family Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit References Citations Sources External links Johan Celsius - Historical records and family trees at MyHeritage 1701 births 1744 deaths 18th-century Swedish astronomers 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis People from Uppsala Uppsala University alumni Academic staff of Uppsala University Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Tuberculosis deaths in Sweden 18th-century Swedish mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society Creators of temperature scales Age of Liberty people

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocorrelation

Autocorrelation

Autocorrelation, sometimes known as serial correlation in the discrete time case, is the correlation of a signal with a delayed copy of itself as a function of delay. Informally, it is the similarity between observations of a random variable as a function of the time lag between them. The analysis of autocorrelation is a mathematical tool for finding repeating patterns, such as the presence of a periodic signal obscured by noise, or identifying the missing fundamental frequency in a signal implied by its harmonic frequencies. It is often used in signal processing for analyzing functions or series of values, such as time domain signals. Different fields of study define autocorrelation differently, and not all of these definitions are equivalent. In some fields, the term is used interchangeably with autocovariance. Unit root processes, trend-stationary processes, autoregressive processes, and moving average processes are specific forms of processes with autocorrelation. Auto-correlation of stochastic processes In statistics, the autocorrelation of a real or complex random process is the Pearson correlation between values of the process at different times, as a function of the two times or of the time lag. Let be a random process, and be any point in time ( may be an integer for a discrete-time process or a real number for a continuous-time process). Then is the value (or realization) produced by a given run of the process at time . Suppose that the process has mean and variance at time , for each . Then the definition of the auto-correlation function between times and is where is the expected value operator and the bar represents complex conjugation. Note that the expectation may not be well defined. Subtracting the mean before multiplication yields the auto-covariance function between times and : Note that this expression is not well defined for all time series or processes, because the mean may not exist, or the variance may be zero (for a constant process) or infinite (for processes with distribution lacking well-behaved moments, such as certain types of power law). Definition for wide-sense stationary stochastic process If is a wide-sense stationary process then the mean and the variance are time-independent, and further the autocovariance function depends only on the lag between and : the autocovariance depends only on the time-distance between the pair of values but not on their position in time. This further implies that the autocovariance and auto-correlation can be expressed as a function of the time-lag, and that this would be an even function of the lag . This gives the more familiar forms for the auto-correlation function and the auto-covariance function: In particular, note that Normalization It is common practice in some disciplines (e.g. statistics and time series analysis) to normalize the autocovariance function to get a time-dependent Pearson correlation coefficient. However, in other disciplines (e.g. engineering) the normalization is usually dropped and the terms "autocorrelation" and "autocovariance" are used interchangeably. The definition of the auto-correlation coefficient of a stochastic process is If the function is well defined, its value must lie in the range , with 1 indicating perfect correlation and −1 indicating perfect anti-correlation. For a wide-sense stationary (WSS) process, the definition is . The normalization is important both because the interpretation of the autocorrelation as a correlation provides a scale-free measure of the strength of statistical dependence, and because the normalization has an effect on the statistical properties of the estimated autocorrelations. Properties Symmetry property The fact that the auto-correlation function is an even function can be stated as respectively for a WSS process: Maximum at zero For a WSS process: Notice that is always real. Cauchy–Schwarz inequality The Cauchy–Schwarz inequality, inequality for stochastic processes: Autocorrelation of white noise The autocorrelation of a continuous-time white noise signal will have a strong peak (represented by a Dirac delta function) at and will be exactly for all other . Wiener–Khinchin theorem The Wiener–Khinchin theorem relates the autocorrelation function to the power spectral density via the Fourier transform: For real-valued functions, the symmetric autocorrelation function has a real symmetric transform, so the Wiener–Khinchin theorem can be re-expressed in terms of real cosines only: Auto-correlation of random vectors The (potentially time-dependent) auto-correlation matrix (also called second moment) of a (potentially time-dependent) random vector is an matrix containing as elements the autocorrelations of all pairs of elements of the random vector . The autocorrelation matrix is used in various digital signal processing algorithms. For a random vector containing random elements whose expected value and variance exist, the auto-correlation matrix is defined by where denotes transposition and has dimensions . Written component-wise: If is a complex random vector, the autocorrelation matrix is instead defined by Here denotes Hermitian transposition. For example, if is a random vector, then is a matrix whose -th entry is . Properties of the autocorrelation matrix The autocorrelation matrix is a Hermitian matrix for complex random vectors and a symmetric matrix for real random vectors. The autocorrelation matrix is a positive semidefinite matrix, i.e. for a real random vector, and respectively in case of a complex random vector. All eigenvalues of the autocorrelation matrix are real and non-negative. The auto-covariance matrix is related to the autocorrelation matrix as follows:Respectively for complex random vectors: Auto-correlation of deterministic signals In signal processing, the above definition is often used without the normalization, that is, without subtracting the mean and dividing by the variance. When the autocorrelation function is normalized by mean and variance, it is sometimes referred to as the autocorrelation coefficient or autocovariance function. Auto-correlation of continuous-time signal Given a signal , the continuous autocorrelation is most often defined as the continuous cross-correlation integral of with itself, at lag . where represents the complex conjugate of . Note that the parameter in the integral is a dummy variable and is only necessary to calculate the integral. It has no specific meaning. Auto-correlation of discrete-time signal The discrete autocorrelation at lag for a discrete-time signal is The above definitions work for signals that are square integrable, or square summable, that is, of finite energy. Signals that "last forever" are treated instead as random processes, in which case different definitions are needed, based on expected values. For wide-sense-stationary random processes, the autocorrelations are defined as For processes that are not stationary, these will also be functions of , or . For processes that are also ergodic, the expectation can be replaced by the limit of a time average. The autocorrelation of an ergodic process is sometimes defined as or equated to These definitions have the advantage that they give sensible well-defined single-parameter results for periodic functions, even when those functions are not the output of stationary ergodic processes. Alternatively, signals that last forever can be treated by a short-time autocorrelation function analysis, using finite time integrals. (See short-time Fourier transform for a related process.) Definition for periodic signals If is a continuous periodic function of period , the integration from to is replaced by integration over any interval of length : which is equivalent to Properties In the following, we will describe properties of one-dimensional autocorrelations only, since most properties are easily transferred from the one-dimensional case to the multi-dimensional cases. These properties hold for wide-sense stationary processes. A fundamental property of the autocorrelation is symmetry, , which is easy to prove from the definition. In the continuous case, the autocorrelation is an even function when is a real function, and the autocorrelation is a Hermitian function when is a complex function. The continuous autocorrelation function reaches its peak at the origin, where it takes a real value, i.e. for any delay , . This is a consequence of the rearrangement inequality. The same result holds in the discrete case. The autocorrelation of a periodic function is, itself, periodic with the same period. The autocorrelation of the sum of two completely uncorrelated functions (the cross-correlation is zero for all ) is the sum of the autocorrelations of each function separately. Since autocorrelation is a specific type of cross-correlation, it maintains all the properties of cross-correlation. By using the symbol to represent convolution and is a function which manipulates the function and is defined as , the definition for may be written as: Multi-dimensional autocorrelation Multi-dimensional autocorrelation is defined similarly. For example, in three dimensions the autocorrelation of a square-summable discrete signal would be When mean values are subtracted from signals before computing an autocorrelation function, the resulting function is usually called an auto-covariance function. Efficient computation For data expressed as a discrete sequence, it is frequently necessary to compute the autocorrelation with high computational efficiency. A brute force method based on the signal processing definition can be used when the signal size is small. For example, to calculate the autocorrelation of the real signal sequence (i.e. , and for all other values of ) by hand, we first recognize that the definition just given is the same as the "usual" multiplication, but with right shifts, where each vertical addition gives the autocorrelation for particular lag values: Thus the required autocorrelation sequence is , where and the autocorrelation for other lag values being zero. In this calculation we do not perform the carry-over operation during addition as is usual in normal multiplication. Note that we can halve the number of operations required by exploiting the inherent symmetry of the autocorrelation. If the signal happens to be periodic, i.e. then we get a circular autocorrelation (similar to circular convolution) where the left and right tails of the previous autocorrelation sequence will overlap and give which has the same period as the signal sequence The procedure can be regarded as an application of the convolution property of Z-transform of a discrete signal. While the brute force algorithm is order , several efficient algorithms exist which can compute the autocorrelation in order . For example, the Wiener–Khinchin theorem allows computing the autocorrelation from the raw data with two fast Fourier transforms (FFT): where IFFT denotes the inverse fast Fourier transform. The asterisk denotes complex conjugate. Alternatively, a multiple correlation can be performed by using brute force calculation for low values, and then progressively binning the data with a logarithmic density to compute higher values, resulting in the same efficiency, but with lower memory requirements. Estimation For a discrete process with known mean and variance for which we observe observations , an estimate of the autocorrelation coefficient may be obtained as for any positive integer . When the true mean and variance are known, this estimate is unbiased. If the true mean and variance of the process are not known there are several possibilities: If and are replaced by the standard formulae for sample mean and sample variance, then this is a biased estimate. A periodogram-based estimate replaces in the above formula with . This estimate is always biased; however, it usually has a smaller mean squared error. Other possibilities derive from treating the two portions of data and separately and calculating separate sample means and/or sample variances for use in defining the estimate. The advantage of estimates of the last type is that the set of estimated autocorrelations, as a function of , then form a function which is a valid autocorrelation in the sense that it is possible to define a theoretical process having exactly that autocorrelation. Other estimates can suffer from the problem that, if they are used to calculate the variance of a linear combination of the 's, the variance calculated may turn out to be negative. Regression analysis In regression analysis using time series data, autocorrelation in a variable of interest is typically modeled either with an autoregressive model (AR), a moving average model (MA), their combination as an autoregressive-moving-average model (ARMA), or an extension of the latter called an autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA). With multiple interrelated data series, vector autoregression (VAR) or its extensions are used. In ordinary least squares (OLS), the adequacy of a model specification can be checked in part by establishing whether there is autocorrelation of the regression residuals. Problematic autocorrelation of the errors, which themselves are unobserved, can generally be detected because it produces autocorrelation in the observable residuals. (Errors are also known as "error terms" in econometrics.) Autocorrelation of the errors violates the ordinary least squares assumption that the error terms are uncorrelated, meaning that the Gauss Markov theorem does not apply, and that OLS estimators are no longer the Best Linear Unbiased Estimators (BLUE). While it does not bias the OLS coefficient estimates, the standard errors tend to be underestimated (and the t-scores overestimated) when the autocorrelations of the errors at low lags are positive. The traditional test for the presence of first-order autocorrelation is the Durbin–Watson statistic or, if the explanatory variables include a lagged dependent variable, Durbin's h statistic. The Durbin-Watson can be linearly mapped however to the Pearson correlation between values and their lags. A more flexible test, covering autocorrelation of higher orders and applicable whether or not the regressors include lags of the dependent variable, is the Breusch–Godfrey test. This involves an auxiliary regression, wherein the residuals obtained from estimating the model of interest are regressed on (a) the original regressors and (b) k lags of the residuals, where 'k' is the order of the test. The simplest version of the test statistic from this auxiliary regression is TR2, where T is the sample size and R2 is the coefficient of determination. Under the null hypothesis of no autocorrelation, this statistic is asymptotically distributed as with k degrees of freedom. Responses to nonzero autocorrelation include generalized least squares and the Newey–West HAC estimator (Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent). In the estimation of a moving average model (MA), the autocorrelation function is used to determine the appropriate number of lagged error terms to be included. This is based on the fact that for an MA process of order q, we have , for , and , for . Applications Autocorrelation analysis is used heavily in fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to provide quantitative insight into molecular-level diffusion and chemical reactions. Another application of autocorrelation is the measurement of optical spectra and the measurement of very-short-duration light pulses produced by lasers, both using optical autocorrelators. Autocorrelation is used to analyze dynamic light scattering data, which notably enables determination of the particle size distributions of nanometer-sized particles or micelles suspended in a fluid. A laser shining into the mixture produces a speckle pattern that results from the motion of the particles. Autocorrelation of the signal can be analyzed in terms of the diffusion of the particles. From this, knowing the viscosity of the fluid, the sizes of the particles can be calculated. Utilized in the GPS system to correct for the propagation delay, or time shift, between the point of time at the transmission of the carrier signal at the satellites, and the point of time at the receiver on the ground. This is done by the receiver generating a replica signal of the 1,023-bit C/A (Coarse/Acquisition) code, and generating lines of code chips [-1,1] in packets of ten at a time, or 10,230 chips (1,023 × 10), shifting slightly as it goes along in order to accommodate for the doppler shift in the incoming satellite signal, until the receiver replica signal and the satellite signal codes match up. The small-angle X-ray scattering intensity of a nanostructured system is the Fourier transform of the spatial autocorrelation function of the electron density. In surface science and scanning probe microscopy, autocorrelation is used to establish a link between surface morphology and functional characteristics. In optics, normalized autocorrelations and cross-correlations give the degree of coherence of an electromagnetic field. In signal processing, autocorrelation can give information about repeating events like musical beats (for example, to determine tempo) or pulsar frequencies, though it cannot tell the position in time of the beat. It can also be used to estimate the pitch of a musical tone. In music recording, autocorrelation is used as a pitch detection algorithm prior to vocal processing, as a distortion effect or to eliminate undesired mistakes and inaccuracies. Autocorrelation in space rather than time, via the Patterson function, is used by X-ray diffractionists to help recover the "Fourier phase information" on atom positions not available through diffraction alone. In statistics, spatial autocorrelation between sample locations also helps one estimate mean value uncertainties when sampling a heterogeneous population. The SEQUEST algorithm for analyzing mass spectra makes use of autocorrelation in conjunction with cross-correlation to score the similarity of an observed spectrum to an idealized spectrum representing a peptide. In astrophysics, autocorrelation is used to study and characterize the spatial distribution of galaxies in the universe and in multi-wavelength observations of low mass X-ray binaries. In panel data, spatial autocorrelation refers to correlation of a variable with itself through space. In analysis of Markov chain Monte Carlo data, autocorrelation must be taken into account for correct error determination. In geosciences (specifically in geophysics) it can be used to compute an autocorrelation seismic attribute, out of a 3D seismic survey of the underground. In medical ultrasound imaging, autocorrelation is used to visualize blood flow. In intertemporal portfolio choice, the presence or absence of autocorrelation in an asset's rate of return can affect the optimal portion of the portfolio to hold in that asset. Autocorrelation has been used to accurately measure power system frequency in numerical relays. Serial dependence Serial dependence is closely linked to the notion of autocorrelation, but represents a distinct concept (see Correlation and dependence). In particular, it is possible to have serial dependence but no (linear) correlation. In some fields however, the two terms are used as synonyms. A time series of a random variable has serial dependence if the value at some time in the series is statistically dependent on the value at another time . A series is serially independent if there is no dependence between any pair. If a time series is stationary, then statistical dependence between the pair would imply that there is statistical dependence between all pairs of values at the same lag . See also Autocorrelation matrix Autocorrelation technique Autocorrelation of a formal word Autocorrelator Correlation function Correlogram Cross-correlation Galton's problem Partial autocorrelation function Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy Optical autocorrelation Pitch detection algorithm Triple correlation CUSUM Cochrane–Orcutt estimation (transformation for autocorrelated error terms) Prais–Winsten transformation Scaled correlation Unbiased estimation of standard deviation References Further reading Mojtaba Soltanalian, and Petre Stoica. "Computational design of sequences with good correlation properties." IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 60.5 (2012): 2180–2193. Solomon W. Golomb, and Guang Gong. Signal design for good correlation: for wireless communication, cryptography, and radar. Cambridge University Press, 2005. Klapetek, Petr (2018). Quantitative Data Processing in Scanning Probe Microscopy: SPM Applications for Nanometrology (Second ed.). Elsevier. pp. 108–112 . Signal processing Time domain analysis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkene

Alkene

In organic chemistry, an alkene is a hydrocarbon containing a carbon–carbon double bond. Alkene is often used as synonym of olefin, that is, any hydrocarbon containing one or more double bonds. Two general types of monoalkenes are distinguished: terminal and internal. Also called α-olefins, terminal alkenes are more useful. However, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recommends using the name "alkene" only for acyclic hydrocarbons with just one double bond; alkadiene, alkatriene, etc., or polyene for acyclic hydrocarbons with two or more double bonds; cycloalkene, cycloalkadiene, etc. for cyclic ones; and "olefin" for the general class – cyclic or acyclic, with one or more double bonds. Acyclic alkenes, with only one double bond and no other functional groups (also known as mono-enes) form a homologous series of hydrocarbons with the general formula with n being 2 or more (which is two hydrogens less than the corresponding alkane). When n is four or more, isomers are possible, distinguished by the position and conformation of the double bond. Alkenes are generally colorless non-polar compounds, somewhat similar to alkanes but more reactive. The first few members of the series are gases or liquids at room temperature. The simplest alkene, ethylene () (or "ethene" in the IUPAC nomenclature) is the organic compound produced on the largest scale industrially. Aromatic compounds are often drawn as cyclic alkenes, however their structure and properties are sufficiently distinct that they are not classified as alkenes or olefins. Hydrocarbons with two overlapping double bonds () are called allenes—the simplest such compound is itself called allene—and those with three or more overlapping bonds (, , etc.) are called cumulenes. Some authors do not consider allenes and cumulenes to be "alkenes". Structural isomerism Alkenes having four or more carbon atoms can form diverse structural isomers. Most alkenes are also isomers of cycloalkanes. Acyclic alkene structural isomers with only one double bond follow: : ethylene only : propylene only : 3 isomers: 1-butene, 2-butene, and isobutylene : 5 isomers: 1-pentene, 2-pentene, 2-methyl-1-butene, 3-methyl-1-butene, 2-methyl-2-butene : 13 isomers: 1-hexene, 2-hexene, 3-hexene, 2-methyl-1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 2-methyl-2-pentene, 3-methyl-2-pentene, 4-methyl-2-pentene, 2,3-dimethyl-1-butene, 3,3-dimethyl-1-butene, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene, 2-ethyl-1-butene : 27 isomers (calculated) : 2,281 isomers (calculated) : 193,706,542,776 isomers (calculated) Many of these molecules exhibit cis–trans isomerism. There may also be chiral carbon atoms particularly within the larger molecules (from ). The number of potential isomers increases rapidly with additional carbon atoms. Structure and bonding Bonding A carbon–carbon double bond consists of a sigma bond and a pi bond. This double bond is stronger than a single covalent bond (611 kJ/mol for C=C vs. 347 kJ/mol for C–C), but not twice as strong. Double bonds are shorter than single bonds with an average bond length of 1.33 Å (133 pm) vs 1.53 Å for a typical C-C single bond. Each carbon atom of the double bond uses its three sp2 hybrid orbitals to form sigma bonds to three atoms (the other carbon atom and two hydrogen atoms). The unhybridized 2p atomic orbitals, which lie perpendicular to the plane created by the axes of the three sp² hybrid orbitals, combine to form the pi bond. This bond lies outside the main C–C axis, with half of the bond on one side of the molecule and a half on the other. With a strength of 65 kcal/mol, the pi bond is significantly weaker than the sigma bond. Rotation about the carbon–carbon double bond is restricted because it incurs an energetic cost to break the alignment of the p orbitals on the two carbon atoms. Consequently cis or trans isomers interconvert so slowly that they can be freely handled at ambient conditions without isomerization. More complex alkenes may be named with the E–Z notation for molecules with three or four different substituents (side groups). For example, of the isomers of butene, the two methyl groups of (Z)-but-2-ene (a.k.a. cis-2-butene) appear on the same side of the double bond, and in (E)-but-2-ene (a.k.a. trans-2-butene) the methyl groups appear on opposite sides. These two isomers of butene have distinct properties. Shape As predicted by the VSEPR model of electron pair repulsion, the molecular geometry of alkenes includes bond angles about each carbon atom in a double bond of about 120°. The angle may vary because of steric strain introduced by nonbonded interactions between functional groups attached to the carbon atoms of the double bond. For example, the C–C–C bond angle in propylene is 123.9°. For bridged alkenes, Bredt's rule states that a double bond cannot occur at the bridgehead of a bridged ring system unless the rings are large enough. Following Fawcett and defining S as the total number of non-bridgehead atoms in the rings, bicyclic systems require S ≥ 7 for stability and tricyclic systems require S ≥ 11. Physical properties Many of the physical properties of alkenes and alkanes are similar: they are colorless, nonpolar, and combustible. The physical state depends on molecular mass: like the corresponding saturated hydrocarbons, the simplest alkenes (ethylene, propylene, and butene) are gases at room temperature. Linear alkenes of approximately five to sixteen carbon atoms are liquids, and higher alkenes are waxy solids. The melting point of the solids also increases with increase in molecular mass. Alkenes generally have stronger smells than their corresponding alkanes. Ethylene has a sweet and musty odor. The binding of cupric ion to the olefin in the mammalian olfactory receptor MOR244-3 is implicated in the smell of alkenes (as well as thiols). Strained alkenes, in particular, like norbornene and trans-cyclooctene are known to have strong, unpleasant odors, a fact consistent with the stronger π complexes they form with metal ions including copper. Reactions Alkenes are relatively stable compounds, but are more reactive than alkanes. Most reactions of alkenes involve additions to this pi bond, forming new single bonds. Alkenes serve as a feedstock for the petrochemical industry because they can participate in a wide variety of reactions, prominently polymerization and alkylation. Except for ethylene, alkenes have two sites of reactivity: the carbon–carbon pi-bond and the presence of allylic CH centers. The former dominates but the allylic sites are important too. Addition reactions Alkenes react in many addition reactions, which occur by opening up the double-bond. Most of these addition reactions follow the mechanism of electrophilic addition. Examples are hydrohalogenation, halogenation, halohydrin formation, oxymercuration, hydroboration, dichlorocarbene addition, Simmons–Smith reaction, catalytic hydrogenation, epoxidation, radical polymerization and hydroxylation. Hydrogenation and related hydroelementations Hydrogenation of alkenes produces the corresponding alkanes. The reaction is sometimes carried out under pressure and at elevated temperature. Metallic catalysts are almost always required. Common industrial catalysts are based on platinum, nickel, and palladium. A large scale application is the production of margarine. Aside from the addition of across the double bond, many other 's can be added. These processes are often of great commercial significance. One example is the addition of H-SiR3, i.e., hydrosilylation. This reaction is used to generate organosilicon compounds. Another reaction is hydrocyanation, the addition of across the double bond. Hydration Hydration, the addition of water across the double bond of alkenes, yields alcohols. The reaction is catalyzed by phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid. This reaction is carried out on an industrial scale to produce synthetic ethanol. CH2=CH2 + H2O -> CH3-CH2OH Alkenes can also be converted into alcohols via the oxymercuration–demercuration reaction , the hydroboration–oxidation reaction or by Mukaiyama hydration. Halogenation In electrophilic halogenation the addition of elemental bromine or chlorine to alkenes yields vicinal dibromo- and dichloroalkanes (1,2-dihalides or ethylene dihalides), respectively. The decoloration of a solution of bromine in water is an analytical test for the presence of alkenes: CH2=CH2 + Br2 -> BrCH2-CH2Br Related reactions are also used as quantitative measures of unsaturation, expressed as the bromine number and iodine number of a compound or mixture. Hydrohalogenation Hydrohalogenation is the addition of hydrogen halides, such as HCl or HI, to alkenes to yield the corresponding haloalkanes: If the two carbon atoms at the double bond are linked to a different number of hydrogen atoms, the halogen is found preferentially at the carbon with fewer hydrogen substituents. This patterns is known as Markovnikov's rule. The use of radical initiators or other compounds can lead to the opposite product result. Hydrobromic acid in particular is prone to forming radicals in the presence of various impurities or even atmospheric oxygen, leading to the reversal of the Markovnikov result: Halohydrin formation Alkenes react with water and halogens to form halohydrins by an addition reaction. Markovnikov regiochemistry and anti-stereochemistry occur. CH2=CH2 + X2 + H2O -> XCH2-CH2OH + HX Oxidation Alkenes react with percarboxylic acids and even hydrogen peroxide to yield epoxides: RCH=CH2 + RCO3H -> RCHOCH2 + RCO2H For ethylene, the epoxidation is conducted on a very large scale industrially using oxygen in the presence of catalysts: C2H4 + 1/2 O2 -> C2H4O Alkenes react with ozone, leading to the scission of the double bond. The process is called ozonolysis. Often the reaction procedure includes a mild reductant, such as dimethylsulfide (): RCH=CHR' + O3 + SMe2 -> RCHO + R'CHO + O=SMe2 R2C=CHR' + O3 -> R2CHO + R'CHO + O=SMe2 When treated with a hot concentrated, acidified solution of , alkenes are cleaved to form ketones and/or carboxylic acids. The stoichiometry of the reaction is sensitive to conditions. This reaction and the ozonolysis can be used to determine the position of a double bond in an unknown alkene. The oxidation can be stopped at the vicinal diol rather than full cleavage of the alkene by using osmium tetroxide or other oxidants: R'CH=CR2 + 1/2 O2 + H2O -> R'CH(OH)-C(OH)R2 This reaction is called dihydroxylation. In the presence of an appropriate photosensitiser, such as methylene blue and light, alkenes can undergo reaction with reactive oxygen species generated by the photosensitiser, such as hydroxyl radicals, singlet oxygen or superoxide ion. Reactions of the excited sensitizer can involve electron or hydrogen transfer, usually with a reducing substrate (Type I reaction) or interaction with oxygen (Type II reaction). These various alternative processes and reactions can be controlled by choice of specific reaction conditions, leading to a wide range of products. A common example is the [4+2]-cycloaddition of singlet oxygen with a diene such as cyclopentadiene to yield an endoperoxide: Another example is the Schenck ene reaction, in which singlet oxygen reacts with an allylic structure to give a transposed allyl peroxide: Polymerization Terminal alkenes are precursors to polymers via processes termed polymerization. Some polymerizations are of great economic significance, as they generate as the plastics polyethylene and polypropylene. Polymers from alkene are usually referred to as polyolefins although they contain no olefins. Polymerization can proceed via diverse mechanisms. conjugated dienes such as buta-1,3-diene and isoprene (2-methylbuta-1,3-diene) also produce polymers, one example being natural rubber. Metal complexation Alkenes are ligands in transition metal alkene complexes. The two carbon centres bond to the metal using the pi- and pi*-orbitals. Mono- and diolefins are often used as ligands in stable complexes. Cyclooctadiene and norbornadiene are popular chelating agents, and even ethylene itself is sometimes used as a ligand, for example, in Zeise's salt. In addition, metal–alkene complexes are intermediates in many metal-catalyzed reactions including hydrogenation, hydroformylation, and polymerization. Reaction overview Synthesis Industrial methods Alkenes are produced by hydrocarbon cracking. Raw materials are mostly natural gas condensate components (principally ethane and propane) in the US and Mideast and naphtha in Europe and Asia. Alkanes are broken apart at high temperatures, often in the presence of a zeolite catalyst, to produce a mixture of primarily aliphatic alkenes and lower molecular weight alkanes. The mixture is feedstock and temperature dependent, and separated by fractional distillation. This is mainly used for the manufacture of small alkenes (up to six carbons). Related to this is catalytic dehydrogenation, where an alkane loses hydrogen at high temperatures to produce a corresponding alkene. This is the reverse of the catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes. This process is also known as reforming. Both processes are endothermic and are driven towards the alkene at high temperatures by entropy. Catalytic synthesis of higher α-alkenes (of the type RCH=CH2) can also be achieved by a reaction of ethylene with the organometallic compound triethylaluminium in the presence of nickel, cobalt, or platinum. Elimination reactions One of the principal methods for alkene synthesis in the laboratory is the room elimination of alkyl halides, alcohols, and similar compounds. Most common is the β-elimination via the E2 or E1 mechanism, but α-eliminations are also known. The E2 mechanism provides a more reliable β-elimination method than E1 for most alkene syntheses. Most E2 eliminations start with an alkyl halide or alkyl sulfonate ester (such as a tosylate or triflate). When an alkyl halide is used, the reaction is called a dehydrohalogenation. For unsymmetrical products, the more substituted alkenes (those with fewer hydrogens attached to the C=C) tend to predominate (see Zaitsev's rule). Two common methods of elimination reactions are dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides and dehydration of alcohols. A typical example is shown below; note that if possible, the H is anti to the leaving group, even though this leads to the less stable Z-isomer. Alkenes can be synthesized from alcohols via dehydration, in which case water is lost via the E1 mechanism. For example, the dehydration of ethanol produces ethylene: CH3CH2OH → H2C=CH2 + H2O An alcohol may also be converted to a better leaving group (e.g., xanthate), so as to allow a milder syn-elimination such as the Chugaev elimination and the Grieco elimination. Related reactions include eliminations by β-haloethers (the Boord olefin synthesis) and esters (ester pyrolysis). Alkenes can be prepared indirectly from alkyl amines. The amine or ammonia is not a suitable leaving group, so the amine is first either alkylated (as in the Hofmann elimination) or oxidized to an amine oxide (the Cope reaction) to render a smooth elimination possible. The Cope reaction is a syn-elimination that occurs at or below 150 °C, for example: The Hofmann elimination is unusual in that the less substituted (non-Zaitsev) alkene is usually the major product. Alkenes are generated from α-halosulfones in the Ramberg–Bäcklund reaction, via a three-membered ring sulfone intermediate. Synthesis from carbonyl compounds Another important method for alkene synthesis involves construction of a new carbon–carbon double bond by coupling of a carbonyl compound (such as an aldehyde or ketone) to a carbanion equivalent. Such reactions are sometimes called olefinations. The most well-known of these methods is the Wittig reaction, but other related methods are known, including the Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction. The Wittig reaction involves reaction of an aldehyde or ketone with a Wittig reagent (or phosphorane) of the type Ph3P=CHR to produce an alkene and Ph3P=O. The Wittig reagent is itself prepared easily from triphenylphosphine and an alkyl halide. The reaction is quite general and many functional groups are tolerated, even esters, as in this example: Related to the Wittig reaction is the Peterson olefination, which uses silicon-based reagents in place of the phosphorane. This reaction allows for the selection of E- or Z-products. If an E-product is desired, another alternative is the Julia olefination, which uses the carbanion generated from a phenyl sulfone. The Takai olefination based on an organochromium intermediate also delivers E-products. A titanium compound, Tebbe's reagent, is useful for the synthesis of methylene compounds; in this case, even esters and amides react. A pair of ketones or aldehydes can be deoxygenated to generate an alkene. Symmetrical alkenes can be prepared from a single aldehyde or ketone coupling with itself, using titanium metal reduction (the McMurry reaction). If different ketones are to be coupled, a more complicated method is required, such as the Barton–Kellogg reaction. A single ketone can also be converted to the corresponding alkene via its tosylhydrazone, using sodium methoxide (the Bamford–Stevens reaction) or an alkyllithium (the Shapiro reaction). Synthesis from alkenes The formation of longer alkenes via the step-wise polymerisation of smaller ones is appealing, as ethylene (the smallest alkene) is both inexpensive and readily available, with hundreds of millions of tonnes produced annually. The Ziegler–Natta process allows for the formation of very long chains, for instance those used for polyethylene. Where shorter chains are wanted, as they for the production of surfactants, then processes incorporating a olefin metathesis step, such as the Shell higher olefin process are important. Olefin metathesis is also used commercially for the interconversion of ethylene and 2-butene to propylene. Rhenium- and molybdenum-containing heterogeneous catalysis are used in this process: CH2=CH2 + CH3CH=CHCH3 → 2 CH2=CHCH3 Transition metal catalyzed hydrovinylation is another important alkene synthesis process starting from alkene itself. It involves the addition of a hydrogen and a vinyl group (or an alkenyl group) across a double bond. From alkynes Reduction of alkynes is a useful method for the stereoselective synthesis of disubstituted alkenes. If the cis-alkene is desired, hydrogenation in the presence of Lindlar's catalyst (a heterogeneous catalyst that consists of palladium deposited on calcium carbonate and treated with various forms of lead) is commonly used, though hydroboration followed by hydrolysis provides an alternative approach. Reduction of the alkyne by sodium metal in liquid ammonia gives the trans-alkene. For the preparation multisubstituted alkenes, carbometalation of alkynes can give rise to a large variety of alkene derivatives. Rearrangements and related reactions Alkenes can be synthesized from other alkenes via rearrangement reactions. Besides olefin metathesis (described above), many pericyclic reactions can be used such as the ene reaction and the Cope rearrangement. In the Diels–Alder reaction, a cyclohexene derivative is prepared from a diene and a reactive or electron-deficient alkene. IUPAC Nomenclature Although the nomenclature is not followed widely, according to IUPAC, an alkene is an acyclic hydrocarbon with just one double bond between carbon atoms. Olefins comprise a larger collection of cyclic and acyclic alkenes as well as dienes and polyenes. To form the root of the IUPAC names for straight-chain alkenes, change the -an- infix of the parent to -en-. For example, CH3-CH3 is the alkane ethANe. The name of CH2=CH2 is therefore ethENe. For straight-chain alkenes with 4 or more carbon atoms, that name does not completely identify the compound. For those cases, and for branched acyclic alkenes, the following rules apply: Find the longest carbon chain in the molecule. If that chain does not contain the double bond, name the compound according to the alkane naming rules. Otherwise: Number the carbons in that chain starting from the end that is closest to the double bond. Define the location k of the double bond as being the number of its first carbon. Name the side groups (other than hydrogen) according to the appropriate rules. Define the position of each side group as the number of the chain carbon it is attached to. Write the position and name of each side group. Write the names of the alkane with the same chain, replacing the "-ane" suffix by "k-ene". The position of the double bond is often inserted before the name of the chain (e.g. "2-pentene"), rather than before the suffix ("pent-2-ene"). The positions need not be indicated if they are unique. Note that the double bond may imply a different chain numbering than that used for the corresponding alkane: C–– is "2,2-dimethyl pentane", whereas C–= is "3,3-dimethyl 1-pentene". More complex rules apply for polyenes and cycloalkenes. Cis–trans isomerism If the double bond of an acyclic mono-ene is not the first bond of the chain, the name as constructed above still does not completely identify the compound, because of cis–trans isomerism. Then one must specify whether the two single C–C bonds adjacent to the double bond are on the same side of its plane, or on opposite sides. For monoalkenes, the configuration is often indicated by the prefixes cis- (from Latin "on this side of") or trans- ("across", "on the other side of") before the name, respectively; as in cis-2-pentene or trans-2-butene. More generally, cis–trans isomerism will exist if each of the two carbons of in the double bond has two different atoms or groups attached to it. Accounting for these cases, the IUPAC recommends the more general E–Z notation, instead of the cis and trans prefixes. This notation considers the group with highest CIP priority in each of the two carbons. If these two groups are on opposite sides of the double bond's plane, the configuration is labeled E (from the German entgegen meaning "opposite"); if they are on the same side, it is labeled Z (from German zusammen, "together"). This labeling may be taught with mnemonic "Z means 'on ze zame zide'". Groups containing C=C double bonds IUPAC recognizes two names for hydrocarbon groups containing carbon–carbon double bonds, the vinyl group and the allyl group. See also Alpha-olefin Annulene Aromatic hydrocarbon ("Arene") Dendralene Nitroalkene Radialene Nomenclature links Rule A-3. Unsaturated Compounds and Univalent Radicals IUPAC Blue Book. Rule A-4. Bivalent and Multivalent Radicals IUPAC Blue Book. Rules A-11.3, A-11.4, A-11.5 Unsaturated monocyclic hydrocarbons and substituents IUPAC Blue Book. Rule A-23. Hydrogenated Compounds of Fused Polycyclic Hydrocarbons IUPAC Blue Book. References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AbiWord

AbiWord

AbiWord () is a free and open-source software word processor. It is written in C++ and since version 3 it is based on GTK+ 3. The name "AbiWord" is derived from the root of the Spanish word "abierto", meaning "open". AbiWord was originally started by SourceGear Corporation as the first part of a proposed AbiSuite but was adopted by open source developers after SourceGear changed its business focus and ceased development. It now runs on Linux, ReactOS, Solaris, AmigaOS 4.0 (through its Cygwin X11 engine), MeeGo (on the Nokia N9 smartphone), Maemo (on the Nokia N810), QNX and other operating systems. Development of a version for Microsoft Windows has ended due to lack of maintainers (the latest released versions are 2.8.6 and 2.9.4 beta ). The macOS port has remained on version 2.4 since 2005, although the current version does run non-natively on macOS through XQuartz. AbiWord is part of the AbiSource project which develops a number of office-related technologies. Abiword is one of the rare text processing software which allows local users to edit simultaneously a same shared document in a local network, without the requirement of an Internet connection, since 2009. Features AbiWord supports both basic word processing features such as lists, indents and character formats, and more sophisticated features including tables, styles, page headers and footers, footnotes, templates, multiple views, page columns, spell checking, and grammar checking. Starting with version 2.8.0, AbiWord includes a collaboration plugin that allows integration with AbiCollab.net, a Web-based service that permits multiple users to work on the same document in real time, in full synchronization. The Presentation view of AbiWord, which permits easy display of presentations created in AbiWord on "screen-sized" pages, is another feature not often found in word processors. Interface AbiWord generally works similarly to classic versions (pre-Office 2007) of Microsoft Word, as direct ease of migration was a high priority early goal. While many interface similarities remain, cloning the Word interface is no longer a top priority. The interface is intended to follow user interface guidelines for each respective platform. File formats AbiWord comes with several import and export filters providing a partial support for such formats as HTML, Microsoft Word (.doc), Office Open XML (.docx), OpenDocument Text (.odt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and text documents (.txt). LaTeX is supported for export only. Plug-in filters are available to deal with many other formats, notably WordPerfect documents. The native file format, .abw, uses XML, so as to mitigate vendor lock-in concerns with respect to interoperability and digital archiving. Grammar checking The AbiWord project includes a US English-only grammar checking plugin using Link Grammar. AbiWord had grammar checking before any other open source word processor, although a grammar checker was later added to OpenOffice.org. Link Grammar is both a theory of syntax and an open source parser which is now developed by the AbiWord project. See also List of free and open-source software packages List of word processors Comparison of word processors Office Open XML software OpenDocument software References External links Andrew Leonard: Abiword Up. Salon.com, November 15, 2002. History of the project and comparison with closed source development. Interview with Development team after 2.6 release AbiWord: A Small, Swift Word Processor Office software that uses GTK Free software programmed in C++ Free word processors Linux word processors MacOS word processors Windows word processors Cross-platform free software Portable software 1998 software Software using the GPL license

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari%20Lynx

Atari Lynx

The Atari Lynx is a hybrid 8/16-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Atari Corporation in September 1989 in North America and 1990 in Europe and Japan. It was the first handheld game console with a color liquid-crystal display. Powered by a 16 MHz 65C02 8-bit CPU and a custom 16-bit blitter, the Lynx was more advanced than Nintendo's monochrome Game Boy, released two months earlier. It also competed with Sega's Game Gear and NEC's TurboExpress, released the following year. The system was developed at Epyx by two former designers of the Amiga personal computers. The project was called the Handy Game or simply Handy. In 1991, Atari replaced the Lynx with a smaller model internally referred to as the Lynx II. Atari published a total of 73 games before the Lynx was discontinued in 1995 in preparation for the launch of the Jaguar. History The Lynx system was originally developed by Epyx as the Handy Game. In 1986, two former Amiga designers, R. J. Mical and Dave Needle, had been asked by a former manager at Amiga, David Morse, to design a portable gaming system. Morse now worked at Epyx, a game software company with a recent string of hit games. Morse's son had asked him if he could make a portable gaming system, prompting a meeting with Mical and Needle to discuss the idea. Morse convinced Mical and Needle and they were hired by Epyx to be a part of the design team. Planning and design of the console began in 1986 and was completed in 1987. Epyx first showed the Handy system at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 1989. Facing financial difficulties, Epyx sought partners. Nintendo, Sega, and other companies declined, but Atari and Epyx eventually agreed that Atari would handle production and marketing, and Epyx would handle software development. Epyx declared bankruptcy by the end of the year, so Atari essentially owned the entire project. Both Atari and others had to purchase Amigas from Atari arch-rival Commodore in order to develop Lynx software. The Handy was designed to run games from the cartridge format, and the game data must be copied from ROM to RAM before it can be used. Thus, less RAM is then available and each game's initial loading is slow. There are trace remnants of a cassette tape interface physically capable of being programmed to read a tape. Lynx developers have noted that "there is still reference of the tape and some hardware addresses" and an updated vintage Epyx manual describes the bare existence of what could be utilized for tape support. A 2009 retrospective interview with Mical clarifies that there is no truth to some early reports claiming that games were loaded from tape, and elaborates, "We did think about hard disk a little." The networking system was originally developed to run over infrared links and codenamed RedEye. This was changed to a cable-based networking system before the final release as the infrared beam was too easily interrupted when players walked through the beam, according to Peter Engelbrite. Engelbrite developed the first recordable eight-player co-op game, and the only eight-player game for the Lynx, Todd's Adventures in Slime World. Atari changed the internal speaker and removed the thumb stick on the control pad. At Summer 1989 CES, Atari's press demonstration included the "Portable Color Entertainment System", which was changed to "Lynx" when distributed to resellers, initially retailing in the US at . Its launch was successful. Atari reported that it had sold 90% of the 50,000 units shipped in the launch month in the U.S. with a limited launch in New York. US sales in 1990 were approximately 500,000 units according to the Associated Press. In late 1991, it was reported that Atari sales estimates were about 800,000, which Atari claimed was within its expected projections. Lifetime sales by 1995 amount to fewer than 7 million units when combined with the Game Gear. In comparison, 16 million Game Boy units were sold by 1995 because of its ruggedness, half price, much longer battery life, bundling with the smash hit Tetris, and superior game library. As with the console units, the game cartridge design evolved over the first year of the console's release. The first generation of cartridges are flat, and designed to be stackable for ease of storage. However, this design proved to be very difficult to remove from the console and was replaced by a second design. This style, called "tabbed" or "ridged", adds two small tabs on the underside to aid in removal. The original flat style cartridges can be stacked on top of the newer cartridges, but the newer cartridges can not be easily stacked on each other, nor were they stored easily. Thus a third style, the "curved lip" style was produced, and all official and third-party cartridges during the console's lifespan were released (or re-released) using this style. In May 1991, Sega launched its Game Gear portable gaming handheld with a color screen. In comparison to the Lynx it had shorter battery life (3–4 hours as opposed to 4-5 for the Lynx), but it is slightly smaller, has significantly more games, and cost $30 less than the Lynx at launch. Retailers such as Game and Toys "R" Us continued to sell the Lynx well into the mid-1990s on the back of the Atari Jaguar launch, helped by magazines such as Ultimate Future Games which continued to cover the Lynx alongside the new generation of 32-bit and 64-bit consoles. Lynx II In July 1991, Atari introduced a new version of the Lynx, internally called the "Lynx II", with a new marketing campaign, new packaging, slightly improved hardware, better battery life, and a sleeker look. It has rubber hand grips and a clearer backlit color screen with a power save option (which turns off the backlighting). The monaural headphone jack of the original Lynx was replaced with one wired for stereo. The Lynx II was available without any accessories, dropping the price to . Decline In 1993, Atari started shifting its focus away from the Lynx in order to prepare for the launch of the Jaguar; a few games were released during that time, including Battlezone 2000. Support for the Lynx was formally discontinued in 1995. After the respective launches of the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation caused the commercial failure of the Jaguar, Atari ceased all game development and hardware manufacturing by early 1996 and would later merge with JTS, Inc. on July 30 of that year. Features The Atari Lynx has a backlit color LCD display, switchable right- and left-handed (upside down) configuration, and the ability to network with other units via Comlynx cable. The maximum stable connection allowed is eight players. Each Lynx needs a copy of the game, and one cable can connect two machines. The cables can be connected into a chain. The Lynx was cited as the "first gaming console with hardware support for zooming and distortion of sprites". With a 4096 color palette and integrated math and graphics co-processors (including a sprite engine unit), its color graphics display was said to be the key defining feature in the system's competition against Nintendo's monochromatic Game Boy. The fast pseudo-3D graphics features were made possible on a minimal hardware system by co-designer Dave Needle having "invented the technique for planar expansion/shrinking capability" and using stretched, textured, triangles instead of full polygons. Technical specifications Mikey (8-bit custom CMOS chip running at 16 MHz) WDC 8-bit 65SC02 processor (based on the MOS 6502) running at up to 4 MHz (3.6 MHz average) Sound engine 4 channel sound 8-bit DAC for each channel (4 channels × 8-bits/channel = 32 bits commonly quoted) these four sound channels can also switch in analogue sound mode to generate PSG sound. Video DMA driver for liquid-crystal display Custom built and designed by Jay Miner and David Morse 160×102 pixels resolution 4,096 color (12-bit) palette 16 simultaneous colors (4 bits) from palette per scanline Variable frame rate (up to 75 frames/second) Eight system timers (two reserved for LCD timing, one for UART) Interrupt controller UART (for Comlynx) (fixed format 8E1, up to 62500 Bd / TurboMode 1,000,000Bd) 512 bytes of bootstrap and game-card loading ROM Suzy (16-bit custom CMOS chip running at ) Unlimited number of blitter "sprites" with collision detection Hardware sprite scaling, distortion, and tilting effects Hardware decoding of compressed sprite data Hardware clipping and multi-directional scrolling Math engine Hardware 16-bit × 16-bit → 32-bit multiply with optional accumulation; 32-bit ÷ 16-bit → 16-bit divide Parallel processing of CPU RAM: 64 KB 120ns DRAM Cartridges: 128, 256, 512 KB and (with bank-switching) 1 MB Ports: Headphone port ( stereo; wired for mono on the original Lynx) ComLynx (multiple unit communications, serial) LCD Screen: 3.5" diagonal Battery holder (six AA) 4–5 hours (Lynx I) 5–6 hours (Lynx II) Reception Lynx was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon, which gave it 5 out of 5 stars. The review states that the Lynx "throws the Game Boy into the prehistoric age", and praises the built-in object scaling capabilities, the multiplayer feature of the ComLynx cable, and the strong set of launch games. Legacy Telegames released several games in the late 1990s, including a port of Raiden and a platformer called Fat Bobby in 1997, and an action sports game called Hyperdrome in 1999. On March 13, 1998, nearly three years after the Lynx's discontinuation, JTS Corporation sold all of the Atari assets to Hasbro Interactive for $5 million. On May 14, 1999, Hasbro, which held on to those properties until selling Hasbro Interactive to Infogrames in 2001, released into the public domain all rights to the Jaguar, opening up the platform for anyone to publish software on without Hasbro's interference. Internet theories say that the Lynx's rights may have been released to the public at the same time as the Jaguar, but this is clearly disputed. Nevertheless, since discontinuation, the Lynx, like the Jaguar, has continued to receive support from a grassroots community which would go on to produce many successful homebrew games such as T-Tris (the first Lynx game with a save-game feature), Alpine Games, and Zaku. In 2008, Atari was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for pioneering the development of handheld games with the Lynx. See also List of Atari Lynx games History of Atari References External links AtariAge – Comprehensive Lynx Database and information Guide to Atari Lynx games at Retro Video Gamer Too Powerful for Its Own Good, Atari's Lynx Remains a Favorite 25 Years Later Atari Lynx review, 1990 Atari Lynx Hardware Documentation Atari Lynx Development Wiki Computer-related introductions in 1989 Handheld game consoles Fourth-generation video game consoles Lynx 1980s toys 1990s toys 65xx-based video game consoles Public domain in the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrobiology

Astrobiology

Astrobiology is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe through investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events. As a discipline, astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may exist beyond Earth. Research in astrobiology comprises three main areas: the study of habitable environments in the Solar System and beyond, the search for planetary biosignatures of past or present extraterrestrial life, and the study of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. The field of astrobiology has its origins in the 20th century with the advent of space exploration and the discovery of exoplanets. Early astrobiology research focused on the search for extraterrestrial life and the study of the potential for life to exist on other planets. In the 1960s and 1970s, NASA began its astrobiology pursuits within the Viking program, which was the first US mission to land on Mars and search for signs of life. This mission, along with other early space exploration missions, laid the foundation for the development of astrobiology as a discipline. Regarding habitable environments, astrobiology investigates potential locations beyond Earth that could support life, such as Mars, Europa, and exoplanets, through research into the extremophiles populating austere environments on Earth, like volcanic and deep sea environments. Research within this topic is conducted utilising the methodology of the geosciences, especially geobiology, for astrobiological applications. The search for biosignatures involves the identification of signs of past or present life in the form of organic compounds, isotopic ratios, or microbial fossils. Research within this topic is conducted utilising the methodology of planetary and environmental science, especially atmospheric science, for astrobiological applications, and is often conducted through remote sensing and in situ missions. Astrobiology also concerns the study of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth to try to understand the conditions that are necessary for life to form on other planets. This research seeks to understand how life emerged from non-living matter and how it evolved to become the diverse array of organisms we see today. Research within this topic is conducted utilising the methodology of paleosciences, especially paleobiology, for astrobiological applications. Astrobiology is a rapidly developing field with a strong interdisciplinary aspect that holds many challenges and opportunities for scientists. Astrobiology programs and research centres are present in many universities and research institutions around the world, and space agencies like NASA and ESA have dedicated departments and programs for astrobiology research. Overview The term astrobiology was first proposed by the Russian astronomer Gavriil Tikhov in 1953. It is etymologically derived from the Greek , “star”; , “life”; and , -logia, “study”. A close synonym is exobiology from the Greek Έξω, "external"; , "life"; and , -logia, “study”, coined by American molecular biologist Joshua Lederberg; exobiology is considered to have a narrow scope limited to search of life external to Earth. Another associated term is xenobiology, from the Greek ξένος, “foreign”; , “life”; and -λογία, “study”, coined by American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein in his work The Star Beast; xenobiology is now used in a more specialised sense, referring to ‘biology based on foreign chemistry’, whether of extraterrestrial or terrestrial (typically synthetic) origin. While the potential for extraterrestrial life, especially intelligent life, has been explored throughout human history within philosophy and narrative, the question is a verifiable hypothesis and thus a valid line of scientific inquiry; planetary scientist David Grinspoon calls it a field of natural philosophy, grounding speculation on the unknown in known scientific theory. The modern field of astrobiology can be traced back to the 1950s and 1960s with the advent of space exploration, when scientists began to seriously consider the possibility of life on other planets. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, which marked the beginning of the Space Age. This event led to an increase in the study of the potential for life on other planets, as scientists began to consider the possibilities opened up by the new technology of space exploration. In 1959, NASA funded its first exobiology project, and in 1960, NASA founded the Exobiology Program, now one of four main elements of NASA's current Astrobiology Program. In 1971, NASA funded Project Cyclops, part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, to search radio frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum for interstellar communications transmitted by extraterrestrial life outside the Solar System. In the 1960s-1970s, NASA established the Viking program, which was the first US mission to land on Mars and search for metabolic signs of present life; the results were inconclusive. In the 1980s and 1990s, the field began to expand and diversify as new discoveries and technologies emerged. The discovery of microbial life in extreme environments on Earth, such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents, helped to clarify the feasibility of potential life existing in harsh conditions. The development of new techniques for the detection of biosignatures, such as the use of stable isotopes, also played a significant role in the evolution of the field. The contemporary landscape of astrobiology emerged in the early 21st century, focused on utilising Earth and environmental science for applications within comparate space environments. Missions included the ESA’s Beagle 2, which failed minutes after landing on Mars, NASA’s Phoenix lander, which probed the environment for past and present planetary habitability of microbial life on Mars and researched the history of water, and NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently probing the environment for past and present planetary habitability of microbial life on Mars. Theoretical foundations Planetary habitability Astrobiological research makes a number of simplifying assumptions when studying the necessary components for planetary habitability. Carbon and Organic Compounds: Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe and the energy required to make or break a bond is at just the appropriate level for building molecules which are not only stable, but also reactive. The fact that carbon atoms bond readily to other carbon atoms allows for the building of extremely long and complex molecules. As such, astrobiological research presumes that the vast majority of life forms in the Milky Way galaxy are based on carbon chemistries, as are all life forms on Earth. However, theoretical astrobiology entertains the potential for other organic molecular bases for life, thus astrobiological research often focuses on identifying environments that have the potential to support life based on the presence of organic compounds. Liquid water: Liquid water is a common molecule that provides an excellent environment for the formation of complicated carbon-based molecules, and is generally considered necessary for life as we know it to exist. Thus, astrobiological research presumes that extraterrestrial life similarly depends upon access to liquid water, and often focuses on identifying environments that have the potential to support liquid water. Some researchers posit environments of water-ammonia mixtures as possible solvents for hypothetical types of biochemistry. Environmental Stability: Where organisms adaptively evolve to the conditions of the environments in which they reside, environmental stability is considered necessary for life to exist. This presupposes the necessity of a stable temperature, pressure, and radiation levels; resultantly, astrobiological research focuses on planets orbiting Sun-like red dwarf stars. This is because very large stars have relatively short lifetimes, meaning that life might not have time to emerge on planets orbiting them; very small stars provide so little heat and warmth that only planets in very close orbits around them would not be frozen solid, and in such close orbits these planets would be tidally locked to the star; whereas the long lifetimes of red dwarfs could allow the development of habitable environments on planets with thick atmospheres. This is significant as red dwarfs are extremely common. (See also: Habitability of red dwarf systems). Energy source: It is assumed that any life elsewhere in the universe would also require an energy source. Previously, it was assumed that this would necessarily be from a sun-like star, however with developments within extremophile research contemporary astrobiological research often focuses on identifying environments that have the potential to support life based on the availability of an energy source, such as the presence of volcanic activity on a planet or moon that could provide a source of heat and energy. It is important to note that these assumptions are based on our current understanding of life on Earth and the conditions under which it can exist. As our understanding of life and the potential for it to exist in different environments evolves, these assumptions may change. Methodology Astrobiological research concerning the study of habitable environments in our solar system and beyond utilises methodologies within the geosciences. Research within this branch primarily concerns the geobiology of organisms that can survive in extreme environments on Earth, such as in volcanic or deep sea environments, to understand the limits of life, and the conditions under which life might be able to survive on other planets. This includes, but is not limited to; Deep-sea extremophiles: Researchers are studying organisms that live in the extreme environments of deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. These organisms survive in the absence of sunlight, and some are able to survive in high temperatures and pressures, and use chemical energy instead of sunlight to produce food. Desert extremophiles: Researchers are studying organisms that can survive in extreme dry, high temperature conditions, such as in deserts. Microbes in extreme environments: Researchers are investigating the diversity and activity of microorganisms in environments such as deep mines, subsurface soil, cold glaciers and polar ice, and high-altitude environments. Research also regards the long-term survival of life on Earth, and the possibilities and hazards of life on other planets, including; Biodiversity and ecosystem resilience: Scientists are studying how the diversity of life and the interactions between different species contribute to the resilience of ecosystems and their ability to recover from disturbances. Climate change and extinction: Researchers are investigating the impacts of climate change on different species and ecosystems, and how they may lead to extinction or adaptation. This includes the evolution of Earth's climate and geology, and their potential impact on the habitability of the planet in the future, especially for humans. Human impact on the biosphere: Scientists are studying the ways in which human activities, such as deforestation, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species, are affecting the biosphere and the long-term survival of life on Earth. Long-term preservation of life: Researchers are exploring ways to preserve samples of life on Earth for long periods of time, such as cryopreservation and genomic preservation, in the event of a catastrophic event that could wipe out most of life on Earth. Emerging astrobiological research concerning the search for planetary biosignatures of past or present extraterrestrial life utilise methodologies within planetary sciences. These include; The study of microbial life in the subsurface of Mars: Scientists are using data from Mars rover missions to study the composition of the subsurface of Mars, searching for biosignatures of past or present microbial life. The study of subsurface oceans on icy moons: Recent discoveries of subsurface oceans on moons such as Europa and Enceladus have opened up new habitability zones thus targets for the search for extraterrestrial life. Currently, missions like the Europa Clipper are being planned to search for biosignatures within these environments. The study of the atmospheres of planets: Scientists are studying the potential for life to exist in the atmospheres of planets, with a focus on the study of the physical and chemical conditions necessary for such life to exist, namely the detection of organic molecules and biosignature gases; for example, the study of the possibility of life in the atmospheres of exoplanets that orbit red dwarfs and the study of the potential for microbial life in the upper atmosphere of Venus. Telescopes and remote sensing of exoplanets: The discovery of thousands of exoplanets has opened up new opportunities for the search for biosignatures. Scientists are using telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to search for biosignatures on exoplanets. They are also developing new techniques for the detection of biosignatures, such as the use of remote sensing to search for biosignatures in the atmosphere of exoplanets. SETI and CETI: Scientists search for signals from intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations using radio and optical telescopes within the discipline of extraterrestrial intelligence communications (CETI). CETI focuses on composing and deciphering messages that could theoretically be understood by another technological civilization. Communication attempts by humans have included broadcasting mathematical languages, pictorial systems such as the Arecibo message, and computational approaches to detecting and deciphering 'natural' language communication. While some high-profile scientists, such as Carl Sagan, have advocated the transmission of messages, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking warned against it, suggesting that aliens may raid Earth for its resources. Emerging astrobiological research concerning the study of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth utilises methodologies within the palaeosciences. These include; The study of the early atmosphere: Researchers are investigating the role of the early atmosphere in providing the right conditions for the emergence of life, such as the presence of gases that could have helped to stabilise the climate and the formation of organic molecules. The study of the early magnetic field: Researchers are investigating the role of the early magnetic field in protecting the Earth from harmful radiation and helping to stabilise the climate. This research has immense astrobiological implications where the subjects of current astrobiological research like Mars lack such a field. The study of prebiotic chemistry: Scientists are studying the chemical reactions that could have occurred on the early Earth that led to the formation of the building blocks of life- amino acids, nucleotides, and lipids- and how these molecules could have formed spontaneously under early Earth conditions. The study of impact events: Scientists are investigating the potential role of impact events- especially meteorites- in the delivery of water and organic molecules to early Earth. The study of the primordial soup: Researchers are investigating the conditions and ingredients that were present on the early Earth that could have led to the formation of the first living organisms, such as the presence of water and organic molecules, and how these ingredients could have led to the formation of the first living organisms. This includes the role of water in the formation of the first cells and in catalysing chemical reactions. The study of the role of minerals: Scientists are investigating the role of minerals like clay in catalysing the formation of organic molecules, thus playing a role in the emergence of life on Earth. The study of the role of energy and electricity: Scientists are investigating the potential sources of energy and electricity that could have been available on the early Earth, and their role in the formation of organic molecules, thus the emergence of life. The study of the early oceans: Scientists are investigating the composition and chemistry of the early oceans and how it may have played a role in the emergence of life, such as the presence of dissolved minerals that could have helped to catalyse the formation of organic molecules. The study of hydrothermal vents: Scientists are investigating the potential role of hydrothermal vents in the origin of life, as these environments may have provided the energy and chemical building blocks needed for its emergence. The study of plate tectonics: Scientists are investigating the role of plate tectonics in creating a diverse range of environments on the early Earth. The study of the early biosphere: Researchers are investigating the diversity and activity of microorganisms in the early Earth, and how these organisms may have played a role in the emergence of life. The study of microbial fossils: Scientists are investigating the presence of microbial fossils in ancient rocks, which can provide clues about the early evolution of life on Earth and the emergence of the first organisms. Research The systematic search for possible life outside Earth is a valid multidisciplinary scientific endeavor. However, hypotheses and predictions as to its existence and origin vary widely, and at the present, the development of hypotheses firmly grounded on science may be considered astrobiology's most concrete practical application. It has been proposed that viruses are likely to be encountered on other life-bearing planets, and may be present even if there are no biological cells. Research outcomes , no evidence of extraterrestrial life has been identified. Examination of the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, which was recovered in Antarctica in 1984 and originated from Mars, is thought by David McKay, as well as few other scientists, to contain microfossils of extraterrestrial origin; this interpretation is controversial. Yamato 000593, the second largest meteorite from Mars, was found on Earth in 2000. At a microscopic level, spheres are found in the meteorite that are rich in carbon compared to surrounding areas that lack such spheres. The carbon-rich spheres may have been formed by biotic activity according to some NASA scientists. On 5 March 2011, Richard B. Hoover, a scientist with the Marshall Space Flight Center, speculated on the finding of alleged microfossils similar to cyanobacteria in CI1 carbonaceous meteorites in the fringe Journal of Cosmology, a story widely reported on by mainstream media. However, NASA formally distanced itself from Hoover's claim. According to American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson: "At the moment, life on Earth is the only known life in the universe, but there are compelling arguments to suggest we are not alone." Elements of astrobiology Astronomy Most astronomy-related astrobiology research falls into the category of extrasolar planet (exoplanet) detection, the hypothesis being that if life arose on Earth, then it could also arise on other planets with similar characteristics. To that end, a number of instruments designed to detect Earth-sized exoplanets have been considered, most notably NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESA's Darwin programs, both of which have been cancelled. NASA launched the Kepler mission in March 2009, and the French Space Agency launched the COROT space mission in 2006. There are also several less ambitious ground-based efforts underway. The goal of these missions is not only to detect Earth-sized planets but also to directly detect light from the planet so that it may be studied spectroscopically. By examining planetary spectra, it would be possible to determine the basic composition of an extrasolar planet's atmosphere and/or surface. Given this knowledge, it may be possible to assess the likelihood of life being found on that planet. A NASA research group, the Virtual Planet Laboratory, is using computer modeling to generate a wide variety of virtual planets to see what they would look like if viewed by TPF or Darwin. It is hoped that once these missions come online, their spectra can be cross-checked with these virtual planetary spectra for features that might indicate the presence of life. An estimate for the number of planets with intelligent communicative extraterrestrial life can be gleaned from the Drake equation, essentially an equation expressing the probability of intelligent life as the product of factors such as the fraction of planets that might be habitable and the fraction of planets on which life might arise: where: N = The number of communicative civilizations R* = The rate of formation of suitable stars (stars such as our Sun) fp = The fraction of those stars with planets (current evidence indicates that planetary systems may be common for stars like the Sun) ne = The number of Earth-sized worlds per planetary system fl = The fraction of those Earth-sized planets where life actually develops fi = The fraction of life sites where intelligence develops fc = The fraction of communicative planets (those on which electromagnetic communications technology develops) L = The "lifetime" of communicating civilizations However, whilst the rationale behind the equation is sound, it is unlikely that the equation will be constrained to reasonable limits of error any time soon. The problem with the formula is that it is not used to generate or support hypotheses because it contains factors that can never be verified. The first term, R*, number of stars, is generally constrained within a few orders of magnitude. The second and third terms, fp, stars with planets and fe, planets with habitable conditions, are being evaluated for the star's neighborhood. Drake originally formulated the equation merely as an agenda for discussion at the Green Bank conference, but some applications of the formula had been taken literally and related to simplistic or pseudoscientific arguments. Another associated topic is the Fermi paradox, which suggests that if intelligent life is common in the universe, then there should be obvious signs of it. Another active research area in astrobiology is planetary system formation. It has been suggested that the peculiarities of the Solar System (for example, the presence of Jupiter as a protective shield) may have greatly increased the probability of intelligent life arising on our planet. Biology Biology cannot state that a process or phenomenon, by being mathematically possible, has to exist forcibly in an extraterrestrial body. Biologists specify what is speculative and what is not. The discovery of extremophiles, organisms able to survive in extreme environments, became a core research element for astrobiologists, as they are important to understand four areas in the limits of life in planetary context: the potential for panspermia, forward contamination due to human exploration ventures, planetary colonization by humans, and the exploration of extinct and extant extraterrestrial life. Until the 1970s, life was thought to be entirely dependent on energy from the Sun. Plants on Earth's surface capture energy from sunlight to photosynthesize sugars from carbon dioxide and water, releasing oxygen in the process that is then consumed by oxygen-respiring organisms, passing their energy up the food chain. Even life in the ocean depths, where sunlight cannot reach, was thought to obtain its nourishment either from consuming organic detritus rained down from the surface waters or from eating animals that did. The world's ability to support life was thought to depend on its access to sunlight. However, in 1977, during an exploratory dive to the Galapagos Rift in the deep-sea exploration submersible Alvin, scientists discovered colonies of giant tube worms, clams, crustaceans, mussels, and other assorted creatures clustered around undersea volcanic features known as black smokers. These creatures thrive despite having no access to sunlight, and it was soon discovered that they comprise an entirely independent ecosystem. Although most of these multicellular lifeforms need dissolved oxygen (produced by oxygenic photosynthesis) for their aerobic cellular respiration and thus are not completely independent from sunlight by themselves, the basis for their food chain is a form of bacterium that derives its energy from oxidization of reactive chemicals, such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, that bubble up from the Earth's interior. Other lifeforms entirely decoupled from the energy from sunlight are green sulfur bacteria which are capturing geothermal light for anoxygenic photosynthesis or bacteria running chemolithoautotrophy based on the radioactive decay of uranium. This chemosynthesis revolutionized the study of biology and astrobiology by revealing that life need not be sun-dependent; it only requires water and an energy gradient in order to exist. Biologists have found extremophiles that thrive in ice, boiling water, acid, alkali, the water core of nuclear reactors, salt crystals, toxic waste and in a range of other extreme habitats that were previously thought to be inhospitable for life. This opened up a new avenue in astrobiology by massively expanding the number of possible extraterrestrial habitats. Characterization of these organisms, their environments and their evolutionary pathways, is considered a crucial component to understanding how life might evolve elsewhere in the universe. For example, some organisms able to withstand exposure to the vacuum and radiation of outer space include the lichen fungi Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans, the bacterium Bacillus safensis, Deinococcus radiodurans, Bacillus subtilis, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, seeds from Arabidopsis thaliana ('mouse-ear cress'), as well as the invertebrate animal Tardigrade. While tardigrades are not considered true extremophiles, they are considered extremotolerant microorganisms that have contributed to the field of astrobiology. Their extreme radiation tolerance and presence of DNA protection proteins may provide answers as to whether life can survive away from the protection of the Earth's atmosphere. Jupiter's moon, Europa, and Saturn's moon, Enceladus, are now considered the most likely locations for extant extraterrestrial life in the Solar System due to their subsurface water oceans where radiogenic and tidal heating enables liquid water to exist. The origin of life, known as abiogenesis, distinct from the evolution of life, is another ongoing field of research. Oparin and Haldane postulated that the conditions on the early Earth were conducive to the formation of organic compounds from inorganic elements and thus to the formation of many of the chemicals common to all forms of life we see today. The study of this process, known as prebiotic chemistry, has made some progress, but it is still unclear whether or not life could have formed in such a manner on Earth. The alternative hypothesis of panspermia is that the first elements of life may have formed on another planet with even more favorable conditions (or even in interstellar space, asteroids, etc.) and then have been carried over to Earth. The cosmic dust permeating the universe contains complex organic compounds ("amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure") that could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars. Further, a scientist suggested that these compounds may have been related to the development of life on Earth and said that, "If this is the case, life on Earth may have had an easier time getting started as these organics can serve as basic ingredients for life." More than 20% of the carbon in the universe may be associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), possible starting materials for the formation of life. PAHs seem to have been formed shortly after the Big Bang, are widespread throughout the universe, and are associated with new stars and exoplanets. PAHs are subjected to interstellar medium conditions and are transformed through hydrogenation, oxygenation and hydroxylation, to more complex organics—"a step along the path toward amino acids and nucleotides, the raw materials of proteins and DNA, respectively". In October 2020, astronomers proposed the idea of detecting life on distant planets by studying the shadows of trees at certain times of the day to find patterns that could be detected through observation of exoplanets. Rare Earth hypothesis The Rare Earth hypothesis postulates that multicellular life forms found on Earth may actually be more of a rarity than scientists assume. According to this hypothesis, life on Earth (and more, multi-cellular life) is possible because of a conjunction of the right circumstances (galaxy and location within it, planetary system, star, orbit, planetary size, atmosphere, etc.); and the chance for all those circumstances to repeat elsewhere may be rare. It provides a possible answer to the Fermi paradox which suggests, "If extraterrestrial aliens are common, why aren't they obvious?" It is apparently in opposition to the principle of mediocrity, assumed by famed astronomers Frank Drake, Carl Sagan, and others. The principle of mediocrity suggests that life on Earth is not exceptional, and it is more than likely to be found on innumerable other worlds. Missions Research into the environmental limits of life and the workings of extreme ecosystems is ongoing, enabling researchers to better predict what planetary environments might be most likely to harbor life. Missions such as the Phoenix lander, Mars Science Laboratory, ExoMars, Mars 2020 rover to Mars, and the Cassini probe to Saturn's moons aim to further explore the possibilities of life on other planets in the Solar System. Viking program The two Viking landers each carried four types of biological experiments to the surface of Mars in the late 1970s. These were the only Mars landers to carry out experiments looking specifically for metabolism by current microbial life on Mars. The landers used a robotic arm to collect soil samples into sealed test containers on the craft. The two landers were identical, so the same tests were carried out at two places on Mars' surface; Viking 1 near the equator and Viking 2 further north. The result was inconclusive, and is still disputed by some scientists. Norman Horowitz was the chief of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory bioscience section for the Mariner and Viking missions from 1965 to 1976. Horowitz considered that the great versatility of the carbon atom makes it the element most likely to provide solutions, even exotic solutions, to the problems of survival of life on other planets. However, he also considered that the conditions found on Mars were incompatible with carbon based life. Beagle 2 Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British Mars lander that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. Its primary purpose was to search for signs of life on Mars, past or present. Although it landed safely, it was unable to correctly deploy its solar panels and telecom antenna. EXPOSE EXPOSE is a multi-user facility mounted in 2008 outside the International Space Station dedicated to astrobiology. EXPOSE was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for long-term spaceflights that allow exposure of organic chemicals and biological samples to outer space in low Earth orbit. Mars Science Laboratory The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission landed the Curiosity rover that is currently in operation on Mars. It was launched 26 November 2011, and landed at Gale Crater on 6 August 2012. Mission objectives are to help assess Mars' habitability and in doing so, determine whether Mars is or has ever been able to support life, collect data for a future human mission, study Martian geology, its climate, and further assess the role that water, an essential ingredient for life as we know it, played in forming minerals on Mars. Tanpopo The Tanpopo mission is an orbital astrobiology experiment investigating the potential interplanetary transfer of life, organic compounds, and possible terrestrial particles in the low Earth orbit. The purpose is to assess the panspermia hypothesis and the possibility of natural interplanetary transport of microbial life as well as prebiotic organic compounds. Early mission results show evidence that some clumps of microorganism can survive for at least one year in space. This may support the idea that clumps greater than 0.5 millimeters of microorganisms could be one way for life to spread from planet to planet. ExoMars rover ExoMars is a robotic mission to Mars to search for possible biosignatures of Martian life, past or present. This astrobiological mission is currently under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos); it is planned for a 2022 launch. Mars 2020 Mars 2020 successfully landed its rover Perseverance in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021. It will investigate environments on Mars relevant to astrobiology, investigate its surface geological processes and history, including the assessment of its past habitability and potential for preservation of biosignatures and biomolecules within accessible geological materials. The Science Definition Team is proposing the rover collect and package at least 31 samples of rock cores and soil for a later mission to bring back for more definitive analysis in laboratories on Earth. The rover could make measurements and technology demonstrations to help designers of a human expedition understand any hazards posed by Martian dust and demonstrate how to collect carbon dioxide (CO2), which could be a resource for making molecular oxygen (O2) and rocket fuel. Europa Clipper Europa Clipper is a mission planned by NASA for a 2025 launch that will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter's moon Europa and will investigate whether its internal ocean could harbor conditions suitable for life. It will also aid in the selection of future landing sites. Dragonfly Dragonfly is a NASA mission scheduled to land on Titan in 2036 to assess its microbial habitability and study its prebiotic chemistry. Dragonfly is a rotorcraft lander that will perform controlled flights between multiple locations on the surface, which allows sampling of diverse regions and geological contexts. Proposed concepts Icebreaker Life Icebreaker Life is a lander mission that was proposed for NASA's Discovery Program for the 2021 launch opportunity, but it was not selected for development. It would have had a stationary lander that would be a near copy of the successful 2008 Phoenix and it would have carried an upgraded astrobiology scientific payload, including a 1-meter-long core drill to sample ice-cemented ground in the northern plains to conduct a search for organic molecules and evidence of current or past life on Mars. One of the key goals of the Icebreaker Life mission is to test the hypothesis that the ice-rich ground in the polar regions has significant concentrations of organics due to protection by the ice from oxidants and radiation. Journey to Enceladus and Titan Journey to Enceladus and Titan (JET) is an astrobiology mission concept to assess the habitability potential of Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan by means of an orbiter. Enceladus Life Finder Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a proposed astrobiology mission concept for a space probe intended to assess the habitability of the internal aquatic ocean of Enceladus, Saturn's sixth-largest moon. Life Investigation For Enceladus Life Investigation For Enceladus (LIFE) is a proposed astrobiology sample-return mission concept. The spacecraft would enter into Saturn orbit and enable multiple flybys through Enceladus' icy plumes to collect icy plume particles and volatiles and return them to Earth on a capsule. The spacecraft may sample Enceladus' plumes, the E ring of Saturn, and the upper atmosphere of Titan. Oceanus Oceanus is an orbiter proposed in 2017 for the New Frontiers mission No. 4. It would travel to the moon of Saturn, Titan, to assess its habitability. Oceanus objectives are to reveal Titan's organic chemistry, geology, gravity, topography, collect 3D reconnaissance data, catalog the organics and determine where they may interact with liquid water. Explorer of Enceladus and Titan Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T) is an orbiter mission concept that would investigate the evolution and habitability of the Saturnian satellites Enceladus and Titan. The mission concept was proposed in 2017 by the European Space Agency. See also Astrobiology.com Top ranked news source for Astrobiology The Living Cosmos References Bibliography The International Journal of Astrobiology, published by Cambridge University Press, is the forum for practitioners in this interdisciplinary field. Astrobiology, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a peer-reviewed journal that explores the origins of life, evolution, distribution, and destiny in the universe. Loeb, Avi (2021). Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Further reading D. Goldsmith, T. Owen, The Search For Life in the Universe, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 2001 (3rd edition). Andy Weir's 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary, centers on astrobiology. External links Astrobiology.nasa.gov UK Centre for Astrobiology Spanish Centro de Astrobiología Astrobiology Research at The Library of Congress Astrobiology Survey – An introductory course on astrobiology Summary - Search For Life Beyond Earth (NASA; 25 June 2021) Extraterrestrial life Origin of life Astronomical sub-disciplines Branches of biology Speculative evolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active%20Directory

Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services. Initially, Active Directory was used only for centralized domain management. However, Active Directory eventually became an umbrella title for a broad range of directory-based identity-related services. A server running the Active Directory Domain Service (AD DS) role is called a domain controller. It authenticates and authorizes all users and computers in a Windows domain type network, assigning and enforcing security policies for all computers, and installing or updating software. For example, when a user logs into a computer that is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted username and password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or normal user. Also, it allows management and storage of information, provides authentication and authorization mechanisms and establishes a framework to deploy other related services: Certificate Services, Active Directory Federation Services, Lightweight Directory Services, and Rights Management Services. Active Directory uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) versions 2 and 3, Microsoft's version of Kerberos, and DNS. Robert R. King defined it in the following way: History Like many information-technology efforts, Active Directory originated out of a democratization of design using Request for Comments (RFCs). The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which oversees the RFC process, has accepted numerous RFCs initiated by widespread participants. For example, LDAP underpins Active Directory. Also, X.500 directories and the Organizational Unit preceded the Active Directory concept that makes use of those methods. The LDAP concept began to emerge even before the founding of Microsoft in April 1975, with RFCs as early as 1971. RFCs contributing to LDAP include RFC 1823 (on the LDAP API, August 1995), RFC 2307, RFC 3062, and RFC 4533. Microsoft previewed Active Directory in 1999, released it first with Windows 2000 Server edition, and revised it to extend functionality and improve administration in Windows Server 2003. Active Directory support was also added to Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 via patch, with some features being unsupported. Additional improvements came with subsequent versions of Windows Server. In Windows Server 2008, additional services were added to Active Directory, such as Active Directory Federation Services. The part of the directory in charge of the management of domains, which was previously a core part of the operating system, was renamed Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) and became a server role like others. "Active Directory" became the umbrella title of a broader range of directory-based services. According to Byron Hynes, everything related to identity was brought under Active Directory's banner. Active Directory Services Active Directory Services consist of multiple directory services. The best known is Active Directory Domain Services, commonly abbreviated as AD DS or simply AD. Domain Services Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is the foundation of every Windows domain network. It stores information about members of the domain, including devices and users, verifies their credentials and defines their access rights. The server running this service is called a domain controller. A domain controller is contacted when a user logs into a device, accesses another device across the network or runs a line-of-business Metro-style app sideloaded into a device. Other Active Directory services (excluding LDS, as described below) as well as most of Microsoft server technologies rely on or use Domain Services; examples include Group Policy, Encrypting File System, BitLocker, Domain Name Services, Remote Desktop Services, Exchange Server and SharePoint Server. The self-managed Active Directory DS must not be confused with managed Azure AD DS, which is a cloud product. Lightweight Directory Services Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), formerly known as Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM), is an implementation of the LDAP protocol for AD DS. AD LDS runs as a service on Windows Server. AD LDS shares the code base with AD DS and provides the same functionality, including an identical API, but does not require the creation of domains or domain controllers. It provides a Data Store for the storage of directory data and a Directory Service with an LDAP Directory Service Interface. Unlike AD DS, however, multiple AD LDS instances can run on the same server. Certificate Services Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) establishes an on-premises public key infrastructure. It can create, validate, revoke and perform other similar actions, public key certificates for internal uses of an organization. These certificates can be used to encrypt files (when used with Encrypting File System), emails (per S/MIME standard), and network traffic (when used by virtual private networks, Transport Layer Security protocol or IPSec protocol). AD CS predates Windows Server 2008, but its name was simply Certificate Services. AD CS requires an AD DS infrastructure. Federation Services Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) is a single sign-on service. With an AD FS infrastructure in place, users may use several web-based services (e.g. internet forum, blog, online shopping, webmail) or network resources using only one set of credentials stored at a central location, as opposed to having to be granted a dedicated set of credentials for each service. AD FS uses many popular open standards to pass token credentials such as SAML, OAuth or OpenID Connect. AD FS supports encryption and signing of SAML assertions. AD FS's purpose is an extension of that of AD DS: The latter enables users to authenticate with and use the devices that are part of the same network, using one set of credentials. The former enables them to use the same set of credentials in a different network. As the name suggests, AD FS works based on the concept of federated identity. AD FS requires an AD DS infrastructure, although its federation partner may not. Rights Management Services Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS, known as Rights Management Services or RMS before Windows Server 2008) is a server software for information rights management shipped with Windows Server. It uses encryption and a form of selective functionality denial for limiting access to documents such as corporate e-mails, Microsoft Word documents, and web pages, and the operations authorized users can perform on them. These operations can include viewing, editing, copying, saving as or printing for example. IT administrators can create pre-set templates for the convenience of the end user if required. However, end users can still define who can access the content in question and set what they can do. Logical structure As a directory service, an Active Directory instance consists of a database and corresponding executable code responsible for servicing requests and maintaining the database. The executable part, known as Directory System Agent, is a collection of Windows services and processes that run on Windows 2000 and later. Objects in Active Directory databases can be accessed via LDAP, ADSI (a component object model interface), messaging API and Security Accounts Manager services. Objects Active Directory structures are arrangements of information about objects. The objects fall into two broad categories: resources (e.g., printers) and security principals (user or computer accounts and groups). Security principals are assigned unique security identifiers (SIDs). Each object represents a single entity—whether a user, a computer, a printer, or a group—and its attributes. Certain objects can contain other objects. An object is uniquely identified by its name and has a set of attributes—the characteristics and information that the object represents— defined by a schema, which also determines the kinds of objects that can be stored in the Active Directory. The schema object lets administrators extend or modify the schema when necessary. However, because each schema object is integral to the definition of Active Directory objects, deactivating or changing these objects can fundamentally change or disrupt a deployment. Schema changes automatically propagate throughout the system. Once created, an object can only be deactivated—not deleted. Changing the schema usually requires planning. Forests, trees, and domains The Active Directory framework that holds objects can be viewed at a number of levels. The forest, tree, and domain are the logical divisions in an Active Directory network. Within a deployment, objects are grouped into domains. The objects for a single domain are stored in a single database (which can be replicated). Domains are identified by their DNS name structure, the namespace. A domain is defined as a logical group of network objects (computers, users, devices) that share the same Active Directory database. A tree is a collection of one or more domains and domain trees in a contiguous namespace and is linked in a transitive trust hierarchy. At the top of the structure is the forest. A forest is a collection of trees that share a common global catalog, directory schema, logical structure, and directory configuration. The forest represents the security boundary within which users, computers, groups, and other objects are accessible. Organizational units The objects held within a domain can be grouped into organizational units (OUs). OUs can provide hierarchy to a domain, ease its administration, and can resemble the organization's structure in managerial or geographical terms. OUs can contain other OUs—domains are containers in this sense. Microsoft recommends using OUs rather than domains for structure and simplifying the implementation of policies and administration. The OU is the recommended level at which to apply group policies, which are Active Directory objects formally named group policy objects (GPOs), although policies can also be applied to domains or sites (see below). The OU is the level at which administrative powers are commonly delegated, but delegation can be performed on individual objects or attributes as well. Organizational units do not each have a separate namespace. As a consequence, for compatibility with Legacy NetBios implementations, user accounts with an identical sAMAccountName are not allowed within the same domain even if the accounts objects are in separate OUs. This is because sAMAccountName, a user object attribute, must be unique within the domain. However, two users in different OUs can have the same common name (CN), the name under which they are stored in the directory itself such as "fred.staff-ou.domain" and "fred.student-ou.domain", where "staff-ou" and "student-ou" are the OUs. In general, the reason for this lack of allowance for duplicate names through hierarchical directory placement is that Microsoft primarily relies on the principles of NetBIOS, which is a flat-namespace method of network object management that, for Microsoft software, goes all the way back to Windows NT 3.1 and MS-DOS LAN Manager. Allowing for duplication of object names in the directory, or completely removing the use of NetBIOS names, would prevent backward compatibility with legacy software and equipment. However, disallowing duplicate object names in this way is a violation of the LDAP RFCs on which Active Directory is supposedly based. As the number of users in a domain increases, conventions such as "first initial, middle initial, last name" (Western order) or the reverse (Eastern order) fail for common family names like Li (李), Smith or Garcia. Workarounds include adding a digit to the end of the username. Alternatives include creating a separate ID system of unique employee/student ID numbers to use as account names in place of actual users' names and allowing users to nominate their preferred word sequence within an acceptable use policy. Because duplicate usernames cannot exist within a domain, account name generation poses a significant challenge for large organizations that cannot be easily subdivided into separate domains, such as students in a public school system or university who must be able to use any computer across the network. Shadow groups In Microsoft's Active Directory, OUs do not confer access permissions, and objects placed within OUs are not automatically assigned access privileges based on their containing OU. This is a design limitation specific to Active Directory. Other competing directories such as Novell NDS can assign access privileges through object placement within an OU. Active Directory requires a separate step for an administrator to assign an object in an OU as a member of a group also within that OU. Relying on OU location alone to determine access permissions is unreliable, because the object may not have been assigned to the group object for that OU. A common workaround for an Active Directory administrator is to write a custom PowerShell or Visual Basic script to automatically create and maintain a user group for each OU in their directory. The scripts are run periodically to update the group to match the OU's account membership but are unable to instantly update the security groups anytime the directory changes, as occurs in competing directories where security is directly implemented into the directory itself. Such groups are known as shadow groups. Once created, these shadow groups are selectable in place of the OU in the administrative tools. Microsoft refers to shadow groups in the Server 2008 Reference documentation but does not explain how to create them. There are no built-in server methods or console snap-ins for managing shadow groups. The division of an organization's information infrastructure into a hierarchy of one or more domains and top-level OUs is a key decision. Common models are by business unit, by geographical location, by IT Service, or by object type and hybrids of these. OUs should be structured primarily to facilitate administrative delegation, and secondarily, to facilitate group policy application. Although OUs form an administrative boundary, the only true security boundary is the forest itself and an administrator of any domain in the forest must be trusted across all domains in the forest. Partitions The Active Directory database is organized in partitions, each holding specific object types and following a specific replication pattern. Microsoft often refers to these partitions as 'naming contexts'. The 'Schema' partition contains the definition of object classes and attributes within the Forest. The 'Configuration' partition contains information on the physical structure and configuration of the forest (such as the site topology). Both replicate to all domains in the Forest. The 'Domain' partition holds all objects created in that domain and replicates only within its domain. Physical structure Sites are physical (rather than logical) groupings defined by one or more IP subnets. AD also holds the definitions of connections, distinguishing low-speed (e.g., WAN, VPN) from high-speed (e.g., LAN) links. Site definitions are independent of the domain and OU structure and are common across the forest. Sites are used to control network traffic generated by replication and also to refer clients to the nearest domain controllers (DCs). Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 uses the site topology for mail routing. Policies can also be defined at the site level. Physically, the Active Directory information is held on one or more peer domain controllers, replacing the NT PDC/BDC model. Each DC has a copy of the Active Directory. Servers joined to Active Directory that is not domain controllers are called Member Servers. A subset of objects in the domain partition replicate to domain controllers that are configured as global catalogs. Global catalog (GC) servers provide a global listing of all objects in the Forest. Global Catalog servers replicate to themselves all objects from all domains and, hence, provide a global listing of objects in the forest. However, to minimize replication traffic and keep the GC's database small, only selected attributes of each object are replicated. This is called the partial attribute set (PAS). The PAS can be modified by modifying the schema and marking attributes for replication to the GC. Earlier versions of Windows used NetBIOS to communicate. Active Directory is fully integrated with DNS and requires TCP/IP—DNS. To be fully functional, the DNS server must support SRV resource records, also known as service records. Replication Active Directory synchronizes changes using multi-master replication. Replication by default is 'pull' rather than 'push', meaning that replicas pull changes from the server where the change was effected. The Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC) creates a replication topology of site links using the defined sites to manage traffic. Intra-site replication is frequent and automatic as a result of change notification, which triggers peers to begin a pull replication cycle. Inter-site replication intervals are typically less frequent and do not use change notification by default, although this is configurable and can be made identical to intra-site replication. Each link can have a 'cost' (e.g., DS3, T1, ISDN, etc.) and the KCC alters the site link topology accordingly. Replication may occur transitively through several site links on same-protocol site link bridges, if the cost is low, although KCC automatically costs a direct site-to-site link lower than transitive connections. Site-to-site replication can be configured to occur between a bridgehead server in each site, which then replicates the changes to other DCs within the site. Replication for Active Directory zones is automatically configured when DNS is activated in the domain-based by the site. Replication of Active Directory uses Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) over IP (RPC/IP). Between Sites, SMTP can be used for replication, but only for changes in the Schema, Configuration, or Partial Attribute Set (Global Catalog) GCs. SMTP cannot be used for replicating the default Domain partition. Implementation In general, a network utilizing Active Directory has more than one licensed Windows server computer. Backup and restore of Active Directory is possible for a network with a single domain controller, but Microsoft recommends more than one domain controller to provide automatic failover protection of the directory. Domain controllers are also ideally single-purpose for directory operations only, and should not run any other software or role. Certain Microsoft products such as SQL Server and Exchange can interfere with the operation of a domain controller, necessitating isolation of these products on additional Windows servers. Combining them can make configuration or troubleshooting of either the domain controller or the other installed software more difficult. A business intending to implement Active Directory is therefore recommended to purchase a number of Windows server licenses, to provide for at least two separate domain controllers, and optionally, additional domain controllers for performance or redundancy, a separate file server, a separate Exchange server, a separate SQL Server, and so forth to support the various server roles. Physical hardware costs for the many separate servers can be reduced through the use of virtualization, although for proper failover protection, Microsoft recommends not running multiple virtualized domain controllers on the same physical hardware. Database The Active-Directory database, the directory store, in Windows 2000 Server uses the JET Blue-based Extensible Storage Engine (ESE98) and is limited to 16 terabytes and 2 billion objects (but only 1 billion security principals) in each domain controller's database. Microsoft has created NTDS databases with more than 2 billion objects. (NT4's Security Account Manager could support no more than 40,000 objects). Called NTDS.DIT, it has two main tables: the data table and the link table. Windows Server 2003 added a third main table for security descriptor single instancing. Programs may access the features of Active Directory via the COM interfaces provided by Active Directory Service Interfaces. Trusting To allow users in one domain to access resources in another, Active Directory uses trusts. Trusts inside a forest are automatically created when domains are created. The forest sets the default boundaries of trust, and implicit, transitive trust is automatic for all domains within a forest. Terminology One-way trust One domain allows access to users on another domain, but the other domain does not allow access to users on the first domain. Two-way trust Two domains allow access to users on both domains. Trusted domain The domain that is trusted; whose users have access to the trusting domain. Transitive trust A trust that can extend beyond two domains to other trusted domains in the forest. Intransitive trust A one way trust that does not extend beyond two domains. Explicit trust A trust that an admin creates. It is not transitive and is one way only. Cross-link trust An explicit trust between domains in different trees or the same tree when a descendant/ancestor (child/parent) relationship does not exist between the two domains. Shortcut Joins two domains in different trees, transitive, one- or two-way. Forest trust Applies to the entire forest. Transitive, one- or two-way. Realm Can be transitive or nontransitive (intransitive), one- or two-way. External Connect to other forests or non-Active Directory domains. Nontransitive, one- or two-way. PAM trust A one-way trust used by Microsoft Identity Manager from a (possibly low-level) production forest to a (Windows Server 2016 functionality level) 'bastion' forest, which issues time-limited group memberships. Management tools Microsoft Active Directory management tools include: Active Directory Administrative Center (Introduced with Windows Server 2012 and above), Active Directory Users and Computers, Active Directory Domains and Trusts, Active Directory Sites and Services, ADSI Edit, Local Users and Groups, Active Directory Schema snap-ins for Microsoft Management Console (MMC), SysInternals ADExplorer These management tools may not provide enough functionality for efficient workflow in large environments. Some third-party tools extend the administration and management capabilities. They provide essential features for a more convenient administration process, such as automation, reports, integration with other services, etc. Unix integration Varying levels of interoperability with Active Directory can be achieved on most Unix-like operating systems (including Unix, Linux, Mac OS X or Java and Unix-based programs) through standards-compliant LDAP clients, but these systems usually do not interpret many attributes associated with Windows components, such as Group Policy and support for one-way trusts. Third parties offer Active Directory integration for Unix-like platforms, including: PowerBroker Identity Services, formerly Likewise (BeyondTrust, formerly Likewise Software) – Allows a non-Windows client to join Active Directory ADmitMac (Thursby Software Systems) Samba (free software under GPLv3) – Can act as a domain controller The schema additions shipped with Windows Server 2003 R2 include attributes that map closely enough to RFC 2307 to be generally usable. The reference implementation of RFC 2307, nss_ldap and pam_ldap provided by PADL.com, support these attributes directly. The default schema for group membership complies with RFC 2307bis (proposed). Windows Server 2003 R2 includes a Microsoft Management Console snap-in that creates and edits the attributes. An alternative option is to use another directory service as non-Windows clients authenticate to this while Windows Clients authenticate to Active Directory. Non-Windows clients include 389 Directory Server (formerly Fedora Directory Server, FDS), ViewDS v7.2 XML Enabled Directory, and Sun Microsystems Sun Java System Directory Server. The latter two are both able to perform two-way synchronization with Active Directory and thus provide a "deflected" integration. Another option is to use OpenLDAP with its translucent overlay, which can extend entries in any remote LDAP server with additional attributes stored in a local database. Clients pointed at the local database see entries containing both the remote and local attributes, while the remote database remains completely untouched. Administration (querying, modifying, and monitoring) of Active Directory can be achieved via many scripting languages, including PowerShell, VBScript, JScript/JavaScript, Perl, Python, and Ruby. Free and non-free Active Directory administration tools can help to simplify and possibly automate Active Directory management tasks. Since October 2017 Amazon AWS offers integration with Microsoft Active Directory. See also AGDLP (implementing role based access controls using nested groups) Apple Open Directory Flexible single master operation FreeIPA List of LDAP software System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) Univention Corporate Server References External links Microsoft Technet: White paper: Active Directory Architecture (Single technical document that gives an overview about Active Directory.) Microsoft Technet: Detailed description of Active Directory on Windows Server 2003 Microsoft MSDN Library: [MS-ADTS]: Active Directory Technical Specification (part of the Microsoft Open Specification Promise) Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) Microsoft MSDN: [AD-LDS]: Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Microsoft TechNet: [AD-LDS]: Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services Microsoft MSDN: Active Directory Schema Microsoft TechNet: Understanding Schema Microsoft TechNet Magazine: Extending the Active Directory Schema Microsoft MSDN: Active Directory Certificate Services Microsoft TechNet: Active Directory Certificate Services Directory services Public key infrastructure Microsoft server technology Windows components Windows 2000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arian%20%28disambiguation%29

Arian (disambiguation)

Arianism is a nontrinitarian Christological doctrine. Arian may also refer to: Arian is a surname that originated in Ancient Persia Pertaining to Arius A follower of Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century Arian controversy, several controversies which divided the early Christian church Arian fragment, Arian palimpsest People Groups of people Arians or Areians, ancient people living in Ariana (origin of the modern name Iran) Aryan, a term associated with the Proto-Indo-Iranians Aryan race, the racial concept An inhabitant of Aria (today's Herat, Afghanistan), used by the ancient and medieval Greeks (as Ἄρ(ε)ιοι/Ar(e)ioi) and Romans (as Arii) Given name Arian Asllani (born 1983), American rapper known as Action Bronson Arian Bimo (born 1959), Albanian footballer Arian Çuliqi, Albanian television director and screenwriter Arian Foster (born 1986), American football player Arian Hametaj (born 1957), Albanian footballer Arián Iznaga, Cuban Paralympian sprinter Arian Kabashi (born 1996), Kosovan footballer Arian Kabashi (born 1997), Swedish footballer Arlan Lerio (born 1976), Filipino boxer Arian Leviste (born 1970), American electronic music artist, producer, and DJ Arian Moayed (born 1980), Iranian-born American actor and theater producer Arian Moreno (born 2003), Venezuelan footballer Surname Arman Arian (born 1981), Iranian author, novelist and researcher Asher Arian (1938–2010), American political scientist Laila Al-Arian (born 1980s), American broadcast journalist Sami Al-Arian (born 1958), Palestinian-American civil rights activist Praskovia Arian (1864–1949) Russian and Soviet writer and feminist Bruce Arians (born 1952), American football coach and former player Jake Arians (born 1978), American football player Other Arian (band), a pop band in Iran Arian (newspaper), an Iranian newspaper since 1914 Arian, an outsider's name for a member of the Polish Brethren Arian, a person born under the constellation Aries (astrology) See also Arian Kartli, ancient Georgian country Al-Arian, an Arab village in northern Israel Aaryan, a given name and surname Ariane (disambiguation), the French spelling of Ariadne, a character in Greek mythology Ariann Black, Canadian-American female magician Ariano (disambiguation) Arien (disambiguation) Arius (disambiguation) Ariyan A. Johnson Arrian, Greek historian Aryan (name) Ghamar Ariyan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragonese%20language

Aragonese language

Aragonese ( ; in Aragonese) is a Romance language spoken in several dialects by about 12,000 people as of 2011, in the Pyrenees valleys of Aragon, Spain, primarily in the comarcas of Somontano de Barbastro, Jacetania, Alto Gállego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza/Ribagorça. It is the only modern language which survived from medieval Navarro-Aragonese in a form distinctly different from Spanish. Historically, people referred to the language as ('talk' or 'speech'). Native Aragonese people usually refer to it by the names of its local dialects such as (from Valle de Hecho) or (from the Benasque Valley). History Aragonese, which developed in portions of the Ebro basin, can be traced back to the High Middle Ages. It spread throughout the Pyrenees to areas where languages similar to modern Basque might have been previously spoken. The Kingdom of Aragon (formed by the counties of Aragon, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza) expanded southward from the mountains, pushing the Moors farther south in the Reconquista and spreading the Aragonese language. The union of the Catalan counties and the Kingdom of Aragon which formed the 12th-century Crown of Aragon did not merge the languages of the two territories; Catalan continued to be spoken in the east and Navarro-Aragonese in the west, with the boundaries blurred by dialectal continuity. The Aragonese Reconquista in the south ended with the cession of Murcia by James I of Aragon to the Kingdom of Castile as dowry for an Aragonese princess. The best-known proponent of the Aragonese language was Johan Ferrandez d'Heredia, the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Rhodes at the end of the 14th century. He wrote an extensive catalog of works in Aragonese and translated several works from Greek into Aragonese (the first in medieval Europe). The spread of Castilian (Spanish), the Castilian origin of the Trastámara dynasty, and the similarity between Castilian (Spanish) and Aragonese facilitated the recession of the latter. A turning point was the 15th-century coronation of the Castilian Ferdinand I of Aragon, also known as Ferdinand of Antequera. In the early 18th century, after the defeat of the allies of Aragon in the War of the Spanish Succession, Philip V ordered the prohibition of the Aragonese language in the schools and the establishment of Castilian (Spanish) as the only official language in Aragon. This was ordered in the Aragonese Nueva Planta decrees of 1707. In recent times, Aragonese was mostly regarded as a group of rural dialects of Spanish. Compulsory education undermined its already weak position; for example, pupils were punished for using it. However, the 1978 Spanish transition to democracy heralded literary works and studies of the language. Modern Aragonese Aragonese is the native language of the Aragonese mountain ranges of the Pyrenees, in the comarcas of Somontano, Jacetania, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza. Cities and towns in which Aragonese is spoken are Huesca, Graus, Monzón, Barbastro, Bielsa, Chistén, Fonz, Echo, Estadilla, Benasque, Campo, Sabiñánigo, Jaca, Plan, Ansó, Ayerbe, Broto, and El Grado. It is spoken as a second language by inhabitants of Zaragoza, Huesca, Ejea de los Caballeros, or Teruel. According to recent polls, there are about 25,500 speakers (2011) including speakers living outside the native area. In 2017, the Dirección General de Política Lingüística de Aragón estimated there were 10,000 to 12,000 active speakers of Aragonese. In 2009, the Languages Act of Aragon (Law 10/2009) recognized the "native language, original and historic" of Aragon. The language received several linguistic rights, including its use in public administration. Some of the legislation was repealed by a new law in 2013 (Law 3/2013). [See Languages Acts of Aragon for more information on the subject] Dialects Western dialect: Ansó, Valle de Hecho, Chasa, Berdún, Chaca Central dialect: Panticosa, Biescas, Torla, Broto, Bielsa, Yebra de Basa, Aínsa-Sobrarbe Eastern dialect: Benás, Plan, Bisagorri, Campo, Perarrúa, Graus, Estadilla Southern dialect: Agüero, Ayerbe, Rasal, Bolea, Lierta, Uesca, Almudévar, Nozito, Labata, Alguezra, Angüés, Pertusa, Balbastro, Nabal Phonology Traits Aragonese has many historical traits in common with Catalan. Some are conservative features that are also shared with the Astur-Leonese languages and Galician-Portuguese, where Spanish innovated in ways that did not spread to nearby languages. Shared with Catalan Romance initial f- is preserved, e.g. > ('son', Sp. , Cat. , Pt. ). Romance groups cl-, fl- and pl- are preserved and in most dialects don't undergo any change, e.g. clavis > clau ('key', Sp. llave, Cat. clau, Pt. chave). However, in some transitional dialects from both sides (Ribagorzano in Aragonese and Ribagorçà and Pallarès in Catalan) it becomes cll-, fll- and pll-, e.g. clavis > cllau. Romance palatal approximant (ge-, gi-, i-) consistently became medieval , as in medieval Catalan and Portuguese. This becomes modern ch , as a result of the devoicing of sibilants (see below). In Spanish, the medieval result was either /, (modern ), , or nothing, depending on the context. e.g. > ('young man', Sp. , Cat. ), > ('to freeze', Sp. , Cat. ). Romance groups -lt-, -ct- result in , e.g. > ('done', Sp. , Cat. , Gal./Port. ), > ('many, much', Sp. , Cat. , Gal. , Port. ). Romance groups -x-, -ps-, scj- result in voiceless palatal fricative ix , e.g. > ('crippled', Sp. , Cat. ). Romance groups -lj-, -c'l-, -t'l- result in palatal lateral ll , e.g. > ('woman', Sp. , Cat. ), > ('needle', Sp. , Cat. ). Shared with Catalan and Spanish Open o, e from Romance result systematically in diphthongs , , e.g. > ('old woman', Sp. , Cat. , Pt. ). This includes before a palatal approximant, e.g. > ('eight', Sp. , Cat. , Pt. oito). Spanish diphthongizes except before yod, whereas Catalan only diphthongizes before yod. Voiced stops may be lenited to approximants . Shared with Spanish Loss of final unstressed -e but not -o, e.g. > ('big'), > ('done'). Catalan loses both -e and -o (Cat. , ); Spanish preserves -o and sometimes -e (Sp. , ~ ). Former voiced sibilants become voiceless (, ). The palatal is most often realized as a fricative . Shared with neither Latin -b- is maintained in past imperfect endings of verbs of the second and third conjugations: ('he had', Sp. , Cat. ), ('he was sleeping', Sp. , Cat. ). High Aragonese dialects () and some dialects of Gascon have preserved the voicelessness of many intervocalic stop consonants, e.g. > ('sheep hurdle', Cat. , Fr. ), > ('crested lark', Sp. , Cat. ). Several Aragonese dialects maintain Latin -ll- as geminate . The mid vowels can be as open as , mainly in the Benasque dialect. No native word can begin with an , a trait shared with Gascon and Basque. Vowels Consonants Orthography In 2010, the Academia de l'Aragonés (founded in 2006) established an orthographic standard to modernize medieval orthography and to make it more etymological. The new orthography is used by the Aragonese Wikipedia. Aragonese had two orthographic standards: The , codified in 1987 by the Consello d'a Fabla Aragonesa (CFA) at a convention in Huesca, is used by most Aragonese writers. It has a more uniform system of assigning letters to phonemes, with less regard for etymology; words traditionally written with and are uniformly written with in the Uesca system. Similarly, , , and before and are all written . It uses letters associated with Spanish, such as . The , devised in 2004 by the Sociedat de Lingüistica Aragonesa (SLA), is used by some Aragonese writers. It uses etymological forms which are closer to Catalan, Occitan, and medieval Aragonese sources; trying to come closer to the original Aragonese and the other Occitano-Romance languages. In the SLA system , ,, , and before and are distinct, and the digraph replaces . During the 16th century, Aragonese Moriscos wrote aljamiado texts (Romance texts in Arabic script), possibly because of their inability to write in Arabic. The language in these texts has a mixture of Aragonese and Castilian traits, and they are among the last known written examples of the Aragonese formerly spoken in central and southern Aragon. Grammar Aragonese grammar has a lot in common with Occitan and Catalan, but also Spanish. Articles The definite article in Aragonese has undergone dialect-related changes, with definite articles in Old Aragonese similar to their present Spanish equivalents. There are two main forms: These forms are used in the eastern and some central dialects. These forms are used in the western and some central dialects. Lexicology Neighboring Romance languages have influenced Aragonese. Catalan and Occitan influenced Aragonese for many years. Since the 15th century, Spanish has most influenced Aragonese; it was adopted throughout Aragon as the first language, limiting Aragonese to the northern region surrounding the Pyrenees. French has also influenced Aragonese; Italian loanwords have entered through other languages (such as Catalan), and Portuguese words have entered through Spanish. Germanic words came with the conquest of the region by Germanic peoples during the fifth century, and English has introduced a number of new words into the language. Gender Words that were part of the Latin second declension—as well as words that joined it later on—are usually masculine: > ('son') + > ('squirrel') Words that were part of the Latin first declension are usually feminine: > ('daughter'). Some Latin neuter plural nouns joined the first declension as singular feminine nouns: > ('leaf'). Words ending in -or are feminine: , , , and (in Medieval Aragonese) The names of fruit trees usually end in -era (a suffix derived from Latin -aria) and are usually feminine: a perera, a manzanera, a nuquera, , / , a olivera, a ciresera, l'almendrera The genders of river names vary: Many ending in -a are feminine: /, , , , , , , , etc. The last was known as during the 16th century. Many from the second and the third declension are masculine: L'Ebro, O Galligo, , . Pronouns Just like most other Occitano-Romance languages, Aragonese has partitive and locative clitic pronouns derived from the Latin and : / and //; unlike Ibero-Romance. Such pronouns are present in most major Romance languages (Catalan and , Occitan and , French and , and Italian and /). / is used for: Partitive objects: ("I haven't seen anything like that", literally 'Not (of it) I have seen like that'). Partitive subjects: ("It hurts so much", literally '(of it) it causes so much of pain') Ablatives, places from which movements originate: ("Memory goes away", literally '(away from [the mind]) memory goes') // is used for: Locatives, where something takes place: ("There was one of them"), literally '(Of them) there was one') Allatives, places that movements go towards or end: ('Go there (imperative)') Literature Aragonese was not written until the 12th and 13th centuries; the history Liber Regum, , , and date from this period; there is also an Aragonese version of the Chronicle of the Morea, differing also in its content and written in the late 14th century called . Early modern period Since 1500, Spanish has been the cultural language of Aragon; many Aragonese wrote in Spanish, and during the 17th century the Argensola brothers went to Castile to teach Spanish. Aragonese became a popular village language. During the 17th century, popular literature in the language began to appear. In a 1650 Huesca literary contest, Aragonese poems were submitted by Matías Pradas, Isabel de Rodas and "Fileno, montañés". Contemporary literature The 19th and 20th centuries have seen a renaissance of Aragonese literature in several dialects. In 1844, Braulio Foz's novel was published in the Almudévar (southern) dialect. The 20th century featured Domingo Miral's costumbrist comedies and Veremundo Méndez Coarasa's poetry, both in Hecho (western) Aragonese; Cleto Torrodellas' poetry and Tonón de Baldomera's popular writings in the Graus (eastern) dialect and Arnal Cavero's costumbrist stories and Juana Coscujuela's novel , also in the southern dialect. Aragonese in modern education The 1997 Aragonese law of languages stipulated that Aragonese (and Catalan) speakers had a right to the teaching of and in their own language. Following this, Aragonese lessons started in schools in the 1997–1998 academic year. It was originally taught as an extra-curricular, non-evaluable voluntary subject in four schools. However, whilst legally schools can choose to use Aragonese as the language of instruction, as of the 2013–2014 academic year, there are no recorded instances of this option being taken in primary or secondary education. In fact, the only current scenario in which Aragonese is used as the language of instruction is in the Aragonese philology university course, which is optional, taught over the summer and in which only some of the lectures are in Aragonese. Pre-school education In pre-school education, students whose parents wish them to be taught Aragonese receive between thirty minutes to one hour of Aragonese lessons a week. In the 2014–2015 academic year there were 262 students recorded in pre-school Aragonese lessons. Primary school education The subject of Aragonese now has a fully developed curriculum in primary education in Aragon. Despite this, in the 2014–2015 academic year there were only seven Aragonese teachers in the region across both pre-primary and primary education and none hold permanent positions, whilst the number of primary education students receiving Aragonese lessons was 320. As of 2017 there were 1068 reported Aragonese language students and 12 Aragonese language instructors in Aragon. Secondary school education There is no officially approved program or teaching materials for the Aragonese language at the secondary level, and though two non-official textbooks are available ( (Benítez, 2007) and (Campos, 2014)) many instructors create their own learning materials. Further, most schools with Aragonese programs that have the possibility of being offered as an examinative subject have elected not to do so. As of 2007 it is possible to use Aragonese as a language of instruction for multiple courses; however, no program is yet to instruct any curricular or examinative courses in Aragonese. As of the 2014–2015 academic year there were 14 Aragonese language students at the secondary level. Higher education Aragonese is not currently a possible field of study for a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in any official capacity, nor is Aragonese used as a medium of instruction. A bachelor's or master's degree may be obtained in Magisterio (teaching) at the University of Zaragoza; however, no specialization in Aragonese language is currently available. As such those who wish to teach Aragonese at the pre-school, primary, or secondary level must already be competent in the language by being a native speaker or by other means. Further, prospective instructors must pass an ad hoc exam curated by the individual schools at which they wish to teach in order to prove their competence, as there are no recognized standard competency exams for the Aragonese language. Since the 1994–1995 academic year, Aragonese has been an elective subject within the bachelor's degree for primary school education at the University of Zaragoza's Huesca campus. The University of Zaragoza's Huesca campus also offers a Diploma de Especialización (These are studies that require a previous university degree and have a duration of between 30 and 59 ECTS credits.) in Aragonese Philology with 37 ECTS credits. Academia de l'Aragonés Arredol – Electronic Aragonese newspaper Rosario Ustáriz Borra References Further reading External links Catalogue of Aragonese publications Academia de l'Aragonés Consello d'a Fabla Aragonesa Ligallo de Fablans de l'Aragonés A.C. Nogará Sociedat de Lingüistica Aragonesa Aragonese language Aragonese culture Pyrenean-Mozarabic languages Subject–verb–object languages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics, from aero (air) + (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics. The term aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, the difference being that "gas dynamics" applies to the study of the motion of all gases, and is not limited to air. The formal study of aerodynamics began in the modern sense in the eighteenth century, although observations of fundamental concepts such as aerodynamic drag were recorded much earlier. Most of the early efforts in aerodynamics were directed toward achieving heavier-than-air flight, which was first demonstrated by Otto Lilienthal in 1891. Since then, the use of aerodynamics through mathematical analysis, empirical approximations, wind tunnel experimentation, and computer simulations has formed a rational basis for the development of heavier-than-air flight and a number of other technologies. Recent work in aerodynamics has focused on issues related to compressible flow, turbulence, and boundary layers and has become increasingly computational in nature. History Modern aerodynamics only dates back to the seventeenth century, but aerodynamic forces have been harnessed by humans for thousands of years in sailboats and windmills, and images and stories of flight appear throughout recorded history, such as the Ancient Greek legend of Icarus and Daedalus. Fundamental concepts of continuum, drag, and pressure gradients appear in the work of Aristotle and Archimedes. In 1726, Sir Isaac Newton became the first person to develop a theory of air resistance, making him one of the first aerodynamicists. Dutch-Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli followed in 1738 with Hydrodynamica in which he described a fundamental relationship between pressure, density, and flow velocity for incompressible flow known today as Bernoulli's principle, which provides one method for calculating aerodynamic lift. In 1757, Leonhard Euler published the more general Euler equations which could be applied to both compressible and incompressible flows. The Euler equations were extended to incorporate the effects of viscosity in the first half of the 1800s, resulting in the Navier–Stokes equations. The Navier–Stokes equations are the most general governing equations of fluid flow but are difficult to solve for the flow around all but the simplest of shapes. In 1799, Sir George Cayley became the first person to identify the four aerodynamic forces of flight (weight, lift, drag, and thrust), as well as the relationships between them, and in doing so outlined the path toward achieving heavier-than-air flight for the next century. In 1871, Francis Herbert Wenham constructed the first wind tunnel, allowing precise measurements of aerodynamic forces. Drag theories were developed by Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Gustav Kirchhoff, and Lord Rayleigh. In 1889, Charles Renard, a French aeronautical engineer, became the first person to reasonably predict the power needed for sustained flight. Otto Lilienthal, the first person to become highly successful with glider flights, was also the first to propose thin, curved airfoils that would produce high lift and low drag. Building on these developments as well as research carried out in their own wind tunnel, the Wright brothers flew the first powered airplane on December 17, 1903. During the time of the first flights, Frederick W. Lanchester, Martin Kutta, and Nikolai Zhukovsky independently created theories that connected circulation of a fluid flow to lift. Kutta and Zhukovsky went on to develop a two-dimensional wing theory. Expanding upon the work of Lanchester, Ludwig Prandtl is credited with developing the mathematics behind thin-airfoil and lifting-line theories as well as work with boundary layers. As aircraft speed increased designers began to encounter challenges associated with air compressibility at speeds near the speed of sound. The differences in airflow under such conditions lead to problems in aircraft control, increased drag due to shock waves, and the threat of structural failure due to aeroelastic flutter. The ratio of the flow speed to the speed of sound was named the Mach number after Ernst Mach who was one of the first to investigate the properties of the supersonic flow. Macquorn Rankine and Pierre Henri Hugoniot independently developed the theory for flow properties before and after a shock wave, while Jakob Ackeret led the initial work of calculating the lift and drag of supersonic airfoils. Theodore von Kármán and Hugh Latimer Dryden introduced the term transonic to describe flow speeds between the critical Mach number and Mach 1 where drag increases rapidly. This rapid increase in drag led aerodynamicists and aviators to disagree on whether supersonic flight was achievable until the sound barrier was broken in 1947 using the Bell X-1 aircraft. By the time the sound barrier was broken, aerodynamicists' understanding of the subsonic and low supersonic flow had matured. The Cold War prompted the design of an ever-evolving line of high-performance aircraft. Computational fluid dynamics began as an effort to solve for flow properties around complex objects and has rapidly grown to the point where entire aircraft can be designed using computer software, with wind-tunnel tests followed by flight tests to confirm the computer predictions. Understanding of supersonic and hypersonic aerodynamics has matured since the 1960s, and the goals of aerodynamicists have shifted from the behaviour of fluid flow to the engineering of a vehicle such that it interacts predictably with the fluid flow. Designing aircraft for supersonic and hypersonic conditions, as well as the desire to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of current aircraft and propulsion systems, continues to motivate new research in aerodynamics, while work continues to be done on important problems in basic aerodynamic theory related to flow turbulence and the existence and uniqueness of analytical solutions to the Navier–Stokes equations. Fundamental concepts Understanding the motion of air around an object (often called a flow field) enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object. In many aerodynamics problems, the forces of interest are the fundamental forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. Of these, lift and drag are aerodynamic forces, i.e. forces due to air flow over a solid body. Calculation of these quantities is often founded upon the assumption that the flow field behaves as a continuum. Continuum flow fields are characterized by properties such as flow velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, which may be functions of position and time. These properties may be directly or indirectly measured in aerodynamics experiments or calculated starting with the equations for conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in air flows. Density, flow velocity, and an additional property, viscosity, are used to classify flow fields. Flow classification Flow velocity is used to classify flows according to speed regime. Subsonic flows are flow fields in which the air speed field is always below the local speed of sound. Transonic flows include both regions of subsonic flow and regions in which the local flow speed is greater than the local speed of sound. Supersonic flows are defined to be flows in which the flow speed is greater than the speed of sound everywhere. A fourth classification, hypersonic flow, refers to flows where the flow speed is much greater than the speed of sound. Aerodynamicists disagree on the precise definition of hypersonic flow. Compressible flow accounts for varying density within the flow. Subsonic flows are often idealized as incompressible, i.e. the density is assumed to be constant. Transonic and supersonic flows are compressible, and calculations that neglect the changes of density in these flow fields will yield inaccurate results. Viscosity is associated with the frictional forces in a flow. In some flow fields, viscous effects are very small, and approximate solutions may safely neglect viscous effects. These approximations are called inviscid flows. Flows for which viscosity is not neglected are called viscous flows. Finally, aerodynamic problems may also be classified by the flow environment. External aerodynamics is the study of flow around solid objects of various shapes (e.g. around an airplane wing), while internal aerodynamics is the study of flow through passages inside solid objects (e.g. through a jet engine). Continuum assumption Unlike liquids and solids, gases are composed of discrete molecules which occupy only a small fraction of the volume filled by the gas. On a molecular level, flow fields are made up of the collisions of many individual of gas molecules between themselves and with solid surfaces. However, in most aerodynamics applications, the discrete molecular nature of gases is ignored, and the flow field is assumed to behave as a continuum. This assumption allows fluid properties such as density and flow velocity to be defined everywhere within the flow. The validity of the continuum assumption is dependent on the density of the gas and the application in question. For the continuum assumption to be valid, the mean free path length must be much smaller than the length scale of the application in question. For example, many aerodynamics applications deal with aircraft flying in atmospheric conditions, where the mean free path length is on the order of micrometers and where the body is orders of magnitude larger. In these cases, the length scale of the aircraft ranges from a few meters to a few tens of meters, which is much larger than the mean free path length. For such applications, the continuum assumption is reasonable. The continuum assumption is less valid for extremely low-density flows, such as those encountered by vehicles at very high altitudes (e.g. 300,000 ft/90 km) or satellites in Low Earth orbit. In those cases, statistical mechanics is a more accurate method of solving the problem than is continuum aerodynamics. The Knudsen number can be used to guide the choice between statistical mechanics and the continuous formulation of aerodynamics. Conservation laws The assumption of a fluid continuum allows problems in aerodynamics to be solved using fluid dynamics conservation laws. Three conservation principles are used: Conservation of mass Conservation of mass requires that mass is neither created nor destroyed within a flow; the mathematical formulation of this principle is known as the mass continuity equation. Conservation of momentum The mathematical formulation of this principle can be considered an application of Newton's Second Law. Momentum within a flow is only changed by external forces, which may include both surface forces, such as viscous (frictional) forces, and body forces, such as weight. The momentum conservation principle may be expressed as either a vector equation or separated into a set of three scalar equations (x,y,z components). Conservation of energy The energy conservation equation states that energy is neither created nor destroyed within a flow, and that any addition or subtraction of energy to a volume in the flow is caused by heat transfer, or by work into and out of the region of interest. Together, these equations are known as the Navier–Stokes equations, although some authors define the term to only include the momentum equation(s). The Navier–Stokes equations have no known analytical solution and are solved in modern aerodynamics using computational techniques. Because computational methods using high speed computers were not historically available and the high computational cost of solving these complex equations now that they are available, simplifications of the Navier–Stokes equations have been and continue to be employed. The Euler equations are a set of similar conservation equations which neglect viscosity and may be used in cases where the effect of viscosity is expected to be small. Further simplifications lead to Laplace's equation and potential flow theory. Additionally, Bernoulli's equation is a solution in one dimension to both the momentum and energy conservation equations. The ideal gas law or another such equation of state is often used in conjunction with these equations to form a determined system that allows the solution for the unknown variables. Branches of aerodynamics Aerodynamic problems are classified by the flow environment or properties of the flow, including flow speed, compressibility, and viscosity. External aerodynamics is the study of flow around solid objects of various shapes. Evaluating the lift and drag on an airplane or the shock waves that form in front of the nose of a rocket are examples of external aerodynamics. Internal aerodynamics is the study of flow through passages in solid objects. For instance, internal aerodynamics encompasses the study of the airflow through a jet engine or through an air conditioning pipe. Aerodynamic problems can also be classified according to whether the flow speed is below, near or above the speed of sound. A problem is called subsonic if all the speeds in the problem are less than the speed of sound, transonic if speeds both below and above the speed of sound are present (normally when the characteristic speed is approximately the speed of sound), supersonic when the characteristic flow speed is greater than the speed of sound, and hypersonic when the flow speed is much greater than the speed of sound. Aerodynamicists disagree over the precise definition of hypersonic flow; a rough definition considers flows with Mach numbers above 5 to be hypersonic. The influence of viscosity on the flow dictates a third classification. Some problems may encounter only very small viscous effects, in which case viscosity can be considered to be negligible. The approximations to these problems are called inviscid flows. Flows for which viscosity cannot be neglected are called viscous flows. Incompressible aerodynamics An incompressible flow is a flow in which density is constant in both time and space. Although all real fluids are compressible, a flow is often approximated as incompressible if the effect of the density changes cause only small changes to the calculated results. This is more likely to be true when the flow speeds are significantly lower than the speed of sound. Effects of compressibility are more significant at speeds close to or above the speed of sound. The Mach number is used to evaluate whether the incompressibility can be assumed, otherwise the effects of compressibility must be included. Subsonic flow Subsonic (or low-speed) aerodynamics describes fluid motion in flows which are much lower than the speed of sound everywhere in the flow. There are several branches of subsonic flow but one special case arises when the flow is inviscid, incompressible and irrotational. This case is called potential flow and allows the differential equations that describe the flow to be a simplified version of the equations of fluid dynamics, thus making available to the aerodynamicist a range of quick and easy solutions. In solving a subsonic problem, one decision to be made by the aerodynamicist is whether to incorporate the effects of compressibility. Compressibility is a description of the amount of change of density in the flow. When the effects of compressibility on the solution are small, the assumption that density is constant may be made. The problem is then an incompressible low-speed aerodynamics problem. When the density is allowed to vary, the flow is called compressible. In air, compressibility effects are usually ignored when the Mach number in the flow does not exceed 0.3 (about 335 feet (102 m) per second or 228 miles (366 km) per hour at 60 °F (16 °C)). Above Mach 0.3, the problem flow should be described using compressible aerodynamics. Compressible aerodynamics According to the theory of aerodynamics, a flow is considered to be compressible if the density changes along a streamline. This means that – unlike incompressible flow – changes in density are considered. In general, this is the case where the Mach number in part or all of the flow exceeds 0.3. The Mach 0.3 value is rather arbitrary, but it is used because gas flows with a Mach number below that value demonstrate changes in density of less than 5%. Furthermore, that maximum 5% density change occurs at the stagnation point (the point on the object where flow speed is zero), while the density changes around the rest of the object will be significantly lower. Transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows are all compressible flows. Transonic flow The term Transonic refers to a range of flow velocities just below and above the local speed of sound (generally taken as Mach 0.8–1.2). It is defined as the range of speeds between the critical Mach number, when some parts of the airflow over an aircraft become supersonic, and a higher speed, typically near Mach 1.2, when all of the airflow is supersonic. Between these speeds, some of the airflow is supersonic, while some of the airflow is not supersonic. Supersonic flow Supersonic aerodynamic problems are those involving flow speeds greater than the speed of sound. Calculating the lift on the Concorde during cruise can be an example of a supersonic aerodynamic problem. Supersonic flow behaves very differently from subsonic flow. Fluids react to differences in pressure; pressure changes are how a fluid is "told" to respond to its environment. Therefore, since sound is, in fact, an infinitesimal pressure difference propagating through a fluid, the speed of sound in that fluid can be considered the fastest speed that "information" can travel in the flow. This difference most obviously manifests itself in the case of a fluid striking an object. In front of that object, the fluid builds up a stagnation pressure as impact with the object brings the moving fluid to rest. In fluid traveling at subsonic speed, this pressure disturbance can propagate upstream, changing the flow pattern ahead of the object and giving the impression that the fluid "knows" the object is there by seemingly adjusting its movement and is flowing around it. In a supersonic flow, however, the pressure disturbance cannot propagate upstream. Thus, when the fluid finally reaches the object it strikes it and the fluid is forced to change its properties – temperature, density, pressure, and Mach number—in an extremely violent and irreversible fashion called a shock wave. The presence of shock waves, along with the compressibility effects of high-flow velocity (see Reynolds number) fluids, is the central difference between the supersonic and subsonic aerodynamics regimes. Hypersonic flow In aerodynamics, hypersonic speeds are speeds that are highly supersonic. In the 1970s, the term generally came to refer to speeds of Mach 5 (5 times the speed of sound) and above. The hypersonic regime is a subset of the supersonic regime. Hypersonic flow is characterized by high temperature flow behind a shock wave, viscous interaction, and chemical dissociation of gas. Associated terminology The incompressible and compressible flow regimes produce many associated phenomena, such as boundary layers and turbulence. Boundary layers The concept of a boundary layer is important in many problems in aerodynamics. The viscosity and fluid friction in the air is approximated as being significant only in this thin layer. This assumption makes the description of such aerodynamics much more tractable mathematically. Turbulence In aerodynamics, turbulence is characterized by chaotic property changes in the flow. These include low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and flow velocity in space and time. Flow that is not turbulent is called laminar flow. Aerodynamics in other fields Engineering design Aerodynamics is a significant element of vehicle design, including road cars and trucks where the main goal is to reduce the vehicle drag coefficient, and racing cars, where in addition to reducing drag the goal is also to increase the overall level of downforce. Aerodynamics is also important in the prediction of forces and moments acting on sailing vessels. It is used in the design of mechanical components such as hard drive heads. Structural engineers resort to aerodynamics, and particularly aeroelasticity, when calculating wind loads in the design of large buildings, bridges, and wind turbines The aerodynamics of internal passages is important in heating/ventilation, gas piping, and in automotive engines where detailed flow patterns strongly affect the performance of the engine. Environmental design Urban aerodynamics are studied by town planners and designers seeking to improve amenity in outdoor spaces, or in creating urban microclimates to reduce the effects of urban pollution. The field of environmental aerodynamics describes ways in which atmospheric circulation and flight mechanics affect ecosystems. Aerodynamic equations are used in numerical weather prediction. Ball-control in sports Sports in which aerodynamics are of crucial importance include soccer, table tennis, cricket, baseball, and golf, in which most players can control the trajectory of the ball using the "Magnus effect". See also Aeronautics Aerostatics Aviation Insect flight – how bugs fly List of aerospace engineering topics List of engineering topics Nose cone design Fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics References Further reading General aerodynamics Subsonic aerodynamics Obert, Ed (2009). . Delft; About practical aerodynamics in industry and the effects on design of aircraft. . Transonic aerodynamics Supersonic aerodynamics Hypersonic aerodynamics History of aerodynamics Aerodynamics related to engineering Ground vehicles Fixed-wing aircraft Helicopters Missiles Model aircraft Related branches of aerodynamics Aerothermodynamics Aeroelasticity Boundary layers Turbulence External links NASA Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics Aerodynamics for Students Aerodynamics for Pilots Aerodynamics and Race Car Tuning Aerodynamic Related Projects eFluids Bicycle Aerodynamics Application of Aerodynamics in Formula One (F1) Aerodynamics in Car Racing Aerodynamics of Birds NASA Aerodynamics Index Dynamics Energy in transport

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylic%20paint

Acrylic paint

Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted with water, or modified with acrylic gels, mediums, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor, a gouache, or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media. Water-based acrylic paints are used as latex house paints, as latex is the technical term for a suspension of polymer microparticles in water. Interior latex house paints tend to be a combination of binder (sometimes acrylic, vinyl, pva, and others), filler, pigment, and water. Exterior latex house paints may also be a co-polymer blend, but the best exterior water-based paints are 100% acrylic, because of its elasticity and other factors. Vinyl, however, costs half of what 100% acrylic resins cost, and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) is even cheaper, so paint companies make many different combinations of them to match the market. History Otto Röhm invented acrylic resin, which was quickly transformed into acrylic paint. As early as 1934, the first usable acrylic resin dispersion was developed by German chemical company BASF, which was patented by Rohm and Haas. The synthetic paint was first used in the 1940s, combining some of the properties of oil and watercolor. Between 1946 and 1949, Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden invented a solution acrylic paint under the brand Magna paint. These were mineral spirit-based paints. Water-based acrylic paints were subsequently sold as latex house paints. Soon after the water-based acrylic binders were introduced as house paints, artists and companies alike began to explore the potential of the new binders. Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco were the first ones who experimented with acrylic paint. This is because they were very impressed with the durability of the acrylic paint. Because of this, artists and companies alike began to produce Politic Acrylic Artists' Colors in Mexico in 1953. According to The Times newspaper, Lancelot Ribeiro pioneered the use of acrylic paints in the UK because of his "increasing impatience" by the 1960s over the time it took for oil paints to dry, as also its "lack of brilliance in its colour potential." He took to the new synthetic plastic bases that commercial paints were beginning to use, and soon got help from manufacturers like ICI, Courtaulds and Geigy. The companies supplied him samples of their latest paints in quantities that he was using three decades later, according to the paper. Initially, the firms thought the PVA compounds would not be needed in commercially viable quantities. But they quickly recognised the potential demand and "so Ribeiro became the godfather of generations of artists using acrylics as an alternative to oils." In 1956, José L. Gutiérrez produced Politec Acrylic Artists' Colors in Mexico, and Henry Levison of Cincinnati-based Permanent Pigments Co. produced Liquitex colors. These two product lines were the first acrylic emulsion artists' paints, with modern high-viscosity paints becoming available in the early 1960s. Meanwhile on the other side of the globe, 1958 saw the inception of Vynol Paints Pty Ltd (now Derivan) in Australia, who started producing a water-based artist acrylic called Vynol Colour, followed by Matisse Acrylics in the 1960’s. Following that development, Golden came up with a waterborne acrylic paint called "Aquatec". In 1963, George Rowney (part of Daler-Rowney since 1983) was the first manufacturer to introduce artists' acrylic paints in Europe, under the brand name "Cryla". Painting with acrylics Acrylic painters can modify the appearance, hardness, flexibility, texture, and other characteristics of the paint surface by using acrylic mediums or simply by adding water. Watercolor and oil painters also use various mediums, but the range of acrylic mediums is much greater. Acrylics have the ability to bond to many different surfaces, and mediums can be used to modify their binding characteristics. Acrylics can be used on paper, canvas, and a range of other materials; however, their use on engineered woods such as medium-density fiberboard can be problematic because of the porous nature of those surfaces. In these cases, it is recommended that the surface first be sealed with an appropriate sealer. The process of sealing acrylic painting is called varnishing and artists use removable varnishes over isolation coat to protect paintings from dust, UV, scratches, etc. This process is similar to varnishing an oil painting. Acrylics can be applied in thin layers or washes to create effects that resemble watercolors and other water-based mediums. They can also be used to build thick layers of paint — gel and molding paste are sometimes used to create paintings with relief features. Acrylic paints are also used in hobbies such as trains, cars, houses, DIY projects, and human models. People who make such models use acrylic paint to build facial features on dolls or raised details on other types of models. Wet acrylic paint is easily removed from paintbrushes and skin with water, whereas oil paints require the use of a hydrocarbon. Acrylics are the most common paints used in grattage, a surrealist technique that began to be used with the advent of this type of paint. Acrylics are used for this purpose because they easily scrape or peel from a surface. Painting techniques Acrylic artists' paints may be thinned with water or acrylic medium and used as washes in the manner of watercolor paints, but unlike watercolor the washes are not rehydratable once dry. For this reason, acrylics do not lend themselves to the color lifting techniques of gum arabic-based watercolor paints. Instead, the paint is applied in layers, sometimes diluting with water or acrylic medium to allow layers underneath to partially show through. Using an acrylic medium gives the paint more of a rich and glossy appearance, whereas using water makes the paint look more like watercolor and have a matte finish. Acrylic paints with gloss or matte finishes are common, although a satin (semi-matte) sheen is most common. Some brands exhibit a range of finishes (e.g. heavy-body paints from Golden, Liquitex, Winsor & Newton and Daler-Rowney); Politec acrylics are fully matte. As with oils, pigment amounts and particle size or shape can affect the paint sheen. Matting agents can also be added during manufacture to dull the finish. If desired, the artist can mix different media with their paints and use topcoats or varnishes to alter or unify sheen. When dry, acrylic paint is generally non-removable from a solid surface if it adheres to the surface. Water or mild solvents do not re-solubilize it, although isopropyl alcohol can lift some fresh paint films off. Toluene and acetone can remove paint films, but they do not lift paint stains very well and are not selective. The use of a solvent to remove paint may result in removal of all of the paint layers (acrylic gesso, et cetera). Oils and warm, soapy water can remove acrylic paint from skin. Acrylic paint can be removed from non-porous plastic surfaces, such as miniatures or models using certain cleaning products such as Dettol (containing chloroxylenol 4.8% v/w). An acrylic sizing should be used to prime canvas in preparation for painting with acrylic paints, to prevent Support Induced Discoloration (SID). Acrylic paint contains surfactants that can pull up discoloration from a raw canvas, especially in transparent glazed or translucent gelled areas. Gesso alone will not stop SID; a sizing must be applied before using a gesso. The viscosity of acrylic can be successfully reduced by using suitable extenders that maintain the integrity of the paint film. There are retarders to slow drying and extend workability time, and flow releases to increase color-blending ability. Properties Grades Commercial acrylic paints come in two grades by manufacturers: Artist acrylics (professional acrylics) are created and designed to resist chemical reactions from exposure to water, ultraviolet light, and oxygen. Professional-grade acrylics have the most pigment, which allows for more medium manipulation and limits the color shift when mixed with other colors or after drying. Student acrylics have working characteristics similar to artist acrylics, but with lower pigment concentrations, less-expensive formulas, and fewer available colors. More expensive pigments are generally replicated by hues. Colors are designed to be mixed even though color strength is lower. Hues may not have exactly the same mixing characteristics as full-strength colors. Varieties Heavy body acrylics are typically found in the Artist and Student Grade paints. "Heavy Body" refers to the viscosity or thickness of the paint. They are the best choice for impasto or heavier paint applications and will hold a brush or knife stroke and even a medium stiff peak. Gel Mediums ("pigment-less paints") are also available in various viscosities and used to thicken or thin paints, as well as extend paints and add transparency. Examples of Heavy Body Acrylics are Matisse Structure Acrylic Colors, Lukas Pastos Acrylics, Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics and Golden Heavy Body Acrylics. Medium viscosity acrylics – Fluid acrylics, Soft body acrylics, or High Flow acrylics – have a lower viscosity but generally the same pigmentation as the Heavy Body acrylics. Available in either Artist quality or Craft quality, the cost and quality vary accordingly. These paints are good for watercolor techniques, airbrush application, or when smooth coverage is desired. Fluid acrylics can be mixed with any medium to thicken them for impasto work, or to thin them for glazing applications. Examples of fluid acrylics include Lukascryl Liquid, Lukascryl Studio, Liquitex Soft Body and Golden Fluid acrylics. Open acrylics were created to address the one major difference between oil and acrylic paints: the shortened time it takes acrylic paints to dry. Designed by Golden Artist Colors, Inc. with a hydrophilic acrylic resin, these paints can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, or even weeks, to dry completely, depending on paint thickness, support characteristics, temperature, and humidity. Iridescent, pearl and interference acrylic colors combine conventional pigments with powdered mica (aluminium silicate) or powdered bronze to achieve complex visual effects. Colors have shimmering or reflective characteristics, depending on the coarseness or fineness of the powder. Iridescent colors are used in fine arts and crafts. Acrylic gouache is like traditional gouache because it dries to a matte, opaque finish. However, unlike traditional gouache, the acrylic binder makes it water-resistant once it dries. Like craft paint, it will adhere to a variety of surfaces, not only canvas and paper. This paint is typically used by water-colorists, cartoonists, or illustrators, and for decorative or folk art applications. Examples of acrylic gouache are Lascaux Gouache and Turner Acryl Gouache. Craft acrylics can be used on surfaces besides canvas, such as wood, metal, fabrics, and ceramics. They are used in decorative painting techniques and faux finishes to decorate objects of ordinary life. Although colors can be mixed, pigments are often not specified. Each color line is formulated instead to achieve a wide range of premixed colors. Craft paints usually employ vinyl or PVA resins to increase adhesion and lower cost. Interactive acrylics are all-purpose acrylic artists' colors which have the characteristic fast-drying nature of artists' acrylics, but are formulated to allow artists to delay drying when they need more working time, or re-wet their work when they want to do more wet blending. Exterior acrylics are paints that can withstand outdoor conditions. Like craft acrylics, they adhere to many surfaces. They are more resistant to both water and ultraviolet light. This makes them the acrylic of choice for architectural murals, outdoor signs, and many faux-finishing techniques. Acrylic glass paint is water-based and semi-permanent, making it a suitable paint for temporary displays on glass windows. Acrylic enamel paint creates a smooth, hard shell. It can be oven-baked or air dried. It can be permanent if kept away from harsh conditions such as dishwashing. Differences between acrylic and oil paint The vehicle and binder of oil paints is linseed oil (or another drying oil), whereas acrylic paint has water as the vehicle for an emulsion (suspension) of acrylic polymer, which serves as the binder. Thus, oil paint is said to be "oil-based", whereas acrylic paint is "water-based" (or sometimes "water-borne"). The main practical difference between most acrylics and oil paints is the inherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colors and apply even glazes over underpaintings. This slow-drying aspect of oil can be seen as an advantage for certain techniques, but it impedes an artist trying to work quickly. The fast evaporation of water from regular acrylic paint films can be slowed with the use of acrylic retarders. Retarders are generally glycol or glycerin-based additives. The addition of a retarder slows the evaporation rate of the water. Oil paints may require the use of solvents such as mineral spirits or turpentine to thin the paint and clean up. These solvents generally have some level of toxicity and can be found objectionable. Relatively recently, water-miscible oil paints have been developed for artists' use. Oil paint films can gradually yellow and lose their flexibility over time creating cracks in the paint film; the "fat over lean" rule must be observed to ensure its durability. Oil paint has a higher pigment load than acrylic paint. As linseed oil contains a smaller molecule than acrylic paint, oil paint is able to absorb substantially more pigment. Oil provides a refractive index that is less clear than acrylic dispersions, which imparts a unique "look and feel" to the resultant paint film. Not all the pigments of oil paints are available in acrylics and vice versa, as each medium has different chemical sensitivities. Some historical pigments are alkali sensitive, and therefore cannot be made in an acrylic emulsion; others are just too difficult to formulate. Approximate "hue" color formulations, that do not contain the historical pigments, are typically offered as substitutes. Because of acrylic paint's more flexible nature and more consistent drying time between layers, an artist does not have to follow the same rules of oil painting, where more medium must be applied to each layer to avoid cracking. It usually takes 10–20 minutes for one to two layers of acrylic paint to dry, depending on the brand, quality, and humidity levels of the surrounding environment. Some professional grades of acrylic paint can take 20-30 minutes or even more than an hour. Although canvas needs to be properly primed before painting with oils to prevent the paint medium from eventually rotting the canvas, acrylic can be safely applied straight to the canvas. The rapid drying of acrylic paint tends to discourage blending of color and use of wet-in-wet technique as in oil painting. Even though acrylic retarders can slow drying time to several hours, it remains a relatively fast-drying medium and adding too much acrylic retarder can prevent the paint from ever drying properly. Meanwhile, acrylic paint is very elastic, which prevents cracking from occurring. Acrylic paint's binder is acrylic polymer emulsion – as this binder dries, the paint remains flexible. Another difference between oil and acrylic paints is the versatility offered by acrylic paints. Acrylics are very useful in mixed media, allowing the use of pastel (oil and chalk), charcoal and pen (among others) on top of the dried acrylic painted surface. Mixing other bodies into the acrylic is possible—sand, rice, and even pasta may be incorporated in the artwork. Mixing artist or student grade acrylic paint with household acrylic emulsions is possible, allowing the use of premixed tints straight from the tube or tin, and thereby presenting the painter with a vast color range at their disposal. This versatility is also illustrated by the variety of additional artistic uses for acrylics. Specialized acrylics have been manufactured and used for linoblock printing (acrylic block printing ink has been produced by Derivan since the early 1980s), face painting, airbrushing, watercolor-like techniques, and fabric screen printing. Another difference between oil and acrylic paint is the cleanup. Acrylic paint can be cleaned out of a brush with any soap, while oil paint needs a specific type to be sure to get all the oil out of the brushes. Also, it is easier to let a palette with oil paint dry and then scrape the paint off, whereas one can easily clean wet acrylic paint with water. Difference between acrylic and watercolor paint The biggest difference is that acrylic paint is opaque, whereas watercolor paint is translucent in nature. Watercolors take about 5 to 15 minutes to dry while acrylics take about 10 to 20 minutes. In order to change the tone or shade of a watercolor pigment, you change the percentage of water mixed in to the color. For brighter colors, add more water. For darker colors, add less water. In order to create lighter or darker colors with acrylic paints, you add white or black. Another difference is that watercolors must be painted onto a porous surface, primarily watercolor paper. Acrylic paints can be used on many different surfaces. Both acrylic and watercolor are easy to clean up with water. Acrylic paint should be cleaned with soap and water immediately following use. Watercolor paint can be cleaned with just water. See also Notes and references External links National Acrylic Painter's Association Handling and Care Tips for paintings Arcylic paints American inventions Visual arts materials Paints Watermedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular%20momentum

Angular momentum

In physics, angular momentum (sometimes called moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity – the total angular momentum of a closed system remains constant. Angular momentum has both a direction and a magnitude, and both are conserved. Bicycles and motorcycles, flying discs, rifled bullets, and gyroscopes owe their useful properties to conservation of angular momentum. Conservation of angular momentum is also why hurricanes form spirals and neutron stars have high rotational rates. In general, conservation limits the possible motion of a system, but it does not uniquely determine it. The three-dimensional angular momentum for a point particle is classically represented as a pseudovector , the cross product of the particle's position vector (relative to some origin) and its momentum vector; the latter is in Newtonian mechanics. Unlike linear momentum, angular momentum depends on where this origin is chosen, since the particle's position is measured from it. Angular momentum is an extensive quantity; that is, the total angular momentum of any composite system is the sum of the angular momenta of its constituent parts. For a continuous rigid body or a fluid, the total angular momentum is the volume integral of angular momentum density (angular momentum per unit volume in the limit as volume shrinks to zero) over the entire body. Similar to conservation of linear momentum, where it is conserved if there is no external force, angular momentum is conserved if there is no external torque. Torque can be defined as the rate of change of angular momentum, analogous to force. The net external torque on any system is always equal to the total torque on the system; in other words, the sum of all internal torques of any system is always 0 (this is the rotational analogue of Newton's third law of motion). Therefore, for a closed system (where there is no net external torque), the total torque on the system must be 0, which means that the total angular momentum of the system is constant. The change in angular momentum for a particular interaction is sometimes called twirl, but this is quite uncommon. Twirl is the angular analog of impulse. Definition in classical mechanics Just as for angular velocity, there are two special types of angular momentum of an object: the spin angular momentum is the angular momentum about the object's centre of mass, while the orbital angular momentum is the angular momentum about a chosen center of rotation. The Earth has an orbital angular momentum by nature of revolving around the Sun, and a spin angular momentum by nature of its daily rotation around the polar axis. The total angular momentum is the sum of the spin and orbital angular momenta. In the case of the Earth the primary conserved quantity is the total angular momentum of the solar system because angular momentum is exchanged to a small but important extent among the planets and the Sun. The orbital angular momentum vector of a point particle is always parallel and directly proportional to its orbital angular velocity vector ω, where the constant of proportionality depends on both the mass of the particle and its distance from origin. The spin angular momentum vector of a rigid body is proportional but not always parallel to the spin angular velocity vector Ω, making the constant of proportionality a second-rank tensor rather than a scalar. Orbital angular momentum in two dimensions Angular momentum is a vector quantity (more precisely, a pseudovector) that represents the product of a body's rotational inertia and rotational velocity (in radians/sec) about a particular axis. However, if the particle's trajectory lies in a single plane, it is sufficient to discard the vector nature of angular momentum, and treat it as a scalar (more precisely, a pseudoscalar). Angular momentum can be considered a rotational analog of linear momentum. Thus, where linear momentum is proportional to mass and linear speed angular momentum is proportional to moment of inertia and angular speed measured in radians per second. Unlike mass, which depends only on amount of matter, moment of inertia is also dependent on the position of the axis of rotation and the shape of the matter. Unlike linear velocity, which does not depend upon the choice of origin, orbital angular velocity is always measured with respect to a fixed origin. Therefore, strictly speaking, should be referred to as the angular momentum relative to that center. Because for a single particle and for circular motion, angular momentum can be expanded, and reduced to, the product of the radius of rotation and the linear momentum of the particle , where in this case is the equivalent linear (tangential) speed at the radius (). This simple analysis can also apply to non-circular motion if only the component of the motion which is perpendicular to the radius vector is considered. In that case, where is the perpendicular component of the motion. Expanding, rearranging, and reducing, angular momentum can also be expressed, where is the length of the moment arm, a line dropped perpendicularly from the origin onto the path of the particle. It is this definition, to which the term moment of momentum refers. Scalar angular momentum from Lagrangian mechanics Another approach is to define angular momentum as the conjugate momentum (also called canonical momentum) of the angular coordinate expressed in the Lagrangian of the mechanical system. Consider a mechanical system with a mass constrained to move in a circle of radius in the absence of any external force field. The kinetic energy of the system is And the potential energy is Then the Lagrangian is The generalized momentum "canonically conjugate to" the coordinate is defined by Orbital angular momentum in three dimensions To completely define orbital angular momentum in three dimensions, it is required to know the rate at which the position vector sweeps out angle, the direction perpendicular to the instantaneous plane of angular displacement, and the mass involved, as well as how this mass is distributed in space. By retaining this vector nature of angular momentum, the general nature of the equations is also retained, and can describe any sort of three-dimensional motion about the center of rotation – circular, linear, or otherwise. In vector notation, the orbital angular momentum of a point particle in motion about the origin can be expressed as: where is the moment of inertia for a point mass, is the orbital angular velocity of the particle about the origin, is the position vector of the particle relative to the origin, and , is the linear velocity of the particle relative to the origin, and is the mass of the particle. This can be expanded, reduced, and by the rules of vector algebra, rearranged: which is the cross product of the position vector and the linear momentum of the particle. By the definition of the cross product, the vector is perpendicular to both and . It is directed perpendicular to the plane of angular displacement, as indicated by the right-hand rule – so that the angular velocity is seen as counter-clockwise from the head of the vector. Conversely, the vector defines the plane in which and lie. By defining a unit vector perpendicular to the plane of angular displacement, a scalar angular speed results, where and where is the perpendicular component of the motion, as above. The two-dimensional scalar equations of the previous section can thus be given direction: and for circular motion, where all of the motion is perpendicular to the radius . In the spherical coordinate system the angular momentum vector expresses as Angular momentum in any number of dimensions Angular momentum can be defined in terms of the cross product only in three dimensions. Defining it as the bivector , where is the exterior product, is valid in any number of dimensions. This exterior product is equivalent to an antisymmetric tensor of degree 2, which also applies in any number of dimensions. Namely, if is a position vector and is the linear momentum vector, then we can define In the general case of summed angular momenta from multiple particles, this antisymmetric tensor has independent components (degrees of freedom), where is the number of dimensions. In the usual three-dimensional case it has 3 independent components, which allows us to identify it with a 3 dimensional pseudovector . The components of this vector relate to the components of the rank 2 tensor as follows: Analogy to linear momentum Angular momentum can be described as the rotational analog of linear momentum. Like linear momentum it involves elements of mass and displacement. Unlike linear momentum it also involves elements of position and shape. Many problems in physics involve matter in motion about some certain point in space, be it in actual rotation about it, or simply moving past it, where it is desired to know what effect the moving matter has on the point—can it exert energy upon it or perform work about it? Energy, the ability to do work, can be stored in matter by setting it in motion—a combination of its inertia and its displacement. Inertia is measured by its mass, and displacement by its velocity. Their product, is the matter's momentum. Referring this momentum to a central point introduces a complication: the momentum is not applied to the point directly. For instance, a particle of matter at the outer edge of a wheel is, in effect, at the end of a lever of the same length as the wheel's radius, its momentum turning the lever about the center point. This imaginary lever is known as the moment arm. It has the effect of multiplying the momentum's effort in proportion to its length, an effect known as a moment. Hence, the particle's momentum referred to a particular point, is the angular momentum, sometimes called, as here, the moment of momentum of the particle versus that particular center point. The equation combines a moment (a mass turning moment arm ) with a linear (straight-line equivalent) speed . Linear speed referred to the central point is simply the product of the distance and the angular speed versus the point: another moment. Hence, angular momentum contains a double moment: Simplifying slightly, the quantity is the particle's moment of inertia, sometimes called the second moment of mass. It is a measure of rotational inertia. The above analogy of the translational momentum and rotational momentum can be expressed in vector form: for linear motion for rotation The direction of momentum is related to the direction of the velocity for linear movement. The direction of angular momentum is related to the angular velocity of the rotation. Because moment of inertia is a crucial part of the spin angular momentum, the latter necessarily includes all of the complications of the former, which is calculated by multiplying elementary bits of the mass by the squares of their distances from the center of rotation. Therefore, the total moment of inertia, and the angular momentum, is a complex function of the configuration of the matter about the center of rotation and the orientation of the rotation for the various bits. For a rigid body, for instance a wheel or an asteroid, the orientation of rotation is simply the position of the rotation axis versus the matter of the body. It may or may not pass through the center of mass, or it may lie completely outside of the body. For the same body, angular momentum may take a different value for every possible axis about which rotation may take place. It reaches a minimum when the axis passes through the center of mass. For a collection of objects revolving about a center, for instance all of the bodies of the Solar System, the orientations may be somewhat organized, as is the Solar System, with most of the bodies' axes lying close to the system's axis. Their orientations may also be completely random. In brief, the more mass and the farther it is from the center of rotation (the longer the moment arm), the greater the moment of inertia, and therefore the greater the angular momentum for a given angular velocity. In many cases the moment of inertia, and hence the angular momentum, can be simplified by, where is the radius of gyration, the distance from the axis at which the entire mass may be considered as concentrated. Similarly, for a point mass the moment of inertia is defined as, where is the radius of the point mass from the center of rotation, and for any collection of particles as the sum, Angular momentum's dependence on position and shape is reflected in its units versus linear momentum: kg⋅m2/s or N⋅m⋅s for angular momentum versus kg⋅m/s or N⋅s for linear momentum. When calculating angular momentum as the product of the moment of inertia times the angular velocity, the angular velocity must be expressed in radians per second, where the radian assumes the dimensionless value of unity. (When performing dimensional analysis, it may be productive to use orientational analysis which treats radians as a base unit, but this is not done in the International system of units). The units if angular momentum can be interpreted as torque⋅time. An object with angular momentum of can be reduced to zero angular velocity by an angular impulse of . The plane perpendicular to the axis of angular momentum and passing through the center of mass is sometimes called the invariable plane, because the direction of the axis remains fixed if only the interactions of the bodies within the system, free from outside influences, are considered. One such plane is the invariable plane of the Solar System. Angular momentum and torque Newton's second law of motion can be expressed mathematically, or force = mass × acceleration. The rotational equivalent for point particles may be derived as follows: which means that the torque (i.e. the time derivative of the angular momentum) is Because the moment of inertia is , it follows that , and which, reduces to This is the rotational analog of Newton's second law. Note that the torque is not necessarily proportional or parallel to the angular acceleration (as one might expect). The reason for this is that the moment of inertia of a particle can change with time, something that cannot occur for ordinary mass. Conservation of angular momentum General considerations A rotational analog of Newton's third law of motion might be written, "In a closed system, no torque can be exerted on any matter without the exertion on some other matter of an equal and opposite torque about the same axis." Hence, angular momentum can be exchanged between objects in a closed system, but total angular momentum before and after an exchange remains constant (is conserved). Seen another way, a rotational analogue of Newton's first law of motion might be written, "A rigid body continues in a state of uniform rotation unless acted by an external influence." Thus with no external influence to act upon it, the original angular momentum of the system remains constant. The conservation of angular momentum is used in analyzing central force motion. If the net force on some body is directed always toward some point, the center, then there is no torque on the body with respect to the center, as all of the force is directed along the radius vector, and none is perpendicular to the radius. Mathematically, torque because in this case and are parallel vectors. Therefore, the angular momentum of the body about the center is constant. This is the case with gravitational attraction in the orbits of planets and satellites, where the gravitational force is always directed toward the primary body and orbiting bodies conserve angular momentum by exchanging distance and velocity as they move about the primary. Central force motion is also used in the analysis of the Bohr model of the atom. For a planet, angular momentum is distributed between the spin of the planet and its revolution in its orbit, and these are often exchanged by various mechanisms. The conservation of angular momentum in the Earth–Moon system results in the transfer of angular momentum from Earth to Moon, due to tidal torque the Moon exerts on the Earth. This in turn results in the slowing down of the rotation rate of Earth, at about 65.7 nanoseconds per day, and in gradual increase of the radius of Moon's orbit, at about 3.82 centimeters per year. The conservation of angular momentum explains the angular acceleration of an ice skater as they bring their arms and legs close to the vertical axis of rotation. By bringing part of the mass of their body closer to the axis, they decrease their body's moment of inertia. Because angular momentum is the product of moment of inertia and angular velocity, if the angular momentum remains constant (is conserved), then the angular velocity (rotational speed) of the skater must increase. The same phenomenon results in extremely fast spin of compact stars (like white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes) when they are formed out of much larger and slower rotating stars. Conservation is not always a full explanation for the dynamics of a system but is a key constraint. For example, a spinning top is subject to gravitational torque making it lean over and change the angular momentum about the nutation axis, but neglecting friction at the point of spinning contact, it has a conserved angular momentum about its spinning axis, and another about its precession axis. Also, in any planetary system, the planets, star(s), comets, and asteroids can all move in numerous complicated ways, but only so that the angular momentum of the system is conserved. Noether's theorem states that every conservation law is associated with a symmetry (invariant) of the underlying physics. The symmetry associated with conservation of angular momentum is rotational invariance. The fact that the physics of a system is unchanged if it is rotated by any angle about an axis implies that angular momentum is conserved. Relation to Newton's second law of motion While angular momentum total conservation can be understood separately from Newton's laws of motion as stemming from Noether's theorem in systems symmetric under rotations, it can also be understood simply as an efficient method of calculation of results that can also be otherwise arrived at directly from Newton's second law, together with laws governing the forces of nature (such as Newton's third law, Maxwell's equations and Lorentz force). Indeed, given initial conditions of position and velocity for every point, and the forces at such a condition, one may use Newton's second law to calculate the second derivative of position, and solving for this gives full information on the development of the physical system with time. Note, however, that this is no longer true in quantum mechanics, due to the existence of particle spin, which is angular momentum that cannot be described by the cumulative effect of point-like motions in space. As an example, consider decreasing of the moment of inertia, e.g. when a figure skater is pulling in her/his hands, speeding up the circular motion. In terms of angular momentum conservation, we have, for angular momentum L, moment of inertia I and angular velocity ω: Using this, we see that the change requires an energy of: so that a decrease in the moment of inertia requires investing energy. This can be compared to the work done as calculated using Newton's laws. Each point in the rotating body is accelerating, at each point of time, with radial acceleration of: Let us observe a point of mass m, whose position vector relative to the center of motion is perpendicular to the z-axis at a given point of time, and is at a distance z. The centripetal force on this point, keeping the circular motion, is: Thus the work required for moving this point to a distance dz farther from the center of motion is: For a non-pointlike body one must integrate over this, with m replaced by the mass density per unit z. This gives: which is exactly the energy required for keeping the angular momentum conserved. Note, that the above calculation can also be performed per mass, using kinematics only. Thus the phenomena of figure skater accelerating tangential velocity while pulling her/his hands in, can be understood as follows in layman's language: The skater's palms are not moving in a straight line, so they are constantly accelerating inwards, but do not gain additional speed because the accelerating is always done when their motion inwards is zero. However, this is different when pulling the palms closer to the body: The acceleration due to rotation now increases the speed; but because of the rotation, the increase in speed does not translate to a significant speed inwards, but to an increase of the rotation speed. In Lagrangian formalism In Lagrangian mechanics, angular momentum for rotation around a given axis, is the conjugate momentum of the generalized coordinate of the angle around the same axis. For example, , the angular momentum around the z axis, is: where is the Lagrangian and is the angle around the z axis. Note that , the time derivative of the angle, is the angular velocity . Ordinarily, the Lagrangian depends on the angular velocity through the kinetic energy: The latter can be written by separating the velocity to its radial and tangential part, with the tangential part at the x-y plane, around the z-axis, being equal to: where the subscript i stands for the i-th body, and m, vT and ωz stand for mass, tangential velocity around the z-axis and angular velocity around that axis, respectively. For a body that is not point-like, with density ρ, we have instead: where integration runs over the area of the body, and Iz is the moment of inertia around the z-axis. Thus, assuming the potential energy does not depend on ωz (this assumption may fail for electromagnetic systems), we have the angular momentum of the ith object: We have thus far rotated each object by a separate angle; we may also define an overall angle θz by which we rotate the whole system, thus rotating also each object around the z-axis, and have the overall angular momentum: From Euler–Lagrange equations it then follows that: Since the lagrangian is dependent upon the angles of the object only through the potential, we have: which is the torque on the ith object. Suppose the system is invariant to rotations, so that the potential is independent of an overall rotation by the angle θz (thus it may depend on the angles of objects only through their differences, in the form ). We therefore get for the total angular momentum: And thus the angular momentum around the z-axis is conserved. This analysis can be repeated separately for each axis, giving conversation of the angular momentum vector. However, the angles around the three axes cannot be treated simultaneously as generalized coordinates, since they are not independent; in particular, two angles per point suffice to determine its position. While it is true that in the case of a rigid body, fully describing it requires, in addition to three translational degrees of freedom, also specification of three rotational degrees of freedom; however these cannot be defined as rotations around the Cartesian axes (see Euler angles). This caveat is reflected in quantum mechanics in the non-trivial commutation relations of the different components of the angular momentum operator. In Hamiltonian formalism Equivalently, in Hamiltonian mechanics the Hamiltonian can be described as a function of the angular momentum. As before, the part of the kinetic energy related to rotation around the z-axis for the ith object is: which is analogous to the energy dependence upon momentum along the z-axis, . Hamilton's equations relate the angle around the z-axis to its conjugate momentum, the angular momentum around the same axis: The first equation gives And so we get the same results as in the Lagrangian formalism. Note, that for combining all axes together, we write the kinetic energy as: where pr is the momentum in the radial direction, and the moment of inertia is a 3-dimensional matrix; bold letters stand for 3-dimensional vectors. For point-like bodies we have: This form of the kinetic energy part of the Hamiltonian is useful in analyzing central potential problems, and is easily transformed to a quantum mechanical work frame (e.g. in the hydrogen atom problem). Angular momentum in orbital mechanics While in classical mechanics the language of angular momentum can be replaced by Newton's laws of motion, it is particularly useful for motion in central potential such as planetary motion in the solar system. Thus, the orbit of a planet in the solar system is defined by its energy, angular momentum and angles of the orbit major axis relative to a coordinate frame. In astrodynamics and celestial mechanics, a quantity closely related to angular momentum is defined as called specific angular momentum. Note that Mass is often unimportant in orbital mechanics calculations, because motion of a body is determined by gravity. The primary body of the system is often so much larger than any bodies in motion about it that the gravitational effect of the smaller bodies on it can be neglected; it maintains, in effect, constant velocity. The motion of all bodies is affected by its gravity in the same way, regardless of mass, and therefore all move approximately the same way under the same conditions. Solid bodies Angular momentum is also an extremely useful concept for describing rotating rigid bodies such as a gyroscope or a rocky planet. For a continuous mass distribution with density function ρ(r), a differential volume element dV with position vector r within the mass has a mass element dm = ρ(r)dV. Therefore, the infinitesimal angular momentum of this element is: and integrating this differential over the volume of the entire mass gives its total angular momentum: In the derivation which follows, integrals similar to this can replace the sums for the case of continuous mass. Collection of particles For a collection of particles in motion about an arbitrary origin, it is informative to develop the equation of angular momentum by resolving their motion into components about their own center of mass and about the origin. Given, is the mass of particle , is the position vector of particle w.r.t. the origin, is the velocity of particle w.r.t. the origin, is the position vector of the center of mass w.r.t. the origin, is the velocity of the center of mass w.r.t. the origin, is the position vector of particle w.r.t. the center of mass, is the velocity of particle w.r.t. the center of mass, The total mass of the particles is simply their sum, The position vector of the center of mass is defined by, By inspection, and The total angular momentum of the collection of particles is the sum of the angular momentum of each particle, Expanding , Expanding , It can be shown that (see sidebar), and therefore the second and third terms vanish, The first term can be rearranged, and total angular momentum for the collection of particles is finally, The first term is the angular momentum of the center of mass relative to the origin. Similar to , below, it is the angular momentum of one particle of mass M at the center of mass moving with velocity V. The second term is the angular momentum of the particles moving relative to the center of mass, similar to , below. The result is general—the motion of the particles is not restricted to rotation or revolution about the origin or center of mass. The particles need not be individual masses, but can be elements of a continuous distribution, such as a solid body. Rearranging equation () by vector identities, multiplying both terms by "one", and grouping appropriately, gives the total angular momentum of the system of particles in terms of moment of inertia and angular velocity , Single particle case In the case of a single particle moving about the arbitrary origin, and equations () and () for total angular momentum reduce to, Case of a fixed center of mass For the case of the center of mass fixed in space with respect to the origin, and equations () and () for total angular momentum reduce to, Angular momentum in general relativity In modern (20th century) theoretical physics, angular momentum (not including any intrinsic angular momentum – see below) is described using a different formalism, instead of a classical pseudovector. In this formalism, angular momentum is the 2-form Noether charge associated with rotational invariance. As a result, angular momentum is not conserved for general curved spacetimes, unless it happens to be asymptotically rotationally invariant. In classical mechanics, the angular momentum of a particle can be reinterpreted as a plane element: in which the exterior product (∧) replaces the cross product (×) (these products have similar characteristics but are nonequivalent). This has the advantage of a clearer geometric interpretation as a plane element, defined using the vectors x and p, and the expression is true in any number of dimensions. In Cartesian coordinates: or more compactly in index notation: The angular velocity can also be defined as an antisymmetric second order tensor, with components ωij. The relation between the two antisymmetric tensors is given by the moment of inertia which must now be a fourth order tensor: Again, this equation in L and ω as tensors is true in any number of dimensions. This equation also appears in the geometric algebra formalism, in which L and ω are bivectors, and the moment of inertia is a mapping between them. In relativistic mechanics, the relativistic angular momentum of a particle is expressed as an antisymmetric tensor of second order: in terms of four-vectors, namely the four-position X and the four-momentum P, and absorbs the above L together with the moment of mass, i.e., the product of the relativistic mass of the particle and its centre of mass, which can be thought of as describing the motion of its centre of mass, since mass–energy is conserved. In each of the above cases, for a system of particles the total angular momentum is just the sum of the individual particle angular momenta, and the centre of mass is for the system. Angular momentum in quantum mechanics In quantum mechanics, angular momentum (like other quantities) is expressed as an operator, and its one-dimensional projections have quantized eigenvalues. Angular momentum is subject to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, implying that at any time, only one projection (also called "component") can be measured with definite precision; the other two then remain uncertain. Because of this, the axis of rotation of a quantum particle is undefined. Quantum particles do possess a type of non-orbital angular momentum called "spin", but this angular momentum does not correspond to a spinning motion. In relativistic quantum mechanics the above relativistic definition becomes a tensorial operator. Spin, orbital, and total angular momentum The classical definition of angular momentum as can be carried over to quantum mechanics, by reinterpreting r as the quantum position operator and p as the quantum momentum operator. L is then an operator, specifically called the orbital angular momentum operator. The components of the angular momentum operator satisfy the commutation relations of the Lie algebra so(3). Indeed, these operators are precisely the infinitesimal action of the rotation group on the quantum Hilbert space. (See also the discussion below of the angular momentum operators as the generators of rotations.) However, in quantum physics, there is another type of angular momentum, called spin angular momentum, represented by the spin operator S. Spin is often depicted as a particle literally spinning around an axis, but this is a misleading and inaccurate picture: spin is an intrinsic property of a particle, unrelated to any sort of motion in space and fundamentally different from orbital angular momentum. All elementary particles have a characteristic spin (possibly zero), and almost all elementary particles have nonzero spin. For example electrons have "spin 1/2" (this actually means "spin ħ/2"), photons have "spin 1" (this actually means "spin ħ"), and pi-mesons have spin 0. Finally, there is total angular momentum J, which combines both the spin and orbital angular momentum of all particles and fields. (For one particle, .) Conservation of angular momentum applies to J, but not to L or S; for example, the spin–orbit interaction allows angular momentum to transfer back and forth between L and S, with the total remaining constant. Electrons and photons need not have integer-based values for total angular momentum, but can also have half-integer values. In molecules the total angular momentum F is the sum of the rovibronic (orbital) angular momentum N, the electron spin angular momentum S, and the nuclear spin angular momentum I. For electronic singlet states the rovibronic angular momentum is denoted J rather than N. As explained by Van Vleck, the components of the molecular rovibronic angular momentum referred to molecule-fixed axes have different commutation relations from those for the components about space-fixed axes. Quantization In quantum mechanics, angular momentum is quantized – that is, it cannot vary continuously, but only in "quantum leaps" between certain allowed values. For any system, the following restrictions on measurement results apply, where is the reduced Planck constant and is any Euclidean vector such as x, y, or z: The reduced Planck constant is tiny by everyday standards, about 10−34 J s, and therefore this quantization does not noticeably affect the angular momentum of macroscopic objects. However, it is very important in the microscopic world. For example, the structure of electron shells and subshells in chemistry is significantly affected by the quantization of angular momentum. Quantization of angular momentum was first postulated by Niels Bohr in his model of the atom and was later predicted by Erwin Schrödinger in his Schrödinger equation. Uncertainty In the definition , six operators are involved: The position operators , , , and the momentum operators , , . However, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle tells us that it is not possible for all six of these quantities to be known simultaneously with arbitrary precision. Therefore, there are limits to what can be known or measured about a particle's angular momentum. It turns out that the best that one can do is to simultaneously measure both the angular momentum vector's magnitude and its component along one axis. The uncertainty is closely related to the fact that different components of an angular momentum operator do not commute, for example . (For the precise commutation relations, see angular momentum operator.) Total angular momentum as generator of rotations As mentioned above, orbital angular momentum L is defined as in classical mechanics: , but total angular momentum J is defined in a different, more basic way: J is defined as the "generator of rotations". More specifically, J is defined so that the operator is the rotation operator that takes any system and rotates it by angle about the axis . (The "exp" in the formula refers to operator exponential) To put this the other way around, whatever our quantum Hilbert space is, we expect that the rotation group SO(3) will act on it. There is then an associated action of the Lie algebra so(3) of SO(3); the operators describing the action of so(3) on our Hilbert space are the (total) angular momentum operators. The relationship between the angular momentum operator and the rotation operators is the same as the relationship between Lie algebras and Lie groups in mathematics. The close relationship between angular momentum and rotations is reflected in Noether's theorem that proves that angular momentum is conserved whenever the laws of physics are rotationally invariant. Angular momentum in electrodynamics When describing the motion of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field, the canonical momentum P (derived from the Lagrangian for this system) is not gauge invariant. As a consequence, the canonical angular momentum L = r × P is not gauge invariant either. Instead, the momentum that is physical, the so-called kinetic momentum (used throughout this article), is (in SI units) where e is the electric charge of the particle and A the magnetic vector potential of the electromagnetic field. The gauge-invariant angular momentum, that is kinetic angular momentum, is given by The interplay with quantum mechanics is discussed further in the article on canonical commutation relations. Angular momentum in optics In classical Maxwell electrodynamics the Poynting vector is a linear momentum density of electromagnetic field. The angular momentum density vector is given by a vector product as in classical mechanics: The above identities are valid locally, i.e. in each space point in a given moment . Angular momentum in nature and the cosmos Tropical cyclones and other related weather phenomena involve conservation of angular momentum in order to explain the dynamics. Winds revolve slowly around low pressure systems, mainly due to the coriolis effect. If the low pressure intensifies and the slowly circulating air is drawn toward the center, the molecules must speed up in order to conserve angular momentum. By the time they reach the center, the speeds become destructive. Johannes Kepler determined the laws of planetary motion without knowledge of conservation of momentum. However, not long after his discovery their derivation was determined from conservation of angular momentum. Planets move more slowly the further they are out in their elliptical orbits, which is explained intuitively by the fact that orbital angular momentum is proportional to the radius of the orbit. Since the mass does not change and the angular momentum is conserved, the velocity drops. Tidal acceleration is an effect of the tidal forces between an orbiting natural satellite (e.g. the Moon) and the primary planet that it orbits (e.g. Earth). The gravitational torque between the Moon and the tidal bulge of Earth causes the Moon to be constantly promoted to a slightly higher orbit and Earth to be decelerated in its rotation. The Earth loses angular momentum which is transferred to the Moon such that the overall angular momentum is conserved. Angular momentum in engineering and technology Examples of using conservation of angular momentum for practical advantage are abundant. In engines such as steam engines or internal combustion engines, a flywheel is needed to efficiently convert the lateral motion of the pistons to rotational motion. Inertial navigation systems explicitly use the fact that angular momentum is conserved with respect to the inertial frame of space. Inertial navigation is what enables submarine trips under the polar ice cap, but are also crucial to all forms of modern navigation. Rifled bullets use the stability provided by conservation of angular momentum to be more true in their trajectory. The invention of rifled firearms and cannons gave their users significant strategic advantage in battle, and thus were a technological turning point in history. History Isaac Newton, in the Principia, hinted at angular momentum in his examples of the first law of motion,A top, whose parts by their cohesion are perpetually drawn aside from rectilinear motions, does not cease its rotation, otherwise than as it is retarded by the air. The greater bodies of the planets and comets, meeting with less resistance in more free spaces, preserve their motions both progressive and circular for a much longer time.He did not further investigate angular momentum directly in the Principia, saying:From such kind of reflexions also sometimes arise the circular motions of bodies about their own centres. But these are cases which I do not consider in what follows; and it would be too tedious to demonstrate every particular that relates to this subject.However, his geometric proof of the law of areas is an outstanding example of Newton's genius, and indirectly proves angular momentum conservation in the case of a central force. The Law of Areas Newton's derivation As a planet orbits the Sun, the line between the Sun and the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time. This had been known since Kepler expounded his second law of planetary motion. Newton derived a unique geometric proof, and went on to show that the attractive force of the Sun's gravity was the cause of all of Kepler's laws. During the first interval of time, an object is in motion from point A to point B. Undisturbed, it would continue to point c during the second interval. When the object arrives at B, it receives an impulse directed toward point S. The impulse gives it a small added velocity toward S, such that if this were its only velocity, it would move from B to V during the second interval. By the rules of velocity composition, these two velocities add, and point C is found by construction of parallelogram BcCV. Thus the object's path is deflected by the impulse so that it arrives at point C at the end of the second interval. Because the triangles SBc and SBC have the same base SB and the same height Bc or VC, they have the same area. By symmetry, triangle SBc also has the same area as triangle SAB, therefore the object has swept out equal areas SAB and SBC in equal times. At point C, the object receives another impulse toward S, again deflecting its path during the third interval from d to D. Thus it continues to E and beyond, the triangles SAB, SBc, SBC, SCd, SCD, SDe, SDE all having the same area. Allowing the time intervals to become ever smaller, the path ABCDE approaches indefinitely close to a continuous curve. Note that because this derivation is geometric, and no specific force is applied, it proves a more general law than Kepler's second law of planetary motion. It shows that the Law of Areas applies to any central force, attractive or repulsive, continuous or non-continuous, or zero. Conservation of angular momentum in the Law of Areas The proportionality of angular momentum to the area swept out by a moving object can be understood by realizing that the bases of the triangles, that is, the lines from S to the object, are equivalent to the radius , and that the heights of the triangles are proportional to the perpendicular component of velocity . Hence, if the area swept per unit time is constant, then by the triangular area formula , the product and therefore the product are constant: if and the base length are decreased, and height must increase proportionally. Mass is constant, therefore angular momentum is conserved by this exchange of distance and velocity. In the case of triangle SBC, area is equal to (SB)(VC). Wherever C is eventually located due to the impulse applied at B, the product (SB)(VC), and therefore remain constant. Similarly so for each of the triangles. After Newton Leonhard Euler, Daniel Bernoulli, and Patrick d'Arcy all understood angular momentum in terms of conservation of areal velocity, a result of their analysis of Kepler's second law of planetary motion. It is unlikely that they realized the implications for ordinary rotating matter. In 1736 Euler, like Newton, touched on some of the equations of angular momentum in his Mechanica without further developing them. Bernoulli wrote in a 1744 letter of a "moment of rotational motion", possibly the first conception of angular momentum as we now understand it. In 1799, Pierre-Simon Laplace first realized that a fixed plane was associated with rotation—his invariable plane. Louis Poinsot in 1803 began representing rotations as a line segment perpendicular to the rotation, and elaborated on the "conservation of moments". In 1852 Léon Foucault used a gyroscope in an experiment to display the Earth's rotation. William J. M. Rankine's 1858 Manual of Applied Mechanics defined angular momentum in the modern sense for the first time:...a line whose length is proportional to the magnitude of the angular momentum, and whose direction is perpendicular to the plane of motion of the body and of the fixed point, and such, that when the motion of the body is viewed from the extremity of the line, the radius-vector of the body seems to have right-handed rotation.In an 1872 edition of the same book, Rankine stated that "The term angular momentum was introduced by Mr. Hayward," probably referring to R.B. Hayward's article On a Direct Method of estimating Velocities, Accelerations, and all similar Quantities with respect to Axes moveable in any manner in Space with Applications, which was introduced in 1856, and published in 1864. Rankine was mistaken, as numerous publications feature the term starting in the late 18th to early 19th centuries. However, Hayward's article apparently was the first use of the term and the concept seen by much of the English-speaking world. Before this, angular momentum was typically referred to as "momentum of rotation" in English. See also Footnotes References Further reading . External links "What Do a Submarine, a Rocket and a Football Have in Common? Why the prolate spheroid is the shape for success" (Scientific American, November 8, 2010) Conservation of Angular Momentum – a chapter from an online textbook Angular Momentum in a Collision Process – derivation of the three-dimensional case Angular Momentum and Rolling Motion – more momentum theory Physical quantities Rotation Conservation laws Moment (physics) Angular momentum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham%20Joshua%20Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, authored a number of widely read books on Jewish philosophy and was a leader in the civil rights movement. Biography Abraham Joshua Heschel was born in Warsaw in 1907 as the youngest of six children of Moshe Mordechai Heschel and Reizel Perlow Heschel. He was descended from preeminent European rabbis on both sides of his family. His paternal great-great-grandfather and namesake was Rebbe Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt in present-day Poland. His mother was also a descendant of Avraham Yehoshua Heshel and other Hasidic dynasties. His siblings were Sarah, Dvora Miriam, Esther Sima, Gittel, and Jacob. Their father Moshe died of influenza in 1916 when Abraham was nine. He was tutored by a Gerrer Hasid who introduced him to the thought of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. After a traditional yeshiva education and studying for Orthodox rabbinical ordination (semicha), Heschel pursued his doctorate at the University of Berlin and rabbinic ordination at the non-denominational Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums. There he studied under some of the finest Jewish educators of the time: Chanoch Albeck, Ismar Elbogen, Julius Guttmann, Alexander Guttmann, and Leo Baeck. His mentor in Berlin was David Koigen. Heschel later taught Talmud at the Hochschule. He joined a Yiddish poetry group, Jung Vilna, and in 1933, published a volume of Yiddish poems, Der Shem Hamefoyrosh: Mentsch, dedicated to his father. In late October 1938, when Heschel was living in a rented room in the home of a Jewish family in Frankfurt, he was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Poland in the Polenaktion. He spent ten months lecturing on Jewish philosophy and Torah at Warsaw's Institute for Jewish Studies. Six weeks before the German invasion of Poland, Heschel left Warsaw for London with the help of Julian Morgenstern, president of Hebrew Union College, who had been working to obtain visas for Jewish scholars in Europe and Alexander Guttmann, later his colleague in Cincinnati, who secretly re-wrote his ordination certificate to meet American visa requirements. Heschel's sister Esther was killed in a German bombing. His mother was murdered by the Nazis, and two other sisters, Gittel and Devorah, died in Nazi concentration camps. He never returned to Germany, Austria or Poland. He once wrote, "If I should go to Poland or Germany, every stone, every tree would remind me of contempt, hatred, murder, of children killed, of mothers burned alive, of human beings asphyxiated." Heschel arrived in New York City in March 1940. He served on the faculty of Hebrew Union College (HUC), the main seminary of Reform Judaism, in Cincinnati for five years. In 1946, he took a position at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) in New York City, the main seminary of Conservative Judaism. He served as professor of Jewish ethics and Mysticism until his death in 1972. At the time of his death, Heschel lived near JTS at 425 Riverside Drive in Manhattan. Heschel married Sylvia Straus, a concert pianist, on December 10, 1946, in Los Angeles. Their daughter, Susannah Heschel, became a Jewish scholar in her own right. Ideology Heschel explicated many facets of Jewish thought, including studies on medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and Hasidic philosophy. According to some scholars, he was more interested in spirituality than in critical text study; the latter was a specialty of many scholars at JTS. He was not given a graduate assistant for many years and he was mainly relegated to teach in the education school or the Rabbinical school, not in the academic graduate program. Heschel became friendly with his colleague Mordecai Kaplan. Though they differed in their approaches to Judaism, they had a very cordial relationship and visited each other's homes from time to time. Heschel believed that the teachings of the Hebrew prophets were a clarion call for social action in the United States and inspired by this belief, he worked for African Americans' civil rights and spoke out against the Vietnam War. He also criticized what he specifically called "pan-halakhism", or an exclusive focus upon religiously compatible behavior to the neglect of the non-legalistic dimension of rabbinic tradition. Influence outside Judaism Heschel is a widely read Jewish theologian whose most influential works include Man Is Not Alone, God in Search of Man, The Sabbath, and The Prophets. At the Second Vatican Council, as a representative of American Jews, Heschel persuaded the Catholic Church to eliminate or modify passages in its liturgy which demeaned the Jews, or referred to an expected conversion of the Jews to Christianity. His theological works argued that religious experience is a fundamentally human impulse, not just a Jewish one. He believed that no religious community could claim a monopoly on religious truth. For these and other reasons, Martin Luther King Jr. called Heschel "a truly great prophet." Heschel actively participated in the Civil Rights movement, and was a participant in the third Selma to Montgomery march, accompanying Dr. King and John Lewis. Published works The Earth Is the Lord's: The Inner World of the Jew in Eastern Europe. 1949. Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion. 1951. The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man. 1951. Man's Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism. 1954. God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism. 1955. The Prophets. 1962. Who Is Man? 1965. Israel: An Echo of Eternity. 1969. A Passion for Truth. 1973. I asked for Wonder: A spiritual anthology. 1983. Heavenly Torah: As Refracted Through the Generations. 2005. ; Theology of Ancient Judaism. [Hebrew]. 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1962. Third volume, New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1995. The Ineffable Name of God: Man: Poems. 2004. . [Yiddish]. 2 v. (694 p.) Tel-Aviv: ha-Menorah, 1973. Added t.p.: Kotzk: the struggle for integrity (A Hebrew translation of vol. 1, Jerusalem: Magid, 2015). (). 45 p. Originally published: New-York: Shoken, 1946. Man Is Not Alone (1951) Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion offers Heschel's views on how people can comprehend God. Judaism views God as being radically different from humans, so Heschel explores the ways that Judaism teaches that a person may have an encounter with the ineffable. A recurring theme in this work is the radical amazement that people feel when experiencing the presence of the Divine. Heschel then goes on to explore the problems of doubts and faith; what Judaism means by teaching that God is one; the essence of humanity and the problem of human needs; the definition of religion in general and of Judaism in particular; and human yearning for spirituality. He offers his views as to Judaism being a pattern for life. The Sabbath (1951) The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man is a work on the nature and celebration of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. It is rooted in the thesis that Judaism is a religion of time, not space, and that the Sabbath symbolizes the sanctification of time. Heschel wrote that "Technical civilization is man's conquest of space. It is a triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing an essential ingredient of existence, namely, time." And that "To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective" while warning that "We have often suffered from degradation by poverty, now we are threatened with degradation through power." God in Search of Man (1955) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism is a companion volume to Man Is Not Alone. In this book Heschel discusses the nature of religious thought, how thought becomes faith, and how faith creates responses in the believer. He discusses ways that people can seek God's presence, and the radical amazement that we receive in return. He offers a criticism of nature worship; a study of humanity's metaphysical loneliness, and his view that we can consider God to be in search of humanity. The first section concludes with a study of Jews as a chosen people. Section two deals with the idea of revelation, and what it means for one to be a prophet. This section gives us his idea of revelation as an event, as opposed to a process. This relates to Israel's commitment to God. Section three discusses his views of how a Jew should understand the nature of Judaism as a religion. He discusses and rejects the idea that mere faith (without law) alone is enough, but then cautions against rabbis he sees as adding too many restrictions to Jewish law. He discusses the need to correlate ritual observance with spirituality and love, the importance of Kavanah (intention) when performing mitzvot. He engages in a discussion of religious behaviorism—when people strive for external compliance with the law, yet disregard the importance of inner devotion. The Prophets (1962) This work started out as his PhD thesis in German, which he later expanded and translated into English. Originally published in a two-volume edition, this work studies the books of the Hebrew prophets. It covers their lives and the historical context that their missions were set in, summarizes their work, and discusses their psychological state. In it Heschel puts forward what would become a central idea in his theology: that the prophetic (and, ultimately, Jewish) view of God is best understood not as anthropomorphic (that God takes human form) but rather as anthropopathic—that God has human feelings. In his book The Prophets, Abraham Joshua Heschel describes the unique aspect of the Jewish prophets as compared to other similar figures. Whereas other nations have soothsayers and diviners who attempt to discover the will of their gods, according to Heschel the Hebrew prophets are characterized by their experience of what he calls theotropism—God turning towards humanity. Heschel argues for the view of Hebrew prophets as receivers of the "Divine Pathos", of the wrath and sorrow of God over his nation that has forsaken him. In this view, prophets do not speak for God so much as they remind their audience of God's voice for the voiceless, the poor and oppressed. He writes: Torah min HaShamayim (1962) Many consider Heschel's Torah min HaShamayim BeAspaklariya shel HaDorot, (Torah from Heaven in the mirror of the generations) to be his masterwork. The three volumes of this work are a study of classical rabbinic theology and aggadah, as opposed to halakha (Jewish law). It explores the views of the rabbis in the Mishnah, Talmud and Midrash about the nature of Torah, the revelation of God to mankind, prophecy, and the ways that Jews have used scriptural exegesis to expand and understand these core Jewish texts. In this work, Heschel views the 2nd century sages Rabbi Akiva and Ishmael ben Elisha as paradigms for the two dominant world-views in Jewish theology Two Hebrew volumes were published during his lifetime by Soncino Press, and the third Hebrew volume was published posthumously by JTS Press in the 1990s. A new edition, including an expanded third volume, due to manuscripts which were found and edited by Dr. Dror Bondi, was published by Magid Press in 2021. An English translation of all three volumes, with notes, essays and appendices, was translated and edited by Rabbi Gordon Tucker, entitled Heavenly Torah: As Refracted Through the Generations. In its own right it can be the subject of intense study and analysis, and provides insight into the relationship between God and Man beyond the world of Judaism and for all Monotheism. Who is Man? (1965) Heschel discusses the nature and role of man. In these three lectures, originally delivered in somewhat different form as The Raymond Fred West Memorial Lectures at Stanford University in May 1963, Dr. Heschel inquires into the logic of being human: What is meant by being human? What are the grounds on which to justify a human being's claim to being human? In the author's words, “We have never been as openmouthed and inquisitive, never as astonished and embarrassed at our ignorance about man. We know what he makes, but we do not know what he is or what to expect of him. Is it not conceivable that our entire civilization is built upon a misinterpretation of man? Or that the tragedy of man is due to the fact that he is a being who has forgotten the question: Who is Man? The failure to identify himself, to know what is authentic human existence, leads him to assume a false identity, to pretend to be what he is unable to be or to not accepting what is at the very root of his being. Ignorance about man is not lack of knowledge, but false knowledge.” Prophetic Inspiration After the Prophets (1966) Heschel wrote a series of articles, originally in Hebrew, on the existence of prophecy in Judaism after the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. These essays were translated into English and published as Prophetic Inspiration After the Prophets: Maimonides and Others by the American Judaica publisher Ktav. The publisher of this book states, "The standard Jewish view is that prophecy ended with the ancient prophets, somewhere early in the Second Temple era. Heschel demonstrated that this view is not altogether accurate. Belief in the possibility of continued prophetic inspiration, and belief in its actual occurrence existed throughout much of the medieval period, and it even exists in modern times. Heschel's work on prophetic inspiration in the Middle Ages originally appeared in two long Hebrew articles. In them, he concentrated on the idea that prophetic inspiration was even possible in post-Talmudic times, and, indeed, it had taken place at various schools in various times, from the Geonim to Maimonides and beyond." Awards and commemoration 1970: National Jewish Book Award in the Jewish Thought category for Israel: An Echo of Eternity Five schools have been named for Heschel, in Buenos Aires, Argentina the rabbinical School of the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, the Upper West Side of New York City, Northridge, California, Agoura Hills, California, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2009, a highway in Missouri was named "Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel Highway" after a Springfield, Missouri area Neo-Nazi group cleaned the stretch of highway as part of an "Adopt-A-Highway" plan. Heschel's daughter, Susannah, has objected to the adoption of her father's name in this context. Heschel's papers are held in the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University. On 17 October 2022, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin inaugurated the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations, attended by Catholic and Jewish figures, including Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Susannah Heschel, and Pope Francis. See also List of peace activists References Further reading Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness & Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940–1972, biography by Edward K. Kaplan "The Encyclopedia of Hasidism" edited by Rabinowicz, Tzvi M.: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1996. Ephraim Chamiel, Between Religion and reason - The Dialectical Position in Cotemporary Jewish Thought. Academic Studies Press, Boston 2020, Vol I, pp. 68–78. External links Guide to the Abraham Joshua Heschel Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Heschel's role in Vatican II and his advocacy of interreligious respect Alan Brill Review of Heavenly Torah Arnold Jacob Wolf Review of Heavenly Torah David Blumenthal review of Heavenly Torah About Rabbi A. J. Heschel The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership 1907 births 1972 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights American Conservative rabbis American ethicists American Jewish theologians American pacifists Hebrew Union College faculty Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Jewish pacifists Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty Rabbis from Cincinnati Rabbis from Warsaw Philosophers of Judaism Philosophers of religion Polish emigrants to the United States Polish ethicists Selma to Montgomery marches Activists from Ohio Jewish poets Yiddish-language poets Participants in the Second Vatican Council Jewish American writers Jewish ethicists Jewish anti-racism activists American anti–Vietnam War activists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States African American–Jewish relations 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century American rabbis 20th-century Polish philosophers Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums alumni

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammeter

Ammeter

An ammeter (abbreviation of Ampere meter) is an instrument used to measure the current in a circuit. Electric currents are measured in amperes (A), hence the name. For direct measurement, the ammeter is connected in series with the circuit in which the current is to be measured. An ammeter usually has low resistance so that it does not cause a significant voltage drop in the circuit being measured. Instruments used to measure smaller currents, in the milliampere or microampere range, are designated as milliammeters or microammeters. Early ammeters were laboratory instruments that relied on the Earth's magnetic field for operation. By the late 19th century, improved instruments were designed which could be mounted in any position and allowed accurate measurements in electric power systems. It is generally represented by letter 'A' in a circuit. History The relation between electric current, magnetic fields and physical forces was first noted by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1820, who observed a compass needle was deflected from pointing North when a current flowed in an adjacent wire. The tangent galvanometer was used to measure currents using this effect, where the restoring force returning the pointer to the zero position was provided by the Earth's magnetic field. This made these instruments usable only when aligned with the Earth's field. Sensitivity of the instrument was increased by using additional turns of wire to multiply the effect – the instruments were called "multipliers". The word rheoscope as a detector of electrical currents was coined by Sir Charles Wheatstone about 1840 but is no longer used to describe electrical instruments. The word makeup is similar to that of rheostat (also coined by Wheatstone) which was a device used to adjust the current in a circuit. Rheostat is a historical term for a variable resistance, though unlike rheoscope may still be encountered. Types Some instruments are panel meters, meant to be mounted on some sort of control panel. Of these, the flat, horizontal or vertical type is often called an edgewise meter. Moving-coil The D'Arsonval galvanometer is a moving coil ammeter. It uses magnetic deflection, where current passing through a coil placed in the magnetic field of a permanent magnet causes the coil to move. The modern form of this instrument was developed by Edward Weston, and uses two spiral springs to provide the restoring force. The uniform air gap between the iron core and the permanent magnet poles make the deflection of the meter linearly proportional to current. These meters have linear scales. Basic meter movements can have full-scale deflection for currents from about 25 microamperes to 10 milliamperes. Because the magnetic field is polarised, the meter needle acts in opposite directions for each direction of current. A DC ammeter is thus sensitive to which polarity it is connected in; most are marked with a positive terminal, but some have centre-zero mechanisms and can display currents in either direction. A moving coil meter indicates the average (mean) of a varying current through it, which is zero for AC. For this reason, moving-coil meters are only usable directly for DC, not AC. This type of meter movement is extremely common for both ammeters and other meters derived from them, such as voltmeters and ohmmeters. Moving magnet Moving magnet ammeters operate on essentially the same principle as moving coil, except that the coil is mounted in the meter case, and a permanent magnet moves the needle. Moving magnet Ammeters are able to carry larger currents than moving coil instruments, often several tens of Amperes, because the coil can be made of thicker wire and the current does not have to be carried by the hairsprings. Indeed, some Ammeters of this type do not have hairsprings at all, instead using a fixed permanent magnet to provide the restoring force. Electrodynamic An electrodynamic ammeter uses an electromagnet instead of the permanent magnet of the d'Arsonval movement. This instrument can respond to both alternating and direct current and also indicates true RMS for AC. See Wattmeter for an alternative use for this instrument. Moving-iron Moving iron ammeters use a piece of iron which moves when acted upon by the electromagnetic force of a fixed coil of wire. The moving-iron meter was invented by Austrian engineer Friedrich Drexler in 1884. This type of meter responds to both direct and alternating currents (as opposed to the moving-coil ammeter, which works on direct current only). The iron element consists of a moving vane attached to a pointer, and a fixed vane, surrounded by a coil. As alternating or direct current flows through the coil and induces a magnetic field in both vanes, the vanes repel each other and the moving vane deflects against the restoring force provided by fine helical springs. The deflection of a moving iron meter is proportional to the square of the current. Consequently, such meters would normally have a nonlinear scale, but the iron parts are usually modified in shape to make the scale fairly linear over most of its range. Moving iron instruments indicate the RMS value of any AC waveform applied. Moving iron ammeters are commonly used to measure current in industrial frequency AC circuits. Hot-wire In a hot-wire ammeter, a current passes through a wire which expands as it heats. Although these instruments have slow response time and low accuracy, they were sometimes used in measuring radio-frequency current. These also measure true RMS for an applied AC. Digital In much the same way as the analogue ammeter formed the basis for a wide variety of derived meters, including voltmeters, the basic mechanism for a digital meter is a digital voltmeter mechanism, and other types of meter are built around this. Digital ammeter designs use a shunt resistor to produce a calibrated voltage proportional to the current flowing. This voltage is then measured by a digital voltmeter, through use of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC); the digital display is calibrated to display the current through the shunt. Such instruments are often calibrated to indicate the RMS value for a sine wave only, but many designs will indicate true RMS within limitations of the wave crest factor. Integrating There is also a range of devices referred to as integrating ammeters. In these ammeters the current is summed over time, giving as a result the product of current and time; which is proportional to the electrical charge transferred with that current. These can be used for metering energy (the charge needs to be multiplied by the voltage to give energy) or for estimating the charge of a battery or capacitor. Picoammeter A picoammeter, or pico ammeter, measures very low electric current, usually from the picoampere range at the lower end to the milliampere range at the upper end. Picoammeters are used where the current being measured is below the limits of sensitivity of other devices, such as multimeters. Most picoammeters use a "virtual short" technique and have several different measurement ranges that must be switched between to cover multiple decades of measurement. Other modern picoammeters use log compression and a "current sink" method that eliminates range switching and associated voltage spikes. Special design and usage considerations must be observed in order to reduce leakage current which may swamp measurements such as special insulators and driven shields. Triaxial cable is often used for probe connections. Application Ammeters must be connected in series with the circuit to be measured. For relatively small currents (up to a few amperes), an ammeter may pass the whole of the circuit current. For larger direct currents, a shunt resistor carries most of the circuit current and a small, accurately-known fraction of the current passes through the meter movement. For alternating current circuits, a current transformer may be used to provide a convenient small current to drive an instrument, such as 1 or 5 amperes, while the primary current to be measured is much larger (up to thousands of amperes). The use of a shunt or current transformer also allows convenient location of the indicating meter without the need to run heavy circuit conductors up to the point of observation. In the case of alternating current, the use of a current transformer also isolates the meter from the high voltage of the primary circuit. A shunt provides no such isolation for a direct-current ammeter, but where high voltages are used it may be possible to place the ammeter in the "return" side of the circuit which may be at low potential with respect to earth. Ammeters must not be connected directly across a voltage source since their internal resistance is very low and excess current would flow. Ammeters are designed for a low voltage drop across their terminals, much less than one volt; the extra circuit losses produced by the ammeter are called its "burden" on the measured circuit(I). Ordinary Weston-type meter movements can measure only milliamperes at most, because the springs and practical coils can carry only limited currents. To measure larger currents, a resistor called a shunt is placed in parallel with the meter. The resistances of shunts is in the integer to fractional milliohm range. Nearly all of the current flows through the shunt, and only a small fraction flows through the meter. This allows the meter to measure large currents. Traditionally, the meter used with a shunt has a full-scale deflection (FSD) of , so shunts are typically designed to produce a voltage drop of when carrying their full rated current. To make a multi-range ammeter, a selector switch can be used to connect one of a number of shunts across the meter. It must be a make-before-break switch to avoid damaging current surges through the meter movement when switching ranges. A better arrangement is the Ayrton shunt or universal shunt, invented by William E. Ayrton, which does not require a make-before-break switch. It also avoids any inaccuracy because of contact resistance. In the figure, assuming for example, a movement with a full-scale voltage of 50 mV and desired current ranges of 10 mA, 100 mA, and 1 A, the resistance values would be: R1=4.5 ohms, R2=0.45 ohm, R3=0.05 ohm. And if the movement resistance is 1000 ohms, for example, R1 must be adjusted to 4.525 ohms. Switched shunts are rarely used for currents above 10 amperes. Zero-center ammeters are used for applications requiring current to be measured with both polarities, common in scientific and industrial equipment. Zero-center ammeters are also commonly placed in series with a battery. In this application, the charging of the battery deflects the needle to one side of the scale (commonly, the right side) and the discharging of the battery deflects the needle to the other side. A special type of zero-center ammeter for testing high currents in cars and trucks has a pivoted bar magnet that moves the pointer, and a fixed bar magnet to keep the pointer centered with no current. The magnetic field around the wire carrying current to be measured deflects the moving magnet. Since the ammeter shunt has a very low resistance, mistakenly wiring the ammeter in parallel with a voltage source will cause a short circuit, at best blowing a fuse, possibly damaging the instrument and wiring, and exposing an observer to injury. In AC circuits, a current transformer converts the magnetic field around a conductor into a small AC current, typically either or at full rated current, that can be easily read by a meter. In a similar way, accurate AC/DC non-contact ammeters have been constructed using Hall effect magnetic field sensors. A portable hand-held clamp-on ammeter is a common tool for maintenance of industrial and commercial electrical equipment, which is temporarily clipped over a wire to measure current. Some recent types have a parallel pair of magnetically soft probes that are placed on either side of the conductor. See also Clamp meter Class of accuracy in electrical measurements Electric circuit Electrical measurements Electrical current#Measurement Electronics List of electronics topics Measurement category Multimeter Ohmmeter Rheoscope Voltmeter Notes References External links DC Metering Circuits chapter from Lessons In Electric Circuits Vol 1 DC free ebook and Lessons In Electric Circuits series. Electrical meters Electronic test equipment Flow meters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita

Akita

is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan Akita, Kumamoto, a former town Akita Prefecture, Japan Akita (city) Akita-Yake-Yama, a small stratovolcano in Akita Prefecture, Japan People Akita clan, a Japanese samurai clan of northern Honshū Akita (surname), for people with the surname Art, entertainment, and media "", a folk song of Akita Prefecture, Japan Akita ranga, a Japanese school of painting Companies Akita Asahi Broadcasting, a Japanese broadcast network Akita Bank, a Japanese regional bank Akita Broadcasting System, a Japanese television and radio broadcaster Akita Shoten, a Japanese publishing company Akita Television, a television station in Akita, Japan Education Akita International University, a public university in Akita, Japan Akita Municipal Junior College of Arts and Crafts, a municipal junior college in Akita, Japan Akita Nutrition Junior College, a private university in Akita, Japan Akita Prefectural University, a Japanese prefectural university in Akita, Japan Akita University, a Japanese national university in Akita, Japan Akita University of Art, a public university in Akita, Japan Akita University of Nursing and Welfare, a private university in Ōdate, Japan Cultural institutions Akita Museum of Art, an art museum in Akita, Japan Akita Museum of Modern Art, a museum in Yokote, Akita Prefecture, Japan Akita Omoriyama Zoo, a municipal zoo in Akita, Japan Akita Prefectural Museum, a prefectural museum in Akita, Japan Akita Senshū Museum of Art, a museum in Akita, Japan Sports Akita Northern Happinets, a Japanese professional basketball Akita Prefectural Baseball Stadium, a baseball stadium in Akita, Japan Akita Prefectural Gymnasium, a stadium in Akita, Japan Blaublitz Akita, a Japanese association football team Transportation Akita Airport, a regional/second class airport in Akita, Japan Akita Expressway, a national expressway in Japan Akita Nairiku Line, a Japanese railway line Akita Relay, a former limited express train service Akita Rinkai Railway Line, a Japanese freight-only railway line Akita Shinkansen, a mini-shinkansen high-speed rail line Akita Station, a railway station in Akita, Japan Akitashirakami Station, a JR East railway station in Happō, Yamamoto District, Akita Prefecture, Japan Port of Akita, a seaport on the Sea of Japan coast of Akita Prefecture in Akita, Japan Other uses Akita (dog), a large spitz breed of dog originating from the mountainous northern regions of Japan Akita Kantō, a Japanese festival celebrated from 3–7 August in Akita, Japan Our Lady of Akita, Marian apparitions See also Mount Akita-Komagatake, an active stratovolcano

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZ

AZ

AZ (or similar) may refer to: Companies and organizations Alkmaar Zaanstreek, formerly AZ '67, a Dutch Eredivisie football club AZ (women), the affiliated women's football club (2007–2011) AstraZeneca, a UK-based pharmaceutical company Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, their COVID-19 vaccine (sometimes abbreviated as AZ) ITA Airways, IATA code for the national airline of Italy Ministry of General Affairs (), a Dutch Government ministry Music Authority Zero, an Arizona punk rock band AZ (label), a French record label People Az (people), Turkophone people from present-day Russia AZ (rapper), a rapper from Brooklyn, New York Azie Faison, known as AZ, a former drug dealer from New York Places Arizona, a state in the United States whose postal abbreviation is "AZ" Azerbaijan, a Eurasian country, designated by the 2-letter ISO 3166-1 country code Other uses .az, the country code top level domain for the nation of Azerbaijan Abendzeitung, a newspaper based in Munich, Germany AlphaZero, game-playing artificial intelligence Assignment Zero, a crowdsourced journalism project Azimuth, the horizontal component of a compass direction Azerbaijani language, designated by the ISO 639-1 international-standard language-code "az" Toyota AZ engine family Azimuth, the horizontal component of a compass direction See also A–Z (disambiguation) AZ1 (disambiguation) ZA (disambiguation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albinism%20in%20humans

Albinism in humans

Albinism is a congenital condition characterized in humans by the partial or complete absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. Albinism is associated with a number of vision defects, such as photophobia, nystagmus, and amblyopia. Lack of skin pigmentation makes for more susceptibility to sunburn and skin cancers. In rare cases such as Chédiak–Higashi syndrome, albinism may be associated with deficiencies in the transportation of melanin granules. This also affects essential granules present in immune cells leading to increased susceptibility to infection. Albinism results from inheritance of recessive gene alleles and is known to affect all vertebrates, including humans. It is due to absence or defect of tyrosinase, a copper-containing enzyme involved in the production of melanin. Unlike humans, other animals have multiple pigments and for these, albinism is considered to be a hereditary condition characterised by the absence of melanin in particular, in the eyes, skin, hair, scales, feathers or cuticle. While an organism with complete absence of melanin is called an albino, an organism with only a diminished amount of melanin is described as leucistic or albinoid. The term is from the Latin albus, "white". Signs and symptoms There are two principal types of albinism: oculocutaneous, affecting the eyes, skin and hair, and ocular affecting the eyes only. There are different types of oculocutaneous albinism depending on which gene has undergone mutation. With some there is no pigment at all. The other end of the spectrum of albinism is "a form of albinism called rufous oculocutaneous albinism, which usually affects dark-skinned people". According to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, "With ocular albinism, the color of the iris of the eye may vary from blue to green or even brown, and sometimes darkens with age. However, when an optometrist or ophthalmologist examines the eye by shining a light from the side of the eye, the light shines back through the iris since very little pigment is present." Because individuals with albinism have skin that entirely lacks the dark pigment melanin, which helps protect the skin from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, their skin can burn more easily from overexposure. The human eye normally produces enough pigment to color the iris blue, green or brown and lend opacity to the eye. In photographs, those with albinism are more likely to demonstrate "red eye", due to the red of the retina being visible through the iris. Lack of pigment in the eyes also results in problems with vision, both related and unrelated to photosensitivity. Those with albinism are generally as healthy as the rest of the population (but see related disorders below), with growth and development occurring as normal, and albinism by itself does not cause mortality, although the lack of pigment blocking ultraviolet radiation increases the risk of melanomas (skin cancers) and other problems. Visual problems Development of the optical system is highly dependent on the presence of melanin. For this reason, the reduction or absence of this pigment in people with albinism may lead to: Misrouting of the retinogeniculate projections, resulting in abnormal decussation (crossing) of optic nerve fibres Photophobia and decreased visual acuity due to light scattering within the eye (ocular straylight) Photophobia is specifically when light enters the eye, unrestrictedwith full force. It is painful and causes extreme sensitivity to light. Reduced visual acuity due to foveal hypoplasia and possibly light-induced retinal damage. Eye conditions common in albinism include: Nystagmus, irregular rapid movement of the eyes back and forth, or in circular motion. Amblyopia, decrease in acuity of one or both eyes due to poor transmission to the brain, often due to other conditions such as strabismus. Optic nerve hypoplasia, underdevelopment of the optic nerve. The improper development of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which in normal eyes absorbs most of the reflected sunlight, further increases glare due to light scattering within the eye. The resulting sensitivity (photophobia) generally leads to discomfort in bright light, but this can be reduced by the use of sunglasses or brimmed hats. Genetics Oculocutaneous albinism is generally the result of the biological inheritance of genetically recessive alleles (genes) passed from both parents of an individual such as OCA1 and OCA2. A mutation in the human TRP-1 gene may result in the deregulation of melanocyte tyrosinase enzymes, a change that is hypothesized to promote brown versus black melanin synthesis, resulting in a third oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) genotype, "OCA3". Some rare forms are inherited from only one parent. There are other genetic mutations which are proven to be associated with albinism. All alterations, however, lead to changes in melanin production in the body. Some of these are associated with increased risk of skin cancer . The chance of offspring with albinism resulting from the pairing of an organism with albinism and one without albinism is low. However, because organisms (including humans) can be carriers of genes for albinism without exhibiting any traits, albinistic offspring can be produced by two non-albinistic parents. Albinism usually occurs with equal frequency in both sexes. An exception to this is ocular albinism, which it is passed on to offspring through X-linked inheritance. Thus, ocular albinism occurs more frequently in males as they have a single X and Y chromosome, unlike females, whose genetics are characterized by two X chromosomes. There are two different forms of albinism: a partial lack of the melanin is known as hypomelanism, or hypomelanosis, and the total absence of melanin is known as amelanism or amelanosis. Enzyme The enzyme defect responsible for OCA1-type albinism is tyrosine 3-monooxygenase (tyrosinase), which synthesizes melanin from the amino acid tyrosine. Evolutionary theories It is suggested that the early genus Homo (humans in the broader sense) started to evolve in East Africa around 3 million years ago. The dramatic phenotypic change from the ape-like Australopithecus to early Homo is hypothesized to have involved the extreme loss of body hair – except for areas most exposed to UV radiation, such as the head – to allow for more efficient thermoregulation in the early hunter-gatherers. The skin that would have been exposed upon general body hair loss in these early proto-humans would have most likely been non-pigmented, reflecting the pale skin underlying the hair of our chimpanzee relatives. A positive advantage would have been conferred to early hominids inhabiting the African continent that were capable of producing darker skin – those who first expressed the eumelanin-producing MC1R allele – which protected them from harmful epithelium-damaging ultraviolet rays. Over time, the advantage conferred to those with darker skin may have led to the prevalence of darker skin on the continent. The positive advantage, however, would have had to be strong enough so as to produce a significantly higher reproductive fitness in those who produced more melanin. The cause of a selective pressure strong enough to cause this shift is an area of much debate. Some hypotheses include the existence of significantly lower reproductive fitness in people with less melanin due to lethal skin cancer, lethal kidney disease due to excess vitamin D formation in the skin of people with less melanin, or simply natural selection due to mate preference and sexual selection. When comparing the prevalence of albinism in Africa to its prevalence in other parts of the world, such as Europe and the United States, the potential evolutionary effects of skin cancer as a selective force due to its effect on these populations may not be insignificant. It would follow, then, that there would be stronger selective forces acting on albino individuals in Africa than on albinos in Europe and the US. In two separate studies in Nigeria, very few people with albinism appear to survive to old age. One study found that 89% of people diagnosed with albinism are between 0 and 30 years of age, while the other found that 77% of albinos were under the age of 20. Diagnosis Genetic testing can confirm albinism and what variety it is, but offers no medical benefits, except in the case of non-OCA disorders. Such disorders cause other medical problems in conjunction with albinism, and may be treatable. Genetic tests are currently available for parents who want to find out if they are carriers of ty-neg albinism. Diagnosis of albinism involves carefully examining a person's eyes, skin and hairs. Genealogical analysis can also help. Management Since there is no cure for albinism, it is managed through lifestyle adjustments. People with albinism need to take care not to get sunburnt and should have regular healthy skin checks by a dermatologist. For the most part, treatment of the eye conditions consists of visual rehabilitation. Surgery is possible on the extra-ocular muscles to decrease strabismus. Nystagmus-damping surgery can also be performed, to reduce the "shaking" of the eyes back and forth. The effectiveness of all these procedures varies greatly and depends on individual circumstances. Glasses, low vision aids, large-print materials, and bright angled reading lights can help individuals with albinism. Some people with albinism do well using bifocals (with a strong reading lens), prescription reading glasses, hand-held devices such as magnifiers or monoculars or wearable devices like eSight and Brainport. The condition may lead to abnormal development of the optic nerve and sunlight may damage the retina of the eye as the iris cannot filter out excess light due to a lack of pigmentation. Photophobia may be ameliorated by the use of sunglasses which filter out ultraviolet light. Some use bioptics, glasses which have small telescopes mounted on, in, or behind their regular lenses, so that they can look through either the regular lens or the telescope. Newer designs of bioptics use smaller light-weight lenses. Some US states allow the use of bioptic telescopes for driving motor vehicles. (See also NOAH bulletin "Low Vision Aids".) There are a number of national support groups across the globe which come under the umbrella of the World Albinism Alliance. Epidemiology Albinism affects people of all ethnic backgrounds; its frequency worldwide is estimated to be approximately one in 17,000. Prevalence of the different forms of albinism varies considerably by population, and is highest overall in people of sub-Saharan African descent. Today, the prevalence of albinism in sub-Saharan Africa is around 1 in 5,000, while in Europe and the US it is around 1 in 20,000 of the European derived population. Rates as high as 1 in 1,000 have been reported for some populations in Zimbabwe and other parts of Southern Africa. Certain ethnic groups and populations in isolated areas exhibit heightened susceptibility to albinism, presumably due to genetic factors. These include notably the Native American Kuna, Zuni and Hopi nations (respectively of Panama, New Mexico and Arizona); Japan, in which one particular form of albinism is unusually common ; and Ukerewe Island, the population of which shows a very high incidence of albinism. Society and culture In physical terms, humans with albinism commonly have visual problems and need sun protection. Persecution of people with albinism Humans with albinism often face social and cultural challenges (even threats), as the condition is often a source of ridicule, discrimination, or even fear and violence. It is especially socially stigmatised in many African societies. A study conducted in Nigeria on albino children stated that "they experienced alienation, avoided social interactions and were less emotionally stable. Furthermore, affected individuals were less likely to complete schooling, find employment, and find partners". Many cultures around the world have developed beliefs regarding people with albinism. In African countries such as Tanzania and Burundi, there has been an unprecedented rise in witchcraft-related killings of people with albinism in recent years, because their body parts are used in potions sold by witch doctors. Numerous authenticated incidents have occurred in Africa during the 21st century. For example, in Tanzania, in September 2009, three men were convicted of killing a 14-year-old albino boy and severing his legs in order to sell them for witchcraft purposes. Again in Tanzania and Burundi in 2010, the murder and dismemberment of a kidnapped albino child was reported from the courts, as part of a continuing problem. The US-based National Geographic Society estimated that in Tanzania a complete set of albino body parts is worth US$75,000. Another harmful and false belief is that sex with an albinistic woman will cure a man of HIV. This has led, for example in Zimbabwe, to rapes (and subsequent HIV infection). Albinism in popular culture Famous people with albinism include historical figures such as Oxford don William Archibald Spooner; actor-comedian Victor Varnado; musicians such as Johnny and Edgar Winter, Salif Keita, Winston "Yellowman" Foster, Brother Ali, Sivuca, Hermeto Pascoal, Willie "Piano Red" Perryman, Kalash Criminel; actor-rapper Krondon, and fashion models Connie Chiu, Ryan "La Burnt" Byrne and Shaun Ross. Emperor Seinei of Japan is thought to have been an albino because he was said to have been born with white hair. International Albinism Awareness Day International Albinism Awareness Day was established after a motion was accepted on 18 December 2014 by the United Nations General Assembly, proclaiming that 13 June would be known as International Albinism Awareness Day as of 2015. This was followed by a mandate created by the United Nations Human Rights Council that appointed Ms. Ikponwosa Ero, who is from Nigeria, as the first Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism. See also References External links GeneReview/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Oculocutaneous Albinism Type 2 GeneReview/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Oculocutaneous Albinism Type 4 Autosomal recessive disorders Dermatologic terminology Disturbances of human pigmentation Skin pigmentation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amr%20Diab

Amr Diab

Amr Diab (, ; born on 11 October 1961) is an Egyptian singer, composer and actor. He has established himself as a globally acclaimed recording artist and author. He is a Guinness World Record holder, the best selling Middle Eastern artist, a seven-times winner of World Music Awards and five-times winner of Platinum Records. Early life Diab was born as Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez Diab (Arabic: عمرو عبد الباسط عبد العزيز دياب) on 11 October 1961 in Port Said to a middle-class Muslim family from the Egyptian countryside of Menia Elamh, in Sharqia Governorate, Egypt. Diab graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the Cairo Academy of Arts in 1986. Music career Diab released his first album entitled in 1983. Diab's second album, (1984), was the first of a series of records he released with Delta Sound; including (1986), (1987), and (1988), with the title track becoming one of the top 10 songs in the world at the time. His later releases include (1989), (1990), (1991), (1992), (1993), (1994), and (1995). By 1992, he became the first Egyptian and Middle Eastern artist to start making high-tech music videos. In 1996, Diab released his first album with Alam El Phan entitled , and he won the World Music Award for the first time, which proved an international success and gained Diab recognition beyond the Arabic-speaking world. Diab recorded four more albums with Alam El Phan, including (1999). Diab also collaborated with Khaled (on the song "") and with Angela Dimitriou (on the song "Bahebak Aktar"). According to research by Michael Frishkopf, he has created a style in the song "", termed as "Mediterranean music", a blend of Western and Egyptian rhythms. In the summer of 2004, Diab, having left Alam El Phan, released his first album with Rotana Records, , which he followed up with the hugely successful (2005), and (2007). was released for sale on the internet on 27 June 2009; however, the album was leaked online and was downloaded illegally amid complaints of slow download speed on the official site. Diab's fans initiated a massive boycott of the sites with the illegal copies. On 18 October 2009, Diab won four 2009 African Music Awards in the categories of best artist, album, vocalist and song for ""; Diab had been nominated by the Big Apple Music Awards. In February 2011, Diab released his hit single ("Egypt spoke"), followed by the release of his album in September, produced by Rotana. In 2012, Diab hosted the first Google Hangout in the Middle East during his performance in Dubai. In October 2014, Diab released his album , which topped his last album and again became the best-selling album in Egypt on iTunes. In July 2015, Diab released a music video for his song "" from his album . In March 2016, he released , his first album since he left Rotana Music. The album was produced by the record label Nay For Media. His new album was released in July 2017 with Nay Records. His 2014 album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard World Albums Charts, making him the first Egyptian and Middle Eastern performer to accomplish such a feat. In October 2018, he released a new album called . In 2019, he released a mini-album, , and in February 2020 he released his 35th album, , which included 16 songs. In February 2022, Anghami announced an exclusive partnership that will see the Diab's entire Nay Label audio and video catalogue and future releases available only on Anghami. Musical style Diab is known as the "father of Mediterranean music". David Cooper and Kevin Dawe refer to his music as "the new breed of Mediterranean music". According to author Michael Frishkopf, Diab has produced a new concept of Mediterranean music, especially with his international hit, "". Moreover, Diab is known as a composer, having composed more than 97 of his own songs. Music videos Diab is one of the first singers to popularize music videos in the whole MENA region and is the first Egyptian singer to appear in music videos. Film career Diab's fame in the music industry has led him to experiment with other forms of media, such as film. Diab played himself in his first film, , which was released in 1989. It also starred Madiha Kamel. His second film was Hussein El-Imam's production Ice Cream in Gleam (), in which Diab starred in 1992, was chosen as one of the best five Egyptian musical films by the University of California, Los Angeles (ULCA) School of Theater, Film and Television. The film was featured in the UCLA Film and Television Archive's new program "Music on the Nile: Fifty Years of Egyptian Musical Films" at James Bridges Theater at UCLA on 6, 8 and 10 April 1999. David Chute of the LA Weekly termed it "observant" and "a big leap". His third movie was released in 1993, and was named (Laughter and Fun). The film premiered in the Egyptian Film Festival in 1993. Diab played alongside international Egyptian movie star Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) and Yousra. Overall, Diab did not experience the same level of success in film that he had with his music career. Since 1993, Diab has focused on his singing career. Amr Diab in movies Diab's songs have been used in several films, including: "" in Divine Intervention (2002) "" in The Dancer Upstairs (2002) "" and "" in O Clone (2001) "" in Double Whammy (2001) "" and "" in Coco (2009) "" in The Dictator (2012) Egyptian Revolution During the 2011 uprising, some protesters criticized Diab for staying silent, and for fleeing Egypt for London. A few days after former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Diab composed and sang a memorial song, "" (Egypt Said), and released it in conjunction with a music video showing pictures of the martyrs who died in the uprising. He initiated a charity campaign "" ("Truly Egyptian"). His online radio station Diab FM often presents talks and discussions about what the Diab FM team can offer to the community as well as applying it practically by being present in different sites across Egypt with a new humanitarian project each week. Personal life Diab has an elder daughter from his first marriage to Egyptian actress Shereen Reda. In 1994, he was married to Saudi businesswoman Zeina Ashour. They have three children. In 2018, he went on to marry Egyptian actress, Dina El Sherbiny, after his relationship with Ashour ended. It is unknown whether they were separated or divorced. However, Diab and El Sherbiny separated in late 2020. Discography Main studio albums Famous songs Awards He has been awarded the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist four times: 1996 for album , 2001 for album Akter Wahed, 2007 for album El Lillady and 2013 for album. He has also won (Best Egyptian Artist, Best Male Arab Artist and World's Best Arab Male Artist Voted Online) at the World Music Awards 2014. Amr Diab is the only Middle Eastern artist to have received 7 World Music Awards. Five of his albums reached the top 10 of Billboard's World Albums chart, with reaching No. 1 in 2014, the first for an Arabic performer. Alongside that accomplishment, two of his albums (2014's and 2016's ) both peaked at 29 and 14 respectively on Billboard's Heatseekers charts. On 28 September 2016, Diab announced that he achieved a Guinness World Records title for "Most World Music Awards for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist". List of awards received by Amr Diab Seven World Music Awards (1997/2001/2007/2014/2020) Six African Music Awards (2009/2010) Two All Africa Music Awards (2016/2017) Guinness World Record (2016) Program "Al-helm" A program produced by Amr Afifi, consisting of 12 parts aired on Rotana Music, Rotana Cinema and Egyptian Channel 1 station. The program detailed the biography of Diab and was scheduled to be launched simultaneously with the release of Amr Diab's new album, but the album's release was postponed to a later date. References External links Amr Diab World (archive) 1961 births Living people Actors from Port Said Egyptian male film actors Egyptian male television actors Egyptian male actors Egyptian composers 20th-century Egyptian male singers 21st-century Egyptian male singers Egyptian Muslims Egyptian singer-songwriters Singers from Port Said Singers who perform in Egyptian Arabic World Music Awards winners

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanians

Albanians

The Albanians (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as in Croatia, Greece, Italy and Turkey. They also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Albanians have Paleo-Balkanic origins. Exclusively attributing these origins to the Illyrians, Thracians or other Paleo-Balkan people is still a matter of debate among historians and ethnologists. The first certain reference to Albanians as an ethnic group comes from 11th century chronicler Michael Attaleiates who describes them as living in the theme of Dyrrhachium. The Shkumbin River roughly demarcates the Albanian language between Gheg and Tosk dialects. Christianity in Albania was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome until the 8th century AD. Then, dioceses in Albania were transferred to the patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1054, after the Great Schism, the north gradually became identified with Roman Catholicism and the south with Eastern Orthodoxy. Inhabiting the west of Lake Ochrida and the upper valley of the Shkumbin River, the Albanians established the Principality of Arbanon in 1190 with the capital in Krujë. The Albanian diaspora has its roots in migration from the Middle Ages initially across Southern Europe and eventually across wider Europe and the New World. Between the 13th and 18th centuries, sizeable numbers migrated to escape various social, economic or political difficulties. One population, the Arvanites, settled in Southern Greece between the 13th and 16th centuries. Another population, the Arbëreshë, settled across Sicily and Southern Italy between the 11th and 16th centuries. Smaller populations such as the Arbanasi settled in Southern Croatia and pockets of Southern Ukraine in the 18th century. By the 15th century, the expanding Ottoman Empire overpowered the Balkan Peninsula, but faced successful rebellion and resistance by the League of Lezhë, a union of Albanian principalities led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. By the 17th and 18th centuries, a substantial number of Albanians converted to Islam, which offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire. Thereafter, Albanians attained significant positions and culturally contributed to the broader Muslim world. Innumerable officials and soldiers of the Ottoman State were of Albanian origin, including more than 40 Grand Viziers, and under the Köprülü, in particular, the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest territorial extension. Between the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century Albanian Pashaliks were established by Kara Mahmud pasha of Scutari, Ali pasha of Yanina, and Ahmet Kurt pasha of Berat, while the Albanian wālī Muhammad Ali established a dynasty that ruled over Egypt and Sudan until the middle of the 20th century, a period in which Albanians formed a substantial community in Egypt. During the 19th century, cultural developments, widely attributed to Albanians having gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength, conclusively led to the Albanian Renaissance. In 1912 during the Balkan Wars, Albanians declared the independence of their country. The demarcation of the new Albanian state was established following the Treaty of Bucharest and left about half of the ethnic Albanian population outside of its borders, partitioned between Greece, Montenegro and Serbia. After the Second World War up until the Revolutions of 1991, Albania was governed by a communist government under Enver Hoxha where Albania became largely isolated from the rest of Europe. In neighbouring Yugoslavia, Albanians underwent periods of discrimination and systematic oppression that concluded with the War of Kosovo and eventually with Kosovar independence. Ethnonym The Albanians () and their country Albania () have been identified by many ethnonyms. The most common native ethnonym is "Shqiptar", plural "Shqiptarë"; the name "Albanians" (Byzantine Greek: Albanoi/Arbanitai/Arbanites; Latin: Albanenses/Arbanenses) was used in medieval documents and gradually entered European Languages from which other similar derivative names emerged, many of which were or still are in use, such as English "Albanians"; Italian "Albanesi"; German "Albaner"; Greek "Arvanites", "Alvanitis" (Αλβανίτης) plural: "Alvanites" (Αλβανίτες), "Alvanos" (Αλβανός) plural: "Alvanoi" (Αλβανοί); Turkish "Arnaut", "Arnavut"; South Slavic languages "Arbanasi" (Арбанаси), "Albanci" (Албанци); Aromanian "Arbinesh" and so on.{{efn|See:<ref name="BardhylDemiraj534">. "The ethnic name shqiptar has always been discussed together with the ethnic complex: (tosk) arbëresh, arbëror, arbër — (gheg) arbënesh, arbënu(e)r, arbën; i.e. [arbën/r(—)]. p.536. Among the neighbouring peoples and elsewhere the denomination of the Albanians is based upon the root arb/alb, cp. Greek Αλβανός, Αρβανός "Albanian", Αρβανίτης "Arbëresh of Greece", Serbian Albanac, Arbanas, Bulg., Mac. албанец, Arom. arbinés (Papahagi 1963 135), Turk. arnaut, Ital. albanese, German Albaner etc. This basis is in use among the Arbëreshs of Italy and Greece as well; cp. arvanit, more rarely arbëror by the arbëreshs of Greece, as against arbëresh, arbëresh, bri(e)sh (beside gjegj — Altimari 1994 (1992) 53 s.). (Italy) (Kr. ?) árbanas, (Mandr.) allbanc, (Ukr.) allbanc(er) (Musliu – Dauti 1996) etj. For the various forms and uses of this or that variant see, inter alia, also Çabej SE II 6lss.; Demiraj 1999 175 ss. etj.</ref>. " "ethnic name or the national one of Albanians, despite the right Slavic term Albanci, now appears to be pronounced as Šiptari of Šipci with a connotation that is contemptuously negative, as it is used in the very beginning of the Serbs era at the time of the old Yugoslavia together and the form Šiftari and Arnauti which have the same pejorative connotations."}} The term "Albanoi" (Αλβανοί) is first encountered twice in the works of Byzantine historian Michael Attaliates, and the term "Arvanitai" (Αρβανίται) is used once by the same author. He referred to the "Albanoi" as having taken part in a revolt against the Byzantine Empire in 1043, and to the "Arbanitai" as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium (modern Durrës). These references have been disputed as to whether they refer to the people of Albania.. Historian E. Vranoussi believes that these "Albanoi" were Normans from Sicily. She also notes that the same term (as "Albani") in medieval Latin meant "foreigners". The reference to "Arvanitai" from Attaliates regarding the participation of Albanians in a rebellion around 1078 is undisputed. In later Byzantine usage, the terms "Arbanitai" and "Albanoi" with a range of variants were used interchangeably, while sometimes the same groups were also called by the classicising name Illyrians.N. Gregoras (ed. Bonn) V, 6; XI, 6. The first reference to the Albanian language dates to the latter 13th century (around 1285). The ethnonym Albanian has been hypothesized to be connected to and stem from the Albanoi,. an Illyrian tribe mentioned by Ptolemy with their centre at the city of Albanopolis. Linguists believe that the alb part in the root word originates from an Indo-European term for a type of mountainous topography, from which other words such as alps are derived. Through the root word alban and its rhotacized equivalents arban, albar, and arbar, the term in Albanian became rendered as Arbëneshë/Arbëreshë for the people and Arbënia/Arbëria for the country. The Albanian language was referred to as Arbnisht and Arbërisht. While the exonym Albania for the general region inhabited by the Albanians does have connotations to Classical Antiquity, the Albanian language employs a different ethnonym, with modern Albanians referring to themselves as Shqip(ë)tarë and to their country as Shqipëria. Two etymologies have been proposed for this ethnonym: one, derived from the etymology from the Albanian word for eagle (shqipe, var., shqiponjë). In Albanian folk etymology, this word denotes a bird totem, dating from the times of Skanderbeg as displayed on the Albanian flag. The other is within scholarship that connects it to the verb 'to speak' (me shqiptue) from the Latin "excipere". In this instance the Albanian endonym like Slav and others would originally have been a term connoting "those who speak [intelligibly, the same language]". The words Shqipëri and Shqiptar are attested from 14th century onward, but it was only at the end of 17th and beginning of the early 18th centuries that the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria and Arbëreshë amongst Albanian speakers. That era brought about religious and other sociopolitical changes. As such a new and generalised response by Albanians based on ethnic and linguistic consciousness to this new and different Ottoman world emerging around them was a change in ethnonym. Historical records Little is known about the Albanian people prior to the 11th century, though a text compiled around the beginning of the 11th century in the Bulgarian language contains a possible reference to them. It is preserved in a manuscript written in the Serbo-Croatian Language traced back to the 17th century but published in the 20th century by Radoslav Grujic. It is a fragment of a once longer text that endeavours to explain the origins of peoples and languages in a question-and-answer form similar to a catechism. The fragmented manuscript differentiated the world into 72 languages and three religious categories including Christians, half-believers and non-believers. Grujic dated it to the early 11th century and, if this and the identification of the Arbanasi as Albanians are correct, it would be the earliest written document referring to the Balkan Albanians as a people or language group. It can be seen that there are various languages on earth. Of them, there are five Orthodox languages: Bulgarian, Greek, Syrian, Iberian (Georgian) and Russian. Three of these have Orthodox alphabets: Greek, Bulgarian and Iberian (Georgian). There are twelve languages of half-believers: Alamanians, Franks, Magyars (Hungarians), Indians, Jacobites, Armenians, Saxons, Lechs (Poles), Arbanasi (Albanians), Croatians, Hizi and Germans. Michael Attaleiates (1022–1080) mentions the term Albanoi twice and the term Arbanitai once. The term Albanoi is used first to describe the groups which rebelled in southern Italy and Sicily against the Byzantines in 1038–40. The second use of the term Albanoi is related to groups which supported the revolt of George Maniakes in 1042 and marched with him throughout the Balkans against the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The term Arvanitai is used to describe a revolt of Bulgarians (Boulgaroi) and Arbanitai in the theme of Dyrrhachium in 1078–79. It is generally accepted that Arbanitai refers to the ethnonym of medieval Albanians. As such, it is considered to be the first attestation of Albanians as an ethnic group in Byzantine historiography. The use of the term Albanoi in 1038–49 and 1042 as an ethnonym related to Albanians have been a subject of debate. In what has been termed the "Vranoussi-Ducellier debate", Alain Ducellier proposed that both uses of the term referred to medieval Albanians. Era Vranoussi counter-suggested that the first use referred to Normans, while the second didn't have an ethnic connotation necessarily and could be a reference to the Normans as "foreigners" (aubain) in Epirus which Maniakes and his army traversed. This debate has never been resolved. A newer synthesis about the second use of the term Albanoi by Pëllumb Xhufi suggests that the term Albanoi may have referred to Albanians of the specific district of Arbanon, while Arbanitai to Albanians in general regardless of the specific region they inhabited. Language The majority of the Albanian people speak the Albanian language which is an independent branch within the Indo-European family of languages. It is a language isolate to any other known living language in Europe and indeed no other language in the world has been conclusively associated to its branch. Its origin remains conclusively unknown but it is believed it has descended from an ancient Paleo-Balkan language. The Albanian language is spoken by approximately 5 million people throughout the Balkan Peninsula as well as by a more substantial number by communities around the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Numerous variants and dialects of Albanian are used as an official language in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. The language is also spoken in other countries whence it is officially recognised as a minority language in such countries as Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. There are two principal dialects of the Albanian language traditionally represented by Gheg and Tosk. The ethnogeographical dividing line is traditionally considered to be the Shkumbin with Gheg spoken in the north of it and Tosk in the south. Dialects spoken in Croatia (Arbanasi and Istrian), Kosovo, Montenegro and Northwestern North Macedonia are Gheg dialects, while those dialects spoken in Greece (Arvanites and Çam), Southwestern North Macedonia and Italy (Arbëreshë) are Tosk dialects. The Arbëreshë and Arvanitika languages represent varieties of the Albanian language spoken by the Arbëreshës and Arvanites in Southern Italy and Southern Greece respectively. They retain elements of medieval Albanian vocabulary and pronunciation that are no longer used in modern Albanian language however both varieties are classified as endangered languages in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. Most of the Albanians in Albania and the Former Yugoslavia are polyglot and have the ability to understand, speak, read, or write a foreign language. As defined by the Institute of Statistics of Albania, 39.9% of the 25 to 64 years old Albanians in Albania are able to use at least one foreign language including English (40%), Italian (27.8%) and Greek (22.9%). The origin of the Albanian language remains a contentious subject that has given rise to numerous hypotheses. The hypothesis of Albanian being one of the descendant of the Illyrian languages (Messapic language) is based on geography where the languages were spoken however not enough archaeological evidence is left behind to come therefore to a definite conclusion. Another hypothesis associates the Albanian language with the Thracian language. This theory takes exception to the territory, since the language was spoken in an area distinct from Albania, and no significant population movements have been recorded in the period when the shift from one language to the other is supposed to have occurred. History Late Antiquity The Komani-Kruja culture is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of North Macedonia. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the Lezhë (Praevalitana)-Dardania and Via Egnatia road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its type site is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. Kruja and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the classical antiquity population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and Vlachs (Eastern Romance-speaking people). In Winnifrith's narrative, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys. Middle Ages The Albanian people maintain a very chequered and tumultuous history behind them, a fact explained by their geographical position in the Southeast of Europe at the cultural and political crossroad between the east and west. The issue surrounding the origin of the Albanian people has long been debated by historians and linguists for centuries. Many scholars consider the Albanians, in terms of linguistic evidences, the descendants of ancient populations of the Balkan Peninsula, either the Illyrians, Thracians or another Paleo-Balkan group. There are insufficient evidences to derive an accurate conclusion and therefore Albanian origins still remain a mystery. The first certain attestation of medieval Albanians as an ethnic group is in Byzantine historiography in the work of Michael Attaleiates (1022–1080). Attaleiates mentions the term Albanoi twice and the term Arbanitai once. The term Albanoi is used first to describe the groups which rebelled in southern Italy and Sicily against the Byzantines in 1038–40. The second use of the term Albanoi is related to groups which supported the revolt of George Maniakes in 1042 and marched with him throughout the Balkans against the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The term Arvanitai is used to describe a revolt of Bulgarians (Boulgaroi) and Arbanitai in the theme of Dyrrhachium in 1078–79. It is generally accepted that Arbanitai refers to the ethnonym of medieval Albanians. The use of the term Albanoi in 1038–49 and 1042 as an ethnonym related to Albanians have been a subject of debate. In what has been termed the "Ducellier-Vrannousi" debate, Alain Ducellier proposed that both uses of the term referred to medieval Albanians. Era Vrannousi counter-suggested that the first use referred to Normans, while the second didn't have an ethnic connotation necessarily and could be a reference to the Normans as "foreigners" (aubain) in Epirus which Maniakes and his army traversed. The debate has never been resolved. A newer synthesis about the second use of the term Albanoi by Pëllumb Xhufi suggests that the term Albanoi may have referred to Albanians of the specific district of Arbanon, while Arbanitai to Albanians in general regardless of the specific region they inhabited. The name reflects the Albanian endonym Arbër/n + esh which itself derives from the same root as the name of the Albanoi Historically known as the Arbër or Arbën by the 11th century and onwards, they traditionally inhabited the mountainous area to the west of Lake Ochrida and the upper valley of the River Shkumbin.. "The geographical location of the mysterious 'Arbanon' has at last no doubt been settled by the researches of Alain Ducellier. In the 11th century at least it was the name given to the mountainous area to the west of Lake Ohrid and the upper valley of the river Shkumbin..." Though it was in 1190 when they established their first independent entity, the Principality of Arbër (Arbanon), with its seat based in Krujë. Immediately after the decline of the Progon dynasty in 1216, the principality came under Gregorios Kamonas and next his son-in-law Golem. Finally, the Principality was dissolved in ca. 1255 by the Empire of Nicea followed by an unsuccessful rebellion between 1257 and 1259 supported by the Despotate of Epirus. In the meantime Manfred, King of Sicily profited from the situation and launched an invasion into Albania. His forces, led by Philippe Chinard, captured Durrës, Berat, Vlorë, Spinarizza, their surroundings and the southern coastline of Albania from Vlorë to Butrint. In 1266 after defeating Manfred's forces and killing him, the Treaty of Viterbo of 1267 was signed, with Charles I, King of Sicily acquiring rights on Manfred's dominions in Albania. Local noblemen such as Andrea Vrana refused to surrender Manfred's former domains, and in 1271 negotiations were initiated. In 1272 the Kingdom of Albania was created after a delegation of Albanian noblemen from Durrës signed a treaty declaring union with the Kingdom of Sicily under Charles. Charles soon imposed military rule, new taxes, took sons of Albanian noblemen hostage to ensure loyalty, and confiscated lands for Angevin nobles. This led to discontent among Albanian noblemen, several of whom turned to Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII. In late 1274, Byzantine forces helped by local Albanian noblemen capture Berat and Butrint. Charles' attempt to advance towards Constantinople failed at the Siege of Berat (1280–1281). A Byzantine counteroffensive ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1281. The Sicilian Vespers rebellion further weakened the position of Charles, who died in 1285. By the end of the 13th century, most of Albania was under Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. In 1296 Serbian king Stephen Milutin captured Durrës. In 1299 Andronikos II married his daughter Simonis to Milutin and the lands he had conquered were considered as dowry. In 1302, Philip I, Prince of Taranto, grandson of Charles, claimed his rights on the Albanian kingdom and gained the support of local Albanian Catholics who preferred him over the Orthodox Serbs and Greeks, as well as the support of Pope Benedict XI. In the summer of 1304, the Serbs were expelled from the city of Durrës by the locals who submitted themselves to Angevin rule. Prominent Albanian leaders during this time were the Thopia family, ruling in an area between the Mat and Shkumbin rivers, and the Muzaka family in the territory between the Shkumbin and Vlorë. In 1279, Gjon I Muzaka, who remained loyal to the Byzantines and resisted Angevin conquest of Albania, was captured by the forces of Charles but later released following pressure from Albanian nobles. The Muzaka family continued to remain loyal to the Byzantines and resisted the expansion of the Serbian Kingdom. In 1335 the head of the family, Andrea II Muzaka, gained the title of Despot and other Muzakas pursued careers in the Byzantine government in Constantinople. Andrea II soon endorsed an anti-Byzantine revolt in his domains between 1335–1341 and formed an alliance with Robert, Prince of Taranto in 1336. In 1336, Serbian king Stefan Dušan captured Durrës, including the territory under the control of the Muzaka family. Although Angevins managed to recapture Durazzo, Dušan continued his expansion, and in the period of 1337–45 he had captured Kanina and Valona in southern Albania. Around 1340 forces of Andrea II defeated the Serbian army at the Pelister mountain. After the death of Stefan Dušan in 1355 the Serbian Empire disintegrated, and Karl Thopia captured Durrës while the Muzaka family of Berat regained control over parts of southeastern Albania and over Kastoria that Andrea II captured from Prince Marko after the Battle of Marica in 1371. The kingdom reinforced the influence of Catholicism and the conversion to its rite, not only in the region of Durrës but in other parts of the country. A new wave of Catholic dioceses, churches and monasteries were founded, papal missionaries and a number of different religious orders began spreading into the country. Those who were not Catholic in central and northern Albania converted and a great number of Albanian clerics and monks were present in the Dalmatian Catholic institutions. Around 1230 the two main centers of Albanian settlements were around Devoll river in what is now central Albania and the other around the region known as Arbanon. Albanian presence in Croatia can be traced back to the beginning of the Late Middle Ages. In this period, there was a significant Albanian community in Ragusa with a number of families of Albanian origin inclusively the Sorgo family who came from the Cape of Rodon in central Albania, across Kotor in eastern Montenegro, to Dalmatia. By the 13th century, Albanian merchants were trading directly with the peoples of the Republic of Ragusa in Dalmatia which increased familiarity between Albanians and Ragusans. The upcoming invasion of Albania by the Ottoman Empire and the death of Skanderbeg caused many Christian Albanians to flee to Dalmatia and surrounding countries. In the 14th century a number of Albanian principalities were created. These included Principality of Kastrioti, Principality of Dukagjini, Princedom of Albania, and Principality of Gjirokastër. At the beginning of the 15th century these principalities became stronger, especially because of the fall of the Serbian Empire. Some of these principalities were united in 1444 under the anti-Ottoman military alliance called League of Lezha. Albanians were recruited all over Europe as a light cavalry known as stratioti. The stratioti were pioneers of light cavalry tactics during the 15th century. In the early 16th century heavy cavalry in the European armies was principally remodeled after Albanian stradioti of the Venetian army, Hungarian hussars and German mercenary cavalry units (Schwarzreitern). Ottoman Empire Prior to the Ottoman conquest of Albania, the political situation of the Albanian people was characterised by a fragmented conglomeration of scattered kingdoms and principalities such as the Principalities of Arbanon, Kastrioti and Thopia. Before and after the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire continued an extended period of conquest and expansion with its borders going deep into the Southeast Europe. As a consequence thousands of Albanians from Albania, Epirus and Peloponnese escaped to Calabria, Naples, Ragusa and Sicily, whereby others sought protection at the often inaccessible Mountains of Albania. Under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, a former governor of the Ottoman Sanjak of Dibra, a prosperous and longstanding revolution erupted with the formation of the League of Lezhë in 1444 up until the Siege of Shkodër ending in 1479, multiple times defeating the mightiest power of the time led by Sultans Murad II and Mehmed II. Skanderbeg managed to gather several of the Albanian principals, amongst them the Arianitis, Dukagjinis, Zaharias and Thopias, and establish a centralised authority over most of the non-conquered territories and proclaiming himself the Lord of Albania (Dominus Albaniae in Latin). Skanderbeg consistently pursued the aim relentlessly but rather unsuccessfully to create a European coalition against the Ottomans. His unequal fight against them won the esteem of Europe and financial and military aid from the Papacy and Naples, Venice and Ragusa.Barletius, Marinus. De obsidione Scodrensi. Venice: Bernardino de Vitabilus, 1504. The Albanians, then predominantly Christian, were initially considered as an inferior class of people and as such were subjected to heavy taxes such as the Devshirme system that allowed the state to collect a requisite percentage of Christian adolescents from the Balkans and elsewhere to compose the Janissary. Since the Albanians were seen as strategically important, they made up a significant proportion of the Ottoman military and bureaucracy. They were therefore to be found within the imperial services as vital military and administrative retainers from Egypt to Algeria and the rest of the Maghreb. In the late 18th century, Ali Pasha Tepelena created the autonomous region of the Pashalik of Yanina within the Ottoman Empire which was never recognised as such by the High Porte. The territory he properly governed incorporated most of southern Albania, Epirus, Thessaly and southwestern Macedonia. During his rule, the town of Janina blossomed into a cultural, political and economic hub for both Albanians and Greeks. The ultimate goal of Ali Pasha Tepelena seems to have been the establishment of an independent rule in Albania and Epirus. Thus, he obtained control of Arta and took control over the ports of Butrint, Preveza and Vonitsa. He also gained control of the pashaliks of Elbasan, Delvina, Berat and Vlorë. His relations with the High Porte were always tense though he developed and maintained relations with the British, French and Russians and formed alliances with them at various times. In the 19th century, the Albanian wālī Muhammad Ali established a dynasty that ruled over Egypt and Sudan until the middle of the 20th century. After a brief French invasion led by Napoleon Bonaparte and the Ottomans and Mameluks competing for power there, he managed collectively with his Albanian troops to become the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt. As he revolutionised the military and economic spheres of Egypt, his empire attracted Albanian people contributing to the emergence of the Albanian diaspora in Egypt initially formed by Albanian soldiers and mercenaries. Islam arrived in the lands of the Albanian people gradually and grew widespread between at least the 17th and 18th centuries. The new religion brought many transformations into Albanian society and henceforth offered them equal opportunities and advancement within the Ottoman Empire. With the advent of increasing suppression on Catholicism, the Ottomans initially focused their conversions on the Catholic Albanians of the north in the 17th century and followed suit in the 18th century on the Orthodox Albanians of the south. At this point, the urban centers of central and southern Albania had largely adopted the religion of the growing Muslim Albanian elite. Many mosques and tekkes were constructed throughout those urban centers and cities such as Berat, Gjirokastër, Korçë and Shkodër started to flourish. In the far north, the spread of Islam was slower due to Catholic Albanian resistance and the inaccessible and rather remote mountainous terrain. The motives for conversion to Islam are subject to differing interpretations according to scholars depending on the context though the lack of sources does not help when investigating such issues. Reasons included the incentive to escape high taxes levied on non-Muslims subjects, ecclesiastical decay, coercion by Ottoman authorities in times of war, and the privileged legal and social position Muslims within the Ottoman administrative and political machinery had over that of non-Muslims.... As Muslims, the Albanians attained powerful positions in the Ottoman administration including over three dozen Grand Viziers of Albanian origin, among them Zagan Pasha, Bayezid Pasha and members of the Köprülü family, and regional rulers such as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Ali Pasha of Tepelena. The Ottoman sultans Bayezid II and Mehmed III were both Albanian on their maternal side. Areas such as Albania, western Macedonia, southern Serbia, Kosovo, parts of northern Greece and southern Montenegro in Ottoman sources were referred to as Arnavudluk or Albania. Albanian Renaissance The Albanian Renaissance characterised a period wherein the Albanian people gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength to establish their rights for an independent political and social life, culture and education. By the late 18th century and the early 19th century, its foundation arose within the Albanian communities in Italy and Romania and was frequently linked to the influences of the Romanticism and Enlightenment principles. Albania was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries and the Ottoman authorities suppressed any expression of unity or national conscience by the Albanian people. A number of thoroughly intellectual Albanians, among them Naum Veqilharxhi, Girolamo de Rada, Dora d'Istria, Thimi Mitko, Naim and Sami Frashëri, made a conscious effort to awaken feelings of pride and unity among their people by working to develop Albanian literature that would call to mind the rich history and hopes for a more decent future. The Albanians had poor or often no schools or other institutions in place to protect and preserve their cultural heritage. The need for schools was preached initially by the increasing number of Albanians educated abroad. The Albanian communities in Italy and elsewhere were particularly active in promoting the Albanian cause, especially in education which finally resulted with the foundation of the Mësonjëtorja in Korçë, the first secular school in the Albanian language. The Turkish yoke had become fixed in the nationalist mythologies and psyches of the people in the Balkans, and their march toward independence quickened. Due to the more substantial of Islamic influence, the Albanians internal social divisions, and the fear that they would lose their Albanian territories to the emerging neighbouring states, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece, were among the last peoples in the Balkans to desire division from the Ottoman Empire. The national awakening as a coherent political movement emerged after the Treaty of San Stefano, according to which Albanian-inhabited territories were to be ceded to the neighbouring states, and focused on preventing that partition.Tara Ashley O' Brien. Manufacturing Homogeneity in the Modern Albanian Nation-Building Project. University of Budapest, 2008, p. 4-5 It was the impetus for the nation-building movement, which was based more on fear of partition than national identity. Even after the declaration of independence, national identity was fragmented and possibly non-existent in much of the newly proposed country. The state of disunity and fragmentation would remain until the communist period following Second World War, when the communist nation-building project would achieve greater success in nation-building and reach more people than any previous regime, thus creating Albanian national communist identity. Communism in Albania Enver Hoxha of the Communist Party of Labour took power in Albania in 1946. Albania established an alliance with the Eastern Bloc which provided Albania with many advantages in the form of economic assistance and military protection from the Western Bloc during the Cold War. The Albanians experienced a period of several beneficial political and economic changes. The government defended the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Albania, diversified the economy through a programme of industrialisation which led to a higher standard of living and followed improvements in areas such as health, education and infrastructure. It subsequently followed a period wherein the Albanians lived within an extreme isolation from the rest of the world for the next four decades. By 1967, the established government had officially proclaimed Albania to be the first atheistic state in the world as they beforehand confiscated churches, monasteries and mosques, and any religious expression instantly became grounds for imprisonment. Protests coinciding with the emerging revolutions of 1989 began to break out in various cities throughout Albania including Shkodër and Tirana which eventually lead to the fall of communism. Significant internal and external migration waves of Albanians to such countries as Greece and Italy followed. Bunkerisation is arguably the most visible and memorable legacy of communism in Albania. Nearly 175,000 reinforced concrete bunkers were built on strategic locations across Albania's territory including near borders, within towns, on the seashores or mountains. These bunkers were never used for their intended purpose or for sheltered the population from attacks or an invasion by a neighbor. However, they were abandoned after the breakup of communism and have been sometimes reused for a variety of purposes. Independence of Kosovo Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008, after years of strained relations between the Serb and predominantly Albanian population of Kosovo. It has been officially recognised by Australia, Canada, the United States and major European Union countries, while Serbia refuse to recognise Kosovo's independence, claiming it as Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. The overwhelming majority of Kosovo's population is ethnically Albanian with nearly 1.7 million people. Their presence as well as in the adjacent regions of Toplica and Morava is recorded since the Middle Ages. As the Serbs expelled many Albanians from the wider Toplica and Morava regions in Southern Serbia, which the 1878 Congress of Berlin had given to the Principality of Serbia, many of them settled in Kosovo.. "So here next, after their expulsion 1877–1878 will be noted with only some patronymic (surnames) of the Albanians of Toplica and other Albanian areas of Sanjak of Nis. This means that the Albanians expelled after moving, attained the appellation muhaxhirë (refugees), which instead for the family surname to take the name of his grandfather, clan, or any other, they for their family surname take the name of the village of the Sanjak of Nis from where they were expelled from." ; pp. 53–54. After being an integral section of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Kosovo including its Albanian population went through a period of discrimination, economic and political persecution. Rights to use the Albanian language were guaranteed by the constitution of the later formed Socialist Yugoslavia and was widely used in Macedonia and Montenegro prior to the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In 1989, Kosovo lost its status as a federal entity of Yugoslavia with rights similar to those of the six other republics and eventually became part of Serbia and Montenegro. In 1998, tensions between the Albanian and Serb population of Kosovo culminated in the Kosovo War, which led to the external and internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians. Serbian paramilitary forces committed war crimes in Kosovo, although the government of Serbia claims that the army was only going after suspected Albanian terrorists. NATO launched a 78-day air campaign in 1999, which eventually led to an end to the war. Distribution Balkans Approximately 5 million Albanians are geographically distributed across the Balkan Peninsula with about half this number living in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro as well as to a more lesser extent in Croatia and Serbia. There are also significant Albanian populations in Greece. Approximately 1.8 million Albanians are concentrated in the partially recognised Republic of Kosovo. They are geographically distributed south of the municipality of North Mitrovica and constitute the overall majority ethnic group of the territory. In Montenegro, the Albanian population is currently estimated to be around 30,000 forming one of the constituent ethnic minority groups of the country. They predominantly live in the coastal region of Montenegro around the municipalities of Ulcinj and Bar but also Tuz and around Plav in the northern region as well as in the capital city of Podgorica in the central region. In North Macedonia, there are more than approximately 500,000 Albanians constituting the largest ethnic minority group in the country. The vast majority of the Albanians are chiefly concentrated around the municipalities of Tetovo and Gostivar in the northwestern region, Struga and Debar in the southwestern region as well as around the capital of Skopje in the central region. In Croatia, the number of Albanians stands at approximately 17.500 mostly concentrated in the counties of Istria, Split-Dalmatia and most notably in the capital city of Zagreb. The Arbanasi people who historically migrated to Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine live in scattered communities across Bulgaria, Croatia and Southern Ukraine. In Serbia, the Albanians are an officially recognised ethnic minority group with a population of around 70,000. They are significantly concentrated in the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo in the Pčinja District. In Romania, the number of Albanians is unofficially estimated from 500 to 10,000 mainly distributed in Bucharest. They are recognised as an ethnic minority group and are respectively represented in Parliament of Romania. Italy The Italian Peninsula across the Adriatic Sea has attracted Albanian people for more than half a millennium often due to its immediate proximity. Albanians in Italy later became important in establishing the fundamentals of the Albanian Renaissance and maintaining the Albanian culture. The Arbëreshë people came sporadically in several small and large cycles initially as Stratioti mercenaries in service of the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily and the Republic of Venice. Larger migration waves occurred after the death of Skanderbeg and the capture of Krujë and Shkodër by the Ottomans to escape the forthcoming political and religious changes. Today, Albanians in Italy constitute one of the largest ethnolinguistic minority groups and their status is protected by law. The total number of Arbëreshës is approximately 260,000 scattered across Sicily, Calabria and Apulia. There are Italian Albanians in the Americas especially in such countries as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Canada and the United States. Centuries later, at the end of the 20th century occurred another and the largest migration cycle of Albanians to Italy surpassing the earlier migration of the Arbëreshë. Their migration stemmed from decades of severe social and political oppression and isolation from the outside world under the communist regime led by Enver Hoxha. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of Albanians regularly residing in Italy was numbered to be around 480,000 and 500,000. Tuscany, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna represent the regions with the strongest presence of the modern Albanian population in Italy. In 2012, 41.5% of the Albanian population were counted as Muslim, 38.9% as Christian including 27.7% as Roman Catholic and 11% as Eastern Orthodox and 17.8% as Irreligious. Greece The Arvanites and Albanians of Western Thrace are a group descended from Tosks who migrated to southern and central Greece between the 13th and 16th centuries. They are Greek Orthodox Christians, and though they traditionally speak a dialect of Tosk Albanian known as Arvanitika, they have fully assimilated into the Greek nation and do not identify as Albanians.. "First, we can explain the astonishing persistence of Albanian village culture from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries through the ethnic and religious tolerance characteristic of Islamic empires and so lacking in their Christian equivalents. Ottoman control rested upon allowing local communities to keep their religion, language, local laws, and representatives, provided that taxes were paid (the millet system). There was no pressure for Greeks and Albanians to conform to each other's language or other behavior. Clear signs of change are revealed in the travel diaries of the German scholar Ludwig Ross (1851), when he accompanied the Bavarian Otto, whom the Allies had foisted as king upon the newly freed Greek nation in the aftermath of the War of Independence in the 1830s. Ross praises the well-built Greek villages of central Greece with their healthy, happy, dancing inhabitants, and contrasts them specifically with the hovels and sickly inhabitants of Albanian villages. In fact, recent scholarship has underlined how far it was the West that built modem Greece in its own fanciful image as the land of a long-oppressed people who were the direct descendants of Pericles. Thus from the late nineteenth century onward the children of the inhabitants of the new "nation-state" were taught in Greek, history confined itself to the episodes of pure Greekness, and the tolerant Ottoman attitude to cultural diversity yielded to a deliberate policy of total Hellenization of the populace—effective enough to fool the casual observer. One is rather amazed at the persistence today of such dual-speaking populations in much of the Albanian colonization zone. However, apart from the provinciality of this essentially agricultural province, a high rate of illiteracy until well into this century has also helped to preserve Arvanitika in the Boeotian villagers (Meijs 1993)."; p. 140. "In contrast therefore to the more openly problematic issue of Slav speakers in northern Greece, Arvanitic speakers in central Greece lack any signs of an assertive ethnicity. I would like to suggest that they possess what we might term a passive ethnicity. As a result of a number of historical factors, much of the rural population in central Greece was Albanian-speaking by the time of the creation of the modern Greek state in the 1830s. Until this century, most of these people were illiterate and unschooled, yet there existed sufficient knowledge of Greek to communicate with officials and townspeople, itinerant traders, and so on, to limit the need to transform rural language usage. Life was extremely provincial, with just one major carriage-road passing through the center of the large province of Boeotia even in the 1930s (beyond which horseback and cart took over; van Effenterre 1989). Even in the 1960s, Arvanitic village children could be figures of fun for their Greek peers in the schools of Thebes (One of the two regional towns) (K. Sarri, personal communication, 2000). It was not a matter of cultural resistance but simple conservatism and provinciality, the extreme narrowness of rural life, that allowed Arvanitic language and local historic memories to survive so effectively to the very recent period." Arvanitika is in a state of attrition due to language shift towards Greek and large-scale internal migration to the cities and subsequent intermingling of the population during the 20th century. The Cham Albanians were a group that formerly inhabited a region of Epirus known as Chameria, nowadays Thesprotia in northwestern Greece. Many Cham Albanians converted to Islam during the Ottoman era. Muslim Chams were expelled from Greece during World War II, by an anti-communist resistance group (EDES). The causes of the expulsion were multifaceted and remain a matter of debate among historians. Different narratives in historiography argue that the causes involved pre-existing Greek policies which targeted the minority and sought its elimination, the Cham collaboration with the Axis forces and local property disputes which were instrumentalized after WWII. The estimated number of Cham Albanians expelled from Epirus to Albania and Turkey varies: figures include 14,000, 19,000, 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000.Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict. . p. 158 According to Cham reports this number should be raised to c. 35,000. Large-scale migration from Albania to Greece occurred after 1991. By 2005, around 600,000 Albanians lived in Greece, forming the largest immigrant community in the country. They are economic migrants whose migration began in 1991, following the collapse of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania. About 200,000 had acquired a status of homogeneis (co-ethnics) in Greece. Contemporary statistics on Albanians in Greece vary. There was a drop in the number of registered Albanian immigrants in 2012, suggesting that approximately 130,000 Albanian migrants have lost their stay permits and thereby making 29% of the Albanian immigrant population in Greece irregular. After 1991, at least 500,000 Albanians have migrated and relocated to Greece. Despite the a lack of exact statistics, it is estimated that at least 700,000 Albanians have moved to Greece during the last 25 years. The Albanian government estimates 500,000 Albanians in Greece at the very least, and that is excluding their children. A 2011 census indicated that Albanians consisted the biggest group of foreigners in Greece, with roughly 480,000, but taking into consideration the current population of Greece (11 million) and the fact that the census failed to account for illegal foreigners, it was estimated that Albanians consist of 5% of the population (at least 550,000). Albanians in Greece have a long history of Hellenisation, assimilation and integration.Lazaridis, Gabriella, and Iordanis Psimmenos. "Migrant flows from Albania to Greece: economic, social and spatial exclusion." In Eldorado or Fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, pp. 170-185. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2000. Many ethnic Albanians have been naturalised as Greek nationals, others have self-declared as Greek since arrival and a considerable number live and work across both countries seasonally hence the number of Albanians in the country has often fluctuated. Diaspora Diaspora based Albanians may self identify as Albanian, use hybrid identification or identify with their nationality, often creating an obstacle in establishing a total figure of the population. Europe During the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, the conflicts in the Balkans and the Kosovo War set in motion large population movements of Albanians to Central, Western and Northern Europe. The gradual collapse of communism in Albania triggered as well a new wave of migration and contributed to the emergence of a new diaspora, mainly in Southern Europe, in such countries as Greece and Italy. In Central Europe, there are approximately 200,000 Albanians in Switzerland with the particular concentration in the cantons of Zürich, Basel, Lucerne, Bern and St. Gallen. The neighbouring Germany is home to around 250,000 to 300,000 Albanians while in Austria there are around 40,000 to 80,000 Albanians concentrated in the states of Vienna, Styria, Salzburg, Lower and Upper Austria. In Western Europe, the Albanian population of approximately 10,000 people living in the Benelux countries is in comparison to other regions relatively limited. There are more than 6,000 Albanian people living in Belgium and 2,800 in the nearby Netherlands. The most lesser number of Albanian people in the Benelux region is to be found in Luxembourg with a population of 2,100. Within Northern Europe, Sweden possesses the most sizeable population of Albanians in Scandinavia however there is no exact answer to their number in the country. The populations also tend to be lower in Norway, Finland and Denmark with more than 18,000, 10,000 and 8,000 Albanians respectively. The population of Albanians in the United Kingdom is officially estimated to be around 39,000 whiles in Ireland there are less than 2,500 Albanians. Asia and Africa The Albanian diaspora in Africa and Asia, in such countries as Egypt, Syria or Turkey, was predominantly formed during the Ottoman period through economic migration and early years of the Republic of Turkey through migration due to sociopolitical discrimination and violence experienced by Albanians in Balkans. In Turkey, the exact numbers of the Albanian population of the country are difficult to correctly estimate. According to a 2008 report, there were approximately 1.300,000 people of Albanian descent living in Turkey. As of that report, more than 500,000 Albanian descendants still recognise their ancestry and or their language, culture and traditions. There are also other estimates that range from being 3 to 4 million people up to a total of 5 million in number, although most of these are Turkish citizens of either full or partial Albanian ancestry being no longer fluent in Albanian, comparable to the German Americans.. This was due to various degrees of either linguistic and or cultural assimilation occurring amongst the Albanian diaspora in Turkey. Albanians are active in the civic life of Turkey.Tabak, Hüsrev (3 March 2013). "Albanian awakening: The worm has turned! ". Today's Zaman. Retrieved 17 July 2015. In Egypt there are 18,000 Albanians, mostly Tosk speakers. Many are descendants of the Janissaries of Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. In addition to the dynasty that he established, a large part of the former Egyptian and Sudanese aristocracy was of Albanian origin. Albanian Sunnis, Bektashis and Orthodox Christians were all represented in this diaspora, whose members at some point included major Renaissance figures (Rilindasit), including Thimi Mitko, Spiro Dine, Andon Zako Çajupi, Milo Duçi, Fan Noli and others who lived in Egypt for a time. With the ascension of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt and rise of Arab nationalism, the last remnants of Albanian community there were forced to leave. Albanians have been present in Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and for about five centuries as a legacy of Ottoman Turkish rule. Americas and Oceania The first Albanian migration to North America began in the 19th and 20th centuries not long after gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire. However the Arbëreshë people from Southern Italy were the first Albanian people to arrive in the New World, many of them migrating after the wars that accompanied the Risorgimento. Since then several Albanian migration waves have occurred throughout the 20th century as for instance after the Second World War with Albanians mostly from Yugoslavia rather than from Communist Albania, then after the Breakup of Communist Albania in 1990 and finally following the Kosovo War in 1998. The most sizeable Albanian population in the Americas is predominantly to be found in the United States. New York metropolitan area in the State of New York is home to the most sizeable Albanian population of the United States. As of 2017, there are approximately 205,000 Albanians in the country with the main concentration in the states of New York, Michigan, Massachusetts and Illinois. The number could be higher counting the Arbëreshë people as well; they are often distinguishable from other Albanian Americans with regard to their Italianized names, nationality and a common religion. In Canada, there are approximately 39,000 Albanians in the country, including 36,185 Albanians from Albania and 2,870 Albanians from Kosovo, predominantly distributed in a multitude of provinces such as Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Canada's largest cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton were besides the United States a major centre of Albanian migration to North America. Toronto is home to around 17,000 Albanians. Albanian immigration to Australia began in the late 19th century and most took place during the 20th century. People who planned to immigrate chose Australia after the US introduced immigration quotas on southern Europeans. Most were from southern Albania, of Muslim and Orthodox backgrounds and tended to live in Victoria and Queensland, with smaller numbers in Western and Northern Australia. Italy's annexation of Albania marked a difficult time for Albanian Australians as many were thought by Australian authorities to pose a fascist threat. Post-war, the numbers of Albanian immigrants slowed due to immigration restrictions placed by the communist government in Albania. Albanians from southwestern Yugoslavia (modern North Macedonia) arrived and settled in Melbourne in the 1960s-1970s. Other Albanian immigrants from Yugoslavia came from Montenegro and Serbia. The immigrants were mostly Muslims, but also Catholics among them including the relatives of the renowned Albanian nun and missionary Mother Teresa. Albanian refugees from Kosovo settled in Australia following the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict. In the early twenty first century, Victoria has the highest concentration of Albanians and smaller Albanian communities exist in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. In 2016, approximately 4,041 persons resident in Australia identified themselves as having been born in Albania and Kosovo, while 15,901 persons identified themselves as having Albanian ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry. Albanian migration to New Zealand occurred mid twentieth century following the Second World War. A small group of Albanian refugees originating mainly from Albania and the rest from Yugoslavian Kosovo and Macedonia settled in Auckland. During the Kosovo crisis (1999), up to 400 Kosovo Albanian refugees settled in New Zealand. In the twenty first century, Albanian New Zealanders number 400-500 people and are mainly concentrated in Auckland. Culture Traditions Tribal social structure The Albanian tribes () form a historical mode of social organization (farefisní) in Albania and the southwestern Balkans characterized by a common culture, often common patrilineal kinship ties tracing back to one progenitor and shared social ties. The fis (; commonly translated as "tribe", also as "clan" or "kin" community) stands at the center of Albanian organization based on kinship relations, a concept which can be found among southern Albanians also with the term farë''' (). Inherited from ancient Illyrian social structures, Albanian tribal society emerged in the early Middle Ages as the dominant form of social organization among Albanians. It also remained in a less developed system in southern Albania where large feudal estates and later trade and urban centres began to develop at the expense of tribal organization. One of the most particular elements of the Albanian tribal structure is its dependence on the Kanun, a code of Albanian oral customary laws. Most tribes engaged in warfare against external forces like the Ottoman Empire. Some also engaged in limited inter-tribal struggle for the control of resources. Until the early years of the 20th century, the Albanian tribal society remained largely intact until the rise to power of communist regime in 1944, and is considered as the only example of a tribal social system structured with tribal chiefs and councils, blood feuds and oral customary laws, surviving in Europe until the middle of the 20th century. Members of the tribes of northern Albania believe their history is based on the notions of resistance and isolationism. Some scholars connect this belief with the concept of "negotiated peripherality". Throughout history the territory northern Albanian tribes occupy has been contested and peripheral so northern Albanian tribes often exploited their position and negotiated their peripherality in profitable ways. This peripheral position also affected their national program which significance and challenges are different from those in southern Albania. Kanun The Kanun is a set of Albanian traditional customary laws, which has directed all the aspects of the Albanian tribal society. For at least the last five centuries and until today, Albanian customary laws have been kept alive only orally by the tribal elders. The success in preserving them exclusively through oral systems highlights their universal resilience and provides evidence of their likely ancient origins. Strong pre-Christian motifs mixed with motifs from the Christian era reflect the stratification of the Albanian customary law across various historical ages. Over time, Albanian customary laws have undergone their historical development, they have been changed and supplemented with new norms, in accordance with certain requirements of socio-economic development. Besa and nderi (honour) are of major importance in Albanian customary law as the cornerstone of personal and social conduct. The Kanun is based on four pillars – Honour (), Hospitality (), Right Conduct () and Kin Loyalty (). Besa Besa (pledge of honor) is an Albanian cultural precept, usually translated as "faith" or "oath", that means "to keep the promise" and "word of honor". The concept is based upon faithfulness toward one's word in the form of loyalty or as an allegiance guarantee. Besa contains mores toward obligations to the family and a friend, the demand to have internal commitment, loyalty and solidarity when conducting oneself with others and secrecy in relation to outsiders. The besa is also the main element within the concept of the ancestor's will or pledge (amanet) where a demand for faithfulness to a cause is expected in situations that relate to unity, national liberation and independence that transcend a person and generations. The concept of besa is included in the Kanun, the customary law of the Albanian people. The besa was an important institution within the tribal society of the Albanian tribes, who swore oaths to jointly fight against invaders, and in this aspect the besa served to uphold tribal autonomy. The besa was used toward regulating tribal affairs between and within the Albanian tribes. Culinary arts The traditional cuisine of the Albanians is diverse and has been greatly influenced by traditions and their varied environment in the Balkans and turbulent history throughout the course of the centuries. There is a considerable diversity between the Mediterranean and Balkan-influenced cuisines of Albanians in the Western Balkan nations and the Italian and Greek-influenced cuisines of the Arbëreshës and Chams. The enjoyment of food has a high priority in the lives of Albanian peoples especially when celebrating religious festivals such as Ramadan, Eid, Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah or Novruz Ingredients include many varieties of fruits such as lemons, oranges, figs and olives, herbs such as basil, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary and thyme and vegetables such as garlic, onion, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. Albanian peoples who live closer to the Mediterranean Sea, Prespa Lake and Ohrid Lake are able to complement their diet with fish, shellfish and other seafood. Otherwise, lamb is often considered the traditional meat for different religious festivals. Poultry, beef and pork are also in plentiful supply. Tavë Kosi is a national dish in Albania consisting of garlic lamb and rice baked under a thick, tart veil of yogurt. Fërgesë is another national dish and is made with peppers, tomatoes and cottage cheese. Pite is a baked pastry with a filling of a mixture of spinach and gjizë or mish. Desserts include Flia, consisting of multiple crepe-like layers brushed with crea; petulla, a traditionally fried dough, and Krofne, similar to Berliner. Visual arts Painting The earliest preserved relics of visual arts of the Albanian people are sacred in nature and represented by numerous frescoes, murals and icons which has been created with an admirable use of color and gold. They reveal a wealth of various influences and traditions that converged in the historical lands of the Albanian people throughout the course of the centuries. The rise of the Byzantines and Ottomans during the Middle Ages was accompanied by a corresponding growth in Christian and Islamic art often apparent in examples of architecture and mosaics throughout Albania. The Albanian Renaissance proved crucial to the emancipation of the modern Albanian culture and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of literature and arts whereas artists sought to return to the ideals of Impressionism and Romanticism. Onufri, founder of the Berat School, Kolë Idromeno, David Selenica, Kostandin Shpataraku and the Zografi Brothers are the most eminent representatives of Albanian art. Albanians in Italy and Croatia have been also active among others the Renaissance influenced artists such as Marco Basaiti, Viktor Karpaçi and Andrea Nikollë Aleksi. In Greece, Eleni Boukouras is noted as being the first great female painter of post independence Greece. In 1856, Pjetër Marubi arrived in Shkodër and established the first photography museum in Albania and probably the entire Balkans, the Marubi Museum. The collection of 150,000 photographs, captured by the Albanian-Italian Marubi dynasty, offers an ensemble of photographs depicting social rituals, traditional costumes, portraits of Albanian history. The Kulla, a traditional Albanian dwelling constructed completely from natural materials, is a cultural relic from the medieval period particularly widespread in the southwestern region of Kosovo and northern region of Albania. The rectangular shape of a Kulla is produced with irregular stone ashlars, river pebbles and chestnut woods, however, the size and number of floors depends on the size of the family and their financial resources. Literature The roots of literature of the Albanian people can be traced to the Middle Ages with surviving works about history, theology and philosophy dating from the Renaissance. The earliest known use of written Albanian is a baptismal formula (1462) written by the Archbishop of Durrës Paulus Angelus. In 1555, a Catholic clergyman Gjon Buzuku from the Shestan region published the earliest known book written in Albanian titled Meshari'' (The Missal) regarding Catholic prayers and rites containing archaic medieval language, lexemes and expressions obsolete in contemporary Albanian. Other Christian clergy such as Luca Matranga in the Arbëresh diaspora published (1592) in the Tosk dialect while other notable authors were from northern Albanian lands and included Pjetër Budi, Frang Bardhi, and Pjetër Bogdani. In the 17th century and onwards, important contributions were made by the Arbëreshë people of Southern Italy who played an influential role in encouraging the Albanian Renaissance. Notable among them was figures such as Demetrio Camarda, Gabriele Dara, Girolamo de Rada, Giulio Variboba and Giuseppe Serembe who produced inspiring nationalist literature and worked to systematise the Albanian language. The Bejtexhinj in the 18th century emerged as the result of the influences of Islam and particularly Sufism orders moving towards Orientalism. Individuals such as Nezim Frakulla, Hasan Zyko Kamberi, Shahin and Dalip Frashëri compiled literature infused with expressions, language and themes on the circumstances of the time, the insecurities of the future and their discontent at the conditions of the feudal system. The Albanian Renaissance in the 19th century is remarkable both for its valuable poetic achievement and for its variety within the Albanian literature. It drew on the ideas of Romanticism and Enlightenment characterised by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as the interaction between nature and mankind. Dora d'Istria, Girolamo de Rada, Naim Frashëri, Naum Veqilharxhi, Sami Frashëri and Pashko Vasa maintained this movement and are remembered today for composing series of prominent works. The 20th century was centred on the principles of Modernism and Realism and characterised by the development to a more distinctive and expressive form of Albanian literature. Pioneers of the time include Asdreni, Faik Konica, Fan Noli, Lasgush Poradeci, Migjeni who chose to portray themes of contemporary life and most notably Gjergj Fishta who created the epic masterpiece Lahuta e Malcís. After World War II, Albania emerged as a communist state and Socialist realism became part of the literary scene. Authors and poets emerged such as Sejfulla Malëshova, Dritero Agolli and Ismail Kadare who has become an internationally acclaimed novelist and others who challenged the regime through various sociopolitical and historic themes in their works. Martin Camaj wrote in the diaspora while in neighbouring Yugoslavia, the emergence of Albanian cultural expression resulted in sociopolitical and poetic literature by notable authors like Adem Demaçi, Rexhep Qosja, Jusuf Buxhovi. The literary scene of the 21st century remains vibrant producing new novelists, authors, poets and other writers. Performing arts Apparel The Albanian people have incorporated various natural materials from their local agriculture and livestock as a source of attire, clothing and fabrics. Their traditional apparel was primarily influenced by nature, the lifestyle and has continuously changed since ancient times. Different regions possesses their own exceptional clothing traditions and peculiarities varied occasionally in colour, material and shape. The traditional costume of Albanian men includes a white skirt called Fustanella, a white shirt with wide sleeves, and a thin black jacket or vest such as the Xhamadan or Xhurdia. In winter, they add a warm woolen or fur coat known as Flokata or Dollama made from sheepskin or goat fur. Another authentic piece is called Tirq which is a tight pair of felt trousers mostly white, sometimes dark brown or black. The Albanian women's costumes are much more elaborate, colorful and richer in ornamentation. In all the Albanian regions the women's clothing often has been decorated with filigree ironwork, colorful embroidery, a lot of symbols and vivid accessories. A unique and ancient dress is called Xhubleta, a bell shaped skirt reaching down to the calves and worn from the shoulders with two shoulder straps at the upper part. Different traditional handmade shoes and socks were worn by the Albanian people. Opinga, leather shoes made from rough animal skin, were worn with Çorape, knitted woolen or cotton socks. Headdresses remain a contrasting and recognisable feature of Albanian traditional clothing. Albanian men wore hats of various designs, shape and size. A common headgear is a Plis and Qylafë, in contrast, Albanian women wore a Kapica adorned with jewels or embroidery on the forehead, and a Lëvere or Kryqe which usually covers the head, shoulders and neck. Wealthy Albanian women wore headdresses embellished with gems, gold or silver. Music For the Albanian people, music is a vital component to their culture and characterised by its own peculiar features and diverse melodic pattern reflecting the history, language and way of life. It rather varies from region to another with two essential stylistic differences between the music of the Ghegs and Tosks. Hence, their geographic position in Southeast Europe in combination with cultural, political and social issues is frequently expressed through music along with the accompanying instruments and dances. Albanian folk music is contrasted by the heroic tone of the Ghegs and the relaxed sounds of the Tosks. Traditional iso-polyphony perhaps represents the most noble and essential genre of the Tosks which was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Ghegs in contrast have a reputation for a distinctive variety of sung epic poetry often about the tumultuous history of the Albanian people. There are a number of internationally acclaimed singers of ethnic Albanian origin such as Ava Max, Bebe Rexha, Dua Lipa, Era Istrefi, Rita Ora, and rappers such as Action Bronson, Dardan, Gashi and Loredana Zefi. Notable singers of Albanian origin from the former Yugoslavia include Selma Bajrami and Zana Nimani. In international competitions, Albania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2004. Albanians have also represented other countries in the contest: Anna Oxa for Italy in 1989, Adrian Gaxha for North Macedonia in 2008, Ermal Meta for Italy in 2018, Eleni Foureira for Cyprus in 2018, as well as Gjon Muharremaj for Switzerland in 2020 and 2021. Kosovo has never participated, but is currently applying to become a member of the EBU and therefore debut in the contest. Religion Many different spiritual traditions, religious faiths and beliefs are practised by the Albanian people who historically have succeeded to coexist peacefully over the centuries in Southeast Europe. They are traditionally both Christians and Muslims—Catholics and Orthodox, Sunnis and Bektashis and—but also to a lesser extent Evangelicals, other Protestants and Jews, constituting one of the most religiously diverse peoples of Europe. Christianity in Albania was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome until the 8th century. Then, dioceses in Albania were transferred to the patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1054 after the schism, the north became identified with the Roman Catholic Church. Since that time all churches north of the Shkumbin river were Catholic and under the jurisdiction of the Pope. Various reasons have been put forward for the spread of Catholicism among northern Albanians. Traditional affiliation with the Latin rite and Catholic missions in central Albania in the 12th century fortified the Catholic Church against Orthodoxy, while local leaders found an ally in Catholicism against Slavic Orthodox states. After the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, Christianity began to be overtaken by Islam, and Catholicism and Orthodoxy continued to be practiced with less frequency. During the modern era, the monarchy and communism in Albania as well as the socialism in Kosovo, historically part of Yugoslavia, followed a systematic secularisation of its people. This policy was chiefly applied within the borders of both territories and produced a secular majority of its population. All forms of Christianity, Islam and other religious practices were prohibited except for old non-institutional pagan practices in the rural areas, which were seen as identifying with the national culture. The current Albanian state has revived some pagan festivals, such as the Spring festival () held yearly on 14 March in the city of Elbasan. It is a national holiday. The communist regime which ruled Albania after World War II persecuted and suppressed religious observance and institutions, and entirely banned religion to the point where Albania was officially declared to be the world's first atheist state. Religious freedom returned to Albania following the regime's change in 1992. Albanian Sunni Muslims are found throughout the country, Albanian Orthodox Christians as well as Bektashis are concentrated in the south, while Roman Catholics are found primarily in the north of the country. According to the 2011 Census, which has been recognised as unreliable by the Council of Europe, in Albania, 58.79% of the population adheres to Islam, making it the largest religion in the country. Christianity is practiced by 16.99% of the population, making it the second largest religion in the country. The remaining population is either irreligious or belongs to other religious groups. Before World War II, there was given a distribution of 70% Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics. Today, Gallup Global Reports 2010 shows that religion plays a role in the lives of only 39% of Albanians, and ranks Albania the thirteenth least religious country in the world. For part of its history, Albania has also had a Jewish community. Members of the Jewish community were saved by a group of Albanians during the Nazi occupation. Many left for Israel c. 1990–1992 when the borders were opened after the fall of the communist regime, but about 200 Jews still live in Albania. See also List of Albanians History of Albania Culture of Albania Geography of Albania Notes References Citations Cited sources Note 95 ← External links Books about Albania and the Albanian people (scribd.com) Reference of books (and some journal articles) about Albania and the Albanian people; their history, language, origin, culture, literature, and so on Public domain books, fully accessible online. Albanians in the Balkans U.S. Institute of Peace Report, November 2001 "The Albanians and their Territories" by The Academy of Sciences of the PSR of Albania Indo-European peoples Modern Indo-European peoples Ethnic groups in Albania Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ethnic groups in Croatia Ethnic groups in Greece Ethnic groups in Italy Ethnic groups in Kosovo Ethnic groups in Montenegro Ethnic groups in North Macedonia Ethnic groups in Serbia Ethnic groups in Turkey Ethnic groups in the Balkans Muslim communities in Europe History of the Albanians Ethnic groups divided by international borders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic%20orientation

Romantic orientation

A person's romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, is the classification of the sex or gender with which a person experiences romantic attraction towards or is likely to have a romantic relationship with. The term is used alongside the term "sexual orientation", as well as being used alternatively to it, based upon the perspective that sexual attraction is only a single component of a larger concept. For example, although a pansexual person may feel sexually attracted to people regardless of gender, the person may experience romantic attraction and intimacy with women only. For asexual people, romantic orientation is often considered a more useful measure of attraction than sexual orientation. The relationship between sexual attraction and romantic attraction is still under debate. Sexual and romantic attractions are often studied in conjunction. Even though studies of sexual and romantic spectrums are shedding light onto this under-researched subject, much is still not fully understood. Romantic identities People may or may not engage in purely emotional romantic relationships. The main identities relating to this are: Aromantic, meaning someone who experiences little to no romantic attraction. , or experiencing romantic attraction rarely, only under certain circumstances, or only weakly : Romantic attraction towards any of the above but only after forming a deep emotional bond with the person(s) (demiromanticism). : Romantic attraction towards person(s) of the opposite gender (heteroromanticism). : Romantic attraction towards person(s) of the same gender (homoromanticism). : Romantic attraction towards two or more genders, or person(s) of the same and other genders (biromanticism). Sometimes used the same way as panromantic. : Romantic attraction towards person(s) of any, every, and all genders (panromanticism). : Romantic attraction towards person(s) of various, but not all, genders (polyromanticism). Relationship with sexual orientation and asexuality The implications of the distinction between romantic and sexual orientations have not been fully recognized, nor have they been studied extensively. It is common for sources to describe sexual orientation as including components of both sexual and romantic (or romantic equivalent) attractions. Publications investigating the relationship between sexual orientation and romantic orientation are limited. Challenges in collecting information result from survey participants having difficulty identifying or distinguishing between sexual and romantic attractions. Asexual individuals experience little to no sexual attraction (see gray asexuality); however, they may still experience romantic attraction. Lisa M. Diamond states that a person's romantic orientation can differ from whom the person is sexually attracted to. While there is limited research on the discordance between sexual attraction and romantic attraction in individuals, the possibility of fluidity and diversity in attractions have been progressively recognized. Researchers Bulmer and Izuma found that people who identify as aromantic often have more negative attitudes in relation to romance. While roughly 1% of the population identifies as asexual, 74% of those people reported having some form of romantic attraction. The first recorded conceptualization of orientation that took into account split attraction was in 1879 by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a German writer who published 12 books on non-heterosexual attraction. In these books, Ulrichs has presented several classifications that are quite similar to modern LGBT identities. Among his works, he described people who are “konjunktiver Uranodioning” and “disjunktiver Uranodioning” or conjunctive bisexuality and disjunctive bisexuality. The former is described as having tender and passionate feelings for both men and women, which would be a biromantic bisexual in modern times. The second is one who has tender feelings for people of the same gender/sex, but 'in love' feelings for people of a different gender/sex, which would now be a heteroromantic homosexual. However, the Ulrichs model never became popular due to the complexity. An example of the separation of sexual and romantic attractions was in 1979 by psychologist Dorothy Tennov, with the publication of her book Love and Limerence – the Experience of Being in Love. In the book, Tennov described limerence as a form of attraction that could be described as a crush on someone. Although Tennov saw sex as part of limerence, she recognized that it was not its main focus. The term "non-limerent" is sometimes considered the precursor of aromantic. Aromanticism Aromanticism is a romantic orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic attraction. The term "aromantic", colloquially shortened to "aro", refers to a person who identifies their romantic orientation as aromanticism. The opposite of aromanticism is alloromanticism, defined as a romantic orientation in which one experiences romantic love or romantic attraction to others. However, despite aromanticism and alloromanticism considered antonymous by some, some individuals who fall on the aromantic spectrum of identities describe themselves as having experienced romantic love or romantic attraction at some point. Such aromantics may adopt labels for more specific identities on the aromantic spectrum, such as "grayromantic" (romantic attraction rarely experienced or only weakly experienced) or "demiromantic" (only experiencing romantic attraction after a strong emotional bond has been formed with the target). As the experience of romantic attraction is subjective, some aromantic people may find it difficult to determine whether they experience romantic attraction. As such, those who are aromantic may have trouble distinguishing platonic affection from romantic affection. Although some aromantic people may choose to enter a romantic relationship, they are less likely than alloromantic individuals to do so. Aromantic people can also form non-romantic relationships of all types, as well as being able to enjoy sexual relationships. They may also choose to have children, and studies indicate that aromantic individuals are no less likely to have children than alloromantic individuals. This is because aromanticism is independent of sexuality or libido, and despite many aromantic people also being asexual, many are also allosexual. Due to this, aromantic people who are not asexual can also identify with other sexual orientations, such as "aromantic bisexual" or "aromantic heterosexual". Aromantic asexual people are colloquially known as "aro-ace" or "aroace". Aromantic individuals are also able to experience platonic love and have committed friendships, and some form intimate non-romantic partnerships called "queerplatonic relationships". In the expanded LGBT initialism, aromanticism is sometimes included, most commonly in the term LGBTQIA+, where the letter "A" represents aromanticism, in addition to asexuality and agender. The aromantic pride flag includes five stripes of dark green, light green, white, gray, and black. Some have argued that aromanticism is under-represented, under-researched, or frequently misunderstood. In society at large, aromantic people are often stigmatized and stereotyped as being afraid of intimacy, heartless, or deluded. Amatonormativity, a concept that elevated romantic relationship over non-romantic ones, has been said to be damaging to aromantics. Aromanticism is rarely depicted in media, and there are very few fictional aromantic characters. See also Bromance Cross-sex friendship Emotional affair Heterosociality Homosociality Queerplatonic relationship Romantic friendship Womance References Further reading Sexual orientation Romance Asexuality LGBT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoa

Anoa

Anoa, also known as dwarf buffalo and sapiutan, are two species of the genus Bubalus, placed within the subgenus Anoa and endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia: the mountain anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) and the lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis). Both live in undisturbed rainforest and are similar in appearance to miniature water buffaloes, weighing . Both species of anoa have been classified as endangered since the 1960s and the populations continue to decrease. Fewer than 5,000 animals of each species likely remain. Reasons for their decline include hunting for hides, horns and meat by the local peoples and loss of habitat due to the advancement of settlement. Currently, hunting is the more serious factor in most areas. Anoa are most closely allied to the larger Asian buffaloes, showing the same reversal of the direction of the hair on their backs. The horns are peculiar for their upright direction and comparative straightness, although they have the same triangular section as in other buffaloes. White spots are sometimes present below the eyes and there may be white markings on the legs and back; the absence or presence of these white markings may be indicative of distinct races. The horns of the cows are very small. The nearest allies of the anoa appear to be certain extinct Asian buffaloes, the remains of which have been found in the Siwalik Hills of northern India. Both are found on the island of Sulawesi and the nearby island of Buton in Indonesia. They apparently live singly or in pairs, rather than in herds like most cattle, except when the cows are about to give birth. Little is known about their life history as well. However, in captive individuals they have a life expectancy of 20–30 years. The anoa take two to three years before they reach sexual maturity and have one calf a year and have very rarely been seen to have more. Skulls of anoa cannot be accurately identified as to species, and there is likely hybridizing and interbreeding between the two in the zoo population. It is questioned as to whether the two species were actually different due to them occurring together in many different areas, as well as some interbreeding. A study of the mtDNA of ten specimens from different localities found a high mitochondrial genetic diversity between individuals identified as one or the other species, indicating support for recognition as two species. Species The lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis) is a small bovid, standing barely over at the shoulder. It is usually solitary, living in lowland forests, browsing on plants and understory. According to the Groves (1969) the lowland anoa can be told apart from the other species by being larger, having a triangular horn cross-section, sparse as opposed to thick and woolly hair, and always having white marking on the face and legs. The mountain anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) is also known as Quarle's anoa and anoa pegunungan. Standing at at the shoulder, it is even smaller than the lowland anoa and the smallest of all living wild cattle. They also have longer, woolier hair that moults every year, showing faint spots on the head, neck and limbs. According to the Groves (1969) the mountain anoa can be told apart from the other species by being smaller, having a round horn cross-section, thick and woolly hair, and sometimes having white marking on the face and legs. Distribution Both the lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis) and the mountain anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) are endemic to the islands of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Both species appear to occur in exactly the same areas. Sulawesi is a unique area due to the fact that roughly 61% of the species found there are endemic species, including both anoa species. Habitat Traditionally, a key difference between the two species is the altitude at which they occur. The mountain anoa would be found at higher elevations than its lowland counterpart and is found in the forests. The lowland anoa was said to spend its time in the lower elevation areas and is also found in forests. Since 2005, however, these differences do not seem to be accurate, both species occur in the same areas in the same habitats. Morphology The anoa have many physical characteristics of bovine relatives and are considered to be most closely related to the water buffalo, which was confirmed through DNA analysis. The physical characteristics of the two species are similar. The anoa is the smallest of the wild cattle species. When anoa are born, they have a set of thick, woolly fur that comes in many color variations ranging from yellow to brown. In adults, the fur is typically brown or black and males tend to have darker variations. Hair thickness varies slightly between the two species based on elevation and distribution. In both species of anoa, horns are present on both males and females and are typically straight protuberances. Another defining characteristic of the anoa is an extremely thick hide underneath the thick fur. Conservation Both anoa species are endemic to the island of Sulawesi and are currently experiencing large declines in their populations. Knowledge of their decline has only recently been documented, however, and the villages and villagers lack the knowledge of how to help maintain or increase populations. The leading cause of their population decline is hunting by local villagers for meat, with habitat loss also being significant. One benefit of the lack of knowledge about the legal status of what they are doing is that villagers are open to communication with researchers on their harvests and hunting practices; where awareness of conservation issues has penetrated, villagers will lie about their activities. Logging is a large issue due to the fact that both species prefer core forested habitat that is far away from humans and the influences that come with them. By logging, humans create much more fragmented habitat and, therefore, a decrease in the area where the anoa can breed and live. This habitat fragmentation also alters the natural mixing of populations of the anoa. This may lead to a loss in genetic diversity between the two species and, over time, could also lead to their decline. References External links DIET COMPOSITION OF ANOA (Bubalus sp.) STUDIED USING DIRECT OBSERVATION AND DUNG ANALYSIS METHOD IN THEIR HABITAT from https://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/jitaa/article/view/7608/6259 Pujaningsih, R.i., et al. “DIET COMPOSITION OF ANOA (Bubalus sp.) STUDIED USING DIRECT OBSERVATION AND DUNG ANALYSIS METHOD IN THEIR HABITAT.” Journal of the Indonesian Tropical Animal Agriculture, vol. 34, no. 3, 2009, doi:10.14710/jitaa.34.3.223-228. Lowland Anoa Bubalus depressicornis Smith from wildcattleconservation.org Bovines Mammals of Sulawesi Endemic fauna of Indonesia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agner%20Krarup%20Erlang

Agner Krarup Erlang

Agner Krarup Erlang (1 January 1878 – 3 February 1929) was a Danish mathematician, statistician and engineer, who invented the fields of traffic engineering and queueing theory. By the time of his relatively early death at the age of 51, Erlang had created the field of telephone networks analysis. His early work in scrutinizing the use of local, exchange and trunk telephone line usage in a small community to understand the theoretical requirements of an efficient network led to the creation of the Erlang formula, which became a foundational element of modern telecommunication network studies. Life Erlang was born at Lønborg, near Tarm, in Jutland. He was the son of a schoolmaster, and a descendant of Thomas Fincke on his mother's side. At age 14, he passed the Preliminary Examination of the University of Copenhagen with distinction, after receiving dispensation to take it because he was younger than the usual minimum age. For the next two years he taught alongside his father. A distant relative provided free board and lodging, and Erlang prepared for and took the University of Copenhagen entrance examination in 1896, and passed with distinction. He won a scholarship to the University and majored in mathematics, and also studied astronomy, physics and chemistry. He graduated in 1901 with an MA and over the next 7 years taught at several schools. He maintained his interest in mathematics, and received an award for a paper that he submitted to the University of Copenhagen. He was a member of the Danish Mathematicians' Association (DMF) and through this met amateur mathematician Johan Jensen, the Chief Engineer of the Copenhagen Telephone Company (KTAS in Danish), an offshoot of the International Bell Telephone Company. Erlang worked for the Copenhagen Telephone Company from 1908 for almost 20 years, until his death in Copenhagen after an abdominal operation. He was an associate of the British Institution of Electrical Engineers. Contributions While working for the CTC, Erlang was presented with the classic problem of determining how many circuits were needed to provide an acceptable telephone service. His thinking went further by finding how many telephone operators were needed to handle a given volume of calls. Most telephone exchanges then used human operators and cord boards to switch telephone calls by means of jack plugs. Out of necessity, Erlang was a hands-on researcher. He would conduct measurements and was prepared to climb into street manholes to do so. He was also an expert in the history and calculation of the numerical tables of mathematical functions, particularly logarithms. He devised new calculation methods for certain forms of tables. He developed his theory of telephone traffic over several years. His significant publications include: 1909 – "The Theory of Probabilities and Telephone Conversations", which proves that the Poisson distribution applies to random telephone traffic. 1917 – "Solution of some Problems in the Theory of Probabilities of Significance in Automatic Telephone Exchanges", which contains his classic formulae for call loss and waiting time. 1920 - "Telephone waiting times", which is Erlang's principal work on waiting times, assuming constant holding times. These and other notable papers were translated into English, French and German. His papers were prepared in a very brief style and can be difficult to understand without a background in the field. One Bell Telephone Laboratories researcher is said to have learned Danish to study them. The British Post Office accepted his formula as the basis for calculating circuit facilities. In 1946, the CCITT named the international unit of telephone traffic the "erlang". A statistical distribution and programming language listed below have also been named in his honour. See also Erlang – a unit of communication activity Erlang distribution – a statistical probability distribution Erlang programming language – developed by Ericsson for large industrial real-time systems Queueing theory Teletraffic engineering References 20th-century Danish mathematicians Danish engineers Electrical engineers Queueing theorists Danish statisticians Danish business theorists 1878 births 1929 deaths People from Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality Danish civil engineers University of Copenhagen alumni

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcopop

Alcopop

An alcopop (or cooler) is any of certain mixed alcoholic beverages with relatively low alcohol content (e.g., 3–7% alcohol by volume), including: Malt beverages to which various fruit juices or other flavorings have been added Wine coolers: beverages containing wine to which ingredients such as fruit juice or other flavorings have been added Mixed drinks containing distilled alcohol and sweet liquids such as fruit juices or other flavourings The term alcopop (a portmanteau of the words alcohol and pop) is used commonly in the United Kingdom and Ireland to describe these drinks. In English-speaking Canada, "cooler" is more common but "alcopop" may also be used. Other terms include flavored alcoholic beverage (FAB), flavored malt beverage (FMB), "pre-packaged" or "premium packaged" spirit (PPS). In Australia and New Zealand "premix" and ready to drink (RTD) are both commonly used terms. "Malternative" is an exclusively American term for the malt-based alcopops. "Spirit cooler" is used in South Africa for distilled alcohol versions. Hard seltzer is a related category of alcoholic drinks based on flavored seltzer water. Hard soda, meanwhile, is specifically related to soft drinks. Hard lemonade, which could be considered an alcopop, has been around for some time. Hard cider, on the other hand, is a fermented beverage similar to wine or beer. Description There are a variety of beverages produced and marketed around the world as well as within each market which are described as coolers or alcopops. They tend to be sweet and served in small bottles (typically 355 ml (the normal size of a soda pop can) in the US, 275 ml in South Africa and Germany, 330 ml in Canada and Europe), and between 4% and 7% ABV. In Europe, Canada, and South Africa coolers tend to be pre-mixed spirits, including vodka (e.g. Smirnoff Ice) or rum (e.g. Bacardi Breezer). In the United States, on the other hand, alcopops often start out as un-hopped beers, depending on the state in which they are sold. Much of the malt (and alcohol) is removed (leaving mostly water), with subsequent addition of alcohol (usually vodka or grain alcohol), sugar, coloring and flavoring. Such drinks are legally classified as beers in virtually all states and can therefore be sold in outlets that do not or cannot carry spirit-based drinks. There are, however, stronger ones that are simply pre-mixed spirits (e.g. Bacardi Rum Island Iced Tea), often containing about 12.5% alcohol by volume, that can be sold only where hard liquor is available. History Wine coolers gained popularity in the US market in the 1980s when Bartles and Jaymes began advertising their brand of wine coolers, which were followed by other brands, including when Bacardi introduced the Breezer. A growth in popularity occurred around 1993 with Two Dogs, DNA Alcoholic Spring Water, Hooper's Hooch and Zima, which was marketed under the title of "malternative beverage." Wine coolers were on the decline due to the increase in the US federal wine tax, and using a malt-beverage base became the new industry standard. Later, Mike's Hard Lemonade was released in the United States, with humorous commercials depicting what they called "violence against lemons". Smirnoff also came out with another citrus-flavored malt beverage in the United States in the late 1990s called Smirnoff Ice, which promoted itself with flashy commercials, usually involving trendy young people dancing in unlikely situations and places. (In the UK, Smirnoff Ice is marketed by Diageo as a PPS.) Through its Alcopop-Free Zone® campaign, " Alcohol Justice has sought to ban alcopop sales entirely since the sweet and brightly colored alcoholic drinks may appeal to children. Many cooler advertising campaigns have been criticized as trying to make alcopops appeal to young drinkers. In the United Kingdom, a media outcry during the mid-1990s arose as the tabloid press associated alcopops with under-age drinking which damaged sales and led to British liquor stores withdrawing them from their shelves. In response to a complaint from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted an extensive investigation in 2001. The agency "found no evidence of intent to target minors with FMB products, packaging, or advertising. Furthermore, after reviewing the consumer survey evidence submitted by CSPI in support of the proposition that FMBs were predominantly popular with minors, the FTC concluded that flaws in the survey's methodology limited the ability to draw conclusions from the survey data." The Federal Trade Commission again in 2003 investigated FMB ads, product placement, and internal company marketing documents after a directive from the conferees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. "The Commission's investigation found no evidence of targeting underage consumers in the marketing of FMBs. Adults 21 to 29 appear to be the intended target of FMB marketing" and found that "the majority of FMB drinkers are over the age of 27." In December 2003, Ireland raised the tax on flavored malt beverages to equal that of spirits, the second-highest in Europe. Germany has imposed an extra duty of 0.80 to 0.90 euro per bottle effective August 1, 2004. To circumvent higher taxation, some German producers have switched to wine coolers, which are being marketed the same way. Some bottles now carry a warning stating that they are not for consumption by people under the legal drinking age (under 18 in the UK and 21 in the United States). On May 11, 2008, the Australian Government increased the excise tax on alcopops by 70%, to bring it in line with the tax on spirits. There is the concern this tax will encourage consumers to buy straight spirits and mix the drinks themselves, possibly resulting in drinks with a higher alcohol concentration than the premixed alternatives. This tax was revoked during March 2009 meaning the government had to pay back the 290 million collected on the tax. The Federal Trade Commission report states, "Further, industry-conducted research on consumers over the age of 21 who use FMBs shows that these consumers generally view the FMBs as substitutes for beer, ... This research also concludes that consumers are not likely to consume more than two or three FMBs on any occasion because of the products' sweetness. In March 2018, Coca-Cola announced it would be launching an alcopop product for the first time, a chūhai beverage in Japan. Brands Brands of coolers are numerous and their alcoholic base vary greatly. Some notable brands include: VK Vodkakick, Smirnoff Ice, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Bacardi Breezer, Palm Bay, Skyy Blue, Jack Daniel's Hard Cola and, in the UK, WKD Original Vodka. Garage is an alcopop produced by the Finnish brewery Sinebrychoff. Attempts to discourage Australia The Australian government increased the tax on these drinks under the 2008 budget to the same rate as spirits, volumetrically, in an effort to stop binge drinking. The tax was criticized by the opposition as a tax grab, and voted down in the Senate on March 18, 2009. Before its rejection, the tax had already raised at least A$290 million after April 2008. In April 2009, some Labor party MPs planned to resubmit the tax to the Senate, and it was finally approved in August 2009, increasing the tax on the drinks from $39.36 to $66.67 per litre of alcohol. A 2013 study concluded that the tax had no impact on binge drinking of the drinks by teenagers. Germany On 1 July 2004 the German government increased the tax on mixed drinks based on spirits (e.g. vodka, rum) by roughly one Euro per 275-ml-bottle in order to discourage teenagers drinking excessively, although those drinks were already prohibited for those under the age of 18. This had two implications: The most common alcopops, such as Smirnoff Ice or Bacardi Breezer, were nearly taken off the market, while other manufacturers changed the recipes of their drinks to replace spirit alcohols with wine or beer, but with the same ABV, enabling these mixed drinks (which are not "alcopops" under German law) to be sold legally to minors 16 and 17 years of age. Philippines In 2019, some senators including Pia Cayetano and former Special Assistant to the President Bong Go called for pullout of alcopops from the market due to "deceptive packaging that resembles fruit juices usually bought by young consumers". Alcopops also have seven percent alcohol content, which is slightly lower than that of local beer brand Red Horse Beer. United Kingdom In June 1997, Co-op Food became the first major retailer to place an outright ban on the sale of alcopops in its shops. This has since been rescinded. See also Chuhai Comparison of alcopops Hard seltzer Hard soda Jello shot Jungle juice Nutcracker (drink) Purple drank Queen Mary (beer cocktail) References Sources Bloomberg News, FTC Says Alcohol Type Not Aimed at Minors, Los Angeles Times, June 5, 2002. Melillo, W. FTC: Ads for 'Alcopops' Not Aimed at Teens, Adweek, June 6, 2002. American Medical Association, AMA Says Alcohol Industry Targets Teen Girls, December 16, 2004. California boosts tax on 'alcopops', Associated Press, August 15, 2007. External links Portman Group (a UK alcoholic beverage industry trade advocacy group with a code of marketing practices) New wave of 'sophisticated' alcopops fuels teenage binge drinking The Guardian, 14 December 2002 The demonised drink: How has youth drinking evolved 20 years since the launch of alcopops? The Independent, 29 June 2013 The quiet death of the alcopop BBC News Magazine, 31 July 2013 Premixed alcoholic drinks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction

Abstraction

Abstraction in its main sense is a conceptual process wherein general rules and concepts are derived from the usage and classification of specific examples, literal ("real" or "concrete") signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" is the outcome of this process—a concept that acts as a common noun for all subordinate concepts and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category. Conceptual abstractions may be formed by filtering the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, selecting only those aspects which are relevant for a particular purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to the more general idea of a ball selects only the information on general ball attributes and behavior, excluding but not eliminating the other phenomenal and cognitive characteristics of that particular ball. In a type–token distinction, a type (e.g., a 'ball') is more abstract than its tokens (e.g., 'that leather soccer ball'). Abstraction in its secondary use is a material process, discussed in the themes below. Origins Thinking in abstractions is considered by anthropologists, archaeologists, and sociologists to be one of the key traits in modern human behaviour, which is believed to have developed between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. Its development is likely to have been closely connected with the development of human language, which (whether spoken or written) appears to both involve and facilitate abstract thinking. History Abstraction involves induction of ideas or the synthesis of particular facts into one general theory about something. It is the opposite of specification, which is the analysis or breaking-down of a general idea or abstraction into concrete facts. Abstraction can be illustrated by Francis Bacon's Novum Organum (1620), a book of modern scientific philosophy written in the late Jacobean era of England to encourage modern thinkers to collect specific facts before making any generalizations. Bacon used and promoted induction as an abstraction tool; it complemented but was distinct from the ancient deductive-thinking approach that had dominated the intellectual world since the times of Greek philosophers like Thales, Anaximander, and Aristotle. Thales (–546 BCE) believed that everything in the universe comes from one main substance, water. He deduced or specified from a general idea, "everything is water," to the specific forms of water such as ice, snow, fog, and rivers. Modern scientists used the approach of abstraction (going from particular facts collected into one general idea). Newton (1642–1727) derived the motion of the planets from Copernicus' (1473–1543) simplification, that the sun is the center of our solar system; Kepler (1571–1630) compressed thousands of measurements into one expression to finally conclude that Mars moves in an elliptical orbit about the sun; Galileo (1564–1642) repeated one hundred specific experiments into the law of falling bodies. Themes Compression An abstraction can be seen as a compression process, mapping multiple different pieces of constituent data to a single piece of abstract data; based on similarities in the constituent data, for example, many different physical cats map to the abstraction "CAT". This conceptual scheme emphasizes the inherent equality of both constituent and abstract data, thus avoiding problems arising from the distinction between "abstract" and "concrete". In this sense the process of abstraction entails the identification of similarities between objects, and the process of associating these objects with an abstraction (which is itself an object). For example, picture 1 below illustrates the concrete relationship "Cat sits on Mat". Chains of abstractions can be construed, moving from neural impulses arising from sensory perception to basic abstractions such as color or shape, to experiential abstractions such as a specific cat, to semantic abstractions such as the "idea" of a CAT, to classes of objects such as "mammals" and even categories such as "object" as opposed to "action". For example, graph 1 below expresses the abstraction "agent sits on location". This conceptual scheme entails no specific hierarchical taxonomy (such as the one mentioned involving cats and mammals), only a progressive exclusion of detail. Instantiation Non-existent things in any particular place and time are often seen as abstract. By contrast, instances, or members, of such an abstract thing might exist in many different places and times. Those abstract things are then said to be multiply instantiated, in the sense of picture 1, picture 2, etc., shown below. It is not sufficient, however, to define abstract ideas as those that can be instantiated and to define abstraction as the movement in the opposite direction to instantiation. Doing so would make the concepts "cat" and "telephone" abstract ideas since despite their varying appearances, a particular cat or a particular telephone is an instance of the concept "cat" or the concept "telephone". Although the concepts "cat" and "telephone" are abstractions, they are not abstract in the sense of the objects in graph 1 below. We might look at other graphs, in a progression from cat to mammal to animal, and see that animal is more abstract than mammal; but on the other hand mammal is a harder idea to express, certainly in relation to marsupial or monotreme. Perhaps confusingly, some philosophies refer to tropes (instances of properties) as abstract particulars—e.g., the particular redness of a particular apple is an abstract particular. This is similar to qualia and sumbebekos. Material process Still retaining the primary meaning of '' or 'to draw away from', the abstraction of money, for example, works by drawing away from the particular value of things allowing completely incommensurate objects to be compared (see the section on 'Physicality' below). Karl Marx's writing on the commodity abstraction recognizes a parallel process. The state (polity) as both concept and material practice exemplifies the two sides of this process of abstraction. Conceptually, 'the current concept of the state is an abstraction from the much more concrete early-modern use as the standing or status of the prince, his visible estates'. At the same time, materially, the 'practice of statehood is now constitutively and materially more abstract than at the time when princes ruled as the embodiment of extended power'. Ontological status The way that physical objects, like rocks and trees, have being differs from the way that properties of abstract concepts or relations have being, for example the way the concrete, particular, individuals pictured in picture 1 exist differs from the way the concepts illustrated in graph 1 exist. That difference accounts for the ontological usefulness of the word "abstract". The word applies to properties and relations to mark the fact that, if they exist, they do not exist in space or time, but that instances of them can exist, potentially in many different places and times. Physicality A physical object (a possible referent of a concept or word) is considered concrete (not abstract) if it is a particular individual that occupies a particular place and time. However, in the secondary sense of the term 'abstraction', this physical object can carry materially abstracting processes. For example, record-keeping aids throughout the Fertile Crescent included calculi (clay spheres, cones, etc.) which represented counts of items, probably livestock or grains, sealed in containers. According to , these clay containers contained tokens, the total of which were the count of objects being transferred. The containers thus served as something of a bill of lading or an accounts book. In order to avoid breaking open the containers for the count, marks were placed on the outside of the containers. These physical marks, in other words, acted as material abstractions of a materially abstract process of accounting, using conceptual abstractions (numbers) to communicate its meaning. Abstract things are sometimes defined as those things that do not exist in reality or exist only as sensory experiences, like the color red. That definition, however, suffers from the difficulty of deciding which things are real (i.e. which things exist in reality). For example, it is difficult to agree to whether concepts like God, the number three, and goodness are real, abstract, or both. An approach to resolving such difficulty is to use predicates as a general term for whether things are variously real, abstract, concrete, or of a particular property (e.g., good). Questions about the properties of things are then propositions about predicates, which propositions remain to be evaluated by the investigator. In the graph 1 below, the graphical relationships like the arrows joining boxes and ellipses might denote predicates. Referencing and referring Abstractions sometimes have ambiguous referents. For example, "happiness" can mean experiencing various positive emotions, but can also refer to life satisfaction and subjective well-being. Likewise, "architecture" refers not only to the design of safe, functional buildings, but also to elements of creation and innovation which aim at elegant solutions to construction problems, to the use of space, and to the attempt to evoke an emotional response in the builders, owners, viewers and users of the building. Simplification and ordering Abstraction uses a strategy of simplification, wherein formerly concrete details are left ambiguous, vague, or undefined; thus effective communication about things in the abstract requires an intuitive or common experience between the communicator and the communication recipient. This is true for all verbal/abstract communication. For example, many different things can be red. Likewise, many things sit on surfaces (as in picture 1, to the right). The property of redness and the relation sitting-on are therefore abstractions of those objects. Specifically, the conceptual diagram graph 1 identifies only three boxes, two ellipses, and four arrows (and their five labels), whereas the picture 1 shows much more pictorial detail, with the scores of implied relationships as implicit in the picture rather than with the nine explicit details in the graph. Graph 1 details some explicit relationships between the objects of the diagram. For example, the arrow between the agent and CAT:Elsie depicts an example of an is-a relationship, as does the arrow between the location and the MAT. The arrows between the gerund/present participle SITTING and the nouns agent and location express the diagram's basic relationship; "agent is SITTING on location"; Elsie is an instance of CAT. Although the description sitting-on (graph 1) is more abstract than the graphic image of a cat sitting on a mat (picture 1), the delineation of abstract things from concrete things is somewhat ambiguous; this ambiguity or vagueness is characteristic of abstraction. Thus something as simple as a newspaper might be specified to six levels, as in Douglas Hofstadter's illustration of that ambiguity, with a progression from abstract to concrete in Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979): An abstraction can thus encapsulate each of these levels of detail with no loss of generality. But perhaps a detective or philosopher/scientist/engineer might seek to learn about something, at progressively deeper levels of detail, to solve a crime or a puzzle. Thought processes In philosophical terminology, abstraction is the thought process wherein ideas are distanced from objects. But an idea can be symbolized. As used in different disciplines In art Typically, abstraction is used in the arts as a synonym for abstract art in general. Strictly speaking, it refers to art unconcerned with the literal depiction of things from the visible world—it can, however, refer to an object or image which has been distilled from the real world, or indeed, another work of art. Artwork that reshapes the natural world for expressive purposes is called abstract; that which derives from, but does not imitate a recognizable subject is called nonobjective abstraction. In the 20th century the trend toward abstraction coincided with advances in science, technology, and changes in urban life, eventually reflecting an interest in psychoanalytic theory. Later still, abstraction was manifest in more purely formal terms, such as color, freedom from objective context, and a reduction of form to basic geometric designs. In computer science Computer scientists use abstraction to make models that can be used and re-used without having to re-write all the program code for each new application on every different type of computer. They communicate their solutions with the computer by writing source code in some particular computer language which can be translated into machine code for different types of computers to execute. Abstraction allows program designers to separate a framework (categorical concepts related to computing problems) from specific instances which implement details. This means that the program code can be written so that code doesn't have to depend on the specific details of supporting applications, operating system software, or hardware, but on a categorical concept of the solution. A solution to the problem can then be integrated into the system framework with minimal additional work. This allows programmers to take advantage of another programmer's work, while requiring only an abstract understanding of the implementation of another's work, apart from the problem that it solves. In general semantics Abstractions and levels of abstraction play an important role in the theory of general semantics originated by Alfred Korzybski. Anatol Rapoport wrote "Abstracting is a mechanism by which an infinite variety of experiences can be mapped on short noises (words)." In history Francis Fukuyama defines history as "a deliberate attempt of abstraction in which we separate out important from unimportant events". In linguistics Researchers in linguistics frequently apply abstraction so as to allow an analysis of the phenomena of language at the desired level of detail. A commonly used abstraction, the phoneme, abstracts speech sounds in such a way as to neglect details that cannot serve to differentiate meaning. Other analogous kinds of abstractions (sometimes called "emic units") considered by linguists include morphemes, graphemes, and lexemes. Abstraction also arises in the relation between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Pragmatics involves considerations that make reference to the user of the language; semantics considers expressions and what they denote (the designata) abstracted from the language user; and syntax considers only the expressions themselves, abstracted from the designate. In mathematics Abstraction in mathematics is the process of extracting the underlying structures, patterns or properties of a mathematical concept or object, removing any dependence on real-world objects with which it might originally have been connected, and generalizing it so that it has wider applications or matching among other abstract descriptions of equivalent phenomena. The advantages of abstraction in mathematics are: It reveals deep connections between different areas of mathematics. Known results in one area can suggest conjectures in another related area. Techniques and methods from one area can be applied to prove results in other related area. Patterns from one mathematical object can be generalized to other similar objects in the same class. The main disadvantage of abstraction is that highly abstract concepts are more difficult to learn, and might require a degree of mathematical maturity and experience before they can be assimilated. In music In music, the term abstraction can be used to describe improvisatory approaches to interpretation, and may sometimes indicate abandonment of tonality. Atonal music has no key signature, and is characterized by the exploration of internal numeric relationships. In neurology A recent meta-analysis suggests that the verbal system has a greater engagement with abstract concepts when the perceptual system is more engaged in processing concrete concepts. This is because abstract concepts elicit greater brain activity in the inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus compared to concrete concepts which elicit greater activity in the posterior cingulate, precuneus, fusiform gyrus, and parahippocampal gyrus. Other research into the human brain suggests that the left and right hemispheres differ in their handling of abstraction. For example, one meta-analysis reviewing human brain lesions has shown a left hemisphere bias during tool usage. In philosophy Abstraction in philosophy is the process (or, to some, the alleged process) in concept formation of recognizing some set of common features in individuals, and on that basis forming a concept of that feature. The notion of abstraction is important to understanding some philosophical controversies surrounding empiricism and the problem of universals. It has also recently become popular in formal logic under predicate abstraction. Another philosophical tool for the discussion of abstraction is thought space. John Locke defined abstraction in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding: 'So words are used to stand as outward marks of our internal ideas, which are taken from particular things; but if every particular idea that we take in had its own special name, there would be no end to names. To prevent this, the mind makes particular ideas received from particular things become general; which it does by considering them as they are in the mind—mental appearances—separate from all other existences, and from the circumstances of real existence, such as time, place, and so on. This procedure is called abstraction. In it, an idea taken from a particular thing becomes a general representative of all of the same kind, and its name becomes a general name that is applicable to any existing thing that fits that abstract idea.' (2.11.9) In psychology Carl Jung's definition of abstraction broadened its scope beyond the thinking process to include exactly four mutually exclusive, different complementary psychological functions: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking. Together they form a structural totality of the differentiating abstraction process. Abstraction operates in one of these functions when it excludes the simultaneous influence of the other functions and other irrelevancies, such as emotion. Abstraction requires selective use of this structural split of abilities in the psyche. The opposite of abstraction is concretism. Abstraction is one of Jung's 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. In social theory Social theorists deal with abstraction both as an ideational and as a material process. Alfred Sohn-Rethel (1899-1990) asked: "Can there be abstraction other than by thought?" He used the example of commodity abstraction to show that abstraction occurs in practice as people create systems of abstract exchange that extend beyond the immediate physicality of the object and yet have real and immediate consequences. This work was extended through the 'Constitutive Abstraction' approach of writers associated with the Journal Arena. Two books that have taken this theme of the abstraction of social relations as an organizing process in human history are Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community (1996) and an associated volume published in 2006, Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism: Bringing Theory Back In. These books argue that a nation is an abstract community bringing together strangers who will never meet as such; thus constituting materially real and substantial, but abstracted and mediated relations. The books suggest that contemporary processes of globalization and mediatization have contributed to materially abstracting relations between people, with major consequences for how humans live their lives. One can readily argue that abstraction is an elementary methodological tool in several disciplines of social science. These disciplines have definite and different concepts of "man" that highlight those aspects of man and his behaviour by idealization that are relevant for the given human science. For example, is the man as sociology abstracts and idealizes it, depicting man as a social being. Moreover, we could talk about (the man who can extend his biologically determined intelligence thanks to new technologies), or (who is simply creative). Abstraction (combined with Weberian idealization) plays a crucial role in economics - hence abstractions such as "the market" and the generalized concept of "business". Breaking away from directly experienced reality was a common trend in 19th-century sciences (especially physics), and this was the effort which fundamentally determined the way economics tried (and still tries) to approach the economic aspects of social life. It is abstraction we meet in the case of both Newton's physics and the neoclassical theory, since the goal was to grasp the unchangeable and timeless essence of phenomena. For example, Newton created the concept of the material point by following the abstraction method so that he abstracted from the dimension and shape of any perceptible object, preserving only inertial and translational motion. Material point is the ultimate and common feature of all bodies. Neoclassical economists created the indefinitely abstract notion of homo economicus by following the same procedure. Economists abstract from all individual and personal qualities in order to get to those characteristics that embody the essence of economic activity. Eventually, it is the substance of the economic man that they try to grasp. Any characteristic beyond it only disturbs the functioning of this essential core. See also References Citations Sources Sohn-Rethel, Alfred (1977) Intellectual and manual labour: A critique of epistemology, Humanities Press. . Further reading . External links Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Gottlob Frege Discussion at The Well concerning Abstraction hierarchy Concepts in epistemology Concepts in metaphilosophy Concepts in metaphysics Thought

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al%20Capp

Al Capp

Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (with help from assistants) drawing until 1977. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats (in the years 1937–45) and Long Sam (1954). He won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1947 for Cartoonist of the Year, and their 1979 Elzie Segar Award, posthumously for his "unique and outstanding contribution to the profession of cartooning". Capp's comic strips dealt with urban experiences in the Northern United States until the year he introduced "Li'l Abner". Although Capp was from Connecticut, he spent 43 years writing about the fictional Southern town of Dogpatch, reaching an estimated 60 million readers in more than 900 American newspapers and 100 more papers in 28 countries internationally. M. Thomas Inge says Capp made a large personal fortune through the strip and "had a profound influence on the way the world viewed the American South". Early life Capp was born in New Haven, Connecticut, of East European Jewish heritage. He was the eldest child of Otto Philip Caplin (1885–1964) and Matilda (Davidson) Caplin (1884–1948). His brothers, Elliot and Jerome, were cartoonists, and his sister, Madeline, was a publicist. Capp's parents were both natives of Latvia whose families had migrated to New Haven in the 1880s. "My mother and father had been brought to this country from Russia when they were infants", wrote Capp in 1978. "Their fathers had found that the great promise of America was true – it was no crime to be a Jew." The Caplins were dirt-poor, and Capp later recalled stories of his mother going out in the night to sift through ash barrels for reusable bits of coal. In August 1919, at the age of nine, Capp was run down by a trolley car and had his left leg amputated above the knee. According to his father Otto's unpublished autobiography, young Capp was not prepared for the amputation beforehand; having been in a coma for days, he suddenly awoke to discover that his leg had been removed. He was eventually given a prosthetic leg, but only learned to use it by adopting a slow way of walking which became increasingly painful as he grew older. The childhood tragedy of losing a leg likely helped shape Capp's cynical worldview, which was darker and more sardonic than that of the average newspaper cartoonist. "I was indignant as hell about that leg", he revealed in a November 1950 interview in Time magazine. "The secret of how to live without resentment or embarrassment in a world in which I was different from everyone else", Capp philosophically wrote (in Life magazine on May 23, 1960), "was to be indifferent to that difference." The prevailing opinion among his friends was that Capp's Swiftian satire was, to some degree, a creatively channeled, compensatory response to his disability. Capp's father, a failed businessman and an amateur cartoonist, introduced him to drawing as a form of therapy. He became quite proficient, advancing mostly on his own. Among his earliest influences were Punch cartoonist–illustrator Phil May and American comic strip cartoonists Tad Dorgan, Cliff Sterrett, Rube Goldberg, Rudolph Dirks, Fred Opper, Billy DeBeck, George McManus, and Milt Gross. At about this same time, Capp became a voracious reader. According to Capp's brother Elliot, Alfred had finished all of Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw by the time he turned 13. Among his childhood favorites were Dickens, Smollett, Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, and later, Robert Benchley and S. J. Perelman. Capp spent five years at Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, without receiving a diploma. He liked to joke about how he failed geometry for nine straight terms. His formal training came from a series of art schools in the New England area. Attending three of them in rapid succession, the impoverished Capp was thrown out of each for nonpayment of tuition—the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Designers Art School in Boston—the last before launching his career. Capp already had decided to become a cartoonist. "I heard that Bud Fisher (creator of Mutt and Jeff) got $3,000 a week and was constantly marrying French countesses", Capp said. "I decided that was for me." In early 1932, Capp hitchhiked to New York City. He lived in "airless rat holes" in Greenwich Village and turned out advertising strips at $2 each while scouring the city hunting for jobs. He eventually found work at the Associated Press when he was 23 years old. By March 1932, Capp was drawing Colonel Gilfeather, a single-panel, AP-owned property created in 1930 by Dick Dorgan. Capp changed the focus and title to Mister Gilfeather but soon grew to hate the feature. He left the Associated Press in September 1932. Before leaving, he met Milton Caniff and the two became lifelong friends. Capp moved to Boston and married Catherine Wingate Cameron, whom he had met earlier in art class. She died in 2006 at the age of 96. Leaving his new wife with her parents in Amesbury, Massachusetts, he subsequently returned to New York in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. "I was 23, I carried a mass of drawings, and I had nearly five dollars in my pocket. People were sleeping in alleys then, willing to work at anything." There he met Ham Fisher, who hired him to ghost on Joe Palooka. During one of Fisher's extended vacations, Capp's Joe Palooka story arc introduced a stupid, coarse, oafish mountaineer named "Big Leviticus," a crude prototype. (Leviticus was much closer to Capp's later villains Lem and Luke Scragg than to the much more appealing and innocent Li'l Abner.) Also during this period, Capp was working at night on samples for the strip that eventually became Li'l Abner. He based his cast of characters on the authentic mountain-dwellers he met while hitchhiking through rural West Virginia and the Cumberland Valley as a teenager. (This was years before the Tennessee Valley Authority Act brought basic utilities such as electricity and running water to the region.) Leaving Joe Palooka, Capp sold Li'l Abner to United Feature Syndicate (later known as United Media). The feature was launched on Monday, August 13, 1934, in eight North American newspapers—including the New York Mirror—and was an immediate success. Alfred G. Caplin eventually became "Al Capp" because the syndicate felt the original would not fit in a cartoon frame. Capp had his name changed legally in 1949. His younger brother, Elliot Caplin, also became a comic strip writer, best known for co-creating the soap opera strip The Heart of Juliet Jones with artist Stan Drake and conceiving the comic strip character Broom-Hilda with cartoonist Russell Myers. Elliot also authored several off-Broadway plays, including A Nickel for Picasso (1981), which was based on and dedicated to his mother and his famous brother. Li'l Abner What began as a hillbilly burlesque soon evolved into one of the most imaginative, popular, and well-drawn strips of the twentieth century. Featuring vividly outlandish characters, bizarre situations, and equal parts suspense, slapstick, irony, satire, black humor, and biting social commentary, Li'l Abner is considered a classic of the genre. The comic strip stars Li'l Abner Yokum—the simple-minded, loutish but good-natured, and eternally innocent hayseed who lives with his parents—scrawny but superhuman Mammy Yokum, and shiftless, childlike Pappy Yokum. "Yokum" was a combination of yokel and hokum, although Capp established a deeper meaning for the name during a series of visits around 1965–1970 with comics historians George E. Turner and Michael H. Price: "It's phonetic Hebrew—that's what it is, all right—and that's what I was getting at with the name Yokum, more so than any attempt to sound hickish. That was a fortunate coincidence, of course, that the name should pack a backwoods connotation. But it's a godly conceit, really, playing off a godly name—Joachim means 'God's determination', something like that—that also happens to have a rustic ring to it." The Yokums live in the backwater hamlet of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Described by its creator as "an average stone-age community", Dogpatch mostly consists of hopelessly ramshackle log cabins, pine trees, "tarnip" fields, and "hawg" wallows. Whatever energy Abner had went into evading the marital goals of Daisy Mae Scragg, his sexy, well-endowed, but virtuous girlfriend, until Capp finally gave in to reader pressure and allowed the couple to marry. This newsworthy event made the cover of Life on March 31, 1952. Capp peopled his comic strip with an assortment of memorable characters, including Marryin' Sam, Hairless Joe, Lonesome Polecat, Evil-Eye Fleegle, General Bullmoose, Lena the Hyena, Senator Jack S. Phogbound (Capp's caricature of the anti-New Deal Dixiecrats), the (shudder!) Scraggs, Available Jones, Nightmare Alice, Earthquake McGoon, and a host of others. Especially notable, certainly from a G.I. point of view, are the beautiful, full-figured women such as Daisy Mae, Wolf Gal, Stupefyin' Jones, and Moonbeam McSwine (a caricature of his wife Catherine, aside from the dirt), all of whom found their way onto the painted noses of bomber planes during World War II and the Korean War. Perhaps Capp's most popular creations were the Shmoos, creatures whose incredible usefulness and generous nature made them a threat to civilization as we know it. Another famous character was Joe Btfsplk, who wants to be a loving friend but is "the world's worst jinx", bringing bad luck to all those nearby. Btfsplk (his name is "pronounced" by simply blowing a "raspberry" or Bronx cheer) always has an iconic dark cloud over his head. Dogpatch residents regularly combat the likes of city slickers, business tycoons, government officials, and intellectuals with their homespun simplicity. Situations often take the characters to other destinations, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Hollywood, tropical islands, the moon, Mars, and some purely fanciful worlds of Capp's invention, including El Passionato, Kigmyland, The Republic of Crumbumbo, Skunk Hollow, The Valley of the Shmoon, Planets Pincus Number 2 and 7, and a miserable frozen wasteland known as Lower Slobbovia, a pointedly political satire of backward nations and foreign diplomacy that remains a contemporary reference. According to cultural historian Anthony Harkins: "Indeed, Li'l Abner incorporates such a panoply of characters and ideas that it defies summary. Yet though Capp's storylines often wandered far afield, his hillbilly setting remained a central touchstone, serving both as a microcosm and a distorting carnival mirror of broader American society." The strip's popularity grew from an original eight papers to eventually more than 900. At its peak, Li'l Abner was estimated to have been read daily in the United States by 60 to 70 million people (the U.S. population at the time was only 180 million), with adult readers far outnumbering children. Many communities, high schools, and colleges staged Sadie Hawkins dances patterned after the similar annual event in the strip. Li'l Abner has one odd design quirk that has puzzled readers for decades: the part in his hair always faces the viewer, no matter which direction Abner is facing. In response to the question "Which side does Abner part his hair on?", Capp would answer: "Both." Capp said he finally found the right "look" for Li'l Abner with Henry Fonda's character Dave Tolliver in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936). In later years, Capp always claimed to have effectively created the miniskirt, when he first put one on Daisy Mae in the 1930s. Parodies, toppers, and alternate strips Li'l Abner also features a comic strip-within-the-strip: Fearless Fosdick is a parody of Chester Gould's Dick Tracy. It first appeared in 1942, and proved so popular that it ran intermittently during the next 35 years. Gould was parodied personally in the series as cartoonist "Lester Gooch"—the diminutive, much-harassed and occasionally deranged "creator" of Fosdick. The style of the Fosdick sequences closely mimicks Tracy, including the urban setting, the outrageous villains, the galloping mortality rate, the crosshatched shadows, and even the lettering style. In 1952, Fosdick was the star of his own short-lived puppet show on NBC, featuring the Mary Chase marionettes. Besides Dick Tracy, Capp parodied many other comic strips in Li'l Abner—including Steve Canyon, Superman (at least twice; first as "Jack Jawbreaker" in 1947, and again in 1966 as "Chickensouperman"), Mary Worth as "Mary Worm", Peanuts {with "Peewee" a parody of Charlie Brown with "Croopy" parody of Snoopy" {1968} drawn by Bedley Damp a parody of Charles Schulz}, Rex Morgan, M.D., Little Annie Rooney, and Little Orphan Annie (in which Punjab became "Punjbag," an oleaginous slob). Fearless Fosdick—and Capp's other spoofs such as "Little Fanny Gooney" (1952) and "Jack Jawbreaker"—were almost certainly an early inspiration for Harvey Kurtzman's Mad Magazine, which began in 1952 as a comic book that specifically parodied other comics in the same distinctive style and subversive manner. Capp also lampooned popular recording idols of the day, such as Elvis Presley ("Hawg McCall", 1957), Liberace ("Loverboynik", 1956), the Beatles ("the Beasties", 1964)—and in 1944, Frank Sinatra. "Sinatra was the first great public figure I ever wrote about," Capp once said. "I called him 'Hal Fascinatra.' I remember my news syndicate was so worried about what his reaction might be, and we were all surprised when he telephoned and told me how thrilled he was with it. He always made it a point to send me champagne whenever he happened to see me in a restaurant..." (from Frank Sinatra, My Father by Nancy Sinatra, 1985). On the other hand, Liberace was "cut to the quick" over Loverboynik, according to Capp, and even threatened legal action—as would Joan Baez later, over "Joanie Phoanie" in 1967. Capp was just as likely to parody himself; his self-caricature made frequent, tongue-in-cheek appearances in Li'l Abner. The gag was often at his own expense, as in the above 1951 sequence showing Capp's interaction with "fans" (see excerpt), or in his 1955 Disneyland parody, "Hal Yappland". Just about anything could be a target for Capp's satire—in one storyline Li'l Abner is revealed to be the missing link between ape and man. In another, the search is on in Dogpatch for a pair of missing socks knitted by the first president of the United States. In addition to creating Li'l Abner, Capp also co-created two other newspaper strips: Abbie an' Slats with magazine illustrator Raeburn van Buren in 1937, and Long Sam with cartoonist Bob Lubbers in 1954, as well as the Sunday "topper" strips Washable Jones, Small Fry (a.k.a. Small Change), and Advice fo' Chillun. Critical recognition According to comics historian Coulton Waugh, a 1947 poll of newspaper readers who claimed they ignored the comics page altogether revealed that many confessed to making a single exception: Li'l Abner. "When Li'l Abner made its debut in 1934, the vast majority of comic strips were designed chiefly to amuse or thrill their readers. Capp turned that world upside-down by routinely injecting politics and social commentary into Li'l Abner. The strip was the first to regularly introduce characters and story lines having nothing to do with the nominal stars of the strip. The technique—as invigorating as it was unorthodox—was later adopted by cartoonists such as Walt Kelly [Pogo] and Garry Trudeau [Doonesbury]", wrote comic strip historian Rick Marschall. According to Marschall, Li'l Abner gradually evolved into a broad satire of human nature. In his book America's Great Comic Strip Artists (1989), Marschall's analysis revealed a decidedly misanthropic subtext. Over the years, Li'l Abner has been adapted to radio, animated cartoons, stage production, motion pictures, and television. Capp has been compared, at various times, to Mark Twain, Dostoevski, Jonathan Swift, Lawrence Sterne, and Rabelais. Fans of the strip ranged from novelist John Steinbeck—who called Capp "possibly the best writer in the world today" in 1953 and even earnestly recommended him for the Nobel Prize in literature—to media critic and theorist Marshall McLuhan, who considered Capp "the only robust satirical force in American life". John Updike, comparing Abner to a "hillbilly Candide", added that the strip's "richness of social and philosophical commentary approached the Voltairean". Charlie Chaplin, William F. Buckley, Al Hirschfeld, Harpo Marx, Russ Meyer, John Kenneth Galbraith, Ralph Bakshi, Shel Silverstein, Hugh Downs, Gene Shalit, Frank Cho, Daniel Clowes, and (reportedly) even Queen Elizabeth have confessed to being fans of Li'l Abner. Li'l Abner was also the subject of the first book-length scholarly assessment of an American comic strip ever published. Li'l Abner: A Study in American Satire by Arthur Asa Berger (Twayne, 1969) contained serious analyses of Capp's narrative technique, his use of dialogue, self-caricature, and grotesquerie, the place of Li'l Abner in American satire, and the significance of social criticism and the graphic image. "One of the few strips ever taken seriously by students of American culture," wrote Professor Berger, "Li'l Abner is worth studying ... because of Capp's imagination and artistry, and because of the strip's very obvious social relevance." It was reprinted by the University Press of Mississippi in 1994. The 1940s and 1950s During World War II and for many years afterward, Capp worked tirelessly going to hospitals to entertain patients, especially to cheer recent amputees and explain to them that the loss of a limb did not mean an end to a happy and productive life. Making no secret of his own disability, Capp openly joked about his prosthetic leg his whole life. In 1946, Capp created a special full-color comic book, Al Capp by Li'l Abner, to be distributed by the Red Cross to encourage the thousands of amputee veterans returning from the war. Capp also was involved with the Sister Kenny Foundation, which pioneered new treatments for polio in the 1940s. Serving in his capacity as honorary chairman, Capp made public appearances on its behalf for years, contributed free artwork for its annual fundraising appeals, and entertained crippled and paraplegic children in children's hospitals with inspirational pep talks, humorous stories, and sketches. In 1940, an RKO movie adaptation starred Granville Owen (later known as Jeff York) as Li'l Abner, with Buster Keaton taking the role of Lonesome Polecat, and featuring a title song with lyrics by Milton Berle. A successful musical comedy adaptation of the strip opened on Broadway at the St. James Theater on November 15, 1956, and had a long run of 693 performances, followed by a nationwide tour. The stage musical, with music and lyrics by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer, was adapted into a Technicolor motion picture at Paramount in 1959 by producer Norman Panama and director Melvin Frank, with a score by Nelson Riddle. Several performers repeated their Broadway roles in the film, most memorably Julie Newmar as Stupefyin' Jones and Stubby Kaye as Marryin' Sam. Other highlights of that decade included the 1942 debut of Fearless Fosdick as Abner's "ideel" (hero); the 1946 Lena the Hyena Contest, in which a hideous Lower Slobbovian gal was ultimately revealed in the harrowing winning entry (as judged by Frank Sinatra, Boris Karloff, and Salvador Dalí) drawn by noted cartoonist Basil Wolverton; and an ill-fated Sunday parody of Gone With the Wind that aroused anger and legal threats from author Margaret Mitchell, and led to a printed apology within the strip. In October 1947, Li'l Abner met Rockwell P. Squeezeblood, head of the abusive and corrupt Squeezeblood Comic Strip Syndicate. The resulting sequence, "Jack Jawbreaker Fights Crime!", was a devastating satire of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's notorious exploitation by DC Comics over Superman. It was later reprinted in The World of Li'l Abner (1953). (Siegel and Shuster had earlier poked fun at Capp in a Superman story in Action Comics #55, December 1942, in which a cartoonist named "Al Hatt" invents a comic strip featuring the hillbilly "Tiny Rufe".) In 1947, Capp earned a Newsweek cover story. That same year the New Yorker's profile on him was so long that it ran in consecutive issues. In 1948, Capp reached a creative peak with the introduction of the Shmoos, lovable and innocent fantasy creatures who reproduced at amazing speed and brought so many benefits that, ironically, the world economy was endangered. The much-copied storyline was a parable that was metaphorically interpreted in many different ways at the outset of the Cold War. Following his close friend Milton Caniff's lead (with Steve Canyon), Capp had recently fought a successful battle with the syndicate to gain complete ownership of his feature when the Shmoos debuted. As a result, he reaped enormous financial rewards from the unexpected (and almost unprecedented) merchandising phenomenon that followed. As in the strip, Shmoos suddenly appeared to be everywhere in 1949 and 1950—including a Time cover story. A paperback collection of the original sequence, The Life and Times of the Shmoo, became a bestseller for Simon & Schuster. Shmoo dolls, clocks, watches, jewelry, earmuffs, wallpaper, fishing lures, air fresheners, soap, ice cream, balloons, ashtrays, comic books, records, sheet music, toys, games, Halloween masks, salt and pepper shakers, decals, pinbacks, tumblers, coin banks, greeting cards, planters, neckties, suspenders, belts, curtains, fountain pens, and other Shmoo paraphernalia were produced. A garment factory in Baltimore turned out a whole line of Shmoo apparel, including "Shmooveralls". The original sequence and its 1959 sequel The Return of the Shmoo have been collected in print many times since, most recently in 2011, always to high sales figures. The Shmoos later had their own animated television series. Capp followed this success with other allegorical fantasy critters, including the aboriginal and masochistic "Kigmies", who craved abuse (a story that began as a veiled comment on racial and religious oppression), the dreaded "Nogoodniks" (or bad shmoos), and the irresistible "Bald Iggle", a guileless creature whose sad-eyed countenance compelled involuntary truthfulness—with predictably disastrous results. Li'l Abner was censored for the first time, but not the last, in September 1947 and was pulled from papers by Scripps-Howard. The controversy, as reported in Time, centered on Capp's portrayal of the United States Senate. Edward Leech of Scripps said, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks ... boobs and undesirables." Capp criticized Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954, calling him a "poet". "He uses poetic license to try to create the beautifully ordered world of good guys and bad guys that he wants," said Capp. "He seems at his best when terrifying the helpless and naïve." Capp received the National Cartoonists Society's Billy DeBeck Memorial Award in 1947 for Cartoonist of the Year. (When the award name was changed in 1954, Capp also retroactively received a Reuben statuette.) He was an outspoken pioneer in favor of diversifying the NCS by admitting women cartoonists. Originally, the Society had disallowed female members. Capp briefly resigned his membership in 1949 to protest their refusal of admission to Hilda Terry, creator of the comic strip Teena. According to Tom Roberts, author of Alex Raymond: His Life and Art (2007), Capp delivered a stirring speech that was instrumental in changing those rules. The NCS finally accepted female members the following year. In December 1952, Capp published an article in Real magazine entitled "The REAL Powers in America" that further challenged the conventional attitudes of the day: "The real powers in America are women—the wives and sweethearts behind the masculine dummies...." Highlights of the 1950s included the much-heralded marriage of Abner and Daisy Mae in 1952, the birth of their son "Honest Abe" Yokum in 1953, and in 1954 the introduction of Abner's enormous, long-lost kid brother Tiny Yokum, who filled Abner's place as a bachelor in the annual Sadie Hawkins Day race. In 1952, Capp and his characters graced the covers of both Life and TV Guide. The year 1956 saw the debut of Bald Iggle, considered by some Abner enthusiasts to be the creative high point of the strip, as well as Mammy's revelatory encounter with the "Square Eyes" Family—Capp's thinly-veiled appeal for racial tolerance. (This fable-like story was collected into an educational comic book called Mammy Yokum and the Great Dogpatch Mystery! and distributed by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith later that year.) Two years later, Capp's studio issued Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, a biographical comic book distributed by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Often, Capp had parodied corporate greed—pork tycoon J. Roaringham Fatback had figured prominently in wiping out the Shmoos. But in 1952, when General Motors president Charles E. Wilson, nominated for a cabinet post, told Congress "...what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa", he inspired one of Capp's greatest satires—the introduction of General Bullmoose, the robust, ruthless, and ageless business tycoon. The blustering Bullmoose, who seemed to own and control nearly everything, justified his far-reaching and mercenary excesses by saying "What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA!" Bullmoose's corrupt interests were often pitted against those of the pathetic Lower Slobbovians in a classic mismatch of "haves" versus "have-nots". This character, along with the Shmoos, helped cement Capp's favor with the Left, and increased their outrage a decade later when Capp, a former Franklin D. Roosevelt liberal, switched targets. Nonetheless, General Bullmoose continued to appear, undaunted and unredeemed, during the strip's final right-wing phase and into the 1970s. Feud with Ham Fisher After Capp quit his ghosting job on Ham Fisher's Joe Palooka in 1934 to launch his own strip, Fisher badmouthed him to colleagues and editors, claiming that Capp had "stolen" his idea. For years, Fisher brought the characters back to his strip, billing them as "The ORIGINAL Hillbilly Characters" and advising readers not to be "fooled by imitations". (In fact, Fisher's brutish hillbilly character—Big Leviticus, created by Capp in Fisher's absence—bore little resemblance to Li'l Abner.) According to a November 1950 Time article, "Capp parted from Fisher with a definite impression, (to put it mildly) that he had been underpaid and unappreciated. Fisher, a man of Roman self esteem, considered Capp an ingrate and a whippersnapper, and watched his rise to fame with unfeigned horror." "Fisher repeatedly brought Leviticus and his clan back, claiming their primacy as comics' first hillbilly family – but he was missing the point. It wasn't the setting that made Capp's strip such a huge success. It was Capp's finely tuned sense of the absurd, his ability to milk an outrageous situation for every laugh in it and then, impossibly, to squeeze even more laughs from it, that found such favor with the public," (from Don Markstein's Toonopedia). The Capp-Fisher feud was well known in cartooning circles, and it grew more personal as Capp's strip eclipsed Joe Palooka in popularity. Fisher hired away Capp's top assistant, Moe Leff. After Fisher underwent plastic surgery, Capp included a racehorse in Li'l Abner named "Ham's Nose-Bob". In 1950, Capp introduced a cartoonist character named "Happy Vermin"—a caricature of Fisher—who hired Abner to draw his comic strip in a dimly lit closet (after sacking his previous "temporary" assistant of 20 years, who had been cut off from all his friends in the process). Instead of using Vermin's tired characters, Abner inventively peopled the strip with hillbillies. A bighearted Vermin told his slaving assistant: "I'm proud of having created these characters!! They'll make millions for me!! And if they do – I'll get you a new light bulb!!" Traveling in the same social circles, the two men engaged in a 20-year mutual vendetta, as described by the New York Daily News in 1998: "They crossed paths often, in the midtown watering holes and at National Cartoonists Society banquets, and the city's gossip columns were full of their snarling public donnybrooks." In 1950, Capp wrote a nasty article for The Atlantic, entitled "I Remember Monster". The article recounted Capp's days working for an unnamed "benefactor" with a miserly, swinish personality, who Capp claimed was a never-ending source of inspiration when it came time to create a new unregenerate villain for his comic strip. The thinly-veiled boss was understood to be Ham Fisher. Fisher retaliated, doctoring photostats of Li'l Abner and falsely accusing Capp of sneaking obscenities into his comic strip. Fisher submitted examples of Li'l Abner to Capp's syndicate and to the New York courts, in which Fisher had identified pornographic images that were hidden in the background art. However, the X-rated material had been drawn there by Fisher. Capp was able to refute the accusation by simply showing the original artwork. In 1954, when Capp was applying for a Boston television license, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received an anonymous packet of pornographic Li'l Abner drawings. The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) convened an ethics hearing, and Fisher was expelled for the forgery from the same organization that he had helped found; Fisher's scheme had backfired in spectacular fashion. Around the same time, his mansion in Wisconsin was destroyed by a storm. On December 27, 1955, Fisher committed suicide in his studio. The feud and Fisher's suicide were used as the basis for a lurid, highly fictionalized murder mystery, Strip for Murder by Max Allan Collins. Another "feud" seemed to be looming when, in one run of Sunday strips in 1957, Capp lampooned the comic strip Mary Worth as "Mary Worm". The title character was depicted as a nosy, interfering busybody. Allen Saunders, the creator of the Mary Worth strip, returned Capp's fire with the introduction of the character "Hal Rapp", a foul-tempered, ill-mannered, and (ironically) inebriated cartoonist, (Capp was a teetotaler). Later, the "feud" was revealed to be a collaborative hoax that Capp and his longtime pal Saunders had cooked up together. The Capp-Saunders "feud" fooled both editors and readers, generated plenty of free publicity for both strips—and Capp and Saunders had a good laugh when all was revealed. Personality Capp, Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) and Walt Kelly (Pogo) were close personal friends and professional associates throughout their adult lives, and occasionally, referenced each other in their strips. According to one anecdote (from Al Capp Remembered, 1994), Capp and his brother Elliot ducked out of a dull party at Capp's home—leaving Walt Kelly alone to fend for himself entertaining a group of Argentine envoys who didn't speak English. Kelly retaliated by giving away Capp's baby grand piano. According to Capp, who loved to relate the story, Kelly's two perfectly logical reasons for doing so were: a. to cement diplomatic relations between Argentina and the United States, and b. "Because you can't play the piano, anyway!" (Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker confirmed the story, relating a slightly expanded version in his autobiography, Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook, 2001.) Milton Caniff offered another anecdote (from Phi Beta Pogo, 1989) involving Capp and Walt Kelly, "two boys from Bridgeport, Connecticut, nose to nose," onstage at a meeting of the Newspaper Comics Council in the sixties. "Walt would say to Al, 'Of course, Al, this is really how you should draw Daisy Mae, I'm only showing you this for your own good.' Then Walt would do a sketch. Capp, of course, got ticked off by this, as you can imagine! So he retaliated by doing his version of Pogo. Unfortunately, the drawings are long gone; no recording was made. What a shame! Nobody anticipated there'd be this dueling back and forth between the two of them ..." Although he was often considered a difficult person, some acquaintances of Capp have stressed that the cartoonist also had a sensitive side. In 1973, upon learning that 12-year-old Ted Kennedy Jr., the son of his political rival Ted Kennedy Sr., had his right leg amputated, Capp wrote the boy an encouraging letter that gave candid advice about dealing with the loss of a limb, which Capp himself had experienced as a boy. One of Capp's grandchildren recalls that at one point, tears were streaming down the cartoonist's cheeks while he was watching a documentary about the Jonestown massacre. Capp gave money anonymously to charities and "people in need" at various points in his life. Sexual harassment and assault claims In her autobiography, American actress Goldie Hawn stated that Capp sexually propositioned her on a casting couch and exposed himself to her when she was 19 years old. When she refused his advances, Capp became angry and told her that she was "never gonna make anything in your life" and that she should "go and marry a Jewish dentist. You'll never get anywhere in this business." Two biographies, one about Goldie Hawn and the other about Grace Kelly, describe Capp as trying to force Kelly into having sex with him, and he later tried to do the same with Hawn. In 1971, investigative journalist Jack Anderson wrote that Capp had exposed his genitals to four female students at the University of Alabama. In 1972, after an incident at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, Capp was arrested. He pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted adultery, while charges of indecent exposure and sodomy were dropped. He was fined US$500 (). In 2019, Jean Kilbourne was inspired by the MeToo movement to publish in Hogan’s Alley her own experience of being groped and sexually solicited by Al Capp while doing freelance writing and research work for him in contemplation of a permanent job in 1967. Production methods Like many cartoonists, Capp made extensive use of assistants (notably Andy Amato, Harvey Curtis, Walter Johnson, and Frank Frazetta). During the extended peak of the strip, the workload grew to include advertising, merchandising, promotional work, public service comics, and other specialty work—in addition to the regular six dailies and one Sunday strip per week. From the early 1940s to the late 1950s, there were scores of Sunday strip-style magazine ads for Cream of Wheat using the Abner characters, and in the 1950s, Fearless Fosdick became a spokesman for Wildroot Cream-Oil hair tonic in a series of daily strip-style print ads. The characters also sold chainsaws, underwear, ties, detergent, candy, soft drinks—including a licensed version of Capp's moonshine creation, Kickapoo Joy Juice—and General Electric and Procter & Gamble products, all requiring special artwork. No matter how much help he had, Capp insisted on his drawing and inking the characters' faces and hands—especially of Abner and Daisy Mae—and his distinctive touch is often discernible. "He had the touch," Frazetta said of Capp in 2008. "He knew how to take an otherwise ordinary drawing and really make it pop. I'll never knock his talent." As is usual with collaborative efforts in comic strips, his name was the only one credited— although, sensitive to his own experience working on Joe Palooka, Capp frequently drew attention to his assistants in interviews and publicity pieces. A 1950 cover story in Time even included photographs of two of his employees, whose roles in the production were detailed by Capp. Ironically, this highly irregular policy (along with the subsequent fame of Frank Frazetta) has led to the misconception that his strip was "ghosted" by other hands. The production of Li'l Abner has been well documented, however. In point of fact, Capp maintained creative control over every stage of production for virtually the entire run of the strip. Capp originated the stories, wrote the dialogue, designed the major characters, rough penciled the preliminary staging and action of each panel, oversaw the finished pencils, and drew and inked the hands and faces of the characters. Frazetta authority David Winiewicz described the everyday working mode of operation in Li'l Abner Dailies: 1954 Volume 20 (Kitchen Sink, 1994): There was also a separate line of comic book titles published by the Caplin family-owned Toby Press, including Shmoo Comics featuring Washable Jones. Cartoonist Mell Lazarus, creator of Miss Peach and Momma, wrote a comic novel in 1963 entitled The Boss Is Crazy, Too which was partly inspired by his apprenticeship days working with Capp and his brother Elliot at Toby. In a seminar at the Charles Schulz Museum on November 8, 2008, Lazarus called his experience at Toby "the five funniest years of my life". Lazarus went on to cite Capp as one of the "four essentials" in the field of newspaper cartoonists, along with Walt Kelly, Charles Schulz, and Milton Caniff. Capp detailed his approach to writing and drawing the stories in an instructional course book for the Famous Artists School, beginning in 1956. In 1959, Capp recorded and released an album for Folkways Records (now owned by the Smithsonian) on which he identified and described "The Mechanics of the Comic Strip". Frazetta, later famous as a fantasy artist, assisted on the strip from 1954 to December 1961. Fascinated by Frazetta's abilities, Capp initially gave him a free hand in an extended daily sequence (about a biker named "Frankie," a caricature of Frazetta) to experiment with the basic look of the strip by adding a bit more realism and detail (particularly to the inking). After editors complained about the stylistic changes, the strip's previous look was restored. During most of his tenure with Capp, Frazetta's primary responsibility—along with various specialty art, such as a series of Li'l Abner greeting cards—was tight-penciling the Sunday pages from studio roughs. This work was collected by Dark Horse Comics in a four-volume hardcover series entitled Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years. In 1961, Capp, complaining of declining revenue, wanted to have Frazetta continue with a 50% pay cut. "[Capp] said he would cut the salary in half. Goodbye. That was that. I said goodbye," (from Frazetta: Painting with Fire). However, Frazetta returned briefly a few years later to draw a public service comic book called Li'l Abner and the Creatures from Drop-Outer Space, distributed by the Job Corps in 1965. Public service works Capp provided specialty artwork for civic groups, government agencies, and charitable or nonprofit organizations, spanning several decades. The following titles are all single-issue, educational comic books and pamphlets produced for various public services: Al Capp by Li'l Abner— Public service giveaway issued by the Red Cross (1946) Yo' Bets Yo' Life!— Public service giveaway issued by the U.S. Army (circa 1950) Li'l Abner Joins the Navy— Public service giveaway issued by the Dept. of the Navy (1950) Fearless Fosdick and the Case of the Red Feather— Public service giveaway issued by Red Feather Services, a forerunner of United Way (1951) The Youth You Supervise— Public service giveaway issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (1956) Mammy Yokum and the Great Dogpatch Mystery!— Public service giveaway issued by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (1956) Operation: Survival!— Public service giveaway issued by the Dept. of Civil Defense (1957) Natural Disasters!— Public service giveaway issued by the Department of Civil Defense (1957) Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story— Public service giveaway issued by The Fellowship of Reconciliation (1958) Li'l Abner and the Creatures from Drop-Outer Space— Public service giveaway issued by the Job Corps (1965) In addition, Dogpatch characters were used in national campaigns for the U.S. Treasury, the Cancer Foundation, the March of Dimes, the National Heart Fund, the Sister Kenny Foundation, the Boy Scouts of America, Community Chest, the National Reading Council, Minnesota Tuberculosis and Health Association, Christmas Seals, the National Amputation Foundation, and Disabled American Veterans, among others. Public figure In the Golden Age of the American comic strip, successful cartoonists received a great deal of attention; their professional and private lives were reported in the press, and their celebrity was often nearly sufficient to rival their creations. As Li'l Abner reached its peak years, and following the success of the Shmoos and other high moments in his work, Al Capp achieved a public profile that is still unparalleled in his profession, and arguably exceeded the fame of his strip. "Capp was the best known, most influential and most controversial cartoonist of his era," writes publisher (and leading Shmoo collector) Denis Kitchen. "His personal celebrity transcended comics, reaching the public and influencing the culture in a variety of media. For many years he simultaneously produced the daily strip, a weekly syndicated newspaper column, and a 500-station radio program..." He ran the Boston Summer Theatre with The Phantom cartoonist Lee Falk, bringing in Hollywood actors such as Mae West, Melvyn Douglas, and Claude Rains to star in their live productions. He even briefly considered running for a Massachusetts Senate seat. Vice President Spiro Agnew urged Capp to run in the Democratic Party Massachusetts primary in 1970 against Ted Kennedy, but Capp ultimately declined. (He did, however, donate his services as a speaker at a $100-a-plate fundraiser for Republican Congressman Jack Kemp.) Besides his use of the comic strip to voice his opinions and display his humor, Capp was a popular guest speaker at universities, and on radio and television. He remains the only cartoonist to be embraced by television; no other comic artist to date has come close to Capp's televised exposure. Capp appeared as a regular on The Author Meets the Critics (1948–'54) and made regular, weekly appearances on Today in 1953. He was also a periodic panelist on ABC and NBC's Who Said That? (1948–'55), and co-hosted DuMont's What's the Story? (1953). Between 1952 and 1972, he hosted at least five television shows–three different talk shows called The Al Capp Show (1952 and 1968) and Al Capp (1971–'72), Al Capp's America (a live "chalk talk," with Capp providing a barbed commentary while sketching cartoons, 1954), and a CBS game show called Anyone Can Win (1953). He also hosted similar vehicles on the radio—and was a familiar celebrity guest on various other broadcast programs, including NBC Radio's long-running Monitor with its famous Monitor Beacon audio signature, as a commentator dubbed "An expert of nothing with opinions on everything." His frequent appearances on NBC's The Tonight Show spanned three emcees (Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson), from the 1950s to the 1970s. One memorable story, as recounted to Johnny Carson, was about his meeting with then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. As Capp was ushered into the Oval Office, his prosthetic leg suddenly collapsed into a pile of disengaged parts and hinges on the floor. The President immediately turned to an aide and said, "Call Walter Reed (Hospital), or maybe Bethesda," to which Capp replied, "Hell no, just call a good local mechanic!" (Capp also spoofed Carson in his strip, in a 1970 episode called "The Tommy Wholesome Show".) Capp portrayed himself in a cameo role in the Bob Hope film That Certain Feeling, for which he also provided promotional art. He was interviewed live on Person to Person on November 27, 1959, by host Charles Collingwood. He also appeared as himself on The Ed Sullivan Show, Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, The Red Skelton Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and guested on Ralph Edwards' This Is Your Life on February 12, 1961, with honoree Peter Palmer. Capp also freelanced very successfully as a magazine writer and newspaper columnist, in a wide variety of publications including Life, Show, Pageant, The Atlantic, Esquire, Coronet, and The Saturday Evening Post. Capp was impersonated by comedians Rich Little and David Frye. Although Capp's endorsement activities never rivaled Li'l Abner's or Fearless Fosdick's, he was a celebrity spokesman in print ads for Sheaffer Snorkel fountain pens (along with colleagues and close friends Milton Caniff and Walt Kelly), and—with an irony that became apparent later—a brand of cigarettes (Chesterfield). Capp resumed visiting war amputees during the Korean War and Vietnam War. He toured Vietnam with the USO, entertaining troops along with Art Buchwald and George Plimpton. He served as chairman of the Cartoonists' Committee in President Dwight D. Eisenhower's People-to-People program in 1954 (although Capp had supported Adlai Stevenson for president in 1952 and 1956), which was organized to promote Savings bonds for the U.S. Treasury. Capp had earlier provided the Shmoo for a special Children's Savings Bond in 1949, accompanying President Harry S. Truman at the bond's unveiling ceremony. During the Soviet Union's blockade of West Berlin in 1948, the commanders of the Berlin airlift had cabled Capp, requesting inflatable shmoos as part of "Operation: Little Vittles". Candy-filled shmoos were air-dropped to hungry West Berliners by America's 17th Military Airport Squadron during the humanitarian effort. "When the candy-chocked shmoos were dropped, a near-riot resulted," (reported in Newsweek—October 11, 1948). In addition to his public service work for charitable organizations for the handicapped, Capp also served on the National Reading Council, which was organized to combat illiteracy. He published a column ("Wrong Turn Onto Sesame Street") challenging federally funded public television endowments in favor of educational comics—which, according to Capp, "didn't cost a dime in taxes and never had. I pointed out that a kid could enjoy Sesame Street without learning how to read, but he couldn't enjoy comic strips unless he could read; and that a smaller investment in getting kids to read by supplying them with educational matter in such reading form might make better sense." Capp's academic interests included being one of nineteen original "Trustees and Advisors" for "Endicott, Junior College for Young Woman", located in Pride's Crossing (Beverly), Massachusetts, which was founded in 1939. Al Capp is listed in the 1942 Mingotide Yearbook, representing the first graduating class from what is now the 4-year school known as Endicott College. The yearbook entry includes his credential as a "Cartoonist for United Feature Syndicate" and a resident of New York City. "Comics," wrote Capp in 1970, "can be a combination of the highest quality of art and text, and many of them are." Capp produced many giveaway educational comic books and public services pamphlets, spanning several decades, for the Red Cross, the Department of Civil Defense, the Department of the Navy, the U.S. Army, the Anti-Defamation League, the Department of Labor, Community Chest (a forerunner of United Way), and the Job Corps. Capp's studio provided special artwork for various civic groups and nonprofit organizations as well. Dogpatch characters were used in national campaigns for the Cancer Foundation, the March of Dimes, the National Heart Fund, the Boy Scouts of America, Minnesota Tuberculosis and Health Association, the National Amputation Foundation, and Disabled American Veterans, among others. They were also used to help sell Christmas Seals. In the early 1960s, Capp regularly wrote a column entitled Al Capp's Column for the newspaper The Schenectady Gazette (currently The Daily Gazette). He was the Playboy interview subject in December 1965, in a conversation conducted by Alvin Toffler. In August 1967, Capp was the narrator and host of an ABC network special called Do Blondes Have More Fun? In 1970, he was the subject of a provocative NBC documentary called This Is Al Capp. The 1960s and 1970s Capp and his family lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Harvard during the entire Vietnam War protest era. The turmoil that Americans were watching on their television sets was happening live—right in his own neighborhood. Campus radicals and "hippies" inevitably became one of Capp's favorite targets in the sixties. Alongside his long-established caricatures of right-wing, big business types such as General Bullmoose and J. Roaringham Fatback, Capp began spoofing counterculture icons such as Joan Baez (in the character of Joanie Phoanie, a wealthy folksinger who offers an impoverished orphanage ten thousand dollars' worth of "protest songs"). The sequence implicitly labeled Baez a limousine liberal, a charge she took to heart, as detailed years later in her 1987 autobiography, And A Voice To Sing With: A Memoir. Another target was Senator Ted Kennedy, parodied as "Senator O. Noble McGesture", resident of "Hyideelsport". The town name is a play on Hyannisport, Massachusetts, where a number of the Kennedy clan have lived. Capp became a popular public speaker on college campuses, where he reportedly relished hecklers. He attacked militant antiwar demonstrators, both in his personal appearances and in his strip. He also satirized student political groups. The Youth International Party (YIP) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) emerged in Li'l Abner as "Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything!" (SWINE). In an April 1969 letter to Time, Capp insisted, "The students I blast are not the dissenters, but the destroyers—the less than 4% who lock up deans in washrooms, who burn manuscripts of unpublished books, who make combination pigpens and playpens of their universities. The remaining 96% detest them as heartily as I do." Capp's increasingly controversial remarks at his campus speeches and during television appearances cost him his semi-regular spot on the Tonight Show. His contentious public persona during this period was captured on a late sixties comedy LP called Al Capp On Campus. The album features his interaction with students at Fresno State College (now California State University, Fresno) on such topics as "sensitivity training," "humanitarianism," "abstract art" (Capp hated it), and "student protest". The cover features a cartoon drawing by Capp of wildly dressed, angry hippies carrying protest signs with slogans like "End Capp Brutality", "Abner and Daisy Mae Smoke Pot", "Capp Is Over [30, 40, 50—all crossed out] the Hill!!", and "If You Like Crap, You'll Like Capp!" Highlights of the strip's final decades include "Boomchik" (1961), in which America's international prestige is saved by Mammy Yokum, "Daisy Mae Steps Out" (1966), a female-empowering tale of Daisy's brazenly audacious "homewrecker gland", "The Lips of Marcia Perkins" (1967), a satirical, thinly-veiled commentary on venereal disease and public health warnings, "Ignoble Savages" (1968), in which the Mob takes over Harvard, and "Corporal Crock" (1973), in which Bullmoose reveals his reactionary cartoon role model, in a tale of obsession and the fanatical world of comic book collecting. The cartoonist visited John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their 1969 Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, and their testy exchange later appeared in the documentary film Imagine: John Lennon (1988). Introducing himself with the words "I'm a dreadful Neanderthal fascist. How do you do?", Capp sardonically congratulated Lennon and Ono on their Two Virgins nude album cover: "I think that everybody owes it to the world to prove they have pubic hair. You've done it, and I tell you that I applaud you for it." Following this exchange, Capp insulted Ono ("Good God, you've gotta live with that?"), and was asked to "get out" by Lennon publicist Derek Taylor. Lennon allowed him to stay, however, but the conversation had soured considerably. On Capp's exit, Lennon sang an impromptu version of his song "The Ballad of John and Yoko" with a slightly revised, but nonetheless prophetic lyric: "Christ, you know it ain't easy / You know how hard it can be / The way things are goin' / They're gonna crucify Capp! " Despite his political conservatism in the last decade of his life, Capp is reported to have been liberal in some particular causes; he supported gay rights, and did not tolerate any attempts at homophobic jokes. He is also said to have supported Martin Luther King Jr. and the fight for racial equality in American society, although he was very sceptical of the tactics of the Black Panthers and Malcolm X. In 1968, a theme park called Dogpatch USA opened at Marble Falls, Arkansas, based on Capp's work and with his support. The park was a popular attraction during the 1970s, but was abandoned in 1993 due to financial difficulties. By 2005, the area once devoted to a live-action facsimile of Dogpatch (including a lifesize statue in the town square of Dogpatch "founder" General Jubilation T. Cornpone) had been heavily stripped by vandals and souvenir hunters, and was slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding Arkansas wilderness. On April 22, 1971, syndicated columnist Jack Anderson reported allegations that in February 1968 Capp had made indecent advances to four female students when he was invited to speak at the University of Alabama. Anderson and an associate confirmed that Capp was shown out of town by university police, but that the incident had been hushed up by the university to avoid negative publicity. The following month, Capp was charged in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in connection with another alleged incident following his April 1 lecture at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Capp was accused of propositioning a married woman in his hotel room. Although no sexual act was alleged to have resulted, the original charge included "sodomy". As part of a plea agreement, Capp pleaded guilty to the charge of "attempted adultery" (adultery was a felony in Wisconsin) and the other charges were dropped. Capp was fined $500 and court costs. In a December 1992 article for The New Yorker, Seymour Hersh reported that President Richard Nixon and Charles Colson had repeatedly discussed the Capp case in Oval Office recordings that had recently been made available by the National Archives. Nixon and Capp were on friendly terms, Hersh wrote, and Nixon and Colson had worked to find a way for Capp to run against Ted Kennedy for the U.S. Senate. "Nixon was worried about the allegations, fearing that Capp's very close links to the White House would become embarrassingly public", Hersh wrote. "The White House tapes and documents show that he and Colson discussed the issue repeatedly, and that Colson eventually reassured the president by saying that he had, in essence, fixed the case. Specifically, the president was told that one of Colson's people had gone to Wisconsin and tried to talk to the prosecutors." Colson's efforts failed, however. The Eau Claire district attorney, a Republican, refused to dismiss the attempted adultery charge. In passing sentence in February 1972, the judge rejected the D.A.'s motion that Capp agree to undergo psychiatric treatment. The resulting publicity led to hundreds of papers dropping his comic strip, and Capp, already in failing health, withdrew from public speaking. Celebrity biographer James Spada has claimed that similar allegations were made by actress Grace Kelly. However, no firsthand allegation has ever surfaced. "From beginning to end, Capp was acid-tongued toward the targets of his wit, intolerant of hypocrisy, and always wickedly funny. After about 40 years, however, Capp's interest in Abner waned, and this showed in the strip itself," according to Don Markstein's Toonopedia. On November 13, 1977, Capp retired with an apology to his fans for the recently declining quality of the strip, which he said had been the best he could manage due to declining health. "If you have any sense of humor about your strip—and I had a sense of humor about mine—you knew that for three or four years Abner was wrong. Oh hell, it's like a fighter retiring. I stayed on longer than I should have," he admitted, adding that he couldn't breathe anymore. "When he retired Li'l Abner, newspapers ran expansive articles and television commentators talked about the passing of an era. People magazine ran a substantial feature, and even the comics-free New York Times devoted nearly a full page to the event", wrote publisher Denis Kitchen. Capp's final years were marked by advancing illness and by family tragedy. In October 1977, one of his two daughters died; a few weeks later, a beloved granddaughter was killed in a car accident. A lifelong chain smoker, Capp died in 1979 from emphysema at his home in South Hampton, New Hampshire. Capp is buried in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Engraved on his headstone is a stanza from Thomas Gray: The plowman homeward plods his weary way / And leaves the world to darkness and to me (from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, 1751). Legacy "Neither the strip's shifting political leanings nor the slide of its final few years had any bearing on its status as a classic; and in 1995, it was recognized as such by the U.S. Postal Service", according to Toonopedia. Li'l Abner was one of 20 American comic strips included in the Comic Strip Classics series of USPS commemorative stamps. Al Capp, an inductee into the National Cartoon Museum (formerly the International Museum of Cartoon Art), is one of only 31 artists selected to their Hall of Fame. Capp was also inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2004. Sadie Hawkins Day and double whammy are two terms attributed to Al Capp that have entered the English language. Other, less ubiquitous Cappisms include skunk works and Lower Slobbovia. The term shmoo also has entered the lexicon, defining highly technical concepts in no fewer than four separate fields of science, including the variations shmooing (a microbiological term for the "budding" process in yeast reproduction), and shmoo plot (a technical term in the field of electrical engineering). In socioeconomics, a "shmoo" refers to any generic kind of good that reproduces itself, (as opposed to "widgets" which require resources and active production). In the field of particle physics, "shmoo" refers to a high energy survey instrument, as used at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to capture subatomic cosmic ray particles emitted from the Cygnus X-3 constellation. Capp also had a knack for popularizing certain uncommon terms, such as druthers, schmooze, and nogoodnik, neatnik, etc. In his book The American Language, H.L. Mencken credits the postwar mania for adding "-nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns as beginning—not with beatnik or Sputnik—but earlier, in the pages of Li'l Abner. Al Capp's life and career are the subjects of a new life-sized mural commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth. Created by resident artist Jon P. Mooers, the mural was unveiled in downtown Amesbury on May 15, 2010. According to the Boston Globe (as reported on May 18, 2010), the town has renamed its amphitheater in the artist's honor, and is looking to develop an Al Capp Museum. Capp is also the subject of an upcoming WNET-TV American Masters documentary, The Life and Times of Al Capp, produced by his granddaughter, independent filmmaker Caitlin Manning. Since his death in 1979, Al Capp and his work have been the subject of more than 40 books, including three biographies. Underground cartoonist and Li'l Abner expert Denis Kitchen has published, co-published, edited, or otherwise served as consultant on nearly all of them. Kitchen is currently compiling a biographical monograph on Al Capp. At the San Diego Comic Con in July 2009, IDW announced the upcoming publication of Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays as part of their ongoing The Library of American Comics series. The comprehensive series, a reprinting of the entire 43-year history of Li'l Abner, spanning a projected 20 volumes, began on April 7, 2010. Notes Further reading Capp, Al, Li'l Abner in New York (1936) Whitman Publishing Capp, Al, Li'l Abner Among the Millionaires (1939) Whitman Publishing Capp, Al, Li'l Abner and Sadie Hawkins Day (1940) Saalfield Publishing Capp, Al, Li'l Abner and the Ratfields (1940) Saalfield Publishing Sheridan, Martin, Comics and Their Creators (1942) R.T. Hale & Co, (1977) Hyperion Press Waugh, Coulton, The Comics (1947) Macmillan Publishers Capp, Al, Newsweek Magazine (November 24, 1947) "Li'l Abner's Mad Capp" Capp, Al, Saturday Review of Literature (March 20, 1948) "The Case for the Comics" Capp, Al, The Life and Times of the Shmoo (1948) Simon & Schuster Capp, Al, The Nation (March 21, 1949) "There Is a Real Shmoo" Capp, Al, Cosmopolitan Magazine (June 1949) "I Don't Like Shmoos" Capp, Al, Atlantic Monthly (April 1950) "I Remember Monster" Capp, Al, Time Magazine (November 6, 1950) "Die Monstersinger" Capp, Al, Life Magazine (March 31, 1952) "It's Hideously True!!..." Capp, Al, Real Magazine (December 1952) "The REAL Powers in America" Capp, Al, The World of Li'l Abner (1953) Farrar, Straus & Young Leifer, Fred, The Li'l Abner Official Square Dance Handbook (1953) A.S. Barnes Mikes, George, Eight Humorists (1954) Allen Wingate, (1977) Arden Library Lehrer, Tom, The Tom Lehrer Song Book, introduction by Al Capp (1954) Crown Publishers Capp, Al, Al Capp's Fearless Fosdick: His Life and Deaths (1956) Simon & Schuster Capp, Al, Al Capp's Bald Iggle: The Life it Ruins May Be Your Own (1956) Simon & Schuster Capp, Al, et al. Famous Artists Cartoon Course – 3 volumes (1956) Famous Artists School Capp, Al, Life Magazine (January 14, 1957) "The Dogpatch Saga: Al Capp's Own Story" Brodbeck, Arthur J, et al. "How to Read Li'l Abner Intelligently" from Mass Culture: Popular Arts in America, pp. 218–224 (1957) Free Press Capp, Al, The Return of the Shmoo (1959) Simon & Schuster Hart, Johnny, Back to B.C., introduction by Al Capp (1961) Fawcett Publications Lazarus, Mell, Miss Peach, introduction by Al Capp (1962) Pyramid Books Gross, Milt, He Done Her Wrong, introduction by Al Capp (1963 Ed.) Dell Books White, David Manning, and Robert H. Abel, eds. The Funnies: An American Idiom (1963) Free Press White, David Manning, ed. From Dogpatch to Slobbovia: The (Gasp!) World of Li'l Abner (1964) Beacon Press Capp, Al, Life International Magazine (June 14, 1965) "My Life as an Immortal Myth" Toffler, Alvin, Playboy Magazine (December 1965) interview with Al Capp, pp. 89–100 Moger, Art, et al. Chutzpah Is, introduction by Al Capp (1966) Colony Publishers Berger, Arthur Asa, Li'l Abner: A Study in American Satire (1969) Twayne Publishers, (1994) Univ. Press of Mississippi Sugar, Andy, Saga Magazine (December 1969) "On the Campus Firing Line with Al Capp" Gray, Harold, Arf! The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie, introduction by Al Capp (1970) Arlington House Moger, Art, Some of My Best Friends are People, introduction by Al Capp (1970) Directors Press Capp, Al, The Hardhat's Bedtime Story Book (1971) Harper & Row Robinson, Jerry, The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art (1974) G.P. Putnam's Sons Horn, Maurice, The World Encyclopedia of Comics (1976) Chelsea House, (1982) Avon Blackbeard, Bill, ed. The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics (1977) Smithsonian Inst. Press/Harry Abrams Marschall, Rick, Cartoonist PROfiles No. 37 (March 1978) interview with Al Capp Capp, Al, The Best of Li'l Abner (1978) Holt, Rinehart & Winston Lardner, Ring, You Know Me Al: The Comic Strip Adventures of Jack Keefe, introduction by Al Capp (1979) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Van Buren, Raeburn, Abbie an' Slats – 2 volumes (1983) Ken Pierce Books Capp, Al, Li'l Abner: Reuben Award Winner Series Book 1 (1985) Blackthorne Marschall, Rick, Nemo, the Classic Comics Library No. 18, pp. 3–32 (April 1986) Capp, Al, Li'l Abner Dailies – 27 volumes (1988–1999) Kitchen Sink Press Marschall, Rick, America's Great Comic Strip Artists (1989) Abbeville Press Capp, Al, Fearless Fosdick (1990) Kitchen Sink Capp, Al, My Well-Balanced Life on a Wooden Leg (1991) John Daniel & Co. Capp, Al, Fearless Fosdick: The Hole Story (1992) Kitchen Sink Goldstein, Kalman, "Al Capp and Walt Kelly: Pioneers of Political and Social Satire in the Comics" from Journal of Popular Culture; Vol. 25, Issue 4 (Spring 1992) Caplin, Elliot, Al Capp Remembered (1994) Bowling Green State University Theroux, Alexander, The Enigma of Al Capp (1999) Fantagraphics Books Lubbers, Bob, Glamour International #26: The Good Girl Art of Bob Lubbers (May 2001) Capp, Al, The Short Life and Happy Times of the Shmoo (2002) Overlook Press Capp, Al, Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years – 4 volumes (2003–2004) Dark Horse Comics Al Capp Studios, Al Capp's Complete Shmoo: The Comic Books (2008) Dark Horse Capp, Al, Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays Vol. 1 – Vol. x(ongoing) (2010–present) The Library of American Comics Capp, Al, Al Capp's Complete Shmoo Vol. 2: The Newspaper Strips (2011) Dark Horse Inge, M. Thomas, "Li'l Abner, Snuffy and Friends" from Comics and the U.S. South, pp. 3–27 (2012) Univ. Press of Mississippi Kitchen, Denis, and Michael Schumacher, Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary (2013) Bloomsbury Publishing External links Li'l Abner official site Denis Kitchen biography: Al Capp Animation Resources: Al Capp part I Animation Resources: Al Capp part II Animation Resources: Al Capp part III Animation Resources: Al Capp part IV Animation Resources: Al Capp part V Al Capp Deserves a Tribute (Newburyport News, 28 Sept. 2009) Dogpatch USA amusement park. The Dogpatch Family Band Mechanical Toy Dogpatch and Li'l Abner on Broadway in Life, January 14, 1957, pp. 71–83 Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database 1909 births 1979 deaths American amputees American comic strip cartoonists American parodists American satirists 20th-century American writers 20th-century American Jews Deaths from emphysema American people of Latvian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Inkpot Award winners Jewish American artists Jewish American writers Artists from Bridgeport, Connecticut Artists from New Haven, Connecticut School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni Reuben Award winners Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees Comedians from Connecticut Obscenity controversies in comics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska%20Native%20Claims%20Settlement%20Act

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in Alaska, as well as to stimulate economic development throughout Alaska. The settlement established Alaska Native claims to the land by transferring titles to twelve Alaska Native regional corporations and over 200 local village corporations. A thirteenth regional corporation was later created for Alaska Natives who no longer resided in Alaska. The act is codified as 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. Background When Alaska became a state in 1959, section 4 of the Alaska Statehood Act provided that any existing Alaska Native land claims would be unaffected by statehood and held in status quo. Yet while section 4 of the act preserved Native land claims until later settlement, section 6 allowed for the state government to claim lands deemed vacant. Section 6 granted the state of Alaska the right to select lands then in the hands of the federal government, with the exception of Native territory. As a result, nearly from the public domain would eventually be transferred to the state. The state government also attempted to acquire lands under section 6 of the Statehood Act that were subject to Native claims under section 4, and that were currently occupied and used by Alaska Natives. The federal Bureau of Land Management began to process the Alaska government's selections without taking into account the Native claims and without informing the affected Native groups. It was against this backdrop that the original language for a land claims settlement was developed. A 9.2-magnitude earthquake struck the state in 1964. Recovery efforts drew the attention of the federal government. The Federal Field Committee for Development Planning in Alaska decided that Natives should receive $100 million and 10% of revenue as a royalty. Nothing was done with this proposal, however, and a freeze on land transfers remained in effect. In 1966, Emil Notti called for a statewide meeting inviting numerous leaders around Alaska to gather and create the first meeting of a committee. The historic meeting was held October 18, 1966 - on the 99th anniversary of the transfer of Alaska from Russia. Notti presided over the three-day conference as it discussed matters of land recommendations, claims committee's, and political challenges the act would have getting through congress. Many respected politicians and businessmen attended the meeting and delegates were astonished at the attention which they received from well-known political figures of the state. The growing presence and political importance of Natives was evidenced when association leaders were elected to the legislature. Members of the associated gathered and were able to gain seven of the sixty seats in the legislature. When the group met a second time early in 1967, it emerged with a new name, The Alaska Federation of Natives, and a new full-time President, Notti. AFN changed the human rights and economic stability of the Alaska Native population forever. In 1967, Governor Walter Hickel summoned a group of Indigenous leaders and politicians to work out a settlement that would be satisfactory to Natives. The group met for ten days and asked for $20 million in exchange for requested lands. Among the other task force proposals were an outright grant of 1,000 acres per native village resident; a revenue-sharing program for state land claims and national mineral development projects; secured hunting and fishing rights on public lands; and a Native Commission to administrate state and federal compliance with the provisions of the claims settlement. They proposed receiving 10% of federal mineral lease revenue for ten years, once the freeze which had been placed on land patents to allow oil exploration was lifted. In 1968, the Atlantic-Richfield Company discovered oil at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast, catapulting the issue of land ownership into headlines. In order to lessen the difficulty of drilling at such a remote location and transporting the oil to the lower 48 states, the oil companies proposed building a pipeline to carry the oil across Alaska to the port of Valdez At Valdez, the oil would be loaded onto tankers and shipped to the contiguous states. The plan had been approved, but a permit to construct the pipeline, which would cross lands involved in the land claims dispute, could not be granted until the Native claims were settled. Hearings were held for the first time before the United States House's Subcommittee on Indian Affairs in July 1968. Among those who attended the hearings were officials and legislators, as well as Laura Bergt, Roger Connor, Thoda Forslund, Cliff Groh, Barry Jackson, Flore Lekanof, Notti, and Morris Thompson. In 1969, President Nixon appointed Hickel as Secretary of the Interior. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) protested against Hickel's nomination, but he was eventually confirmed. He worked with the AFN, negotiating with Native leaders and state government over the disputed lands. Offers went back and forth, with each rejecting the other's proposals. The AFN wanted rights to land, while then-Governor Keith Miller believed Natives did not have legitimate claims to state land in light of the provisions of the Alaska Statehood Act. On July 8, 1970, Nixon delivered a speech reversing the Indian termination policy in favor of allowing tribal self-determination. The following month, he established the National Council on Indian Opportunity, headed by Vice President Spiro Agnew, which included eight Native leaders: Frank Belvin (Choctaw), Bergt (Iñupiat), Betty Mae Jumper (Seminole), Earl Old Person (Blackfeet), John C. Rainer (Taos Pueblo), Martin Seneca, Jr. (Seneca), Harold Shunk (Yankton-Sioux), and Joseph C. "Lone Eagle" Vasquez (Apache-Sioux). During the state administration of Governor William A. Egan positions were staked out upon which the AFN and other stakeholders could largely agree. Native leaders, in addition to Alaska's congressional delegation and the state's newly elected Governor Egan, eventually reached the basis for presenting an agreement to Congress. Bergt attended a March 1971 conference of the National Congress of American Indians in Kansas City, Missouri and was able to persuade Agnew there to meet with national officials, herself, Christiansen, an Alaska State Senator; Al Ketzler, chair of the Tanana Chiefs Conference; and Don Wright, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives a week later. That meeting held on March 12, marked a turning-point in negotiations with the various parties. The proposed settlement terms faced challenges in both houses but found a strong ally in Senator Henry M. Jackson from Washington state. The most controversial issues that continued to hold up approval were methods for determining land selection by Alaska Natives and financial distribution. With major petroleum dollars on the line, pressure mounted to achieve a definitive legislative resolution at the federal level. In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was signed into law by President Nixon. It abrogated Native claims to aboriginal lands except those that are the subject of the law. In return, Natives retained up to of land and were paid $963 million. The land and money were to be divided among regional, urban, and village tribal corporations established under the law, often recognizing existing leadership. Alaskan officials were originally divided on the bill, though by 1970, with Interior Secretary Walter Hickel, Governor William Egan, Representative Nick Begich & Senators Ted Stevens & Mike Gravel all backing the bill, the opposition died down. Stevens was particularly strongminded, and was key in the bill's passage. Stevens, a freshman Senator for most of the fight, would later remark: "ANCSA was my baptism of fire as a Senator from Alaska…. It didn’t occur to me that some Senators had the opportunity to ease into their jobs. Life in the Senate for me was fast-paced from the beginning…. With my experience working in the Department of the Interior and with the Statehood Act, and my faith in the determination and unity of purpose of Alaska’s Native people, I believed from the beginning that a settlement could be achieved…. My memories of the Congressional action as ANCSA took shape aren’t of a battle as much as they are of long hours of tough, hard negotiating, often two steps forward and one step back…" Effect of land conveyances In 1971, barely one million acres of land in Alaska were in private hands. ANCSA, together with section 6 of Alaska Statehood Act, which the new act allowed to come to fruition, affected ownership to about of land in Alaska once wholly controlled by the federal government. That is larger by than the combined areas of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. When the bill passed in 1971, it included provisions that had never before been attempted in previous United States settlements with Native Americans. The newly passed Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act created twelve Native regional economic development corporations. Each corporation was associated with a specific region of Alaska and the Natives who had traditionally lived there. This innovative approach to native settlements engaged the tribes in corporate capitalism. The idea originated with the AFN, who believed that the Natives would have to become a part of the capitalist system in order to survive. As stockholders in these corporations, the Natives could earn some income and stay in their traditional villages. If the corporations were managed properly, they could make profits that would enable individuals to stay, rather than having to leave Native villages to find better work. This was intended to help preserve Native culture. Native and state land selection Alaska Natives had three years from passage of ANCSA to make land selections of the granted under the act. In some cases Native corporations received outside aid in surveying the land. For instance, Doyon, Limited (one of the 13 regional corporations) was helped by the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska. The Institute determined which land contained resources such as minerals and coal. NASA similarly provided satellite imagery to aid in Native corporations finding areas most suited for vegetation and their traditional subsistence culture. The imagery showed locations of caribou and moose, as well as forests with marketable timber. In total about were analyzed for Doyon. Natives were able to choose tens of thousands of acres of land rich with timber while Doyon used mineral analysis to attract businesses. The state of Alaska to date has been granted approximately 85% or of the land claims it has made under ANCSA. The state is entitled to a total of under the terms of the Statehood Act. Originally the state had 25 years after passage of the Alaska Statehood Act to file claims under section 6 of the act with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Amendments to ANCSA extended that deadline until 1994, with the expectation that BLM would complete processing of land transfers subject to overlapping Native claims by 2009. Nonetheless, some Native and state selections under ANCSA remained unresolved as late as December 2014. Criticism of ANCSA There was largely positive reaction to ANCSA, although not entirely. The act was supported by Natives as well as non-Natives, and likewise enjoyed bipartisan support. Natives were heavily involved in the legislative process, and the final draft of the act used many AFN ideas. Some Natives have argued that ANCSA has hastened cultural genocide of Alaska Natives. Some Natives critiqued ANCSA as an illegitimate treaty since only tribal leaders were involved and the provisions of the act were not voted on by indigenous populations. One native described it as a social and political experiment. Critics have also argued that Natives so feared massacre or incarceration that they offered no resistance to the act. Others have argued that the settlement was arguably the most generous afforded by the United States to a Native group. They note that some of the largest and most profitable corporations in the state are the twelve created by ANCSA. Other critics attacked the act as "Native welfare" and such complaints continue to be expressed. The corporation system has been critiqued, as in some cases stockholders have sold land to outside corporations that have leveled forests and extracted minerals. But supporters of the system argue that it has provided economic benefits for indigenous peoples that outweigh these problems. Selected provisions of ANCSA Native claims in Alaska were extinguished by means of section 4 of ANCSA. In exchange for abrogating Native claims, approximately one-ninth of the state's land plus $962.5 million were distributed to more than 200 local Alaska Native "village corporations" established under section 8, in addition to 12 land-owning for-profit Alaska Native "regional corporations" and a non-land-owning thirteenth corporation for Alaska Natives who had left the state established under section 6. Of the compensation monies, $462.5 million was to come from the federal treasury and the rest from oil revenue-sharing. Settlement benefits would accrue to those with at least one-fourth Native ancestry under sections 3(b) and 5(a). Of the approximately 80,000 Natives enrolled under ANCSA, those living in villages (approximately two-thirds of the total) would receive 100 shares in both a village and a regional corporation. The remaining one-third would be "at large" shareholders with 100 shares in a regional corporation with additional rights to revenue from regional mineral and timber resources. The Alaska Native Allotment Act was revoked but with the proviso that pending claims under that act would continue to be processed under section 18. Successful applicants would be excluded under ANCSA by section 14(h)(5) from land to be used for a primary residence. The twelve regional corporations within the state would administer the settlement. A thirteenth corporation composed of Natives who had left the state would receive compensation but not land. Surface rights to were patented to the Native village and regional corporations under sections 12(c), as well as 14(h)(1) and (8). The surface rights to the patented land were granted to the village corporations and the subsurface right to the land were granted to the regional corporation, creating a split estate pursuant to section 14(f). Alaska Native regional corporations The following thirteen regional corporations were created under ANCSA: Ahtna, Incorporated The Aleut Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation Bristol Bay Native Corporation Calista Corporation Chugach Alaska Corporation Cook Inlet Region, Inc. Doyon, Limited Koniag, Incorporated NANA Regional Corporation Sealaska Corporation The 13th Regional Corporation Additionally, most regions and some villages have created their own nonprofits providing social services and health care through grant funding and federal compacts. The objectives of these nonprofits are varied, but focus generally on cultural and educational activities. These include scholarships for Native students, sponsorship of cultural and artistic events, preservation efforts for Native languages, and protection of sites with historic or religious importance. Alaska Native village and urban corporations ANCSA created about 224 village and urban corporations. Below is a representative list of village and urban corporations created under ANCSA: Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation, village corporation for Utqiaġvik Bethel Native Corporation, village corporation for Bethel Cape Fox Corporation, village corporation for Saxman Deloycheet, Inc., village corporation for Holy Cross Huna Totem Corporation, village corporation for Hoonah Haida Corporation, village corporation for Hydaburg Goldbelt, Inc., urban corporation for Juneau Paug-Vik, Inc. Ltd., village corporation for Naknek Chenega Corporation, village corporation for Chenega Afognak Native Corporation, village corporation for Afognak and Port Lions Kavilco Incorporated, village corporation for Kasaan Klukwan, Inc., village corporation for Klukwan The Kuskokwim Corporation , village corporation for Aniak, Crooked Creek, Georgetown, Kalskag, Lower Kalskag, Napaimute, Red Devil, Russian Mission, Sleetmute and Stony River Natives of Kodiak, Inc., urban corporation for Kodiak Ounalashka Corporation, village corporation for Unalaska Ouzinkie Native Corporation, village corporation for Ouzinkie Shee Atika, Incorporated, urban corporation for Sitka See also Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act Alaska Statehood Act Alaska Native Allotment Act Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act Emil Notti Notes References Bibliography Borneman, Walter R. Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land. Harper Perennial. (2004) Dombrowski, Kirk. Against Culture: Development, Politics, and Religion in Indian Alaska U of Nebraska Press. (2001) Haycox, Stephen. Alaska: An American Colony. University of Washington Press. (2006) Haycox, Stephen. Frigid Embrace: Politics, Economics, and Environment in Alaska Oregon University Press. (2002) Haynes, James B. "Land Selection and Development under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act," Arctic Institute of North America, Vol. 28–3, pp. 201–208 (September 1975) Linxwiler, James D. "The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: The First Twenty Years," Proceedings from the 38th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute. (1992) Roderick, Libby. Alaska Native Cultures and Issues: Responses to Frequently Asked Questions. University of Alaska Press. (2010) Williams, Maria Sháa Tláa. The Alaska Native Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. (2009). Worl, Rosita. "Reconstructing Sovereignty in Alaska," Cultural Survival Quarterly. (Fall 2001) Further reading Arnold, Robert D. Alaska Native Land Claims, (Alaska Native Foundation 1978). Berry, Mary Clay. The Alaska Pipeline: The Politics of Oil and Native Land Claims, (Indiana University Press 1975). Berger, Thomas R. Village Journey: The Report of the Alaska Native Review Commission, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1985). Case, David S. Alaska Natives and American Laws, (University of Alaska Press 3d ed. 2012) GAO Report: Increased Use of Alaska Native Corporations’ Special 8(a) Provisions Calls for Tailored Oversight (April 2006) Kentch, Gavin. "A Corporate Culture? The Environmental Justice Challenges of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act". 81 Miss. L.J. 813 (2012) Lazarus, Arthur Jr. "The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: A Flawed Victory," Law and Contemporary Problems. (Winter 1976) London, J. Tate. "The "1991 Amendments" to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: Protection for Native Lands?", 8 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 200. (1989) Mitchell, Donald Craig. Sold American: The Story of Alaska Natives and Their Land, 1867-1959, (University of Alaska Press 2003). Mitchell, Donald Craig. Take My Land Take My Life: The Story of Congress's Historic Settlement of Alaska Native Land Claims, 1960-1971, (University of Alaska Press 2001). Morgan, Lael. Art and Eskimo Power: The Life and Times of Alaskan Howard Rock, (Epicenter Press 1988). Senungetuk, Joseph E. Give or Take a Century: An Eskimo Chronicle, (The Indian Historian Press 1971). "Settling the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act", 38 Stan. L. Rev. 227 (1985). External links The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Resource Center Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act of 1971 Revisiting the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Alaska Native Corporation Links United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes 1971 in Alaska 1971 in American law 91st United States Congress

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoptionism

Adoptionism

Adoptionism, also called dynamic monarchianism, is an early Christian nontrinitarian theological doctrine, which holds that Jesus was adopted as the Son of God at his baptism, his resurrection, or his ascension. How common adoptionist views were among early Christians is debated, but it appears to have been most popular in the first, second, and third centuries. Some scholars see adoptionism as the belief of the earliest followers of Jesus, based on the epistles of Paul and other early literature. However, adoptionist views sharply declined in prominence in the fourth and fifth centuries, as Church leaders condemned it as a heresy. Definition Adoptionism is one of two main forms of monarchianism (the other being modalism, which considers God to be one while working through the different "modes" or "manifestations" of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, without limiting his modes or manifestations). Adoptionism denies the eternal pre-existence of Christ, and although it explicitly affirms his deity subsequent to events in his life, many classical trinitarians claim that the doctrine implicitly denies it by denying the constant hypostatic union of the eternal Logos to the human nature of Jesus. Under adoptionism, Jesus is divine and has been since his adoption, although he is not equal to the Father, per "my Father is greater than I" and as such is a kind of subordinationism. Adoptionism is sometimes, but not always, related to denial of the virgin birth of Jesus. History Early Christianity Adoptionism and high Christology Bart Ehrman holds that the New Testament writings contain two different Christologies, namely a "low" or adoptionist Christology, and a "high" or "incarnation Christology." The "low Christology" or "adoptionist Christology" is the belief "that God exalted Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead," thereby raising him to "divine status." The other early Christology is "high Christology," which is "the view that Jesus was a pre-existent divine being who became a human, did the Father's will on earth, and then was taken back up into heaven whence he had originally come," and from where he appeared on earth. The chronology of the development of these early Christologies is a matter of debate within contemporary scholarship. According to the "evolutionary model" or evolutionary theories proposed by Bousset, followed by Brown, the Christological understanding of Christ developed over time, from a low Christology to a high Christology, as witnessed in the Gospels. According to the evolutionary model, the earliest Christians believed that Jesus was a human who was exalted, and thus adopted as God's Son, when he was resurrected, signaling the nearness of the Kingdom of God, when all dead would be resurrected and the righteous exalted. Adoptionist concepts can be found in the Gospel of Mark. As Daniel Johansson notes, a majority consensus holds Mark's Jesus as "an exalted, but merely human figure", especially when read in the apparent context of Jewish beliefs. Later beliefs shifted the exaltation to his baptism, birth, and subsequently to the idea of his eternal existence, as witnessed in the Gospel of John. Mark shifted the moment of when Jesus became the son to the baptism of Jesus, and later still Matthew and Luke shifted it to the moment of the divine conception, and finally John declared that Jesus had been with God from the beginning: "In the beginning was the Word". One notable passage that may have been cited by early adoptionists was what exactly God said at Jesus's baptism; three different versions are recorded. One of them, found in the Codex Bezae version of Luke 3:22, is "You are my son; today I have begotten you." This seems to be quoted in Acts 13:32–33 as well (in all manuscripts, not just Bezae). Quotes from second and third century Christian writers almost always use this variant as well, with many fourth and fifth century writers continuing to use it, if occasionally with embarrassment; Augustine cites the line, for example, but clarifies God meant an eternal "today". Ehrman speculates that Orthodox scribes of the fourth and fifth century changed the passage in Luke to align with the version in Mark as a defense against adoptionists citing the passage in their favor. Since the 1970s, the late datings for the development of a "high Christology" have been contested, and a majority of scholars argue that this "high Christology" existed already before the writings of Paul. This "incarnation Christology" or "high Christology" did not evolve over a longer time, but was a "big bang" of ideas which were already present at the start of Christianity, and took further shape in the first few decades of the church, as witnessed in the writings of Paul. According to Ehrman, these two Christologies existed alongside each other, calling the "low Christology" an "adoptionist Christology, and "the "high Christology" an "incarnation Christology." New Testamental epistles Adoptionist theology may also be reflected in canonical epistles, the earliest of which pre-date the writing of the gospels. The letters of Paul the Apostle, for example, do not mention a virgin birth of Christ. Paul describes Jesus as "born of a woman, born under the law" and "as to his human nature was a descendant of David" in the Epistle to the Galatians and the Epistle to the Romans. Christian interpreters, however, take his statements in Philippians 2 to imply that Paul believed Jesus to have existed as equal to God before his incarnation. Shepherd of Hermas The 2nd-century work Shepherd of Hermas may also have taught that Jesus was a virtuous man filled with the Holy Spirit and adopted as the Son. While the Shepherd of Hermas was popular and sometimes bound with the canonical scriptures, it did not retain canonical status, if it ever had it. Theodotus of Byzantium Theodotus of Byzantium ( late 2nd century), a Valentinian Gnostic, was the most prominent exponent of adoptionism. According to Hippolytus of Rome (Philosophumena, VII, xxiii) Theodotus taught that Jesus was a man born of a virgin, according to the Council of Jerusalem, that he lived like other men, and was most pious. At his baptism in the Jordan the "Christ" came down upon the man Jesus, in the likeness of a dove (Philosophumena, VII, xxiii), but Jesus was not himself God until after his resurrection. Adoptionism was declared heresy at the end of the 3rd century and was rejected by the Synods of Antioch and the First Council of Nicaea, which defined the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and identified the man Jesus with the eternally begotten Son or Word of God in the Nicene Creed. The belief was also declared heretical by Pope Victor I. Ebionites Adoptionism was also adhered to by the Jewish Christians known as Ebionites, who, according to Epiphanius in the 4th century, believed that Jesus was chosen on account of his sinless devotion to the will of God. The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era. They show strong similarities with the earliest form of Jewish Christianity, and their specific theology may have been a "reaction to the law-free Gentile mission." They regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and his virgin birth, and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites. They used the Gospel of the Ebionites, one of the Jewish–Christian gospels; the Hebrew Book of Matthew starting at chapter 3; revered James the brother of Jesus (James the Just); and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law. Their name (, derived from the Hebrew , meaning or ) suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty. Distinctive features of the Gospel of the Ebionites include the absence of the virgin birth and of the genealogy of Jesus; an Adoptionist Christology, in which Jesus is chosen to be God's Son at the time of his Baptism; the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices by Jesus; and an advocacy of vegetarianism. Spanish Adoptionism Spanish Adoptionism was a theological position which was articulated in Umayyad and Christian-held regions of the Iberian peninsula in the 8th and 9th centuries. The issue seems to have begun with the claim of archbishop Elipandus of Toledo that – in respect to his human nature – Christ was adoptive Son of God. Another leading advocate of this Christology was Felix of Urgel. In Spain, adoptionism was opposed by Beatus of Liebana, and in the Carolingian territories, the Adoptionist position was condemned by Pope Hadrian I, Alcuin of York, Agobard, and officially in Carolingian territory by the Council of Frankfurt (794). Despite the shared name of "adoptionism" the Spanish Adoptionist Christology appears to have differed sharply from the adoptionism of early Christianity. Spanish advocates predicated the term of Christ only in respect to his humanity; once the divine Son "emptied himself" of divinity and "took the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7), Christ's human nature was "adopted" as divine. Historically, many scholars have followed the Adoptionists' Carolingian opponents in labeling Spanish Adoptionism as a minor revival of "Nestorian" Christology. John C. Cavadini has challenged this notion by attempting to take the Spanish Christology in its own Spanish/North African context in his study, The Last Christology of the West: Adoptionism in Spain and Gaul, 785–820. Scholastic Neo-adoptionism A third wave was the revived form ("Neo-adoptionism") of Peter Abelard in the 12th century. Later, various modified and qualified Adoptionist tenets emerged from some theologians in the 14th century. Duns Scotus (1300) and Durandus of Saint-Pourçain (1320) admit the term in a qualified sense. In more recent times the Jesuit Gabriel Vásquez, and the Lutheran divines Georgius Calixtus and Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch, have defended adoptionism as essentially orthodox. Modern adoptionist groups A form of adoptionism surfaced in Unitarianism during the 18th century as denial of the virgin birth became increasingly common, led by the views of Joseph Priestley and others. A similar form of adoptionism was expressed in the writings of James Strang, a Latter Day Saint leader who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) after the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. In his Book of the Law of the Lord, a purported work of ancient scripture found and translated by Strang, he offers an essay entitled "Note on the Sacrifice of Christ" in which he explains his unique (for Mormonism as a whole) doctrines on the subject. Jesus Christ, said Strang, was the natural-born son of Mary and Joseph, who was chosen from before all time to be the Savior of mankind, but who had to be born as an ordinary mortal of two human parents (rather than being begotten by the Father or the Holy Spirit) to be able to truly fulfill his Messianic role. Strang claimed that the earthly Christ was in essence "adopted" as God's son at birth, and fully revealed as such during the Transfiguration. After proving himself to God by living a perfectly sinless life, he was enabled to provide an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of men, prior to his resurrection and ascension. See also Adoptivi Arianism Binitarianism Notes References Sources Printed sources Philip Schaff History of the Christian Church, Volume IV, 1882. (6th German edition, translated by George Ogg) Web sources External links Adoptionism in Catholic Encyclopedia Adoptionism in Christian Cyclopedia Chapter XI. Doctrinal Controversies, from Philip Schaff's History of the Christian Church Nontrinitarianism Christian terminology Heresy in ancient Christianity Adoption and religion Nature of Jesus Christ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoba%C3%A7a%2C%20Portugal

Alcobaça, Portugal

Alcobaça () is a Portuguese city and municipality in the Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura, and in the Leiria District. The city grew along the valleys of the rivers Alcoa and Baça, from which it derives its name. The municipality population in 2011 was 56,693, in an area of . The city proper has a population of 15,800 inhabitants. The city of Alcobaça became notable after the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, decided to build a church to commemorate the Conquest of Santarém from the Moors in 1147. The church later evolved into the Monastery of Alcobaça, one of the most magnificent gothic monuments in the country. In the church are the tombs of Pedro I of Portugal and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro. Over the centuries this monastery played an important role in shaping Portuguese culture. A few kilometers to the north of Alcobaça is the Monastery of Batalha, another gothic building constructed in memory of a different important battle, that of Aljubarrota. To the west of Alcobaça is the fishing village of Nazaré, now a popular resort town. To the south is the city of Caldas da Rainha and the medieval town of Óbidos. Also to the northeast is the town of Porto de Mós with its rebuilt castle. History A town that only became notable in the 12th century when it was chosen as the future site of Portugal's largest church. In March 1147, the fledgling King Dom Afonso Henriques, defeated the Moors by capturing the city of Santarém. As a tribute to his victory he vowed to build a magnificent home for the Order of Cistercians. It took another 76 years before this task was completed. The monarchy continued to carry out further construction and 60 years later King Dinis built the main cloister. The Monastery was consecrated in 1262. The church contains the tombs of Pedro I of Portugal and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro and with it the story of the tragic liaison between Pedro and Inês. Forced at an early age as a royal duty, he was to marry Constanza, the Infanta (Princess) of Castile, but died shortly after the marriage. Dom Pedro escape with his true love and later lived in the city of Coimbra. His father, King Afonso IV, believing that the family of Inês was a threat to his own kingdom had her murdered. Shortly after the death of his father Dom Pedro declared that he had married Inês in a prior secret ceremony in Bragança, and promptly took a gruesome revenge on the killers and exhumed her body. He presented the embalmed corpse at the court with a crown on her head and demanded that all his courtiers kneel and individually pay homage to her decomposed hand. Today, their ornate tombs face each other so that on Judgment Day his first sight would be of his beloved Inês. During the following centuries the monks from this monastery had a major influence on the development of Portuguese culture. Notably, in 1269 they were the first to give public lessons to their flock, and later they produced the first authoritative history on Portugal in a series of books. In 1810 the invading French pillaged the Abbey taking with them most of its most important treasures, including the noteworthy library. The items that remained were later stolen in 1834 during an anti-clerical riot and the banning of the religious Orders in Portugal. Climate Alcobaça has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen:Csb) with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Parishes Administratively, the municipality is divided into 13 civil parishes (freguesias): Alcobaça e Vestiaria Alfeizerão Aljubarrota Bárrio Benedita Cela Coz, Alpedriz e Montes Évora de Alcobaça Maiorga Pataias e Martingança São Martinho do Porto Turquel Vimeiro City information The main feature of the city is essentially the monastery that proudly presents a long and sombre façade with 18th-century embellishments. This austerity is further emphasized in the cloisters with its apt name of "Cloister of Silence". In contrast within the Abbey is the massive kitchen with a running stream specially diverted to pass through as a supply of fresh water. The open area of the kitchen chimney is large enough to take a whole ox for roasting. The surround to the sacristy doorway is an outstanding example of Manueline decoration. In 1794, Lord Beckford visited the Abbey and commented that he found some 300 monks "living in a very splendid manner"! Nearby locations A few kilometers to the north of Alcobaça is another wondrous building constructed in memory of a different important battle, that of Aljubarrota in 1385, when King John I of Portugal defeated the Castilians and ensuring two hundred years of independence from the Castilian invaders. The construction of the Abbey at Batalha commenced in 1388 and was added to by various Portuguese Kings over these next two centuries. To the east of Batalha is the world-famous location of Fátima and a point of pilgrimage for the Roman Catholic religion due to the vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917 by three young children whilst tending their flock. To the west of Alcobaça is the well-known fishing village of Nazaré. Today, the village is now a small town and a popular holiday resort with most of its past and traditions having rapidly evaporated in the course of time. A very successful Portuguese feature film was made in the early 20th century that dramatically captured the primitive and dangerous life of these fishermen. Stoutly Catholic, the inhabitants have retained some of their past as can be still seen in their own particular style of costume. To the south is Caldas da Rainha and the quaint medieval town of Óbidos that is an attraction for any tourists that enjoys a true glimpse of the past. Also to the south is the town of Porto de Mós with its fanciful rebuilt castle. This town borders the Nature Reserve Parque Natural das Serras de Aire e Candeeiros. These 390 square kilometres of limestone-covered landscape is also known for its caverns. The best known being the Grutas de Mira de Aire can be visited and consists of tunnels, caverns with stalactites, stalagmites, lakes, and a music and light finale. Major events Market days – Every Monday Carnaval de Alcobaça – February/March Cistermúsica – classical music festival – June / July Saint Bernard's fair – August 20 Municipal holiday – August 20 Marionetas na Cidade – puppetry festival – mid-October Saint Simon's fair – 4th week of October International display of Sweets and Conventual Liqueurs – November Notable people from Alcobaça Joaquim Ferreira Bogalho (1889–1977) the 20th president of S.L. Benfica Virgínia Vitorino, (Wiki PT) (1895-1967) a teacher, poet and playwright. Joaquim Vieira de Natividade, (Wiki PT) (1899-1968) an agricultural engineer José Aurélio, (Wiki PT) (born 1938) a sculptor, works in stone, wood and bronze João Lourenço (born 1942) a former footballer with 207 club caps Alberto Costa (born 1947) politician, Minister of Justice, 2005-2009. João Traquina (born 1988) a Portuguese footballer with over 350 club caps João Pedro Silva (born 1989) a Portuguese professional triathlete, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics The Gift (formed 1994) a Portuguese alternative rock band Loto (formed 2002) an electro-pop-rock-dance music band Spartak! (2006–2008) a musical collective from Alcobaça JÜRA Popular pop artist based in Lisbon International relations Alcobaça is twinned with: Aubergenville, France Bełchatów, Poland Cacuaco, Angola Chicopee, United States See also Alcobaça IPR Monastery of Alcobaça Monastery of Batalha Nazaré References External links Municipality official website Populated places in Leiria District Cities in Portugal Centro Region Municipalities of Leiria District World Heritage Sites in Portugal UNESCO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphisbaena

Amphisbaena

The amphisbaena (, , or , plural: amphisbaenae; ) is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. The creature is alternatively called the amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, amfivena, amphivena, or anphivena (the last two being feminine), and is also known as the "Mother of Ants". Its name comes from the Greek words , meaning "both ways", and , meaning "to go". Mythology According to Greek mythology, the amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from the Gorgon Medusa's head as Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in his hand, after which Cato's army then encountered it along with other serpents on the march. Amphisbaena fed on the corpses left behind. The amphisbaena has been referred to by various poets such as Nicander, John Milton, Alexander Pope, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alfred Tennyson, Aimé Césaire, A. E. Housman and Allen Mandelbaum; as a mythological and legendary creature, it has been referenced by Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Isidore of Seville, and Thomas Browne , the last of whom debunked its existence ( book three chapter XV). Appearance These early descriptions of the amphisbaena depict a venomous, dual-headed snakelike creature. However, medieval and later drawings often show it with two or more scaled feet, particularly chicken feet, and feathered wings. Some even depict it as a horned, dragon-like creature with a serpent-headed tail and small, round ears, while others have both "necks" of equal size so that it cannot be determined which is the rear head. Many descriptions of the amphisbaena say its eyes glow like candles or lightning, but the poet Nicander seems to contradict this by describing it as "always dull of eye". He also says: "From either end protrudes a blunt chin; each is far from each other." Nicander's account seems to be referring to what is indeed called the Amphisbaenia, a group of real lizards. Habitat The amphisbaena is said to make its home in the desert. Folk medicine In ancient times, the supposedly dangerous amphisbaena had many uses in the art of folk medicine and other such remedies. Pliny notes that expecting women wearing a live amphisbaena around their necks would have safe pregnancies; however, if one's goal was to cure ailments such as arthritis or the common cold, one should wear only its skin. By eating the meat of the amphisbaena, one could supposedly attract many lovers of the opposite sex, and slaying one during the full moon could give power to one who is pure of heart and mind. Lumberjacks suffering from cold weather on the job could nail its carcass or skin to a tree to keep warm, while in the process allowing the tree to be felled more easily. Origins In The Book of Beasts, T.H. White suggests that the creature derives from sightings of the worm lizards of the same name. These creatures are found in the Mediterranean countries where many of these legends originated. The Códice Casanatense (), a Portuguese book describing the areas the Portuguese had visited, includes an illustration of the flora and fauna of India. One of the animals shown is a two-headed snake, with one head on each end, much like an amphisbaena. The image is captioned, "two headed snakes of India are harmless". It is possible a sighting of an animal like this was the origin of the amphisbaena. In media In John Milton's Paradise Lost, after the Fall and the return of Satan to Hell, some of the fallen angelic host are transformed into the amphisbaena, to represent the animal by which the Fall was caused, i.e. a snake. Amphisbaena appears in some editions of the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. Amphisbaena has appeared in several video games as an enemy or boss monster, including La-Mulana and Bravely Second: End Layer. A creature called Amphisbaena appears in the games Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Portrait of Ruin but bears little resemblance to other renditions of the creature, appearing as an eyeless 4-legged reptile with the upper body of a human woman sprouting from its long tail instead of a double-headed serpent. In the 1984 animated film Gallavants, an amphisbaena (called a 'Vanterviper' in the film) appears as a minor antagonist. The two heads, a red one named Edil and a blue one called Fice, frequently disagree and argue, and sing a song about their miserable plight. The amphisbaena is mentioned in The Last Wish, from The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, while protagonist Geralt of Rivia recalls past events. The amphisbaena was endangering the region of Kovir until the beast was slain by Geralt's hand. Amphisbaena is referenced in RWBY, an animated web series created by Monty Oum, in the form of an evil creature called Grimm. Of the different Grimm, the amphisbaena appears to be the King Taijitu, a two-headed snake or serpent. The king's name references the taijitu, a symbol or diagram in Chinese philosophy representing Taiji in both its monist and dualist aspects. The Grimm's coloration visually symbolizes the taijitu, with one head and body section black and the opposite side white. The amphisbaena appears in the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Battle Nexus: New York." This version is one of the known champions of the Battle Nexus. Big Mama had Michelangelo and Meat Sweats compete to feed each of its heads in order to satisfy the amphisbaena. They managed to work together to pull it off. Brandon Sanderson's novel Skyward has a character whose name is Arturo Mendez. His call sign is amphisbaena. See also Amphisbaenia Polycephaly Ouroboros Double-headed serpent Pushmi-Pullyu References Bibliography Hunt, Jonathan (1998). Bestiary: An Illuminated Alphabet of Medieval Beasts (1st ed.). Hong Kong: Simon & Schuster. . Levy, Sidney J. (1996). "Stalking the Amphisbaena", Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (3), Dec. 1996, pp. 163–176. External links Theoi Greek Mythology : Amphisbaena Greek legendary creatures Legendary serpents Mythical many-headed creatures Medusa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn

Autumn

Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere). Autumn is the season when the duration of daylight becomes noticeably shorter and the temperature cools considerably. Day length decreases and night length increases as the season progresses until the Winter Solstice in December (Northern Hemisphere) and June (Southern Hemisphere). One of its main features in temperate climates is the striking change in colour for the leaves of deciduous trees as they prepare to shed. Date definitions Some cultures regard the autumnal equinox as "mid-autumn", while others with a longer temperature lag treat the equinox as the start of autumn. In the English-speaking world of high latitude countries, autumn traditionally began with Lammas Day and ended around Hallowe'en, the approximate mid-points between midsummer, the autumnal equinox, and midwinter. Meteorologists (and Australia and most of the temperate countries in the southern hemisphere) use a definition based on Gregorian calendar months, with autumn being September, October, and November in the northern hemisphere, and March, April, and May in the southern hemisphere. In the higher latitude countries in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn traditionally starts with the September equinox (21 to 24 September) and ends with the winter solstice (21 or 22 December). Popular culture in the United States associates Labor Day, the first Monday in September, as the end of summer and the start of autumn; certain summer traditions, such as wearing white, are discouraged after that date. As daytime and nighttime temperatures decrease, trees change colour and then shed their leaves. Under the traditional East Asian solar term system, autumn starts on or around 8 August and ends on or about 7 November. In Ireland, the autumn months according to the national meteorological service, Met Éireann, are September, October, and November. However, according to the Irish Calendar, which is based on ancient Gaelic traditions, autumn lasts throughout the months of August, September, and October, or possibly a few days later, depending on tradition. In the Irish language, September is known as ("middle of autumn") and October as ("end of autumn"). Persians celebrate the beginning of the autumn as Mehregan to honor Mithra (Mehr). Etymology The word autumn () is derived from Latin autumnus, archaic auctumnus, possibly from the ancient Etruscan root autu- and has within it connotations of the passing of the year. Alternative etymologies include Proto-Indo-European ("cold") or ("dry"). After the Greek era, the word continued to be used as the Old French word ( in modern French) or in Middle English, and was later normalised to the original Latin. In the Medieval period, there are rare examples of its use as early as the 12th century, but by the 16th century, it was in common use. Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as it is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch , German , and Scots ). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns, the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and autumn, as well as fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season. The alternative word fall for the season traces its origins to old Germanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, with the Old English or and the Old Norse all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning "to fall from a height" and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in 16th-century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year". Compare the origin of spring from "spring of the leaf" and "spring of the year". During the 17th century, Englishmen began emigrating to the new North American colonies, and the settlers took the English language with them. While the term fall gradually became nearly obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America. The name backend, a once common name for the season in Northern England, has today been largely replaced by the name autumn. Associations Harvest Association with the transition from warm to cold weather, and its related status as the season of the primary harvest, has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Many cultures feature autumnal harvest festivals, often the most important on their calendars. Still-extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States and Canada, and the Jewish Sukkot holiday with its roots as a full-moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (living in outdoor huts around the time of harvest). There are also the many festivals celebrated by indigenous peoples of the Americas tied to the harvest of ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or Moon festival, and many others. The predominant mood of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather. This view is presented in English poet John Keats' poem To Autumn, where he describes the season as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of 'mellow fruitfulness'. In North America, while most foods are harvested during the autumn, foods usually associated with the season include pumpkins (which are integral parts of both Thanksgiving and Halloween) and apples, which are used to make the seasonal beverage apple cider. Melancholia Autumn, especially in poetry, has often been associated with melancholia. The possibilities and opportunities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon. Skies turn grey, the amount of usable daylight drops rapidly, and many people turn inward, both physically and mentally. It has been referred to as an unhealthy season. Similar examples may be found in Irish poet W.B. Yeats' poem The Wild Swans at Coole where the maturing season that the poet observes symbolically represents his own ageing self. Like the natural world that he observes, he too has reached his prime and now must look forward to the inevitability of old age and death. French poet Paul Verlaine's "Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is likewise characterised by strong, painful feelings of sorrow. Keats' To Autumn, written in September 1819, echoes this sense of melancholic reflection but also emphasises the lush abundance of the season. The song "Autumn Leaves", based on the French song "Les Feuilles mortes", uses the melancholic atmosphere of the season and the end of summer as a metaphor for the mood of being separated from a loved one. Halloween Autumn is associated with Halloween (influenced by Samhain, a Celtic autumn festival), and with it a widespread marketing campaign that promotes it. The Celtic people also used this time to celebrate the harvest with a time of feasting. At the same time though, it was a celebration of death as well. Crops were harvested, livestock were butchered, and Winter was coming. Halloween, 31 October, is in autumn in the northern hemisphere. Television, film, book, costume, home decoration, and confectionery businesses use this time of year to promote products closely associated with such a holiday, with promotions going from late August or early September to 31 October, since their themes rapidly lose strength once the holiday ends, and advertising starts concentrating on Christmas. Other associations In some parts of the northern hemisphere, autumn has a strong association with the end of summer holiday and the start of a new school year, particularly for children in primary and secondary education. "Back to School" advertising and preparations usually occurs in the weeks leading to the beginning of autumn. Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in Canada, in the United States, in some of the Caribbean islands and in Liberia. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada, on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States (where it is commonly regarded as the start of the Christmas and holiday season), and around the same part of the year in other places. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Television stations and networks, particularly in North America, traditionally begin their regular seasons in their autumn, with new series and new episodes of existing series debuting mostly during late September or early October (series that debut outside the autumn season are usually known as mid-season replacements). A sweeps period takes place in November to measure Nielsen Ratings. American football is played almost exclusively in the autumn months; at the high school level, seasons run from late August through early November, with some playoff games and holiday rivalry contests being played as late as Thanksgiving. In many American states, the championship games take place in early December. College football's regular season runs from September through November, while the main professional circuit, the National Football League, plays from September through to early January. Summer sports, such as association football (in Northern America, East Asia, Argentina, and South Africa), Canadian football, stock car racing, tennis, golf, cricket, and professional baseball, wrap up their seasons in early to late autumn; Major League Baseball's championship World Series is popularly known as the "Fall Classic". (Amateur baseball is usually finished by August.) Likewise, professional winter sports, such as ice hockey and basketball, and most leagues of association football in Europe, are in the early stages of their seasons during autumn; American college basketball and college ice hockey play teams outside their athletic conferences during the late autumn before their in-conference schedules begin in winter. The Christian religious holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are observed in autumn in the Northern hemisphere. Easter falls in autumn in the southern hemisphere. The secular celebration of International Workers' Day also falls in autumn in the southern hemisphere. Since 1997, Autumn has been one of the top 100 names for girls in the United States. In Indian mythology, autumn is considered to be the preferred season for the goddess of learning Saraswati, who is also known by the name of "goddess of autumn" (Sharada). In Asian mysticism, Autumn is associated with the element of metal, and subsequently with the colour white, the White Tiger of the West, and death and mourning. Tourism Although colour change in leaves occurs wherever deciduous trees are found, coloured autumn foliage is noted in various regions of the world: most of North America, Eastern Asia (including China, Korea, and Japan), Europe, southeast, south, and part of the midwest of Brazil, the forest of Patagonia, eastern Australia and New Zealand's South Island. Eastern Canada and New England are famous for their autumnal foliage, and this attracts major tourism (worth billions of US dollars) for the regions. Views of autumn Allegories of autumn in art See also Autumn in New England Diwali References External links Etymologies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alameda%2C%20California

Alameda, California

Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda Island, but also spans Bay Farm Island and Coast Guard Island, as well as a few other smaller islands in San Francisco Bay. The city's estimated population in 2019 was 77,624. History Spanish & Mexican era Alameda occupies what was originally a peninsula connected to Oakland. Much of it was low-lying and marshy. The higher ground nearby and adjacent parts of what is now downtown Oakland were the site of one of the largest coastal oak forests in the world. Spanish colonists called the area Encinal, meaning "forest of evergreen oak". Alameda is Spanish for "grove of poplar trees" or "tree-lined avenue." It was chosen as the name of the city in 1853 by popular vote. The inhabitants at the time of the arrival of the Spanish in the late 18th century were a local band of the Ohlone tribe. The peninsula was included in the vast Rancho San Antonio granted in 1820 to Luis Peralta by the Spanish king who claimed California. The grant was later confirmed by the Republic of Mexico upon its independence in 1821 from Spain. Over time, the place became known as Bolsa de Encinal or Encinal de San Antonio. Post-Conquest era The city was founded on June 6, 1853, after the United States acquired California following the Mexican–American War of 1848. The town originally contained three small settlements. "Alameda" referred to the village at Encinal and High streets, Hibbardsville was located at the North Shore ferry and shipping terminal, and Woodstock was on the west near the ferry piers of the South Pacific Coast Railroad and the Central Pacific. Eventually, the Central Pacific's ferry pier became the Alameda Mole. The borders of Alameda were made coextensive with the island in 1872, incorporating Woodstock into Alameda. In his autobiography, writer Mark Twain described Alameda as "The Garden of California." The first post office opened in 1854. The first school, Schermerhorn School, was opened in 1855 (and eventually renamed as Lincoln School). The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad opened the Encinal station in 1864. Encinal's own post office opened in 1876, was renamed West End in 1877, and closed in 1891. On September 6, 1869, the Alameda Terminal made history; it was the site of the arrival of the first train via the First transcontinental railroad to reach the shores of San Francisco Bay, thus achieving the first coast to coast transcontinental railroad in North America. The Croll Building, on the corner of Webster Street and Central Avenue, was the site of Croll's Gardens and Hotel, used as training quarters for some of the most popular fighters in boxing from 1883 to 1914. Jack Johnson and several other champions all stayed and trained here.] The need for expanded shipping facilities and increased flow of current through the estuary led to the dredging of a tidal canal through the marshland between Oakland and Alameda. Construction started in 1874, but it was not completed until 1902, resulting in Alameda becoming an island. Modern era In 1917, a private entertainment park called Neptune Beach was built in the area now known as Crab Cove, which became a major recreation destination in the 1920s and 1930s. Both the American snow cone and the popsicle were first sold at Neptune Beach. The Kewpie doll became the original prize for winning games of chance at the beach – another Neptune Beach innovation. The park closed down in 1939. The Alameda Works Shipyard was one of the largest and best-equipped shipyards in the country. Together with other industrial facilities, it became part of the defense industry buildup before and during World War II, which attracted many migrants from other parts of the United States for the high-paying jobs. In the 1950s, Alameda's industrial and shipbuilding industries thrived along the Alameda Estuary. In the early 21st century, the Port of Oakland, across the estuary, has become one of the largest ports on the West Coast. Its operators use shipping technologies originally experimented within Alameda. As of March 21, 2006, Alameda is a "Coast Guard City", one of seven then designated in the country. As of 2018, it is one of twenty-one within the country. In addition to the regular trains running to the Alameda Mole, Alameda was also served by local steam commuter lines of the Southern Pacific (initially, the Central Pacific). Alameda was the site of the Southern Pacific's West Alameda Shops, where all the electric trains were maintained and repaired. These were later adapted as the East Bay Electric Lines. The trains ran to both the Oakland Mole and the Alameda Mole. In the 1930s Pan American Airways established a seaplane port along with the fill that led to the Alameda Mole, the original home base for the China Clipper flying boat. In 1929, the University of California established the San Francisco Airdrome located near the current Webster Street tube as a public airport. The Bay Airdrome had its gala christening party in 1930. The Airdrome was closed in 1941 when its air traffic interfered with the newly built Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda). In the late 1950s, the Utah Construction Company began a landfill beyond the Old Sea Wall and created South Shore. On February 7, 1973, a USN Vought A-7E Corsair II fighter jet on a routine training mission from Lemoore Naval Air Station suddenly caught fire above the San Francisco Bay, crashing into the Tahoe Apartments in Alameda. Eleven people, including pilot Lieutenant Robert Lee Ward, died in the crash and fire. Geography Alameda's nickname is "The Island City" (or simply "the island"). The current city occupies three islands as well as a small section of the mainland. Today, the city consists of the main original section, with the former Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) at the west end of Alameda Island, Southshore along the southern side of Alameda Island, and Bay Farm Island, which is part of the mainland proper. The area of the former NAS is now known as "Alameda Point." The Southshore area is separated from the main part of Alameda Island by a lagoon; the north shore of the lagoon is located approximately where the original south shore of the island was. Alameda Point and Southshore are built on bay fill. Not all of Alameda Island is part of the City of Alameda; a small portion of a dump site west of the former runway at Alameda Naval Air Station extends far enough into San Francisco Bay that it is over the county line and therefore part of the City and County of San Francisco. Coast Guard Island, a small island between Alameda Island and Oakland, is also part of Alameda and is the home of Integrated Support Command Alameda. Ballena Isle, an even smaller island, is also part of Alameda. Climate This region experiences warm (but not hot), dry summers, and cool (but not cold), wet winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Alameda has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Annual precipitation is about , all rain (snow is extremely rare at sea level in the San Francisco Bay Area). Hazards The low-lying island has seen sea-level and groundwater level rise threaten its infrastructure and people not just through flooding events, but through the increased liquefaction risk from more saturated soils. The locations of increasing groundwater-induced risks and flooding risks (such as from another megaflood) may be most precise in private insurance company maps. Demographics 2010 The 2010 United States Census reported that Alameda had a population of 73,812. (2015 census estimates place the population at 78,630) The population density was . The racial makeup of Alameda was 37,460 (50.8%) White, 23,058 (31.2%) Asian, 4,759 (6.4%) African American, 426 (0.6%) Native American, 381 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 2,463 (3.3%) from other races, and 5,265 (7.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8,092 persons (11.0%). The Census reported that 72,316 people (98.0% of the population) lived in households, 857 (1.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 639 (0.9%) were institutionalized. There were 30,123 households, out of which 9,144 (30.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13,440 (44.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,623 (12.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,228 (4.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,681 (5.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 459 (1.5%) same-sex married couples or same-sex partnerships. 9,347 households (31.0%) were made up of individuals, and 2,874 (9.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40. There were 18,291 families (60.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.06. The age distribution of the population shows 15,304 people (20.7%) under the age of 18, 5,489 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 21,000 people (28.5%) aged 25 to 44, 22,044 people (29.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,975 people (13.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males. Per capita annual income (in 2013 dollars) in 2009–2013 was $41,340 per the US Census. Median household income in 2009–2013 was $74,606 per the US Census. There were 32,351 housing units at an average density of , of which 30,123 were occupied, of which 14,488 (48.1%) were owner-occupied, and 15,635 (51.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%. 37,042 people (50.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 35,274 people (47.8%) lived in rental housing units. 2000 As of the census of 2000, there were 72,259 people, 30,226 households, and 17,863 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,583.3/km (6,693.4/mi2). There were 31,644 housing units at an average density of 1,131.3/km (2,931.2/mi2). The racial makeup of the city was 56.95% White, 6.21% Black or African American, 0.67% Native American, 26.15% Asian, 0.60% Pacific Islander, 3.29% from other races, and 6.13% from two or more races. 9.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 30,226 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.9% were non-families. Of all households, 32.2% were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.04. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 21.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $56,285, and the median income for a family was $68,625. Males had a median income of $49,174 versus $40,165 for females. The per capita income for the city was $30,982. About 6.0% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over. There is a large Filipino community; and also a major Portuguese community, from which Tom Hanks' mother came and where Lyndsy Fonseca was raised for some time. Alameda also has a historic Japanese American community and had a small Japanese business district on a portion of Park Street before World War II, when the city's Japanese population was interned. A Japanese Buddhist church is one of the few remaining buildings left of Alameda's pre-war Japanese American community. Economy Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS), decommissioned in 1997, was turned over to the City of Alameda for civilian development, today known as Alameda Point. A cluster of artisan distilleries, wineries, breweries and tasting rooms along Monarch Street at Alameda Point is now referred to by the City of Alameda as "Spirits Alley". These and surrounding business include Almanac Beer Co., Building 43 Winery, Faction Brewing, and St. George Spirits. Admiral Maltings also sits in this area, supplying craft brewers and whisky producers, and is the first craft malting house in California. The aircraft carrier , a museum ship, has been moored at the former Naval Air Station as the USS Hornet Museum since 1998. Following the exit of the former Oakland Raiders, the Oakland Roots of the USL Championship have a license agreement for the former Raiders performance center with the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda. Top employers According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: Arts and culture The Alameda Arts Council (AAC) serves as the local Alameda City arts council. The Alameda Civic Ballet is the ballet troupe of the city. The Alameda Museum features displays on the history of Alameda. The Alameda Art Association has about 80 members as of January 2011, and has a gallery space at South Shore Center mall. The Association began in 1944. An annual benefit, Circus for Arts in the Schools, was started by clown artist Jeff Raz in 2004. Photo-realist Robert Bechtle has painted numerous Alameda subjects, including Alameda Gran Torino, which was acquired by SFMOMA in 1974 and remains one of Bechtle's most famous works. Theaters The city restored the historic Art Deco city landmark Alameda Theatre, expanding it to include a theater multiplex. The public opening was May 21, 2008. The Altarena Playhouse, which performs comedies, dramas, and musicals, was founded in 1938 and is the longest continuously operating community theater in the San Francisco Bay Area. Festivals The Fourth of July parade is advertised as the second oldest and second-longest Fourth of July parade in the United States. It features homemade floats, classic cars, motorized living room furniture, fire-breathing dragons, and marching bands. There are three major events when the street in Alameda's historic downtown district is closed to vehicular traffic. The Park Street Spring Festival takes place every May during the weekend of Mother's Day and attracts over 50,000 visitors. The Park Street Art & Wine Faire takes place the last weekend of every July and attracts over 100,000 visitors. The Park Street Classic Car Show is held on the second Saturday every October and displays over 400 vintage vehicles. The annual Sand Castle and Sculpture Contest takes place in June at the Robert Crown Memorial State Beach. The first contest was held in 1967. Government According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Alameda has 48,609 registered voters. Of those, 27,323 (56.2%) are registered Democrats, 5,240 (10.8%) are registered Republicans, and 13,950 (28.7%) have declined to state a political party. Alameda Free Library After two previous failures, voters in the city passed a ballot measure in 2000 authorizing a bond measure for construction of a new main library to replace the city's Carnegie Library, damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The city also received state funds for the new main library and opened the doors to the new facility in November 2006. There are three library locations: the Main Library in downtown Alameda and two library branches; the Bay Farm Island Library serving the Bay Farm and Harbor Bay communities and the West End Library serving the West End of Alameda. Education Public primary and secondary education in Alameda is the responsibility of the Alameda Unified School District, which is legally separate from the City of Alameda government (as is common throughout California). The College of Alameda, a two-year community college in the West End is part of the Peralta Community College District. The city has numerous private primary schools, and one private high school, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, a Catholic school. Media Alameda's first newspaper, the Encinal, appeared in the early 1850s. Following the Encinal, several other papers appeared along geographic lines, and the Daily Argus eventually rose to prominence. Around 1900, the Daily Argus began to fade in importance and east and west papers The Times and The Star combined to take the leading role as the Alameda Times-Star in the 1930s. The Times-Star was sold to the Alameda Newspaper Group in the 1970s. In 1997, the Hills Newspaper chain was bought by Knight Ridder. In 2001, a new locally based newspaper, the Alameda Sun, was founded. The Alameda community is currently served by two weekly newspapers, the Alameda Journal and the Alameda Sun, and a non-profit online news outlet called the Alameda Post. Transportation Vehicle access to Alameda Island is via three bridges from Oakland (Park Street, Fruitvale Avenue, and High Street Bridges), as well as the two one-way Posey and Webster Street Tubes leading into Oakland's Chinatown. Connections from Alameda to Bay Farm Island are provided via the Bay Farm Island Bridge for vehicular traffic as well as the Bay Farm Island Bicycle Bridge (the only pedestrian/bicycle-only drawbridge in the United States). California State Route 61 runs down city streets from the Posey and Webster Street Tubes, across the Bay Farm Island Bridge, and south to the Oakland Airport. The island is just minutes off Interstate 880 in Oakland. The speed limit for the city is 25 mph (40 km/h) on almost every road. Public transportation options include: AC Transit buses, which range from local connections to Oakland and Berkeley to express service to San Francisco Ferry services – In addition to the Alameda/Oakland Ferry and the Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry routes, San Francisco Bay Ferry also provides service between Alameda Main Street Station and South San Francisco. All ferry services are operated by the Water Transit Authority. The closest BART stations are Lake Merritt and 12th Street, near the exit to the Posey Tube, and Fruitvale, near the Fruitvale Bridge. BART's long-term plans for a second tunnel include Alameda as a candidate for the first stop on a new East Bay line. Notable people Albert Arents, a mining engineer who helped develop mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains. John Baker, MLB catcher for San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs, was born in Alameda. Hester A. Benedict (1838-1921), president, Pacific Coast Women's Press Association Shirley Temple Black, actress and former U.S. ambassador Mike Brisiel, an offensive guard for Oakland Raiders. Virginia Lee Burton, Caldecott-winning children's author and illustrator. Harold Camping, television and radio personality, president and general manager of Family Stations, Inc. Phyllis Diller, television comedian, attended Sunday school at First Presbyterian, married and lived in Alameda at the start of her comedy act in San Francisco in the 1950s. General James Doolittle, who received the Medal of Honor for his bombing of Japan during World War II; Doolittle was born in Alameda in 1896. Garrett Eckbo, landscape architect who lived in Alameda as a child, later forming the Bay Area firm of Eckbo, Royston, Williams with Robert Royston and Edward Williams. Leif Erickson, actor, born in Alameda in 1911. Larry Eustachy, college basketball coach, born in Alameda. Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies, attended Alameda High School, where she was a cheerleader. Albert Ghiorso, nuclear scientist, co-discoverer of 12 chemical elements on the periodic table; in Guinness Book of World Records for Most Elements Discovered. Brad Gillis, guitarist with Night Ranger, a San Francisco rock band formed in the 1980s. Katharine Graham, the late publisher of The Washington Post, lived in Alameda as a child, according to Personal History, her autobiography. Tim Hardaway Jr., a professional basketball player, was born in Alameda. Horace Heidt, bandleader and radio personality, born in Alameda on May 21, 1901. Emily Heller, comedian Marielle Heller, actress and director Bruce Henderson, author, grew up in Alameda, according to his book Hero Found: The Greatest POW Escape of the Vietnam War. Benjamin Jealous, former President of the NAACP, lived in Alameda. Joseph R. Knowland, congressman and Alameda native, was editor and publisher of the Oakland Tribune. William Fife Knowland, U.S. Senator, was student body president at Alameda High School. Robert L. Lippert, theater chain owner and film producer, was an Alameda native. Paul Mantz, air racer and Hollywood stunt pilot, was born in Alameda in 1903. Louis A. McCall Sr., drummer and musician known as the co-founder of Con Funk Shun. Margaret McNamara, founder of Reading is Fundamental, and wife of Robert McNamara, grew up in Alameda. George P. Miller, a congressman from 1945 to 1973. Jack Mingo, author Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl, designer of the Seal of California. Don Perata, former President Pro Tempore of California State Senate, lives in Alameda; once taught at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High, Encinal High, and Alameda High, among other Alameda schools. Carl Ravazza, bandleader, born in Alameda, 1910. Bill Rigney, Major League Baseball player and manager, was born in Alameda. Dutch Ruether, pitcher for 1927 New York Yankees, was born in Alameda. Jane Sibbett, actress and comedian, grew up in Alameda. Operatic mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade has lived in Alameda since 1992. Sharon Tate, actress, resident in early to late-1960s. Charles Lee Tilden, for whom Tilden Regional Park is named, was a longtime resident of Alameda; Tilden Way at the southeast end of the city is named for him. Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, MLB player Tommy Harper, MLB player Curtell Howard Motton, 2003 National League Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis, 2007 National League Most Valuable Player Jimmy Rollins, NBA player J.R. Rider, and NFL players Melvin Carver and Junior Tautalatasi all attended Encinal High School. Jason Kidd (NBA player and coach) and Joe Nelson (MLB pitcher) attended St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda. MLB players Ray French, Johnny Vergez, Andy Carey, Bill Serena, Erik Schullstrom, Dick Bartell, Duffy Lewis and Chris Speier all attended Alameda High School. Many people from naval families, including celebrities such as Ann Curry, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Tom Hanks, and Jim Morrison of The Doors, have lived in Alameda. Sister cities Alameda's relationships with Wuxi and Jiangyin were initiated in 2005, in part, by Stewart Chen, who then served on the City of Alameda Social Service and Human Relations board, and who went on to be elected to Alameda City Council in November 2012. Wuxi, China, is a so-called friendship city, because the diplomacy organization Sister Cities International does not recognize the relationship. Jiangyin, China Arita, Japan Yeongdong-gun, South Korea Lidingö, Sweden. Initiated in 1959 as part of President Eisenhower's people-to-people-movement, whose purpose was to develop better understanding among people from different countries after World War II. Both Alameda and Lidingö are islands with a bridge connecting them to a big city. Dumaguete, Philippines Friendship city Wuxi, China (Friendship city since 2004) See also Alameda Island Bay Farm Island Coast Guard Island List of islands of California List of ships built in Alameda, California References External links 1854 establishments in California Cities in Alameda County, California Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1854 Populated coastal places in California

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha%20helix

Alpha helix

The alpha helix (α-helix) is a common motif in the secondary structure of proteins and is a right hand-helix conformation in which every backbone N−H group hydrogen bonds to the backbone C=O group of the amino acid located four residues earlier along the protein sequence. The alpha helix is also called a classic Pauling–Corey–Branson α-helix. The name 3.613-helix is also used for this type of helix, denoting the average number of residues per helical turn, with 13 atoms being involved in the ring formed by the hydrogen bond. Among types of local structure in proteins, the α-helix is the most extreme and the most predictable from sequence, as well as the most prevalent. Discovery In the early 1930s, William Astbury showed that there were drastic changes in the X-ray fiber diffraction of moist wool or hair fibers upon significant stretching. The data suggested that the unstretched fibers had a coiled molecular structure with a characteristic repeat of ≈. Astbury initially proposed a linked-chain structure for the fibers. He later joined other researchers (notably the American chemist Maurice Huggins) in proposing that: the unstretched protein molecules formed a helix (which he called the α-form) the stretching caused the helix to uncoil, forming an extended state (which he called the β-form). Although incorrect in their details, Astbury's models of these forms were correct in essence and correspond to modern elements of secondary structure, the α-helix and the β-strand (Astbury's nomenclature was kept), which were developed by Linus Pauling, Robert Corey and Herman Branson in 1951 (see below); that paper showed both right- and left-handed helices, although in 1960 the crystal structure of myoglobin showed that the right-handed form is the common one. Hans Neurath was the first to show that Astbury's models could not be correct in detail, because they involved clashes of atoms. Neurath's paper and Astbury's data inspired H. S. Taylor, Maurice Huggins and Bragg and collaborators to propose models of keratin that somewhat resemble the modern α-helix. Two key developments in the modeling of the modern α-helix were: the correct bond geometry, thanks to the crystal structure determinations of amino acids and peptides and Pauling's prediction of planar peptide bonds; and his relinquishing of the assumption of an integral number of residues per turn of the helix. The pivotal moment came in the early spring of 1948, when Pauling caught a cold and went to bed. Being bored, he drew a polypeptide chain of roughly correct dimensions on a strip of paper and folded it into a helix, being careful to maintain the planar peptide bonds. After a few attempts, he produced a model with physically plausible hydrogen bonds. Pauling then worked with Corey and Branson to confirm his model before publication. In 1954, Pauling was awarded his first Nobel Prize "for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances" (such as proteins), prominently including the structure of the α-helix. Structure Geometry and hydrogen bonding The amino acids in an α-helix are arranged in a right-handed helical structure where each amino acid residue corresponds to a 100° turn in the helix (i.e., the helix has 3.6 residues per turn), and a translation of along the helical axis. Dunitz describes how Pauling's first article on the theme in fact shows a left-handed helix, the enantiomer of the true structure. Short pieces of left-handed helix sometimes occur with a large content of achiral glycine amino acids, but are unfavorable for the other normal, biological -amino acids. The pitch of the alpha-helix (the vertical distance between consecutive turns of the helix) is , which is the product of 1.5 and 3.6. What is most important is that the N-H group of an amino acid forms a hydrogen bond with the C=O group of the amino acid four residues earlier; this repeated i + 4 → i hydrogen bonding is the most prominent characteristic of an α-helix. Official international nomenclature specifies two ways of defining α-helices, rule 6.2 in terms of repeating φ, ψ torsion angles (see below) and rule 6.3 in terms of the combined pattern of pitch and hydrogen bonding. The α-helices can be identified in protein structure using several computational methods, one of which is DSSP (Define Secondary Structure of Protein). Similar structures include the 310 helix (i + 3 → i hydrogen bonding) and the π-helix (i + 5 → i hydrogen bonding). The α-helix can be described as a 3.613 helix, since the i + 4 spacing adds three more atoms to the H-bonded loop compared to the tighter 310 helix, and on average, 3.6 amino acids are involved in one ring of α-helix. The subscripts refer to the number of atoms (including the hydrogen) in the closed loop formed by the hydrogen bond. Residues in α-helices typically adopt backbone (φ, ψ) dihedral angles around (−60°, −45°), as shown in the image at right. In more general terms, they adopt dihedral angles such that the ψ dihedral angle of one residue and the φ dihedral angle of the next residue sum to roughly −105°. As a consequence, α-helical dihedral angles, in general, fall on a diagonal stripe on the Ramachandran diagram (of slope −1), ranging from (−90°, −15°) to (−70°, −35°). For comparison, the sum of the dihedral angles for a 310 helix is roughly −75°, whereas that for the π-helix is roughly −130°. The general formula for the rotation angle Ω per residue of any polypeptide helix with trans isomers is given by the equation The α-helix is tightly packed; there is almost no free space within the helix. The amino-acid side-chains are on the outside of the helix, and point roughly "downward" (i.e., toward the N-terminus), like the branches of an evergreen tree (Christmas tree effect). This directionality is sometimes used in preliminary, low-resolution electron-density maps to determine the direction of the protein backbone. Stability Helices observed in proteins can range from four to over forty residues long, but a typical helix contains about ten amino acids (about three turns). In general, short polypeptides do not exhibit much α-helical structure in solution, since the entropic cost associated with the folding of the polypeptide chain is not compensated for by a sufficient amount of stabilizing interactions. In general, the backbone hydrogen bonds of α-helices are considered slightly weaker than those found in β-sheets, and are readily attacked by the ambient water molecules. However, in more hydrophobic environments such as the plasma membrane, or in the presence of co-solvents such as trifluoroethanol (TFE), or isolated from solvent in the gas phase, oligopeptides readily adopt stable α-helical structure. Furthermore, crosslinks can be incorporated into peptides to conformationally stabilize helical folds. Crosslinks stabilize the helical state by entropically destabilizing the unfolded state and by removing enthalpically stabilized "decoy" folds that compete with the fully helical state. It has been shown that α-helices are more stable, robust to mutations and designable than β-strands in natural proteins, and also in artificially designed proteins. Visualization The 3 most popular ways of visualizing the alpha-helical secondary structure of oligopeptide sequences are (1) a helical wheel, (2) a wenxiang diagram, and (3) a helical net. Each of these can be visualized with various software packages and web servers. To generate a small number of diagrams, Heliquest can be used for helical wheels, and NetWheels can be used for helical wheels and helical nets. To programmatically generate a large number of diagrams, helixvis can be used to draw helical wheels and wenxiang diagrams in the R and Python programming languages. Experimental determination Since the α-helix is defined by its hydrogen bonds and backbone conformation, the most detailed experimental evidence for α-helical structure comes from atomic-resolution X-ray crystallography such as the example shown at right. It is clear that all the backbone carbonyl oxygens point downward (toward the C-terminus) but splay out slightly, and the H-bonds are approximately parallel to the helix axis. Protein structures from NMR spectroscopy also show helices well, with characteristic observations of nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) couplings between atoms on adjacent helical turns. In some cases, the individual hydrogen bonds can be observed directly as a small scalar coupling in NMR. There are several lower-resolution methods for assigning general helical structure. The NMR chemical shifts (in particular of the Cα, Cβ and C′) and residual dipolar couplings are often characteristic of helices. The far-UV (170–250 nm) circular dichroism spectrum of helices is also idiosyncratic, exhibiting a pronounced double minimum at around 208 and 222 nm. Infrared spectroscopy is rarely used, since the α-helical spectrum resembles that of a random coil (although these might be discerned by, e.g., hydrogen-deuterium exchange). Finally, cryo electron microscopy is now capable of discerning individual α-helices within a protein, although their assignment to residues is still an active area of research. Long homopolymers of amino acids often form helices if soluble. Such long, isolated helices can also be detected by other methods, such as dielectric relaxation, flow birefringence, and measurements of the diffusion constant. In stricter terms, these methods detect only the characteristic prolate (long cigar-like) hydrodynamic shape of a helix, or its large dipole moment. Amino-acid propensities Different amino-acid sequences have different propensities for forming α-helical structure. Methionine, alanine, leucine, glutamate, and lysine uncharged ("MALEK" in the amino-acid 1-letter codes) all have especially high helix-forming propensities, whereas proline and glycine have poor helix-forming propensities. Proline either breaks or kinks a helix, both because it cannot donate an amide hydrogen bond (having no amide hydrogen), and also because its sidechain interferes sterically with the backbone of the preceding turn inside a helix, this forces a bend of about 30° in the helix's axis. However, proline is often seen as the first residue of a helix, it is presumed due to its structural rigidity. At the other extreme, glycine also tends to disrupt helices because its high conformational flexibility makes it entropically expensive to adopt the relatively constrained α-helical structure. Table of standard amino acid alpha-helical propensities Estimated differences in free energy change, Δ(ΔG), estimated in kcal/mol per residue in an α-helical configuration, relative to alanine arbitrarily set as zero. Higher numbers (more positive free energy changes) are less favoured. Significant deviations from these average numbers are possible, depending on the identities of the neighbouring residues. {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Differences in free energy change per residue !rowspan=2| Amino acid !rowspan=2 class="unsortable"| 3-letter !rowspan=2 class="unsortable"| 1-letter !colspan=2| Helical penalty |- !kcal/mol !kJ/mol |- | Alanine | Ala | A | |- | Arginine | Arg | R | |- | Asparagine | Asn | N | |- | Aspartic acid | Asp | D | |- | Cysteine | Cys | C | |- | Glutamic acid | Glu | E | |- | Glutamine | Gln | Q | |- | Glycine | Gly | G | |- | Histidine | His | H | |- | Isoleucine | Ile | I | |- | Leucine | Leu | L | |- | Lysine | Lys | K | |- | Methionine | Met | M | |- | Phenylalanine | Phe | F | |- | Proline | Pro | P | |- | Serine | Ser | S | |- | Threonine | Thr | T | |- | Tryptophan | Trp | W | |- | Tyrosine | Tyr | Y | |- | Valine | Val | V | |} Dipole moment A helix has an overall dipole moment due to the aggregate effect of the individual microdipoles from the carbonyl groups of the peptide bond pointing along the helix axis. The effects of this macrodipole are a matter of some controversy. α-helices often occur with the N-terminal end bound by a negatively charged group, sometimes an amino acid side chain such as glutamate or aspartate, or sometimes a phosphate ion. Some regard the helix macrodipole as interacting electrostatically with such groups. Others feel that this is misleading and it is more realistic to say that the hydrogen bond potential of the free NH groups at the N-terminus of an α-helix can be satisfied by hydrogen bonding; this can also be regarded as set of interactions between local microdipoles such as . Coiled coils Coiled-coil α helices are highly stable forms in which two or more helices wrap around each other in a "supercoil" structure. Coiled coils contain a highly characteristic sequence motif known as a heptad repeat, in which the motif repeats itself every seven residues along the sequence (amino acid residues, not DNA base-pairs). The first and especially the fourth residues (known as the a and d positions) are almost always hydrophobic; the fourth residue is typically leucine this gives rise to the name of the structural motif called a leucine zipper, which is a type of coiled-coil. These hydrophobic residues pack together in the interior of the helix bundle. In general, the fifth and seventh residues (the e and g positions) have opposing charges and form a salt bridge stabilized by electrostatic interactions. Fibrous proteins such as keratin or the "stalks" of myosin or kinesin often adopt coiled-coil structures, as do several dimerizing proteins. A pair of coiled-coils a four-helix bundle is a very common structural motif in proteins. For example, it occurs in human growth hormone and several varieties of cytochrome. The Rop protein, which promotes plasmid replication in bacteria, is an interesting case in which a single polypeptide forms a coiled-coil and two monomers assemble to form a four-helix bundle. Facial arrangements The amino acids that make up a particular helix can be plotted on a helical wheel, a representation that illustrates the orientations of the constituent amino acids (see the article for leucine zipper for such a diagram). Often in globular proteins, as well as in specialized structures such as coiled-coils and leucine zippers, an α-helix will exhibit two "faces" one containing predominantly hydrophobic amino acids oriented toward the interior of the protein, in the hydrophobic core, and one containing predominantly polar amino acids oriented toward the solvent-exposed surface of the protein. Changes in binding orientation also occur for facially-organized oligopeptides. This pattern is especially common in antimicrobial peptides, and many models have been devised to describe how this relates to their function. Common to many of them is that the hydrophobic face of the antimicrobial peptide forms pores in the plasma membrane after associating with the fatty chains at the membrane core. Larger-scale assemblies Myoglobin and hemoglobin, the first two proteins whose structures were solved by X-ray crystallography, have very similar folds made up of about 70% α-helix, with the rest being non-repetitive regions, or "loops" that connect the helices. In classifying proteins by their dominant fold, the Structural Classification of Proteins database maintains a large category specifically for all-α proteins. Hemoglobin then has an even larger-scale quaternary structure, in which the functional oxygen-binding molecule is made up of four subunits. Functional roles DNA binding α-Helices have particular significance in DNA binding motifs, including helix-turn-helix motifs, leucine zipper motifs and zinc finger motifs. This is because of the convenient structural fact that the diameter of an α-helix is about including an average set of sidechains, about the same as the width of the major groove in B-form DNA, and also because coiled-coil (or leucine zipper) dimers of helices can readily position a pair of interaction surfaces to contact the sort of symmetrical repeat common in double-helical DNA. An example of both aspects is the transcription factor Max (see image at left), which uses a helical coiled coil to dimerize, positioning another pair of helices for interaction in two successive turns of the DNA major groove. Membrane spanning α-Helices are also the most common protein structure element that crosses biological membranes (transmembrane protein), it is presumed because the helical structure can satisfy all backbone hydrogen-bonds internally, leaving no polar groups exposed to the membrane if the sidechains are hydrophobic. Proteins are sometimes anchored by a single membrane-spanning helix, sometimes by a pair, and sometimes by a helix bundle, most classically consisting of seven helices arranged up-and-down in a ring such as for rhodopsins (see image at right) and other G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs). The structural stability between pairs of α-Helical transmembrane domains rely on conserved membrane interhelical packing motifs, for example, the Glycine-xxx-Glycine (or small-xxx-small) motif. Mechanical properties α-Helices under axial tensile deformation, a characteristic loading condition that appears in many alpha-helix-rich filaments and tissues, results in a characteristic three-phase behavior of stiff-soft-stiff tangent modulus. Phase I corresponds to the small-deformation regime during which the helix is stretched homogeneously, followed by phase II, in which alpha-helical turns break mediated by the rupture of groups of H-bonds. Phase III is typically associated with large-deformation covalent bond stretching. Dynamical features Alpha-helices in proteins may have low-frequency accordion-like motion as observed by the Raman spectroscopy and analyzed via the quasi-continuum model. Helices not stabilized by tertiary interactions show dynamic behavior, which can be mainly attributed to helix fraying from the ends. Helix–coil transition Homopolymers of amino acids (such as polylysine) can adopt α-helical structure at low temperature that is "melted out" at high temperatures. This helix–coil transition was once thought to be analogous to protein denaturation. The statistical mechanics of this transition can be modeled using an elegant transfer matrix method, characterized by two parameters: the propensity to initiate a helix and the propensity to extend a helix. In art At least five artists have made explicit reference to the α-helix in their work: Julie Newdoll in painting and Julian Voss-Andreae, Bathsheba Grossman, Byron Rubin, and Mike Tyka in sculpture. San Francisco area artist Julie Newdoll, who holds a degree in Microbiology with a minor in art, has specialized in paintings inspired by microscopic images and molecules since 1990. Her painting "Rise of the Alpha Helix" (2003) features human figures arranged in an α helical arrangement. According to the artist, "the flowers reflect the various types of sidechains that each amino acid holds out to the world". This same metaphor is also echoed from the scientist's side: "β sheets do not show a stiff repetitious regularity but flow in graceful, twisting curves, and even the α-helix is regular more in the manner of a flower stem, whose branching nodes show the influence of environment, developmental history, and the evolution of each part to match its own idiosyncratic function." Julian Voss-Andreae is a German-born sculptor with degrees in experimental physics and sculpture. Since 2001 Voss-Andreae creates "protein sculptures" based on protein structure with the α-helix being one of his preferred objects. Voss-Andreae has made α-helix sculptures from diverse materials including bamboo and whole trees. A monument Voss-Andreae created in 2004 to celebrate the memory of Linus Pauling, the discoverer of the α-helix, is fashioned from a large steel beam rearranged in the structure of the α-helix. The , bright-red sculpture stands in front of Pauling's childhood home in Portland, Oregon. Ribbon diagrams of α-helices are a prominent element in the laser-etched crystal sculptures of protein structures created by artist Bathsheba Grossman, such as those of insulin, hemoglobin, and DNA polymerase. Byron Rubin is a former protein crystallographer now professional sculptor in metal of proteins, nucleic acids, and drug molecules many of which featuring α-helices, such as subtilisin, human growth hormone, and phospholipase A2. Mike Tyka is a computational biochemist at the University of Washington working with David Baker. Tyka has been making sculptures of protein molecules since 2010 from copper and steel, including ubiquitin and a potassium channel tetramer. See also 310 helix Beta sheet Davydov soliton Folding (chemistry) Knobs into holes packing Pi helix References Further reading . External links NetSurfP ver. 1.1 – Protein Surface Accessibility and Secondary Structure Predictions α-helix rotational angle calculator Artist Julie Newdoll's website Artist Julian Voss-Andreae's website Protein structural motifs Helices

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon

Armageddon

According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from Harmagedōn, Late Latin: , from Hebrew: Har Məgīddō) is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, which is variously interpreted as either a literal or a symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to refer to any end of the world scenario. In Islamic theology, Armageddon is also mentioned in Hadith as the Greatest Armageddon or Al-Malhama Al-Kubra (the great battle). The "mount" of Megiddo in northern Israel is not actually a mountain, but a tell (a mound or hill created by many generations of people living and rebuilding on the same spot) on which ancient forts were built to guard the Via Maris, an ancient trade route linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Megiddo was the location of various ancient battles, including one in the 15th century BC and one in 609 BC. The nearby modern Megiddo is a kibbutz in the Kishon River area. Etymology The word Armageddon appears only once in the Greek New Testament, in . The word is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew har məgiddô (). Har means "a mountain or range of hills". This is a shortened form of harar meaning "to loom up; a mountain". Megiddo refers to a fortification made by King Ahab that dominated the Plain of Jezreel. Its name means "place of crowds". Adam Clarke wrote in his Bible commentary (1817) on Revelation 16:16:Armageddon - The original of this word has been variously formed, and variously translated. It is הר־מגדון har-megiddon, "the mount of the assembly;" or חרמה גדהון chormah gedehon, "the destruction of their army;" or it is הר־מגדו har-megiddo, "Mount Megiddo," Christianity Megiddo is mentioned twelve times in the Old Testament, ten times in reference to the ancient city of Megiddo, and twice with reference to "the plain of Megiddo", most probably simply meaning "the plain next to the city". None of these Old Testament passages describes the city of Megiddo as being associated with any particular prophetic beliefs. The one New Testament reference to the city of Armageddon found in makes no specific mention of any armies being predicted to one day gather in this city, either, but instead seems to predict only that "they (will gather) the kings together to ... Armageddon". The text does however seem to imply, based on the text from the earlier passage of Revelation 16:14, that the purpose of this gathering of kings in the "place called Armageddon" is "for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty". Because of the seemingly highly symbolic and even cryptic language of this one New Testament passage, some Christian scholars conclude that Mount Armageddon must be an idealized location. R. J. Rushdoony says, "There are no mountains of Megiddo, only the Plains of Megiddo. This is a deliberate destruction of the vision of any literal reference to the place." Other scholars, including C. C. Torrey, Kline and Jordan, argue that the word is derived from the Hebrew moed (), meaning "assembly". Thus, "Armageddon" would mean "Mountain of Assembly", which Jordan says is "a reference to the assembly at Mount Sinai, and to its replacement, Mount Zion". Most traditions interpret this Bible prophecy to be symbolic of the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the Almighty" in which God pours out his just and holy wrath against unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a literal end-of-the-world final confrontation. 'Armageddon' is the symbolic name given to this event based on scripture references regarding divine obliteration of God's enemies. The hermeneutical method supports this position by referencing Judges 4 and 5 where God miraculously destroys the enemy of their elect, Israel, at Megiddo. Christian scholar William Hendriksen writes: Dispensationalism In his discussion of Armageddon, J. Dwight Pentecost has devoted a chapter to the subject, "The Campaign of Armageddon", in which he discusses it as a campaign and not a specific battle, which will be fought in the Middle East. Pentecost writes: Pentecost then discusses the location of this campaign, and mentions the "hill of Megiddo" and other geographic locations such as "the valley of Jehoshaphat" and "the valley of the passengers", "Lord coming from Edom or Idumea, south of Jerusalem, when he returns from the judgment"; and Jerusalem itself. Pentecost further describes the area involved: Pentecost then outlines the biblical time period for this campaign to occur and with further arguments concludes that it must take place with the 70th week of Daniel. The invasion of Israel by the Northern Confederacy "will bring the Beast and his armies to the defense of Israel as her protector". He then uses Daniel to further clarify his thinking. Again, events are listed by Pentecost in his book: "The movement of the campaign begins when the King of the South moves against the Beast–False Prophet coalition, which takes place 'at the time of the end'." The King of the South gets in battle with the North King and the Northern Confederacy. Jerusalem is destroyed as a result of this attack, and, in turn, the armies of the Northern Confederacy are destroyed. "The full armies of the Beast move into Israel and shall conquer all that territory. Edom, Moab, and Ammon alone escape." "... a report that causes alarm is brought to the Beast" "The Beast moves his headquarters into the land of Israel and assembles his armies there." "It is there that his destruction will come." After the destruction of the Beast at the Second Coming of Jesus, the promised Kingdom is set up, in which Jesus and the saints will rule for a thousand years. Satan is then loosed "for a season" and goes out to deceive the nations, specifically Gog and Magog. The army mentioned attacks the saints in the New Jerusalem, they are defeated by a judgment of fire coming down from heaven, and then comes the Great White Throne judgment, which includes all of those through the ages and these are cast into the Lake of Fire, which event is also known as the "second death" and Gehenna, not to be confused with Hell, which is Satan's domain. Pentecost describes this as follows: Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Armageddon is the means by which God will fulfill his purpose for the Earth to be populated with happy healthy humans who will be free from sin and death. They teach that the armies of heaven will eradicate all who oppose the Kingdom of God, wiping out all wicked humans on Earth, only leaving righteous mankind. They believe that the gathering of all of the nations of the earth refers to the uniting of the world's political powers, as a gradual process which began in 1914 and was later seen in manifestations such as the League of Nations and the United Nations following the First and Second World Wars. These political powers are said to be influenced by Satan and his demons in opposition to God's kingdom. Babylon the Great is interpreted as being the world empire of false religions, and it will be destroyed by the beast just prior to Armageddon. Witnesses believe that after all other religions have been destroyed, the governments of the world will begin persecuting Witnesses, and God will then intervene, precipitating Armageddon. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the armies of heaven, led by Jesus, will then destroy all forms of human government and then Jesus, along with a selected 144,000 humans, will rule Earth for 1,000 years. They believe that Satan and his demons will be bound for that period, unable to influence mankind. After the 1,000 years are ended, and the second resurrection has taken place, Satan is released and allowed to tempt the perfect human race one last time. Those who follow Satan will be destroyed, along with him, leaving the earth, and humankind at peace with God forever, free from sin and death. The religion's current teaching on Armageddon originated in 1925 with former Watch Tower Society president J. F. Rutherford, who based his interpretations on passages that are found in the books of Exodus, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Psalms as well as additional passages that are found in the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. The doctrine marked a further break from the teachings of the Watch Tower Society's founder Charles Taze Russell, who for decades had taught that the final war would be an anarchistic struggle for domination on earth. Tony Wills, the author of a historical study of Jehovah's Witnesses, wrote that Rutherford seemed to relish his descriptions of how completely the wicked would be destroyed at Armageddon, dwelling at great length on prophecies of destruction. He stated that towards the close of his ministry, Rutherford allocated about half the space that was available in The Watchtower magazines to discussions about Armageddon. Seventh-day Adventist The teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church state that the terms "Armageddon", "Day of the Lord" and "The Second Coming of Christ" all describe the same event. Seventh-day Adventists further teach that the current religious movements taking place in the world are setting the stage for Armageddon, and they are concerned by an anticipated unity between spiritualism, American Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. A further significant difference in Seventh-day Adventist theology is the teaching that the events of Armageddon will leave the earth desolate for the duration of the millennium. They teach that the righteous will be taken to heaven while the rest of humanity will be destroyed, leaving Satan with no one to tempt and effectively "bound". The final re-creation of a "new heaven and a new earth"; then follows the millennium. Christadelphians For Christadelphians, Armageddon marks the "great climax of history when the nations would be gathered together 'into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon', and the judgment on them would herald the setting up of the Kingdom of God." Baháʼí Faith From Baháʼí literature, a number of interpretations of the expectations surrounding the Battle of Armageddon may be inferred, three of them being associated with events surrounding the World Wars. The first interpretation deals with a series of tablets written by Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith, to be sent to various kings and rulers. The second, and best-known one, relates to events near the end of World War I involving General Allenby and the Battle of Megiddo (1918) wherein World Powers are said to have drawn soldiers from many parts of the world to engage in battle at Megiddo. In winning this battle Allenby also prevented the Ottomans from killing 'Abdu'l-Baha, then head of the Baháʼí Faith, whom they had intended to crucify. A third interpretation reviews the overall progress of the World Wars, and the situation in the world before and after. See also 1 Maccabees Al-Malhama Al-Kubra World War III Amik Valley Antiochus Epiphanes Apocalyptic literature Armageddon (novel) Futurist view of the Book of Revelation Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 Millenarianism Millennialism Preterist interpretation of the Book of Revelation Ragnarök Siege of Jerusalem (70) Waiting for Armageddon References External links Armageddon." In James Crossley and Alastair Lockhart (eds.) Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements. 2021 Apocalypticism Battlefields Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses Book of Revelation Christian terminology New Testament Hebrew words and phrases Prophecy in Christianity Seventh-day Adventist theology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durrani%20Empire

Durrani Empire

The Durrani Empire (; ) or the Afghan Empire (; ), also known as the Sadozai Kingdom (; ), was an Afghan empire that was founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747 and spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian Subcontinent. At its largest territorial extent, it ruled over the present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of northeastern and southeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India. Next to the Ottoman Empire, the Durrani Empire is considered to be among the most impactful Muslim empires of the latter half of the 18th century. Ahmad was the son of Muhammad Zaman Khan (an Afghan chieftain of the Abdali tribe) and the commander of Nader Shah Afshar. Following Afshar's death in June 1747, Ahmad secured Afghanistan by taking Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, and Peshawar. After his accession as the nation's king, he changed his tribal name from Abdali to Durrani. In 1749, the Mughal Empire had ceded sovereignty over much of northwestern India to the Afghans; Ahmad then set out westward to take possession of Mashhad, which was ruled by the Afsharid dynasty under Shahrokh Shah, who also acknowledged Afghan suzerainty. Subsequently, Ahmad sent an army to subdue the areas north of the Hindu Kush down to the Amu Darya, and in short order, all of the different Afghan tribes began to join his cause. Under Ahmad, the Afghans invaded India on four occasions, subjugating parts of Kashmir and the majority of Punjab. In early 1757, he sacked Delhi, but permitted Mughal emperor Alamgir II to remain in nominal control as long as he acknowledged Afghan suzerainty over the regions south of the Indus River. Following Ahmad's death in 1772, his son Timur Shah Durrani became the next ruler of the Durrani dynasty. Under Timur, the city of Kabul became the new capital of the Durrani Empire while Peshawar served as its winter capital; however, the empire had begun to crumble by this time. The dynasty would become heirs of Afghanistan for generations, up until Dost Muhammad Khan and the Barakzai dynasty deposed the Durrani dynasty in Kabul, leading to its supersession by the Emirate of Afghanistan. The Durrani Empire is considered to be the foundational polity of the modern nation-state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad being credited as its Father of the Nation. Reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747–1772) Foundation of the Afghan state In 1709 Mirwais Hotak, chief of the Ghilji tribe of Kandahar Province, gained independence from the Safavid Persians. From 1722 to 1725, his son Mahmud Hotak briefly ruled large parts of Iran and declared himself as Shah of Persia. However, the Hotak dynasty came to a complete end in 1738 after being toppled and banished by the Afsharids who were led by Nader Shah Afshar of Persia. The year 1747 marks the definitive appearance of an Afghan political entity independent of both the Persian and Mughal empires. In July of that year a loya jirga (grand council) was called into session. The jirga lasted for nine days and two chief contestants emerged: Hajji Jamal Khan of the Mohammadzai lineage and Ahmad Khan of the Sadozai. Mohammad Sabir Khan, a noted darwish (holy man), who had earlier predicted that Ahmad Khan would be the leader of the Afghans, rose in the jirga and said Ahmad Khan reputedly hesitated to accept the open decision of the jirga, so Sabir Khan again intervened. He placed some wheat or barley sheaves in Ahmad Khan's turban, and crowned him Badshah, Durr-i-Dauran (Shah, Pearl of the Age). The jirga concluded near the city of Kandahar with Ahmad Shah Durrani being selected as the new leader of the Afghans, thus the Durrani dynasty was founded. Despite being younger than the other contenders, Ahmad Shah had several overriding factors in his favor. He belonged to a respectable family of political background, especially since his father had served as Governor of Herat who died in a battle defending the Afghans. Early victories One of Ahmad Shah's first military actions was to capture Qalati Ghilji and Ghazni from the Ghilji, and wrest Kabul and Peshawar from Mughal-appointed governor Nasir Khan. In 1749, the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur was induced to cede Sindh, the Punjab region and the important trans Indus River to Ahmad Shah Durrani in order to save his capital from Afghan attack. Having thus gained substantial territories to the east without a fight, Ahmad Shah turned westward to take possession of Mashhad, which was ruled by Nader Shah Afshar's grandson, Shahrukh Afshar. Ahmad Shah next sent an army to subdue the areas north of the Hindu Kush mountains. In short order, the powerful army brought under its control the Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, and other tribes of northern Afghanistan. Ahmad Shah invaded the remnants of the Mughal Empire a third time, and then a fourth, consolidating control over the Kashmir and Punjab regions, with Lahore being governed by Afghans. He sacked Delhi in 1757 but permitted the Mughal dynasty to remain in nominal control of the city as long as the ruler acknowledged Ahmad Shah's suzerainty over Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir. Leaving his second son Timur Shah to safeguard his interests, Ahmad Shah left India to return to Afghanistan. Relations with China Alarmed by the expansion of China's Qing Dynasty up to the eastern border of Kazakhstan, Ahmad Shah attempted to rally neighboring Muslim khanates and the Kazakhs to unite and attack China, ostensibly to liberate its western Muslim subjects. Ahmad Shah halted trade with Qing China and dispatched troops to Kokand. However, with his campaigns in India exhausting the state treasury, and with his troops stretched thin throughout Central Asia, Ahmad Shah lacked sufficient resources to do anything except to send envoys to Beijing for unsuccessful talks. Third Battle of Panipat The Mughal power in northern India had been declining after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb, who died in 1707. In 1751–52, the Ahamdiya treaty was signed between the Marathas and Mughals, when Balaji Bajirao was the Peshwa. Through this treaty, the Marathas controlled virtually the whole of India from their capital at Pune and the Mughal rule was restricted only to Delhi (the Mughals remained the nominal heads of Delhi). Marathas were now straining to expand their area of control towards the Northwest of India. Ahmad Shah sacked the Mughal capital and withdrew with the booty he coveted. To counter the Afghans, Peshwa Balaji Bajirao sent Raghunathrao. He defeated the Rohillas and Afghan garrisons in Punjab and succeeded in ousting Timur Shah and his court from India and brought Lahore, Multan, Kashmir and other subahs on the Indian side of Attock under Maratha rule. Thus, upon his return to Kandahar in 1757, Ahmad was forced to return to India and face the formidable attacks of the Maratha Confederacy. Ahmad Shah declared a jihad (or Islamic holy war) against the Marathas, and warriors from various Afghan tribes joined his army, including the Baloch people under the command of Khan of Kalat Mir Nasir I of Kalat. Suba Khan Tanoli (Zabardast Khan) was selected as army chief of all military forces. Early skirmishes were followed by victory for the Afghans against the much larger Maratha garrisons in Northwest India and by 1759 Ahmad Shah and his army had reached Lahore and were poised to confront the Marathas. Ahmad Shah Durrani was famous for winning wars much larger than his army. By 1760, the Maratha groups had coalesced into a big enough army under the command of Sadashivrao Bhau. Once again, Panipat was the scene of a confrontation between two warring contenders for control of northern India. The Third Battle of Panipat (14 January 1761), fought between largely Muslim and largely Hindu armies was waged along a twelve-kilometer front. Despite decisively defeating the Marathas, what might have been Ahmad Shah's peaceful control of his domains was disrupted by many challenges. As far as losses are concerned, Afghans too suffered heavily in the Third Battle of Panipat. This weakened his grasp over Punjab which fell to the rising Sikh misls. There were rebellions in the north in the region of Bukhara. The Durranis decisively defeated the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat on 14 January 1761. The defeat at Panipat resulted in heavy losses for the Marathas, and was a huge setback for Peshwa Balaji Rao. He received the news of the defeat of Panipat on 24 January 1761 at Bhilsa, while leading a reinforcement force. Besides several important generals, he had lost his own son Vishwasrao in the Battle of Panipat. He died on 23 June 1761, and was succeeded by his younger son Madhav Rao I. Final years The victory at Panipat was the high point of Ahmad Shah's—and Afghan—power. However, even prior to his death, the empire began to unravel. In 1762, Ahmad Shah crossed the passes from Afghanistan for the sixth time to subdue the Sikhs. From this time and on, the domination and control of the Empire began to loosen, and by the time of Durrani's death he had lost parts of Punjab to the Sikhs, as well as earlier losses of northern territories to the Uzbeks, necessitating a compromise with them. He assaulted Lahore and, after taking their holy city of Amritsar, massacred thousands of Sikh inhabitants, destroyed their revered Golden Temple. Within two years, the Sikhs rebelled again and rebuilt their holy city of Amritsar. Ahmad Shah tried several more times to subjugate the Sikhs permanently, but failed. Durrani's forces instigated the Vaḍḍā Ghallūghārā when they killed thousands of Sikhs in the Punjab in 1762. Ahmad Shah also faced other rebellions in the north, and eventually he and the Uzbek Emir of Bukhara agreed that the Amu Darya would mark the division of their lands. Ahmad Shah retired to his home in the mountains east of Kandahar, where he died in 1772. He had succeeded to a remarkable degree in balancing tribal alliances and hostilities, and in directing tribal energies away from rebellion. He earned recognition as Ahmad Shah Baba, or "Father" of Afghanistan. The Durrani Empire lost its control over Kashmir to the Sikh Empire in the Battle of Shopian in 1819. Other Durrani rulers in the Empire (1772–1823) Ahmad Shah's successors governed so ineptly during a period of profound unrest that within fifty years of his death, the Durrani empire per se was at an end, and Afghanistan was embroiled in civil war. Much of the territory conquered by Ahmad Shah fell to others in this half century. By 1818, the Sadozai rulers who succeeded Ahmad Shah controlled little more than Kabul and the surrounding territory within a 160-kilometer radius. They not only lost the outlying territories but also alienated other tribes and lineages among the Durrani Pashtuns. Humayun Mirza (1772) A few months before his death, Ahmad Shah summoned Timur Shah from Herat and publicly declared him heir to the Durrani Empire. Ahmad Shah made this decision without consulting with his tribal council, as a result the authority of the Durrani Emperor was put into question and created a growing rift that would toil the Durrani empire for years to come, as the tribal council had in majority, supported Ahmad Shah's eldest son and Timur Shah's brother, Sulaiman, the governor of Kandahar. Prominent figures in court who supported the Sulaiman faction were Shah Wali Khan, Ahmad Shah's Wazir, and Sardar Jahan Khan. The court had attempted to urge Ahmad Shah to reconsider his decision, coinciding with the fact that the eldest son should ascend to the throne. Ahmad had ignored this, and quoted: "Timur Shah was infinitely more capable of governing you than his brother". As well as accusing Sulaiman of being "Violent without clemency", and out of favour with the Kandahari Durranis. Ahmad Shah's decision could have been influenced by his illness, which had affected his brain and his mental state. However, choosing Timur Shah as a successor was likely to restrict power of the Senior Generals and the Durrani Tribal Council, which he deemed as a threat to his dynasty in the future. When Ahmad Shah was on his death bed, Sadar Jahan Khan had capitalized on Timur Shah's far proximity with him ruling over Herat, and poisoned the ear of the Shah. This had worked as Timur Shah was denied an by Ahmad Shah on his deathbed, as a result, Timur Shah had begun mobilizing his forces for the inevitable conflict with his brother. Timur Shah's plans were stalled, however, as a rebellion by Darwish Ali Khan under the Sunni Hazaras, likely instigated by the Sulaiman faction had risen up. Timur Shah had crushed this revolt quickly and Darwish Khan was imprisoned; however, he later escaped. Timur Shah had then lured him into Herat, offering pardon, where then Timur Shah had ordered his execution where his nephew, Muhammad Khan would be appointed in his place. During the revolt of Darwish, Ahmad Shah had died of his illness in 1772. Shah Wali Khan and Sardar Jahan Khan kept the Shah's death a secret by placing the body on a palanquin covered by thick curtains. They had then left the King's mountain, taking as much treasure as they could and marched to Kandahar. Shah Wali Khan had also announced to everyone that the king was ill and had given orders to not disturb him except his trusted officials. To make the deception more believable, Ahmad Shah's chief eunuch, Yaqut Khan had brought food for the "Sick" Ruler. Shah wali Khan had then notified Sulaiman that Ahmad Shah was dead and proclaimed Sulaiman as king. However, many of the Amirs including Mahadad Khan had disliked Shah Wali's ambitions, and thus had fled to Timur's side, also notifying him of the ongoing situation at Kandahar. Timur Shah had then marched toward Kandahar to face Shah Humayun. Shah Wali, fearing of Timur's march had consulted with Shah Humayun, and had agreed on him marching out to Prince Timur Shah to welcome him. He left Kandahar with over 150 horsemen and had arrived at Prince Timur's force at Farah. Having not sent word, once Shah Wali had dismounted, Timur Shah ordered the killing of Shah Wali. Angu Khan Bamiza'i assassinated Shah Wali Khan and his two sons, including 2 of his sisters children. Shah Sulayman surrendered the throne to Timur Shah following this, and became a loyal follower of him according to the depiction of Amir Habibullah Khan. Timur Shah ascended the throne in November 1772. Timur Shah (1772–1793) After his father, Ahmad Shah Durrani's death, he fought his brother Humayun Mirza for the throne, with Humayun supported by Shah Wali Khan. Shah Wali was killed by Timur Shah as he attempted to ride into his camp and beg for peace and mercy. Timur Shah then marched to Kandahar, forcing Humayun to either flee or stay as a devout supporter for Timur Shah. With his throne secured, he began consolidating his power, with efforts to drive power away from the Durrani Pashtuns, and more toward the growing influential Qizilbash and Mongol guards consisted in his army. Timur Shah would also move the capital of the Durrani Realm from Kandahar to Kabul, as a better base of operation to combat any threat arriving from anywhere, as Kabul was essentially the heart of the empire. After consolidating his power, Timur Shah marched against the Sikh's in 1780 in a Jihad, and decisively defeated the Sikhs, forcing them to return Multan toward Durrani Suzerainty after it was seized after the death of Ahmad Shah Durrani. Timur Shah, having secured Punjab, also faced recurring rebellions against him, including an assassination attempt early in his reign at Peshawar. Timur Shah would encounter harsh resistance and rebellion, prominently those of Fayz Allah Khan, Azad Khan, and Arsalan Khan. Timur Shah in his reign also fought against Shah Murad, the ruler of Bukhara who attempted raids into Afghan Turkestan and Khorasan, often harassing the Durrani vassal of the Afsharid dynasty centred in Mashhad. In conclusion, Timur Shah spent most of his reign consolidating the empire, while also fighting off rebellion, he prove himself as a competent leader from holding the unstable empire apart. Timur Shah died on 20 May 1793, succeeded by his son, Zaman Shah Durrani Zaman Shah (1793–1801) After the death of Timur Shah, three of his sons, the governors of Kandahar, Herat and Kabul, contended for the succession. Zaman Shah, governor of Kabul, held the field by virtue of being in control of the capital, and became shah at the age of twenty-three. Many of his half-brothers were imprisoned on their arrival in the capital for the purpose, ironically, of electing a new shah. The quarrels among Timur's descendants that threw Afghanistan into turmoil also provided the pretext for the interventions of outside forces. The efforts of the Sadozai heirs of Timur to impose a true monarchy on the truculent Pashtun tribes, and their efforts to rule absolutely and without the advice of the other major Pashtun tribal leaders, were ultimately unsuccessful. The Sikhs started to rise under the command of Sikh chief, Ranjit Singh, who succeeded in wresting power from Zaman's forces. Later, when Zaman was blinded by his brother, Ranjit Singh gave him asylum in Punjab. Zaman's downfall was triggered by his attempts to consolidate power. Although it had been through the support of the Barakzai chief, Painda Khan Barakzai, that he had come to the throne, Zaman soon began to remove prominent Barakzai leaders from positions of power and replace them with men of his own lineage, the Sadozai. This upset the delicate balance of Durrani tribal politics that Ahmad Shah had established and may have prompted Painda Khan and other Durrani chiefs to plot against the shah. Painda Khan and the chiefs of the Nurzai and the Alizai Durrani clans were executed, as was the chief of the Qizilbash clan. Painda Khan's son fled to Iran and pledged the substantial support of his Barakzai followers to a rival claimant to the throne, Zaman's younger brother, Mahmud Shah. The clans of the chiefs Zaman had executed joined forces with the rebels, and they took Kandahar without bloodshed. Mahmud Shah had then proceeded to march to Kabul, where he met Zaman Shah and his army on the way from Ghanzi to Kabul, Zaman Shah was decisively defeated, including portions of his army fleeing to Mahmud Shah's cause. Mahmud Shah ordered the lancing of Zaman Shah's eyes, and had succeeded Zaman Shah on the throne of the Durrani Empire. Mahmud Shah (first reign, 1801–1803) Zaman Shah's overthrow in 1801 was not the end of civil strife in Afghanistan, but the beginning of even greater violence. Mahmud Shah's first reign lasted for only two years before he was replaced by Shuja Shah. Shuja Shah (1803–1809 and 1839–1842) Yet another of Timur Shah's sons, Shuja Shah (or Shah Shuja), ruled for only six years. On June 7, 1809, Shuja Shah signed a treaty with the British, which included a clause stating that he would oppose the passage of foreign troops through his territories. This agreement, the first Afghan pact with a European power, stipulated joint action in case of Franco-Persian aggression against Afghan or British dominions. Only a few weeks after signing the agreement, Shuja was deposed by his predecessor, Mahmud. Much later, he was reinstated by the British, ruling during 1839–1842. Two of his sons also ruled for a brief period in 1842. Mahmud Shah (second reign, 1809–1818) Mahmud's second reign lasted 9 years, where he had further attempted to consolidate power, but was deposed by his brother in 1818, Mahmud's reign was also disputed in 1810, while he was campaigning, another one of Timur Shah Durrani's sons had seized the throne, but was defeated by Shah Mahmud in 1810. Abbas Mirza (1810) While Mahmud Shah was campaigning in 1810, another one of Timur Shah's sons placed himself in rule at Kabul. Abbas Mirza ruled for a short period of time before being defeated by Mahmud Shah once he returned from campaign. Sultan Ali Shah (1818–1819) Ali Shah was another son of Timur Shah. He seized power for a brief period in 1818–1819. in 1818 or 1819, He was strangled by his brother, Isma'il. Ayub Shah (1819–1823) Ayub Shah was another son of Timur Shah, who took control of the Durrani Empire after the death of Ali Shah Durrani. The Durrani Empire lost its control over Kashmir to the Sikh Empire in the Battle of Shopian in 1819. Ayub Shah was himself later deposed, and presumably killed in 1823. Durrani Herat (1793–1863) Shah Shuja and the First Anglo Afghan War (1839–1842) In the 19th century as a whole, Britain and Russia were interlocked in a battle for influence in South Asia. Russian advance was trudging through Central Asia, while the British were landing in the masses on the Indian subcontinent. The "Army of the Indus", full of both British and Indian infantrymen and cavalrymen, lined up on the border of the Durrani Empire, in Punjab. By March 1839, the British had already crossed into the Emirate of Kabul. Military The Durrani military was based on cavalry armed with flintlocks who performed hit-and-run attacks, combining new technology in firearms with Turco-Mongol tactics. The core of the Durrani army were the 10,000 sher-bacha (blunderbuss)-carrying mounted ghulams (slave-soldiers) of which a third were previously Shia soldiers (Qizilbash) of Nader Shah. Many others were also former troops of Nader Shah. The bulk of the army were Afghan irregular tribal cavalry armed with lance and broadsword. Mounted archers were still used but were uncommon due to the difficulty of training them. Infantry played a very small role in the Durrani army and, with the exception of light swivel guns mounted on camels, the Zamburak, so did artillery. See also Indian campaign of Ahmad Shah Durrani List of Pashtun empires and dynasties Deoni Notes References Sources External links Afghanistan 1747–1809: Sources in the India Office Records Biography of Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani) Ahmad Shah Baba History of Abdali tribe Afghanistan and the Search for Unity Article on Durrani methods of government, published in Asian Affairs, Volume 38, Issue 2, 2007, pp. 145–157. . Empires and kingdoms of Afghanistan Empires and kingdoms of Pakistan Former empires in Asia Muslim empires Islamic rule in the Indian subcontinent Modern history of Afghanistan History of Pakistan History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa States and territories established in 1747 States and territories disestablished in 1823 States and territories established in 1839 States and territories disestablished in 1842 1747 establishments in Asia 1823 disestablishments in Asia 18th century in Afghanistan 19th century in Afghanistan 18th century in the Mughal Empire Former countries in Central Asia Former countries in South Asia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria%2C%20Romania

Alexandria, Romania

Alexandria () is the capital city of the Teleorman County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located south-west of Bucharest, towards the Bulgarian border, and has over 45,000 inhabitants. The 44th parallel north passes just north of the city. Geography Alexandria is situated in the middle of the Wallachian Plain, on the banks of the Vedea River. It is located in the central part of Teleorman County, at a distance of from Giurgiu and from Bucharest. The city is traversed by the national road DN6, which links Bucharest to the Banat region in western Romania; the road is part of European route E70. The Alexandria train station serves the CFR Line 909, with service towards Roșiorii de Vede (to the northwest) and Zimnicea (to the south, on the Danube). History Alexandria was named after its founder, Alexandru D. Ghica, Prince of Wallachia from April 1834 to 7 October 1842. Its population in 1900 was 1,675. Grain, which was Alexandria's main trade at the time, was dispatched both by rail to the Danubian port of Zimnicea and by river to Giurgiu. In 1989, the city had over 63,000 inhabitants and more than six large factories. A 2020 estimate puts the population at 49,878. Education There are three high schools in Alexandria: the Alexandru D. Ghica National College, the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Theoretical High School, and the Constantin Noica Theoretical High School. In 1897, the Ștefan cel Mare School moved from its former location to 310 Libertății Street; a local entrepreneur, M. Frangulea, obtained the plot and hired renowned architect Alexandru Săvulescu to build the new boys' primary school for the city. Religion The Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman is a diocese of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Its see is in Alexandria and its ecclesiastical territory covers Teleorman County. Sports CSM Alexandria is a football club founded in 1948; it plays in the Romanian Liga III. CS Universitatea Alexandria is a women's football club founded in 2012. Stadionul Municipal, which holds 5,000 people, is the home ground for both clubs; the stadium is currently undergoing reconstruction. The Alexandria women's basketball team plays in the Liga Națională. Natives Valentin Badea (b. 1982), footballer Dan Balauru (b. 1980), footballer (b. 1966), fashion creator (1899–1976), mayor, lawyer, writer Anghel Demetriescu (1847–1903), historian Gheorghe Mihăilescu (1888–?), World War I pilot Ciprian Manolescu (b. 1978), mathematician Andreea Ogrăzeanu (b. 1990), sprinter Florin Olteanu (b. 1981), footballer Sorin Paraschiv (b. 1981), footballer Alin Pencea (b. 1992), footballer Marin Stan (b. 1950), sports shooter Alina Tecșor (b. 1979), tennis player Alin Toșca (b. 1992), footballer Daniel Tudor (b. 1974), footballer Ionuț Voicu (b. 1984), footballer Gallery References External links Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Planned cities in Romania Populated places in Teleorman County Localities in Muntenia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga%201000

Amiga 1000

The Amiga 1000, also known as the A1000, is the first personal computer released by Commodore International in the Amiga line. It combines the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU which was powerful by 1985 standards with one of the most advanced graphics and sound systems in its class. It runs a preemptive multitasking operating system that fits into of read-only memory and was shipped with 256 KB of RAM. The primary memory can be expanded internally with a manufacturer-supplied 256 KB module for a total of 512 KB of RAM. Using the external slot the primary memory can be expanded up to Design The A1000 has a number of characteristics that distinguish it from later Amiga models: It is the only model to feature the short-lived Amiga check-mark logo on its case, the majority of the case is elevated slightly to give a storage area for the keyboard when not in use (a "keyboard garage"), and the inside of the case is engraved with the signatures of the Amiga designers (similar to the Macintosh); including Jay Miner and the paw print of his dog Mitchy. The A1000's case was designed by Howard Stolz. As Senior Industrial Designer at Commodore, Stolz was the mechanical lead and primary interface with Sanyo in Japan, the contract manufacturer for the A1000 casing. The Amiga 1000 was manufactured in two variations: One uses the NTSC television standard and the other uses the PAL television standard. The NTSC variant was the initial model manufactured and sold in North America. The later PAL model was manufactured in Germany and sold in countries using the PAL television standard. The first NTSC systems lack the EHB video mode which is present in all later Amiga models. Because AmigaOS was rather buggy at the time of the A1000's release, the OS was not placed in ROM then. Instead, the A1000 includes a daughterboard with 256 KB of RAM, dubbed the "writable control store" (WCS), into which the core of the operating system is loaded from floppy disk (this portion of the operating system is known as the "Kickstart"). The WCS is write-protected after loading, and system resets do not require a reload of the WCS. In Europe, the WCS was often referred to as WOM (Write Once Memory), a play on the more conventional term "ROM" (read-only memory). Technical information The preproduction Amiga (which was codenamed "Velvet") released to developers in early 1985 contained of RAM with an option to expand it to Commodore later increased the system memory to due to objections by the Amiga development team. The names of the custom chips were different; Denise and Paula were called Daphne and Portia respectively. The casing of the preproduction Amiga was almost identical to the production version: the main difference being an embossed Commodore logo in the top left corner. It did not have the developer signatures. The Amiga 1000 has a Motorola 68000 CPU running at 7.15909 MHz on NTSC systems or 7.09379 MHz on PAL systems, precisely double the video color carrier frequency for NTSC or 1.6 times the color carrier frequency for PAL. The system clock timings are derived from the video frequency, which simplifies glue logic and allows the Amiga 1000 to make do with a single crystal. In keeping with its video game heritage, the chipset was designed to synchronize CPU memory access and chipset DMA so the hardware runs in real time without wait-state delays. Though most units were sold with an analog RGB monitor, the A1000 also has a built-in composite video output which allows the computer to be connected directly to some monitors other than their standard RGB monitor. The A1000 also has a "TV MOD" output, into which an RF Modulator can be plugged, allowing connection to older televisions that did not have a composite video input. The original 68000 CPU can be directly replaced with a Motorola 68010, which can execute instructions slightly faster than the 68000 but also introduces a small degree of software incompatibility. Third-party CPU upgrades, which mostly fit in the CPU socket, use faster 68020 or 68030 microprocessors and integrated memory, as well as provide support for a 68881 or 68882 FPU. Such upgrades often have the option to revert to 68000 mode for full compatibility. Some boards have a socket to seat the original 68000, whereas the 68030 cards typically come with an on-board 68000. The original Amiga 1000 is the only model to have 256 KB of Amiga Chip RAM, which can be expanded to 512 KB with the addition of a daughterboard under a cover in the center front of the machine. RAM may also be upgraded via official and third-party upgrades, with a practical upper limit of about 9 MB of "fast RAM" due to the 68000's 24-bit address bus. This memory is accessible only by the CPU permitting faster code execution as DMA cycles are not shared with the chipset. The Amiga 1000 features an 86-pin expansion port (electrically identical to the later Amiga 500 expansion port, though the A500's connector is inverted). This port is used by third-party expansions such as memory upgrades and SCSI adapters. These resources are handled by the Amiga Autoconfig standard. Other expansion options are available including a bus expander which provides two Zorro-II slots. Specifications Retail Introduced on July 23, 1985, during a star-studded gala featuring Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry held at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City, machines began shipping in September with a base configuration of 256 KB of RAM at the retail price of . A analog RGB monitor was available for around , bringing the price of a complete Amiga system to US$1,595 (). Before the release of the Amiga 500 and Amiga 2000 models in 1987, the A1000 was marketed as simply the Amiga, although the model number was there from the beginning, as the original box indicates. In the US, the A1000 was marketed as The Amiga from Commodore, with the Commodore logo omitted from the case. The Commodore branding was retained for the international versions. Additionally, the Amiga 1000 was sold exclusively in computer stores in the US rather than the various non computer-dedicated department and toy stores through which the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 were retailed. These measures were an effort to avoid Commodore's "toy-store" computer image created during the Tramiel era. Along with the operating system, the machine came bundled with a version of AmigaBASIC developed by Microsoft and a speech synthesis library developed by Softvoice, Inc. Aftermarket upgrades Many A1000 owners remained attached to their machines long after newer models rendered the units technically obsolete, and it attracted numerous aftermarket upgrades. Many CPU upgrades that plugged into the Motorola 68000 socket functioned in the A1000. Additionally, a line of products called the Rejuvenator series allowed the use of newer chipsets in the A1000, and an Australian-designed replacement A1000 motherboard called The Phoenix utilized the same chipset as the A3000 and added an A2000-compatible video slot and on-board SCSI controller. Reception and impact In its product preview, Byte magazine was impressed by the computer's multitasking capabilities and the quality of its graphics and sound systems. It also praised its text-to-speech library for voice output, and predicted that the Amiga would be successful enough to influence the personal computer industry. The Amiga 1000 was released to positive reviews. Compute! lauded it as an inexpensive, truly general-purpose computer that might break preconceptions dividing the microcomputer marketplace. In this case, it was capable of outperforming most business, as well as arcade game machines and delivering sampled sound, making it suitable for offices, gamers, and digital artists. Computer Gaming World praised the machine's versatility without any obvious hardware shortcomings and stressed that it was ideal for game designers demanding fewer system constraints. Creative Computing magazine had only minor criticisms for what they otherwise called a "dream machine." These criticisms were directed toward its case quality, the disk drives slowing during certain operations, and not finding an AUTOEXEC command in AmigaDOS, though the marketing vice president of Commodore, Clive Smith, assured the magazine that later production units would address most of its complaints. Months after the Amiga 1000 was released, InfoWorld offered a mixed review. It praised Intuition and the customizability of Workbench, but took issue with the operating system's bugs such as memory overflow and screen flickering of single lines as a result of their being interleaved when displayed in high resolution mode. It also criticized the sparseness of the software library preventing the publication from fully realizing the computer's potential. In 1994, as Commodore filed for bankruptcy, Byte magazine called the Amiga 1000 "the first multimedia computer... so far ahead of its time that almost nobody—including Commodore's marketing department—could fully articulate what it was all about". In 2006, PC World rated the Amiga 1000 as the 7th greatest PC of all time. In 2007, it was rated by the same magazine as the 37th best tech product of all time. Also that year, IDG Sweden ranked it the 10th best computer of all time. Joe Pillow "Joe Pillow" was the name given on the ticket for the extra airline seat purchased to hold the first Amiga prototype while on the way to the January 1984 Consumer Electronics Show. The airlines required a name for the airline ticket and Joe Pillow was born. The engineers (RJ Mical and Dale Luck) who flew with the Amiga prototype (codenamed Lorraine) drew a happy face on the front of the pillowcase and even added a tie. Joe Pillow extended his fifteen minutes of fame when the Amiga went to production. All fifty-three Amiga team members who worked on the project signed the Amiga case. This included Joe Pillow and Jay Miner's dog Michy who each got to "sign" the case in their own unique way. See also Amiga models and variants Amiga Sidecarfor using MS-DOS with Intel 8088 @ 4.77 MHz with 256 KB RAM References External links The Commodore Amiga A1000 at OLD-COMPUTERS.COM Who was Joe Pillow? Amiga computers Computer-related introductions in 1985

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymptote

Asymptote

In analytic geometry, an asymptote () of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as one or both of the x or y coordinates tends to infinity. In projective geometry and related contexts, an asymptote of a curve is a line which is tangent to the curve at a point at infinity. The word asymptote is derived from the Greek ἀσύμπτωτος (asumptōtos) which means "not falling together", from ἀ priv. + σύν "together" + πτωτ-ός "fallen". The term was introduced by Apollonius of Perga in his work on conic sections, but in contrast to its modern meaning, he used it to mean any line that does not intersect the given curve. There are three kinds of asymptotes: horizontal, vertical and oblique. For curves given by the graph of a function , horizontal asymptotes are horizontal lines that the graph of the function approaches as x tends to Vertical asymptotes are vertical lines near which the function grows without bound. An oblique asymptote has a slope that is non-zero but finite, such that the graph of the function approaches it as x tends to More generally, one curve is a curvilinear asymptote of another (as opposed to a linear asymptote) if the distance between the two curves tends to zero as they tend to infinity, although the term asymptote by itself is usually reserved for linear asymptotes. Asymptotes convey information about the behavior of curves in the large, and determining the asymptotes of a function is an important step in sketching its graph. The study of asymptotes of functions, construed in a broad sense, forms a part of the subject of asymptotic analysis. Introduction The idea that a curve may come arbitrarily close to a line without actually becoming the same may seem to counter everyday experience. The representations of a line and a curve as marks on a piece of paper or as pixels on a computer screen have a positive width. So if they were to be extended far enough they would seem to merge, at least as far as the eye could discern. But these are physical representations of the corresponding mathematical entities; the line and the curve are idealized concepts whose width is 0 (see Line). Therefore, the understanding of the idea of an asymptote requires an effort of reason rather than experience. Consider the graph of the function shown in this section. The coordinates of the points on the curve are of the form where x is a number other than 0. For example, the graph contains the points (1, 1), (2, 0.5), (5, 0.2), (10, 0.1), ... As the values of become larger and larger, say 100, 1,000, 10,000 ..., putting them far to the right of the illustration, the corresponding values of , .01, .001, .0001, ..., become infinitesimal relative to the scale shown. But no matter how large becomes, its reciprocal is never 0, so the curve never actually touches the x-axis. Similarly, as the values of become smaller and smaller, say .01, .001, .0001, ..., making them infinitesimal relative to the scale shown, the corresponding values of , 100, 1,000, 10,000 ..., become larger and larger. So the curve extends farther and farther upward as it comes closer and closer to the y-axis. Thus, both the x and y-axis are asymptotes of the curve. These ideas are part of the basis of concept of a limit in mathematics, and this connection is explained more fully below. Asymptotes of functions The asymptotes most commonly encountered in the study of calculus are of curves of the form . These can be computed using limits and classified into horizontal, vertical and oblique asymptotes depending on their orientation. Horizontal asymptotes are horizontal lines that the graph of the function approaches as x tends to +∞ or −∞. As the name indicates they are parallel to the x-axis. Vertical asymptotes are vertical lines (perpendicular to the x-axis) near which the function grows without bound. Oblique asymptotes are diagonal lines such that the difference between the curve and the line approaches 0 as x tends to +∞ or −∞. Vertical asymptotes The line x = a is a vertical asymptote of the graph of the function if at least one of the following statements is true: where is the limit as x approaches the value a from the left (from lesser values), and is the limit as x approaches a from the right. For example, if ƒ(x) = x/(x–1), the numerator approaches 1 and the denominator approaches 0 as x approaches 1. So and the curve has a vertical asymptote x = 1. The function ƒ(x) may or may not be defined at a, and its precise value at the point x = a does not affect the asymptote. For example, for the function has a limit of +∞ as , ƒ(x) has the vertical asymptote , even though ƒ(0) = 5. The graph of this function does intersect the vertical asymptote once, at (0, 5). It is impossible for the graph of a function to intersect a vertical asymptote (or a vertical line in general) in more than one point. Moreover, if a function is continuous at each point where it is defined, it is impossible that its graph does intersect any vertical asymptote. A common example of a vertical asymptote is the case of a rational function at a point x such that the denominator is zero and the numerator is non-zero. If a function has a vertical asymptote, then it isn't necessarily true that the derivative of the function has a vertical asymptote at the same place. An example is at . This function has a vertical asymptote at because and . The derivative of is the function . For the sequence of points for that approaches both from the left and from the right, the values are constantly . Therefore, both one-sided limits of at can be neither nor . Hence doesn't have a vertical asymptote at . Horizontal asymptotes Horizontal asymptotes are horizontal lines that the graph of the function approaches as . The horizontal line y = c is a horizontal asymptote of the function y = ƒ(x) if or . In the first case, ƒ(x) has y = c as asymptote when x tends to , and in the second ƒ(x) has y = c as an asymptote as x tends to . For example, the arctangent function satisfies and So the line is a horizontal asymptote for the arctangent when x tends to , and is a horizontal asymptote for the arctangent when x tends to . Functions may lack horizontal asymptotes on either or both sides, or may have one horizontal asymptote that is the same in both directions. For example, the function has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 when x tends both to and because, respectively, Other common functions that have one or two horizontal asymptotes include (that has an hyperbola as it graph), the Gaussian function the error function, and the logistic function. Oblique asymptotes When a linear asymptote is not parallel to the x- or y-axis, it is called an oblique asymptote or slant asymptote. A function ƒ(x) is asymptotic to the straight line (m ≠ 0) if In the first case the line is an oblique asymptote of ƒ(x) when x tends to +∞, and in the second case the line is an oblique asymptote of ƒ(x) when x tends to −∞. An example is ƒ(x) = x + 1/x, which has the oblique asymptote y = x (that is m = 1, n = 0) as seen in the limits Elementary methods for identifying asymptotes The asymptotes of many elementary functions can be found without the explicit use of limits (although the derivations of such methods typically use limits). General computation of oblique asymptotes for functions The oblique asymptote, for the function f(x), will be given by the equation y = mx + n. The value for m is computed first and is given by where a is either or depending on the case being studied. It is good practice to treat the two cases separately. If this limit doesn't exist then there is no oblique asymptote in that direction. Having m then the value for n can be computed by where a should be the same value used before. If this limit fails to exist then there is no oblique asymptote in that direction, even should the limit defining m exist. Otherwise is the oblique asymptote of ƒ(x) as x tends to a. For example, the function has and then so that is the asymptote of ƒ(x) when x tends to +∞. The function has and then , which does not exist. So does not have an asymptote when x tends to +∞. Asymptotes for rational functions A rational function has at most one horizontal asymptote or oblique (slant) asymptote, and possibly many vertical asymptotes. The degree of the numerator and degree of the denominator determine whether or not there are any horizontal or oblique asymptotes. The cases are tabulated below, where deg(numerator) is the degree of the numerator, and deg(denominator) is the degree of the denominator. The vertical asymptotes occur only when the denominator is zero (If both the numerator and denominator are zero, the multiplicities of the zero are compared). For example, the following function has vertical asymptotes at x = 0, and x = 1, but not at x = 2. Oblique asymptotes of rational functions When the numerator of a rational function has degree exactly one greater than the denominator, the function has an oblique (slant) asymptote. The asymptote is the polynomial term after dividing the numerator and denominator. This phenomenon occurs because when dividing the fraction, there will be a linear term, and a remainder. For example, consider the function shown to the right. As the value of x increases, f approaches the asymptote y = x. This is because the other term, 1/(x+1), approaches 0. If the degree of the numerator is more than 1 larger than the degree of the denominator, and the denominator does not divide the numerator, there will be a nonzero remainder that goes to zero as x increases, but the quotient will not be linear, and the function does not have an oblique asymptote. Transformations of known functions If a known function has an asymptote (such as y=0 for f(x)=ex), then the translations of it also have an asymptote. If x=a is a vertical asymptote of f(x), then x=a+h is a vertical asymptote of f(x-h) If y=c is a horizontal asymptote of f(x), then y=c+k is a horizontal asymptote of f(x)+k If a known function has an asymptote, then the scaling of the function also have an asymptote. If y=ax+b is an asymptote of f(x), then y=cax+cb is an asymptote of cf(x) For example, f(x)=ex-1+2 has horizontal asymptote y=0+2=2, and no vertical or oblique asymptotes. General definition Let be a parametric plane curve, in coordinates A(t) = (x(t),y(t)). Suppose that the curve tends to infinity, that is: A line ℓ is an asymptote of A if the distance from the point A(t) to ℓ tends to zero as t → b. From the definition, only open curves that have some infinite branch can have an asymptote. No closed curve can have an asymptote. For example, the upper right branch of the curve y = 1/x can be defined parametrically as x = t, y = 1/t (where t > 0). First, x → ∞ as t → ∞ and the distance from the curve to the x-axis is 1/t which approaches 0 as t → ∞. Therefore, the x-axis is an asymptote of the curve. Also, y → ∞ as t → 0 from the right, and the distance between the curve and the y-axis is t which approaches 0 as t → 0. So the y-axis is also an asymptote. A similar argument shows that the lower left branch of the curve also has the same two lines as asymptotes. Although the definition here uses a parameterization of the curve, the notion of asymptote does not depend on the parameterization. In fact, if the equation of the line is then the distance from the point A(t) = (x(t),y(t)) to the line is given by if γ(t) is a change of parameterization then the distance becomes which tends to zero simultaneously as the previous expression. An important case is when the curve is the graph of a real function (a function of one real variable and returning real values). The graph of the function y = ƒ(x) is the set of points of the plane with coordinates (x,ƒ(x)). For this, a parameterization is This parameterization is to be considered over the open intervals (a,b), where a can be −∞ and b can be +∞. An asymptote can be either vertical or non-vertical (oblique or horizontal). In the first case its equation is x = c, for some real number c. The non-vertical case has equation , where m and are real numbers. All three types of asymptotes can be present at the same time in specific examples. Unlike asymptotes for curves that are graphs of functions, a general curve may have more than two non-vertical asymptotes, and may cross its vertical asymptotes more than once. Curvilinear asymptotes Let be a parametric plane curve, in coordinates A(t) = (x(t),y(t)), and B be another (unparameterized) curve. Suppose, as before, that the curve A tends to infinity. The curve B is a curvilinear asymptote of A if the shortest distance from the point A(t) to a point on B tends to zero as t → b. Sometimes B is simply referred to as an asymptote of A, when there is no risk of confusion with linear asymptotes. For example, the function has a curvilinear asymptote , which is known as a parabolic asymptote because it is a parabola rather than a straight line. Asymptotes and curve sketching Asymptotes are used in procedures of curve sketching. An asymptote serves as a guide line to show the behavior of the curve towards infinity. In order to get better approximations of the curve, curvilinear asymptotes have also been used although the term asymptotic curve seems to be preferred. Algebraic curves The asymptotes of an algebraic curve in the affine plane are the lines that are tangent to the projectivized curve through a point at infinity. For example, one may identify the asymptotes to the unit hyperbola in this manner. Asymptotes are often considered only for real curves, although they also make sense when defined in this way for curves over an arbitrary field. A plane curve of degree n intersects its asymptote at most at n−2 other points, by Bézout's theorem, as the intersection at infinity is of multiplicity at least two. For a conic, there are a pair of lines that do not intersect the conic at any complex point: these are the two asymptotes of the conic. A plane algebraic curve is defined by an equation of the form P(x,y) = 0 where P is a polynomial of degree n where Pk is homogeneous of degree k. Vanishing of the linear factors of the highest degree term Pn defines the asymptotes of the curve: setting , if , then the line is an asymptote if and are not both zero. If and , there is no asymptote, but the curve has a branch that looks like a branch of parabola. Such a branch is called a , even when it does not have any parabola that is a curvilinear asymptote. If the curve has a singular point at infinity which may have several asymptotes or parabolic branches. Over the complex numbers, Pn splits into linear factors, each of which defines an asymptote (or several for multiple factors). Over the reals, Pn splits in factors that are linear or quadratic factors. Only the linear factors correspond to infinite (real) branches of the curve, but if a linear factor has multiplicity greater than one, the curve may have several asymptotes or parabolic branches. It may also occur that such a multiple linear factor corresponds to two complex conjugate branches, and does not corresponds to any infinite branch of the real curve. For example, the curve has no real points outside the square , but its highest order term gives the linear factor x with multiplicity 4, leading to the unique asymptote x=0. Asymptotic cone The hyperbola has the two asymptotes The equation for the union of these two lines is Similarly, the hyperboloid is said to have the asymptotic cone The distance between the hyperboloid and cone approaches 0 as the distance from the origin approaches infinity. More generally, consider a surface that has an implicit equation where the are homogeneous polynomials of degree and . Then the equation defines a cone which is centered at the origin. It is called an asymptotic cone, because the distance to the cone of a point of the surface tends to zero when the point on the surface tends to infinity. See also Big O notation References General references Specific references External links Hyperboloid and Asymptotic Cone, string surface model, 1872 from the Science Museum Mathematical analysis Analytic geometry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accumulator%20%28computing%29

Accumulator (computing)

In a computer's central processing unit (CPU), the accumulator is a register in which intermediate arithmetic logic unit results are stored. Without a register like an accumulator, it would be necessary to write the result of each calculation (addition, multiplication, shift, etc.) to main memory, perhaps only to be read right back again for use in the next operation. Access to main memory is slower than access to a register like an accumulator because the technology used for the large main memory is slower (but cheaper) than that used for a register. Early electronic computer systems were often split into two groups, those with accumulators and those without. Modern computer systems often have multiple general-purpose registers that can operate as accumulators, and the term is no longer as common as it once was. However, to simplify their design, a number of special-purpose processors still use a single accumulator. Basic concept Mathematical operations often take place in a stepwise fashion, using the results from one operation as the input to the next. For instance, a manual calculation of a worker's weekly payroll might look something like: look up the number of hours worked from the employee's time card look up the pay rate for that employee from a table multiply the hours by the pay rate to get their basic weekly pay multiply their basic pay by a fixed percentage to account for income tax subtract that number from their basic pay to get their weekly pay after tax multiply that result by another fixed percentage to account for retirement plans subtract that number from their basic pay to get their weekly pay after all deductions A computer program carrying out the same task would follow the same basic sequence of operations, although the values being looked up would all be stored in computer memory. In early computers, the number of hours would likely be held on a punch card and the pay rate in some other form of memory, perhaps a magnetic drum. Once the multiplication is complete, the result needs to be placed somewhere. On a "drum machine" this would likely be back to the drum, an operation that takes considerable time. And then the very next operation has to read that value back in, which introduces another considerable delay. Accumulators dramatically improve performance in systems like these by providing a scratchpad area where the results of one operation can be fed to the next one for little or no performance penalty. In the example above, the basic weekly pay would be calculated and placed in the accumulator, which could then immediately be used by the income tax calculation. This removes one save and one read operation from the sequence, operations that generally took tens to hundreds of times as long as the multiplication itself. Accumulator machines An accumulator machine, also called a 1-operand machine, or a CPU with accumulator-based architecture, is a kind of CPU where, although it may have several registers, the CPU mostly stores the results of calculations in one special register, typically called "the accumulator". Almost all computers were accumulator machines with only the high-performance "supercomputers" having multiple registers. Then as mainframe systems gave way to microcomputers, accumulator architectures were again popular with the MOS 6502 being a notable example. Many 8-bit microcontrollers that are still popular as of 2014, such as the PICmicro and 8051, are accumulator-based machines. Modern CPUs are typically 2-operand or 3-operand machines. The additional operands specify which one of many general purpose registers (also called "general purpose accumulators") are used as the source and destination for calculations. These CPUs are not considered "accumulator machines". The characteristic which distinguishes one register as being the accumulator of a computer architecture is that the accumulator (if the architecture were to have one) would be used as an implicit operand for arithmetic instructions. For instance, a CPU might have an instruction like: ADD memaddress that adds the value read from memory location memaddress to the value in the accumulator, placing the result back in the accumulator. The accumulator is not identified in the instruction by a register number; it is implicit in the instruction and no other register can be specified in the instruction. Some architectures use a particular register as an accumulator in some instructions, but other instructions use register numbers for explicit operand specification. History of the computer accumulator Any system that uses a single "memory" to store the result of multiple operations can be considered an accumulator. J. Presper Eckert refers to even the earliest adding machines of Gottfried Leibniz and Blaise Pascal as accumulator-based systems. Percy Ludgate was the first to conceive a multiplier-accumulator (MAC) in his Analytical Machine of 1909. Historical convention dedicates a register to "the accumulator", an "arithmetic organ" that literally accumulates its number during a sequence of arithmetic operations: "The first part of our arithmetic organ ... should be a parallel storage organ which can receive a number and add it to the one already in it, which is also able to clear its contents and which can store what it contains. We will call such an organ an Accumulator. It is quite conventional in principle in past and present computing machines of the most varied types, e.g. desk multipliers, standard IBM counters, more modern relay machines, the ENIAC" (Goldstine and von Neumann, 1946; p. 98 in Bell and Newell 1971). Just a few of the instructions are, for example (with some modern interpretation): Clear accumulator and add number from memory location X Clear accumulator and subtract number from memory location X Add number copied from memory location X to the contents of the accumulator Subtract number copied from memory location X from the contents of the accumulator Clear accumulator and shift contents of register into accumulator No convention exists regarding the names for operations from registers to accumulator and from accumulator to registers. Tradition (e.g. Donald Knuth's (1973) hypothetical MIX computer), for example, uses two instructions called load accumulator from register/memory (e.g. "LDA r") and store accumulator to register/memory (e.g. "STA r"). Knuth's model has many other instructions as well. Notable accumulator-based computers The 1945 configuration of ENIAC had 20 accumulators, which could operate in parallel. Each one could store an eight decimal digit number and add to it (or subtract from it) a number it received. Most of IBM's early binary "scientific" computers, beginning with the vacuum tube IBM 701 in 1952, used a single 36-bit accumulator, along with a separate multiplier/quotient register to handle operations with longer results. The IBM 650, a decimal machine, had one 10 digit distributor and two ten-digit accumulators; the IBM 7070, a later, transistorized decimal machine had three accumulators. The IBM System/360, and Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP-6, had 16 general purpose registers, although the PDP-6 and its successor, the PDP-10, call them accumulators. The 12-bit PDP-8 was one of the first minicomputers to use accumulators, and inspired many later machines. The PDP-8 had but one accumulator. The HP 2100 and Data General Nova had 2 and 4 accumulators. The Nova was created when this follow-on to the PDP-8 was rejected in favor of what would become the PDP-11. The Nova provided four accumulators, AC0-AC3, although AC2 and AC3 could also be used to provide offset addresses, tending towards more generality of usage for the registers. The PDP-11 had 8 general purpose registers, along the lines of the System/360 and PDP-10; most later CISC and RISC machines provided multiple general purpose registers. Early 4-bit and 8-bit microprocessors such as the 4004, 8008 and numerous others, typically had single accumulators. The 8051 microcontroller has two, a primary accumulator and a secondary accumulator, where the second is used by instructions only when multiplying (MUL AB) or dividing (DIV AB); the former splits the 16-bit result between the two 8-bit accumulators, whereas the latter stores the quotient on the primary accumulator A and the remainder in the secondary accumulator B. As a direct descendant of the 8008, the 8080, and the 8086, the modern ubiquitous Intel x86 processors still uses the primary accumulator EAX and the secondary accumulator EDX for multiplication and division of large numbers. For instance, MUL ECX will multiply the 32-bit registers ECX and EAX and split the 64-bit result between EAX and EDX. However, MUL and DIV are special cases; other arithmetic-logical instructions (ADD, SUB, CMP, AND, OR, XOR, TEST) may specify any of the eight registers EAX, ECX, EDX, EBX, ESP, EBP, ESI, EDI as the accumulator (i.e. left operand and destination). This is also supported for multiply if the upper half of the result is not required. x86 is thus a fairly general register architecture, despite being based on an accumulator model. The 64-bit extension of x86, x86-64, has been further generalized to 16 instead of 8 general registers. References Goldstine, Herman H., and von Neumann, John, "Planning and Coding of the Problems for an Electronic Computing Instrument", Rep. 1947, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. Reprinted on pp. 92–119 in Bell, C. Gordon and Newell, Allen (1971), Computer Structures: Readings and Examples, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. }. A veritable treasure-trove of detailed descriptions of ancient machines including photos. Central processing unit Digital registers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu%20Zubaydah

Abu Zubaydah

Abu Zubaydah ( ; , Abū Zubaydah; born March 12, 1971, as Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn) is a Saudi Arabian currently held by the U.S. in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He is held under the authority of Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists. Zubaydah was captured in Pakistan in March 2002 and has been in United States custody ever since, including four-and-a-half years in the secret prison network of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was transferred among prisons in various countries including a year in Poland, as part of a United States' extraordinary rendition program. During his time in CIA custody, Zubaydah was extensively interrogated; he was waterboarded 83 times and subjected to numerous other torture techniques including forced nudity, sleep deprivation, confinement in small dark boxes, deprivation of solid food, stress positions, and physical assaults. Videotapes of some of Zubaydah's interrogations are amongst those destroyed by the CIA in 2005. Zubaydah and ten other "high-value detainees" were transferred to Guantanamo in September 2006. He and other former CIA detainees are held in Camp 7, where conditions are the most isolating. At his Combatant Status Review Tribunal in 2007, Zubaydah said he was told that the CIA realized he was not significant. On July 24, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Polish government to pay Zubaydah damages. Zubaydah said through his US lawyer that he would be donating the awarded funds to victims of torture. Biography and early activities According to his younger brother Hesham, they had eight siblings. Hesham remembers his older brother "as a happy-go-lucky guy, and something of a womanizer". Born in Saudi Arabia, Zubaydah moved to the West Bank as a teenager, where he joined in Palestinian demonstrations against the Israelis. Zubaydah is reported to have studied computer science in Mysore, India, prior to his travel to Afghanistan/Pakistan at the age of 20 in 1991. He joined the mujahideen in the Afghan Civil War, perhaps serving under Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi. In 1992, Zubaydah was injured in a mortar shell blast, which left shrapnel in his head and caused severe memory loss, as well as the loss of the ability to speak for over one year. Zubaydah eventually became involved in the jihad training site known as the Khalden training camp, where he oversaw the flow of recruits and obtained passports and paperwork for men transferring out of Khalden. He may also have worked as an instructor there. Although originally described as an al-Qaeda training camp, this alleged connection, which has been used as justification for holding Zubaydah and others as enemy combatants, has come under scrutiny from multiple sources, and the camp may have shut its doors in 2001 in response to an ideological division with al-Qaeda. By 1999, the United States government was attempting to surveil Zubaydah. By March 2000, United States officials were reporting that Zubaydah was a "senior bin Laden official", the "former head of Egypt-based Islamic Jihad", a "trusted aide" to bin Laden with "growing power", who had "played a key role in the East Africa embassy attacks". Zubaydah was convicted in absentia in Jordan and sentenced to death by a Jordanian court for his role in plots to bomb U.S. and Israeli targets there. A senior Middle East security official said Zubaydah had directed the Jordanian cell and was part of "bin Laden's inner circle". In August 2001, the classified FBI report, "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US", said that the foiled millennium bomber, Ahmed Ressam, had confessed that Zubaydah had encouraged him to blow up the Los Angeles airport and facilitated his mission. The report said that Zubaydah was also planning his own attack on the U.S. However, when Ressam was tried in December 2001, federal prosecutors did not try to connect him to Zubaydah or refer to any of this supposed evidence in its case. After the trial, Ressam recanted his confession, saying he had been coerced into giving it. According to a psychological evaluation conducted upon his capture, Zubaydah allegedly served as Osama bin Laden's senior lieutenant and counter-intelligence officer (i.e. third or fourth highest-ranking member of al Qaeda), managed a network of training camps, was involved in every major terrorist operation carried out by al Qaeda (including the planning of 9/11), and was engaged in planning future terrorist attacks against U.S. interests. These statements were widely echoed by members of the George W. Bush administration and other US officials. Zubaydah's perceived "value" as a detainee would later be used by President George W. Bush to justify the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and Zubaydah's detention in secret CIA prisons around the world. However, Zubaydah's connection to al Qaeda is now often said to have beenaccording to Rebecca Gordon writing about "The al Qaeda Leader Who Wasn't"a fictitious charge. Others have said instead that it is merely overstated, and in response to his habeas corpus petition, the U.S. Government stated in 2009 that it did not contend Zubaydah had any involvement with the 9/11 attacks, or that he had even been a member of al Qaeda, simply because they did not have to: "In simple terms, the issue in this habeas corpus action is Petitioner's conduct", rather than membership or inclination: "Petitioner's personal philosophy is not relevant except to the extent that it is reflected in his actions". Capture On March 28, 2002, CIA and FBI agents, in conjunction with Pakistani intelligence agency, raided several safe houses in Pakistan searching for Zubaydah. Zubaydah was apprehended from one of the targeted safe houses in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The Pakistani intelligence service had paid a small amount for a tip on his whereabouts. The United States paid far more to Pakistan for its assistance; a CIA source later said: "We paid $10 million for Zubaydah." During the raid, Zubaydah was shot in the thigh, the testicle, and the stomach with rounds from a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Not recognized at first, he was piled into a pickup truck along with other prisoners by the Pakistani forces until a senior CIA officer identified him. He was taken by the Pakistanis to a Pakistani hospital nearby and treated for his wounds. The attending doctor told the CIA lead officer of the group which apprehended Zubaydah that he had never before seen a patient survive such severe wounds. The CIA flew in a doctor from Johns Hopkins University to ensure Zubaydah would survive during transit out of Pakistan. His pocket litter supposedly contained two bank cards, which showed that he had access to Saudi and Kuwaiti bank accounts; most al-Qaeda members used the preferred, untraceable hawala banking. According to James Risen: "It is not clear whether an investigation of the cards simply fell through the cracks, or whether they were ignored because no one wanted to know the answers about connections between al Qaeda and important figures in the Middle East – particularly in Saudi Arabia." One of Risen's sources chalks up the failure to investigate the cards to incompetence rather than foul play: "The cards were sent back to Washington and were never fully exploited. I think nobody ever looked at them because of incompetence." When Americans investigated the cards, Risen wrote that they worked with a Muslim financier with a questionable past, and with connections to the Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda, and Saudi intelligence. ... Saudi intelligence officials had seized all of the records related to the card from the Saudi financial institution in question; the records then disappeared. There was no longer any way to trace the money that had gone into the account. A search of the safehouse turned up Zubaydah's 10,000-page diaries, in which he recorded his thoughts as a young boy, older man, and at his current age. What appears to be multiple separate identities is how Zubaydah was piecing his memories together after his 1992 shrapnel head wound. As part of his therapy to regain his memories, he began recording a diary that detailed his life, emotions, and what people were telling him. He split information into categories, such as what he knew about himself and what people told him, and listed them under different names to distinguish one set from the other. This was later interpreted by some analysts reviewing the diary as symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder, which some others disputed and said to be incorrect. Zubaydah was handed to the CIA. Reports later alleged that he was transferred to secret CIA-operated prisons, known as black sites, in Pakistan, Thailand, Afghanistan, Poland, Northern Africa, and Diego Garcia. Historically, renditions of prisoners to countries which commit torture have been illegal. A memo written by John Yoo and signed by Jay Bybee of the Office of the Legal Counsel, DOJ, days before Zubaydah's capture, provided a legal opinion providing for CIA renditions of detainees to places such as Thailand. In March 2009, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee launched a year-long study on how the CIA operated the secret prisons, or black sites, around the world. Top U.S. officials approved torture techniques In the spring of 2002, immediately following the capture of Zubaydah, top Bush administration officials, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and US Attorney General John Ashcroft discussed at length whether or not the CIA could legally use harsh techniques against him. Condoleezza Rice specifically mentioned the SERE program during the meeting, saying, "I recall being told that U.S. military personnel were subjected to training to certain physical and psychological interrogation techniques". In addition, in 2002 and 2003, the administration briefed several Democratic Congressional leaders on the proposed "enhanced interrogation techniques". These congressional leaders included Nancy Pelosi, the future Speaker of the House, and Representative Jane Harman. Congressional officials have stated that the attitude in the briefings ranged from "quiet acquiescence, if not downright support". The documents show that top U.S. officials were intimately involved in the discussion and approval of the harsher interrogation techniques used on Zubaydah. Condoleezza Rice ultimately told the CIA the harsher interrogation tactics were acceptable, and Dick Cheney stated, "I signed off on it; so did others." During the discussions, US Attorney General John Ashcroft is reported as saying, "Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly." Torture drawings In December 2019, The New York Times published an article in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting which was based upon drawings made by Zubaydah, showing how he was tortured in "vivid and disturbing ways". The article includes some of the drawings as well as a link to a 61-page report titled "How America Tortures", and asserts that Zubaydah was never a member of Al Qaeda. In the article Zubaydah gives gruesome details of numerous types of torture including being locked up inside a small box called "the dog box" for "countless hours", which caused muscle contractions. "The very strong pain", he said, "made me scream unconsciously". According to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, over a single 20 day period, Zubaydah spent over 11 days locked in a "coffin size" box, and 29 hours in a box measuring 21 inches wide, 2 feet deep, and 2 feet high (). Interrogation of Zubaydah Zubaydah was interrogated by two separate interrogation teams: the first from the FBI and one from the CIA. Ali Soufan, one of the FBI interrogators, later testified in 2009 on these issues to the Senate Committee that was investigating detainee treatment. Soufan, who witnessed part of the CIA interrogation of Zubaydah, described his treatment under the CIA as torture. The International Committee of the Red Cross and others later reached the same conclusion. While in CIA custody, Zubaydah lost his left eye. Because of the urgency felt about the interrogation of Zubaydah, the CIA had consulted with the president about how to proceed. The General Counsel of the CIA asked for a legal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice about what was permissible during interrogation. August 2002 memo In early July 2002, the Associate General Counsel CTC/Legal Group started drafting a memo to the Attorney General requesting the approval of "aggressive" interrogation methods, which otherwise would be prohibited under the provisions of Section 2340-2340B, Title 18, United States Code, on Abu Zubaydah. This memo, drafted by Office of Legal Counsel, Jay Bybee and his assistant John Yoo, is also referred to as the first Torture Memo. Addressed to CIA acting General Counsel John A. Rizzo at his request, the purpose of the memo was to describe and authorize specific "enhanced interrogation techniques" to be used on Zubaydah. On July 26, 2002, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo informed the CIA that Attorney General John Ashcroft had approved waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah. Journalists including Jane Mayer, Joby Warrick and Peter Finn, and Alex Koppelman have reported the CIA was already using these harsh tactics before the memo authorizing their use was written, and that it was used to provide after-the-fact legal support for harsh interrogation techniques. A Department of Justice 2009 report regarding prisoner abuses reportedly stated the memos were prepared one month after Zubaydah had already been subjected to the specific techniques authorized in an August 1, 2002, memo. John Kiriakou stated in July 2009 that Zubaydah was waterboarded in the early summer of 2002, months before the August 1, 2002, memo was written. The memo described ten techniques which the interrogators wanted to use: "(1) attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial slap (insult slap), (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions, (8) sleep deprivation, (9) insects placed in a confinement box, and (10) the waterboard." Many of the techniques were, until then, generally considered illegal. Many other techniques developed by the CIA were held to constitute inhumane and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. As reported later, many of these interrogation techniques were previously considered illegal under U.S. and international law and treaties at the time of Zubaydah's capture. For instance, the United States had prosecuted Japanese military officials after World War II and American soldiers after the Vietnam War for waterboarding. Since 1930, the United States had defined sleep deprivation as an illegal form of torture. Many other techniques developed by the CIA constitute inhuman and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture, and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Ensuing interrogation At a CIA black site in Thailand, Zubaydah was subjected to various forms of increasingly harsh interrogation techniques, including temperature extremes, music played at debilitating volumes, and sexual humiliation. Zubaydah was also subjected to beatings, isolation, waterboarding, long-time standing, continuous cramped confinement, and sleep deprivation. Former CIA analyst and case officer John Kiriakou asserted that while Zubaydah was in CIA custody, a box of cockroaches were poured on him inside of a coffin he was confined to for two weeks, because of an irrational fear Zubaydah has of cockroaches. During Zubaydah's interrogation, President Bush learned he was on painkillers for his wounds and was proving resistant. He said to the CIA director George Tenet, "Who authorized putting him on pain medication?" It was later reported that Zubaydah was denied painkillers during his interrogation. Waterboarding Zubaydah was one of three or more high-value detainees to be waterboarded. The Bush administration in 2007 said that Zubaydah had been waterboarded once. John Kiriakou, a CIA officer who had seen the cables regarding Zubaydah's interrogation, publicly said in 2009 that Zubaydah was waterboarded once for 35 seconds before he started talking. Intelligence sources claimed as early as 2008 that Zubaydah had been waterboarded no less than ten times in the span of one week. Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times within the month of August 2002, the month the CIA was authorized to use this enhanced interrogation techniques for him. In January 2010, Kiriakou, in a memoir, said, "Now we know that Zubaydah was waterboarded eighty-three times in a single month, raising questions about how much useful information he actually supplied." 2003 transfer to Guantanamo In August 2010, the Associated Press reported that the CIA, having concluded its agents had gotten most of the information from Zubaydah, in September 2003 transferred him and three other high-value detainees to Guantanamo. They were held at what was informally known as "Strawberry Fields", a secret camp within the complex built especially for former CIA detainees. Concerned that a pending Supreme Court decision, Rasul v. Bush (2004), might go against the Bush administration and require providing the prisoners with counsel and having to reveal data about them, on March 27, 2004, the CIA took the four men back into custody and transported them out of Guantanamo to one of their secret sites. At the time, the moves were all kept secret. International Committee of the Red Cross report In February 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded a report on the treatment of "14 high-value detainees", who had been held by the CIA and, after September 2006, by the military at Guantanamo. The ICRC described the twelve enhanced interrogation techniques covered in the OLC memos to the CIA: suffocation by water (which is described as "torture" by numerous US officials), prolonged stress standing position, beatings by use of a collar, beating and kicking, confinement in a box, prolonged nudity, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold temperature, prolonged shackling, threats of ill-treatment, forced shaving, and deprivation/restricted provision of solid food. Zubaydah was the only detainee of the 14 interviewed who had been subjected to all 12 of these interrogation techniques. He was also the only one of the 14 detainees to be put into close confinement. May 30, 2005, memo The final memo mentioned Zubaydah several times. It claimed that due to the enhanced interrogation techniques, Zubaydah "provided significant information on two operatives, [including] José Padilla[,] who planned to build and detonate a 'dirty bomb' in the Washington DC area." This claim is strongly disputed by Ali Soufan, the FBI interrogator who first interrogated Zubaydah following his capture, by traditional means. He said the most valuable information was gained before torture was used. Other intelligence officers have also disputed that claim. Soufan, when asked in 2009 by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse during a Congressional hearing if the memo was incorrect, testified that it was. The memo noted that not all of the waterboarding sessions were necessary for Zubaydah, since the on-scene interrogation team determined he had stopped producing actionable intelligence. The memo reads: This is not to say that the interrogation program has worked perfectly. According to the IG Report, the CIA, at least initially, could not always distinguish detainees who had information but were successfully resisting interrogation from those who did not actually have the information. See IG Report at 83–85. On at least one occasion, this may have resulted in what might be deemed in retrospect to have been the unnecessary use of enhanced techniques. On that occasion, although the on-scene interrogation team judged Zubaydah to be compliant, elements within CIA Headquarters still believed he was withholding information. See id at 84. At the direction of CIA Headquarters, interrogators therefore used the waterboard one more time on Zubaydah. John McLaughlin, former acting CIA director, stated in 2006, "I totally disagree with the view that the capture of Zubaydah was unimportant. Zubaydah was woven through all of the intelligence prior to 9/11 that signaled a major attack was coming, and his capture yielded a great deal of important information." In his 2007 memoir, former CIA Director George Tenet writes: A published report in 2006 contended that Zubaydah was mentally unstable and that the administration had overstated his importance. Baloney. Zubaydah had been at the crossroads of many al-Qa'ida operations and was in position to – and did – share critical information with his interrogators. Apparently, the source of the rumor that Zubaydah was unbalanced was his personal diary, in which he adopted various personas. From that shaky perch, some junior Freudians leapt to the conclusion that Zubaydah had multiple personalities. In fact, Agency psychiatrists eventually determined that in his diary he was using a sophisticated literary device to express himself. Intelligence obtained from Zubaydah and its after effects Zubaydah's capture was touted as the biggest of the War on Terror until that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The director of the FBI stated Zubaydah's capture would help deter future attacks. In a speech in 2006, President Bush claimed that Zubaydah revealed useful intelligence when enhanced interrogation was used, including identification of two important suspects and information that allegedly helped foil a terrorist attack on American soil. These claims directly conflict with the reports of the FBI agents who first interrogated Zubaydah. He gave them the names before torture was used, and the third piece of information came from other sources who had been receiving crucial pieces of information from him without the use of harsher techniques, as well as other government officials. Iraq War (2003) The Bush administration relied on some of Zubaydah's claims in justifying the invasion of Iraq. U.S. officials stated that the allegations that Iraq and al-Qaeda were linked in the training of people on chemical weapons came from Zubaydah. The officials noted there was no independent verification of his claims. The U.S. government included statements made by Zubaydah in regards to al Qaeda's ability to obtain a dirty bomb to show a link between Iraq and al Qaeda. According to a Senate Intelligence Committee report of 2004, Zubaydah said that "he had heard that an important al Qaeda associate, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and others had good relationships with Iraqi intelligence." However, the year before, in June 2003, Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were reported as saying there was no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. In the Senate Armed Services Committee 2008 report on the abuses of detainees, the Bush administration was described as having applied pressure to interrogators to find a link between Iraq and al Qaeda prior to the Iraq War. Major Paul Burney, a psychiatrist with the United States Army, said to the committee, "while we were [at Guantanamo] a large part of the time we were focused on trying to establish a link between al Qaeda and Iraq and we were not being successful." He said that higher-ups were "frustrated" and applied "more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results." Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, the former chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell said: Likewise, what I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May 2002—well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion—its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida. So furious was this effort that on one particular detainee, even when the interrogation team had reported to Cheney's office that their detainee "was compliant" (meaning the team recommended no more torture), the VP's office ordered them to continue the enhanced methods. The detainee had not revealed any al-Qa'ida-Baghdad contacts yet. This ceased only after Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, under waterboarding in Egypt, "revealed" such contacts. Of course, later we learned that al-Libi revealed these contacts only to get the torture to stop. Concerns In 2004, media coverage of Abu Zubaydah began listing him as a "disappeared" prisoner, stating he had no access to the International Red Cross. In February 2005, the CIA was reported as uncomfortable keeping Zubaydah in indefinite custody. Less than 18 months later, Zubaydah and the thirteen other high-value detainees who had been in secret CIA custody were transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. After his transfer, the CIA denied access to Zubaydah. In 2008, the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Justice, complained that it had been prevented from seeing him, although it was conducting a study of the US treatment of its detainees. Zubaydah's mental health Some people are concerned about Zubaydah's mental stability and how that has affected information he has given to interrogators. Ron Suskind noted in his book, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (2006), that Zubaydah was mentally ill or disabled due to a severe head injury. He described Zubaydah as keeping a diary "in the voice of three people: Hani 1, Hani 2, and Hani 3"—a boy, a young man and a middle-aged alter ego. Zubaydah's diaries spanned ten years and recorded in numbing detail "what he ate, or wore, or trifling things [people] said". Dan Coleman, then the FBI's top al-Qaeda analyst, told a senior bureau official, "This guy is insane, certifiable, split personality." According to Suskind, this judgment was "echoed at the top of CIA and was briefed to the President and Vice President." Coleman stated Zubaydah was a "safehouse keeper" with mental problems, who "claimed to know more about al-Qaeda and its inner workings than he really did." Joseph Margulies, Zubaydah's co-counsel, wrote in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in 2009: Partly as a result of injuries he suffered while he was fighting the communists in Afghanistan, partly as a result of how those injuries were exacerbated by the CIA and partly as a result of his extended isolation, Zubaydah's mental grasp is slipping away. Today, he suffers blinding headaches and has permanent brain damage. He has an excruciating sensitivity to sounds, hearing what others do not. The slightest noise drives him nearly insane. In the last two years alone, he has experienced about 200 seizures. Already, he cannot picture his mother's face or recall his father's name. Gradually, his past, like his future, eludes him. Legal status President Bush referred to Zubaydah in a speech to Congress September 2006 requesting a bill to authorize military commissions, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) that held the tribunals as formulated by the executive branch were unconstitutional. Congress rapidly passed legislation that was signed by the president. Less than one month after Zubaydah's capture, Justice Department officials said Zubaydah was "a near-ideal candidate for a tribunal trial". Several months later in 2002, US officials said there was "no rush" to try Zubaydah via military commission. At his Combatant Status Review Tribunal in 2007, Zubaydah said he was told that the CIA realized he was not significant. "They told me, 'Sorry, we discover that you are not Number 3, not a partner, not even a fighter, said Zubaydah, speaking in broken English, according to the new transcript of a Combatant Status Review Tribunal held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Abu Zubaydah's lawyers, including Joseph Margulies and George Brent Mickum IV, filed a lawsuit in July 2008 challenging his detention at Guantanamo Bay detention camps after the Boumediene v. Bush ruling. The judge overseeing the case, Richard W. Roberts, failed to rule on any motions related to the case, even the preliminary ones. This led Zubaydah's lawyers to file a motion asking Judge Roberts to recuse himself for nonfeasance in January 2015. On March 16, 2016, Roberts retired early from the federal bench, citing unspecified health issues. The U.S. government has not officially charged Zubaydah with any crimes. The Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture reported that Zubaydah's CIA interrogators wanted him to "remain in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life." Joint Review Task Force When he assumed office in January 2009, President Barack Obama made a number of promises about the future of Guantanamo. He promised the use of torture would cease at the camp. He promised to institute a new review system. That new review system was composed of officials from six departments, where the OARDEC reviews were conducted entirely by the Department of Defense. When it reported back, a year later, the Joint Review Task Force classified some individuals as too dangerous to be transferred from Guantanamo, even though there was no evidence to justify laying charges against them. On April 9, 2013, that document was made public after a Freedom of Information Act request. Zayn al-lbidin Muhammed Husayn was one of the 71 individuals deemed too innocent to charge but too dangerous to release. Although Obama promised that those deemed too innocent to charge but too dangerous to release would start to receive reviews from a Periodic Review Board, less than a quarter of men have received a review. Husayn was denied approval for transfer on September 22, 2016. European Court of Human Rights decision On 24 July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Poland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it cooperated with US allowing the CIA to hold and torture Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri on its territory in 2002–2003. The court ordered the Polish government to pay each of the men €100,000 in damages. It also awarded Zubaydah €30,000 to cover his costs. On 31 May 2018, the ECHR ruled that Romania and Lithuania also violated the rights of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2003–2005 and in 2005–2006 respectively, and Lithuania and Romania were ordered to pay €100,000 in damages each to Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri. U.S. Supreme Court decision In connection with the European Court of Human Rights proceedings, Zubaydah filed suit in the U.S. seeking disclosure of information related to the matter. The U.S. government intervened, seeking to assert a state secrets privilege. The U.S. district court decided in favor of the government and dismissed the case. On appeal, the dismissal was reversed on a ruling that the state secrets privilege did not apply to information that was already publicly known. The Supreme Court reversed the appeal ruling, explaining that the state secrets privilege applies to the existence (or nonexistence) of a secret CIA facility and that revelation by government would confirm or deny that state secret. See also Shaker Aamer The Report References External links The Final 9/11 Commission Report Approving Torture and Destroying Documents: More Notes on the "Zelikow Memo" Committee on Armed Services United States Senate: Inquiry Into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody Jay Bybee and John Yoo "Memorandum for John Rizzo Acting General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency: Interrogation of al Qaeda Operative" U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, August 1, 2002 Steven Bradbury "Memorandum for John A. Rizzo Senior Deputy General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Legal Counsel Re: Application of 18 U.S.C. Sections 2340-2340A to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of a High Value al Qaeda Detainee" Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, May 10, 2005 Steven Bradbury "Memorandum For John A. Rizzo Senior Deputy General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency Re: Application of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A to the Combined Use of Certain Techniques in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees" Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, May 10, 2005 Steven Bradbury "Memoradnum for John A. Rizzo Senior Deputy General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency Re: Application of United States Obligations Under Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques that May Be Used in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees" Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, May 30, 2005 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General: A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, May 2008 Human Rights First; Tortured Justice: Using Coerced Evidence to Prosecute Terrorist Suspects (2008) Human Rights First; Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan in April 2009 (2009) Former CIA "Ghost Prisoner" Zubaydah Recognized as "Victim" in Polish Probe of Secret Prison Andy Worthington 1971 births Living people Saudi Arabian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp Victims of human rights abuses Interrogations Saudi Arabian expatriates in Pakistan People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States Saudi Arabian torture victims Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government People from Riyadh Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetic

Arithmetic

Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th century, Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano formalized arithmetic with his Peano axioms, which are highly important to the field of mathematical logic today. History The prehistory of arithmetic is limited to a small number of artifacts, which may indicate the conception of addition and subtraction, the best-known being the Ishango bone from central Africa, dating from somewhere between 20,000 and 18,000 BC, although its interpretation is disputed. The earliest written records indicate the Egyptians and Babylonians used all the elementary arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as early as 2000 BC. These artifacts do not always reveal the specific process used for solving problems, but the characteristics of the particular numeral system strongly influence the complexity of the methods. The hieroglyphic system for Egyptian numerals, like the later Roman numerals, descended from tally marks used for counting. In both cases, this origin resulted in values that used a decimal base, but did not include positional notation. Complex calculations with Roman numerals required the assistance of a counting board (or the Roman abacus) to obtain the results. Early number systems that included positional notation were not decimal; these include the sexagesimal (base 60) system for Babylonian numerals, and the vigesimal (base 20) system that defined Maya numerals. Because of the place-value concept, the ability to reuse the same digits for different values contributed to simpler and more efficient methods of calculation. The continuous historical development of modern arithmetic starts with the Hellenistic period of ancient Greece; it originated much later than the Babylonian and Egyptian examples. Prior to the works of Euclid around 300 BC, Greek studies in mathematics overlapped with philosophical and mystical beliefs. Nicomachus is an example of this viewpoint, using the earlier Pythagorean approach to numbers and their relationships to each other in his work Introduction to Arithmetic. Greek numerals were used by Archimedes, Diophantus and others in a positional notation not very different from the modern notation. The ancient Greeks lacked a symbol for zero until the Hellenistic period, and they used three separate sets of symbols as digits: one set for the units place, one for the tens place, and one for the hundreds. For the thousands place, they would reuse the symbols for the units place, and so on. Their addition algorithm was identical to the modern method, and their multiplication algorithm was only slightly different. Their long division algorithm was the same, and the digit-by-digit square root algorithm, popularly used as recently as the 20th century, was known to Archimedes (who may have invented it). He preferred it to Hero's method of successive approximation because, once computed, a digit does not change, and the square roots of perfect squares, such as 7485696, terminate immediately as 2736. For numbers with a fractional part, such as 546.934, they used negative powers of 60—instead of negative powers of 10 for the fractional part 0.934. The ancient Chinese had advanced arithmetic studies dating from the Shang Dynasty and continuing through the Tang Dynasty, from basic numbers to advanced algebra. The ancient Chinese used a positional notation similar to that of the Greeks. Since they also lacked a symbol for zero, they had one set of symbols for the units place, and a second set for the tens place. For the hundreds place, they then reused the symbols for the units place, and so on. Their symbols were based on the ancient counting rods. The exact time where the Chinese started calculating with positional representation is unknown, though it is known that the adoption started before 400 BC. The ancient Chinese were the first to meaningfully discover, understand, and apply negative numbers. This is explained in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art (Jiuzhang Suanshu), which was written by Liu Hui dated back to 2nd century BC. The gradual development of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system independently devised the place-value concept and positional notation, which combined the simpler methods for computations with a decimal base, and the use of a digit representing 0. This allowed the system to consistently represent both large and small integers—an approach which eventually replaced all other systems. In the early the Indian mathematician Aryabhata incorporated an existing version of this system in his work, and experimented with different notations. In the 7th century, Brahmagupta established the use of 0 as a separate number, and determined the results for multiplication, division, addition and subtraction of zero and all other numbers—except for the result of division by zero. His contemporary, the Syriac bishop Severus Sebokht (650 AD) said, "Indians possess a method of calculation that no word can praise enough. Their rational system of mathematics, or of their method of calculation. I mean the system using nine symbols." The Arabs also learned this new method and called it hesab. Although the Codex Vigilanus described an early form of Arabic numerals (omitting 0) by 976 AD, Leonardo of Pisa (Fibonacci) was primarily responsible for spreading their use throughout Europe after the publication of his book Liber Abaci in 1202. He wrote, "The method of the Indians (Latin Modus Indorum) surpasses any known method to compute. It's a marvelous method. They do their computations using nine figures and symbol zero". In the Middle Ages, arithmetic was one of the seven liberal arts taught in universities. The flourishing of algebra in the medieval Islamic world, and also in Renaissance Europe, was an outgrowth of the enormous simplification of computation through decimal notation. Various types of tools have been invented and widely used to assist in numeric calculations. Before Renaissance, they were various types of abaci. More recent examples include slide rules, nomograms and mechanical calculators, such as Pascal's calculator. At present, they have been supplanted by electronic calculators and computers. Arithmetic operations The basic arithmetic operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, although arithmetic also includes more advanced operations, such as manipulations of percentages, square roots, exponentiation, logarithmic functions, and even trigonometric functions, in the same vein as logarithms (prosthaphaeresis). Arithmetic expressions must be evaluated according to the intended sequence of operations. There are several methods to specify this, either—most common, together with infix notation—explicitly using parentheses and relying on precedence rules, or using a prefix or postfix notation, which uniquely fix the order of execution by themselves. Any set of objects upon which all four arithmetic operations (except division by zero) can be performed, and where these four operations obey the usual laws (including distributivity), is called a field. Addition Addition, denoted by the symbol , is the most basic operation of arithmetic. In its simple form, addition combines two numbers, the addends or terms, into a single number, the sum of the numbers (such as or ). Adding finitely many numbers can be viewed as repeated simple addition; this procedure is known as summation, a term also used to denote the definition for "adding infinitely many numbers" in an infinite series. Repeated addition of the number 1 is the most basic form of counting; the result of adding is usually called the successor of the original number. Addition is commutative and associative, so the order in which finitely many terms are added does not matter. The number has the property that, when added to any number, it yields that same number; so, it is the identity element of addition, or the additive identity. For every number , there is a number denoted , called the opposite of , such that and . So, the opposite of is the inverse of with respect to addition, or the additive inverse of . For example, the opposite of is , since . Addition can also be interpreted geometrically, as in the following example. If we have two sticks of lengths 2 and 5, then, if the sticks are aligned one after the other, the length of the combined stick becomes 7, since . Subtraction Subtraction, denoted by the symbol , is the inverse operation to addition. Subtraction finds the difference between two numbers, the minuend minus the subtrahend: Resorting to the previously established addition, this is to say that the difference is the number that, when added to the subtrahend, results in the minuend: For positive arguments and holds: If the minuend is larger than the subtrahend, the difference is positive. If the minuend is smaller than the subtrahend, the difference is negative. In any case, if minuend and subtrahend are equal, the difference Subtraction is neither commutative nor associative. For that reason, the construction of this inverse operation in modern algebra is often discarded in favor of introducing the concept of inverse elements (as sketched under ), where subtraction is regarded as adding the additive inverse of the subtrahend to the minuend, that is, . The immediate price of discarding the binary operation of subtraction is the introduction of the (trivial) unary operation, delivering the additive inverse for any given number, and losing the immediate access to the notion of difference, which is potentially misleading when negative arguments are involved. For any representation of numbers, there are methods for calculating results, some of which are particularly advantageous in exploiting procedures, existing for one operation, by small alterations also for others. For example, digital computers can reuse existing adding-circuitry and save additional circuits for implementing a subtraction, by employing the method of two's complement for representing the additive inverses, which is extremely easy to implement in hardware (negation). The trade-off is the halving of the number range for a fixed word length. A formerly widespread method to achieve a correct change amount, knowing the due and given amounts, is the counting up method, which does not explicitly generate the value of the difference. Suppose an amount P is given in order to pay the required amount Q, with P greater than Q. Rather than explicitly performing the subtraction P − Q = C and counting out that amount C in change, money is counted out starting with the successor of Q, and continuing in the steps of the currency, until P is reached. Although the amount counted out must equal the result of the subtraction P − Q, the subtraction was never really done and the value of P − Q is not supplied by this method. Multiplication Multiplication, denoted by the symbols or , is the second basic operation of arithmetic. Multiplication also combines two numbers into a single number, the product. The two original numbers are called the multiplier and the multiplicand, mostly both are called factors. Multiplication may be viewed as a scaling operation. If the numbers are imagined as lying in a line, multiplication by a number greater than 1, say x, is the same as stretching everything away from 0 uniformly, in such a way that the number 1 itself is stretched to where x was. Similarly, multiplying by a number less than 1 can be imagined as squeezing towards 0, in such a way that 1 goes to the multiplicand. Another view on multiplication of integer numbers (extendable to rationals but not very accessible for real numbers) is by considering it as repeated addition. For example. corresponds to either adding times a , or times a , giving the same result. There are different opinions on the advantageousness of these paradigmata in math education. Multiplication is commutative and associative; further, it is distributive over addition and subtraction. The multiplicative identity is 1, since multiplying any number by 1 yields that same number. The multiplicative inverse for any number except  is the reciprocal of this number, because multiplying the reciprocal of any number by the number itself yields the multiplicative identity .  is the only number without a multiplicative inverse, and the result of multiplying any number and is again One says that is not contained in the multiplicative group of the numbers. The product of a and b is written as or . It can also written by simple juxtaposition: ab. In computer programming languages and software packages (in which one can only use characters normally found on a keyboard), it is often written with an asterisk: a * b. Algorithms implementing the operation of multiplication for various representations of numbers are by far more costly and laborious than those for addition. Those accessible for manual computation either rely on breaking down the factors to single place values and applying repeated addition, or on employing tables or slide rules, thereby mapping multiplication to addition and vice versa. These methods are outdated and are gradually replaced by mobile devices. Computers use diverse sophisticated and highly optimized algorithms, to implement multiplication and division for the various number formats supported in their system. Division Division, denoted by the symbols or , is essentially the inverse operation to multiplication. Division finds the quotient of two numbers, the dividend divided by the divisor. Under common rules, dividend divided by zero is undefined. For distinct positive numbers, if the dividend is larger than the divisor, the quotient is greater than 1, otherwise it is less than or equal to 1 (a similar rule applies for negative numbers). The quotient multiplied by the divisor always yields the dividend. Division is neither commutative nor associative. So as explained in , the construction of the division in modern algebra is discarded in favor of constructing the inverse elements with respect to multiplication, as introduced in . Hence division is the multiplication of the dividend with the reciprocal of the divisor as factors, that is, Within the natural numbers, there is also a different but related notion called Euclidean division, which outputs two numbers after "dividing" a natural (numerator) by a natural (denominator): first a natural (quotient), and second a natural (remainder) such that and In some contexts, including computer programming and advanced arithmetic, division is extended with another output for the remainder. This is often treated as a separate operation, the Modulo operation, denoted by the symbol or the word , though sometimes a second output for one "divmod" operation. In either case, Modular arithmetic has a variety of use cases. Different implementations of division (floored, truncated, Euclidean, etc.) correspond with different implementations of modulus. Fundamental theorem of arithmetic The fundamental theorem of arithmetic states that any integer greater than 1 has a unique prime factorization (a representation of a number as the product of prime factors), excluding the order of the factors. For example, 252 only has one prime factorization: 252 = 2 × 3 × 7 Euclid's Elements first introduced this theorem, and gave a partial proof (which is called Euclid's lemma). The fundamental theorem of arithmetic was first proven by Carl Friedrich Gauss. The fundamental theorem of arithmetic is one of the reasons why 1 is not considered a prime number. Other reasons include the sieve of Eratosthenes, and the definition of a prime number itself (a natural number greater than 1 that cannot be formed by multiplying two smaller natural numbers.). Decimal arithmetic refers exclusively, in common use, to the written numeral system employing arabic numerals as the digits for a radix 10 ("decimal") positional notation; however, any numeral system based on powers of 10, e.g., Greek, Cyrillic, Roman, or Chinese numerals may conceptually be described as "decimal notation" or "decimal representation". Modern methods for four fundamental operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) were first devised by Brahmagupta of India. This was known during medieval Europe as "Modus Indorum" or Method of the Indians. Positional notation (also known as "place-value notation") refers to the representation or encoding of numbers using the same symbol for the different orders of magnitude (e.g., the "ones place", "tens place", "hundreds place") and, with a radix point, using those same symbols to represent fractions (e.g., the "tenths place", "hundredths place"). For example, 507.36 denotes 5 hundreds (102), plus 0 tens (101), plus 7 units (100), plus 3 tenths (10−1) plus 6 hundredths (10−2). The concept of 0 as a number comparable to the other basic digits is essential to this notation, as is the concept of 0's use as a placeholder, and as is the definition of multiplication and addition with 0. The use of 0 as a placeholder and, therefore, the use of a positional notation is first attested to in the Jain text from India entitled the Lokavibhâga, dated 458 AD and it was only in the early 13th century that these concepts, transmitted via the scholarship of the Arabic world, were introduced into Europe by Fibonacci using the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. Algorism comprises all of the rules for performing arithmetic computations using this type of written numeral. For example, addition produces the sum of two arbitrary numbers. The result is calculated by the repeated addition of single digits from each number that occupies the same position, proceeding from right to left. An addition table with ten rows and ten columns displays all possible values for each sum. If an individual sum exceeds the value 9, the result is represented with two digits. The rightmost digit is the value for the current position, and the result for the subsequent addition of the digits to the left increases by the value of the second (leftmost) digit, which is always one (if not zero). This adjustment is termed a carry of the value 1. The process for multiplying two arbitrary numbers is similar to the process for addition. A multiplication table with ten rows and ten columns lists the results for each pair of digits. If an individual product of a pair of digits exceeds 9, the carry adjustment increases the result of any subsequent multiplication from digits to the left by a value equal to the second (leftmost) digit, which is any value from (). Additional steps define the final result. Similar techniques exist for subtraction and division. The creation of a correct process for multiplication relies on the relationship between values of adjacent digits. The value for any single digit in a numeral depends on its position. Also, each position to the left represents a value ten times larger than the position to the right. In mathematical terms, the exponent for the radix (base) of 10 increases by 1 (to the left) or decreases by 1 (to the right). Therefore, the value for any arbitrary digit is multiplied by a value of the form 10n with integer n. The list of values corresponding to all possible positions for a single digit is written Repeated multiplication of any value in this list by 10 produces another value in the list. In mathematical terminology, this characteristic is defined as closure, and the previous list is described as . It is the basis for correctly finding the results of multiplication using the previous technique. This outcome is one example of the uses of number theory. Compound unit arithmetic Compound unit arithmetic is the application of arithmetic operations to mixed radix quantities such as feet and inches; gallons and pints; pounds, shillings and pence; and so on. Before decimal-based systems of money and units of measure, compound unit arithmetic was widely used in commerce and industry. Basic arithmetic operations The techniques used in compound unit arithmetic were developed over many centuries and are well documented in many textbooks in many different languages. In addition to the basic arithmetic functions encountered in decimal arithmetic, compound unit arithmetic employs three more functions: , in which a compound quantity is reduced to a single quantity—for example, conversion of a distance expressed in yards, feet and inches to one expressed in inches. , the inverse function to reduction, is the conversion of a quantity that is expressed as a single unit of measure to a compound unit, such as expanding 24 oz to . is the conversion of a set of compound units to a standard form—for example, rewriting "" as "". Knowledge of the relationship between the various units of measure, their multiples and their submultiples forms an essential part of compound unit arithmetic. Principles of compound unit arithmetic There are two basic approaches to compound unit arithmetic: where all the compound unit variables are reduced to single unit variables, the calculation performed and the result expanded back to compound units. This approach is suited for automated calculations. A typical example is the handling of time by Microsoft Excel where all time intervals are processed internally as days and decimal fractions of a day. in which each unit is treated separately and the problem is continuously normalized as the solution develops. This approach, which is widely described in classical texts, is best suited for manual calculations. An example of the ongoing normalization method as applied to addition is shown below. The addition operation is carried out from right to left; in this case, pence are processed first, then shillings followed by pounds. The numbers below the "answer line" are intermediate results. The total in the pence column is 25. Since there are 12 pennies in a shilling, 25 is divided by 12 to give 2 with a remainder of 1. The value "1" is then written to the answer row and the value "2" carried forward to the shillings column. This operation is repeated using the values in the shillings column, with the additional step of adding the value that was carried forward from the pennies column. The intermediate total is divided by 20 as there are 20 shillings in a pound. The pound column is then processed, but as pounds are the largest unit that is being considered, no values are carried forward from the pounds column. For the sake of simplicity, the example chosen did not have farthings. Operations in practice During the 19th and 20th centuries various aids were developed to aid the manipulation of compound units, particularly in commercial applications. The most common aids were mechanical tills which were adapted in countries such as the United Kingdom to accommodate pounds, shillings, pence and farthings, and ready reckoners, which are books aimed at traders that catalogued the results of various routine calculations such as the percentages or multiples of various sums of money. One typical booklet that ran to 150 pages tabulated multiples "from one to ten thousand at the various prices from one farthing to one pound". The cumbersome nature of compound unit arithmetic has been recognized for many years—in 1586, the Flemish mathematician Simon Stevin published a small pamphlet called De Thiende ("the tenth") in which he declared the universal introduction of decimal coinage, measures, and weights to be merely a question of time. In the modern era, many conversion programs, such as that included in the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system calculator, display compound units in a reduced decimal format rather than using an expanded format (e.g., "2.5 ft" is displayed rather than ). Number theory Until the 19th century, number theory was a synonym of "arithmetic". The addressed problems were directly related to the basic operations and concerned primality, divisibility, and the solution of equations in integers, such as Fermat's Last Theorem. It appeared that most of these problems, although very elementary to state, are very difficult and may not be solved without very deep mathematics involving concepts and methods from many other branches of mathematics. This led to new branches of number theory such as analytic number theory, algebraic number theory, Diophantine geometry and arithmetic algebraic geometry. Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem is a typical example of the necessity of sophisticated methods, which go far beyond the classical methods of arithmetic, for solving problems that can be stated in elementary arithmetic. Arithmetic in education Primary education in mathematics often places a strong focus on algorithms for the arithmetic of natural numbers, integers, fractions, and decimals (using the decimal place-value system). This study is sometimes known as algorism. The difficulty and unmotivated appearance of these algorithms has long led educators to question this curriculum, advocating the early teaching of more central and intuitive mathematical ideas. One notable movement in this direction was the New Math of the 1960s and 1970s, which attempted to teach arithmetic in the spirit of axiomatic development from set theory, an echo of the prevailing trend in higher mathematics. Also, arithmetic was used by Islamic Scholars in order to teach application of the rulings related to Zakat and Irth. This was done in a book entitled The Best of Arithmetic by Abd-al-Fattah-al-Dumyati. The book begins with the foundations of mathematics and proceeds to its application in the later chapters. See also Lists of mathematics topics Outline of arithmetic Slide rule Related topics Addition of natural numbers Additive inverse Arithmetic coding Arithmetic mean Arithmetic number Arithmetic progression Arithmetic properties Associativity Commutativity Distributivity Elementary arithmetic Finite field arithmetic Geometric progression Integer List of important publications in mathematics Lunar arithmetic Mental calculation Number line Plant arithmetic Notes References Cunnington, Susan, The Story of Arithmetic: A Short History of Its Origin and Development, Swan Sonnenschein, London, 1904 Dickson, Leonard Eugene, History of the Theory of Numbers (3 volumes), reprints: Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, 1932; Chelsea, New York, 1952, 1966 Euler, Leonhard, Elements of Algebra, Tarquin Press, 2007 Fine, Henry Burchard (1858–1928), The Number System of Algebra Treated Theoretically and Historically, Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, Boston, 1891 Karpinski, Louis Charles (1878–1956), The History of Arithmetic, Rand McNally, Chicago, 1925; reprint: Russell & Russell, New York, 1965 Ore, Øystein, Number Theory and Its History, McGraw–Hill, New York, 1948 Weil, André, Number Theory: An Approach through History, Birkhauser, Boston, 1984; reviewed: Mathematical Reviews 85c:01004 External links MathWorld article about arithmetic The New Student's Reference Work/Arithmetic (historical) The Great Calculation According to the Indians, of Maximus Planudes – an early Western work on arithmetic at Convergence Mathematics education

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterglow

Afterglow

An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light. Purple light mainly occurs when the Sun is 2-6° below the horizon, from civil to nautical twilight, while the bright segment lasts until the end of the nautical twilight. Afterglow is often in cases of volcanic eruptions discussed, while its purple light is discussed as a different particular volcanic purple light. Specifically in volcanic occurrences it is light scattered by fine particulates, like dust, suspended in the atmosphere. In the case of alpenglow, which is similar to the Belt of Venus, afterglow is used in general for the golden-red glowing light from the sunset and sunrise reflected in the sky, and in particularly for its last stage, when the purple light is reflected. The opposite of an afterglow is a foreglow, which occurs before sunrise. Sunlight reaches Earth around civil twilight during golden hour intensely in its low-energy and low-frequency red component. During this part of civil twilight after sunset and before sundawn the red sunlight remains visible by scattering through particles in the air. Backscattering, possibly after being reflected off clouds or high snowfields in mountain regions, furthermore creates a reddish to pinkish light. The high-energy and high-frequency components of light towards blue are scattered out broadly, producing the broader blue light of nautical twilight before or after the redish light of civil twilight, while in combination with the redish light producing the purple light. This period of blue dominating is referred to as the blue hour and is, like the golden hour, widely treasured by photographers and painters. After the 1883 eruption of the volcano Krakatoa, a remarkable series of red sunsets appeared worldwide. An enormous amount of exceedingly fine dust were blown to a great height by the volcano's explosion, and then globally diffused by the high atmospheric winds. Edvard Munch's painting The Scream possibly depicts an afterglow during this period. See also Airglow Belt of Venus Earth's shadow Gegenschein Red sky at morning Sunset References External links Atmospheric optical phenomena es:Arrebol fi:Purppuravalo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonius%20Grammaticus

Ammonius Grammaticus

Ammonius Grammaticus (; ) was a 4th-century Egyptian priest who, after the destruction of the pagan temple at Alexandria (389), fled to Constantinople, where he became the tutor of the ecclesiastical historian Socrates. Life Ammonius was formerly identified as the author of a treatise titled Peri homoíōn kai diaphórōn léxeōn (περὶ ὁμοίων καὶ διαφόρων λέξεων, On the Differences of Synonymous Expressions). But it seems more probable that the real author was Herennius Philo of Byblus, who was born during the reign of Nero and lived till the reign of Hadrian, and that the treatise in its present form is a revision prepared by a later Byzantine editor, whose name may have been Ammonius. References Attribution: Ancient Greek grammarians

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic%20closure

Algebraic closure

In mathematics, particularly abstract algebra, an algebraic closure of a field K is an algebraic extension of K that is algebraically closed. It is one of many closures in mathematics. Using Zorn's lemma or the weaker ultrafilter lemma, it can be shown that every field has an algebraic closure, and that the algebraic closure of a field K is unique up to an isomorphism that fixes every member of K. Because of this essential uniqueness, we often speak of the algebraic closure of K, rather than an algebraic closure of K. The algebraic closure of a field K can be thought of as the largest algebraic extension of K. To see this, note that if L is any algebraic extension of K, then the algebraic closure of L is also an algebraic closure of K, and so L is contained within the algebraic closure of K. The algebraic closure of K is also the smallest algebraically closed field containing K, because if M is any algebraically closed field containing K, then the elements of M that are algebraic over K form an algebraic closure of K. The algebraic closure of a field K has the same cardinality as K if K is infinite, and is countably infinite if K is finite. Examples The fundamental theorem of algebra states that the algebraic closure of the field of real numbers is the field of complex numbers. The algebraic closure of the field of rational numbers is the field of algebraic numbers. There are many countable algebraically closed fields within the complex numbers, and strictly containing the field of algebraic numbers; these are the algebraic closures of transcendental extensions of the rational numbers, e.g. the algebraic closure of Q(π). For a finite field of prime power order q, the algebraic closure is a countably infinite field that contains a copy of the field of order qn for each positive integer n (and is in fact the union of these copies). Existence of an algebraic closure and splitting fields Let be the set of all monic irreducible polynomials in K[x]. For each , introduce new variables where . Let R be the polynomial ring over K generated by for all and all . Write with . Let I be the ideal in R generated by the . Since I is strictly smaller than R, Zorn's lemma implies that there exists a maximal ideal M in R that contains I. The field K1=R/M has the property that every polynomial with coefficients in K splits as the product of and hence has all roots in K1. In the same way, an extension K2 of K1 can be constructed, etc. The union of all these extensions is the algebraic closure of K, because any polynomial with coefficients in this new field has its coefficients in some Kn with sufficiently large n, and then its roots are in Kn+1, and hence in the union itself. It can be shown along the same lines that for any subset S of K[x], there exists a splitting field of S over K. Separable closure An algebraic closure Kalg of K contains a unique separable extension Ksep of K containing all (algebraic) separable extensions of K within Kalg. This subextension is called a separable closure of K. Since a separable extension of a separable extension is again separable, there are no finite separable extensions of Ksep, of degree > 1. Saying this another way, K is contained in a separably-closed algebraic extension field. It is unique (up to isomorphism). The separable closure is the full algebraic closure if and only if K is a perfect field. For example, if K is a field of characteristic p and if X is transcendental over K, is a non-separable algebraic field extension. In general, the absolute Galois group of K is the Galois group of Ksep over K. See also Algebraically closed field Algebraic extension Puiseux expansion Complete field References Field extensions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced%20Power%20Management

Advanced Power Management

Advanced power management (APM) is an API developed by Intel and Microsoft and released in 1992 which enables an operating system running an IBM-compatible personal computer to work with the BIOS (part of the computer's firmware) to achieve power management. Revision 1.2 was the last version of the APM specification, released in 1996. ACPI is the successor to APM. Microsoft dropped support for APM in Windows Vista. The Linux kernel still mostly supports APM, though support for APM CPU idle was dropped in version 3.0. Overview APM uses a layered approach to manage devices. APM-aware applications (which include device drivers) talk to an OS-specific APM driver. This driver communicates to the APM-aware BIOS, which controls the hardware. There is the ability to opt out of APM control on a device-by-device basis, which can be used if a driver wants to communicate directly with a hardware device. Communication occurs both ways; power management events are sent from the BIOS to the APM driver, and the APM driver sends information and requests to the BIOS via function calls. In this way the APM driver is an intermediary between the BIOS and the operating system. Power management happens in two ways; through the above-mentioned function calls from the APM driver to the BIOS requesting power state changes, and automatically based on device activity. In APM 1.0 and APM 1.1, power management is almost fully controlled by the BIOS. In APM 1.2, the operating system can control PM time (e.g. suspend timeout). Power management events There are 12 power events (such as standby, suspend and resume requests, and low battery notifications), plus OEM-defined events, that can be sent from the APM BIOS to the operating system. The APM driver regularly polls for event change notifications. Power Management Events: APM functions There are 21 APM function calls defined that the APM driver can use to query power management statuses, or request power state transitions. Example function calls include letting the BIOS know about current CPU usage (the BIOS may respond to such a call by placing the CPU in a low-power state, or returning it to its full-power state), retrieving the current power state of a device, or requesting a power state change. Power states The APM specification defines system power states and device power states. System power states APM defines five power states for the computer system: Full On: The computer is powered on, and no devices are in a power saving mode. APM Enabled: The computer is powered on, and APM is controlling device power management as needed. APM Standby: Most devices are in their low-power state, the CPU is slowed or stopped, and the system state is saved. The computer can be returned to its former state quickly (in response to activity such as the user pressing a key on the keyboard). APM Suspend: Most devices are powered off, but the system state is saved. The computer can be returned to its former state, but takes a relatively long time. (Hibernation is a special form of the APM Suspend state). Off: The computer is turned off. Device power states APM also defines power states that APM-aware hardware can implement. There is no requirement that an APM-aware device implement all states. The four states are: Device On: The device is in full power mode. Device Power Managed: The device is still powered on, but some functions may not be available, or may have reduced performance. Device Low Power: The device is not working. Power is maintained so that the device may be 'woken up'. Device Off: The device is powered off. CPU The CPU core (defined in APM as the CPU clock, cache, system bus and system timers) is treated specially in APM, as it is the last device to be powered down, and the first device to be powered back up. The CPU core is always controlled through the APM BIOS (there is no option to control it through a driver). Drivers can use APM function calls to notify the BIOS about CPU usage, but it is up to the BIOS to act on this information; a driver cannot directly tell the CPU to go into a power saving state. In ATA drives The ATA specification and SATA specification defines APM provisions for hard drives, which specifies a trade-off between spin-down frequency and always-on performance. Unlike the BIOS-side APM, the ATA APM and SATA APM has never been deprecated. Aggressive spin-down frequencies may reduce drive lifespan by unnecessarily accumulating load cycles; most modern drives are specified to sustain 300,000 cycles and usually last at least 600,000. On the other hand, not spinning down the drive will cause extra power draw and heat generation; high temperatures also reduce the lifespan of hard drives. See also Active State Power Management - hardware power management protocol for PCI Express Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) - successor to APM Green computing Power management BatteryMAX (idle detection) References External links APM V1.2 Specification (RTF file). BIOS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirated%20consonant

Aspirated consonant

In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of breath that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. In English, aspirated consonants are allophones in complementary distribution with their unaspirated counterparts, but in some other languages, notably most South Asian languages (including Indian ones) and East Asian languages, the difference is contrastive. In dialects with aspiration, to feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say spin and then pin . One should either feel a puff of air or see a flicker of the candle flame with pin that one does not get with spin. Transcription In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), aspirated consonants are written using the symbols for voiceless consonants followed by the aspiration modifier letter , a superscript form of the symbol for the voiceless glottal fricative . For instance, represents the voiceless bilabial stop, and represents the aspirated bilabial stop. Voiced consonants are seldom actually aspirated. Symbols for voiced consonants followed by , such as , typically represent consonants with murmured voiced release (see below). In the grammatical tradition of Sanskrit, aspirated consonants are called voiceless aspirated, and breathy-voiced consonants are called voiced aspirated. There are no dedicated IPA symbols for degrees of aspiration and typically only two degrees are marked: unaspirated and aspirated . An old symbol for light aspiration was , but this is now obsolete. The aspiration modifier letter may be doubled to indicate especially strong or long aspiration. Hence, the two degrees of aspiration in Korean stops are sometimes transcribed or and , but they are usually transcribed and , with the details of voice onset time given numerically. Preaspirated consonants are marked by placing the aspiration modifier letter before the consonant symbol: represents the preaspirated bilabial stop. Unaspirated or tenuis consonants are occasionally marked with the modifier letter for unaspiration , a superscript equals sign: . Usually, however, unaspirated consonants are left unmarked: . Phonetics Voiceless consonants are produced with the vocal folds open (spread) and not vibrating, and voiced consonants are produced when the vocal folds are fractionally closed and vibrating (modal voice). Voiceless aspiration occurs when the vocal folds remain open after a consonant is released. An easy way to measure this is by noting the consonant's voice onset time, as the voicing of a following vowel cannot begin until the vocal folds close. In some languages, such as Navajo, aspiration of stops tends to be phonetically realised as voiceless velar airflow; aspiration of affricates is realised as an extended length of the frication. Aspirated consonants are not always followed by vowels or other voiced sounds. For example, in Eastern Armenian, aspiration is contrastive even word-finally, and aspirated consonants occur in consonant clusters. In Wahgi, consonants are aspirated only when they are in final position. Degree The degree of aspiration varies: the voice onset time of aspirated stops is longer or shorter depending on the language or the place of articulation. Armenian and Cantonese have aspiration that lasts about as long as English aspirated stops, in addition to unaspirated stops. Korean has lightly-aspirated stops that fall between the Armenian and Cantonese unaspirated and aspirated stops as well as strongly-aspirated stops whose aspiration lasts longer than that of Armenian or Cantonese. (See voice onset time.) Aspiration varies with place of articulation. The Spanish voiceless stops have voice onset times (VOTs) of about 5, 10, and 30 milliseconds, and English aspirated have VOTs of about 60, 70, and 80 ms. Voice onset time in Korean has been measured at 20, 25, and 50 ms for and 90, 95, and 125 for . Doubling When aspirated consonants are doubled or geminated, the stop is held longer and then has an aspirated release. An aspirated affricate consists of a stop, fricative, and aspirated release. A doubled aspirated affricate has a longer hold in the stop portion and then has a release consisting of the fricative and aspiration. Preaspiration Icelandic and Faroese have consonants with preaspiration , and some scholars interpret them as consonant clusters as well. In Icelandic, preaspirated stops contrast with double stops and single stops: Preaspiration is also a feature of Scottish Gaelic: Preaspirated stops also occur in most Sami languages. For example, in Northern Sami, the unvoiced stop and affricate phonemes , , , , are pronounced preaspirated (, , , ) in medial or final position. Fricatives and sonorants Although most aspirated obstruents in the world's languages are stops and affricates, aspirated fricatives such as , or have been documented in Korean, though these are allophones of other phonemes. Similarly, aspirated fricatives and even aspirated nasals, approximants, and trills occur in a few Tibeto-Burman languages, in some Oto-Manguean languages, in the Hmongic language Hmu, and in the Siouan language Ofo. Some languages, such as Choni Tibetan, have as many as four contrastive aspirated fricatives , and . Voiced consonants with voiceless aspiration True aspirated voiced consonants, as opposed to murmured (breathy-voice) consonants such as the that are common among the languages of India, are extremely rare. They have been documented in Kelabit. Phonology Aspiration has varying significance in different languages. It is either allophonic or phonemic, and may be analyzed as an underlying consonant cluster. Allophonic In some languages, such as English, aspiration is allophonic. Stops are distinguished primarily by voicing, and voiceless stops are sometimes aspirated, while voiced stops are usually unaspirated. English voiceless stops are aspirated for most native speakers when they are word-initial or begin a stressed syllable. Pronouncing them as unaspirated in these positions, as is done by many Indian English speakers, may make them get confused with the corresponding voiced stop by other English-speakers. Conversely, this confusion does not happen with the native speakers of languages which have aspirated and unaspirated but not voiced stops, such as Mandarin Chinese. S+consonant clusters may vary between aspirated and nonaspirated depending upon if the cluster crosses a morpheme boundary or not. For instance, distend has unaspirated since it is not analyzed as two morphemes, but distaste has an aspirated middle because it is analyzed as dis- + taste and the word taste has an aspirated initial t. Word-final voiceless stops are sometimes aspirated. Voiceless stops in Pashto are slightly aspirated prevocalically in a stressed syllable. Phonemic In many languages, such as Armenian, Korean, Lakota, Thai, Indo-Aryan languages, Dravidian languages, Icelandic, Faroese, Ancient Greek, and the varieties of Chinese, tenuis and aspirated consonants are phonemic. Unaspirated consonants like and aspirated consonants like are separate phonemes, and words are distinguished by whether they have one or the other. Consonant cluster Alemannic German dialects have unaspirated as well as aspirated ; the latter series are usually viewed as consonant clusters. Tenseness In Danish and most southern varieties of German, the lenis consonants transcribed for historical reasons as are distinguished from their fortis counterparts , mainly in their lack of aspiration. Absence French, Standard Dutch, Afrikaans, Turkish, Tamil, Finnish, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Latvian and Modern Greek are languages that do not have phonetic aspirated consonants. Examples Chinese Standard Chinese (Mandarin) has stops and affricates distinguished by aspiration: for instance, , . In pinyin, tenuis stops are written with letters that represent voiced consonants in English, and aspirated stops with letters that represent voiceless consonants. Thus d represents , and t represents . Wu Chinese and Southern Min has a three-way distinction in stops and affricates: . In addition to aspirated and unaspirated consonants, there is a series of muddy consonants, like . These are pronounced with slack or breathy voice: that is, they are weakly voiced. Muddy consonants as initial cause a syllable to be pronounced with low pitch or light (陽 yáng) tone. Indian languages Many Indo-Aryan languages have aspirated stops. Sanskrit, Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, and Gujarati have a four-way distinction in stops: voiceless, aspirated, voiced, and voiced aspirated, such as . Punjabi has lost voiced aspirated consonants, which resulted in a tone system, and therefore has a distinction between voiceless, aspirated, and voiced: . Some of the Dravidian languages, such as Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, have a distinction between voiced and voiceless, aspirated and unaspirated. Armenian Most dialects of Armenian have aspirated stops, and some have breathy-voiced stops. Classical and Eastern Armenian have a three-way distinction between voiceless, aspirated, and voiced, such as . Western Armenian has a two-way distinction between aspirated and voiced: . Western Armenian aspirated corresponds to Eastern Armenian aspirated and voiced , and Western voiced corresponds to Eastern voiceless . Greek Ancient Greek, including the Classical Attic and Koine Greek dialects, had a three-way distinction in stops like Eastern Armenian: . These series were called , , (psilá, daséa, mésa) "smooth, rough, intermediate", respectively, by Koine Greek grammarians. There were aspirated stops at three places of articulation: labial, coronal, and velar . Earlier Greek, represented by Mycenaean Greek, likely had a labialized velar aspirated stop , which later became labial, coronal, or velar depending on dialect and phonetic environment. The other Ancient Greek dialects, Ionic, Doric, Aeolic, and Arcadocypriot, likely had the same three-way distinction at one point, but Doric seems to have had a fricative in place of in the Classical period. Later, during the Koine and Medieval Greek periods, the aspirated and voiced stops of Attic Greek lenited to voiceless and voiced fricatives, yielding in Medieval and Modern Greek. Cypriot Greek is notable for aspirating its inherited (and developed across word-boundaries) voiceless geminate stops, yielding the series /pʰː tʰː cʰː kʰː/. Other uses Debuccalization The term aspiration sometimes refers to the sound change of debuccalization, in which a consonant is lenited (weakened) to become a glottal stop or fricative . Breathy-voiced release So-called voiced aspirated consonants are nearly always pronounced instead with breathy voice, a type of phonation or vibration of the vocal folds. The modifier letter after a voiced consonant actually represents a breathy-voiced or murmured dental stop, as with the "voiced aspirated" bilabial stop in the Indo-Aryan languages. This consonant is therefore more accurately transcribed as , with the diacritic for breathy voice, or with the modifier letter , a superscript form of the symbol for the voiced glottal fricative . Some linguists restrict the double-dot subscript to murmured sonorants, such as vowels and nasals, which are murmured throughout their duration, and use the superscript hook-aitch for the breathy-voiced release of obstruents. See also Aspirated h Breathy voice Implosive consonant List of phonetic topics Phonation Preaspiration Rough breathing Smooth breathing Tenuis consonant (Unaspirated consonant) Voice onset time Notes References Cho, T., & Ladefoged, P., "Variations and universals in VOT". In Fieldwork Studies of Targeted Languages V: UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics vol. 95. 1997. Phonetics Consonants by airstream

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arteriovenous%20malformation

Arteriovenous malformation

Arteriovenous malformation is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. This vascular anomaly is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system (usually cerebral AVM), but can appear in any location. Although many AVMs are asymptomatic, they can cause intense pain or bleeding or lead to other serious medical problems. AVMs are usually congenital and belong to the RASopathies. The genetic transmission patterns of AVMs are incomplete, but there are known genetic mutations (for instance in the epithelial line, tumor suppressor PTEN gene) which can lead to an increased occurrence throughout the body. Signs and symptoms Symptoms of AVM vary according to the location of the malformation. Roughly 88% of people with an AVM are asymptomatic; often the malformation is discovered as part of an autopsy or during treatment of an unrelated disorder (called in medicine an "incidental finding"); in rare cases, its expansion or a micro-bleed from an AVM in the brain can cause epilepsy, neurological deficit, or pain. The most general symptoms of a cerebral AVM include headaches and epileptic seizures, with more specific symptoms occurring that normally depend on the location of the malformation and the individual. Such possible symptoms include: Difficulties with movement coordination, including muscle weakness and even paralysis; Vertigo (dizziness); Difficulties of speech (dysarthria) and communication, such as aphasia; Difficulties with everyday activities, such as apraxia; Abnormal sensations (numbness, tingling, or spontaneous pain); Memory and thought-related problems, such as confusion, dementia or hallucinations. Cerebral AVMs may present themselves in a number of different ways: Bleeding (45% of cases) Acute onset of severe headache. May be described as the worst headache of the patient's life. Depending on the location of bleeding, may be associated with new fixed neurologic deficit. In unruptured brain AVMs, the risk of spontaneous bleeding may be as low as 1% per year. After a first rupture, the annual bleeding risk may increase to more than 5%. Seizure or brain seizure (46%) Depending on the place of the AVM, it can cause loss of vision in one place. Headache (34%) Progressive neurologic deficit (21%) May be caused by mass effect or venous dilatations. Presence and nature of the deficit depend on location of lesion and the draining veins. Pediatric patients Heart failure Macrocephaly Prominent scalp veins Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are abnormal communications between the veins and arteries of the pulmonary circulation, leading to a right-to-left blood shunt. They have no symptoms in up to 29% of all cases, however they can give rise to serious complications including hemorrhage, and infection. They are most commonly associated with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Genetics Can occur due to autosomal dominant diseases, such as hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Pathophysiology Arteries and veins are part of the vascular system. Arteries carry blood away from the heart to the lungs or the rest of the body, where the blood passes through capillaries, and veins return the blood to the heart. An AVM interferes with this process by forming a direct connection of the arteries and veins. AVMs can cause intense pain and lead to serious medical problems. Although AVMs are often associated with the brain and spinal cord, they can develop in other parts of the body. Normally, the arteries in the vascular system carry oxygen-rich blood, except in the case of the pulmonary artery. Structurally, arteries divide and sub-divide repeatedly, eventually forming a sponge-like capillary bed. Blood moves through the capillaries, giving up oxygen and taking up waste products, including , from the surrounding cells. Capillaries in turn successively join to form veins that carry blood away. The heart acts to pump blood through arteries and uptake the venous blood. As an AVM lacks the dampening effect of capillaries on the blood flow, the AVM can get progressively larger over time as the amount of blood flowing through it increases, forcing the heart to work harder to keep up with the extra blood flow. It also causes the surrounding area to be deprived of the functions of the capillaries—removal of and delivery of nutrients to the cells. The resulting tangle of blood vessels, often called a nidus (Latin for "nest"), has no capillaries. It can be extremely fragile and prone to bleeding because of the abnormally direct connections between high-pressure arteries and low-pressure veins. The resultant sign, audible via stethoscope, is a rhythmic, whooshing sound caused by excessively rapid blood flow through the arteries and veins. It has been given the term "bruit", French for noise. On some occasions, a patient with a brain AVM may become aware of the noise, which can compromise hearing and interfere with sleep in addition to causing psychological distress. Diagnosis AVMs are diagnosed primarily by the following imaging methods: Computerized tomography (CT) scan is a noninvasive X-ray to view the anatomical structures within the brain to detect blood in or around the brain. A newer technology called CT angiography involves the injection of contrast into the blood stream to view the arteries of the brain. This type of test provides the best pictures of blood vessels through angiography and soft tissues through CT. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan is a noninvasive test, which uses a magnetic field and radio-frequency waves to give a detailed view of the soft tissues of the brain. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) – scans created using magnetic resonance imaging to specifically image the blood vessels and structures of the brain. A magnetic resonance angiogram can be an invasive procedure, involving the introduction of contrast dyes (e.g., gadolinium MR contrast agents) into the vasculature of a patient using a catheter inserted into an artery and passed through the blood vessels to the brain. Once the catheter is in place, the contrast dye is injected into the bloodstream and the MR images are taken. Additionally or alternatively, flow-dependent or other contrast-free magnetic resonance imaging techniques can be used to determine the location and other properties of the vasculature. AVMs can occur in various parts of the body: brain (cerebral AV malformation) spleen lung kidney spinal cord liver intercostal space iris spermatic cord extremities – arm, shoulder, etc. AVMs may occur in isolation or as a part of another disease (for example, Von Hippel–Lindau disease or hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia). AVMs have been shown to be associated with aortic stenosis. Bleeding from an AVM can be relatively mild or devastating. It can cause severe and less often fatal strokes. If a cerebral AVM is detected before a stroke occurs, usually the arteries feeding blood into the nidus can be closed off to avert the danger. However, interventional therapy may also be relatively risky. Treatment Treatment for brain AVMs can be symptomatic, and patients should be followed by a neurologist for any seizures, headaches, or focal neurologic deficits. AVM-specific treatment may also involve endovascular embolization, neurosurgery or radiosurgery. Embolization, that is, cutting off the blood supply to the AVM with coils, particles, acrylates, or polymers introduced by a radiographically guided catheter, may be used in addition to neurosurgery or radiosurgery, but is rarely successful in isolation except in smaller AVMs. Gamma knife may also be used. Treatment of lung AVMs is typically performed with endovascular embolization alone, which is considered the standard of care. Epidemiology The estimated detection rate of AVM in the US general population is 1.4/100,000 per year. This is approximately one fifth to one seventh the incidence of intracranial aneurysms. An estimated 300,000 Americans have AVMs, of whom 12% (approximately 36,000) will exhibit symptoms of greatly varying severity. History Luschka (1820–1875) and Virchow (1821–1902) first described arteriovenous malformations in the mid-1800s. Olivecrona (1891–1980) performed the first surgical excision of an intracranial AVM in 1932. Society and culture Notable cases Indonesian actress died from complications of AVM on November 29, 2013. Phoenix Suns point guard AJ Price nearly died from AVM in 2004 while a student at the University of Connecticut. On December 13, 2006, Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota was diagnosed with AVM and treated at George Washington University Hospital. On August 3, 2011, Mike Patterson of the Philadelphia Eagles collapsed on the field and had a seizure during a practice, leading to him being diagnosed with AVM. Actor Ricardo Montalbán was born with spinal AVM. During the filming of the 1951 film Across the Wide Missouri, Montalbán was thrown from his horse, knocked unconscious, and trampled by another horse which aggravated his AVM and resulted in a painful back injury that never healed. The pain increased as he aged, and in 1993, Montalbán underwent hours of spinal surgery which left him paralyzed below the waist and using a wheelchair. Actor/comedian T. J. Miller was diagnosed with AVM after filming Yogi Bear in New Zealand in 2010; Miller described his experience with the disease on the Pete Holmes podcast You Made It Weird on October 28, 2011, shedding his comedian side for a moment and becoming more philosophical, narrating his behaviors and inability to sleep during that time. He had a seizure upon return to Los Angeles and successfully underwent surgery that had a mortality rate of ten percent. Jazz guitarist Pat Martino experienced an AVM and subsequently developed amnesia and manic depression. He eventually re-learned to play the guitar by listening to his own recordings from before the aneurysm. YouTube vlogger Nikki Lilly (Nikki Christou), winner of the 2016 season of Junior Bake Off was born with AVM, which has resulted in some facial disfigurement. Composer and lyricist William Finn was diagnosed with AVM and underwent Gamma Knife surgery in September 1992, soon after he won the 1992 Tony Award for best musical, awarded to "Falsettos". Finn wrote the 1998 Off-Broadway musical A New Brain about the experience. Former Florida Gators and Oakland Raiders linebacker Neiron Ball was diagnosed with AVM in 2011 while playing for Florida, but recovered and was cleared to play. On September 16, 2018, Ball was placed in a medically induced coma due to complications of the disease, which lasted until his death on September 10, 2019. Country music singer Drake White was diagnosed with AVM in January 2019, and is undergoing treatment. Cultural Depictions In the 2005 Lifetime film Dawn Anna, the titular character learns she has AVM, and undergoes a serious operation and subsequent rehabilitation, which she recovers from. In the HBO series Six Feet Under (TV series), main character Nate Fisher discovers he has an AVM after being in a car accident and getting a precautionary cat scan at the hospital during Season 1. His AVM becomes a key focus during Season 2 and again in Season 5. In season 1 episode 9 of House titled "DNR" jazz musician John Henry Giles has an AVM and is misdiagnosed with ALS Research Despite many years of research, the central question of whether to treat AVMs has not been answered. All treatments, whether involving surgery, radiation, or drugs, have risks and side-effects. Therefore, it might be better in some cases to avoid treatment altogether and simply accept a small risk of coming to harm from the AVM itself. This question is currently being addressed in clinical trials. See also Foix–Alajouanine syndrome Haemangioma Klippel–Trénaunay syndrome Parkes Weber syndrome References Congenital vascular defects Gross pathology RASopathies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta

Atlanta

Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, although a portion of the city extends into neighboring DeKalb county. With a population of 498,715 living within the city limits, it is the eighth most populous city in the Southeast and 38th most populous city in the United States according to the 2020 U.S. census. It is the core of the much larger Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to more than 6.1 million people, making it the eighth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Situated among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains at an elevation of just over above sea level, it features unique topography that includes rolling hills, lush greenery, and the most dense urban tree coverage of any major city in the United States. Atlanta was originally founded as the terminus of a major state-sponsored railroad, but it soon became the convergence point among several railroads, spurring its rapid growth. The largest was the Western and Atlantic Railroad, from which the name "Atlanta" is derived, signifying the city's growing reputation as a major hub of transportation. During the American Civil War, it served a strategically important role for the Confederacy until it was captured in 1864. The city was almost entirely burnt to the ground during General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. However, the city rebounded dramatically in the post-war period and quickly became a national industrial center and the unofficial capital of the "New South". After World War II, it also became a manufacturing and technology hub. During the 1950s and 1960s, it became a major organizing center of the American Civil Rights Movement, with Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and many other locals becoming prominent figures in the movement's leadership. In the modern era, Atlanta has stayed true to its reputation as a major center of transportation, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport becoming the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic in 1998 (a position it has held every year since, with the exception of 2020 as a result of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic). With a gross domestic product (GDP) of $406 billion, Atlanta has the tenth largest economy of cities in the U.S. and the 20th largest in the world. Its economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors in industries including transportation, aerospace, logistics, healthcare, news and media operations, film and television production, information technology, finance, and biomedical research and public policy. The gentrification of some its neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Summer Olympics, has intensified in the 21st century with the growth of the Atlanta Beltline. This has altered its demographics, politics, aesthetics, and culture. History Native American settlements For thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers in North Georgia, the indigenous Creek people and their ancestors inhabited the area. Standing Peachtree, a Creek village where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Native American settlement to what is now Atlanta. Through the early 19th century, European Americans systematically encroached on the Creek of northern Georgia, forcing them out of the area from 1802 to 1825. The Creek were forced to leave the area in 1821, under Indian Removal by the federal government, and European American settlers arrived the following year. Western and Atlantic Railroad In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad in order to provide a link between the port of Savannah and the Midwest. The initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the "zero milepost" was driven into the ground in what is now Foundry Street, Five Points. When asked in 1837 about the future of the little village, Stephen Harriman Long, the railroad's chief engineer said the place would be good "for one tavern, a blacksmith shop, a grocery store, and nothing else". A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later Thrasherville, after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor Governor Wilson Lumpkin's daughter Martha. Later, John Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847. Civil War By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a strategic hub for the distribution of military supplies. In 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. The region surrounding Atlanta was the location of several major army battles, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta and a four-month-long siege of the city by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman. On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood decided to retreat from Atlanta, and he ordered the destruction of all public buildings and possible assets that could be of use to the Union Army. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, and on September 7, Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate. On November 11, 1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Army's March to the Sea by ordering the destruction of Atlanta's remaining military assets. Reconstruction and late 19th century After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt during the Reconstruction era. The work attracted many new residents. Due to the city's superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta had surpassed Savannah as Georgia's largest city. Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the "New South" that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture. By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Tech) and the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of historically black colleges made up of units for men and women, had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and successfully promoted the New South's development to the world. 20th century During the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades' time, Atlanta's population tripled as the city limits expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs. The city's skyline grew taller with the construction of the Equitable, Flatiron, Empire, and Candler buildings. Sweet Auburn emerged as a center of black commerce. The period was also marked by strife and tragedy. Increased racial tensions led to the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, when whites attacked blacks, leaving at least 27 people dead and over 70 injured, with extensive damage in black neighborhoods. In 1913, Leo Frank, a Jewish-American factory superintendent, was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old girl in a highly publicized trial. He was sentenced to death but the governor commuted his sentence to life. An enraged and organized lynch mob took him from jail in 1915 and hanged him in Marietta. The Jewish community in Atlanta and across the country were horrified. On May 21, 1917, the Great Atlanta Fire destroyed 1,938 buildings in what is now the Old Fourth Ward, resulting in one fatality and the displacement of 10,000 people. On December 15, 1939, Atlanta hosted the premiere of Gone with the Wind, the epic film based on the best-selling novel by Atlanta's Margaret Mitchell. The gala event at Loew's Grand Theatre was attended by the film's legendary producer, David O. Selznick, and the film's stars Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and Olivia de Havilland, but Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel, an African-American actress, was barred from the event due to racial segregation laws. Metropolitan area's growth Atlanta played a vital role in the Allied effort during World War II due to the city's war-related manufacturing companies, railroad network and military bases. The defense industries attracted thousands of new residents and generated revenues, resulting in rapid population and economic growth. In the 1950s, the city's newly constructed highway system, supported by federal subsidies, allowed middle class Atlantans the ability to relocate to the suburbs. As a result, the city began to make up an ever-smaller proportion of the metropolitan area's population. Georgia Tech's president Blake R. Van Leer played an important role with a goal of making Atlanta the home of the "MIT of the South." In 1946 Georgia Tech secured about $240,000 () annually in sponsored research and purchased an electron microscope for $13,000 (), the first such instrument in the Southeastern United States and one of few in the United States at the time. The Research Building was expanded, and a $300,000 () Westinghouse A-C network calculator was given to Georgia Tech by Georgia Power in 1947. In 1953, Van Leer assisted with helping Lockheed establish a research and development and production line in Marietta. Later in 1955 he helped set up a committee to assist with establishing a nuclear research facility, which would later become the Neely Nuclear Research Center. Van Leer also co-founded Southern Polytechnic State University now absorbed by and made part of Kennesaw State University to help meet the need for technicians after the war. Van Leer was instrumental in making the school and Atlanta the first major research center in the American South. The building that houses Tech's school of Electrical and Computer Engineering bears his name. Civil Rights movement African-American veterans returned from World War II seeking full rights in their country and began heightened activism. In exchange for support by that portion of the black community that could vote, in 1948 the mayor ordered the hiring of the first eight African-American police officers in the city. Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl, when the Pitt Panthers, with African-American fullback Bobby Grier on the roster, met the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There had been controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play due to his race, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin's opposition to racial integration. After Griffin publicly sent a telegram to the state's Board of Regents requesting Georgia Tech not to engage in racially integrated events, Georgia Tech's president Blake R. Van Leer rejected the request and threatened to resign. The game went on as planned. In the 1960s, Atlanta became a major organizing center of the civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and students from Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities playing major roles in the movement's leadership. While Atlanta in the postwar years had relatively minimal racial strife compared to other cities, blacks were limited by discrimination, segregation, and continued disenfranchisement of most voters. In 1961, the city attempted to thwart blockbusting by realtors by erecting road barriers in Cascade Heights, countering the efforts of civic and business leaders to foster Atlanta as the "city too busy to hate". Desegregation of the public sphere came in stages, with public transportation desegregated by 1959, the restaurant at Rich's department store by 1961, movie theaters by 1963, and public schools by 1973 (nearly 20 years after the US Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional). In 1960, whites comprised 61.7% of the city's population. During the 1950s–70s, suburbanization and white flight from urban areas led to a significant demographic shift. By 1970, African Americans were the majority of the city's population and exercised their recently enforced voting rights and political influence by electing Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1973. Under Mayor Jackson's tenure, Atlanta's airport was modernized, strengthening the city's role as a transportation center. The opening of the Georgia World Congress Center in 1976 heralded Atlanta's rise as a convention city. Construction of the city's subway system began in 1975, with rail service commencing in 1979. Despite these improvements, Atlanta lost more than 100,000 residents between 1970 and 1990, over 20% of its population. At the same time, it developed new office space after attracting numerous corporations, with an increasing portion of workers from northern areas. 1996 Summer Olympic games Atlanta was selected as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Following the announcement, the city government undertook several major construction projects to improve Atlanta's parks, sporting venues, and transportation infrastructure; however, for the first time, none of the $1.7 billion cost of the games was governmentally funded. While the games experienced transportation and accommodation problems and, despite extra security precautions, there was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, the spectacle was a watershed event in Atlanta's history. For the first time in Olympic history, every one of the record 197 national Olympic committees invited to compete sent athletes, sending more than 10,000 contestants participating in a record 271 events. The related projects such as Atlanta's Olympic Legacy Program and civic effort initiated a fundamental transformation of the city in the following decade. Since the 21st century During the 2000s, the city of Atlanta underwent a profound physical, cultural, and demographic change. As some of the African American middle and upper classes also began to move to the suburbs, a booming economy drew numerous new migrants from other cities in the United States, who contributed to changes in the city's demographics. African Americans made up a decreasing portion of the population, from a high of 67% in 1990 to 54% in 2010. From 2000 to 2010, Atlanta gained 22,763 white residents, 5,142 Asian residents, and 3,095 Hispanic residents, while the city's black population decreased by 31,678. Much of the city's demographic change during the decade was driven by young, college-educated professionals: from 2000 to 2009, the three-mile radius surrounding Downtown Atlanta gained 9,722 residents aged 25 to 34 and holding at least a four-year degree, an increase of 61%. This was similar to the tendency in other cities for young, college educated, single or married couples to live in downtown areas. Between the mid-1990s and 2010, stimulated by funding from the HOPE VI program and under leadership of CEO Renee Lewis Glover (1994–2013), the Atlanta Housing Authority demolished nearly all of its public housing, a total of 17,000 units and about 10% of all housing units in the city. After reserving 2,000 units mostly for elderly, the AHA allowed redevelopment of the sites for mixed-use and mixed-income, higher density developments, with 40% of the units to be reserved for affordable housing. Two-fifths of previous public housing residents attained new housing in such units; the remainder received vouchers to be used at other units, including in suburbs. At the same time, in an effort to change the culture of those receiving subsidized housing, the AHA imposed a requirement for such residents to work (or be enrolled in a genuine, limited-time training program). It is virtually the only housing authority to have created this requirement. To prevent problems, the AHA also gave authority to management of the mixed-income or voucher units to evict tenants who did not comply with the work requirement or who caused behavior problems. In 2005, the city approved the $2.8 billion BeltLine project. It was intended to convert a disused 22-mile freight railroad loop that surrounds the central city into an art-filled multi-use trail and light rail transit line, which would increase the city's park space by 40%. The project stimulated retail and residential development along the loop, but has been criticized for its adverse effects on some Black communities. In 2013, the project received a federal grant of $18 million to develop the southwest corridor. In September 2019 the James M. Cox Foundation gave $6 Million to the PATH Foundation which will connect the Silver Comet Trail to The Atlanta BeltLine which is expected to be completed by 2022. Upon completion, the total combined interconnected trail distance around Atlanta for The Atlanta BeltLine and Silver Comet Trail will be the longest paved trail surface in the U.S. totaling about . Atlanta's cultural offerings expanded during the 2000s: the High Museum of Art doubled in size; the Alliance Theatre won a Tony Award; and art galleries were established on the once-industrial Westside. The city of Atlanta was the subject of a massive cyberattack which began in March 2018. In December 2019, Atlanta hosted the Miss Universe 2019 pageant competition. On June 16, 2022, Atlanta was selected as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Geography Atlanta encompasses , of which is land and is water. The city is situated in the Deep South of the southeastern United States among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. At above mean sea level, Atlanta has the highest elevation among major cities east of the Mississippi River. Atlanta straddles the Eastern Continental Divide. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side of the divide flows into the Atlantic Ocean, while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Atlanta developed on a ridge south of the Chattahoochee River, which is part of the ACF River Basin. The river borders the far northwestern edge of the city, and much of its natural habitat has been preserved, in part by the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Atlanta is 21 miles (33km) southeast of Marietta, 27 miles (43km) southwest of Alpharetta, 146 miles (234km) southwest of Greenville, South Carolina, 147 miles (236km) east of Birmingham, Alabama, and 245 miles (394km) southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina. Atlanta is sometimes called "City of Trees" or "city in a forest", despite having lost approximately of trees between 1973 and 1999. Cityscape Most of Atlanta was burned during the American Civil War, depleting the city of a large stock of its historic architecture. Yet architecturally, the city had never been traditionally "southern" because Atlanta originated as a railroad town, rather than a southern seaport dominated by the planter class, such as Savannah or Charleston. Because of its later development, many of the city's landmarks share architectural characteristics with buildings in the Northeast or Midwest, as they were designed at a time of shared national architectural styles. During the late 20th century, Atlanta embraced the global trend of modern architecture, especially for commercial and institutional structures. Examples include the State of Georgia Building built in 1966, and the Georgia-Pacific Tower in 1982. Many of the most notable examples from this period were designed by world renowned Atlanta architect John Portman. Most of the buildings that define the downtown skyline were designed by Portman during this period, including the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. In the latter half of the 1980s, Atlanta became one of the early homes of postmodern buildings that reintroduced classical elements to their designs. Many of Atlanta's tallest skyscrapers were built in this period and style, displaying tapering spires or otherwise ornamented crowns, such as One Atlantic Center (1987), 191 Peachtree Tower (1991), and the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (1992). Also completed during the era is the Portman-designed Bank of America Plaza built in 1992. At , it is the tallest building in the city and the 14th-tallest in the United States. The city's embrace of modern architecture has often translated into an ambivalent approach toward historic preservation, leading to the destruction of many notable architectural landmarks. These include the Equitable Building (1892–1971), Terminal Station (1905–1972), and the Carnegie Library (1902–1977). In the mid-1970s, the Fox Theatre, now a cultural icon of the city, would have met the same fate if not for a grassroots effort to save it. More recently, preservationists may have made some inroads. For example, in 2016 activists convinced the Atlanta City Council not to demolish the Atlanta-Fulton Central Library, the last building designed by noted architect Marcel Breuer. Atlanta is divided into 242 officially defined neighborhoods. The city contains three major high-rise districts, which form a north–south axis along Peachtree: Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. Surrounding these high-density districts are leafy, low-density neighborhoods, most of which are dominated by single-family homes. Downtown Atlanta contains the most office space in the metro area, much of it occupied by government entities. Downtown is home to the city's sporting venues and many of its tourist attractions. Midtown Atlanta is the city's second-largest business district, containing the offices of many of the region's law firms. Midtown is known for its art institutions, cultural attractions, institutions of higher education, and dense form. Buckhead, the city's uptown district, is north of Downtown and the city's third-largest business district. The district is marked by an urbanized core along Peachtree Road, surrounded by suburban single-family neighborhoods situated among woods and rolling hills. Surrounding Atlanta's three high-rise districts are the city's low- and medium-density neighborhoods, where the craftsman bungalow single-family home is dominant. The eastside is marked by historic streetcar suburbs, built from the 1890s–1930s as havens for the upper middle class. These neighborhoods, many of which contain their own villages encircled by shaded, architecturally distinct residential streets, include the Victorian Inman Park, Bohemian East Atlanta, and eclectic Old Fourth Ward. On the westside and along the BeltLine on the eastside, former warehouses and factories have been converted into housing, retail space, and art galleries, transforming the once-industrial areas such as West Midtown into model neighborhoods for smart growth, historic rehabilitation, and infill construction. In southwest Atlanta, neighborhoods closer to downtown originated as streetcar suburbs, including the historic West End, while those farther from downtown retain a postwar suburban layout. These include Collier Heights and Cascade Heights, home to much of the city's affluent African-American population. Northwest Atlanta contains the areas of the city to west of Marietta Boulevard and to the north of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, including those neighborhoods remote to downtown, such as Riverside, Bolton and Whittier Mill. The latter is one of Atlanta's designated Landmark Historical Neighborhoods. Vine City, though technically Northwest, adjoins the city's Downtown area and has recently been the target of community outreach programs and economic development initiatives. Gentrification of the city's neighborhoods is one of the more controversial and transformative forces shaping contemporary Atlanta. The gentrification of Atlanta has its origins in the 1970s, after many of Atlanta's neighborhoods had declined and suffered the urban decay that affected other major American cities in the mid-20th century. When neighborhood opposition successfully prevented two freeways from being built through the city's east side in 1975, the area became the starting point for Atlanta's gentrification. After Atlanta was awarded the Olympic games in 1990, gentrification expanded into other parts of the city, stimulated by infrastructure improvements undertaken in preparation for the games. New development post-2000 has been aided by the Atlanta Housing Authority's eradication of the city's public housing. As noted above, it allowed development of these sites for mixed-income housing, requiring developers to reserve a considerable portion for affordable housing units. It has also provided for other former residents to be given vouchers to gain housing in other areas. Construction of the Beltline has stimulated new and related development along its path. Climate Under the Köppen classification, Atlanta has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with four distinct seasons and generous precipitation year-round, typical for the Upland South; the city is situated in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 8a, with the northern and western suburbs, as well as part of Midtown transitioning to 7b. Summers are hot and humid, with temperatures somewhat moderated by the city's elevation. Winters are overall mild but variable, occasionally susceptible to snowstorms even if in small quantities on several occasions, unlike the central and southern portions of the state. Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico can bring spring-like highs while strong Arctic air masses can push lows into the teens °F (−7 to −12 °C). July averages , with high temperatures reaching on an average of 47 days per year, though readings are not seen most years. January averages , with temperatures in the suburbs slightly cooler due largely to the urban heat island effect. Lows at or below freezing can be expected 36 nights annually, but the last occurrence of temperatures below was January 6, 2014. Extremes range from on February 13, 1899 to on June 30, 2012. Average dewpoints in the summer range from in June to in July. Typical of the southeastern U.S., Atlanta receives abundant rainfall that is evenly distributed throughout the year, though late spring and early fall are somewhat drier. The average annual precipitation is , while snowfall is typically light with a normal of per winter. The heaviest single snowfall occurred on January 23, 1940, with around of snow. However, ice storms usually cause more problems than snowfall does, the most severe occurring on January 7, 1973. Tornadoes are rare in the city itself, but the March 14, 2008 EF2 tornado damaged prominent structures in downtown Atlanta. Demographics Population The 2020 United States census reported that Atlanta had a population of 498,715. The population density was 3,685.45 persons per square mile (1,422.95/km2). The racial makeup and population of Atlanta was 51.0% Black or African American, 40.9% White, 4.2% Asian and 0.3% Native American, and 1.0% from other races. 2.4% of the population reported two or more races. Hispanics of any race made up 6.0% of the city's population. The median income for a household in the city was $66,657. The per capita income for the city was $54,414. 20.2% percent of the population was living below the poverty line. In the 1920s, the black population began to grow in Southern metropolitan cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, and Memphis. In the 2010 census, Atlanta was recorded as the nation's fourth-largest majority-black city. The New Great Migration brought an insurgence of African Americans from California and the North to the Atlanta area. It has long been known as a center of African-American political power, education, economic prosperity, and culture, often called a black mecca. Some middle and upper class African-American residents of Atlanta followed an influx of whites to newer housing and public schools in the suburbs in the early 21st century. From 2000 to 2010, the city's black population decreased by 31,678 people, shrinking from 61.4% of the city's population in 2000 to 54.0% in 2010, as the overall population expanded and migrants increased from other areas. Atlanta is also home to a large African immigrant community. The foreign-born Black population in Atlanta has been rapidly increasing. At the same time, the white population of Atlanta has increased. Between 2000 and 2010, the proportion of whites in the city had notable growth. In that decade, Atlanta's white population grew from 31% to 38% of the city's population, an absolute increase of 22,753 people, more than triple the increase that occurred between 1990 and 2000. Early immigrants in the Atlanta area were mostly Jews and Greeks. Since 1970, the Hispanic immigrant population, especially Mexicans, has experienced the most rapid growth, particularly in Gwinnett, Cobb, and DeKalb counties. Since 2010, the Atlanta area has seen very notable growth with immigrants from India, China, South Korea, and Jamaica. Other notable countries immigrants come from are Vietnam, Eritrea, Nigeria, the Arabian gulf, Ukraine and Poland. Within a few decades, and in keeping with national trends, immigrants from England, Ireland, and German-speaking central Europe were no longer the majority of Atlanta's foreign-born population. The city's Italians included immigrants from northern Italy, many of whom had been in Atlanta since the 1890s; more recent arrivals from southern Italy; and Sephardic Jews from the Isle of Rhodes, which Italy had seized from Turkey in 1912. The Hispanic and Latino population in Atlanta and metro Atlanta is growing strong. The largest Hispanic ancestries in Atlanta are Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban. There is a growing presence of Mexicans throughout the 10- county region. Mexicans are also concentrated along the Buford Highway and I-85 corridor, first noted in the 1990 census, have expanded and now extend well into Gwinnett County. Metro Atlanta has the 19th largest Hispanic population in the country. Atlanta also has a growing Asian American population. Most Asians in Atlanta are of Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Pakistani and Japanese descent. Of the total population five years and older, 83.3% spoke only English at home, while 8.8% spoke Spanish, 3.9% another Indo-European language, and 2.8% an Asian language. 7.3% of Atlantans were born abroad (86th in the US). Atlanta's dialect has traditionally been a variation of Southern American English. The Chattahoochee River long formed a border between the Coastal Southern and Southern Appalachian dialects. Because of the development of corporate headquarters in the region, attracting migrants from other areas of the country, by 2003, Atlanta magazine concluded that Atlanta had become significantly "de-Southernized". A Southern accent was considered a handicap in some circumstances. In general, Southern accents are less prevalent among residents of the city and inner suburbs and among younger people; they are more common in the outer suburbs and among older people. At the same time, some residents of the city speak in Southern variations of African-American English. Sexual orientation and gender identity Atlanta has a thriving and diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. According to a survey by the Williams Institute, Atlanta ranked third among major American cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city's total population identifying as LGBT. The Midtown and Cheshire Bridge areas have historically been the epicenters of LGBT culture in Atlanta. Atlanta formed a reputation for being a progressive place of tolerance after former mayor Ivan Allen Jr. dubbed it "the city too busy to hate" in the 1960s (referring to racial relations). Religion Religion in Atlanta, while historically centered on Protestant Christianity, now encompasses many faiths, as a result of the city and metro area's increasingly international population. Some 63% of residents identified as some type of Protestant according to the Pew Research Center in 2014, but in recent decades the Catholic Church has increased in numbers and influence because of new migrants to the region. Metro Atlanta also has numerous ethnic or national Christian congregations, including Korean and Indian churches. Per the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, overall, 73% of the population identify with some tradition or denomination of Christianity; despite continuing religious diversification, historically African American Protestant churches continue prevalence in the whole metropolitan area alongside historic Black Catholic churches. The larger non-Christian faiths according to both studies are Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Overall, there are over 1,000 places of worship within Atlanta. Economy With a GDP of $385 billion, the Atlanta metropolitan area's economy is the 11th-largest in the country and the 22nd-largest in the world. Corporate operations play a major role in Atlanta's economy, as the city claims the nation's third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies (tied for third with Chicago). It also hosts the global headquarters of several corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, Arby's, AT&T Mobility, Georgia-Pacific, Chick-fil-A, Church's Chicken, Dunkin Donuts, Norfolk Southern Railway, Mercedes-Benz USA, NAPA Auto Parts, Papa Johns, Porsche AG, Newell Brands, Marble Slab Creamery, and UPS. Over 75% of Fortune 1000 companies conduct business operations in the city's metro area, and the region hosts offices of over 1,250 multinational corporations. Many corporations are drawn to the city by its educated workforce; , 45% of adults aged 25 or older residing in the city have at least four-year college degrees, compared to the national average of 28%. Atlanta started as a railroad town, and logistics has been a major component of the city's economy to this day. Atlanta serves as an important rail junction and contains major classification yards for Norfolk Southern and CSX. Since its construction in the 1950s, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has served as a key engine of the city's economic growth. Delta Air Lines, the city's largest employer and the metro area's third-largest, operates the world's largest airline hub at Hartsfield-Jackson, and it has helped make it the world's busiest airport, in terms of both passenger traffic and aircraft operations. Partly due to the airport, Atlanta has been also a hub for diplomatic missions; , the city contains 26 consulates general, the seventh-highest concentration of diplomatic missions in the US. Broadcasting is also an important aspect of Atlanta's economy. In the 1980s, media mogul Ted Turner founded the Cable News Network (CNN), Turner Network Television (TNT), HLN (HLN), Turner Classic Movies (TMC), Cartoon Network (CN), TruTV (truTV) and the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in the city. Around the same time, Cox Enterprises, now the nation's third-largest cable television service and the publisher of over a dozen American newspapers, moved its headquarters to the city. Notable sports networks headquartered in Atlanta include, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, NBA TV, Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast. The Weather Channel is also based just outside of the city in suburban Cobb County. Information technology (IT) has become an increasingly important part of Atlanta's economic output, earning the city the nickname the "Silicon peach". , Atlanta contains the fourth-largest concentration of IT jobs in the US, numbering 85,000+. The city is also ranked as the sixth fastest-growing for IT jobs, with an employment growth of 4.8% in 2012 and a three-year growth near 9%, or 16,000 jobs. Companies are drawn to Atlanta's lower costs and educated workforce. Recently, Atlanta has been the center for film and television production, largely because of the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which awards qualified productions a transferable income tax credit of 20% of all in-state costs for film and television investments of $500,000 or more. Film and television production facilities based in Atlanta include Turner Studios, Pinewood Atlanta Studios, Tyler Perry Studios, Williams Street Productions, and the EUE/Screen Gems soundstages. Film and television production injected $9.5 billion into Georgia's economy in 2017, with Atlanta garnering most of the projects. Atlanta has emerged as the all-time most popular destination for film production in the United States and one of the 10 most popular destinations globally. Compared to other American cities, Atlanta's economy in the past had been disproportionately affected by the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent recession, with the city's economy being ranked 68th among 100 American cities in a September 2014 report due to an elevated unemployment rate, declining real income levels, and a depressed housing market. From 2010 to 2011, Atlanta saw a 0.9% contraction in employment and plateauing income growth at 0.4%. Although unemployment had decreased to 7% by late 2014, this was still higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.8% Atlanta's housing market has also struggled, with home prices dropping by 2.1% in January 2012, reaching levels not seen since 1996. Compared with a year earlier, the average home price in Atlanta plummeted to 17.3% in February 2012, thus becoming the largest annual drop in the history of the index for any American or global city. The decline in home prices prompted some economists to deem Atlanta the worst housing market in the nation at the height of the depression. Nevertheless, the city's real estate market has resurged since 2012, so much median home value and rent growth significantly outpaced the national average by 2018, thanks to a rapidly-growing regional economy. Arts and culture Atlanta is noted for its lack of Southern culture. This is due to a large population of migrants from other parts of the U.S., in addition to many recent immigrants to the U.S. who have made the metropolitan area their home, establishing Atlanta as the cultural and economic hub of an increasingly multi-cultural metropolitan area. This unique cultural combination reveals itself in the arts district of Midtown, the quirky neighborhoods on the city's eastside, and the multi-ethnic enclaves found along Buford Highway. Arts and theater Atlanta is one of few United States cities with permanent, professional, and resident companies in all major performing arts disciplines: opera (Atlanta Opera), ballet (Atlanta Ballet), orchestral music (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), and theater (the Alliance Theatre). Atlanta attracts many touring Broadway acts, concerts, shows, and exhibitions catering to a variety of interests. Atlanta's performing arts district is concentrated in Midtown Atlanta at the Woodruff Arts Center, which is home to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance Theatre. The city frequently hosts touring Broadway acts, especially at The Fox Theatre, a historic landmark among the highest-grossing theaters of its size. As a national center for the arts, Atlanta is home to significant art museums and institutions. The renowned High Museum of Art is arguably the South's leading art museum. The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) and the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film are the only such museums in the Southeast. Contemporary art museums include the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. Institutions of higher education contribute to Atlanta's art scene, with the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta campus providing the city's arts community with a steady stream of curators, and Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum containing the largest collection of ancient art in the Southeast. In nearby Athens is the Georgia Museum of Art that is associated with the University of Georgia and is both an academic museum and the official art museum of the state of Georgia. Atlanta has become one of the USA's best cities for street art in recent years. It is home to Living Walls, an annual street art conference and the Outerspace Project, an annual event series that merges public art, live music, design, action sports, and culture. Examples of street art in Atlanta can be found on the Atlanta Street Art Map. Music Atlanta has played a major or contributing role in the development of various genres of American music at different points in the city's history. Beginning as early as the 1920s, Atlanta emerged as a center for country music, which was brought to the city by migrants from Appalachia. During the countercultural 1960s, Atlanta hosted the Atlanta International Pop Festival, with the 1969 festival taking place more than a month before Woodstock and featuring many of the same bands. The city was also a center for Southern rock during its 1970s heyday: the Allman Brothers Band's hit instrumental "Hot 'Lanta" is an ode to the city, while Lynyrd Skynyrd's famous live rendition of "Free Bird" was recorded at the Fox Theatre in 1976, with lead singer Ronnie Van Zant directing the band to "play it pretty for Atlanta". During the 1980s, Atlanta had an active punk rock scene centered on two of the city's music venues, 688 Club and the Metroplex, and Atlanta famously played host to the Sex Pistols' first U.S. show, which was performed at the Great Southeastern Music Hall. The 1990s saw the city produce major mainstream acts across many different musical genres. Country music artist Travis Tritt, and R&B sensations Xscape, TLC, Usher and Toni Braxton, were just some of the musicians who call Atlanta home. The city also gave birth to Atlanta hip hop, a subgenre that gained relevance and success with the introduction of the home-grown Atlantans known as Outkast, along with other Dungeon Family artists such as Organized Noize and Goodie Mob; however, it was not until the 2000s that Atlanta moved "from the margins to becoming hip-hop's center of gravity with another sub-genre called Crunk, part of a larger shift in hip-hop innovation to the South and East". Also in the 2000s, Atlanta was recognized by the Brooklyn-based Vice magazine for its indie rock scene, which revolves around the various live music venues found on the city's alternative eastside. To facilitate further local development, the state government provides qualified businesses and productions a 15% transferable income tax credit for in-state costs of music investments. Trap music became popular in Atlanta, and has since become a hub for popular trap artists and producers due to the success of Lil Baby, T.I., Young Jeezy, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane, Future, Migos, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Waka Flocka Flame, [[2 Chainz],Young Thug, Andre 3000 and Big Boi. Film and television As the national leader for motion picture and television production, and a top ten global leader, Atlanta plays a significant role in the entertainment industry. Atlanta is considered a hub for filmmakers of color and houses Tyler Perry Studios (first African-American owned major studio) and Areu Bros. Studios (first Latino-American owned major studio). Atlanta doubles for other parts of the world and fictional settlements in blockbuster productions, among them the newer titles from The Fast and the Furious franchise and Marvel features such as Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War (both 2018). On the other hand, Gone With the Wind (1939), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Sharky’s Machine (1981), The Slugger's Wife (1985), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), ATL (2006), Ride Along (2014) and Baby Driver (2017) are among several notable examples of films actually set in Atlanta. It was announced in 2022 a film about the 1956 Sugar Bowl and Atlanta riots would be produced here. The city also provides the backdrop for shows such as Ozark, Watchmen, The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, Love is Blind, Star, Dolly Parton's Heartstrings, The Outsider, The Vampire Diaries, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta and Atlanta, in addition to a myriad of animated and reality television programming. Festivals Atlanta has more festivals than any city in the southeastern United States. Some notable festivals in Atlanta include Shaky Knees Music Festival, Dragon Con, the Peachtree Road Race, Music Midtown, the Atlanta Film Festival, National Black Arts Festival, Honda Battle of the Bands, Festival Peachtree Latino, Atlanta Pride, the neighborhood festivals in Inman Park, Atkins Park, Virginia-Highland (Summerfest), and the Little Five Points Halloween festival. Tourism , Atlanta is the seventh-most visited city in the United States, with over 35 million visitors per year. Although the most popular attraction among visitors to Atlanta is the Georgia Aquarium, and until 2012, the world's largest indoor aquarium, Atlanta's tourism industry is mostly driven by the city's history museums and outdoor attractions. Atlanta contains a notable number of historical museums and sites, including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, which includes the preserved childhood home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his final resting place; the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum, which houses a massive painting and diorama in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, depicting the Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War; the World of Coca-Cola, featuring the history of the world-famous soft drink brand and its well-known advertising; the College Football Hall of Fame, which honors college football and its athletes; the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which explores the civil rights movement and its connection to contemporary human rights movements throughout the world; the Carter Center and Presidential Library, housing U.S. President Jimmy Carter's papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family's life; and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, where Mitchell wrote the best-selling novel Gone with the Wind. Atlanta contains several outdoor attractions. The Atlanta Botanical Garden, adjacent to Piedmont Park, is home to the Kendeda Canopy Walk, a skywalk that allows visitors to tour one of the city's last remaining urban forests from above the ground. The Canopy Walk is the only canopy-level pathway of its kind in the United States. Zoo Atlanta, in Grant Park, accommodates over 1,300 animals representing more than 220 species. Home to the nation's largest collections of gorillas and orangutans, the zoo is one of only four zoos in the U.S. to house giant pandas. Festivals showcasing arts and crafts, film, and music, including the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and Music Midtown, respectively, are also popular with tourists. Tourists are drawn to the city's culinary scene, which comprises a mix of urban establishments garnering national attention, ethnic restaurants serving cuisine from every corner of the world, and traditional eateries specializing in Southern dining. Since the turn of the 21st century, Atlanta has emerged as a sophisticated restaurant town. Many restaurants opened in the city's gentrifying neighborhoods have received praise at the national level, including Bocado, Bacchanalia, and Miller Union in West Midtown, Empire State South in Midtown, and Two Urban Licks and Rathbun's on the east side. In 2011, The New York Times characterized Empire State South and Miller Union as reflecting "a new kind of sophisticated Southern sensibility centered on the farm but experienced in the city". Visitors seeking to sample international Atlanta are directed to Buford Highway, the city's international corridor, and suburban Gwinnett County. There, the nearly-million immigrants that make Atlanta home have established various authentic ethnic restaurants representing virtually every nationality on the globe. For traditional Southern fare, one of the city's most famous establishments is The Varsity, a long-lived fast food chain and the world's largest drive-in restaurant. Mary Mac's Tea Room and Paschal's are more formal destinations for Southern food. Cuisine Atlanta is best known for its barbecue, hamburgers, Southern fried chicken, and lemon pepper chicken wings. Buford Highway is home to many ethnic cuisines such as Mexican and Asian foods. Sports Sports are an important part of the culture of Atlanta. The city is home to professional franchises for four major team sports: the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association, the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, and Atlanta United FC of Major League Soccer. In addition, many of the city's universities participate in collegiate sports. The city also regularly hosts international, professional, and collegiate sporting events. The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. Originally established as the Boston Red Stockings in 1871, they are the oldest continually operating professional sports franchise in the United States. The Braves franchise overall has won eighteen National League pennants and four World Series championships in three different cities, with their first in 1914 as the Boston Braves, in 1957 as the Milwaukee Braves, and in 1995 and 2021 as the Atlanta Braves. The 1995 title occurred during an unprecedented run of 14 straight divisional championships from 1991 to 2005. The team plays at Truist Park, having moved from Turner Field for the 2017 season. The new stadium is outside the city limits, located northwest of downtown in the Cumberland/Galleria area of Cobb County. The Atlanta Falcons have played in Atlanta since their inception in 1966. The team plays its home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, having moved from the Georgia Dome in 2017. The Falcons have won the division title six times (1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2016) and the NFC championship in 1998 and 2016. They have been unsuccessful in both of their Super Bowl trips, losing to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999 and to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI in 2017, the largest comeback in Super Bowl history. In 2019, Atlanta also briefly hosted an Alliance of American Football team, the Atlanta Legends, but the league was suspended during its first season and the team folded. The Atlanta Hawks were founded in 1946 as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, playing in Moline, Illinois. They moved to Atlanta from St. Louis in 1968 and play their games in State Farm Arena. The Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association shared an arena with the Hawks for most of their existence; however the WNBA team moved to a smaller arena in the southern Atlanta suburb of College Park in 2021. Professional soccer has been played in some form in Atlanta since 1967. Atlanta's first professional soccer team was the Atlanta Chiefs of the original North American Soccer League which won the 1968 NASL Championship and defeated English first division club Manchester City F.C. twice in international friendlies. In 1998 the Atlanta Silverbacks were formed, playing the new North American Soccer League. They now play as an amateur club in the National Premier Soccer League. In 2017, Atlanta United FC began play as Atlanta's first premier-division professional soccer club since the Chiefs. They won MLS Cup 2018, defeating the Portland Timbers 2–0. Fan reception has been very positive; the team has broken several single-game and season attendance records for both MLS and the U.S. Open Cup. The club is estimated by Forbes to be the most valuable club in Major League Soccer. In ice hockey, Atlanta has had two National Hockey League franchises, both of which relocated to a city in Canada after playing in Atlanta for fewer than 15 years. The Atlanta Flames (now the Calgary Flames) played from 1972 to 1980, and the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets) played from 1999 to 2011. The Atlanta Gladiators, a minor league hockey team in the ECHL, have played in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth since 2003. The ASUN Conference moved its headquarters to Atlanta in 2019. Several other, less popular sports also have professional franchises in Atlanta. The Georgia Swarm compete in the National Lacrosse League. In Rugby union, on September 21, 2018, Major League Rugby announced that Atlanta was one of the expansion teams joining the league for the 2020 season named Rugby ATL. while in Rugby league, on March 31, 2021, Atlanta Rhinos left the USA Rugby League and turned fully professional for the first time, joining the new North American Rugby League. Atlanta has long been known as the "capital" of college football in America. It is home to four-time national champion Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football and the Georgia State Panthers. Also, Atlanta is within a few hours driving distance of many of the universities that make up the Southeastern Conference, college football's most profitable and popular conference, and annually hosts the SEC Championship Game. Other annual college football events include the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the Celebration Bowl, the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl which is one of College Football's major New Year's Six Bowl games and a college football playoff bowl. Atlanta additionally hosted the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship and will be the host city again in 2025. Atlanta regularly hosts a variety of sporting events. Most famous was the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics. The city has hosted the Super Bowl three times: Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994, Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, and Super Bowl LIII in 2019. In professional golf, The Tour Championship, the final PGA Tour event of the season, is played annually at East Lake Golf Club. In 2001 and 2011, Atlanta hosted the PGA Championship, one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, at the Atlanta Athletic Club. In 2011, Atlanta hosted professional wrestling's annual WrestleMania. In soccer, Atlanta has hosted numerous international friendlies and CONCACAF Gold Cup matches. The city has hosted the NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball Championship five times, most recently in 2020. Atlanta will serve as one of the eleven US host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Running is a popular local sport, and the city declares itself to be "Running City USA". The city hosts the Peachtree Road Race, the world's largest race, annually on Independence Day. Atlanta also hosts the nation's largest Thanksgiving day half marathon, which starts and ends at Center Parc Stadium. The Atlanta Marathon, which starts and ends at Centennial Olympic Park, routes through many of the city's historic landmarks, and its 2020 running will coincide with the U.S. Olympic marathon trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Parks and recreation Atlanta's 343 parks, nature preserves, and gardens cover , which amounts to only 5.6% of the city's total acreage, compared to the national average of just over 10%. However, 64% of Atlantans live within a 10-minute walk of a park, a percentage equal to the national average. In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, The Trust for Public Land reported that among the park systems of the 50 most populous U.S. cities, Atlanta's park system received a ranking of 31. Piedmont Park, in Midtown, is Atlanta's most iconic green space. The park, which underwent a major renovation and expansion in recent years, attracts visitors from across the region and hosts cultural events throughout the year. Other notable city parks include Centennial Olympic Park, a legacy of the 1996 Summer Olympics that forms the centerpiece of the city's tourist district; Woodruff Park, which anchors the campus of Georgia State University; Grant Park, home to Zoo Atlanta; Chastain Park, which houses an amphitheater used for live music concerts; and the under construction Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry, the 280-acre green space and reservoir project slated to become the city's largest park when fully complete in the 2020s. The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, in the northwestern corner of the city, preserves a stretch of the river for public recreation opportunities. The Atlanta Botanical Garden, adjacent to Piedmont Park, contains formal gardens, including a Japanese garden and a rose garden, woodland areas, and a conservatory that includes indoor exhibits of plants from tropical rainforests and deserts. The BeltLine, a former rail corridor that forms a loop around Atlanta's core, has been transformed into a series of parks, connected by a multi-use trail, increasing Atlanta's park space by 40%. Atlanta offers resources and opportunities for amateur and participatory sports and recreation. Golf and tennis are popular in Atlanta, and the city contains six public golf courses and 182 tennis courts. Facilities along the Chattahoochee River cater to watersports enthusiasts, providing the opportunity for kayaking, canoeing, fishing, boating, or tubing. The city's only skate park, a facility that offers bowls, curbs, and smooth-rolling concrete mounds, is at Historic Fourth Ward Park. Government Atlanta is governed by a mayor and the 15-member Atlanta City Council. The city council consists of one member from each of the city's 12 districts and three at-large members. The mayor may veto a bill passed by the council, but the council can override the veto with a two-thirds majority. The mayor of Atlanta is Andre Dickens, a Democrat elected on a nonpartisan ballot whose first term in office began on January 3, 2022. Every mayor elected since 1973 has been black. In 2001, Shirley Franklin became the first woman to be elected mayor of Atlanta, and the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major Southern city. Atlanta city politics suffered from a notorious reputation for corruption during the 1990s administration of Mayor Bill Campbell, who was convicted by a federal jury in 2006 on three counts of tax evasion in connection with gambling winnings during trips he took with city contractors. As the state capital, Atlanta is the site of most of Georgia's state government. The Georgia State Capitol building, located downtown, houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, as well as the General Assembly. The Governor's Mansion is in a residential section of Buckhead. Atlanta serves as the regional hub for many arms of the federal bureaucracy, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The City of Atlanta annexed the CDC into its territory effective January 1, 2018. Atlanta also plays an important role in the federal judiciary system, containing the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Historically, Atlanta has been a stronghold for the Democratic Party. Although municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, nearly all of the city's elected officials are registered Democrats. The city is split among 14 state house districts and four state senate districts, all held by Democrats. At the federal level, Atlanta is split between three congressional districts. Most of the city is in the 5th district, represented by Democrat Nikema Williams. Much of southern Atlanta is in the 13th district, represented by Democrat David Scott. A small portion in the north is in the 11th district, represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk. Education Tertiary education Due to more than 15 colleges and universities in Atlanta, it is considered one of the nation's largest hubs for higher education. The Georgia Institute of Technology is a prominent public research university in Midtown. It offers highly ranked degree programs in engineering, design, industrial management, the sciences, business, and architecture. Georgia State University is a major public research university in Downtown Atlanta; it is the largest in student population of the 29 public colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia and is a significant contributor to the revitalization of the city's central business district. Atlanta is home to nationally renowned private colleges and universities, most notably Emory University, a leading liberal arts and research institution that operates Emory Healthcare, the largest health care system in Georgia. The City of Atlanta annexed Emory into its territory effective January 1, 2018. The Atlanta University Center is also in the city; it is the oldest and largest contiguous consortium of historically black colleges in the nation, comprising Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. Atlanta contains a campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design, a private art and design university that has proven to be a major factor in the recent growth of Atlanta's visual art community. Atlanta also boast American Bar Association accredited law schools: Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, Emory University School of Law, and Georgia State University College of Law. The Atlanta Regional Council of Higher Education (ARCHE) is dedicated to strengthening synergy among 19 public and private colleges and universities in the Atlanta region. Participating Atlanta region colleges and universities partner on joint-degree programs, cross-registration, library services, and cultural events. The University of Georgia's Terry College of Business has a satellite campus in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, one of the main financial hubs for the city. This campus is primarily for Executive and Professional MBA programs as well as executive education programs. The campus also acts as a focal point and meeting place for Terry students, alumni, faculty, and staff to interact with the business community. Primary and secondary education Fifty-five thousand students are enrolled in 106 schools in Atlanta Public Schools (APS), some of which are operated as charter schools. Atlanta is served by many private schools including, without limitation, Atlanta Jewish Academy, Atlanta International School, The Westminster Schools, Pace Academy, The Lovett School, The Paideia School, Holy Innocents' Episcopal School and Roman Catholic parochial schools operated by the Archdiocese of Atlanta. In 2018 the City of Atlanta annexed a portion of DeKalb County containing the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University; this portion will be zoned to the DeKalb County School District until 2024, when it will transition into APS. In 2017 the number of children living in the annexed territory who attended public schools was nine. Media The primary network-affiliated television stations in Atlanta are WXIA-TV 11 (NBC), WANF 46 (CBS), WSB-TV 2 (ABC), and WAGA-TV 5 (Fox). Other major commercial stations include WPXA-TV 14 (Ion), WPCH-TV 17 (Ind.), WUVG-TV 34 (Univision/UniMás), WUPA 69 (CW), and WATL 36 (MyNetworkTV). WPXA-TV, WUVG-TV and WAGA-TV are network O&O's. The Atlanta metropolitan area is served by two public television stations (both PBS member stations), and two public radio stations. WGTV 8 is the flagship station of the statewide Georgia Public Television network, while WABE-TV is owned by Atlanta Public Schools. Georgia Public Radio is listener-funded and comprises one NPR member station, WABE, a classical music station also operated by Atlanta Public Schools. The second public radio, listener-funded NPR member station is WCLK, a jazz music station owned and operated by Clark Atlanta University. Atlanta is served by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, its only major daily newspaper with wide distribution. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of a 1950 merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, with staff consolidation occurring in 1982 and separate publication of the morning Constitution and afternoon Journal ceasing in 2001. Alternative weekly newspapers include Creative Loafing, which has a weekly print circulation of 80,000. Atlanta Daily World is the oldest black newspaper in Atlanta and one of the earliest and most influential black newspapers in American history. Atlanta magazine is a monthly general-interest magazine based in and covering Atlanta. Infrastructure Transportation Atlanta's transportation infrastructure comprises a complex network that includes a heavy rail rapid transit system, a light rail streetcar loop, a multi-county bus system, Amtrak service via the Crescent, multiple freight train lines, an Interstate Highway System, several airports, including the world's busiest, and over of bike paths. Atlanta has a network of freeways that radiate out from the city, and automobiles are the dominant means of transportation in the region. Three major interstate highways converge in Atlanta: I-20 (east-west), I-75 (northwest-southeast), and I-85 (northeast-southwest). The latter two combine in the middle of the city to form the Downtown Connector (I-75/85), which carries more than 340,000 vehicles per day and is one of the most congested segments of interstate highway in the United States. Atlanta is mostly encircled by Interstate 285, a beltway locally known as "the Perimeter" that has come to mark the boundary between "Inside the Perimeter" (ITP), the city and close-in suburbs, and "Outside the Perimeter" (OTP), the outer suburbs and exurbs. The heavy reliance on automobiles for transportation in Atlanta has resulted in traffic, commute, and air pollution rates that rank among the worst in the country. The City of Atlanta has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 15.2 percent of Atlanta households lacked a car, and increased slightly to 16.4 percent in 2016. The national average is 8.7 percent in 2016. Atlanta averaged 1.31 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) provides public transportation in the form of buses, heavy rail, and a downtown light rail loop. Notwithstanding heavy automotive usage in Atlanta, the city's subway system is the eighth busiest in the country. MARTA rail lines connect key destinations, such as the airport, Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and Perimeter Center. However, significant destinations, such as Emory University and Cumberland, remain unserved. As a result, a 2011 Brookings Institution study placed Atlanta 91st of 100 metro areas for transit accessibility. Emory University operates its Cliff shuttle buses with 200,000 boardings per month, while private minibuses supply Buford Highway. Amtrak, the national rail passenger system, provides service to Atlanta via the Crescent train (New York–New Orleans), which stops at Peachtree Station. In 2014, the Atlanta Streetcar opened to the public. The streetcar's line, which is also known as the Downtown Loop, runs around the downtown tourist areas of Peachtree Center, Centennial Olympic Park, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, and Sweet Auburn. The Atlanta Streetcar line is also being expanded on in the coming years to include a wider range of Atlanta's neighborhoods and important places of interest, with a total of over of track in the plan. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport as measured by passenger traffic and aircraft traffic. The facility offers air service to over 150 U.S. destinations and more than 75 international destinations in 50 countries, with over 2,500 arrivals and departures daily. Delta Air Lines maintains its largest hub at the airport. Situated () south of downtown, the airport covers most of the land inside a wedge formed by Interstate 75, Interstate 85, and Interstate 285. Cycling is a growing mode of transportation in Atlanta, more than doubling since 2009, when it comprised 1.1% of all commutes (up from 0.3% in 2000). Although Atlanta's lack of bike lanes and hilly topography may deter many residents from cycling, the city's transportation plan calls for the construction of of bike lanes by 2020, with the BeltLine helping to achieve this goal. In 2012, Atlanta's first "bike track" was constructed on 10th Street in Midtown. The two lane bike track runs from Monroe Drive west to Charles Allen Drive, with connections to the Beltline and Piedmont Park. Starting in June 2016, Atlanta received a bike sharing program, known as Relay Bike Share, with 100 bikes in Downtown and Midtown, which expanded to 500 bikes at 65 stations as of April 2017. According to the 2016 American Community Survey (five-year average), 68.6% of working city of Atlanta residents commuted by driving alone, 7% carpooled, 10% used public transportation, and 4.6% walked. About 2.1% used all other forms of transportation, including taxi, bicycle, and motorcycle. About 7.6% worked at home. The city has also become one of a handful of "scooter capitals", where companies like Lime and Bird have gained a major foothold by placing electric scooters on street corners and byways. Emergency services The city is served by the Atlanta Police Department, which numbers 2,000 officers and oversaw a 40% decrease in the city's crime rate between 2001 and 2009. Specifically, homicide decreased by 57%, rape by 72%, and violent crime overall by 55%. Crime is down across the country, but Atlanta's improvement has occurred at more than twice the national rate. Nevertheless, Forbes ranked Atlanta as the sixth most dangerous city in the United States in 2012. Aggravated assaults, burglaries and robberies were down from 2014. Mexican drug cartels thrive in Atlanta. 145 gangs operate in Atlanta. The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the city from its 35 fire stations. In 2017, AFRD responded to over 100,000 calls for service over a coverage area of . The department also protects Hartsfield–Jackson with five fire stations on the property, serving over 1 million passengers from over 100 countries. The department protects over 3000 high-rise buildings, of the rapid rail system, and of interstate highway. Emergency ambulance services are provided to city residents by hospital-based Grady EMS (Fulton County), and American Medical Response (DeKalb County). Atlanta in January 2017 declared the city was a "welcoming city" and "will remain open and welcoming to all". Nonetheless, Atlanta does not consider itself to be a "sanctuary city". Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said: "Our city does not support ICE. We don't have a relationship with the U.S. Marshal[s] Service. We closed our detention center to ICE detainees, and we would not pick up people on an immigration violation." Notable people Tree canopy Atlanta has a reputation as a "city in a forest" due to an abundance of trees that is rare among major cities. The city's main street is named after a tree, and beyond the Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead business districts, the skyline gives way to a dense canopy of woods that spreads into the suburbs. The city is home to the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, an annual arts and crafts festival held one weekend during early April, when the native dogwoods are in bloom. The nickname is factually accurate, as vegetation covers 47.9% of the city as of 2017, the highest among all major American cities, and well above the national average of 27%. Atlanta's tree coverage does not go unnoticed—it was the main reason cited by National Geographic in naming Atlanta a "Place of a Lifetime". The city's lush tree canopy, which filters out pollutants and cools sidewalks and buildings, has increasingly been under assault from man and nature due to heavy rains, drought, aged forests, new pests, and urban construction. A 2001 study found Atlanta's heavy tree cover declined from 48% in 1974 to 38% in 1996. Community organizations and the city government are addressing the problem. Trees Atlanta, a non-profit organization founded in 1985, has planted and distributed over 113,000 shade trees in the city, and Atlanta's government has awarded $130,000 in grants to neighborhood groups to plant trees. Fees are additionally imposed on developers that remove trees on their property per a citywide ordinance, active since 1993. Sister cities Atlanta's sister cities are: Montego Bay, Jamaica (1972) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1972) Lagos, Nigeria (1974) Toulouse, France (1974) Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK (1977) Taipei, Taiwan (1979) Daegu, South Korea (1981) Brussels, Belgium (1983) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (1987) Tbilisi, Georgia (1988) Olympia, Greece (1994) Bucharest, Romania (1994) Cotonou, Benin (1995) Salcedo, Dominican Republic (1996) Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain (1996) Nuremberg, Germany (1998) Ra'anana, Israel (2000) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2004) Fukuoka, Japan (2005) Sassari, Italy (2020) See also Cities and metropolitan areas of the United States Notes References Further reading Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events: Years of Change and Challenge, 1940–1976 by Franklin M. Garrett, Harold H. Martin Darlene R. Roth and Andy Ambrose. Metropolitan Frontiers: A Short History of Atlanta. Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1996. An overview of the city's history with an emphasis on its growth. Sjoquist, Dave (ed.) The Atlanta Paradox. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2000. Stone, Clarence. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946–1988. University Press of Kansas. 1989. Elise Reid Boylston. Atlanta: Its Lore, Legends and Laughter. Doraville: privately printed, 1968. Many anecdotes about the history of the city. Frederick Allen. Atlanta Rising. Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1996. A detailed history of Atlanta from 1946 to 1996, with much about City Councilman, later Mayor, William B. Hartsfield's work in making Atlanta a major air transport hub, and about the civil rights movement as it affected (and was affected by) Atlanta. External links Official city website Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Atlanta Police Department Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Atlanta entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive from the Digital Library of Georgia Atlanta History Photograph Collection from the Atlanta History Center Atlanta, Georgia, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Scientific American, "The Atlanta Exposition", October 22, 1881, pp. 257 Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in DeKalb County, Georgia Cities in Fulton County, Georgia 1837 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in the Atlanta metropolitan area County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) Municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1837 Georgia populated places on the Chattahoochee River

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiology

Axiology

Axiology (from Greek , axia: "value, worth"; and , -logia: "study of") is the philosophical study of value. It includes questions about the nature and classification of values and about what kinds of things have value. It is intimately connected with various other philosophical fields that crucially depend on the notion of value, like ethics, aesthetics or philosophy of religion. It is also closely related to value theory and meta-ethics. The term was first used by Paul Lapie, in 1902, and Eduard von Hartmann, in 1908. The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic value is central to axiology. One conceptualization holds that something is intrinsically valuable if it is good in itself or good for its own sake. It is usually held that intrinsic value depends on certain features of the valuable entity. For example, an experience may be said to be intrinsically valuable by virtue of being (because it is) pleasurable or beautiful or "true" (e.g., the ascertainment of a fact can be said to be valuable in itself). Extrinsic value, by contrast, is ascribed to things that are valuable only as a means to something else. Substantive theories of value try to determine which entities have intrinsic value. Monist theories hold that there is only one type of intrinsic value. The paradigm example of monist theories is hedonism, the thesis that only pleasure has intrinsic value. Pluralist theories, on the other hand, contend that there are various different types of intrinsic value, for example, virtue, knowledge, friendship, etc. Value pluralists face the problem of explaining whether or how the different types of value can be compared when making rational decisions. Some philosophers state that values do not exist on the most fundamental level of reality. One such view holds that a value statement about something just expresses the speaker's approval or disapproval of this thing. This position is opposed by realists about value. History Between the 5th and 6th centuries BC, it was important in Greece to be knowledgeable if you were to be successful. Philosophers began to recognize that differences existed between the laws and morality of society. Socrates believed that knowledge had a vital connection to virtue, making morality and democracy closely intertwined. Socrates' student, Plato furthered the belief by establishing virtues which should be followed by all. E. J. Dijksterhuis found that axiological antithesis characterized the philosophy of ancient Greece: With the fall of the government, values became individual, causing skeptic schools of thought to flourish, ultimately shaping an ontologically objective philosophy that is thought to have contributed to Christian Philosophy. During the medieval period, Thomas Aquinas made the distinction between natural and supernatural (theological) virtues. This concept led philosophers to distinguish between judgments based on fact and judgments based on values, creating the division between science and philosophy. Intrinsic value Traditionally, philosophers held that an entity has intrinsic value if it is good in itself or good for its own sake. Intrinsic value is contrasted with extrinsic or instrumental value, which is ascribed to things that are valuable only as a means to something else. For example, tools like cars or microwaves are said to be extrinsically valuable by virtue of the function they perform, while the well-being they cause is intrinsically valuable, according to hedonism. The same entity can be valuable in different ways: some entities have both intrinsic and extrinsic values at the same time. Extrinsic values can form chains, in which one entity is extrinsically valuable because it is a means to another entity that is itself extrinsically valuable. It is commonly held that these chains must terminate somewhere and that the endpoint can only be intrinsically valuable. The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic values is important for understanding various disagreements within axiology. Different substantive theories of value often agree on whether something, for example knowledge, is valuable while disagreeing on whether the value in question is intrinsic or extrinsic. The traditional conception of intrinsic value presented above has been criticized in contemporary philosophy on the grounds that it combines various distinct notions that are better discussed separately. One such contrast is between intrinsic and final values. On a more narrow conception, an intrinsic value is a value an entity has in virtue of its intrinsic properties. For example, assuming that the phenomenal aspect of a pleasant experience is an intrinsic property, we might say that the experience is intrinsically valuable because of this intrinsic property. An entity with final value, by contrast, is valuable for its own sake. It is usually accepted that there is a conceptual difference between intrinsic and final values. For example, the pleasure experience may be said to be intrinsically valuable on the one hand, and finally valuable on the other hand. But it has been disputed whether there are actual things where these value types can come apart. Proposed candidates for bearers of final non-intrinsic value include unique or rare items (e.g. a stamp) or historically significant items (e.g. the pen that Abraham Lincoln used to sign the Emancipation Proclamation). Being-rare and having-been-used-by-someone are extrinsic properties that may be responsible for their bearers having final value, i.e. being valuable for their own sake. Some philosophers have questioned whether extrinsic values should be regarded as values at all rather than as mere indications of values. One reason for considering this idea is that adding or removing extrinsically valuable things does not affect the value of the whole if all intrinsically valuable things are kept constant. For example, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake had a negative extrinsic value because of all the damage it caused. But arguably, the world would not have been a better place if exactly the same damage had been caused without the earthquake. Ontological status of values In axiology, it is often important to distinguish between the entity that is valuable and the features in virtue of which it is valuable. For example, an experience may be said to be valuable in virtue of being pleasurable. This distinction is particularly relevant for intrinsic values since it is commonly held that the intrinsic value of an entity supervenes on its intrinsic features. This means that the entity could not have a different intrinsic value unless it had different intrinsic features. Substantive theories of value focus on the features in virtue of which something has intrinsic value. Popular candidates for these features include pleasure, virtue and knowledge. Another question concerns the nature of the entities that are the bearers of value. The main approaches to this question can be divided into the Kantian tradition, which considers concrete things like persons to be the bearers of value, and the Moorean tradition, which holds that only states of affairs bear value. This difference is important when determining whether a value is extrinsic or intrinsic to an entity. Some philosophers hold that objects like Napoleon's hat are valuable because of their relation to extraordinary persons. From a Kantian perspective, this value must be extrinsic since it is based on the extrinsic property of having been worn by an extraordinary person. But from a Moorean perspective, it can be intrinsic since it is born not by the hat but by a state of affairs involving both the hat and Napoleon. The preceding discussion about the ontological categories of values and value-bearers assumes some form of realism: that there actually are valuable things. But the difficulties in reaching expert consensus in value-related fields like ethics, aesthetics or politics and considerations from naturalism have led various philosophers to doubt this assumption. The ensuing dispute between cognitivists and non-cognitivists is usually held on the level of value-statements or value-attitudes, either concerning all values or specifically concerning ethical values. Cognitivists assert that value-statements are truth-apt, i.e. are either true or false, which is denied by non-cognitivists. Most cognitivists are realists about values: they believe that values are part of reality. Error theory, as originally articulated by J. L. Mackie, is an exception. Error theorists hold that all value-statements are false, and thereby truth-apt, because the world lacks value-features that would be needed to make them true. Non-cognitivists, on the other hand, go one step further by denying that value-statements are truth-apt. This position involves the difficulty of explaining how value-statements can be meaningful despite lacking a truth value. This challenge can be met in different ways. Emotivists, following A. J. Ayer, state that value-statements only express the emotions of the speaker and are intended to influence the actions of the listener. Prescriptivism, as developed by R. M. Hare, interprets value-statements as imperatives or commands. Simon Blackburn's quasi-realism states that value statements project emotional attitudes as though they were real properties. Monism and pluralism Substantive theories of value try to determine which entities have intrinsic value. A traditional dispute in this field is between monist and pluralist theories. According to Chris Heathwood, monism and pluralism can be distinguished according to an evaluation of what is good in people and the concept of "value simpliciter" in terms of intrinsic value. Monist theories hold that there is only one type of intrinsic value. The paradigm example of monist theories is hedonism, the thesis that only pleasure has intrinsic value. Pluralist theories, on the other hand, contend that there are various different types of intrinsic value. They maintain that these types of intrinsic values cannot be reduced to a single feature of an act or entity. W. D. Ross, for example, holds that pleasure is only one type of intrinsic value besides other types, like knowledge. It is important to keep in mind that this disagreement only concerns intrinsic value, not value at large. So hedonists may be happy to concede that knowledge is valuable, but only extrinsically so, given that knowledge can be helpful in causing pleasure and avoiding pain. Various arguments have been suggested in the monism-pluralism-dispute. Common-sense seems to favor value pluralism: values are ascribed to a wide range of different things like happiness, liberty, friendship, etc. without any obvious common feature underlying these values. One way to defend value monism is to cast doubt on the reliability of common-sense for technical matters like the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic value. This strategy is pursued by J. J. C. Smart, who holds that there is a psychological bias to mistake stable extrinsic values for intrinsic values. Value pluralists have often attempted to provide exhaustive lists of all value types, but different theorists have suggested very different lists. These lists seem to constitute arbitrary selections unless a clear criterion could be provided why all and only these items are included. But if a criterion was to be found then such a theory would no longer be pluralistic. This dilemma suggests that pluralism is inadequate as an explanation. One issue closely related to the monism-pluralism-debate is the problem of incommensurability: the question of whether there are incommensurable values. Two values are incommensurable if there is no fact as to whether one is better than or as good as the other: there is no common value scale according to which they could be compared. According to Joseph Raz, career choices between very different paths, for example, whether to become a lawyer or a clarinetist, are cases where incommensurable values are involved. Value pluralists often assert that values belonging to different types are incommensurable with each other. Value monists, by contrast, usually deny that there are incommensurable values. This question is particularly relevant for ethics. If different options available to the agent embody incommensurable values then there seems to be no rational way to determine what ought to be done since there is no matter of fact as to which option is better. Widespread incommensurability would threaten to undermine the practical relevance of ethics and rational choice. Other concepts and distinctions Many evaluative terms are found in everyday language, often with various different meanings. It is important for philosophers to distinguish these different meanings in order to avoid misunderstandings. One such distinction is between a predicative and an attributive sense of good and bad. In the attributive sense, an entity is good in relation to a certain kind. For example, a person with a clear voice may be a good singer or a knife with a blunt edge may be a bad knife. But this still leaves it open whether the entity in question is good or bad in an unqualified or predicative sense. For example, a person may be a bad assassin but being bad as an assassin is not bad in a predicative sense. Axiology is usually interested in the predicative sense of goodness. But some philosophers deny that such a sense exists and therefore hold that all value is relative to a kind. A second important distinction is that between being good for a person and being good for the world. Being good for a person or prudential value has to do with this person's welfare or well-being. But what is good for one person may be bad for another person. For example, having a dry summer may be good for the hiker in virtue of the pleasant hiking conditions, but bad for the farmer, whose crop is dying because of a lack of water. In such cases, the question arises as to what is good for the world or good simpliciter. Utilitarians can solve this problem by defining the good for the world as the sum of the good for each persons. Philosophers often distinguish between evaluative concepts (like good or bad) and deontic concepts (like right, fitting or ought). The former belong to axiology proper and express what has worth or value while the latter belong to ethics (and related fields) and express what one ought to do. Philosophers have tried to provide a unified account of these two fields since they seem to be intimately related. Consequentialists see evaluative concepts as fundamental and define deontic concepts in terms of evaluative concepts. Fitting-attitude theories, on the other hand, try to reduce evaluative concepts to deontic concepts. Consequentialism is an ethical theory that holds that, given a certain set of possible actions, we ought to perform the action that has the best overall consequences. So what we ought to do is defined in evaluative terms: whatever leads to the consequences with the highest value. Fitting-attitude theories are axiological theories that define the value of something in terms of the attitude that would be fitting to have towards this thing, for example, that it would be good to find a cure for cancer because this would be a fitting object of desire. These accounts build on the deontic notion that some of our attitudes towards the world are fitting or right to define what is good. See also References Further reading 384 pages. 100 pages. 140 pages. Marías, Julián (1967). History of Philosophy. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. External links Cultura: International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology Axiology.org.uk Axiology at PhilPapers Concepts in aesthetics Concepts in ethics Concepts in metaphysics Critical thinking Ethics Meta-ethics Metaphilosophy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative

Alternative

Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Alternative (Kamen Rider), a character in the Japanese TV series Kamen Rider Ryuki The Alternative (film), a 1978 Australian television film The Alternative, a radio show hosted by Tony Evans 120 Minutes (2004 TV program), an alternative rock music video program formerly known as The Alternative The American Spectator, an American magazine formerly known as The Alternative: An American Spectator Alternative comedy, a range of styles used by comedians and writers in the 1980s Alternative comics, a genre of comic strips and books Alternative media, media practices falling outside the mainstreams of corporate communication Alternative title, the use of a secondary title for a work when it is distributed or sold in other countries Music Alternative (album), a B-sides album by Pet Shop Boys The Alternative (album), an album by IAMX "Randy Scouse Git" (released as "Alternate Title" in the UK), by the Monkees, 1967 "Altern-ate", a song by H-el-ical//, 2020 Genres Alternative country Alternative dance Alternative hip hop Alternative metal Alternative R&B Alternative reggaeton Alternative rock, also known as "alternative music" or simply "alternative" Indie pop, sometimes known as "alternative pop” Indie folk, sometimes known as "alternative folk" Culture and society Alternate (sports), a replacement or backup for a regular or starting team player Alternative culture, a variety of subcultures existing along the fringes of mainstream culture Alternative dispute resolution, processes and techniques outside the traditional mainstream of jurisprudence Alternative fashion, for example Gothic fashion, Punk fashion, Fetish fashion Alternative lifestyle, a lifestyle that is not within the cultural norm Alternative medicine, healing practice that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine Education Alternative education, non-traditional education Alternative school, a school geared towards students whose needs cannot be met in a traditional school Mathematics and science Alternative algebra, an abstract algebra with alternative multiplication Alternativity, a weaker property than associativity Alternate leaves, a classification in botanical phyllotaxis Politics The Alternative (Palestine), a former electoral alliance of several socialist Palestinian groups The Alternative (Denmark), a green political party in Denmark Alternativa (Kosovo political party), a liberal political party in Kosovo Alternativa (Italian political party), a populist political party in Italy Alternativa (North Macedonian political party), an Albanian political party in North Macedonia Other uses Alternative investment, investment other than stocks, bond (finance), money funds, and cash See also Alternate (theatre) Alternate reality (disambiguation) Alternatives, a Canadian non-governmental organization Alternating (disambiguation) Alternative press (disambiguation) The Alternate (disambiguation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative%20algebra

Alternative algebra

In abstract algebra, an alternative algebra is an algebra in which multiplication need not be associative, only alternative. That is, one must have for all x and y in the algebra. Every associative algebra is obviously alternative, but so too are some strictly non-associative algebras such as the octonions. The associator Alternative algebras are so named because they are the algebras for which the associator is alternating. The associator is a trilinear map given by . By definition, a multilinear map is alternating if it vanishes whenever two of its arguments are equal. The left and right alternative identities for an algebra are equivalent to Both of these identities together imply that for all and . This is equivalent to the flexible identity The associator of an alternative algebra is therefore alternating. Conversely, any algebra whose associator is alternating is clearly alternative. By symmetry, any algebra which satisfies any two of: left alternative identity: right alternative identity: flexible identity: is alternative and therefore satisfies all three identities. An alternating associator is always totally skew-symmetric. That is, for any permutation . The converse holds so long as the characteristic of the base field is not 2. Examples Every associative algebra is alternative. The octonions form a non-associative alternative algebra, a normed division algebra of dimension 8 over the real numbers. More generally, any octonion algebra is alternative. Non-examples The sedenions and all higher Cayley–Dickson algebras lose alternativity. Properties Artin's theorem states that in an alternative algebra the subalgebra generated by any two elements is associative. Conversely, any algebra for which this is true is clearly alternative. It follows that expressions involving only two variables can be written unambiguously without parentheses in an alternative algebra. A generalization of Artin's theorem states that whenever three elements in an alternative algebra associate (i.e., ), the subalgebra generated by those elements is associative. A corollary of Artin's theorem is that alternative algebras are power-associative, that is, the subalgebra generated by a single element is associative. The converse need not hold: the sedenions are power-associative but not alternative. The Moufang identities hold in any alternative algebra. In a unital alternative algebra, multiplicative inverses are unique whenever they exist. Moreover, for any invertible element and all one has This is equivalent to saying the associator vanishes for all such and . If and are invertible then is also invertible with inverse . The set of all invertible elements is therefore closed under multiplication and forms a Moufang loop. This loop of units in an alternative ring or algebra is analogous to the group of units in an associative ring or algebra. Kleinfeld's theorem states that any simple non-associative alternative ring is a generalized octonion algebra over its center. The structure theory of alternative rings is presented in. Applications The projective plane over any alternative division ring is a Moufang plane. The close relationship of alternative algebras and composition algebras was given by Guy Roos in 2008: He shows (page 162) the relation for an algebra A with unit element e and an involutive anti-automorphism such that a + a* and aa* are on the line spanned by e for all a in A. Use the notation n(a) = aa*. Then if n is a non-singular mapping into the field of A, and A is alternative, then (A,n) is a composition algebra. See also Algebra over a field Maltsev algebra Zorn ring References External links Non-associative algebras

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitrage

Arbitrage

In economics and finance, arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets; striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which the unit is traded. When used by academics, an arbitrage is a transaction that involves no negative cash flow at any probabilistic or temporal state and a positive cash flow in at least one state; in simple terms, it is the possibility of a risk-free profit after transaction costs. For example, an arbitrage opportunity is present when there is the possibility to instantaneously buy something for a low price and sell it for a higher price. In principle and in academic use, an arbitrage is risk-free; in common use, as in statistical arbitrage, it may refer to expected profit, though losses may occur, and in practice, there are always risks in arbitrage, some minor (such as fluctuation of prices decreasing profit margins), some major (such as devaluation of a currency or derivative). In academic use, an arbitrage involves taking advantage of differences in price of a single asset or identical cash-flows; in common use, it is also used to refer to differences between similar assets (relative value or convergence trades), as in merger arbitrage. The term is mainly applied to trading in financial instruments, such as bonds, stocks, derivatives, commodities, and currencies. People who engage in arbitrage are called arbitrageurs (). Arbitrage has the effect of causing prices of the same or very similar assets in different markets to converge. Etymology "Arbitrage" is a French word and denotes a decision by an arbitrator or arbitration tribunal (in modern French, "" usually means referee or umpire). In the sense used here, it was first defined in 1704 by Mathieu de la Porte in his treatise "" as a consideration of different exchange rates to recognise the most profitable places of issuance and settlement for a bill of exchange (" [, in modern spelling] ".) Arbitrage-free If the market prices do not allow for profitable arbitrage, the prices are said to constitute an arbitrage equilibrium, or an arbitrage-free market. An arbitrage equilibrium is a precondition for a general economic equilibrium. The "no arbitrage" assumption is used in quantitative finance to calculate a unique risk neutral price for derivatives. Arbitrage-free pricing approach for bonds Arbitrage-free pricing for bonds is the method of valuing a coupon-bearing financial instrument by discounting its future cash flows by multiple discount rates. By doing so, a more accurate price can be obtained than if the price is calculated with a present-value pricing approach. Arbitrage-free pricing is used for bond valuation and to detect arbitrage opportunities for investors. For the purpose of valuing the price of a bond, its cash flows can each be thought of as packets of incremental cash flows with a large packet upon maturity, being the principal. Since the cash flows are dispersed throughout future periods, they must be discounted back to the present. In the present-value approach, the cash flows are discounted with one discount rate to find the price of the bond. In arbitrage-free pricing, multiple discount rates are used. The present-value approach assumes that the bond yield will stay the same until maturity. This is a simplified model because interest rates may fluctuate in the future, which in turn affects the yield on the bond. For this reason, the discount rate may differ for each cash flow. Each cash flow can be considered a zero-coupon instrument that pays one payment upon maturity. The discount rates used should be the rates of multiple zero-coupon bonds with maturity dates the same as each cash flow and similar risk as the instrument being valued. By using multiple discount rates, the arbitrage-free price is the sum of the discounted cash flows. Arbitrage-free price refers to the price at which no price arbitrage is possible. The idea of using multiple discount rates obtained from zero-coupon bonds and discounting a similar bond's cash flow to find its price is derived from the yield curve, which is a curve of the yields of the same bond with different maturities. This curve can be used to view trends in market expectations of how interest rates will move in the future. In arbitrage-free pricing of a bond, a yield curve of similar zero-coupon bonds with different maturities is created. If the curve were to be created with Treasury securities of different maturities, they would be stripped of their coupon payments through bootstrapping. This is to transform the bonds into zero-coupon bonds. The yield of these zero-coupon bonds would then be plotted on a diagram with time on the x-axis and yield on the y-axis. Since the yield curve displays market expectations on how yields and interest rates may move, the arbitrage-free pricing approach is more realistic than using only one discount rate. Investors can use this approach to value bonds and find price mismatches, resulting in an arbitrage opportunity. If a bond valued with the arbitrage-free pricing approach turns out to be priced higher in the market, an investor could have such an opportunity: Investor shorts the bond at price at time t1. Investor longs the zero-coupon bonds making up the related yield curve and strips and sells any coupon payments at t1. As t>t1, the price spread between the prices will decrease. At maturity, the prices will converge and be equal. Investor exits both the long and short positions, realising a profit. If the outcome from the valuation were the reverse case, the opposite positions would be taken in the bonds. This arbitrage opportunity comes from the assumption that the prices of bonds with the same properties will converge upon maturity. This can be explained through market efficiency, which states that arbitrage opportunities will eventually be discovered and corrected. The prices of the bonds in t1 move closer together to finally become the same at tT. Conditions for arbitrage Arbitrage may take place when: the same asset does not trade at the same price on all markets ("the law of one price"). two assets with identical cash flows do not trade at the same price. an asset with a known price in the future does not today trade at its future price discounted at the risk-free interest rate (or the asset has significant costs of storage; so this condition holds true for something like grain but not for securities). Arbitrage is not simply the act of buying a product in one market and selling it in another for a higher price at some later time. The transactions must occur simultaneously to avoid exposure to market risk, or the risk that prices may change in one market before both transactions are complete. In practical terms, this is generally possible only with securities and financial products that can be traded electronically, and even then, when each leg of the trade is executed, the prices in the market may have moved. Missing one of the legs of the trade (and subsequently having to trade it soon after at a worse price) is called 'execution risk' or more specifically 'leg risk'. In the simplest example, any good sold in one market should sell for the same price in another. Traders may, for example, find that the price of wheat is lower in agricultural regions than in cities, purchase the good, and transport it to another region to sell at a higher price. This type of price arbitrage is the most common, but this simple example ignores the cost of transport, storage, risk, and other factors. "True" arbitrage requires that there is no market risk involved. Where securities are traded on more than one exchange, arbitrage occurs by simultaneously buying in one and selling on the other. See rational pricing, particularly § arbitrage mechanics, for further discussion. Mathematically it is defined as follows: where and denotes the portfolio value at time t. Price convergence Arbitrage has the effect of causing prices in different markets to converge. As a result of arbitrage, the currency exchange rates, the price of commodities, and the price of securities in different markets tend to converge. The speed at which they do so is a measure of market efficiency. Arbitrage tends to reduce price discrimination by encouraging people to buy an item where the price is low and resell it where the price is high (as long as the buyers are not prohibited from reselling and the transaction costs of buying, holding, and reselling are small, relative to the difference in prices in the different markets). Arbitrage moves different currencies toward purchasing power parity. Assume that a car purchased in the United States is cheaper than the same car in Canada. Canadians would buy their cars across the border to exploit the arbitrage condition. At the same time, Americans would buy US cars, transport them across the border, then sell them in Canada. Canadians would have to buy American dollars to buy the cars and Americans would have to sell the Canadian dollars they received in exchange. Both actions would increase demand for US dollars and supply of Canadian dollars. As a result, there would be an appreciation of the US currency. This would make US cars more expensive and Canadian cars less so until their prices were similar. On a larger scale, international arbitrage opportunities in commodities, goods, securities, and currencies tend to change exchange rates until the purchasing power is equal. In reality, most assets exhibit some difference between countries. These, transaction costs, taxes, and other costs provide an impediment to this kind of arbitrage. Similarly, arbitrage affects the difference in interest rates paid on government bonds issued by the various countries, given the expected depreciation in the currencies relative to each other (see interest rate parity). Risks Arbitrage transactions in modern securities markets involve fairly low day-to-day risks, but can face extremely high risk in rare situations, particularly financial crises, and can lead to bankruptcy. Formally, arbitrage transactions have negative skew – prices can get a small amount closer (but often no closer than 0), while they can get very far apart. The day-to-day risks are generally small because the transactions involve small differences in price, so an execution failure will generally cause a small loss (unless the trade is very big or the price moves rapidly). The rare case risks are extremely high because these small price differences are converted to large profits via leverage (borrowed money), and in the rare event of a large price move, this may yield a large loss. The main day-to-day risk is that part of the transaction fails; this is called execution risk. The main, rare risks are counterparty risk, and liquidity risk: that a counterparty to a large transaction or many transactions fails to pay, or that one is required to post margin and does not have the money to do so. In the academic literature, the idea that seemingly very low-risk arbitrage trades might not be fully exploited because of these risk factors and other considerations is often referred to as limits to arbitrage. Execution risk Generally, it is impossible to close two or three transactions at the same instant; therefore, there is the possibility that when one part of the deal is closed, a quick shift in prices makes it impossible to close the other at a profitable price. However, this is not necessarily the case. Many exchanges and inter-dealer brokers allow multi legged trades (e.g. basis block trades on LIFFE). Competition in the marketplace can also create risks during arbitrage transactions. As an example, if one was trying to profit from a price discrepancy between IBM on the NYSE and IBM on the London Stock Exchange, they may purchase a large number of shares on the NYSE and find that they cannot simultaneously sell on the LSE. This leaves the arbitrageur in an unhedged risk position. In the 1980s, risk arbitrage was common. In this form of speculation, one trades a security that is clearly undervalued or overvalued, when it is seen that the wrong valuation is about to be corrected. The standard example is the stock of a company, undervalued in the stock market, which is about to be the object of a takeover bid; the price of the takeover will more truly reflect the value of the company, giving a large profit to those who bought at the current price, if the merger goes through as predicted. Traditionally, arbitrage transactions in the securities markets involve high speed, high volume, and low risk. At some moment a price difference exists, and the problem is to execute two or three balancing transactions while the difference persists (that is, before the other arbitrageurs act). When the transaction involves a delay of weeks or months, as above, it may entail considerable risk if borrowed money is used to magnify the reward through leverage. One way of reducing this risk is through the illegal use of inside information, and risk arbitrage in leveraged buyouts was associated with some of the famous financial scandals of the 1980s, such as those involving Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky. Mismatch Another risk occurs if the items being bought and sold are not identical and the arbitrage is conducted under the assumption that the prices of the items are correlated or predictable; this is more narrowly referred to as a convergence trade. In the extreme case this is merger arbitrage, described below. In comparison to the classical quick arbitrage transaction, such an operation can produce disastrous losses. Counterparty risk As arbitrages generally involve future movements of cash, they are subject to counterparty risk: the risk that a counterparty fails to fulfill their side of a transaction. This is a serious problem if one has either a single trade or many related trades with a single counterparty, whose failure thus poses a threat, or in the event of a financial crisis when many counterparties fail. This hazard is serious because of the large quantities one must trade in order to make a profit on small price differences. For example, if one purchases many risky bonds, then hedges them with CDSes, profiting from the difference between the bond spread and the CDS premium, in a financial crisis, the bonds may default and the CDS writer/seller may fail, due to the stress of the crisis, causing the arbitrageur to face steep losses. Liquidity risk Arbitrage trades are necessarily synthetic, leveraged trades, as they involve a short position. If the assets used are not identical (so a price divergence makes the trade temporarily lose money), or the margin treatment is not identical, and the trader is accordingly required to post margin (faces a margin call), the trader may run out of capital (if they run out of cash and cannot borrow more) and be forced to sell these assets at a loss even though the trades may be expected to ultimately make money. In effect, arbitrage traders synthesise a put option on their ability to finance themselves. Prices may diverge during a financial crisis, often termed a "flight to quality"; these are precisely the times when it is hardest for leveraged investors to raise capital (due to overall capital constraints), and thus they will lack capital precisely when they need it most. Gray market Grey market arbitrage is the sale of goods purchased through informal channels to earn the difference in price. Excessive gray market arbitrage will lead to arbitrage behaviors in formal channels, which will reduce returns due to factors such as price confusion, and may even cause prices to plummet in severe cases. Types Spatial arbitrage Also known as geographical arbitrage, this is the simplest form of arbitrage. In spatial arbitrage, an arbitrageur looks for price differences between geographically separate markets. For example, there may be a bond dealer in Virginia offering a bond at 100-12/23 and a dealer in Washington bidding 100-15/23 for the same bond. For whatever reason, the two dealers have not spotted the difference in the prices, but the arbitrageur does. The arbitrageur immediately buys the bond from the Virginia dealer and sells it to the Washington dealer. Latency arbitrage For very short amounts of time, the prices of two assets that are either fungible or related by a strict pricing relationship may temporarily go out of sync as the market makers are slow to update the prices. This momentary mispricing creates the opportunity for an arbitrageur to capture the difference between the two prices. For example, the price of calls and puts on an underlying should be related by put-call parity. If these prices are misquoted relative to the put-call parity relationship, it provides an arbitrageur the opportunity to profit from the mispricing. Latency arbitrage is often mentioned especially in an electronic trading environment, where the use of fast server hardware allows an arbitrageur to capture realize opportunities that may exist for as little as nanoseconds. A study by the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom found that this practice generates as much as $5 billion per year in profit. Merger arbitrage Also called risk arbitrage, merger arbitrage generally consists of buying/holding the stock of a company that is the target of a takeover while shorting the stock of the acquiring company. Usually, the market price of the target company is less than the price offered by the acquiring company. The spread between these two prices depends mainly on the probability and the timing of the takeover being completed as well as the prevailing level of interest rates. The bet in a merger arbitrage is that such a spread will eventually be zero, if and when the takeover is completed. The risk is that the deal "breaks" and the spread massively widens. Municipal bond arbitrage Also called municipal bond relative value arbitrage, municipal arbitrage, or just muni arb, this hedge fund strategy involves one of two approaches. The term "arbitrage" is also used in the context of the Income Tax Regulations governing the investment of proceeds of municipal bonds; these regulations, aimed at the issuers or beneficiaries of tax-exempt municipal bonds, are different and, instead, attempt to remove the issuer's ability to arbitrage between the low tax-exempt rate and a taxable investment rate. Generally, managers seek relative value opportunities by being both long and short municipal bonds with a duration-neutral book. The relative value trades may be between different issuers, different bonds issued by the same entity, or capital structure trades referencing the same asset (in the case of revenue bonds). Managers aim to capture the inefficiencies arising from the heavy participation of non-economic investors (i.e., high income "buy and hold" investors seeking tax-exempt income) as well as the "crossover buying" arising from corporations' or individuals' changing income tax situations (i.e., insurers switching their munis for corporates after a large loss as they can capture a higher after-tax yield by offsetting the taxable corporate income with underwriting losses). There are additional inefficiencies arising from the highly fragmented nature of the municipal bond market which has two million outstanding issues and 50,000 issuers, in contrast to the Treasury market which has 400 issues and a single issuer. Second, managers construct leveraged portfolios of AAA- or AA-rated tax-exempt municipal bonds with the duration risk hedged by shorting the appropriate ratio of taxable corporate bonds. These corporate equivalents are typically interest rate swaps referencing Libor or SIFMA. The arbitrage manifests itself in the form of a relatively cheap longer maturity municipal bond, which is a municipal bond that yields significantly more than 65% of a corresponding taxable corporate bond. The steeper slope of the municipal yield curve allows participants to collect more after-tax income from the municipal bond portfolio than is spent on the interest rate swap; the carry is greater than the hedge expense. Positive, tax-free carry from muni arb can reach into the double digits. The bet in this municipal bond arbitrage is that, over a longer period of time, two similar instruments—municipal bonds and interest rate swaps—will correlate with each other; they are both very high quality credits, have the same maturity and are denominated in the same currency. Credit risk and duration risk are largely eliminated in this strategy. However, basis risk arises from use of an imperfect hedge, which results in significant, but range-bound principal volatility. The end goal is to limit this principal volatility, eliminating its relevance over time as the high, consistent, tax-free cash flow accumulates. Since the inefficiency is related to government tax policy, and hence is structural in nature, it has not been arbitraged away. However, many municipal bonds are callable, and this adds substantial risks to the strategy. Convertible bond arbitrage A convertible bond is a bond that an investor can return to the issuing company in exchange for a predetermined number of shares in the company. A convertible bond can be thought of as a corporate bond with a stock call option attached to it. The price of a convertible bond is sensitive to three major factors: interest rate. When rates move higher, the bond part of a convertible bond tends to move lower, but the call option part of a convertible bond moves higher (and the aggregate tends to move lower). stock price. When the price of the stock the bond is convertible into moves higher, the price of the bond tends to rise. credit spread. If the creditworthiness of the issuer deteriorates (e.g. rating downgrade) and its credit spread widens, the bond price tends to move lower, but, in many cases, the call option part of the convertible bond moves higher (since credit spread correlates with volatility). Given the complexity of the calculations involved and the convoluted structure that a convertible bond can have, an arbitrageur often relies on sophisticated quantitative models in order to identify bonds that are trading cheap versus their theoretical value. Convertible arbitrage consists of buying a convertible bond and hedging two of the three factors in order to gain exposure to the third factor at a very attractive price. For instance an arbitrageur would first buy a convertible bond, then sell fixed income securities or interest rate futures (to hedge the interest rate exposure) and buy some credit protection (to hedge the risk of credit deterioration). Eventually what he or she would be left with is something similar to a call option on the underlying stock, acquired at a very low price. He or she could then make money either selling some of the more expensive options that are openly traded in the market or delta hedging his or her exposure to the underlying shares. Depository receipts A depositary receipt is a security that is offered as a "tracking stock" on another foreign market. For instance, a Chinese company wishing to raise more money may issue a depository receipt on the New York Stock Exchange, as the amount of capital on the local exchanges is limited. These securities, known as ADRs (American depositary receipt) or GDRs (global depository receipt) depending on where they are issued, are typically considered "foreign" and therefore trade at a lower value when first released. Many ADR's are exchangeable into the original security (known as fungibility) and actually have the same value. In this case, there is a spread between the perceived value and real value, which can be extracted. Other ADR's that are not exchangeable often have much larger spreads. Since the ADR is trading at a value lower than what it is worth, one can purchase the ADR and expect to make money as its value converges on the original. However, there is a chance that the original stock will fall in value too, so by shorting it one can hedge that risk. Cross-border arbitrage Cross-border arbitrage exploits different prices of the same stock in different countries: Example: Apple is trading on NASDAQ at US$108.84. The stock is also traded on the German electronic exchange, XETRA. If 1 euro costs US$1.11, a cross-border trader could enter a buy order on the XETRA at €98.03 per Apple share and a sell order at €98.07 per share. Some brokers in Germany do not offer access to the U.S. exchanges. Hence if a German retail investor wants to buy Apple stock, he needs to buy it on the XETRA. The cross-border trader would sell the Apple shares on XETRA to the investor and buy the shares in the same second on NASDAQ. Afterwards, the cross-border trader would need to transfer the shares bought on NASDAQ to the German XETRA exchange, where he is obliged to deliver the stock. In most cases, the quotation on the local exchanges is done electronically by high-frequency traders, taking into consideration the home price of the stock and the exchange rate. This kind of high-frequency trading benefits the public, as it reduces the cost to the German investor and enables them to buy U.S. shares. Dual-listed companies A dual-listed company (DLC) structure involves two companies incorporated in different countries contractually agreeing to operate their businesses as if they were a single enterprise, while retaining their separate legal identity and existing stock exchange listings. In integrated and efficient financial markets, stock prices of the twin pair should move in lockstep. In practice, DLC share prices exhibit large deviations from theoretical parity. Arbitrage positions in DLCs can be set up by obtaining a long position in the relatively underpriced part of the DLC and a short position in the relatively overpriced part. Such arbitrage strategies start paying off as soon as the relative prices of the two DLC stocks converge toward theoretical parity. However, since there is no identifiable date at which DLC prices will converge, arbitrage positions sometimes have to be kept open for considerable periods of time. In the meantime, the price gap might widen. In these situations, arbitrageurs may receive margin calls, after which they would most likely be forced to liquidate part of the position at a highly unfavorable moment and suffer a loss. Arbitrage in DLCs may be profitable, but is also very risky. A good illustration of the risk of DLC arbitrage is the position in Royal Dutch Shell—which had a DLC structure until 2005—by the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM, see also the discussion below). Lowenstein (2000) describes that LTCM established an arbitrage position in Royal Dutch Shell in the summer of 1997, when Royal Dutch traded at an 8 to 10 percent premium. In total, $2.3 billion was invested, half of which was long in Shell and the other half was short in Royal Dutch (Lowenstein, p. 99). In the autumn of 1998, large defaults on Russian debt created significant losses for the hedge fund and LTCM had to unwind several positions. Lowenstein reports that the premium of Royal Dutch had increased to about 22 percent and LTCM had to close the position and incur a loss. According to Lowenstein (p. 234), LTCM lost $286 million in equity pairs trading and more than half of this loss is accounted for by the Royal Dutch Shell trade. (See further under Limits to arbitrage.) Private to public equities The market prices for privately held companies are typically viewed from a return on investment perspective (such as 25%), whilst publicly held and or exchange listed companies trade on a Price to earnings ratio (P/E) (such as a P/E of 10, which equates to a 10% ROI). Thus, if a publicly traded company specialises in the acquisition of privately held companies, from a per-share perspective there is a gain with every acquisition that falls within these guidelines. E.g., Berkshire Hathaway. Private to public equities arbitrage is a term that can arguably be applied to investment banking in general. Private markets to public markets differences may also help explain the overnight windfall gains enjoyed by principals of companies that just did an initial public offering (IPO). Regulatory arbitrage Regulatory arbitrage "is an avoidance strategy of regulation that is exercised as a result of a regulatory inconsistency". In other words, where a regulated institution takes advantage of the difference between its real (or economic) risk and the regulatory position. For example, if a bank, operating under the Basel I accord, has to hold 8% capital against default risk, but the real risk of default is lower, it is profitable to securitise the loan, removing the low-risk loan from its portfolio. On the other hand, if the real risk is higher than the regulatory risk then it is profitable to make that loan and hold on to it, provided it is priced appropriately. Regulatory arbitrage can result in parts of entire businesses being unregulated as a result of the arbitrage. This process can increase the overall riskiness of institutions under a risk insensitive regulatory regime, as described by Alan Greenspan in his October 1998 speech on The Role of Capital in Optimal Banking Supervision and Regulation. The term "Regulatory Arbitrage" was used for the first time in 2005 when it was applied by Scott V. Simpson, a partner at law firm Skadden, Arps, to refer to a new defence tactic in hostile mergers and acquisitions where differing takeover regimes in deals involving multi-jurisdictions are exploited to the advantage of a target company under threat. In economics, regulatory arbitrage (sometimes, tax arbitrage) may refer to situations when a company can choose a nominal place of business with a regulatory, legal or tax regime with lower costs. This can occur particularly where the business transaction has no obvious physical location. In the case of many financial products, it may be unclear "where" the transaction occurs. Regulatory arbitrage can include restructuring a bank by outsourcing services such as IT. The outsourcing company takes over the installations, buying out the bank's assets and charges a periodic service fee back to the bank. This frees up cashflow usable for new lending by the bank. The bank will have higher IT costs, but counts on the multiplier effect of money creation and the interest rate spread to make it a profitable exercise. Example: Suppose the bank sells its IT installations for US$40 million. With a reserve ratio of 10%, the bank can create US$400 million in additional loans (there is a time lag, and the bank has to expect to recover the loaned money back into its books). The bank can often lend (and securitize the loan) to the IT services company to cover the acquisition cost of the IT installations. This can be at preferential rates, as the sole client using the IT installation is the bank. If the bank can generate 5% interest margin on the 400 million of new loans, the bank will increase interest revenues by 20 million. The IT services company is free to leverage their balance sheet as aggressively as they and their banker agree to. This is the reason behind the trend towards outsourcing in the financial sector. Without this money creation benefit, it is actually more expensive to outsource the IT operations as the outsourcing adds a layer of management and increases overhead. According to PBS Frontline's 2012 four-part documentary, "Money, Power, and Wall Street," regulatory arbitrage, along with asymmetric bank lobbying in Washington and abroad, allowed investment banks in the pre- and post-2008 period to continue to skirt laws and engage in the risky proprietary trading of opaque derivatives, swaps, and other credit-based instruments invented to circumvent legal restrictions at the expense of clients, government, and publics. Due to the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid coverage, one form of Regulatory Arbitrage can now be found when businesses engage in “Medicaid Migration”, a maneuver by which qualifying employees who would typically be enrolled in company health plans elect to enroll in Medicaid instead. These programs that have similar characteristics as insurance products to the employee, but have radically different cost structures, resulting in significant expense reductions for employers. Telecom arbitrage Telecom arbitrage companies allow phone users to make international calls for free through certain access numbers. Such services are offered in the United Kingdom; the telecommunication arbitrage companies get paid an interconnect charge by the UK mobile networks and then buy international routes at a lower cost. The calls are seen as free by the UK contract mobile phone customers since they are using up their allocated monthly minutes rather than paying for additional calls. Such services were previously offered in the United States by companies such as FuturePhone.com. These services would operate in rural telephone exchanges, primarily in small towns in the state of Iowa. In these areas, the local telephone carriers are allowed to charge a high "termination fee" to the caller's carrier in order to fund the cost of providing service to the small and sparsely populated areas that they serve. However, FuturePhone (as well as other similar services) ceased operations upon legal challenges from AT&T and other service providers. Statistical arbitrage Statistical arbitrage is an imbalance in expected nominal values. A casino has a statistical arbitrage in every game of chance that it offers, referred to as the house advantage, house edge, vigorish, or house vigorish. Gray market To accomplish arbitrage, the grey market buys items through marketing channels that sell them without the permission of the product trademark owner and sells them in the legitimate market. A Swiss watch sold by an approved dealer for £42,600 is an excellent example of a grey market product; customers can buy the identical watch for £27,227 on the Chrono24 website, which is an unlicensed 'grey market.' The fall of Long-Term Capital Management Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) lost 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in fixed income arbitrage in September 1998. LTCM had attempted to make money on the price difference between different bonds. For example, it would sell U.S. Treasury securities and buy Italian bond futures. The concept was that because Italian bond futures had a less liquid market, in the short term Italian bond futures would have a higher return than U.S. bonds, but in the long term, the prices would converge. Because the difference was small, a large amount of money had to be borrowed to make the buying and selling profitable. The downfall in this system began on August 17, 1998, when Russia defaulted on its ruble debt and domestic dollar debt. Because global markets were already nervous due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, investors began selling non-U.S. treasury debt and buying U.S. treasuries, which were considered a safe investment. As a result, the price on US treasuries began to increase and the return began decreasing because there were many buyers, and the return (yield) on other bonds began to increase because there were many sellers (i.e. the price of those bonds fell). This caused the difference between the prices of U.S. treasuries and other bonds to increase, rather than to decrease as LTCM was expecting. Eventually this caused LTCM to fold, and their creditors had to arrange a bail-out. More controversially, officials of the Federal Reserve assisted in the negotiations that led to this bail-out, on the grounds that so many companies and deals were intertwined with LTCM that if LTCM actually failed, they would as well, causing a collapse in confidence in the economic system. Thus LTCM failed as a fixed income arbitrage fund, although it is unclear what sort of profit was realised by the banks that bailed LTCM out. See also Types of financial arbitrage Arbitrage betting Covered interest arbitrage Fixed income arbitrage Political arbitrage Options arbitrage Risk arbitrage Statistical arbitrage Triangular arbitrage Uncovered interest arbitrage Volatility arbitrage Related concepts Airline booking ploys Algorithmic trading Arbitrage pricing theory Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy), analogous concept in Bayesian probability Cointelation Drop shipping Efficient-market hypothesis Immunization (finance) Interest rate parity Intermediation No free lunch with vanishing risk TANSTAAFL Value investing Notes References Greider, William (1997). One World, Ready or Not. Penguin Press. . Special Situation Investing: Hedging, Arbitrage, and Liquidation, Brian J. Stark, Dow-Jones Publishers. New York, NY 1983. ; External links What is Regulatory Arbitrage. Regulatory Arbitrage after the Basel ii framework and the 8th Company Law Directive of the European Union. What is Online Arbitrage? Financial markets Thought experiments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrobeat

Afrobeat

Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. The style was pioneered in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria. Distinct from Afrobeat is Afrobeats – a sound originating in West Africa in the 21st century, one that takes in diverse influences and is an eclectic combination of genres such as hip hop, house, jùjú, ndombolo, R&B and soca. The two genres, though often conflated, are not the same. History Afrobeat was developed in Nigeria in the late 1960s by Fela Kuti who, with drummer Tony Allen, experimented with different contemporary music of the time. Afrobeat was influenced by a variety of genres, such as highlife, fuji, and jùjú, as well as Yoruba vocal traditions, rhythm, and instruments. In the late 1950s, Kuti left Lagos to study abroad at the London School of Music where he was exposed to jazz. He returned to Lagos and played a highlife-jazz hybrid, albeit, without commercial success. In 1969, Kuti and his band went on a trip to the U.S. and met Sandra Smith, a singer and former Black Panther. Sandra Smith (now known as Sandra Izsadore or Sandra Akanke Isidore) introduced Kuti to many writings of activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis, Jesse Jackson, and his biggest influence of all, Malcolm X. As Kuti was interested in African-American politics, Smith would inform him of current events. In return, Kuti would fill her in on African culture. Since Kuti stayed at Smith's house and was spending so much time with her, he started to re-evaluate his music. That was when Kuti noticed that he was not playing African music. From that day forward, Kuti changed his sound and the message behind his music. Upon arriving in Nigeria, Kuti also changed the name of his group to "Africa '70". The new sound hailed from a club that he established called the Afrika Shrine. The band maintained a five-year residency at the Afrika Shrine from 1970 to 1975 while Afrobeat thrived among Nigerian youth. Also influential was , a Nigerian musician touring from Paris, France, with his Matumbo orchestra in the 1970s. The name was partially borne out of an attempt to distinguish Fela Kuti's music from the soul music of American artists such as James Brown. Prevalent in his and Lagbaja's music are native Nigerian harmonies and rhythms, taking different elements and combining, modernizing, and improvising upon them. Politics is essential to Afrobeat, since founder Kuti used social criticism to pave the way for social change. His message can be described as confrontational and controversial, which can be related to the political climate of most of the African countries in the 1970s, many of which were dealing with political injustice and military corruption while recovering from the transition from colonial governments to self-determination. As the genre spread throughout the African continent many bands took up the style. The recordings of these bands and their songs were rarely heard or exported outside the originating countries but many can now be found on compilation albums and CDs from specialist record shops. Influence Many jazz musicians have been attracted to Afrobeat. From Roy Ayers in the 1970s to Randy Weston in the 1990s, there have been collaborations that have resulted in albums such as Africa: Centre of the World by Roy Ayers, released on the Polydore label in 1981. In 1994, Branford Marsalis, the American jazz saxophonist, included samples of Fela's "Beasts of No Nation" on his Buckshot LeFonque album. Afrobeat has also profoundly influenced important contemporary producers and musicians, such as Brian Eno and David Byrne, who credit Fela Kuti as an essential influence. Both worked on Talking Heads' highly acclaimed 1980 album Remain in Light, which brought polyrhythmic Afrobeat influences to Western music. The new generation of DJs and musicians of the 2000s who have fallen in love with both Kuti's material and other rare releases have made compilations and remixes of these recordings, thus re-introducing the genre to new generations of listeners and fans of afropop and groove. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a small Afrobeat scene began in Brooklyn, New York, with projects including Antibalas, The Daktaris and the Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra. Since then, other artists like Zongo Junction have come onto the scene. Many others have cited Afrobeat as an influence like Daptone Records-adjacent groups The Budos Band and El Michels Affair. The horn section of Antibalas have been guest musicians on TV on the Radio's highly acclaimed 2008 album Dear Science, as well as on British band Foals' 2008 album Antidotes. Further examples are Val Veneto, Radio Bantu, Tam Tam Afrobeat, Combo Makabro, Marabunta Orquesta, Minga!, Antropofonica, Guanabana Afrobeat Orquesta, El Gran Capitan, Morbo y Mambo, Luka Afrobeat Orquesta or NikiLauda. Some Afrobeat influence can also be found in the music of Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon. In 2020, Antibalas was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album. Afrobeat artists of the 2000s and present, following in the footsteps of Fela Kuti, are for example his sons Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti, Franck Biyong & Massak (from Cameroon), London Afrobeat Collective (from London, UK), Segun Damisa & the Afro-beat Crusaders, Shaolin Afronauts (from Adelaide, Australia), Newen Afrobeat (from Santiago, Chile), Eddy Taylor & the Heartphones (from Cologne, Germany), Bantucrew, the Albinoid Afrobeat Orchestra / Albinoid Sound System (from Strasbourg, France), Underground System / Underground System Afrobeat (from Brooklyn, New York), Abayomy Afrobeat Orquestra, Chicago Afrobeat Orchestra, Warsaw Afrobeat Orchestra, Karl Hector & the Malcouns (from Munich, Germany), Ojibo Afrobeat (from Vilnius, Lithuania), Afrodizz and Dele Sosimi and the ex-Africa '70 members Oghene Kologbo (guitar) with Afrobeat Academy, Nicholas Addo-Nettey (percussion), who is also known as , with Ridimtaksi (both based in Berlin, Germany). Namibian artist EES (Eric Sell) associates Afrobeat with reggae and kwaito. In 2009, the music label Knitting Factory Records (KFR) produced the Broadway musical Fela! The story showcased Kuti's "courage and incredible musical mastery" along with the story of his life. The show had 11 Tony nominations, receiving three for Best Costumes, Best Sound and Best Choreography. Fela! was on Broadway for 15 months and was produced by notables such as Shawn "Jay-Z " Carter and Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith. Many celebrities were noted as attending the shows, including Denzel Washington, Madonna, Sting, Spike Lee (who saw it eight times), Kofi Annan, and Michelle Obama. Michelle Williams, former singer of girl group Destiny's Child, was cast as the role of Sandra Izsadore. The "Festival de Afrobeat Independiente" (FAI) takes place regularly in Buenos Aires, where regional bands as well as well-known Afrobeat acts perform. See also Afrobeats Afroswing Confusion (album) Latin music (genre) References Further reading Afrobeat (BBC archived page) Fela Kuti coined Afrobeat in Accra out of hate for James Brown – Prof John Collins 20th-century music genres 21st-century music genres African popular music Nigerian styles of music Jazz genres Yoruba music Funk genres Music of the African diaspora Fela Kuti

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetic%20function

Arithmetic function

In number theory, an arithmetic, arithmetical, or number-theoretic function is for most authors any function f(n) whose domain is the positive integers and whose range is a subset of the complex numbers. Hardy & Wright include in their definition the requirement that an arithmetical function "expresses some arithmetical property of n". An example of an arithmetic function is the divisor function whose value at a positive integer n is equal to the number of divisors of n. There is a larger class of number-theoretic functions that do not fit the above definition, for example, the prime-counting functions. This article provides links to functions of both classes. Arithmetic functions are often extremely irregular (see table), but some of them have series expansions in terms of Ramanujan's sum. Multiplicative and additive functions An arithmetic function a is completely additive if a(mn) = a(m) + a(n) for all natural numbers m and n; completely multiplicative if a(mn) = a(m)a(n) for all natural numbers m and n; Two whole numbers m and n are called coprime if their greatest common divisor is 1, that is, if there is no prime number that divides both of them. Then an arithmetic function a is additive if a(mn) = a(m) + a(n) for all coprime natural numbers m and n; multiplicative if a(mn) = a(m)a(n) for all coprime natural numbers m and n. Notation In this article, and mean that the sum or product is over all prime numbers: and Similarly, and mean that the sum or product is over all prime powers with strictly positive exponent (so is not included): The notations and mean that the sum or product is over all positive divisors of n, including 1 and n. For example, if , then The notations can be combined: and mean that the sum or product is over all prime divisors of n. For example, if n = 18, then and similarly and mean that the sum or product is over all prime powers dividing n. For example, if n = 24, then Ω(n), ω(n), νp(n) – prime power decomposition The fundamental theorem of arithmetic states that any positive integer n can be represented uniquely as a product of powers of primes: where p1 < p2 < ... < pk are primes and the aj are positive integers. (1 is given by the empty product.) It is often convenient to write this as an infinite product over all the primes, where all but a finite number have a zero exponent. Define the p-adic valuation νp(n) to be the exponent of the highest power of the prime p that divides n. That is, if p is one of the pi then νp(n) = ai, otherwise it is zero. Then In terms of the above the prime omega functions ω and Ω are defined by To avoid repetition, whenever possible formulas for the functions listed in this article are given in terms of n and the corresponding pi, ai, ω, and Ω. Multiplicative functions σk(n), τ(n), d(n) – divisor sums σk(n) is the sum of the kth powers of the positive divisors of n, including 1 and n, where k is a complex number. σ1(n), the sum of the (positive) divisors of n, is usually denoted by σ(n). Since a positive number to the zero power is one, σ0(n) is therefore the number of (positive) divisors of n; it is usually denoted by d(n) or τ(n) (for the German Teiler = divisors). Setting k = 0 in the second product gives φ(n) – Euler totient function φ(n), the Euler totient function, is the number of positive integers not greater than n that are coprime to n. Jk(n) – Jordan totient function Jk(n), the Jordan totient function, is the number of k-tuples of positive integers all less than or equal to n that form a coprime (k + 1)-tuple together with n. It is a generalization of Euler's totient, . μ(n) – Möbius function μ(n), the Möbius function, is important because of the Möbius inversion formula. See Dirichlet convolution, below. This implies that μ(1) = 1. (Because Ω(1) = ω(1) = 0.) τ(n) – Ramanujan tau function τ(n), the Ramanujan tau function, is defined by its generating function identity: Although it is hard to say exactly what "arithmetical property of n" it "expresses", (τ(n) is (2π)−12 times the nth Fourier coefficient in the q-expansion of the modular discriminant function) it is included among the arithmetical functions because it is multiplicative and it occurs in identities involving certain σk(n) and rk(n) functions (because these are also coefficients in the expansion of modular forms). cq(n) – Ramanujan's sum cq(n), Ramanujan's sum, is the sum of the nth powers of the primitive qth roots of unity: Even though it is defined as a sum of complex numbers (irrational for most values of q), it is an integer. For a fixed value of n it is multiplicative in q: If q and r are coprime, then ψ(n) - Dedekind psi function The Dedekind psi function, used in the theory of modular functions, is defined by the formula Completely multiplicative functions λ(n) – Liouville function λ(n), the Liouville function, is defined by χ(n) – characters All Dirichlet characters χ(n) are completely multiplicative. Two characters have special notations: The principal character (mod n) is denoted by χ0(a) (or χ1(a)). It is defined as The quadratic character (mod n) is denoted by the Jacobi symbol for odd n (it is not defined for even n): In this formula is the Legendre symbol, defined for all integers a and all odd primes p by Following the normal convention for the empty product, Additive functions ω(n) – distinct prime divisors ω(n), defined above as the number of distinct primes dividing n, is additive (see Prime omega function). Completely additive functions Ω(n) – prime divisors Ω(n), defined above as the number of prime factors of n counted with multiplicities, is completely additive (see Prime omega function). νp(n) – p-adic valuation of an integer n For a fixed prime p, νp(n), defined above as the exponent of the largest power of p dividing n, is completely additive. Logarithmic derivative , where is the arithmetic derivative. Neither multiplicative nor additive (x), Π(x), θ(x), ψ(x) – prime-counting functions These important functions (which are not arithmetic functions) are defined for non-negative real arguments, and are used in the various statements and proofs of the prime number theorem. They are summation functions (see the main section just below) of arithmetic functions which are neither multiplicative nor additive. (x), the prime-counting function, is the number of primes not exceeding x. It is the summation function of the characteristic function of the prime numbers. A related function counts prime powers with weight 1 for primes, 1/2 for their squares, 1/3 for cubes, ... It is the summation function of the arithmetic function which takes the value 1/k on integers which are the k-th power of some prime number, and the value 0 on other integers. θ(x) and ψ(x), the Chebyshev functions, are defined as sums of the natural logarithms of the primes not exceeding x. The Chebyshev function ψ(x) is the summation function of the von Mangoldt function just below. Λ(n) – von Mangoldt function Λ(n), the von Mangoldt function, is 0 unless the argument n is a prime power , in which case it is the natural log of the prime p: p(n) – partition function p(n), the partition function, is the number of ways of representing n as a sum of positive integers, where two representations with the same summands in a different order are not counted as being different: λ(n) – Carmichael function λ(n), the Carmichael function, is the smallest positive number such that   for all a coprime to n. Equivalently, it is the least common multiple of the orders of the elements of the multiplicative group of integers modulo n. For powers of odd primes and for 2 and 4, λ(n) is equal to the Euler totient function of n; for powers of 2 greater than 4 it is equal to one half of the Euler totient function of n: and for general n it is the least common multiple of λ of each of the prime power factors of n: h(n) – Class number h(n), the class number function, is the order of the ideal class group of an algebraic extension of the rationals with discriminant n. The notation is ambiguous, as there are in general many extensions with the same discriminant. See quadratic field and cyclotomic field for classical examples. rk(n) – Sum of k squares rk(n) is the number of ways n can be represented as the sum of k squares, where representations that differ only in the order of the summands or in the signs of the square roots are counted as different. D(n) – Arithmetic derivative Using the Heaviside notation for the derivative, the arithmetic derivative D(n) is a function such that if n prime, and (the product rule) Summation functions Given an arithmetic function a(n), its summation function A(x) is defined by A can be regarded as a function of a real variable. Given a positive integer m, A is constant along open intervals m < x < m + 1, and has a jump discontinuity at each integer for which a(m) ≠ 0. Since such functions are often represented by series and integrals, to achieve pointwise convergence it is usual to define the value at the discontinuities as the average of the values to the left and right: Individual values of arithmetic functions may fluctuate wildly – as in most of the above examples. Summation functions "smooth out" these fluctuations. In some cases it may be possible to find asymptotic behaviour for the summation function for large x. A classical example of this phenomenon is given by the divisor summatory function, the summation function of d(n), the number of divisors of n: An average order of an arithmetic function is some simpler or better-understood function which has the same summation function asymptotically, and hence takes the same values "on average". We say that g is an average order of f if as x tends to infinity. The example above shows that d(n) has the average order log(n). Dirichlet convolution Given an arithmetic function a(n), let Fa(s), for complex s, be the function defined by the corresponding Dirichlet series (where it converges): Fa(s) is called a generating function of a(n). The simplest such series, corresponding to the constant function a(n) = 1 for all n, is ς(s) the Riemann zeta function. The generating function of the Möbius function is the inverse of the zeta function: Consider two arithmetic functions a and b and their respective generating functions Fa(s) and Fb(s). The product Fa(s)Fb(s) can be computed as follows: It is a straightforward exercise to show that if c(n) is defined by then This function c is called the Dirichlet convolution of a and b, and is denoted by . A particularly important case is convolution with the constant function a(n) = 1 for all n, corresponding to multiplying the generating function by the zeta function: Multiplying by the inverse of the zeta function gives the Möbius inversion formula: If f is multiplicative, then so is g. If f is completely multiplicative, then g is multiplicative, but may or may not be completely multiplicative. Relations among the functions There are a great many formulas connecting arithmetical functions with each other and with the functions of analysis, especially powers, roots, and the exponential and log functions. The page divisor sum identities contains many more generalized and related examples of identities involving arithmetic functions. Here are a few examples: Dirichlet convolutions     where λ is the Liouville function.             Möbius inversion             Möbius inversion                         Möbius inversion             Möbius inversion             Möbius inversion           where λ is the Liouville function.             Möbius inversion Sums of squares For all     (Lagrange's four-square theorem). where the Kronecker symbol has the values There is a formula for r3 in the section on class numbers below. where .     where Define the function as That is, if n is odd, is the sum of the kth powers of the divisors of n, that is, and if n is even it is the sum of the kth powers of the even divisors of n minus the sum of the kth powers of the odd divisors of n.     Adopt the convention that Ramanujan's if x is not an integer. Divisor sum convolutions Here "convolution" does not mean "Dirichlet convolution" but instead refers to the formula for the coefficients of the product of two power series: The sequence is called the convolution or the Cauchy product of the sequences an and bn. These formulas may be proved analytically (see Eisenstein series) or by elementary methods.                     where τ(n) is Ramanujan's function.     Since σk(n) (for natural number k) and τ(n) are integers, the above formulas can be used to prove congruences for the functions. See Ramanujan tau function for some examples. Extend the domain of the partition function by setting       This recurrence can be used to compute p(n). Class number related Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet discovered formulas that relate the class number h of quadratic number fields to the Jacobi symbol. An integer D is called a fundamental discriminant if it is the discriminant of a quadratic number field. This is equivalent to D ≠ 1 and either a) D is squarefree and D ≡ 1 (mod 4) or b) D ≡ 0 (mod 4), D/4 is squarefree, and D/4 ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4). Extend the Jacobi symbol to accept even numbers in the "denominator" by defining the Kronecker symbol: Then if D < −4 is a fundamental discriminant There is also a formula relating r3 and h. Again, let D be a fundamental discriminant, D < −4. Then Prime-count related Let   be the nth harmonic number. Then   is true for every natural number n if and only if the Riemann hypothesis is true.     The Riemann hypothesis is also equivalent to the statement that, for all n > 5040, (where γ is the Euler–Mascheroni constant). This is Robin's theorem. Menon's identity In 1965 P Kesava Menon proved This has been generalized by a number of mathematicians. For example, B. Sury N. Rao where a1, a2, ..., as are integers, gcd(a1, a2, ..., as, n) = 1. László Fejes Tóth where m1 and m2 are odd, m = lcm(m1, m2). In fact, if f is any arithmetical function where stands for Dirichlet convolution. Miscellaneous Let m and n be distinct, odd, and positive. Then the Jacobi symbol satisfies the law of quadratic reciprocity: Let D(n) be the arithmetic derivative. Then the logarithmic derivative See Arithmetic derivative for details. Let λ(n) be Liouville's function. Then     and     Let λ(n) be Carmichael's function. Then     Further, See Multiplicative group of integers modulo n and Primitive root modulo n.                   Note that             Compare this with             where τ(n) is Ramanujan's function. First 100 values of some arithmetic functions Notes References Further reading External links Matthew Holden, Michael Orrison, Michael Varble Yet another Generalization of Euler's Totient Function Huard, Ou, Spearman, and Williams. Elementary Evaluation of Certain Convolution Sums Involving Divisor Functions Dineva, Rosica, The Euler Totient, the Möbius, and the Divisor Functions László Tóth, Menon's Identity and arithmetical sums representing functions of several variables Functions and mappings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI%20C

ANSI C

ANSI C, ISO C, and Standard C are successive standards for the C programming language published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22/WG 14 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Historically, the names referred specifically to the original and best-supported version of the standard (known as C89 or C90). Software developers writing in C are encouraged to conform to the standards, as doing so helps portability between compilers. History and outlook The first standard for C was published by ANSI. Although this document was subsequently adopted by ISO/IEC and subsequent revisions published by ISO/IEC have been adopted by ANSI, "ANSI C" is still used to refer to the standard. While some software developers use the term ISO C, others are standards-body neutral and use Standard C. Standardizing C In 1983, the American National Standards Institute formed a committee, X3J11, to establish a standard specification of C. In 1985, the first Standard Draft was released, sometimes referred to as C85. In 1986, another Draft Standard was released, sometimes referred to as C86. The prerelease Standard C was published in 1988, and sometimes referred to as C88. C89 The ANSI standard was completed in 1989 and ratified as ANSI X3.159-1989 "Programming Language C." This version of the language is often referred to as "ANSI C". Later on sometimes the label "C89" is used to distinguish it from C90 but using the same labeling method. C90 The same standard as C89 was ratified by ISO/IEC as ISO/IEC 9899:1990, with only formatting changes, which is sometimes referred to as C90. Therefore, the terms "C89" and "C90" refer to essentially the same language. This standard has been withdrawn by both ANSI/INCITS and ISO/IEC. C95 In 1995, the ISO/IEC published an extension, called Amendment 1, for the ANSI-C standard. Its full name finally was ISO/IEC 9899:1990/AMD1:1995 or nicknamed C95. Aside from error correction there were further changes to the language capabilities, such as: Improved multi-byte and wide character support in the standard library, introducing <wchar.h> and <wctype.h> as well as multi-byte I/O Addition of digraphs to the language Specification of standard macros for the alternative specification of operators, e.g. and for && Specification of the standard macro __STDC_VERSION__ In addition to the amendment, two technical corrigenda were published by ISO for C90: ISO/IEC 9899:1990/Cor 1:1994 TCOR1 in 1994 ISO/IEC 9899:1990/Cor 2:1996 in 1996 Preprocessor test for C95 compatibility #if defined(__STDC_VERSION__) && __STDC_VERSION__ >= 199409L /* C95 compatible source code. */ #elif defined() /* C89 compatible source code. */ #endif C99 In March 2000, ANSI adopted the ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard. This standard is commonly referred to as C99. Some notable additions to the previous standard include: New built-in data types: long long, _Bool, _Complex, and _Imaginary Several new core language features, including static array indices, designated initializers, compound literals, variable-length arrays, flexible array members, variadic macros, and restrict keyword Several new library headers, including stdint.h, <tgmath.h>, fenv.h, <complex.h> Improved compatibility with several C++ features, including inline functions, single-line comments with //, mixing declarations and code, and universal character names in identifiers Removed several dangerous C89 language features such as implicit function declarations and implicit int Three technical corrigenda were published by ISO for C99: ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor 1:2001(E) ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor 2:2004(E) ISO/IEC 9899:1999/Cor 3:2007(E), notable for deprecating the standard library function gets This standard has been withdrawn by both ANSI/INCITS and ISO/IEC in favour of C11. C11 C11 was officially ratified and published on December 8, 2011. Notable features include improved Unicode support, type-generic expressions using the new _Generic keyword, a cross-platform multi-threading API (threads.h), and atomic types support in both core language and the library (stdatomic.h). One technical corrigendum has been published by ISO for C11: ISO/IEC 9899:2011/Cor 1:2012 C17 , "C17" is the current standard for the C programming language. C17 addresses defects in C11 without introducing new language features. C2x C2x is an informal name for the next (after C17) major C language standard revision. Other related ISO publications As part of the standardization process, ISO/IEC also publishes technical reports and specifications related to the C language: ISO/IEC TR 19769:2004, on library extensions to support Unicode transformation formats, integrated into C11 ISO/IEC TR 24731-1:2007, on library extensions to support bounds-checked interfaces, integrated into C11 ISO/IEC TR 18037:2008, on embedded C extensions ISO/IEC TR 24732:2009, on decimal floating point arithmetic, superseded by ISO/IEC TS 18661-2:2015 ISO/IEC TR 24747:2009, on special mathematical functions, ISO/IEC TR 24731-2:2010, on library extensions to support dynamic allocation functions ISO/IEC TS 17961:2013, on secure coding in C ISO/IEC TS 18661-1:2014, on IEC 60559:2011-compatible binary floating-point arithmetic ISO/IEC TS 18661-2:2015, on IEC 60559:2011-compatible decimal floating point arithmetic ISO/IEC TS 18661-3:2015, on IEC 60559:2011-compatible interchange and extended floating-point types ISO/IEC TS 18661-4:2015, on IEC 60559:2011-compatible supplementary functions More technical specifications are in development and pending approval, including the fifth and final part of TS 18661, a software transactional memory specification, and parallel library extensions. Support from major compilers ANSI C is now supported by almost all the widely used compilers. GCC and Clang are two major C compilers popular today, both are based on the C11 with updates including changes from later specifications such as C17 and C18. Any source code written only in standard C and without any hardware dependent assumptions is virtually guaranteed to compile correctly on any platform with a conforming C implementation. Without such precautions, most programs may compile only on a certain platform or with a particular compiler, due, for example, to the use of non-standard libraries, such as GUI libraries, or to the reliance on compiler- or platform-specific attributes such as the exact size of certain data types and byte endianness. Compliance detectability To mitigate the differences between K&R C and the ANSI C standard, the ("standard c") macro can be used to split code into ANSI and K&R sections. #if defined() && extern int getopt(int, char * const *, const char *); #else extern int getopt(); #endif In the above example, a prototype is used in a function declaration for ANSI compliant implementations, while an obsolescent non-prototype declaration is used otherwise. Those are still ANSI-compliant as of C99. Note how this code checks both definition and evaluation: this is because some implementations may set to zero to indicate non-ANSI compliance. Compiler support List of compilers supporting ANSI C: Amsterdam Compiler Kit (C K&R and C89/90) ARM RealView Clang, using LLVM backend GCC (full C89/90, C99 and C11) HP C/ANSI C compiler (C89 and C99) IBM XL C/C++ (C11, starting with version 12.1) Intel's ICC LabWindows/CVI LCC OpenWatcom (C89/90 and some C99) Microsoft Visual C++ (C89/90 and some C99) Pelles C (C99 and C11. Windows only.) vbcc (C89/90 and C99) Tiny C Compiler (C89/90 and some C99) Oracle Developer Studio See also Behavioral Description Language Compatibility of C and C++ C++23, C++20, C++17, C++14, C++11, C++03, C++98, versions of the C++ programming language standard C++ Technical Report 1 References Further reading External links ISO C working group Draft ANSI C Standard (ANSI X3J11/88-090) (May 13, 1988), Third Public Review Draft ANSI C Rationale (ANSI X3J11/88-151) (Nov 18, 1988) C Information Bulletin #1 (ANSI X3J11/93-007) (May 27, 1992) ANSI C Yacc grammar ANSI C grammar, Lex specification American National Standards Institute standards C (programming language) Programming language standards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomy

Antinomy

Antinomy (Greek ἀντί, antí, "against, in opposition to", and νόμος, nómos, "law") refers to a real or apparent mutual incompatibility of two laws. It is a term used in logic and epistemology, particularly in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. There are many examples of antinomy. A self-contradictory phrase such as "There is no absolute truth" can be considered an antinomy because this statement is suggesting in itself to be an absolute truth, and therefore denies itself any truth in its statement. It is not necessarily also a paradox. A paradox, such as "this sentence is false" can also be considered to be an antinomy; in this case, for the sentence to be true, it must be false, and vice versa. Kant's use The term acquired a special significance in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), who used it to describe the equally rational but contradictory results of applying to the universe of pure thought the categories or criteria of reason that are proper to the universe of sensible perception or experience (phenomena). Empirical reason cannot here play the role of establishing rational truths because it goes beyond possible experience and is applied to the sphere of that which transcends it. For Kant there are four antinomies, connected with: the limitation of the universe in respect to space and time the theory that the whole consists of indivisible atoms (whereas, in fact, none such exist) the problem of free will in relation to universal causality the existence of a universal being In each antinomy, a thesis is contradicted by an antithesis. For example: in the first antinomy, Kant proves the thesis that time must have a beginning by showing that if time had no beginning, then an infinity would have elapsed up until the present moment. This is a manifest contradiction because infinity cannot, by definition, be completed by "successive synthesis"—yet just such a finalizing synthesis would be required by the view that time is infinite; so the thesis is proven. Then he proves the antithesis, that time has no beginning, by showing that if time had a beginning, then there must have been "empty time" out of which time arose. This is incoherent (for Kant) for the following reason: Since, necessarily, no time elapses in this pretemporal void, then there could be no alteration, and therefore nothing (including time) would ever come to be: so the antithesis is proven. Reason makes equal claim to each proof, since they are both correct, so the question of the limits of time must be regarded as meaningless. This was part of Kant's critical program of determining limits to science and philosophical inquiry. These contradictions are inherent in reason when it is applied to the world as it is in itself, independently of any perception of it (this has to do with the distinction between phenomena and noumena). Kant's goal in his critical philosophy was to identify what claims are and are not justified, and the antinomies are a particularly illustrative example of his larger project. Marx's use In Das Kapital, Volume I in the chapter entitled "The Working Day", Karl Marx claims that capitalist production sustains "the assertion of a right to an unlimited working day, and the assertion of a right to a limited working day, both with equal justification". Furner emphasizes that the thesis and antithesis of this antinomy are not contradictory opposites, but rather "consist in the assertion of rights to states of affairs that are contradictory opposites". See also Mutual incompatibility Law: Alternative pleading Logic: Mutual exclusivity Kettle logic Paradox Religion: Antinomianism (Christianity) Others: Oxymoron Double bind References External links Kantianism Concepts in logic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascending%20chain%20condition

Ascending chain condition

In mathematics, the ascending chain condition (ACC) and descending chain condition (DCC) are finiteness properties satisfied by some algebraic structures, most importantly ideals in certain commutative rings. These conditions played an important role in the development of the structure theory of commutative rings in the works of David Hilbert, Emmy Noether, and Emil Artin. The conditions themselves can be stated in an abstract form, so that they make sense for any partially ordered set. This point of view is useful in abstract algebraic dimension theory due to Gabriel and Rentschler. Definition A partially ordered set (poset) P is said to satisfy the ascending chain condition (ACC) if no infinite strictly ascending sequence of elements of P exists. Equivalently, every weakly ascending sequence of elements of P eventually stabilizes, meaning that there exists a positive integer n such that Similarly, P is said to satisfy the descending chain condition (DCC) if there is no infinite descending chain of elements of P. Equivalently, every weakly descending sequence of elements of P eventually stabilizes. Comments Assuming the axiom of dependent choice, the descending chain condition on (possibly infinite) poset P is equivalent to P being well-founded: every nonempty subset of P has a minimal element (also called the minimal condition or minimum condition). A totally ordered set that is well-founded is a well-ordered set. Similarly, the ascending chain condition is equivalent to P being converse well-founded (again, assuming dependent choice): every nonempty subset of P has a maximal element (the maximal condition or maximum condition). Every finite poset satisfies both the ascending and descending chain conditions, and thus is both well-founded and converse well-founded. Example Consider the ring of integers. Each ideal of consists of all multiples of some number . For example, the ideal consists of all multiples of . Let be the ideal consisting of all multiples of . The ideal is contained inside the ideal , since every multiple of is also a multiple of . In turn, the ideal is contained in the ideal , since every multiple of is a multiple of . However, at this point there is no larger ideal; we have "topped out" at . In general, if are ideals of such that is contained in , is contained in , and so on, then there is some for which all . That is, after some point all the ideals are equal to each other. Therefore, the ideals of satisfy the ascending chain condition, where ideals are ordered by set inclusion. Hence is a Noetherian ring. See also Artinian Ascending chain condition for principal ideals Krull dimension Maximal condition on congruences Noetherian Notes References Atiyah, M. F., and I. G. MacDonald, Introduction to Commutative Algebra, Perseus Books, 1969, Michiel Hazewinkel, Nadiya Gubareni, V. V. Kirichenko. Algebras, rings and modules. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004. John B. Fraleigh, Victor J. Katz. A first course in abstract algebra. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. 5 ed., 1967. Nathan Jacobson. Basic Algebra I. Dover, 2009. External links Commutative algebra Order theory Wellfoundedness

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adin%20Steinsaltz

Adin Steinsaltz

Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (11 July 19377 August 2020) () was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher. His Steinsaltz edition of the Talmud was originally published in modern Hebrew, with a running commentary to facilitate learning, and has also been translated into English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Beginning in 1989, Steinsaltz published several tractates in Hebrew and English of the Babylonian (Bavli) Talmud in an English-Hebrew edition. The first volume of a new English-Hebrew edition, the Koren Talmud Bavli, was released in May 2012, and has since been brought to completion. Steinsaltz was a recipient of the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies (1988), the President's Medal (2012), and the Yakir Yerushalayim prize (2017). Steinsaltz died in Jerusalem on 7 August 2020, from acute pneumonia. Biography Adin Steinsaltz was born in Jerusalem on 11 July 1937 to Avraham Steinsaltz and Leah (née Krokovitz). His father was a great-grandson of the first Slonimer Rebbe, Avrohom Weinberg, and was a student of Hillel Zeitlin. Avraham and Leah Steinsaltz met through Zeitlin. They immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1924. Avraham Steinsaltz, a devoted communist and member of Lehi, went to Spain in 1936 to fight with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Adin was born the following year. Steinsaltz became a baal teshuva during his teenage years and learned from Rabbi Shmuel Elazar Heilprin (Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Toras Emes Chabad). He studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry at the Hebrew University, in addition to rabbinical studies at Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim in Lod and with Rabbis Dov Ber Eliezrov and Shmaryahu Noach Sasonkin. Following graduation, he established several experimental schools after an unsuccessful attempt to start a neo-Hassidic community in the Negev desert, and, at the age of 24, became Israel's youngest school principal. In 1965, he founded the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications and began his monumental work on the Talmud, including translation into Hebrew, English, Russian, and various other languages. The Steinsaltz editions of the Talmud include translation from the original Aramaic and a comprehensive commentary. Steinsaltz completed his Hebrew edition of the entire Babylonian Talmud in November 2010, at which time Koren Publishers Jerusalem became the publisher of all of his works, including the Talmud. While not without criticism (such as by Jacob Neusner, 1998), the Steinsaltz edition is widely used throughout Israel, the United States, and the world. Steinsaltz's classic work on Kabbalah, The Thirteen Petalled Rose, was first published in 1980, and now appears in eight languages. In all, Steinsaltz authored some 60 books and hundreds of articles on subjects including Talmud, Jewish mysticism, Jewish philosophy, sociology, historical biography, and philosophy. Many of these works have been translated into English by his close personal friend, now deceased, Yehuda Hanegbi. His memoir-biography on the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was published by Maggid Books (2014). Continuing his work as a teacher and spiritual mentor, Steinsaltz joined the original faculty of the nondenominational Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in 1972, along with David Hartman, Eliezer Schweid, Menachem Froman, Dov Berkovits, and others. He established Yeshivat Mekor Chaim alongside Rabbis Menachem Froman and Shagar in 1984 and Yeshivat Tekoa in 1999. He also served as president of the Shefa Middle and High Schools. He has served as scholar in residence at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. His honorary degrees include doctorates from Yeshiva University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Bar Ilan University, Brandeis University, and Florida International University. Steinsaltz was also Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hesder Tekoa. Being a follower of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Chabad-Lubavitch, he went to help Jews in the Soviet Union assisting Chabad's shluchim (propagators) network. In 1995, the chief Rabbi of Russia, Adolph Shayevich gave Steinzaltz the title of Duchovny Ravin (Spiritual Rabbi), a historic Russian title which indicated that he was the spiritual mentor of Russian Jewry. In this capacity, Steinsaltz travelled to Russia and the Republics once each month from his home in Jerusalem. During his time in the former Soviet Union, he founded the Jewish University, both in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The Jewish University is the first degree-granting institution of Jewish studies in the former Soviet Union. In 1991, on Schneersohn's advice, he changed his family name from Steinsaltz to Even-Israel. Besides Chabad, Steinsaltz was also inspired by the teachings of the Kotzker Rebbe. He was in close contact with the fifth Gerrer Rebbe, Yisroel Alter, and his brother and successor, Simcha Bunim Alter. Steinsaltz took a cautious approach to interfaith dialogues. During a visit of a delegation of Roman Catholic cardinals in Manhattan in January 2004, he said that, "You do not have to raise over-expectations of a meeting, as it doesn't signify in itself a breakthrough; however, the opportunity for cardinals and rabbis to speak face to face is valuable. It's part of a process in which we can talk to each other in a friendly way", and called for "a theological dialogue that asks the tough questions, such as whether Catholicism allows for Jews to enter eternal paradise". Steinsaltz and his wife lived in Jerusalem until his death and had three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In 2016, Steinsaltz suffered a stroke, leaving him unable to speak. His son, Rabbi Menachem ("Meni") Even-Israel, is the executive director of the Steinsaltz Center, Rabbi Steinsaltz's umbrella organization, located in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem. Steinsaltz died in Jerusalem on 7 August 2020, from acute pneumonia, at the Shaare Tzedek Medical Center. He was hospitalized earlier in the week with a severe lung infection. He leaves behind his wife Sarah, three children and eighteen grandchildren. Head of the new Sanhedrin Steinsaltz accepted the position as Nasi (President) of the 2004 attempt to revive the Sanhedrin. In 2008, he resigned from this position due to differences of opinion. As an author Steinsaltz was a prolific author and commentator, having written numerous books on Jewish knowledge, tradition and culture, and produced original commentaries on the entirety of Jewish canon: Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, and Writings), the Babylonian Talmud, the Mishna, the Mishneh Torah, and Tanya. His published works include: Biblical Images (1984) The Candle of God (1998) A Dear Son to Me (2011) The Essential Talmud (1976) A Guide to Jewish Prayer (2000) The Passover Haggadah (1983) In the Beginning (1992) My Rebbe (2014) The Tales of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1993) On Being Free (1995) The Miracle of the Seventh Day (2003) Simple Words (1999) The Strife of the Spirit (1988) A Reference Guide to The Talmud (2012) Talmudic Images (1997) Learning from the Tanya (2005) Opening the Tanya (2003) Understanding the Tanya (2007) Teshuvah (1982) The Longer Shorter Way (1988) The Seven Lights: On the Major Jewish Festivals (2000) The Sustaining Utterance (1989) The Thirteen Petalled Rose (1980) We Jews (2005) The Woman of Valor (1994) As a speaker Steinsaltz was invited to speak at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies at Yale University in 1979. Prior to his stroke, he gave evening seminars in Jerusalem, which, according to Newsweek, usually lasted until 2:00 in the morning and attracted prominent politicians, such as the former Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and former Finance Minister Pinchas Sapir. Awards and critical reception On 21 April 1988, Steinsaltz received the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies. On 9 February 2012, Steinsaltz was honored by Israeli President Shimon Peres with Israel's first President's Prize alongside Zubin Mehta, Uri Slonim, Henry Kissinger, Judy Feld Carr, and the Rashi Foundation.[15] Steinsaltz was presented with this award for his contribution to the study of Talmud, making it more accessible to Jews worldwide. Steinsaltz was also presented with the 2012 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Modern Jewish Thought & Experience by the Jewish Book Council for his commentary, translation, and notes in the Koren Babylonian Talmud. The Modern Jewish Thought & Experience award was awarded on 15 January 2013 in memory of Joy Ungerleider Mayerson by the Dorot Foundation. On 22 May 2017, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat visited Steinsaltz at his home to present him with the Yakir Yerushalayim ("Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem") medal. This medal of achievement was awarded to Steinsaltz for his writing and translating work. On 10 June 2018, Steinsaltz was honored at a Gala Dinner at the Orient Hotel in Jerusalem for his pedagogical achievements throughout a lifetime dedicated to Jewish education. A limited-edition version of "The Steinsaltz Humash" was presented to the attendees of this event. Public reception Academic criticism Jacob Neusner's How Adin Steinsaltz Misrepresents the Talmud. Four False Propositions from his "Reference Guide" (1998) displays strong disagreement. In what was an overall favorable review, Dr. Jeremy Brown notes that the Koren Talmud Bavli contains some inaccurate scientific information, such as identifying Ursa Major as a star and describing polycythemia vera as a disease causing excessive bleeding from the gums and from ordinary cuts. Aharon Feldman penned a lengthy critical review of the Steinsaltz Talmud contending that the work "is marred by an extraordinary number of inaccuracies stemming primarily from misreadings of the sources; it fails to explain those difficult passages which the reader would expect it to explain; and it confuses him with notes which are often irrelevant, incomprehensible, and contradictory." Feldman says he fears that, "An intelligent student utilizing the Steinsaltz Talmud as his personal instructor might in fact conclude that Talmud in general is not supposed to make sense." Furthermore, writes Feldman, the Steinsaltz Talmud gives off the impression that the Talmud is "intellectually flabby, inconsistent, and often trivial." Haredi reaction and ban Publication of the Steinsaltz Hebrew translation of the Talmud in the 1960s received endorsements from prominent rabbis including Moshe Feinstein and Ovadia Yosef. However, in 1989, when the English version appeared, Steinsaltz faced a fierce backlash from many leading rabbis in Israel such as Elazar Shach, Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Eliezer Waldenberg, Nissim Karelitz, Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg and Shmuel Wosner who harshly condemned his work and other publications. Branding him a heretic, Shach was at the forefront of a campaign which banned all his works, believing that his literary and psychological explanations of biblical characters and events rendered them heretical. He also slated his translation of the Talmud, describing it as being written in the style of a secular book causing "any trace of holiness and faith to vanish." Waldenberg wrote that he was shocked to see the way in which Steinsaltz described the Patriarchs and Talmudic sages, writing that the works had the power to "poison the souls" of those who read them. Striking a more conciliatory tone in the controversy however were the Gerer Hasidim who praised his works and commended him on his willingness to amend various passages "which could have been misconstrued." After the Jerusalem-based Edah Charedis limited the ban to three books, Steinsaltz publicly apologised for his error and offered to refund anyone who had bought the books. The ban nevertheless caused thousands of schools and individuals to discard the Steinsaltz Talmud, with Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl ordering all copies to be placed in genizah. This led to more liberal Jewish movements placing adverts in the press asking for the edition to be donated to their institutions instead. For his part, Steinsaltz countered that much of the criticism he faced was rooted in opposition to the Chabad-Lubavitch community he was affiliated with. Praise While certain members of the Haredi community may have opposition to Steinsaltz's works, other Jewish leaders, rabbis, and authors have spoken or written about their appreciation for Steinsaltz's unique educational approach. Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood featured "Opening The Tanya", "Learning the Tanya", and "Understanding the Tanya" on his list of the top ten recommended Jewish books. These volumes are written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, and include commentary by Steinsaltz. Through reading the Tanya, readers can explore all aspects of the central text of Chabad movement. Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, a rosh yeshiva and the CEO of Mechon Hadar Yeshiva, discussed his gratitude for Steinsaltz's Global Day of Jewish Learning and the opportunity created by this online platform for learning and creating a deeper connection to Torah, other Jewish text, and Jews worldwide. Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, who studied under Steinsaltz, notes that Steinsaltz "is a world scholar" who "revolutionized the Jewish landscape" through his commentary, other writings, and educational organizations. In 1988, secular Israeli historian Zeev Katz compared Steinsaltz's importance to that of Rashi and Maimonides, two Jewish scholars of medieval times. In addition, Ilana Kurshan, an American-Israeli author, wrote that Steinsaltz's ability to bring "the historical world of the Talmudic stages to life" created an enjoyable Jewish learning experience for her when she was intensely studying Talmud. See also List of Israel Prize recipients Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin References External links The website of The Aleph Society and Steinsaltz Steinsaltz's lecture in winter 2005 at Florida International University Steinsaltz talks about the Torah to BBC (sound file) Some articles written by Steinsaltz Books by Steinsaltz Catalog of books published by Koren Publishers Jerusalem 1937 births 2020 deaths Hasidic rabbis in Mandatory Palestine Rabbis in Jerusalem Hasidic rosh yeshivas Israel Prize in Jewish studies recipients Israel Prize Rabbi recipients Talmud translators Translators to French Translators to Spanish Talmudists Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Israel Baalei teshuva Israeli translators Israeli non-fiction writers Israeli educators Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Distinction of Israel 20th-century translators 21st-century translators Jewish translators Deaths from pneumonia in Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican%20tetra

Mexican tetra

The Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus), also known as the blind cave fish, blind cave characin, and blind cave tetra, is a freshwater fish of the family Characidae of the order Characiformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to the Nearctic realm, originating in the lower Rio Grande and the Neueces and Pecos Rivers in Texas, as well as the central and eastern parts of Mexico. Growing to a maximum total length of , the Mexican tetra is of typical characin shape, with silvery, unremarkable scalation. Its blind cave form, however, is notable for having no eyes or pigment; it has a pinkish-white color to its body (resembling an albino). This fish, especially the blind variant, is reasonably popular among aquarists. A. mexicanus is a peaceful species that spends most of its time in midlevel water above the rocky and sandy bottoms of pools and backwaters of creeks and rivers of its native environment. Coming from a subtropical climate, it prefers water with 6.5–8 pH, a hardness of up to 30 dGH, and a temperature range of . In the winter, some populations migrate to warmer waters. Its natural diet consists of crustaceans, insects, and annelids, although in captivity it is omnivorous. The Mexican tetra has been treated as a subspecies of A. fasciatus, but this is not widely accepted. Additionally, the hypogean blind cave form is sometimes recognized as a separate species, A. jordani, but this directly contradicts phylogenetic evidence. Blind cave form A. mexicanus is famous for its blind cave form, which is known by such names as blind cave tetra, blind tetra (leading to easy confusion with the Brazilian Stygichthys typhlops), blind cave characin and blind cavefish. Depending on the exact population, cave forms can have degenerated sight or have total loss of sight and even their eyes, due to down-regulation of the protein αA-crystallin and consequent lens cell death. The fish in the Pachón caves have lost their eyes completely whilst the fish from the Micos cave only have limited sight. Cave fish and surface fish are able to produce fertile offspring. These fish can still, however, find their way around by means of their lateral lines, which are highly sensitive to fluctuating water pressure. Blindness in A. mexicanus induces a disruption of early neuromast patterning, which further causes asymmetries in cranial bone structure. One such asymmetry is a bend in the dorsal region of their skull, which is propounded to increase water flow to the opposite side of the face, functionally enhancing sensory input and spatial mapping in the dark waters of caves. Scientists suggest that gene cystathionine beta synthase-a mutation restricts blood flow to cavefish eyes during a critical stage of growth so the eyes are covered by skin. Currently, about 30 cave populations are known, dispersed over three geographically distinct areas in a karst region of San Luis Potosí and far southern Tamaulipas, northeastern Mexico. Among the various cave population are at least three with only full cave forms (blind and without pigment), at least eleven with cave, "normal" and intermediate forms, and at least one with both cave and "normal" forms but no intermediates. Studies suggest at least two distinct genetic lineages occur among the blind populations, and the current distribution of populations arose by at least five independent invasions. Furthermore, cave populations have a very recent origin (< 20,000 years) in which blindness or reduced vision evolved convergently after surface ancestors populated several caves independently and at different times. This recent origin suggests that the phenotypic changes in cavefish populations, namely eye degeneration, arose as a result of the high fixation of genetic variants present in surface fish populations in a short period of time. The eyed and eyeless forms of A. mexicanus, being members of the same species, are closely related and can interbreed making this species an excellent model organism for examining convergent and parallel evolution, regressive evolution in cave animals, and the genetic basis of regressive traits. This, combined with the ease of maintaining the species in captivity, has made it the most studied cavefish and likely also the most studied cave organism overall. The blind and colorless cave form of A. mexicanus is sometimes recognized as a separate species, A. jordani, but this leaves the remaining A. mexicanus as a paraphyletic species and A. jordani as polyphyletic. The Cueva Chica Cave in the southern part of the Sierra del Abra system is the type locality for A. jordani. Other blind populations were initially also recognized as separate species, including antrobius described in 1946 from the Pachón Cave and hubbsi described in 1947 from the Los Sabinos Cave (both subsequently merged into jordani/mexicanus). The most divergent cave population is the one in Los Sabinos. Another cave-adapted population of Astyanax, varying from blind and depigmented to individuals showing intermediate features, is known from the Granadas Cave, part of the Balsas River drainage in Guerrero, southern Mexico, but it is a part of A. aeneus (itself sometimes included in A. mexicanus). Evolution research The surface and cave forms of the Mexican tetra have proven powerful subjects for scientists studying evolution. When the surface-dwelling ancestors of current cave populations entered the subterranean environment, the change in ecological conditions rendered their phenotype—which included many biological functions dependent on the presence of light—subject to natural selection and genetic drift. One of the most striking changes to evolve was the loss of eyes. This is referred to as a "regressive trait" because the surface fish that originally colonized caves possessed eyes. In addition to regressive traits, cave forms evolved "constructive traits". In contrast to regressive traits, the purpose or benefit of constructive traits is generally accepted. Active research focuses on the mechanisms driving the evolution of regressive traits, such as the loss of eyes, in A. mexicanus. Recent studies have produced evidence that the mechanism may be direct selection, or indirect selection through antagonistic pleiotropy, rather than genetic drift and neutral mutation, the traditionally favored hypothesis for regressive evolution. The blind form of the Mexican tetra is different from the surface-dwelling form in a number of ways, including having unpigmented skin, having a better olfactory sense by having taste buds all over its head, and by being able to store four times more energy as fat, allowing it to deal with irregular food supplies more effectively. Darwin said of sightless fish: Modern genetics has made clear that the lack of use does not, in itself, necessitate a feature's disappearance. In this context, the positive genetic benefits have to be considered, i.e., what advantages are obtained by cave-dwelling tetras by losing their eyes? Possible explanations include: Not developing eyes allows the individual more energy for growth but not egg production. However the species does use other methods to locate food and detect danger, which also consume energy that would be conserved if it had eyes or transparent eyelids. There remains less chance of accidental damage and infection, since the previously useless and exposed organ is sealed with a flap of protective skin. It is unknown why this species did not develop transparent skin or eyelids instead, as some species of reptiles did. The lack of eyes disables the "body clock", which is controlled by periods of light and dark, conserving energy. However sunlight does have minimal impact on the "body clock" in caves. Another likely explanation for the loss of its eyes is that of selective neutrality and genetic drift; in the dark environment of the cave, the eyes are neither advantageous nor disadvantageous and thus any genetic factors that might impair the eyes (or their development) can take hold with no consequence on the individual or species. Because there is no selection pressure for sight in this environment, any number of genetic abnormalities that give rise to the damage or loss of eyes could proliferate among the population with no effect on the fitness of the population. Among some creationists, the cave tetra is seen as evidence 'against' evolution. One argument claims this is an instance of "devolution"—showing an evolutionary trend of decreasing complexity. But evolution is a non-directional process, and while increased complexity is a common effect, there is no reason why evolution cannot tend towards simplicity if that makes an organism better suited to its environment. Inhibition of the HSP90 protein has a dramatic effect in the development of the blind tetra. In the aquarium The blind cave tetras seen in the aquarium trade are all based on stock collected in the Cueva Chica Cave in the southern part of the Sierra del Abra system in 1936. These were sent to an aquarium company in Texas, who soon started to distribute them to aquarists. Since then, these have been selectively bred for their troglomorphic traits. Today large numbers are bred at commercial facilities, especially in Asia. The blind cave tetra is a hardy species. Their lack of sight does not hinder their ability to get food. They prefer subdued lighting with a rocky substrate, like gravel, mimicking their natural environment. They become semi-aggressive as they age, and are by nature schooling fish. Experiments have shown that keeping these fish in bright aquarium set-ups has no effect on the development of the skin flap that forms over their eyes as they grow. See also List of freshwater aquarium fish species References Tetras Astyanax (fish) Freshwater fish of Mexico Freshwater fish of the United States Cave fish Blind animals Least concern biota of the United States Fish described in 1853 Taxa named by Filippo De Filippi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom%20probe

Atom probe

The atom probe was introduced at the 14th Field Emission Symposium in 1967 by Erwin Wilhelm Müller and J. A. Panitz. It combined a field ion microscope with a mass spectrometer having a single particle detection capability and, for the first time, an instrument could “... determine the nature of one single atom seen on a metal surface and selected from neighboring atoms at the discretion of the observer”. Atom probes are unlike conventional optical or electron microscopes, in that the magnification effect comes from the magnification provided by a highly curved electric field, rather than by the manipulation of radiation paths. The method is destructive in nature removing ions from a sample surface in order to image and identify them, generating magnifications sufficient to observe individual atoms as they are removed from the sample surface. Through coupling of this magnification method with time of flight mass spectrometry, ions evaporated by application of electric pulses can have their mass-to-charge ratio computed. Through successive evaporation of material, layers of atoms are removed from a specimen, allowing for probing not only of the surface, but also through the material itself. Computer methods are used to rebuild a three-dimensional view of the sample, prior to it being evaporated, providing atomic scale information on the structure of a sample, as well as providing the type atomic species information. The instrument allows the three-dimensional reconstruction of up to billions of atoms from a sharp tip (corresponding to specimen volumes of 10,000-10,000,000 nm3). Overview Atom probe samples are shaped to implicitly provide a highly curved electric potential to induce the resultant magnification, as opposed to direct use of lensing, such as via magnetic lenses. Furthermore, in normal operation (as opposed to a field ionization modes) the atom probe does not utilize a secondary source to probe the sample. Rather, the sample is evaporated in a controlled manner (field evaporation) and the evaporated ions are impacted onto a detector, which is typically 10 to 100 cm away. The samples are required to have a needle geometry and are produced by similar techniques as TEM sample preparation electropolishing, or focused ion beam methods. Since 2006, commercial systems with laser pulsing have become available and this has expanded applications from metallic only specimens into semiconducting, insulating such as ceramics, and even geological materials. Preparation is done, often by hand, to manufacture a tip radius sufficient to induce a high electric field, with radii on the order of 100 nm. To conduct an atom probe experiment a very sharp needle shaped specimen is placed in an ultra high vacuum chamber. After introduction into the vacuum system, the sample is reduced to cryogenic temperatures (typically 20-100 K) and manipulated such that the needle's point is aimed towards an ion detector. A high voltage is applied to the specimen, and either a laser pulse is applied to the specimen or a voltage pulse (typically 1-2 kV) with pulse repetition rates in the hundreds of kilohertz range is applied to a counter electrode. The application of the pulse to the sample allows for individual atoms at the sample surface to be ejected as an ion from the sample surface at a known time. Typically the pulse amplitude and the high voltage on the specimen are computer controlled to encourage only one atom to ionize at a time, but multiple ionizations are possible. The delay between application of the pulse and detection of the ion(s) at the detector allow for the computation of a mass-to-charge ratio. Whilst the uncertainty in the atomic mass computed by time-of-flight methods in atom probe is sufficiently small to allow for detection of individual isotopes within a material this uncertainty may still, in some cases, confound definitive identification of atomic species. Effects such as superposition of differing ions with multiple electrons removed, or through the presence of complex species formation during evaporation may cause two or more species to have sufficiently close time-of-flights to make definitive identification impossible. History Field ion microscopy Field ion microscopy is a modification of field emission microscopy where a stream of tunneling electrons is emitted from the apex of a sharp needle-like tip cathode when subjected to a sufficiently high electric field (~3-6 V/nm). The needle is oriented towards a phosphor screen to create a projected image of the work function at the tip apex. The image resolution is limited to (2-2.5 nm), due to quantum mechanical effects and lateral variations in the electron velocity. In field ion microscopy the tip is cooled by a cryogen and its polarity is reversed. When an imaging gas (usually hydrogen or helium) is introduced at low pressures (< 0.1 Pascal) gas ions in the high electric field at the tip apex are field ionized and produce a projected image of protruding atoms at the tip apex. The image resolution is determined primarily by the temperature of the tip but even at 78 Kelvin atomic resolution is achieved. 10-cm Atom Probe The 10-cm Atom Probe, invented in 1973 by J. A. Panitz was a “new and simple atom probe which permits rapid, in depth species identification or the more usual atom-by atom analysis provided by its predecessors ... in an instrument having a volume of less than two liters in which tip movement is unnecessary and the problems of evaporation pulse stability and alignment common to previous designs have been eliminated.” This was accomplished by combining a time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometer with a proximity focussed, dual channel plate detector, an 11.8 cm drift region and a 38° field of view. An FIM image or a desorption image of the atoms removed from the apex of a field emitter tip could be obtained. The 10-cm Atom Probe has been called the progenitor of later atom probes including the commercial instruments. Imaging Atom Probe The Imaging Atom-Probe (IAP) was introduced in 1974 by J. A. Panitz. It incorporated the features of the 10-cm Atom-Probe yet “... departs completely from [previous] atom probe philosophy. Rather than attempt to determine the identity of a surface species producing a preselected ion-image spot, we wish to determine the complete crystallographic distribution of a surface species of preselected mass-to-charge ratio. Now suppose that instead of operating the [detector] continuously, it is turned on for a short time coincidentally with the arrival of a preselected species of interest by applying a gate pulse a time T after the evaporation pulse has reached the specimen. If the duration of the gate pulse is shorter than the travel time between adjacent species, only that surface species having the unique travel time T will be detected and its complete crystallographic distribution displayed.” It was patented in 1975 as the Field Desorption Spectrometer. The Imaging Atom-Probe moniker was coined by A. J. Waugh in 1978 and the instrument was described in detail by J. A. Panitz in the same year. Atom Probe Tomography (APT) Modern day atom probe tomography uses a position sensitive detector aka a FIM in a box to deduce the lateral location of atoms. The idea of the APT, inspired by J. A. Panitz's Field Desorption Spectrometer patent, was developed by Mike Miller starting in 1983 and culminated with the first prototype in 1986. Various refinements were made to the instrument, including the use of a so-called position-sensitive (PoS) detector by Alfred Cerezo, Terence Godfrey, and George D. W. Smith at Oxford University in 1988. The Tomographic Atom Probe (TAP), developed by researchers at the University of Rouen in France in 1993, introduced a multichannel timing system and multianode array. Both instruments (PoSAP and TAP) were commercialized by Oxford Nanoscience and CAMECA respectively. Since then, there have been many refinements to increase the field of view, mass and position resolution, and data acquisition rate of the instrument. The Local Electrode Atom Probe was first introduced in 2003 by Imago Scientific Instruments. In 2005, the commercialization of the pulsed laser atom probe (PLAP) expanded the avenues of research from highly conductive materials (metals) to poor conductors (semiconductors like silicon) and even insulating materials. AMETEK acquired CAMECA in 2007 and Imago Scientific Instruments (Madison, WI) in 2010, making the company the sole commercial developer of APTs with more than 110 instruments installed around the world in 2019. The first few decades of work with APT focused on metals. However, with the introduction of the laser pulsed atom probe systems applications have expanded to semiconductors, ceramic and geologic materials, with some work on biomaterials. The most advanced study of biological material to date using APT involved analyzing the chemical structure of teeth of the radula of chiton Chaetopleura apiculata. In this study, the use of APT showed chemical maps of organic fibers in the surrounding nano-crystalline magnetite in the chiton teeth, fibers which were often co-located with sodium or magnesium. This has been furthered to study elephant tusks, dentin and human enamel. Theory Field evaporation Field evaporation is an effect that can occur when an atom bonded at the surface of a material is in the presence of a sufficiently high and appropriately directed electric field, where the electric field is the differential of electric potential (voltage) with respect to distance. Once this condition is met, it is sufficient that local bonding at the specimen surface is capable of being overcome by the field, allowing for evaporation of an atom from the surface to which it is otherwise bonded. Ion flight Whether evaporated from the material itself, or ionised from the gas, the ions that are evaporated are accelerated by electrostatic force, acquiring most of their energy within a few tip-radii of the sample. Subsequently, the accelerative force on any given ion is controlled by the electrostatic equation, where n is the ionisation state of the ion, and e is the fundamental electric charge. This can be equated with the mass of the ion, m, via Newton's law (F=ma): Relativistic effects in the ion flight are usually ignored, as realisable ion speeds are only a very small fraction of the speed of light. Assuming that the ion is accelerated during a very short interval, the ion can be assumed to be travelling at constant velocity. As the ion will travel from the tip at voltage V1 to some nominal ground potential, the speed at which the ion is travelling can be estimated by the energy transferred into the ion during (or near) ionisation. Therefore, the ion speed can be computed with the following equation, which relates kinetic energy to energy gain due to the electric field, the negative arising from the loss of electrons forming a net positive charge. Where U is the ion velocity. Solving for U, the following relation is found: Let's say that for at a certain ionization voltage, a singly charged hydrogen ion acquires a resulting velocity of 1.4x10^6 ms−1 at 10~kV. A singly charged deuterium ion under the sample conditions would have acquired roughly 1.4x10^6/1.41 ms−1. If a detector was placed at a distance of 1 m, the ion flight times would be 1/1.4x10^6 and 1.41/1.4x10^6 s. Thus, the time of the ion arrival can be used to infer the ion type itself, if the evaporation time is known. From the above equation, it can be re-arranged to show that given a known flight distance. F, for the ion, and a known flight time, t, and thus one can substitute these values to obtain the mass-to-charge for the ion. Thus for an ion which traverses a 1 m flight path, across a time of 2000 ns, given an initial accelerating voltage of 5000 V (V in Si units is kg.m^2.s^-3.A^-1) and noting that one amu is 1×10−27 kg, the mass-to-charge ratio (more correctly the mass-to-ionisation value ratio) becomes ~3.86 amu/charge. The number of electrons removed, and thus net positive charge on the ion is not known directly, but can be inferred from the histogram (spectrum) of observed ions. Magnification The magnification in an atom is due to the projection of ions radially away from the small, sharp tip. Subsequently, in the far-field, the ions will be greatly magnified. This magnification is sufficient to observe field variations due to individual atoms, thus allowing in field ion and field evaporation modes for the imaging of single atoms. The standard projection model for the atom probe is an emitter geometry that is based upon a revolution of a conic section, such as a sphere, hyperboloid or paraboloid. For these tip models, solutions to the field may be approximated or obtained analytically. The magnification for a spherical emitter is inversely proportional to the radius of the tip, given a projection directly onto a spherical screen, the following equation can be obtained geometrically. Where rscreen is the radius of the detection screen from the tip centre, and rtip the tip radius. A practical tip to screen distances may range from several centimeters to several meters, with increased detector area required at larger to subtend the same field of view. Practically speaking, the usable magnification will be limited by several effects, such as lateral vibration of the atoms prior to evaporation. Whilst the magnification of both the field ion and atom probe microscopes is extremely high, the exact magnification is dependent upon conditions specific to the examined specimen, so unlike for conventional electron microscopes, there is often little direct control on magnification, and furthermore, obtained images may have strongly variable magnifications due to fluctuations in the shape of the electric field at the surface. Reconstruction The computational conversion of the ion sequence data, as obtained from a position-sensitive detector to a three-dimensional visualisation of atomic types, is termed "reconstruction". Reconstruction algorithms are typically geometrically based and have several literature formulations. Most models for reconstruction assume that the tip is a spherical object, and use empirical corrections to stereographic projection to convert detector positions back to a 2D surface embedded in 3D space, R3. By sweeping this surface through R3 as a function of the ion sequence input data, such as via ion-ordering, a volume is generated onto which positions the 2D detector positions can be computed and placed three-dimensional space. Typically the sweep takes the simple form of advancement of the surface, such that the surface is expanded in a symmetric manner about its advancement axis, with the advancement rate set by a volume attributed to each ion detected and identified. This causes the final reconstructed volume to assume a rounded-conical shape, similar to a badminton shuttlecock. The detected events thus become a point cloud data with attributed experimentally measured values, such as ion time of flight or experimentally derived quantities, e.g. time of flight or detector data. This form of data manipulation allows for rapid computer visualisation and analysis, with data presented as point cloud data with additional information, such as each ion's mass to charge (as computed from the velocity equation above), voltage or other auxiliary measured quantity or computation therefrom. Data features The canonical feature of atom probe data, is its high spatial resolution in the direction through the material, which has been attributed to an ordered evaporation sequence. This data can therefore image near atomically sharp buried interfaces with the associated chemical information. The data obtained from the evaporative process is however not without artefacts that form the physical evaporation or ionisation process. A key feature of the evaporation or field ion images is that the data density is highly inhomogeneous, due to the corrugation of the specimen surface at the atomic scale. This corrugation gives rise to strong electric field gradients in the near-tip zone (on the order of an atomic radii or less from the tip), which during ionisation deflects ions away from the electric field normal. The resultant deflection means that in these regions of high curvature, atomic terraces are belied by a strong anisotropy in the detection density. Where this occurs due to a few atoms on a surface is usually referred to as a "pole", as these are coincident with the crystallographic axes of the specimen (FCC, BCC, HCP) etc. Where the edges of an atomic terrace causes deflection, a low density line is formed and is termed a "zone line". These poles and zone-lines, whilst inducing fluctuations in data density in the reconstructed datasets, which can prove problematic during post-analysis, are critical for determining information such as angular magnification, as the crystallographic relationships between features are typically well known. When reconstructing the data, owing to the evaporation of successive layers of material from the sample, the lateral and in-depth reconstruction values are highly anisotropic. Determination of the exact resolution of the instrument is of limited use, as the resolution of the device is set by the physical properties of the material under analysis. Systems Many designs have been constructed since the method's inception. Initial field ion microscopes, precursors to modern atom probes, were usually glass blown devices developed by individual research laboratories. System layout At a minimum, an atom probe will consist of several key pieces of equipment. A vacuum system for maintaining the low pressures (~10−8 to 10−10 Pa) required, typically a classic 3 chambered UHV design. A system for the manipulation of samples inside the vacuum, including sample viewing systems. A cooling system to reduce atomic motion, such as a helium refrigeration circuit - providing sample temperatures as low as 15K. A high voltage system to raise the sample standing voltage near the threshold for field evaporation. A high voltage pulsing system, use to create timed field evaporation events A counter electrode that can be a simple disk shape (like the EIKOS™, or earlier generation atom probes), or a cone-shaped Local Electrode, like on a LEAP® system. The voltage pulse (negative) is typically applied to the counter electrode. A detection system for single energetic ions that includes XY position and TOF information. Optionally, an atom probe may also include laser-optical systems for laser beam targeting and pulsing, if using laser-evaporation methods. In-situ reaction systems, heaters, or plasma treatment may also be employed for some studies as well as a pure noble gas introduction for FIM. Performance Collectable ion volumes were previously limited to several thousand, or tens of thousands of ionic events. Subsequent electronics and instrumentation development has increased the rate of data accumulation, with datasets of hundreds of million atoms (dataset volumes of 107 nm3). Data collection times vary considerably depending upon the experimental conditions and the number of ions collected. Experiments take from a few minutes, to many hours to complete. Applications Metallurgy Atom probe has typically been employed in the chemical analysis of alloy systems at the atomic level. This has arisen as a result of voltage pulsed atom probes providing good chemical and sufficient spatial information in these materials. Metal samples from large grained alloys may be simple to fabricate, particularly from wire samples, with hand-electropolishing techniques giving good results. Subsequently, atom probe has been used in the analysis of the chemical composition of a wide range of alloys. Such data is critical in determining the effect of alloy constituents in a bulk material, identification of solid-state reaction features, such as solid phase precipitates. Such information may not be amenable to analysis by other means (e.g. TEM) owing to the difficulty in generating a three-dimensional dataset with composition. Semiconductors Semi-conductor materials are often analysable in atom probe, however sample preparation may be more difficult, and interpretation of results may be more complex, particularly if the semi-conductor contains phases which evaporate at differing electric field strengths. Applications such as ion implantation may be used to identify the distribution of dopants inside a semi-conducting material, which is increasingly critical in the correct design of modern nanometre scale electronics. Limitations Materials implicitly control achievable spatial resolution. Specimen geometry during the analysis is uncontrolled, yet controls projection behaviour, hence there is little control over the magnification. This induces distortions into the computer generated 3D dataset. Features of interest might evaporate in a physically different manner to the bulk sample, altering projection geometry and the magnification of the reconstructed volume. This yields strong spatial distortions in the final image. Volume selectability can be limited. Site specific preparation methods, e.g. using Focussed ion beam preparation, although more time-consuming, may be used to bypass such limitations. Ion overlap in some samples (e.g. between oxygen and sulfur) resulted in ambiguous analysed species. This may be mitigated by selection of experiment temperature or laser input energy to influence the ionisation number (+, ++, 3+ etc.) of the ionised groups. Data analysis can be used in some cases to statistically recover overlaps. Low molecular weight gases (Hydrogen & Helium) may be difficult to be removed from the analysis chamber, and may be adsorbed and emitted from the specimen, even though not present in the original specimen. This may also limit identification of Hydrogen in some samples. For this reason, deuterated samples have been used to overcome limitations. Results may be contingent on the parameters used to convert the 2D detected data into 3D. In more problematic materials, correct reconstruction may not be done, due to limited knowledge of the true magnification; particularly if zone or pole regions cannot be observed. References Further reading Michael K. Miller, George D.W. Smith, Alfred Cerezo, Mark G. Hetherington (1996) Atom Probe Field Ion Microscopy Monographs on the Physics and Chemistry of Materials, Oxford: Oxford University Press. . Michael K. Miller (2000) Atom Probe Tomography: Analysis at the Atomic Level. New York: Kluwer Academic. Baptiste Gault, Michael P. Moody, Julie M. Cairney, SImon P. Ringer (2012) Atom Probe Microscopy, Springer Series in Materials Science, Vol. 160, New York: Springer. David J. Larson, Ty J. Prosa, Robert M. Ulfig, Brian P. Geiser, Thomas F. Kelly (2013) Local Electrode Atom Probe Tomography - A User's Guide, Springer Characterization & Evaluation of Materials, New York: Springer. External links Video demonstrating Field Ion images, and pulsed ion evaporation www.atomprobe.com - A CAMECA provided community resource with contact information and an interactive FAQ MyScope Atom Probe Tomography - An online learning environment for those who want to learn about atom probe provided by Microscopy Australia Scientific techniques Microscopes Nanotechnology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al%20Capone

Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33. Capone was born in New York City in 1899 to Italian immigrants. He joined the Five Points Gang as a teenager and became a bouncer in organized crime premises such as brothels. In his early twenties, Capone moved to Chicago and became a bodyguard and trusted factotum for Johnny Torrio, head of a criminal syndicate that illegally supplied alcohol—the forerunner of the Outfit—and was politically protected through the Unione Siciliana. A conflict with the North Side Gang was instrumental in Capone's rise and fall. Torrio went into retirement after North Side gunmen almost killed him, handing control to Capone. Capone expanded the bootlegging business through increasingly violent means, but his mutually profitable relationships with Mayor William Hale Thompson and the Chicago Police Department meant he seemed safe from law enforcement. Capone apparently reveled in attention, such as the cheers from spectators when he appeared at baseball games. He made donations to various charities and was viewed by many as a "modern-day Robin Hood". However, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which seven gang rivals were murdered in broad daylight, damaged the public image of Chicago and Capone, leading influential citizens to demand government action and newspapers to dub Capone "Public Enemy No.1". Federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone and charged him with twenty-two counts of tax evasion. He was convicted of five counts in 1931. During a highly publicized case, the judge admitted as evidence Capone's admissions of his income and unpaid taxes, made during prior (and ultimately abortive) negotiations to pay the government taxes he owed. He was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. After conviction, he replaced his defense team with experts in tax law, and his grounds for appeal were strengthened by a Supreme Court ruling, but his appeal ultimately failed. Capone showed signs of neurosyphilis early in his sentence and became increasingly debilitated before being released after almost eight years of incarceration. On January 25, 1947, he died of cardiac arrest after a stroke. Early life Al Capone was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York, New York, on January 17, 1899. His parents were Italian immigrants Gabriele Capone (1865–1920) and Teresa Capone (née Raiola; 1867–1952). His father was a barber and his mother was a seamstress, both born in Angri, a small commune outside of Naples in the Province of Salerno. Capone's family had immigrated to the United States in 1893 by ship, first going through Fiume (modern-day Rijeka, Croatia), a port city in what was then Austria-Hungary. The family settled at 95 Navy Street, in the Navy Yard section of Brooklyn. When Al was aged 11, he and his family moved to 38 Garfield Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Capone's parents had eight other children: James Vincenzo Capone, who later changed his name to Richard Hart and became a Prohibition agent in Homer, Nebraska; Raffaele James Capone, also known as Ralph Capone or "Bottles", who took charge of his brother's beverage industry; Salvatore "Frank" Capone; Ermina Capone, who died at the age of one; Ermino "John" Capone; Albert Capone; Matthew Capone and Mafalda Capone. Ralph and Frank worked with Al Capone in his criminal empire. Frank did so until his death on April 1, 1924. Ralph ran Capone's bottling companies (both legal and illegal) early on and was also the front man for the Chicago Outfit until he was imprisoned for tax evasion in 1932. Al Capone showed promise as a student but had trouble with the rules at his strict parochial Catholic school. His schooling ended at the age of 14 after he was expelled for hitting a female teacher in the face. Capone worked at odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store and a bowling alley. From 1916 to 1918 he played semi-professional baseball. Following this, Capone was influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio, whom he came to regard as a mentor. Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin at age 19, on December 30, 1918. She was Irish Catholic and earlier that month had given birth to their son Albert Francis "Sonny" Capone (1918–2004). Albert lost most of his hearing in his left ear as a child. Capone was under the age of 21, and his parents had to consent in writing to the marriage. By all accounts, the two had a happy marriage despite his criminal lifestyle. Career New York City Capone initially became involved with small-time gangs that included the Junior Forty Thieves and the Bowery Boys. He then joined the Brooklyn Rippers, and then the powerful Five Points Gang based in Lower Manhattan. During this time he was employed and mentored by fellow racketeer Frankie Yale, a bartender in a Coney Island dance hall and saloon called the Harvard Inn. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door, and he was slashed with a knife three times on the left side of his face by her brother, Frank Galluccio; the wounds led to the nickname "Scarface", which Capone loathed. The date when this occurred has been reported with inconsistencies. When Capone was photographed, he hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that the injuries were war wounds. He was called "Snorky" by his closest friends, a term for a sharp dresser. Move to Chicago In 1919, Capone left New York City for Chicago at the invitation of Torrio, who was imported by crime boss James "Big Jim" Colosimo as an enforcer. Capone began in Chicago as a bouncer in a brothel, where is thought the most likely way for him to have contracted syphilis. Capone was aware of being infected at an early stage and timely use of Salvarsan probably could have cured the infection, but he apparently never sought treatment. In 1923, Capone purchased a small house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue in the Park Manor neighborhood in Chicago's South Side for . According to the Chicago Daily Tribune, hijacker Joe Howard was killed on May 7, 1923, after he tried to interfere with the Capone-Torrio bootlegging business. In the early years of the decade, Capone's name began appearing in newspaper sports pages where he was described as a boxing promoter. Torrio took over Colosimo's criminal empire after the latter's murder on May 11, 1920, in which Capone was suspected of being involved. Torrio headed an essentially Italian organized crime group that was the biggest in Chicago, with Capone as his right-hand man. Torrio was wary of being drawn into gang wars and tried to negotiate agreements over territory between rival crime groups. The smaller North Side Gang, led by Dean O'Banion, came under pressure from the Genna brothers who were allied with Torrio. O'Banion found that Torrio was unhelpful with the Gennas' encroachment, despite his pretensions to be a settler of disputes. In a fateful step, Torrio arranged the murder of O'Banion at his flower shop on November 10, 1924. This placed Hymie Weiss at the head of the gang, backed by Vincent Drucci and Bugs Moran. Weiss had been a close friend of O'Banion, and the North Siders made it a priority to get revenge on his killers. During Prohibition, Capone was involved with Canadian bootleggers who helped him smuggle liquor into the U.S. When Capone was asked if he knew Rocco Perri, billed as Canada's "King of the Bootleggers", he replied: "Why, I don't even know which street Canada is on." Other sources, however, claim that Capone had certainly visited Canada, where he maintained some hideaways, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police states that there is no "evidence that he ever set foot on Canadian soil." Boss An ambush in January 1925 left Capone shaken but unhurt. Twelve days later, Torrio was returning from a shopping trip when he was shot several times. After recovering, he effectively resigned and handed control to Capone, aged 26, who became the new boss of an organization that took in illegal breweries and a transportation network that reached to Canada, with political and law-enforcement protection. In turn, he was able to use more violence to increase revenue. Any establishment that refused to purchase liquor from Capone often got blown up, and as many as 100 people were killed in such bombings during the 1920s. Rivals saw Capone as responsible for the proliferation of brothels in the city. Capone often enlisted the help of local members of the black community into his operations; jazz musicians Milt Hinton and Lionel Hampton had uncles who worked for Capone on Chicago's South Side. A fan of jazz as well, Capone once asked clarinetist Johnny Dodds to play a number that Dodds did not know; Capone split a $100 bill in half and told Dodds that he would get the other half when he learned it. Capone also sent two bodyguards to accompany jazz pianist Earl Hines on a road trip. Capone indulged in custom suits, cigars, gourmet food and drink, and female companionship. He was particularly known for his flamboyant and costly jewelry. His favorite responses to questions about his activities were: "I am just a businessman, giving the people what they want"; and, "All I do is satisfy a public demand." Capone had become a national celebrity and talking point. Capone based himself in Cicero, Illinois, after using bribery and widespread intimidation to take over town council elections, making it difficult for the North Siders to target him. Capone's driver was found tortured and murdered, and there was an attempt on Weiss' life in the Chicago Loop. On September 20, 1926, the North Siders used a ploy outside Capone's headquarters at the Hawthorne Inn aimed at drawing him to the windows. Gunmen in several cars then opened fire with Thompson submachine guns and shotguns at the windows of the first-floor restaurant. Capone was unhurt and called for a truce, but the negotiations fell through. Three weeks later, on October 11, Weiss was killed outside the North Siders' headquarters at O'Banion's former flower shop. The owner of Hawthorne's restaurant was a friend of Capone's, and he was kidnapped and killed by Moran and Drucci in January 1927. Capone became increasingly security-minded and desirous of getting away from Chicago. As a precaution, he and his entourage would often show up suddenly at one of Chicago's train depots and buy up an entire Pullman sleeper car on a night train to Cleveland, Omaha, Kansas City, Little Rock or Hot Springs, Arkansas, where they would spend a week in luxury hotel suites under assumed names. In 1928, Capone paid $40,000 to Clarence Busch of the Anheuser-Busch brewing family for a home at 93 Palm Avenue on Palm Island, Florida, between Miami and Miami Beach. Feud with Aiello In November 1925, Capone's consigliere, Antonio Lombardo, was named head of the Unione Siciliana, a Sicilian-American benevolent society that had been corrupted by gangsters. An infuriated Joe Aiello, who had wanted the position himself, believed Capone was responsible for Lombardo's ascension and resented the non-Sicilian's attempts to manipulate affairs within the Unione. Aiello severed all personal and business ties with Lombardo and entered into a feud with Capone. Aiello allied himself with several other Capone enemies, including Jack Zuta, who ran vice and gambling houses together. Aiello plotted to eliminate both Lombardo and Capone, and starting in the spring of 1927 made several attempts to assassinate Capone. On one occasion, Aiello offered money to the chef of Joseph "Diamond Joe" Esposito's Bella Napoli Café, Capone's favorite restaurant, to put prussic acid in Capone's and Lombardo's soup; reports indicated he offered between $10,000 and $35,000. Instead, the chef exposed the plot to Capone, who responded by dispatching men to destroy Aiello's bakery on West Division Street with machine-gun fire. More than 200 bullets were fired into the bakery on May 28, 1927, wounding Joe's brother Antonio. During the summer and autumn of 1927, a number of hitmen Aiello hired to kill Capone were themselves slain. Among them were Anthony Russo and Vincent Spicuzza, each of whom had been offered $25,000 by Aiello to kill Capone and Lombardo. Aiello eventually offered a $50,000 bounty to anyone who eliminated Capone. At least ten gunmen tried to collect on the bounty but ended up dead. Capone's ally Ralph Sheldon attempted to kill both Capone and Lombardo for Aiello's reward, but Capone henchman Frank Nitti's intelligence network learned of the transaction and had Sheldon shot in front of a West Side hotel, although he survived the incident. In November 1927, Aiello organized machine-gun ambushes across from Lombardo's home and a cigar store frequented by Capone, but those plans were foiled after an anonymous tip led police to raid several addresses and arrest Milwaukee gunman Angelo La Mantio and four other Aiello gunmen. After the police discovered receipts for the apartments in La Mantio's pockets, he confessed that Aiello had hired him to kill Capone and Lombardo, leading the police to arrest Aiello himself and bring him to the South Clark Street police station. Upon learning of the arrest, Capone dispatched nearly two dozen gunmen to stand guard outside the station and await Aiello's release. The men made no attempt to conceal their purpose there, and reporters and photographers rushed to the scene to observe Aiello's expected murder. Political alliances Chicago politicians had long been associated with questionable methods, and even newspaper circulation "wars", but the need for bootleggers to have protection in city hall introduced a far more serious level of violence and graft. Capone is generally seen as having an appreciable effect in bringing about the victory of Republican mayoral candidate William Hale Thompson, who had campaigned on a platform of not enforcing Prohibition and at one time hinted that he'd reopen illegal saloons. Thompson allegedly accepted a contribution of $250,000 from Capone. Thompson beat Democratic candidate William Emmett Dever in the 1927 mayoral race by a relatively slim margin. On the day of the so-called Pineapple Primary on April 10, 1928, voting booths were targeted by Capone's bomber, James Belcastro, in wards where Thompson's opponents were thought to have support, causing the deaths of at least fifteen people. Belcastro was accused of the murder of lawyer Octavius Granady, an African-American who challenged Thompson's candidate for the Black vote, and was chased through the streets on polling day by cars of gunmen before being shot dead. Four policemen were among those charged along with Belcastro, but all charges were dropped after key witnesses recanted their statements. An indication of the attitude of local law enforcement toward Capone's organization came in 1931 when Belcastro was wounded in a shooting; police suggested to skeptical journalists that Belcastro was an independent operator. A 1929 report by The New York Times connected Capone to the 1926 murder of Assistant State Attorney William H. McSwiggin, the 1928 murders of chief investigator Ben Newmark and former mentor Frankie Yale. Saint Valentine's Day Massacre Capone was widely assumed to have been responsible for ordering the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, despite being at his Florida home at the time of the massacre. The massacre was an attempt to eliminate Bugs Moran, head of the North Side Gang, and the motivation for the plan may have been the fact that some expensive whisky illegally imported from Canada via the Detroit River had been hijacked while it was being transported to Cook County, Illinois. Moran was the last survivor of the North Side gunmen; his succession had come about because his similarly aggressive predecessors, Weiss and Vincent Drucci, had been killed in the violence that followed the murder of original leader Dean O'Banion. To monitor their targets' habits and movements, Capone's men rented an apartment across from the trucking warehouse and garage at 2122 North Clark Street, which served as Moran's headquarters. On the morning of Thursday, February 14, 1929, Capone's lookouts signaled four gunmen disguised as police officers to initiate a "police raid". The faux police lined the seven victims along a wall and signaled for accomplices armed with machine guns and shotguns. Moran was not among the victims. Photos of the slain victims shocked the public and damaged Capone's image. Within days, Capone received a summons to testify before a Chicago grand jury on charges of federal Prohibition violations, but he claimed to be too unwell to attend. In an effort to clean up his image, Capone donated to charities and sponsored a soup kitchen in Chicago during the Depression. The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre led to public disquiet about Thompson's alliance with Capone and was a factor in Anton J. Cermak winning the mayoral election on April 6, 1931. Feud with Aiello ends Capone was primarily known for ordering other men to do his dirty work for him. In May 1929, one of Capone's bodyguards, Frank Rio, uncovered a plot by three of his men, Albert Anselmi, John Scalise and Joseph Giunta, who had been persuaded by Aiello to depose Capone and take over the Chicago Outfit. Capone later beat the men with a baseball bat and then ordered his bodyguards to shoot them, a scene that was included in the 1987 film The Untouchables. Deirdre Bair, along with writers and historians such as William Elliot Hazelgrove, have questioned the veracity of the claim. Bair questioned why "three trained killers could sit quietly and let this happen", while Hazelgrove stated that Capone would have been "hard pressed to beat three men to death with a baseball bat" and that he would have instead let an enforcer perform the murders. However, despite claims that the story was first reported by author Walter Noble Burns in his 1931 book The One-way Ride: The red trail of Chicago gangland from prohibition to Jake Lingle, Capone biographers Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz have found versions of the story in press coverage shortly after the crime. Collins and Schwartz suggest that similarities among reported versions of the story indicate a basis in truth and that the Outfit deliberately spread the tale to enhance Capone's fearsome reputation. George Meyer, an associate of Capone's, also claimed to have witnessed both the planning of the murders and the event itself. In 1930, upon learning of Aiello's continued plotting against him, Capone resolved to finally eliminate him. In the weeks before Aiello's death, Capone's men tracked him to Rochester, New York, where he had connections through Buffalo crime family boss Stefano Magaddino, and plotted to kill him there, but Aiello returned to Chicago before the plot could be executed. Aiello, angst-ridden from the constant need to hide out and the killings of several of his men, set up residence in the Chicago apartment of Unione Siciliana treasurer Pasquale "Patsy Presto" Prestogiacomo at 205 N. Kolmar Ave. On October 23, upon exiting Prestogiacomo's building to enter a taxicab, a gunman in a second-floor window across the street started firing at Aiello with a submachine gun. Aiello was said to have been shot at least 13 times before he toppled off the building steps and moved around the corner, attempting to move out of the line of fire. Instead, he moved directly into the range of a second submachine gun positioned on the third floor of another apartment block, and was subsequently gunned down. Federal intervention In the wake of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Walter A. Strong, publisher of the Chicago Daily News, decided to ask his friend President Herbert Hoover for federal intervention to stem Chicago's lawlessness. He arranged a secret meeting at the White House, just two weeks after Hoover's inauguration. On March 19, 1929, Strong, joined by Frank Loesch of the Chicago Crime Commission, and Laird Bell, made their case to the President. In Hoover's 1952 Memoir, the former President reported that Strong argued "Chicago was in the hands of the gangsters, that the police and magistrates were completely under their control, …that the Federal government was the only force by which the city's ability to govern itself could be restored. At once I directed that all the Federal agencies concentrate upon Mr. Capone and his allies." That meeting launched a multi-agency attack on Capone. Treasury and Justice Departments developed plans for income tax prosecutions against Chicago gangsters, and a small, elite squad of Prohibition Bureau agents (whose members included Eliot Ness) were deployed against bootleggers. In a city used to corruption, these lawmen were incorruptible. Charles Schwarz, a writer for the Chicago Daily News, dubbed them Untouchables. To support Federal efforts, Strong secretly used his newspaper's resources to gather and share intelligence on the Capone outfit. Trials On March 27, 1929, Capone was arrested by FBI agents as he left a Chicago courtroom after testifying to a grand jury that was investigating violations of federal prohibition laws. He was charged with contempt of court for feigning illness to avoid an earlier appearance. On May 16, 1929, Capone was arrested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for carrying a concealed weapon. On May 17, 1929, Capone was indicted by a grand jury and a trial was held before Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge John E Walsh. Following the entering of a guilty plea by his attorney, Capone was sentenced to a prison term of one year. On August 8, 1929, Capone was transferred to Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary. A week after his release in March 1930, Capone was listed as the number one "Public Enemy" on the unofficial Chicago Crime Commission's widely publicized list. In April 1930, Capone was arrested on vagrancy charges when visiting Miami Beach; the governor had ordered sheriffs to run him out of the state. Capone claimed that Miami police had refused him food and water and threatened to arrest his family. He was charged with perjury for making these statements, but was acquitted after a three-day trial in July. In September, a Chicago judge issued a warrant for Capone's arrest on charges of vagrancy and then used the publicity to run against Thompson in the Republican primary. In February 1931, Capone was tried on the contempt of court charge. In court, Judge James Herbert Wilkerson intervened to reinforce questioning of Capone's doctor by the prosecutor. Wilkerson sentenced Capone to six months, but he remained free while on appeal of the contempt conviction. In February 1930, Capone's organization was linked to the murder of Julius Rosenheim, who served as a police informant in the Chicago Outfit for 20 years. Tax evasion Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrandt is said to have originated the tactic of charging obviously wealthy crime figures with federal tax evasion on the basis of their luxurious lifestyles. In 1927, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sullivan that the approach was legally sound: illegally earned income was subject to income tax. The key to Capone's conviction on tax charges was not his spending, but proving his income, and the most valuable evidence in that regard originated in his offer to pay tax. Ralph, his brother and a gangster in his own right, was tried for tax evasion in 1930. Ralph spent the next 18 months in prison after being convicted in a two-week trial over which Wilkerson presided. Seeking to avoid the same fate, Al Capone ordered his lawyer to regularize his tax position, and although it was not done, his lawyer made crucial admissions when stating the income that Capone was willing to pay tax on for various years, admitting income of $100,000 for 1928 and 1929, for instance. Hence, without any investigation, the government had been given a letter from a lawyer acting for Capone conceding his large taxable income for certain years he had paid no tax on. On March 13, 1931, Capone was charged with income tax evasion for 1924, in a secret grand jury. On June 5, 1931, Capone was indicted by a federal grand jury on 22 counts of income tax evasion from 1925 through 1929; he was released on $50,000 bail. Capone was then indicted on 5,000 violations of the Volstead Act (Prohibition laws). On June 16, 1931, at the Chicago Federal Building in the courtroom of Wilkerson, Capone pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and the 5,000 Volstead Act violations as part of a -year prison sentence plea bargain. However, on July 30, 1931, Wilkerson refused to honor the plea bargain, and Capone's counsel rescinded the guilty pleas. On the second day of the trial, Wilkerson deemed that the 1930 letter to federal authorities could be admitted into evidence, overruling objections that a lawyer could not confess for his client. Wilkerson later tried Capone only on the income tax evasion charges as he determined they took precedence over the Volstead Act charges. Much was later made of other evidence, such as witnesses and ledgers, but these strongly implied Capone's control rather than stating it. Capone's lawyers, who had relied on the plea bargain Wilkerson refused to honor and therefore had mere hours to prepare for the trial, ran a weak defense focused on claiming that essentially all his income was lost to gambling. This would have been irrelevant regardless, since gambling losses can only be subtracted from gambling winnings, but it was further undercut by Capone's expenses, which were well beyond what his claimed income could support; Wilkerson allowed Capone's spending to be presented at very great length. The government charged Capone with evasion of $215,000 in taxes on a total income of $1,038,654, during the five-year period. Capone was convicted on five counts of income tax evasion on October 17, 1931, and was sentenced a week later to 11 years in federal prison, fined $50,000 plus $7,692 for court costs, and was held liable for $215,000 plus interest due on his back taxes. The contempt of court sentence was served concurrently. New lawyers hired to represent Capone were Washington-based tax experts. They filed a writ of habeas corpus based on a Supreme Court ruling that tax evasion was not fraud, which apparently meant that Capone had been convicted on charges relating to years that were actually outside the time limit for prosecution. However, a judge interpreted the law so that the time that Capone had spent in Miami was subtracted from the age of the offences, thereby denying the appeal of both Capone's conviction and sentence. Imprisonment Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May 1932, aged 33. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhoea. He was also experiencing withdrawal symptoms from cocaine addiction, the use of which had perforated his nasal septum. Capone was competent at his prison job of stitching soles on shoes for eight hours a day, but his letters were barely coherent. He was seen as a weak personality, and so out of his depth dealing with bullying fellow inmates that his cellmate, seasoned convict Red Rudensky, feared that Capone would have a breakdown. Rudensky was formerly a small-time criminal associated with the Capone gang and found himself becoming a protector for Capone. The conspicuous protection by Rudensky and other prisoners, drew accusations from less friendly inmates and fueled suspicion that Capone was receiving special treatment. No solid evidence ever emerged, but it formed part of the rationale for moving Capone to the recently opened Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary off the coast of San Francisco, in August 1934. On June 23, 1936, Capone was stabbed and superficially wounded by fellow-Alcatraz inmate James C. Lucas. Due to his good behavior, Capone was permitted to play banjo in the Alcatraz prison band, the Rock Islanders, which gave regular Sunday concerts for other inmates. Capone also transcribed the song "Madonna Mia" creating his own arrangement as a tribute to his wife Mae. At Alcatraz, Capone's decline became increasingly evident, as neurosyphilis progressively eroded his mental faculties; his formal diagnosis of syphilis of the brain was made in February 1938. He spent the last year of his Alcatraz sentence in the hospital section, confused and disoriented. Capone completed his term in Alcatraz on January 6, 1939, and was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in California to serve out his sentence for contempt of court. He was paroled on November 16, 1939, after his wife Mae appealed to the court, based on his reduced mental capabilities. Chicago aftermath The main effect of Capone's conviction was that he ceased to be boss immediately on his imprisonment, but those involved in the jailing of Capone portrayed it as considerably undermining the city's organized crime syndicate. Capone's underboss, Frank Nitti, took over as boss of the Outfit after he was released from prison in March 1932, having also been convicted of tax evasion charges. Far from being smashed, the Outfit continued without being troubled by the Chicago police, but at a lower level and without the open violence that had marked Capone's rule. Organized crime in the city had a lower profile once Prohibition was repealed, already wary of attention after seeing Capone's notoriety bring him down, to the extent that there is a lack of consensus among writers about who was actually in control and who was a figurehead "front boss". Prostitution, labor union racketeering, and gambling became moneymakers for organized crime in the city without incurring serious investigation. In the late 1950s, FBI agents discovered an organization led by Capone's former lieutenants reigning supreme over the Chicago underworld. Some historians have speculated that Capone ordered the 1939 murder of Edward J. O'Hare a week before his release, for helping federal prosecutors convict Capone of tax evasion, though there are other theories for O'Hare's death. Illness and death Due to his failing health, Capone was released from prison on November 16, 1939, and referred to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for the treatment of syphilitic paresis. Because of his unsavory reputation, Johns Hopkins refused to treat him, but Union Memorial Hospital was willing to take him as a patient. Capone was grateful for the compassionate care that he received and donated two Japanese weeping cherry trees to Union Memorial Hospital in 1939. After a few weeks of inpatient and outpatient care, on March 20, 1940, a very sickly Capone left Baltimore and travelled to his mansion in Palm Island, Florida. In 1942, after mass production of penicillin was started in the United States, Capone was one of the first American patients treated by the new drug. Though it was too late for him to reverse the damage to his brain, it did slow down the progression of the disease. In 1946, his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist examined him and concluded that Capone had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. He spent the last years of his life at his mansion in Palm Island, Florida, spending time with his wife and grandchildren. On January 21, 1947, Capone had a stroke. He regained consciousness and started to improve, but contracted bronchopneumonia. He suffered a cardiac arrest on January 22, and on January 25, surrounded by his family in his home, Capone died after his heart failed as a result of apoplexy. His body was transported back to Chicago a week later and a private funeral was held. He was originally buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago. In 1950, Capone's remains, along with those of his father, Gabriele, and brother, Frank, were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois. In popular culture Capone is one of the most notorious American gangsters of the 20th century and has been the major subject of numerous articles, books, and films. Particularly, from 1925 to 1929, shortly after he relocated to Chicago, he enjoyed status as the most notorious mobster in the country. He cultivated a certain image of himself in the media that made him a subject of fascination. His personality and character have been used in fiction as a model for crime lords and criminal masterminds ever since his death. The stereotypical image of a mobster wearing a pinstriped suit and tilted fedora are based on photos of Capone. His accent, mannerisms, facial construction, physical stature, and parodies of his name have been used for numerous gangsters in comics, movies, music, and literature. See also List of Depression-era outlaws The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults Timeline of organized crime Al Capone bibliography References Citations Cited sources . Further reading Bair, Deirdre. Al Capone: His Life, Legacy and Legend. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2016. . Binder, John J. Al Capone's Beer Wars: A Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago During Prohibition. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2017. . Capone, Deirdre Marie. Uncle Al Capone: The Untold Story from Inside His Family. Recap Publishing LLC, 2010. . Collins, Max Allan, and A. Brad Schwartz. Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago. New York: William Morrow, 2018. . Helmer, William J. Al Capone and His American Boys: Memoirs of a Mobster's Wife. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2011. . Hoffman Dennis E. Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone. Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (November 24, 1993). . Kobler, John. Capone: The Life and Times of Al Capone. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. . MacDonald, Alan. Dead Famous: Al Capone and His Gang. Scholastic. Michaels, Will. "Al Capone in St. Petersburg, Florida" in Hidden History of St. Petersburg. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2016. . Pasley, Fred D. Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-Made Man. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., 2004. . Schoenberg, Robert J. Mr. Capone. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. . External links Mario Gomes' site on everything related to Al Capone South Beach Magazine The Un-Welcomed Visitor: Al Capone in Miami. (with photos) FBI files on Al Capone Little Chicago: Capone in Johnson City, Tennessee Al Capone at the Crime Library Al Capone on IMDb 1899 births 1947 deaths American businesspeople convicted of crimes American crime bosses American gangsters of Italian descent American people convicted of tax crimes American bootleggers Catholics from Illinois Catholics from New York (state) Chicago Outfit bosses Chicago Outfit mobsters Criminals from Chicago Deaths from bleeding Deaths from bronchopneumonia Deaths from pneumonia in Florida Deaths from cerebrovascular disease Depression-era gangsters Deaths from syphilis Five Points Gang Inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary People from Cicero, Illinois People from Park Slope Prohibition-era gangsters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplifier%20figures%20of%20merit

Amplifier figures of merit

In electronics, the figures of merit of an amplifier are numerical measures that characterize its properties and performance. Figures of merit can be given as a list of specifications that include properties such as gain, bandwidth, noise and linearity, among others listed in this article. Figures of merit are important for determining the suitability of a particular amplifier for an intended use. Gain The gain of an amplifier is the ratio of output to input power or amplitude, and is usually measured in decibels. When measured in decibels it is logarithmically related to the power ratio: G(dB)=10 log(Pout /Pin). RF amplifiers are often specified in terms of the maximum power gain obtainable, while the voltage gain of audio amplifiers and instrumentation amplifiers will be more often specified. For example, an audio amplifier with a gain given as 20 dB will have a voltage gain of ten. The use of voltage gain figure is appropriate when the amplifier's input impedance is much higher than the source impedance, and the load impedance higher than the amplifier's output impedance. If two equivalent amplifiers are being compared, the amplifier with higher gain settings would be more sensitive as it would take less input signal to produce a given amount of power. Bandwidth The bandwidth of an amplifier is the range of frequencies for which the amplifier gives "satisfactory performance". The definition of "satisfactory performance" may be different for different applications. However, a common and well-accepted metric is the half-power points (i.e. frequency where the power goes down by half its peak value) on the output vs. frequency curve. Therefore, bandwidth can be defined as the difference between the lower and upper half power points. This is therefore also known as the bandwidth. Bandwidths (otherwise called "frequency responses") for other response tolerances are sometimes quoted (, etc.) or "plus or minus 1dB" (roughly the sound level difference people usually can detect). The gain of a good quality full-range audio amplifier will be essentially flat between 20 Hz to about 20 kHz (the range of normal human hearing). In ultra-high-fidelity amplifier design, the amplifier's frequency response should extend considerably beyond this (one or more octaves either side) and might have points < 10 Hz and > . Professional touring amplifiers often have input and/or output filtering to sharply limit frequency response beyond ; too much of the amplifier's potential output power would otherwise be wasted on infrasonic and ultrasonic frequencies, and the danger of AM radio interference would increase. Modern switching amplifiers need steep low pass filtering at the output to get rid of high-frequency switching noise and harmonics. The range of frequency over which the gain is equal to or greater than 70.7% of its maximum gain is termed as bandwidth. Efficiency Efficiency is a measure of how much of the power source is usefully applied to the amplifier's output. Class A amplifiers are very inefficient, in the range of 10–20% with a max efficiency of 25% for direct coupling of the output. Inductive coupling of the output can raise their efficiency to a maximum of 50%. Drain efficiency is the ratio of output RF power to input DC power when primary input DC power has been fed to the drain of a field-effect transistor. Based on this definition, the drain efficiency cannot exceed 25% for a class A amplifier that is supplied drain bias current through resistors (because RF signal has its zero level at about 50% of the input DC). Manufacturers specify much higher drain efficiencies, and designers are able to obtain higher efficiencies by providing current to the drain of the transistor through an inductor or a transformer winding. In this case the RF zero level is near the DC rail and will swing both above and below the rail during operation. While the voltage level is above the DC rail current is supplied by the inductor. Class B amplifiers have a very high efficiency but are impractical for audio work because of high levels of distortion (See: Crossover distortion). In practical design, the result of a tradeoff is the class AB design. Modern Class AB amplifiers commonly have peak efficiencies between 30 and 55% in audio systems and 50-70% in radio frequency systems with a theoretical maximum of 78.5%. Commercially available Class D switching amplifiers have reported efficiencies as high as 90%. Amplifiers of Class C-F are usually known to be very high-efficiency amplifiers. RCA manufactured an AM broadcast transmitter employing a single class-C low-mu triode with an RF efficiency in the 90% range. More efficient amplifiers run cooler, and often do not need any cooling fans even in multi-kilowatt designs. The reason for this is that the loss of efficiency produces heat as a by-product of the energy lost during the conversion of power. In more efficient amplifiers there is less loss of energy so in turn less heat. In RF linear Power Amplifiers, such as cellular base stations and broadcast transmitters, special design techniques can be used to improve efficiency. Doherty designs, which use a second output stage as a "peak" amplifier, can lift efficiency from the typical 15% up to 30-35% in a narrow bandwidth. Envelope Tracking designs are able to achieve efficiencies of up to 60%, by modulating the supply voltage to the amplifier in line with the envelope of the signal. Linearity An ideal amplifier would be a totally linear device, but real amplifiers are only linear within limits. When the signal drive to the amplifier is increased, the output also increases until a point is reached where some part of the amplifier becomes saturated and cannot produce any more output; this is called clipping, and results in distortion. In most amplifiers a reduction in gain takes place before hard clipping occurs; the result is a compression effect, which (if the amplifier is an audio amplifier) sounds much less unpleasant to the ear. For these amplifiers, the 1 dB compression point is defined as the input power (or output power) where the gain is 1 dB less than the small signal gain. Sometimes this non linearity is deliberately designed in to reduce the audible unpleasantness of hard clipping under overload. Ill effects of non-linearity can be reduced with negative feedback. Linearization is an emergent field, and there are many techniques, such as feed forward, predistortion, postdistortion, in order to avoid the undesired effects of the non-linearities. Noise This is a measure of how much noise is introduced in the amplification process. Noise is an undesirable but inevitable product of the electronic devices and components; also, much noise results from intentional economies of manufacture and design time. The metric for noise performance of a circuit is noise figure or noise factor. Noise figure is a comparison between the output signal to noise ratio and the thermal noise of the input signal. Output dynamic range Output dynamic range is the range, usually given in dB, between the smallest and largest useful output levels. The lowest useful level is limited by output noise, while the largest is limited most often by distortion. The ratio of these two is quoted as the amplifier dynamic range. More precisely, if S = maximal allowed signal power and N = noise power, the dynamic range DR is DR = (S + N ) /N. In many switched mode amplifiers, dynamic range is limited by the minimum output step size. Slew rate Slew rate is the maximum rate of change of the output, usually quoted in volts per second (or microsecond). Many amplifiers are ultimately slew rate limited (typically by the impedance of a drive current having to overcome capacitive effects at some point in the circuit), which sometimes limits the full power bandwidth to frequencies well below the amplifier's small-signal frequency response. Rise time The rise time, tr, of an amplifier is the time taken for the output to change from 10% to 90% of its final level when driven by a step input. For a Gaussian response system (or a simple RC roll off), the rise time is approximated by: tr * BW = 0.35, where tr is rise time in seconds and BW is bandwidth in Hz. Settling time and ringing The time taken for the output to settle to within a certain percentage of the final value (for instance 0.1%) is called the settling time, and is usually specified for oscilloscope vertical amplifiers and high-accuracy measurement systems. Ringing refers to an output variation that cycles above and below an amplifier's final value and leads to a delay in reaching a stable output. Ringing is the result of overshoot caused by an underdamped circuit. Overshoot In response to a step input, the overshoot is the amount the output exceeds its final, steady-state value. Stability Stability is an issue in all amplifiers with feedback, whether that feedback is added intentionally or results unintentionally. It is especially an issue when applied over multiple amplifying stages. Stability is a major concern in RF and microwave amplifiers. The degree of an amplifier's stability can be quantified by a so-called stability factor. There are several different stability factors, such as the Stern stability factor and the Linvil stability factor, which specify a condition that must be met for the absolute stability of an amplifier in terms of its two-port parameters. See also Audio system measurements Low-noise amplifier References External links Efficiency of Microwave Devices RF Power Amplifier Testing Amplifiers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army%20of%20Darkness

Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness is a 1992 American dark fantasy horror comedy film directed, co-written, and co-edited (under the pseudonym R. O. C. Sandstorm) by Sam Raimi. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead film series and the sequel to Evil Dead II (1987). Starring Bruce Campbell and Embeth Davidtz, it follows Ash Williams (Campbell) as he is trapped in the Middle Ages and battles the undead in his quest to return to the present. The film was produced as part of a production deal with Universal Pictures after the financial success of Darkman (1990). Filming took place in California in 1991. The makeup and creature effects for the film were handled by two different companies: Tony Gardner and his company Alterian, Inc. were responsible for the makeup effects for Ash and Sheila, while Kurtzman, Nicotero & Berger EFX Group was credited for the remaining special makeup effects characters. Tom Sullivan, who had previously worked on Within the Woods, The Evil Dead, and Evil Dead II, also contributed to the visual effects. Army of Darkness had its premiere at the Sitges Film Festival on October 9, 1992, and was released in the United States on February 19, 1993. It grossed $21.5 million total over its $11 million budget, and received generally positive reviews. Since its video release, it has acquired a cult following, along with the other two films in the trilogy. The film was dedicated to The Evil Dead sales agent and Evil Dead II executive producer Irvin Shapiro, who died before the film's production in 1989. Plot Having been accidentally transported to the Middle Ages, Ash Williams is captured by Lord Arthur's men, who suspect him of being a spy for Duke Henry, with whom Arthur is at war. He is enslaved along with the captured Henry, his shotgun and chainsaw are confiscated, and he is taken to Arthur's castle. Ash is thrown in a pit where he kills a Deadite and regains his weapons from Arthur's Wise Man. After demanding that Henry and his men be set free and killing a Deadite publicly, Ash is celebrated as a hero. He grows attracted to Sheila, the sister of one of Arthur's fallen knights. According to the Wise Man, the only way that Ash can return to his time is through the magical Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (Book of the Dead). Ash then starts his search for the Necronomicon. As he enters a haunted forest, an unseen force pursues Ash into a windmill, and he crashes into a mirror. Small reflections of Ash in the mirror shards come to life and antagonize him, with one becoming a life-sized copy of him, which Ash dismembers and buries. When he arrives at the Necronomicons location, he finds three books instead of one, and has to determine which one is real. Realizing at the last moment that he has forgotten the last word of the phrase that will allow him to remove the book safely "Klaatu barada nikto" he tries to mumble and cough his way through the pronunciation. He grabs the book and begins rushing back. Meanwhile, unknown to Ash, his ruse has failed and his body's copy rises from the dead, uniting other Deadites into the Army of Darkness. Upon his return, Ash demands to be returned to his own time. However, Sheila is abducted by a flying Deadite and later transformed into one by "Evil Ash". Ash becomes determined to lead the outnumbered humans against the Army, and the people reluctantly agree. Using knowledge from textbooks in his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 and enlisting the help of Duke Henry, Ash successfully leads the soldiers to victory over the Deadites, blows up "Evil Ash", saves Sheila, and brings peace between Arthur and Henry. Using a passage from the Necronomicon, the Wise Man tells him how to return to the present by giving him a potion after reciting the same phrase as earlier. Back in the present, Ash recounts his story to a fellow employee at the S-Mart department store. As he talks to a female co-worker who is interested in his story, a surviving Deadite, present because Ash once again forgot the last word, attacks the customers. Ash kills it using a Winchester rifle and exclaims, "Hail to the king, baby", before passionately kissing the female co-worker. Original ending For the film's original ending, using a passage from the Necronomicon, the Wise Man tells Ash to swallow six drops of the potion to return to the present; unfortunately, due to a distraction by falling rocks, Ash miscalculates the amount of potion needed to be able to correctly return to his own time, swallowing seven instead of six. As a result, he wakes up in a post-apocalyptic future where human civilization is destroyed, and he screams in dismay at having overslept. Universal Pictures objected to this climax, feeling that it was too negative and depressing in tone, and so a more positive and optimistic ending was filmed and ultimately incorporated into the theatrical cut. Cast Bruce Campbell as Ashley "Ash" J. Williams and "Evil Ash" Embeth Davidtz as Sheila Marcus Gilbert as Lord Arthur Ian Abercrombie as Wise Man Richard Grove as Duke Henry the Red Timothy Patrick Quill as Blacksmith Michael Earl Reid as Gold Tooth Bridget Fonda as Linda Bill Moseley as Deadite captain Patricia Tallman as Possessed witch Ted Raimi as Cowardly warrior/Second supportive villager/Anthony, the S-Mart clerk/Skeleton voices Angela Featherstone as S-Mart store girl (uncredited) Production Development Plans to make a third Evil Dead film had been circulating for a number of years, even prior to the production of Darkman. Evil Dead II made enough money internationally that Dino De Laurentiis was willing to finance a sequel. Director and script writer Sam Raimi drew from a variety of sources, including literature with A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and films like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, The Three Stooges, and Conan the Barbarian. Evil Dead II, according to Bruce Campbell, "was originally designed to go back into the past to 1300, but we couldn't muster it at the time, so we decided to make an interim version, not knowing if the 1300 story would ever get made". Promotional drawings were created and published in Variety during the casting process before the budget was deemed too little for the plot. The working title for the project was Medieval Dead, before it was later known as Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness. The title "Army of Darkness" came from an idea by Irvin Shapiro, during the production of Evil Dead II. Writing Initially, Raimi invited Scott Spiegel to co-write Army of Darkness because he had done a good job on Evil Dead II, but he was busy on rewrites for the Clint Eastwood film The Rookie. After the good experience of writing the screenplay for a film called Easy Wheels, Sam and his brother Ivan decided to co-write the film together. They worked on the script throughout the pre-production and production of Darkman. After filming Darkman, they took the script out and worked on it in more detail. Raimi says that Ivan "has a good sense of character" and that he brought more comedy into the script. Campbell remembers, "We all decided, 'Get him out of the cabin.' There were earlier drafts where part three still took place there, but we thought, 'Well, we all know that cabin, it's time to move on.' The three of us decided to keep it in 1300, because it's more interesting". Campbell and Tapert would read the script drafts, give Raimi their notes and he would decide which suggestions to keep and which ones to discard. Pre-production The initial budget was $8 million but during pre-production, it became obvious that this was not going to be enough. Darkman was also a financial success and De Laurentiis had a multi-picture deal with Universal and so Army of Darkness became one of the films. The studio decided to contribute half of the film's $12 million budget. However, the film's ambitious scope and its extensive effects work forced Campbell, Raimi and producer Robert Tapert to put up $1 million of their collective salaries to shoot a new ending and not film a scene where a possessed woman pushes down some giant pillars. Visual effects supervisor William Mesa showed Raimi storyboards he had from Victor Fleming's film Joan of Arc that depicted huge battle scenes and he picked out 25 shots to use in Army of Darkness. A storyboard artist worked closely with the director in order to blend the shots from the Joan of Arc storyboards with the battle scenes in his film. Traci Lords was among the actresses auditioning for the film, saying in 2001, "I didn't get the part but I clicked with Bruce [Campbell]," with whom she would later work as a guest star in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Filming Principal photography took place between soundstage and on-location work. Army of Darkness was filmed in Bronson Canyon and Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park. The interior shots were filmed on an Introvision stage in Hollywood. Raimi's use of the Introvision process was a tribute to the stop-motion animation work of Ray Harryhausen. Introvision uses front-projected images with live actors instead of the traditional rear projection that Harryhausen and others used. Introvision blended components with more realistic-looking results. To achieve this effect, Raimi used 60-foot-tall Scotchlite front-projection screens, miniatures and background plates. According to the director, the advantage of using this technique was "the incredible amount of interaction between the background, which doesn't exist, and the foreground, which is usually your character". Shooting began in mid-1991, and it lasted for about 100 days. It was a mid-summer shoot and while on location on a huge castle set that was built near Acton, California, on the edge of the Mojave Desert, the cast and crew endured very hot conditions during the day and very cold temperatures at night. Most of the film took place at night and the filmmakers shot most of the film during the summer when the days were longest and the nights were the shortest. It would take an hour and a half to light an area leaving the filmmakers only six hours left to shoot a scene. Money problems forced cinematographer Bill Pope to shoot only for certain hours Monday through Friday because he could not be paid his standard fee. Mesa shot many of the action sequences on the weekend. It was a difficult shoot for Campbell who had to learn elaborate choreography for the battle scenes, which involved him remembering a number system because the actor was often fighting opponents that were not really there. Mesa remembers, "Bruce was cussing and swearing some of the time because you had to work on the number system. Sam would tell us to make it as complicated and hard for Bruce as possible. 'Make him go through torture!' So we'd come up with these shots that were really, really difficult, and sometimes they would take thirty-seven takes". Some scenes, like Evil Ash walking along the graveyard while his skeleton minions come to life, blended stop-motion animation with live-action skeleton puppets that were mechanically rigged, with prosthetics and visual effects. During the filming of a scene in which Campbell flipped a stuntman down a set of stairs, the lower part of his face contacted with a piece of armor, which resulted in him bleeding. Campbell was brought to a local emergency room to have the wound mended by a plastic surgeon, who, upon seeing the number of artificial cuts and slashes on Campbell's face, asked, "Which one is it?" In order to maintain the continuity of the injuries and dirt on Ash's face, the on-set makeup specialist utilized a plastic template that fit over Campbell's face. The filmmakers initially intended to reshoot the shot from Evil Dead II in which Ash and the Oldsmobile fall from the sky onto the ground of medieval England, with Campbell later stating that the reason they sought to reshoot it rather than reusing the footage from the previous film was due to "a rights issue". Campbell was intended to jump from a ladder onto the ground, and the Oldsmobile dropped from its suspension on an aircraft cable attached to a crane on a nearby access road. However, the support legs under the crane gave out, causing the car to prematurely crash to the ground and the crane to fall off a cliff into a gravel pit. Campbell noted that, "Ironically, after all the hassle, we wound up using the footage from 1986." Post-production While Dino De Laurentiis gave Raimi and his crew freedom to shoot the film the way they wanted, Universal took over during post-production. Universal was not happy with Raimi's cut because it did not like his original ending, feeling it was negative. In this ending, the potion Ash is given causes him to oversleep, and when he wakes up he is in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic wasteland. A more upbeat ending was shot a month later in a lumber store in Malibu, California. Then, two months after principal filming was finished, a round of re-shoots began in Santa Monica and involved Ash in the windmill and the scenes with Bridget Fonda. Raimi recalls, "Actually, I kind of like the fact that there are two endings, that in one alternate universe Bruce is screwed, and in another universe he's some cheesy hero". Raimi needed $3 million to finish his film, but Universal was not willing to give him the money and delayed its release due to a dispute with De Laurentiis over the rights to the Hannibal Lecter character which Universal needed so that they could film a sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. The matter was finally resolved, but the release date for Army of Darkness''' was pushed back from summer of 1992 to February 1993. For the film's poster, Universal brought Campbell in to take several reference head shots and asked him to strike a sly look on his face. They showed him a rough of the Frank Frazetta-like painting. The actor had a day to approve it or, as he was told, there would be no ad campaign for the film. Raimi ran into further troubles when the Motion Picture Association of America gave it an NC-17 rating for a shot of a female Deadite being killed early on in the film. Universal wanted a PG-13 rating, so Raimi made a few cuts and was still stuck with an R rating. In response, Universal turned the film over to outside film editors who cut the film to 81 minutes and another version running 87 minutes that was eventually released in theaters, still with an R rating. Music Danny Elfman, who composed the score for Darkman, wrote the "March of the Dead" theme for Army of Darkness. After the re-shoots were completed, Joseph LoDuca, who composed the music for The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, returned to score the film. The composer used his knowledge of synthesizers and was able to present many cues in a mock-up form before he recorded them with the Seattle Symphony. A vinyl release of the score was revealed during the MondoCon in Austin, Texas, on October 3 and 4, 2015 over Mondo Records. Reception Box officeArmy of Darkness was released by Universal on February 19, 1993, in 1,387 theaters in the United States, grossing $4.4 million (38.5% of total gross) in its first weekend. On a budget of $11 million, the film earned $11.5 million in the US and $21.5 million worldwide. Critical response The film holds a 75% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.9/10; making its critical reception above average but much lower than The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, which both received 95%. The site's consensus reads, "Army Of Darkness is a madcap adventure worth taking thanks to Bruce Campbell's hammy charm and Sam Raimi's acrobatic direction, although an intentional lack of shocks makes this a discordant capper to the Evil Dead franchise". On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 57 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars and wrote, "The movie isn't as funny or entertaining as Evil Dead II, however, maybe because the comic approach seems recycled." In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote that "Mr. Campbell's manly, mock-heroic posturing is perfectly in keeping with the director's droll outlook." Desson Howe, in his review for The Washington Post praised the film's style: "Bill Pope's cinematography is gymnastic and appropriately frenetic. The visual and make-up effects (from artist-technicians William Mesa, Tony Gardner and others) are incredibly imaginative." However, Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C+" rating and wrote, "This spoofy cast of thousands looks a little too much like a crew of bland Hollywood extras. By the time Army of Darkness turns into a retread of Jason and the Argonauts, featuring an army of fighting skeletons, the film has fallen into a ditch between parody and spectacle." AccoladesArmy of Darkness won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film (1994). It was also nominated for Best Make-Up. Army of Darkness was nominated for the Grand Prize at Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, and won the Golden Raven at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film in 1993. The film also won the Critics' Award at Fantasporto, and was nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award in the category of Best Film in 1993. It was also nominated for Best Film at Sitges, the Spanish International Film Festival. Other media Future In March 2013, shortly before the release of Evil Dead, a loose continuation of the franchise, Raimi stated that the next Evil Dead film will be Army of Darkness 2. Campbell confirmed that he would star as an older, but not necessarily wiser, Ash. At a WonderCon panel in March, Campbell and Fede Álvarez, director of the 2013 film, stated that their ultimate plan was for Álvarez's Evil Dead 2 and Raimi's Army of Darkness 2 to be followed by a seventh film which would merge the narratives of Ash and Mia. Later in October, Campbell once again confirmed in an interview with ComicBook.com that he will be reprising his role as Ash in the sequel. Fede Álvarez posted a status update on his Twitter account that Raimi will direct the sequel. Campbell later commented that the rumor about him returning is false. In July 2014, Campbell stated it was likely the planned sequel would instead be a TV series with him as the star. The ten-episode season of Ash vs Evil Dead premiered on Starz on October 31, 2015, with the pilot co-written and directed by Sam Raimi. Due to legal issues with Universal, the events from Army of Darkness could not specifically be mentioned in the first season; it was later resolved and the events from that film were mentioned in the second season. In addition to Campbell, the series stars Dana DeLorenzo, Ray Santiago, and Lucy Lawless. The series was later canceled after three seasons, with Campbell officially retiring from the role of Ash. A new Evil Dead film, entitled Evil Dead Rise, written and directed by Lee Cronin and starring Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, and Mia Challis is set to release theatrically on April 21, 2023. ComicsArmy of Darkness had a comic book adaptation and several comic book sequels. The movie adaptation, from publisher Dark Horse Comics, was published before the film's theatrical release. Army of Darkness (movie adaptation) Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes Army of Darkness: Shop till You Drop Dead Darkman vs. Army of Darkness Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator Army of Darkness: Old School Army of Darkness: Ash vs. The Classic Monsters Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness Army of Darkness: From the Ashes Army of Darkness: Long Road Home Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors Army of Darkness/Xena: Warrior Princess: Why Not? Xena vs. Army of Darkness: What Again? Army of Darkness vs. Hack/SlashRole-playing game Eden Studios, Inc. published the Army of Darkness Roleplaying Game in 2005. Video game Army of Darkness: Defense'' (2011, by Backflip Studios & MGM Interactive) See also List of films featuring miniature people Notes References Bibliography External links The Evil Dead (franchise) films 1992 films American films with live action and animation 1992 horror films 1990s comedy horror films American comedy horror films American sequel films American dark fantasy films Demons in film Fantasy adventure films Films scored by Danny Elfman Films about amputees Films directed by Sam Raimi 1992 fantasy films Films set in the 13th century Films using stop-motion animation Films about time travel Puppet films Renaissance Pictures productions Films adapted into comics Universal Pictures films Films set in castles Films with screenplays by Ivan Raimi Films with screenplays by Sam Raimi 1992 comedy films American supernatural horror films American sword and sorcery films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed%20al-Nami

Ahmed al-Nami

Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Nami (Arabic: أحمد بن عبد الله النعمي, ; also transliterated as Alnami; August 17, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi Arabian terrorist who boarded United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks. al-Nami, along with Ahmed al-Haznawi are suspected to have carried the presumed bomb that was boarded Flight 93 Born in Saudi Arabia, al-Nami had served as a muezzin and was a college student. He left his family in 2000 to complete the Hajj, but later went to Afghanistan bound for an al-Qaeda training camp where he befriended other future hijackers and would soon be chosen to participate in the attacks. He arrived in the United States in May 2001, on a tourist visa, where he would settle in Florida up until the attacks. On September 11, 2001, al-Nami boarded United 93 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane so that it could be flown into the either the U.S. Capitol or the White House. The plane instead crashed into a field in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania during a passenger uprising, due to the passengers receiving information from their families of the three other hijacked planes that hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Early life and activities Al-Nami, much like Wail al-Shehri, Waleed al-Shehri and Mohand al-Shehri, was born in the 'Asir Province in Saudi Arabia. Born to the Quraysh tribe of Saudi Arabia, Al-Nami served as a muezzin at the Seqeley mosque after having reportedly become very religious sometime in early 1999. That autumn he left his family home in Abha in the summer of 2000 to complete the Hajj, but never returned – instead travelling to the Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan where he met and befriended Waleed and Wail al-Shehri, two brothers from Khamis Mushayt in the same province, and Saeed al-Ghamdi. The four reportedly pledged themselves to Jihad in the Spring of 2000, in a ceremony presided over by Wail al-Shehri – who had dubbed himself Abu Mossaeb al-Janubi after one of Muhammad's companions. Dubbed "Abu Hashim", al-Nami was considered "gentle in manner" by his colleagues, and reported that he had a dream in which he rode a mare along with Muhammad, and that the prophet told him to dismount and fight his enemies to liberate his land. During his time at al-Farooq, there is a curious mention under Mushabib al-Hamlan's details that al-Nami had recently had laser eye surgery, an uncited fact that does not reappear. By October he had taken a prospective hijacker Mushabib al-Hamlan from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia where they both procured B-1/B-2 tourist/business visas on October 28 – but al-Hamlan then decided not to proceed and is thought to have returned to his family. Al-Nami's visa application has since been reviewed, and while he mentioned that al-Hamlan will be travelling with him, he listed his occupation as student but failed to provide an address for his school, and listed his intended address in the United States merely as Los Angeles – in the end he never used this visa to enter the United States, and reported his passport (C115007, which showed evidence of travel to Afghanistan) as "lost", and procured a new one from Jeddah (C505363). He used the new passport to acquire a new B-1/B-2 visa in Jeddah on April 23, again recopying his answers from previously although crossing out the lines regarding al-Hamlan and previous attempts to acquire a visa. He was interviewed by a consular officer, who again approved his application. Records at the time only recorded past failures to procure a visa, so the officer had no way of realising that Nami had successfully received an earlier visa. In mid-November 2000, the 9/11 Commission believes that al-Nami, Wail and Waleed al-Shehri, all of whom had obtained their U.S. visas in late October, traveled in a group from Saudi Arabia to Beirut and then onward to Iran where they could travel through to Afghanistan without getting their passports stamped. This probably followed their return to Saudi Arabia to get "clean" passports. An associate of a senior Hezbollah operative is thought to have been on the same flight, although this may have been a coincidence. While in the United Arab Emirates, al-Nami purchased traveler's cheques presumed to have been paid for by Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Five other hijackers also passed through the UAE and purchased travellers cheques, including Majed Moqed, Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Haznawi and Wail al-Shehri. 2001 In March 2001, Ahmed al-Nami appeared in an al-Qaeda farewell video showing 13 of the "muscle hijackers" before they left their training centre in Kandahar; while he does not speak, he is seen studying maps and flight manuals. On April 23, al-Nami was recorded obtaining a new US visa. On May 28, al-Nami arrived in the United States from Dubai with fellow-hijackers Mohand al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi. By early June, al-Nami was living in apartment 1504 at the Delray Racquet Club condominiums with Saeed al-Ghamdi in Delray Beach, Florida. He telephoned his family in 'Asir shortly after arriving in the country. In June, he phoned his family for the last time. He was one of 9 hijackers to open a SunTrust bank account with a cash deposit around June 2001, and on June 29 received either a Florida State Identification Card or Drivers License. He may have been one of three hijackers that listed the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida as their permanent address on drivers' licenses, though other sources claim he listed the Delray condominium. On August 28, al-Nami and Ahmed al-Haznawi reportedly bothered a Delray Beach resident, Maria Siscar Simpson, to let them through her apartment to retrieve a towel that had fallen off their balcony onto hers. On September 5, al-Nami and Saeed al-Ghamdi purchased tickets for a September 7 flight to Newark at Mile High Travel on Commercial Boulevard—paying cash for their tickets. Ziad Jarrah and Ahmed al-Haznawi also purchased tickets for the same flight from Passage Tours. On September 7, all four Flight 93 hijackers flew from Fort Lauderdale to Newark International Airport aboard Spirit Airlines. Attacks On September 11, 2001, Nami arrived in Newark to board United Airlines Flight 93 along with Saeed al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Haznawi and Ziad Jarrah. Some reports suggest Haznawi was pulled aside for screening while others claim there is no record of whether any of the four were screened; the lack of CCTV cameras at the time has compounded the problem. Nami boarded the plane between 7:39 am and 7:48 am; seated in First Class 3C, next to Saeed al-Ghamdi. Due to the flight's routine delay, the pilot and crew were notified of the previous hijackings and were told to be on the alert, though within two minutes Jarrah had stormed the cockpit leaving the pilots dead or injured. At least two of the cellphone calls made by passengers indicate that all the hijackers they saw were wearing red bandanas, which some have questioned may have signified an allegiance to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The calls also indicated that Ahmed Al Nami had tied a box around his torso, and claimed there was a bomb inside. Passengers on the plane heard through phone calls the fates of the other hijacked planes, and organized a brief assault to retake the cockpit. Three times in a period of five seconds there were shouts of pain or distress from a hijacker outside the cockpit, suggesting that Nami was being attacked by the passengers. The plane crashed into the Pennsylvanian countryside and all aboard died. Aftermath He has been portrayed by British actor Jamie Harding in the 2006 film United 93 and Asim Wali in the film Flight 93. See also PENTTBOM Hijackers in the September 11 attacks References External links The Final 9/11 Commission Report 1977 births 2001 deaths Participants in the September 11 attacks Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members United Airlines Flight 93 Saudi Arabian mass murderers People from 'Asir Province Deaths in Somerset County, Pennsylvania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed%20al-Haznawi

Ahmed al-Haznawi

Ahmed Ibrahim al-Haznawi al-Ghamdi (, ) (October 11, 1980 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi Arabian terrorist hijacker of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks. Haznawi or Ahmed al-Nami are believed to be one of the apparent hijackers to have carried the bomb. He left his family to fight in Chechnya in 2000 but was probably sent to training camps in Afghanistan. It was there he was chosen to participate in the 9/11 attacks. He arrived in the United States in June 2001 under the direction of Al-Qaeda for terrorist attacks, on a tourist visa. Once he was in the U.S., he settled in Florida and helped plan out how the attacks would take place. On September 11, 2001, al-Haznawi boarded United Airlines Flight 93 and assisted in the hijacking of the plane so it could be crashed into either the United States Capitol or the White House. Instead, the plane crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after the passengers on-board started a revolt against al-Haznawi and the other hijackers. Early life Ahmed al-Haznawi was the son of a Saudi imam from the Al-Bahah province, a province in the south west of Saudi Arabia. Al-Haznawi grew up in the village of Hazna, where his father was a cleric at the mosque in the central marketplace section of the village. Al-Haznawi belonged to a family that was part of the larger Ghamd tribe, sharing the same tribal affiliation with fellow hijackers Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, and Ahmed al-Ghamdi. He memorised the Quran, giving him the title Hafiz. This group is noted as being some of the more religiously observant of the hijackers, and they are thought to have met one another some time in 1999. Early activities 1999–2000 Al-Haznawi announced he was leaving his family in 1999 to fight in Chechnya, although his father forbade him. His father and brother, Abdul Rahman al-Haznawi, reportedly last heard from him in late 2000, after he made references to training in Afghanistan. On November 12, 2000, al-Haznawi applied for and received a two-year U.S. B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. From November 27, 2000, through December 27, 2000, al-Haznawi was in Saudi Arabia for Ramadan. It is theorized that during this trip, he may have initially told Saeed and Hamza al-Ghamdi about the operation. Some time late in 2000, al-Haznawi traveled to the United Arab Emirates, where he purchased traveler's cheques presumed to have been paid for by Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Five other hijackers also passed through the UAE and purchased travellers cheques, including Majed Moqed, Saeed al-Ghamdi, Hamza al-Ghamdi, Wail al-Shehri and Ahmed al-Nami. 2001 He was one of four hijackers believed to be staying at a Kandahar guest house in March 2001, where they were seen by Mohammed Jabarah. Jabarah remembered al-Haznawi specifically, saying that he was "very devout and could recite the entire Koran from memory." On June 8, he arrived in Miami, Florida, with fellow hijacker Wail al-Shehri. He was one of nine hijackers to open a SunTrust bank account with a cash deposit around June 2001. He is believed to have moved in with Ziad Jarrah, who got a new apartment on Bougainvilla Dr. in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, after both men gave the landlord photocopies of their German passports, which he later turned over to the FBI. On June 25, Jarrah took al-Haznawi to Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale on advice of his landlord. Al-Haznawi was treated by Dr. Christos Tsonas, who gave him antibiotics for a cut on his left calf. While he told staff that he had bumped into a suitcase, the media briefly reported it as a sign of cutaneous anthrax and a possible link to the 2001 anthrax attacks, although FBI later addressed the rumors stating that "Exhaustive testing did not support that anthrax was present anywhere the hijackers had been." On July 10, al-Haznawi obtained a Florida driver's license, later obtaining another copy on September 7, 2001, by filling out a change-of-address form. Five other hijackers also received duplicate Florida licenses in 2001, and others had licenses from different states. Some have speculated that this was to allow multiple persons to use the same identity. Jarrah and al-Haznawi both received their one-way tickets for United Airlines Flight 93, on September 5. On September 7, all four Flight 93 hijackers flew from Fort Lauderdale to Newark International Airport aboard Spirit Airlines. Attacks On September 11, 2001, al-Haznawi arrived at Newark International Airport to board United Airlines Flight 93. Although he was selected for additional security by CAPPS and screened, he was able to board the flight without incident, with only his checked bags requiring extra screening for explosives. Due to the flight's delay, the pilot and crew were notified of the previous hijackings that day and were told to be on the alert. Within minutes, Flight 93 was hijacked as well. At least two of the cellphone calls made by passengers indicate that all the hijackers they saw were wearing red bandanas, which some believe may have signified an allegiance to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The calls also indicated that Ahmed Al-Nami had tied a box around his torso, and claimed there was a bomb inside. Some passengers expressed doubt that the bomb was real. Passengers on the plane heard through phone calls the fates of the other hijacked planes. A passenger uprising soon took place. Hijacker-pilot Ziad Jarrah crashed the plane into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in order to prevent the passengers from gaining control of the plane. The crash killed everyone on board. Aftermath After the attacks, before the release of the FBI pictures of the hijackers, Arab News reported that al-Haznawi's brother Abdul Rahman had told al-Madinah newspaper that a photograph published by local newspapers bore no resemblance to his brother. A videotape titled "The Wills of the New York and Washington Battle Martyrs" was aired on Al Jazeera on April 16, 2002. While the name beneath the speaker read al-Ghamdi, the image is of al-Haznawi speaking. Officials suggested that the name was merely a reference to his tribal affiliation. The film was thought to have been made in March 2001. In it, he talked about his plans to bring the "bloodied message" to America. In September 2002, a similar tape made by Abdulaziz al-Omari appeared. He has been portrayed by actors Omar Berdouni in United 93, and Zak Santiago in Flight 93. See also PENTTBOM Hijackers in the September 11 attacks References External links The Final 9/11 Commission Report Bin Laden tape with Haznawi 1980 births 2001 deaths Participants in the September 11 attacks Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members United Airlines Flight 93 Saudi Arabian mass murderers People from Al-Bahah Province Deaths in Somerset County, Pennsylvania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius%20of%20Alexandria

Athanasius of Alexandria

Athanasius I of Alexandria (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor, or, among Coptic Christians, Athanasius the Apostolic, was a church father and the 20th pope of Alexandria (as Athanasius I). His intermittent episcopacy spanned 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), of which over 17 encompassed five exiles, when he was replaced on the order of four different Roman emperors. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian Christian leader of the fourth century. Conflict with Arius and Arianism, as well as with successive Roman emperors, shaped Athanasius' career. In 325, at age 27, Athanasius began his leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great had convened the council in May–August 325 to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father. Three years after that council, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as pope of Alexandria. In addition to the conflict with the Arians (including powerful and influential Arian churchmen led by Eusebius of Nicomedia), he struggled against the Emperors Constantine, Constantius II, Julian the Apostate and Valens. He was known as Athanasius Contra Mundum (Latin for 'Athanasius Against the World'). Nonetheless, within a few years of his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the "Pillar of the Church". His writings were well regarded by subsequent Church fathers in the West and the East, who noted their devotion to the Word-become-man, pastoral concern and interest in monasticism. Athanasius is considered one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church in the Catholic Church. In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius was the first person to list the 27 books of the New Testament canon that are in use today. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. Biography Athanasius was born to a Christian family in Alexandria, or possibly the nearby Nile Delta town of Damanhur, sometime between 293 and 298. The earlier date is sometimes assigned because of the maturity revealed in his two earliest treatises Contra Gentes (Against the Heathens) and De Incarnatione (On the Incarnation), which were likely written circa 318 before Arianism had begun to make itself felt, as those writings do not show an awareness of Arianism. However, Cornelius Clifford places his birth no earlier than 296 and no later than 298, based on the fact that Athanasius indicates no first-hand recollection of the Maximian persecution of 303, which he suggests Athanasius would have remembered if he had been ten years old at the time. Secondly, the Festal Epistles state that the Arians had accused Athanasius, among other charges, of not having yet attained the canonical age (35) and thus could not have been properly ordained as patriarch of Alexandria in 328. The accusation must have seemed plausible. The Orthodox Church places his year of birth around 297. Education His parents were wealthy enough to give him a fine secular education. He was, nevertheless, clearly not a member of the Egyptian aristocracy. Some Western scholars consider his command of Greek, in which he wrote most (if not all) of his surviving works, evidence that he may have been a Greek born in Alexandria. Historical evidence, however, indicates that he was fluent in Coptic as well, given the regions of Egypt where he preached. Some surviving copies of his writings are in fact in Coptic, though scholars differ as to whether he wrote them in Coptic originally (which would make him the first patriarch to do so) or whether these were translations of writings originally in Greek. Rufinus relates a story that as Bishop Alexander stood by a window, he watched boys playing on the seashore below, imitating the ritual of Christian baptism. He sent for the children and discovered that one of the boys (Athanasius) had acted as bishop. After questioning Athanasius, Bishop Alexander informed him that the baptisms were genuine, as both the form and matter of the sacrament had been performed through the recitation of the correct words and the administration of water, and that he must not continue to do this as those baptized had not been properly catechized. He invited Athanasius and his playfellows to prepare for clerical careers. Alexandria was the most important trade centre in the empire during Athanasius's boyhood. Intellectually, morally, and politically—it epitomized the ethnically diverse Graeco-Roman world, even more than Rome or Constantinople, Antioch or Marseilles. Its famous catechetical school, while sacrificing none of its famous passion for orthodoxy since the days of Pantaenus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Dionysius and Theognostus, had begun to take on an almost secular character in the comprehensiveness of its interests and had counted influential pagans among its serious auditors. Peter of Alexandria, the 17th archbishop of Alexandria, was martyred in 311 in the closing days of the Great Persecution and may have been one of Athanasius's teachers. His successor as bishop of Alexandria was Alexander of Alexandria. According to Sozomen; "the Bishop Alexander 'invited Athanasius to be his commensal and secretary. He had been well educated, and was versed in grammar and rhetoric, and had already, while still a young man, and before reaching the episcopate, given proof to those who dwelt with him of his wisdom and acumen' ".(Soz., II, xvii) Athanasius' earliest work, Against the Heathen – On the Incarnation (written before 319), bears traces of Origenist Alexandrian thought (such as repeatedly quoting Plato and using a definition from Aristotle's Organon) but in an orthodox way. Athanasius was also familiar with the theories of various philosophical schools and in particular with the developments of neoplatonism. Ultimately, Athanasius would modify the philosophical thought of the School of Alexandria away from the Origenist principles such as the "entirely allegorical interpretation of the text". Still, in later works, Athanasius quotes Homer more than once (Hist. Ar. 68, Orat. iv. 29). Athanasius knew Greek and admitted not knowing Hebrew [see, e.g., the 39th Festal Letter of St. Athan]. The Old Testament passages he quotes frequently come from the Septuagint Greek translation. Only rarely did he use other Greek versions (to Aquila once in the Ecthesis, to other versions once or twice on the Psalms), and his knowledge of the Old Testament was limited to the Septuagint. The combination of Scriptural study and of Greek learning was characteristic of the famous Alexandrian School. Bishop (or Patriarch, the highest ecclesial rank in the Centre of the Church, in Alexandria) Alexander ordained Athanasius a deacon in 319. In 325, Athanasius served as Alexander's secretary at the First Council of Nicaea. Already a recognized theologian and ascetic, he was the obvious choice to replace his ageing mentor Alexander as the Patriarch of Alexandria, despite the opposition of the followers of Arius and Meletius of Lycopolis. At length, in the Council of Nicaea, the term "consubstantial" (homoousion) was adopted, and a formulary of faith embodying it was drawn up by Hosius of Córdoba. From this time to the end of the Arian controversies, the word "consubstantial" continued to be the test of orthodoxy. The formulary of faith drawn up by Hosius is known as the Nicene Creed. However, "he was not the originator of the famous 'homoousion' (ACC of homoousios). The term had been proposed in a non-obvious and illegitimate sense by Paul of Samosata to the Fathers at Antioch, and had been rejected by them as savouring of materialistic conceptions of the Godhead." While still a deacon under Alexander's care (or early in his patriarchate as discussed below) Athanasius may have also become acquainted with some of the solitaries of the Egyptian desert, and in particular Anthony the Great, whose life he is said to have written. Opposition to Arianism In about 319, when Athanasius was a deacon, a presbyter named Arius came into a direct conflict with Alexander of Alexandria. It appears that Arius reproached Alexander for what he felt were misguided or heretical teachings being taught by the bishop. Arius' theological views appear to have been firmly rooted in Alexandrian Christianity. He embraced a subordinationist Christology which taught that Christ was the divine Son (Logos) of God, made, not begotten. This view was heavily influenced by Alexandrian thinkers like Origen and was a common Christological view in Alexandria at the time. Arius had support from a powerful bishop named Eusebius of Nicomedia (not to be confused with Eusebius of Caesarea), illustrating how Arius's subordinationist Christology was shared by other Christians in the empire. Arius was subsequently excommunicated by Alexander, and Arius began to elicit the support of many bishops who agreed with his position. Patriarch Frances A. M. Forbes writes that when Patriarch Alexander was on his death-bed he called Athanasius, who fled fearing he would be constrained to be made bishop. "When the Bishops of the Church assembled to elect their new Patriarch, the whole Catholic population surrounded the church, holding up their hands to Heaven and crying; "Give us Athanasius!" The Bishops had nothing better. Athanasius was thus elected, as Gregory tells us..." (Pope Gregory I had full access to the Vatican Archives). Alban Butler writes on the subject: "Five months after this great Council, Nicae, St Alexander lying on his deathbed, recommended to his clergy and people the choice of Athanasius for his successor, thrice repeating his name. In consequence of his recommendation, the bishops of all Egypt assembled at Alexandria, and finding the people and clergy unanimous in their choice of Athanasius for patriarch, they confirmed the election about the middle of year 326. He seems, then, to have been about thirty years of age." T. Gilmartin (Professor of History, Maynooth, 1890) writes: "On the death of Alexander, five months after the termination of the Council of Nicaea, Athanasius was unanimously elected to fill the vacant see. He was most unwilling to accept the dignity, for he clearly foresaw the difficulties in which it would involve him. The clergy and people were determined to have him as their bishop, Patriarch of Alexandria, and refused to accept any excuses. He at length consented to accept a responsibility that he sought in vain to escape, and was consecrated in 326, when he was about thirty years of age." Athanasius' episcopate began on 9 May 328 as the Alexandrian Council elected Athanasius to succeed after the death of Alexander. Patriarch Athanasius spent over 17 years in five exiles ordered by four different Roman Emperors, not counting approximately six more incidents in which Athanasius fled Alexandria to escape people seeking to take his life. During his first years as bishop, Athanasius visited the churches of his territory, which at that time included all of Egypt and Libya. He established contacts with the hermits and monks of the desert, including Pachomius, which proved very valuable to him over the years. "During the forty-eight years of his episcopate, his history is told in the history of the controversies in which he was constantly engaged with the Arians, and of the sufferings he had to endure in defence of the Nicene faith. We have seen that when Arius was allowed to return from exile in 328, Athanasius refused to remove the sentence of excommunication." First exile Athanasius' first problem lay with Meletius of Lycopolis and his followers, who had failed to abide by the First Council of Nicaea. That council also anathematized Arius. Accused of mistreating Arians and Meletians, Athanasius answered those charges at a gathering of bishops at the First Synod of Tyre in 335. There, Eusebius of Nicomedia and other supporters of Arius deposed Athanasius. On 6 November, both sides of the dispute met with Emperor Constantine I in Constantinople. At that meeting, the Arians claimed Athanasius would try to cut off essential Egyptian grain supplies to Constantinople. He was found guilty and sent into exile to Augusta Treverorum in Gaul (now Trier in Germany). When Athanasius reached his destination in exile in 336, Maximin of Trier received him, but not as a disgraced person. Athanasius stayed with him for two years. Constantine died in 337 and was succeeded by his three sons, Constantine II, Constantius, and Constans. Paul I of Constantinople had cautioned Emperor Constans against the Arians, revealing their plots, and he also had been banished and found shelter with Maximin. Second exile When Emperor Constantine I died, Athanasius was allowed to return to his See of Alexandria. Shortly thereafter, however, Constantius II renewed the order for Athanasius's banishment in 338. "Within a few weeks he set out for Rome to lay his case before the Church at large. He had made his appeal to Pope Julius, who took up his cause with whole-heartedness that never wavered down to the day of that holy pontiff's death. The pope summoned a synod of bishops to meet in Rome. After a careful and detailed examination of the entire case, the primate's innocence was proclaimed to the Christian world." During this time, Gregory of Cappadocia, an Arian bishop, was installed as the patriarch of Alexandria, usurping the absent Athanasius. Athanasius did, however, remain in contact with his people through his annual Festal Letters, in which he also announced on which date Easter would be celebrated that year. In 339 or 340, nearly one hundred bishops met at Alexandria, declared in favour of Athanasius, and vigorously rejected the criticisms of the Eusebian faction at Tyre. Plus, Pope Julius wrote to the supporters of Arius strongly urging Athanasius's reinstatement, but that effort proved in vain. Julius called a synod in Rome in 340 to address the matter, which proclaimed Athanasius the rightful bishop of Alexandria. Early in 343 Athanasius met with Hosius of Córdoba, and together they set out for Serdica. A full council of the Church was summoned there in deference to the Roman pontiff's wishes. At this great gathering of prelates, leaders of the Church, the case of Athanasius was taken up once more, that is, Athanasius was formally questioned over misdemeanours and even murder, (a bishop in Egypt named Arsenius had turned up missing, and they blamed his death on Athanasius, even supposedly producing Arsenius' severed hand.) The council was convoked for the purpose of inquiring into the charges against Athanasius and other bishops, on account of which they were deposed from their sees by the semi-Arian Synod of Antioch in 341 and went into exile. Eusebian bishops objected to the admission of Athanasius and other deposed bishops to the council, except as accused persons to answer the charges brought against them. Their objections were overridden by the orthodox bishops. The Eusebians, seeing they had no chance of having their views carried, retired to Philippopolis in Thrace where they held an opposition council under the presidency of the Patriarch of Antioch and confirmed the decrees of the Synod of Antioch. Athanasius' innocence was reaffirmed at the Council of Serdica. Two conciliar letters were prepared, one to the clergy and faithful of Alexandria, the other to the bishops of Egypt and Libya, in which the will of the council was made known. Meanwhile, the Eusebians issued an anathema against Athanasius and his supporters. The persecution against the orthodox party broke out with renewed vigour, and Constantius was induced to prepare drastic measures against Athanasius and the priests who were devoted to him. Orders were given that if Athanasius attempted to re-enter his see, he should be put to death. Athanasius, accordingly, withdrew from Serdica to Naissus in Mysia, where he celebrated the Easter festival of the year 344. Hosius presided over the Council of Serdica, as he did for the First Council of Nicaea, which like the 341 synod found Athanasius innocent. He celebrated his last Easter in exile in Aquileia in April 345, received by Bishop Fortunatianus. The Council of Serdica sent an emissary to report their finding to Constantius. Constantius reconsidered his decision, owing to a threatening letter from his brother Constans and the uncertain conditions of affairs on the Persian border, and he accordingly made up his mind to yield. But three separate letters were needed to overcome the natural hesitation of Athanasius. When he finally acquiesced to meet with Constantius, he was accorded a gracious interview by the emperor and sent back to his see in triumph and began ten years of peace. Pope Julius died in April 352 and was succeeded by Liberius. For two years Liberius had been favourable to the cause of Athanasius; but driven at last into exile, he was induced to sign an ambiguous formula, from which the great Nicene text, the "homoousion", had been studiously omitted. In 355 a council was held at Milan, where in spite of the vigorous opposition of a handful of loyal prelates among the Western bishops, a fourth condemnation of Athanasius was announced to the world. With his friends scattered, Hosius in exile, and Pope Liberius denounced as acquiescing in Arian formularies, Athanasius could hardly hope to escape. On the night of 8 February 356, while engaged in services in the Church of St. Thomas, a band of armed men burst in to secure his arrest. It was the beginning of his third exile. Gilmartin writes: "By Constantius' order, the sole ruler of The Roman Empire at the death of his brother Constans, the Council of Arles in 353, was held, which was presided over by Vincent, Bishop of Capua, in the name of Pope Liberius. The fathers terrified of the threats of the Emperor, an avowed Arian, they consented to the condemnation of Athanasius. The Pope refused to accept their decision, and requested the Emperor to hold another Council, in which the charges against Athanasius could be freely investigated. To this Constantius consented, for he felt able to control the Council in Milan." In 355, three hundred bishops assembled in Milan, most from the West and only a few from the East. They met in the Church of Milan. Shortly, the emperor ordered them to a hall in the Imperial Palace, thus ending any free debate. He presented an Arian formula of faith for their acceptance. He threatened any who refused with exile and death. All, with the exception of Dionysius (bishop of Milan), and the two Papal Legates, viz., Eusebius of Vercelli and Lucifer of Cagliari, consented to the Arian Creed and the condemnation of Athanasius. Those who refused were sent into exile. The decrees were forwarded to the pope for approval but were rejected because of the violence to which the bishops were subjected. Third exile Through the influence of the Eusebian faction at Constantinople, an Arian bishop, George of Cappadocia, was appointed to rule the see of Alexandria in 356. Athanasius, after remaining some days in the neighbourhood of the city, finally withdrew into the desert of Upper Egypt where he remained for a period of six years, living the life of the monks and devoting himself to the composition of a group of writings, such as his Letter to the Monks and Four Orations against the Arians. He also defended his own recent conduct in the Apology to Constantius and Apology for His Flight. Constantius' persistence in his opposition to Athanasius, combined with reports Athanasius received about the persecution of non-Arians by the Arian bishop George of Laodicea, prompted Athanasius to write his more emotional History of the Arians, in which he described Constantius as a precursor of the Antichrist. Constantius died on 4 November 361 and was succeeded by Julian. The proclamation of the new prince's accession was the signal for a pagan outbreak against the still dominant Arian faction in Alexandria. George, the usurping bishop, was imprisoned and murdered. An obscure presbyter named Pistus was chosen by the Arians to succeed him, when news arrived that filled the orthodox party with hope. An edict had been put forth by Julian permitting the exiled bishops of the "Galileans" to return to their "towns and provinces". Athanasius accordingly returned to Alexandria on 22 February 362. In 362 Athanasius convened a council at Alexandria and presided over it with Eusebius of Vercelli. Athanasius appealed for unity among all those who had faith in Christianity, even if they differed on matters of terminology. This prepared the groundwork for his definition of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. However, the council also was directed against those who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the human soul of Christ, and Christ's divinity. Mild measures were agreed on for those heretic bishops who repented, but severe penance was decreed for the chief leaders of the major heresies. With characteristic energy he set to work to re-establish the somewhat shattered fortunes of the orthodox party and to purge the theological atmosphere of uncertainty. To clear up the misunderstandings that had arisen in the course of the previous years, an attempt was made to determine still further the significance of the Nicene formularies. In the meanwhile, Julian, who seems to have become suddenly jealous of the influence that Athanasius was exercising at Alexandria, addressed an order to Ecdicius, the Prefect of Egypt, peremptorily commanding the expulsion of the restored primate on the ground that he had not been included in the imperial act of clemency. The edict was communicated to the bishop by Pythicodorus Trico, who, though described in the "Chronicon Athanasianum" (XXXV) as a "philosopher", seems to have behaved with brutal insolence. On 23 October the people gathered about the proscribed bishop to protest against the emperor's decree; but Athanasius urged them to submit, consoling them with the promise that his absence would be of short duration. Fourth exile In 362 Julian, noted for his opposition to Christianity, ordered Athanasius to leave Alexandria once again. Athanasius left for Upper Egypt, remaining there with the Desert Fathers until Julian's death on 26 June 363. Athanasius returned in secret to Alexandria, where he received a document from the new emperor, Jovian, reinstating him once more in his episcopal functions. His first act was to convene a council which reaffirmed the terms of the Nicene Creed. Early in September 363 he set out for Antioch on the Orontes, bearing a synodal letter, in which the pronouncements of this council had been embodied. At Antioch he had an interview with Jovian, who received him graciously and even asked him to prepare an exposition of the orthodox faith. In February 364 Jovian died. Fifth exile The accession of Emperor Valens gave a fresh lease of life to the Arian party. He issued a decree banishing the bishops who had been deposed by Constantius but who had been permitted by Jovian to return to their sees. The news created the greatest consternation in Alexandria, and the prefect, in order to prevent a serious outbreak, gave public assurance that the very special case of Athanasius would be laid before the emperor. But Athanasius seems to have divined what was preparing in secret against him. He quietly withdrew from Alexandria in October 364 and took up his abode in a country house outside the city. Valens, who seems to have sincerely dreaded the possible consequences of another popular outbreak, within a few weeks issued orders allowing Athanasius to return to his episcopal see. Some early reports state that Athanasius spent this period of exile at his family's ancestral tomb in a Christian cemetery. Final years and death After returning to Alexandria, Athanasius spent his final years repairing all the damage done during the earlier years of violence, dissent, and exile. He resumed writing and preaching undisturbed, and characteristically re-emphasized the view of the Incarnation which had been defined at Nicaea. On 2 May 373, having consecrated Peter II, one of his presbyters as his successor, Athanasius died peacefully in his own bed, surrounded by his clergy and faithful supporters. Works In Coptic literature, Athanasius is the first patriarch of Alexandria to use Coptic as well as Greek in his writings. Polemical and theological works Athanasius was not a speculative theologian. As he states in his First Letters to Serapion, he held on to "the tradition, teaching, and faith proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the fathers." He held that both the Son of God and the Holy Spirit are consubstantial with the Father, which had a great deal of influence in the development of later doctrines regarding the Trinity. Athanasius' "Letter Concerning the Decrees of the Council of Nicaea" (De Decretis), is an important historical as well as theological account of the proceedings of that council. Examples of Athanasius' polemical writings against his theological opponents include Orations Against the Arians, his defence of the divinity of the Holy Spirit (Letters to Serapion in the 360s, and On the Holy Spirit), against Macedonianism and On the Incarnation. Athanasius also authored a two-part work, Against the Heathen and The Incarnation of the Word of God. Completed probably early in his life, before the Arian controversy, they constitute the first classic work of developed Orthodox theology. In the first part, Athanasius attacks several pagan practices and beliefs. The second part presents teachings on the redemption. Also in these books, Athanasius put forward the belief, referencing , that the Son of God, the eternal Word (Logos) through whom God created the world, entered that world in human form to lead men back into the harmony from which they had earlier fallen away. His other important works include his Letters to Serapion, which defends the divinity of the Holy Spirit. In a letter to Epictetus of Corinth, Athanasius anticipates future controversies in his defence of the humanity of Christ. In a letter addressed to the monk Dracontius, Athanasius urges him to leave the desert for the more active duties of a bishop. Athanasius also wrote several works of Biblical exegesis, primarily on Old Testament materials. The most important of these is his Epistle to Marcellinus (PG 27:12–45) on how to incorporate psalm-saying into one's spiritual practice. Excerpts remain of his discussions concerning the Book of Genesis, the Song of Solomon, and Psalms. Perhaps his most notable letter was his Festal Letter, written to his Church in Alexandria when he was in exile, as he could not be in their presence. This letter clearly shows his stand that accepting Jesus as the Divine Son of God is not optional but necessary: Biographical and ascetic works His biography of Anthony the Great entitled Life of Antony(Βίος καὶ Πολιτεία Πατρὸς Ἀντωνίου, Vita Antonii) became his most widely read work. Translated into several languages, it became something of a best seller in its day and played an important role in the spreading of the ascetic ideal in Eastern and Western Christianity. It depicts Anthony as an illiterate yet holy man who continuously engages in spiritual exercises in the Egyptian desert and struggles against demonic powers. It later served as an inspiration to Christian monastics in both the East and the West. Athanasius' works on asceticism also include a Discourse on Virginity, a short work on Love and Self-Control, and a treatise On Sickness and Health (of which only fragments remain). Misattributed works There are several other works ascribed to him, although not necessarily generally accepted as being his own. These include the so-called Athanasian Creed (which is today generally seen as being of 5th-century Galician origin), and a complete Expositions on the Psalms. Eschatology Based on his understanding of the prophecies of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, Athanasius described Jesus’ Second Coming in the clouds of heaven and pleads with his readers to be ready for that day, at which time Jesus would judge the earth, raise the dead, cast out the wicked, and establish his kingdom. Athanasius also argued that the date of Jesus’ earthly sojourn was divinely foretold beyond refutation by the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9. Veneration Athanasius was originally buried in Alexandria, but his remains were later transferred to the Chiesa di San Zaccaria in Venice, Italy. During Pope Shenouda III's visit to Rome (4–10 May 1973), Pope Paul VI gave the Coptic Patriarch a relic of Athanasius, which he brought back to Egypt on 15 May. The relic is currently preserved under the new Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo. However, the majority of Athanasius's corpse remains in the Venetian church. All major Christian denominations which officially recognize saints venerate Athanasius. Western Christians observe his feast day on 2 May, the anniversary of his death. The Catholic Church considers Athanasius a Doctor of the Church. For Coptic Christians, his feast day is Pashons 7 (now circa 15 May). Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendars remember Athanasius on 18 January. Athanasius is honored on the liturgical calendars of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church on 2 May. Gregory of Nazianzus (330–390, also a Doctor of the Church), said: "When I praise Athanasius, virtue itself is my theme: for I name every virtue as often as I mention him who was possessed of all virtues. He was the true pillar of the Church. His life and conduct were the rule of bishops, and his doctrine the rule of the orthodox faith." Character Historian Cornelius Clifford says in his account: "Athanasius was the greatest champion of Catholic belief on the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known and in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of 'Father of Orthodoxy', by which he has been distinguished ever since." Clifford also says: "His career almost personifies a crisis in the history of Christianity; and he may be said rather to have shaped the events in which he took part than to have been shaped by them." St. John Henry Newman describes him as a "principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world". The greater majority of Church leaders and the emperors fell into support for Arianism, so much so that Jerome (340–420) wrote of the period: "The whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian". He, Athanasius, even suffered an unjust excommunication from Pope Liberius who was exiled and leant towards compromise, until he was allowed back to the See of Rome. Athanasius stood virtually alone against the world. Historical significance and controversies New Testament canon It was the custom of the bishops of Alexandria to circulate a letter after Epiphany each year confirming the date of Easter and therefore other moveable feasts. They also took the occasion to discuss other matters. Athanasius wrote forty-five festal letters. Athanasius' 39th Festal Letter, written in 367, is widely regarded as a milestone in the evolution of the canon of New Testament books. Athanasius is the first person to identify the same 27 books of the New Testament that are in use today. Up until then, various similar lists of works to be read in churches were in use. Athanasius compiled the list to resolve questions about such texts as the Epistle of Barnabas. Athanasius includes the Book of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah and places the Book of Esther among the "7 books not in the canon but to be read" along with the Wisdom of Solomon, Book of Sirach, Book of Judith, Book of Tobit, the Didache, and The Shepherd of Hermas. Athanasius' list is similar to the Codex Vaticanus in the Vatican Library, probably written in Rome in 340 by Alexandrian scribes for Emperor Constans, during the period of Athanasius' seven-year exile in the city. The establishment of the canon was not a unilateral decision by a bishop in Alexandria but the result of a process of careful investigation and deliberation, as documented in a codex of the Greek Bible and, twenty-seven years later, in his festal letter. Pope Damasus I, the bishop of Rome in 382, promulgated a list of books which contained a New Testament canon identical to that of Athanasius. A synod in Hippo in 393 repeated Athanasius' and Damasus' New Testament list (without the Epistle to the Hebrews), and the Council of Carthage (397) repeated Athanasius' and Damasus' complete New Testament list. Scholars debate whether Athanasius' list in 367 formed the basis for later lists. Because Athanasius' canon is the closest canon of any of the Church Fathers to the one used by Protestant churches today, many Protestants point to Athanasius as the Father of the Canon. Supporters Christian denominations worldwide revere Athanasius as a saint and teacher. They cite his defence of the Christology described in the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John and his significant theological works (C. S. Lewis calls On the Incarnation of the Word of God a "masterpiece") as evidence of his righteousness. They also emphasize his close relationship with Anthony the Great, the ancient monk who was one of the founders of the Christian monastic movement. The Gospel of St. John, and particularly the first chapter, demonstrates the Divinity of Jesus. This Gospel is the greatest support of Athanasius' stand. The Gospel of St. John's first chapter began to be said at the end of Mass, we believe as a result of Athanasius and his life's stand. The beginning of John's Gospel was much used as an object of special devotion throughout the Middle Ages; the practice of saying it at the altar grew, and eventually Pope Pius V made this practice universal for the Roman Rite in his 1570 edition of the Missal. It became a firm custom with exceptions in using another Gospel in use from 1920. Cyril of Alexandria (370–444) in the first letter says: "Athanasius is one who can be trusted: he would not say anything that is not in accord with sacred scripture." (Ep 1). Critics Throughout most of his career, Athanasius had many detractors. Classics scholar Timothy Barnes recounts ancient allegations against Athanasius: from defiling an altar, to selling Church grain that had been meant to feed the poor for his own personal gain, and even violence and murder to suppress dissent. Athanasius used "Arian" to describe both followers of Arius and as a derogatory polemical term for Christians who disagreed with his formulation of the Trinity. Athanasius called many of his opponents "Arian", except for Meletius. Scholars now believe that the Arian party was not monolithic but held drastically different theological views that spanned the early Christian theological spectrum. They supported the tenets of Origenist thought and subordinationist theology but had little else in common. Moreover, many labelled "Arian" did not consider themselves followers of Arius. In addition, non-homoousian bishops disagreed with being labeled as followers of Arius, since Arius was merely a presbyter, while they were fully ordained bishops. The old allegations continue to be made against Athanasius, however, many centuries later. For example, Richard E. Rubenstein suggests that Athanasius ascended to the rank of bishop in Alexandria under questionable circumstances because some questioned whether he had reached the minimum age of 30 years, and further that Athanasius employed force when it suited his cause or personal interests. Thus, he argues that a small number of bishops who supported Athanasius held a private consecration to make him bishop. Selected works Athanasius. Contra Gentes – De Incarnatione (translated by Thompson, Robert W.), text and ET (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). On the Incarnation at theologynetwork.org Letters to Serapion (on the Holy Spirit) at archive.org See also Arabic Homily of Pseudo-Theophilus of Alexandria Eastern Catholic Church Eugenius of Carthage Homoousian Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, patron saint archive Explanatory notes Citations General and cited sources Alexander of Alexandria, "Catholic Epistle", The Ecole Initiative, ecole.evansville.edu Anatolios, Khaled, Athanasius: The Coherence of His Thought (New York: Routledge, 1998). Arnold, Duane W.-H., The Early Episcopal Career of Athanasius of Alexandria (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 1991). Arius, "Arius's letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia", Ecclesiastical History, ed. Theodoret. Ser. 2, Vol. 3, 41, The Ecole Initiative, ecole.evansville.edu Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. (New York: Penguin, 1993). . Barnes, Timothy D., Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993). Barnes, Timothy D., Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981) Brakke, David. Athanasius and the Politics of Asceticism (1995) Clifford, Cornelius, "Athanasius", Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2 (1907), 35–40 Chadwick, Henry, "Faith and Order at the Council of Nicaea", Harvard Theological Review LIII (Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press, 1960), 171–195. Ernest, James D., The Bible in Athanasius of Alexandria (Leiden: Brill, 2004). Freeman, Charles, The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason (Alfred A. Knopf, 2003). Haas, Christopher. "The Arians of Alexandria", Vigiliae Christianae Vol. 47, no. 3 (1993), 234–245. Hanson, R.P.C., The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318–381 (T.&T. Clark, 1988). Kannengiesser, Charles, "Alexander and Arius of Alexandria: The last Ante-Nicene theologians", Miscelanea En Homenaje Al P. Antonio Orbe Compostellanum Vol. XXXV, no. 1–2. (Santiago de Compostela, 1990), 391–403. Kannengiesser, Charles "Athanasius of Alexandria vs. Arius: The Alexandrian Crisis", in The Roots of Egyptian Christianity (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity), ed. Birger A. Pearson and James E. Goehring (1986), 204–215. Ng, Nathan K. K., The Spirituality of Athanasius (1991). Rubenstein, Richard E., When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999). Williams, Rowan, Arius: Heresy and Tradition (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1987). Further reading Anatolios, Khaled. Athanasius (London: Routledge, 2004). [Contains selections from the Orations against the Arians (pp. 87–175) and Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit (pp. 212–233), together with the full texts of On the Council of Nicaea (pp. 176–211) and Letter 40: To Adelphius (pp. 234–242)] Gregg, Robert C. Athanasius: The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1980). External links Official web site of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa Archibald Robinson, Athanasius: Select Letters and Works (Edinburgh 1885) The so-called Athanasian Creed (not written by Athanasius, see Athanasian Creed above) Athanasius Select Resources, Bilingual Anthology (in Greek original and English) Two audio lectures about Athanasius on the Deity of Christ, Dr N Needham Concorida Cyclopedia: Athanasius Christian Cyclopedia: Athanasius Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes St Athanasius the Great the Archbishop of Alexandria, Orthodox icon and synaxarion English Key to Athanasius Werke The Writings of Athanasius in Chronological Order Introducing...Athanasius audio resource by Dr. Michael Reeves. Two lectures on theologynetwork.org Letter of Saint Athanasius to His Flock at the Our Lady of the Rosary Library St. Athanasius Patriarch of Alexandria at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library Colonnade Statue in St Peter's Square 290s births 373 deaths 4th-century Byzantine writers 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century Christian theologians 4th-century philosophers 4th-century Popes and Patriarchs of Alexandria Anglican saints Catholic philosophers Christologists Church Fathers Doctors of the Church Egyptian theologians Opponents of Arianism Saints from Roman Egypt Nature of Jesus Christ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azores

Azores

The Azores ( , ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atlantic Ocean, about west of Lisbon, about northwest of Morocco, and about southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming, livestock, fishing, and tourism, which has become a major service activity in the region. The government of the Azores employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in the service and tertiary sectors. The largest city of the Azores is Ponta Delgada. The culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions of the Azorean islands vary considerably, because these remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of two centuries. There are nine major Azorean islands and an islet cluster, in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo, to the west; Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre; and São Miguel, Santa Maria, and the Formigas islets to the east. They extend for more than and lie in a northwest–southeast direction. All of the islands have volcanic origins, although some, such as Santa Maria, have had no recorded activity in the time since the islands were settled several centuries ago. Mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point in Portugal, at . If measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic, the Azores are among the tallest mountains on the planet. The climate of the Azores is very mild for such a northerly location, being influenced by its distance from the continents and by the passing Gulf Stream. Because of the marine influence, temperatures remain mild year-round. Daytime temperatures normally fluctuate between depending on season. Temperatures above or below are unknown in the major population centres. It is also generally wet and cloudy. History A small number of alleged hypogea (underground structures carved into rocks) have been identified on the islands of Corvo, Santa Maria, and Terceira by Portuguese archaeologist Nuno Ribeiro, who speculated that they might date back 2,000 years, implying a human presence on the island before the Portuguese. These structures have been used by settlers in the Azores to store grain and the suggestion by Ribeiro that they might be burial sites is unconfirmed. Detailed examination and dating to authenticate the validity of these speculations is lacking; thus it is unclear whether these structures are natural or human-made and whether they predate the 15th century Portuguese colonization of the Azores. According to a 2015 paper published in Journal of Evolutionary Biology, research based on mouse mitochondrial DNA points to a Scandinavian rather than Portuguese origin of the local mouse population. Some years later, a 2021 paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, using data from lake sediment core sampling suggests brush-clearing was undertaken and animal husbandry introduced between 700 and 850 C.E. Together, these findings suggest a brief period of Norse settlement and the 2021 paper further cites climate simulations carried out that suggest the dominant winds in the North Atlantic Ocean in that period blew from the northeast, which would have taken Viking ships heading southwest from Scandinavia more or less directly to the Azores. Discovery The islands were known to Europeans in the 14th century; parts of them appear in the Catalan Atlas, created in 1375. In 1427, a captain sailing for Prince Henry the Navigator, possibly Gonçalo Velho, may have rediscovered the Azores but this is not certain. In Thomas Ashe's 1813 work, A History of the Azores, the author identified a Fleming, Joshua Vander Berg of Bruges, who made landfall in the archipelago during a storm on his way to Lisbon. According to Ashe, the Portuguese explored the area and claimed it for Portugal. Other writers note the discovery of the first islands (São Miguel, Santa Maria and Terceira) by sailors in the service of Henry the Navigator, although there are few documents to support such claims. Although it is commonly said that the archipelago received its name from (Portuguese for goshawk, a common bird at the time of discovery) it is unlikely that the bird ever nested or hunted on the islands. There were no large animals on Santa Maria; after its discovery and before settlement began, sheep were let loose on the island to supply future settlers with food. Early settlement The archipelago was largely settled from mainland Portugal but settlement did not take place right away. Gonçalo Velho Cabral gathered resources and settlers for the next three years (1433–1436) and sailed to establish colonies, first on Santa Maria and then on São Miguel. Settlers built houses, established villages and cleared bush and rocks to plant crops, grain, grapevines, sugar cane and other plants suitable for local use and for export. They brought domesticated animals, such as chickens, rabbits, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The settlement of the unoccupied islands started in 1439 with people mainly from the continental provinces of Algarve and Alentejo, in mainland Portugal. São Miguel was first settled in 1449, the settlers – mainly from the Estremadura, Alto Alentejo and Algarve areas of mainland Portugal – under the command of Gonçalo Velho Cabral, who landed at the site of modern-day Povoação. Flemish settlers The first reference to the island of São Jorge was made in 1439 but the date of discovery is unknown. In 1443, the island was already inhabited but settlement only began after the arrival of the noble Flemish native Willem van der Haegen. Arriving at Topo, São Jorge, where he lived and died, he became known as Guilherme da Silveira to the islanders. João Vaz Corte-Real received the captaincy of the island in 1483. Velas became a town before the end of the 15th century. By 1490, there were 2,000 Flemings living on the islands of Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge and Flores. Because there was such a large Flemish settlement, the Azores became known as the Flemish Islands or the Isles of Flanders. Prince Henry the Navigator was responsible for this Flemish settlement. His sister, Isabel, was married to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, Flanders at the time belonging to Burgundy. There was a revolt against Philip's rule, and disease and hunger became rampant. Isabel appealed to Henry to allow some of the unruly Flemings to settle in the Azores. He granted this and supplied them with means of transport and goods. The 1522 earthquake and recovery In 1522, Vila Franca do Campo, then the capital of São Miguel, was devastated by an earthquake and landslide that killed about 5,000 people, and the capital was moved to Ponta Delgada. The town of Vila Franca do Campo was rebuilt on the original site, and today is a thriving fishing and yachting port. Ponta Delgada received its city status in 1546. From the first settlement, the pioneers applied themselves to agriculture, and by the 15th century Graciosa was exporting wheat, barley, wine and brandy. The goods were sent to Terceira largely because of the proximity of that island. Effects of the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 Portugal fell into a dynastic crisis following the death of Cardinal-King Henry of Portugal in 1580. Of the various claimants to the crown, the most powerful was king Phillip II of Spain, who justified his rights to the Portuguese throne by the fact that his mother was a Portuguese royal princess, his maternal grandfather having been King Manuel I of Portugal. Following his proclamation in Santarém, António, Prior of Crato was acclaimed in the Azores in 1580 (through his envoy António da Costa) but was expelled from the continent by the Spaniards following the Battle of Alcântara. Yet, through the administration of Cipriano de Figueiredo, governor of Terceira (who continued to govern Terceira in the name of ill-fated, former King Sebastian of Portugal), the Azoreans resisted Spanish attempts to conquer the islands (including specifically at the Battle of Salga). In 1583, Philip II of Spain, as King of Portugal, sent his fleet to clear the Azores of a combined multinational force of adventurers, mercenaries, volunteers, and soldiers who were attempting to establish the Azores as a staging post for a rival pretender to the Portuguese throne. Following the success of his fleet at the Battle of Ponta Delgada captured enemies were hanged from yardarms, as they were considered pirates by Philip II. Opponents receiving the news variously portrayed Philip II as a despot or "Black Legend"; the sort of insult widely made against contemporary monarchs engaged in aggressive empire building and the European wars of religion. Figueiredo and Violante do Canto helped organize a resistance on Terceira that influenced some of the response of the other islands, even as internal politics and support for Philip's faction increased on the other islands (including specifically on São Miguel, where the Gonçalvez da Câmara family supported the Spanish claimant). English raids of 1589 and 1598 An English raid of the Azores in 1589 successfully plundered some islands and harbouring ships; eight years later, a second raid failed – the Islands Voyage. Iberian Union Spain held the Azores under the Iberian Union from 1580–1642 (called the "Babylonian captivity" in the Azores). The Azores were the last part of the Portuguese Empire to resist Philip's reign over Portugal (Macau resisted any official recognition), until the defeat of forces loyal to the Prior of Crato with the Conquest of the Azores in 1583. Portuguese control resumed with the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, and the beginning of the Portuguese Restoration War, not by the professional military, who were occupied with warfare on the Portuguese mainland, but by local people attacking a fortified Castilian garrison. Overpopulation and emigration In the late 16th century, the Azores and Madeira began to face problems of overpopulation. Responding to the consequent economic problems, some people of the Azores began to emigrate to Brazil. Liberal Wars of 1828–1834 The Portuguese Civil War (1828–1834) had strong repercussions in the Azores. In 1829, in Praia da Vitória, the liberals won over the absolutists, making Terceira Island the main headquarters of the new Portuguese regime and also where the Council of Regency () of Maria II of Portugal was established. Beginning in 1868, Portugal issued its stamps overprinted with "" for use in the islands. Between 1892 and 1906, it also issued separate stamps for the three administrative districts of the time. Arbitrary district divisions 1836–1976 From 1836 to 1976, the archipelago was divided into three districts, equivalent (except in area) to those in the Portuguese mainland. The division was arbitrary and did not follow the natural island groups, rather reflecting the location of each district capital on the three main cities (none of which were on the western group). Angra do Heroísmo consisted of Terceira, São Jorge, and Graciosa, with the capital at Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira. Horta consisted of Pico, Faial, Flores, and Corvo, with the capital at Horta on Faial. Ponta Delgada consisted of São Miguel and Santa Maria, with the capital at Ponta Delgada on São Miguel. Modern period In 1931, the Azores (together with Madeira and Portuguese Guinea) revolted against the Ditadura Nacional and were held briefly by rebel military. In 1943, during World War II, the Portuguese ruler António de Oliveira Salazar leased air and naval bases in the Azores to Great Britain. The occupation of these facilities in October 1943 was codenamed Operation Alacrity by the British. This was a key turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic, enabling the Royal Air Force, the U.S. Army Air Forces, and the U.S. Navy to provide aerial coverage in the Mid-Atlantic gap. This helped them to protect convoys and to hunt hostile German U-boats. In 1944, the U.S. constructed a small and short-lived air base on the island of Santa Maria. In 1945, a new base was constructed on the island of Terceira, named Lajes Field. This air base is in an area called Lajes, a broad, flat sea terrace that had been a large farm. Lajes Field is a plateau rising out of the sea on the northeast corner of the island. This air base is a joint American and Portuguese venture. Lajes Field continues to support the American and Portuguese Armed Forces. During the Cold War, U.S. Navy P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare squadrons patrolled the North Atlantic Ocean for Soviet Navy submarines and surface warships. Since its opening, Lajes Field has been used for refuelling American cargo planes bound for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The U.S. Navy keeps a small squadron of its ships at the harbor of Praia da Vitória, southeast of Lajes Field. The airfield also has a small commercial terminal handling scheduled and chartered passenger flights from the other islands in the Azores, Europe, Africa, and North America. Following the Carnation Revolution of 1974, which deposed the Estado Novo dictatorship in Lisbon, Portugal and its territories across the world entered into a period of great political uncertainty. The Azorean Liberation Front attempted to take advantage of this instability immediately after the revolution, hoping to establish an independent Azores, until operations ceased in 1975. In 1976, the Azores became the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), one of the autonomous regions of Portugal, and the subdistricts of the Azores were eliminated. In 2003, the Azores saw international attention when United States President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, and Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso held a summit there days before the commencement of the Iraq War. Geography The archipelago of the Azores is located in the middle of the northern hemisphere of the Atlantic Ocean and extends along a west-northwest to east-southeast orientation (between 36.5°–40° North latitudes and 24.5°–31.5° West longitudes) in an area approximately wide. The islands of the Azores emerged from what is called the Azores Plateau, a 5.8 million km2 region that is morphologically accented by a depth of . The nine islands that compose the archipelago occupy a surface area of , that includes both the main islands and many islets located in their vicinities. They range in surface area from the largest, São Miguel, at to the smallest, Corvo, at approximately . Each of the islands has its own distinct geomorphological characteristics that make them unique: Corvo (the smallest island) is a crater of a major Plinian eruption Flores (its neighbor on the North American Plate) is a rugged island carved by many valleys and escarpments Faial is characterized for its shield volcano and caldera (Caldeira Volcano) Pico, is the highest point, at , in the Azores and continental Portugal Graciosa is known for its active Furnas do Enxofre and mixture of volcanic cones and plains São Jorge is a long slender island, formed from fissural eruptions over thousands of years Terceira, almost circular, is the location of one of the largest craters in the region São Miguel is the largest island and is pitted with many large craters and fields of spatter cones Santa Maria – the oldest island – is heavily eroded, being one of the few places to encounter brown sandy beaches in the archipelago. These islands can be divided into three recognizable groups located on the Azores Plateau: The Eastern Group () of São Miguel, Santa Maria and Formigas Islets The Central Group () of Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial The Western Group () of Flores and Corvo. São Jorge, Pico and Faial are also collectively called (‘Islands of the Triangle’). Several sub-surface reefs (particularly the Dollabarat on the fringe of the Formigas), banks (specifically the Princess Alice Bank and D. João de Castro Bank), as well as many hydrothermal vents and sea-mounts are monitored by the regional authorities, owing to the complex geotectonic and socioeconomic significance within the economic exclusion zone of the archipelago. Geology From a geostructural perspective, the Azores are located above an active triple junction between three of the world's major tectonic plates (the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate), a condition that has translated into the existence of many faults and fractures in this region of the Atlantic. The westernmost islands of the archipelago (Corvo and Flores) are located on the North American Plate, while the remaining islands are located within the boundary that divides the Eurasian and African plates. The principal tectonic structures that exist in the region of the Azores are the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Terceira Rift, the Azores Fracture Zone and the Glória Fault. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the main frontier between the North American Plate and the African-Eurasian Plates that crosses the Azores Plateau between the islands of Flores and Faial from north to south then to the southwest; it is an extensive form crossed by many transform faults running perpendicular to its north–south orientation, that is seismically active and susceptible to volcanism. Rift and fault geology The Terceira Rift is a system of fractures that extends from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Glória Fault that represents the main frontier between the Eurasian and African Plates. It is defined by a line of submarine volcanoes and island mounts that extend northwest to southeast for about , from the area west of Graciosa until the islets of the Formigas, that includes the islands of Graciosa, Terceira and São Miguel. Its northwest limit connects to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, while the southeast section intersects the Gloria Fault southeast of the island of Santa Maria. The Azores Fracture Zone extends from the Glória Fault and encompasses a relatively inactive area to the south of the islands of the Central and Eastern groups north to the Terceira Rift, along a 45° angle. The Glória Fault, for its part, extends along a linear line from the Azores to the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault. Volcanoes The island's volcanism is associated with the rifting along the Azores Triple Junction; the spread of the crust along the existing faults and fractures has produced many of the active volcanic and seismic events, while supported by buoyant upwelling in the deeper mantle, some associate with an Azores hotspot. Most of the volcanic activity has centered, primarily, along the Terceira Rift. From the beginning of the island's settlement, around the 15th century, there have been 28 registered volcanic eruptions (15 terrestrial and 13 submarine). The last significant volcanic eruption, the Capelinhos volcano (), occurred off the coast of the island of Faial in 1957; the most recent volcanic activity occurred in the seamounts and submarine volcanoes off the coast of Serreta and in the Pico-São Jorge Channel. The islands have many examples of volcano-built geomorphology including caves and lava tubes (such as the Gruta das Torres, Algar do Carvão, Gruta do Natal, Gruta das Cinco Ribeiras), the coastal lava fields (like the coast of Feteiras, Faial, the Mistério of Prainha or São João on Pico Island) in addition to the inactive cones in central São Miguel Island, the aforementioned Capelinhos on Faial, the volcanic complexes of Terceira or Plinian caldeira of Corvo Island. The islands of the archipelago were formed through volcanic and seismic activity during the Neogene Period; the first embryonic surfaces started to appear in the waters of Santa Maria during the Miocene epoch (from circa 8 million years ago). The sequence of the island formation has been generally characterized as: Santa Maria (8.12 Ma), São Miguel (4.1 Ma), Terceira (3.52 Ma), Graciosa (2.5 Ma), Flores (2.16 Ma), Faial (0.7 Ma), São Jorge (0.55 Ma), Corvo (0.7 Ma) and the youngest, Pico (0.27 Ma). Although all islands have experienced volcanism during their geological history, within recorded "human settlement" history the islands of Santa Maria, Graciosa, Flores, and Corvo have not experienced any volcanic eruptions; in addition to active fumaroles and hot-springs, the remaining islands have had sporadic eruptions since the 14th century. Apart from the Capelinhos volcano in 1957–1958, the last recorded instance of "island formation" occurred off the coast of São Miguel, when the island of Sabrina was briefly formed. Earthquakes Owing to its geodynamic environment, the region has been a center of intense seismic activity, particularly along its tectonic boundaries on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Terceira Rift. Seismic events although frequent, are usually tectonic or vulco-tectonic in nature, but in general are of low to medium intensities, occasionally punctuated by events of level 5 or greater on the Richter magnitude scale. The most severe earthquake was registered in 1757, near Calheta on the island of São Jorge, which exceeded 7 on the Richter magnitude scale. In comparison, the 1522 earthquake that was mentioned by historian Gaspar Frutuoso measured 6.8, but its effects were judged to be X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, and was responsible for the destruction of Vila Franca do Campo and landslides that may have killed more than 5,000 of the inhabitants. Biome The archipelago lies in the Palearctic realm and has a unique biotic community that includes the Macaronesian subtropical laurissilva, with many endemic species of plants and animals. There are at least 6,112 terrestrial species, of which about 411 are endemic. The majority (75%) of these endemics are animals, mostly arthropods and mollusks. New species are found regularly in the Azores (e.g., 30 different new species of land snails were discovered circa 2013). Even though the Azores look very green and sometimes wild, the vegetation has been extremely altered. A great part of it has been wiped out in the past 600 years for its valuable wood (for tools, buildings, boats, fire wood, and so on) and to clear land for agriculture. As a result, it is estimated that more than half of insects on the Graciosa island have disappeared or will become extinct. Many cultivated places (which are traditionally dedicated to pasture or to growing taro, potatoes, maize and other crops) have now been abandoned, especially as a result of emigration. Consequently, some invasive plants have filled these deserted and disturbed lands. Hydrangeas are another potential pest, but their threat is less serious. Notwithstanding the fact that hydrangeas were introduced from America or Asia, some locals consider them a symbol of the archipelago and propagate them along roadsides. Cryptomeria, the Japanese cedar, is a conifer extensively grown for its timber. The two most common of these alien species are Pittosporum undulatum and Hedychium gardnerianum. Reforestation efforts with native laurissilva vegetation have been accomplished successfully in many parts of the Azores. The Azores has at least two endemic living bird species. The Azores bullfinch, or Priolo, is restricted to remnant laurisilva forest in the mountains at the eastern end of São Miguel and is classified by BirdLife International as endangered. Monteiro's storm petrel, described to science as recently as 2008, is known to breed in just two locations in the islands but may occur more widely. An extinct species of owl, the São Miguel scops owl, has recently been described, which probably became extinct after human settlement because of habitat destruction and the introduction of alien species. Five species of flightless rail (Rallus spp.) once existed on the islands, as did a flightless quail (Coturnix sp.) and another species of bullfinch, the greater Azores bullfinch, but these also went extinct after human colonization. Eleven subspecies of bird are endemic to the islands. The Azores has an endemic bat, the Azores noctule, which has an unusually high frequency of diurnal flight. The islets of the Formigas (the Portuguese word for "ants"), including the area known as the Dollabarat Reef, have a rich environment of maritime species, such as black coral and manta rays, different species of sharks, whales, and sea turtles. Seventeen new marine reserves (with special conservation status) were added to the Azorean Marine Park (which covers around ). On São Miguel there are notable micro-habitats formed by hot springs that host extremophile microorganisms. Climate The archipelago is spread out at roughly the same latitude as the southern half of mainland Portugal, but its location in the mid-Atlantic Ocean gives it a generally tepid, oceanic, mild to warm subtropical climate, with mild annual oscillations. ‘Azores High’ anticyclone The Azores archipelago is located in a transition and confrontation zone between air masses of tropical origin and masses of cooler air of polar origin. The climate of the archipelago is largely determined by variations in the atmospheric pressure field over the North Atlantic. These variations conditioned by the mass of the American Continent and the Atlantic water mass are overlapped by a semi-permanent subtropical Atlantic anticyclone, commonly known as the Azores High. This anticyclone experiences seasonal variations which can affect the archipelago in many ways. In winter, the Azores anticyclone is positioned further south, and allows for a descent of the Polar front, approaching it to the archipelago. In summer, on the other hand, the anticyclone's movement further north, leads to the departure of the polar front and its associated disturbances towards higher latitudes. Far enough away from the mainland coasts, the continental air masses that reach the archipelago are weakened by the maritime influence. The same can not be said for the higher altitudes (e.g. Mount Pico), where upper air masses of a continental origin and with a more direct pathway can reach the surface and present those areas with drier air and more extreme temperatures. At the same time, this free atmosphere circulating air transports aerosols to the archipelago, namely volcanic ash or fine sands from the Sahara desert, which sporadically affect the radiation and air quality. Daily maximum temperatures at low altitudes usually range between . The average annual rainfall generally increases from east to west, ranging from in Santa Maria to in Flores and reaching values above on the highlands of Pico. Köppen classification Under the Köppen climate classification, the eastern group (São Miguel and Santa Maria) is usually classified as Mediterranean while the central and western group (especially Flores and Corvo) is increasingly more humid subtropical and overall rainier because of the effects of the Gulf Stream. This stream has a large effect over the sea temperature which varies between in February and March, and in August and September, and increases earlier in the western group. Salvador Rivas-Martínez data presents several different bioclimatic zones for the Azores. Seasonal lag is extreme in the low-sun half of the year, with December being milder than April in terms of mean temperatures. During summer the lag is somewhat lower, with August being the warmest month, though September is usually as warm or warmer than July. Temperatures, humidity, and sunshine Although temperatures as warm as have been recorded on Pico, neither Ponta Delgada nor Angra do Heroísmo, the two largest cities, have ever been warmer than . There has never been a frost, snowfall, freeze or even temperatures below recorded at sea level on any of the islands. The coldest weather in winter usually comes from northwesterly air masses originating from Labrador in Canada. However, since those air masses are warmed up as they pass across the warmer Atlantic Ocean, temperatures by day even then exceed . The average relative humidity can range from 80% at the coast to over 90% above . However, higher elevations above the planetary boundary layer can experience extremely low values close to 10%. Summers are especially humid in August and may increase the perceived temperature by a few degrees. Winters are not only very mild but also very humid and contribute substantially to the annual precipitation. Insolation is relatively low, with 35-40% of the total possible value for sunshine, and higher in topographically lower islands such as Graciosa or Santa Maria, inversely proportional to precipitation. This is directly caused by the orographic lift of humid air masses and is especially pronounced in islands marked by high orography. Hurricanes With a greater rarity, especially in late summer and autumn, despite the northern position that the archipelago occupies, the Azores can be affected by the passage of tropical cyclones, or tropical storms derived from them, some can result from anomalies of low latitude systems while others result from the return, back to the Atlantic, after a route close to or even over the American continent. Though often small and in the process of dissipation, these cyclones result in many of the worst storms the archipelago is subject to. A total of 14 tropical or subtropical cyclones have affected the region in history. Most of them were either extratropical or tropical storms when they affected the region, although several Category 1 hurricanes have reached the Azores. The following storms have impacted the region while at Category 1 strength: Hurricane Fran in 1973 Hurricane Emmy in 1976 Hurricane Gordon in 2006 Hurricane Gordon in 2012 Hurricane Alex in 2016 Several tropical storms have hit the region, including Tropical Storm Irma in 1978 Hurricane Bonnie in 1992 Hurricane Charley in 1992 Hurricane Erika in 1997 Hurricane Gaston in 2016 Storms that were extratropical when they impacted the region include Hurricane Tanya in 1995 Tropical Storm Ana in 2003 Tropical Storm Grace in 2009 In addition, the 2005 Azores subtropical storm affected the region in October 2005. Economy In order of importance, the main sectors of employment of the Azores are services, agriculture, fishery, industry and tourism. Agricultural products include São Jorge cheese. Demographics The Azores are divided into 19 municipalities (); each municipality is further divided into freguesias (civil administrative parishes), of which there is a total of 156 in all of the Azores. There are six cities () in the Azores: Ponta Delgada, Lagoa and Ribeira Grande on the island of São Miguel; Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória on the island of Terceira, and Horta on Faial. Three of these, Ponta Delgada, Angra and Horta are considered capital/administrative cities to the regional government: homes to the President (Ponta Delgada), the Judiciary (Angra) and the Regional Assembly (Horta). Angra also serves as the ecclesiastical centre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Angra, the episcopal see of the Azores. Population According to the 2019 Census, population in the Azores was 242,796. The Azores were uninhabited when Portuguese navigators arrived in the early 15th century; settlement began in 1439 with migrants mostly from mainland Portugal and, to a lesser extent, Flemish, Spanish, French, Italians, Germans, Scottish, Jews, Moors and blacks from Guinea, Cape Verde and São Tomé. The islands sometimes served as a waypoint for ships carrying African slaves. Emigration Since the 17th century, many Azoreans have emigrated, mainly to Brazil, Uruguay, the United States and Canada. Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts are the primary destination for Azorean emigrants. From 1921 to 1977, about 250,000 Azoreans immigrated to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Northern California was the final destination for many of the Massachusetts immigrants who then moved on to the San Joaquin Valley, especially the city of Turlock. In the late 19th century many Azoreans immigrated to the Hawaiian islands. The tuna fishing industry drew a significant number of Azoreans to the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego. During the Great Recession of the early 21st century, Portugal was in a recession from 2011 until 2013, which resulted in high levels of unemployment across the mainland as well as the Azores. The Great Recession led to an increase of emigration from the Azores. Florianópolis and Porto Alegre in the Southern Region of Brazil were founded by Azoreans, who accounted for over half of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina's populations in the late 18th century. As late as 1960, mass immigration currents were registered to Brazil, and many were from the Azores. Politics Since 1976, the Azores has been an autonomous region integrated within the framework of the Portuguese Republic. It has its own government and autonomous legislature within its own political-administrative statute and organic law. Its governmental organs include: the legislative assembly, a unicameral parliament composed of 52 elected deputies, elected by universal suffrage for a four-year term; the regional government and presidency, with parliamentary legitimacy, composed of a president, a vice-president and seven regional secretaries responsible for day-to-day operations. It is represented in the Council of Ministers by a representative appointed by the president of the Republic, which was created during the revision of the constitution of 2004 (which, among other things, removed the older Portuguese representative that was appointed by the president of the Republic, beholden to the Council of State and coincident with the president). Since becoming a Portuguese autonomous region, the executive branch of the regional authority has been located in Ponta Delgada, the legislative branch in Horta, and the judicial branch in Angra do Heroísmo. The islands of the archipelago do not have independent status in law, except in electoral law and are governed by 19 municipalities that subdivide the islands. In addition, until the administrative reform of the 19th century, the following civil parishes had municipal standing: Topo (today integrated into the municipality of Calheta, São Jorge); Praia (today integrated into municipality of Santa Cruz da Graciosa); São Sebastião (today an integral part of the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo); Capelas (now part of the municipality of Ponta Delgada); and Água de Pau (now a civil parish in the municipality of Lagoa). These civil parishes still retain their titles of "vila" in name only; the populations of Capelas and neighbouring parish still protest the change and promote the restoration of their status. The municipalities are further subdivided into several civil parishes, with the exception of Corvo (the only municipality by law without a civil parish, owing to its size). Azorean politics is dominated by the two largest Portuguese political parties, the Socialist Party and Social Democratic Party, the former holding a majority in the Legislative Assembly. The Democratic and Social Center / People's Party, the Left Bloc, the Unitary Democratic Coalition and the People's Monarchist Party are also represented. , the President of the Azores is Social Democratic Party leader José Manuel Bolieiro. Although the Socialist Party dominates the regional politics, the Social Democratic Party is traditionally popular in city and town council elections. As part of Portugal, the Azores are in the European Union and Schengen Area. They are also in the European Union Customs Union and VAT area but levy a lower rate of VAT than applies on the mainland. The Azores, like Madeira and the Canary Islands, are among member state territories with special status, as one of the designated "Outermost Regions". Transport Aviation Each of the nine islands has an airport, although the majority are airfields rather than airports. The primary (and busiest) airport of the island group is João Paulo II Airport. The commercial terminals in Ponta Delgada, Horta, Vila do Porto and Santa Cruz das Flores are operated by ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, a public entity that oversees the operations of airports across Portugal. The remaining, except for Lajes Field, are operated by the Regional Government. Lajes is a military airbase, as well as a commercial airport, and is operated by the Portuguese Armed Forces in conjunction with the United States. The airports are: Santa Maria: Santa Maria Airport (LPAZ) São Miguel: João Paulo II Airport (LPPD) Terceira: Lajes Airport (LPLA) São Jorge: São Jorge Airport (LPSJ) Pico: Pico Airport (LPPI) Faial: Horta Airport (LPHR) Graciosa: Graciosa Airport (LPGR) Flores: Flores Airport (LPFL) Corvo: Corvo Airport (LPCR) Marine transportation The Azores has had a long history of marine transport to overcome distances and establish inter-community contacts and trade. Consequently, the shipbuilding industry developed in many islands, from small fishing boats to whaling sloops and larger passenger services. Passenger traffic to the main islands (São Miguel, Santa Maria, Terceira and Faial) began in the 17th century, and between the 18th–19th century, the Pico Yacht controlled the lucrative summer traffic season. After 1871, the Insulana Shipping Company was the only entity responsible for regular traffic between the islands (except Corvo), Madeira and the United States. Finally, cargo and passenger transportation ceased in the 1970s, and the ships were sold or converted into tuna fishing boats. For the next 20 years, commercial maritime service between the islands ceased (except between Faial-Pico and Lajes das Flores-Vila do Corvo). Transmaçor (Transportes Marítimos Açorianos, Lda.) was founded in 1987. The shipping company operates four to six daily connections between Horta and Madalena throughout the year, using its small fleet of ships, in addition to inter-island connections between Faial, Pico, São Jorge and Terceira during the summer months. New initiatives began in the late 1990s: the catamaran Iapetos began services, followed by Lady of Mann and Golfinho Azul (chartered by Açorline). In 2005, Atlânticoline was established, providing transport services. In 2009, Atlanticoline was involved in a controversial rejection of a 750-passenger, 150-vehicle ship ordered from the Estaleiros de Viana do Castelo (ENVC). The Atlantida, a 50 million Euro cruiser (as part of a two-ship deal with the other named Anticiclone) was rejected in 2009 by Atlanticoline for the under-performance of the power-plant. Although it would only result in a five-minute delay between islands, the public company rejected the ship, and the contract was broken over the builder's inability to deliver the required ship on time. While the ship was being shopped to other interested parties (Hugo Chávez once considered purchasing the ferryboat in 2010), no interested buyers appeared, and ENVC decided to cede the Atlantida to Atlânticoline as part of the latter's open international competition to charter two ships in 2012. In June 2011, the Regional Government announced that it would purchase 60% of Transmaçor, equivalent to 500,000 Euro of the company's capital. With this transaction the autonomous government of the Azores ceded control, of which it once had 88% of the capital. The signed memorandum of understanding concluded negotiations between the various parties involved, under which the liability of Transmaçor (worth a total of 8 million Euro) was divided equally between the government and businessman José E. Almeida, who is now the holder of a majority stake in the company. Similarly, the Regional Government approved the consolidation of the three individual port authorities (Administração dos Portos do Triângulo e Grupo Ocidental, Administração dos Portos da Terceira e Graciosa and the Administração dos Portos das Ilhas de São Miguel e Santa Maria) and regional Portos dos Açores into one entity that resulted in a 2.2 million Euro cost savings, in addition to a reduction from 11 to three administrators. Culture Religious societies and festivals Religious festivals, patron saints, and traditional holidays mark the Azorean calendar. The most important religious events are tied with the festivals associated with the cult of the Holy Spirit, commonly referred to as the festivals of the Holy Spirit (or ), rooted in millenarian dogma and held on all islands from May to September. These festivals are very important to the Azorean people, who are primarily Roman Catholic, and combine religious rituals with processions celebrating the benevolence and egalitarianism of neighbours. These events are centred around or , small buildings that host the meals, adoration and charity of the participants, and used to store the artefacts associated with the events. On Terceira, for example, these impérios have grown into ornate buildings painted and cared for by the local brotherhoods in their respective parishes. The events focus on the members of local parishes, not tourists, but all are welcome, as sharing is one of the main principles of the festivals. Some limited events focus on tourists, including a public event that the city government of Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel holds, which attracts visitors and locals. The Festival of the Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles () in Ponta Delgada is the largest individual religious event in the Azores and takes place on Rogation Sunday. Pilgrims from within the Portuguese diaspora normally travel to Ponta Delgada to participate in an afternoon procession behind the image of Christ along the flower-decorated streets of the city. Although the solemn procession is only held on one day, the events of the Festival of Senhor Santo Cristo occur over a period of a week and involve a ritual of moving the image between the main church and convent nightly, ultimately culminating in the procession, which is televised within the Azores and to the Portuguese diaspora. The Sanjoaninas Festivities in Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira are held in June honoring Saint Anthony, Saint Peter and Saint John the Baptist, in a large religious celebration. The festival of Our Lady of Lourdes (), patron saint of whalers, begins in Lajes on Pico Island on the last Sunday of August and runs through the week—Whalers Week. It is marked by social and cultural events connected to the tradition of whale hunting. The Wine Harvest Festival (), takes place during the first week of September and is a century-old custom of the people of Pico. On Corvo, the people celebrate their patron saint (Our Lady of Miracles) on 15 August every year in addition to the festivals of the Divine Holy Spirit. The (August Sea Festival), takes place every year beginning on 15 August in Praia Formosa on Santa Maria. Also, the (Sea Week), dedicated almost exclusively to water sports, takes place in August in the city of Horta, on Faial. is celebrated in the Azores. Parades and pageants are the heart of the Carnaval festivities. There is lively music, colorful costumes, hand-made masks, and floats. The traditional bullfights in the bullring are ongoing as is the running of bulls in the streets. International visitors During the 18th and 19th centuries, Graciosa was host to many prominent figures, including Chateaubriand, the French writer who passed through upon his escape to America during the French Revolution Almeida Garrett, the Portuguese poet who visited an uncle and wrote some poetry while there Prince Albert of Monaco, the 19th century oceanographer who led several expeditions in the waters of the Azores. He arrived on his yacht Hirondelle, and visited the furna da caldeira, the noted hot springs grotto. author Mark Twain published The Innocents Abroad in 1869 – a travel book, where he described his time in the Azores. Sports Notable sports teams in the Azores include Santa Clara (Primeira Liga), Lusitânia (Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol), Fonte do Bastardo (Portuguese Volleyball First Division) and Sporting Clube da Horta (Portuguese Handball Second Division). The Rallye Açores is an international rally race held annually since 1965, which was part of the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The Azores Senior Open was a golf tournament held in 2008 as part of the European Seniors Tour. See also Macaronesia Postage stamps and postal history of the Azores List of islands of Portugal Citations General and cited sources External links Azores Regional Government Autonomous Regions of Portugal Geography of Southwestern Europe Islands of Macaronesia Mid-Atlantic Ridge Outermost regions of the European Union Provinces of Portugal (1936–1976)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute%20Infinite

Absolute Infinite

The Absolute Infinite (symbol: Ω) is an extension of the idea of infinity proposed by mathematician Georg Cantor. It can be thought of as a number that is bigger than any other conceivable or inconceivable quantity, either finite or transfinite. Cantor linked the Absolute Infinite with God, and believed that it had various mathematical properties, including the reflection principle: every property of the Absolute Infinite is also held by some smaller object. Cantor's view Cantor said: Cantor also mentioned the idea in his letters to Richard Dedekind (text in square brackets not present in original): The Burali-Forti paradox The idea that the collection of all ordinal numbers cannot logically exist seems paradoxical to many. This is related to Cesare Burali-Forti's "paradox" which states that there can be no greatest ordinal number. All of these problems can be traced back to the idea that, for every property that can be logically defined, there exists a set of all objects that have that property. However, as in Cantor's argument (above), this idea leads to difficulties. More generally, as noted by A. W. Moore, there can be no end to the process of set formation, and thus no such thing as the totality of all sets, or the set hierarchy. Any such totality would itself have to be a set, thus lying somewhere within the hierarchy and thus failing to contain every set. A standard solution to this problem is found in Zermelo's set theory, which does not allow the unrestricted formation of sets from arbitrary properties. Rather, we may form the set of all objects that have a given property and lie in some given set (Zermelo's Axiom of Separation). This allows for the formation of sets based on properties, in a limited sense, while (hopefully) preserving the consistency of the theory. While this solves the logical problem, one could argue that the philosophical problem remains. It seems natural that a set of individuals ought to exist, so long as the individuals exist. Indeed, naive set theory might be said to be based on this notion. Although Zermelo's fix allows a class to describe arbitrary (possibly "large") entities, these predicates of the meta-language may have no formal existence (i.e., as a set) within the theory. For example, the class of all sets would be a proper class. This is philosophically unsatisfying to some and has motivated additional work in set theory and other methods of formalizing the foundations of mathematics such as New Foundations by Willard Van Orman Quine. See also Actual infinity Limitation of size Monadology Reflection principle The Ultimate (philosophy) Ineffability Notes Bibliography The role of the absolute infinite in Cantor's conception of set Infinity and the Mind, Rudy Rucker, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1995, ; orig. pub. Boston: Birkhäuser, 1982, . The Infinite, A. W. Moore, London, New York: Routledge, 1990, . Set Theory, Skolem's Paradox and the Tractatus, A. W. Moore, Analysis 45, #1 (January 1985), pp. 13–20. Philosophy of mathematics Infinity Superlatives in religion Conceptions of God

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbishopric%20of%20Riga

Archbishopric of Riga

The Archbishopric of Riga (, ) was an archbishopric in Medieval Livonia, a subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1186 as the bishopric of Livonia at Ikšķile, then after moving to Riga it became the bishopric of Riga in 1202 and was elevated to an archbishopric in 1255. Archbishops of Riga The archbishops of Riga were also the secular rulers of Riga until 1561 when during the Reformation the territory converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism and all church territories were secularized. The see was restored as a diocese of the Catholic Church in 1918 and raised into an archdiocese in 1923. Bishops and Archbishops of Riga A new Bishopric of Livonia was established in Latgalia in 1621 during the Inflanty Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Coinage The Archbishops of Riga were innovators in the field of minting currency, reviving techniques abandoned since the collapse of Rome. The names of individual archbishops after 1418, as well as the years of their respective reigns, are stamped on Livonian pennies excavated at archaeological sites. In many cases, this is the only biographical data available. No Livonian pennies before 1418 have been found. See also Bishopric of Courland Bishopric of Dorpat Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek Bishopric of Reval Livonian Crusade Livonian Brothers of the Sword Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights External links More information about the role of the Archbishopric of Riga in the history of coinage is available at Medieval Livonian Numismatics by William Urban Archbishopric of Riga (Archived 2009-10-25) Rīgas arhibīskapija (1255-1562) Rīgas bīskapija un virsbīskapija References Prince-bishoprics in Livonia History of Livonia History of Riga Medieval Latvia Gulf of Riga States and territories established in 1186 States and territories disestablished in 1561 1186 establishments in Europe 1561 disestablishments in Europe Former theocracies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansbach

Ansbach

Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: Anschba) is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the river Main. In 2020, its population was 41,681. Developed in the 8th century as a Benedictine monastery, it became the seat of the Hohenzollern family in 1331. In 1460, the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach lived here. The city has a castle known as Margrafen–Schloss, built between 1704 and 1738. It was not badly damaged during the World Wars and hence retains its original historical baroque sheen. Ansbach is now home to a US military base and to the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences. The city has connections via autobahn A6 and highways B13 and B14. Ansbach station is on the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways and is the terminus of line S4 of the Nuremberg S-Bahn. Name origin Ansbach was originally called Onoltesbach (about 790 AD), a term composed of three parts. The individual word elements are "Onold" (the city founder's name), the Suffix "-es" (a possessive ending, like "-'s" in English) and the Old High German expression "pah" or "bach" (for brook). The name of the city has slightly changed throughout the centuries into Onoltespah (837 AD), Onoldesbach (1141 AD), Onoldsbach (1230 AD), Onelspach (1338 AD), Onsbach (1508 AD) and finally Ansbach (1732 AD). It was also formerly known as Anspach. History According to folklore, towards the end of the 7th century a group of Franconian peasants and their families went up into the wilderness to found a new settlement. Their leader Onold led them to an area called the "Rezattal" (Rezat valley). This is where they founded the "Urhöfe" (meaning the first farms: Knollenhof, Voggenhof and Rabenhof). Gradually more settlers, such as the "Winden-Tribe" came, and the farms grew into a small village. Many villages around Ansbach were founded by the "Winden" during that period (even today, their settlements can easily identified by their names, like Meinhardszwinden, Dautenwinden or Brodswinden). A Benedictine monastery was established there around 748 by the Frankish noble St Gumbertus. The adjoining village of Onoltesbach was first noticed as a proper town in 1221. The counts of Öttingen ruled over Ansbach until the Hohenzollern burgrave of Nürnberg took over in 1331. The Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1415. After the 1440 death of Frederick I, a cadet branch of the family established itself as the margraves of Ansbach. George the Pious introduced the Protestant Reformation to Ansbach in 1528, leading to Gumbertus Abbey's secularization in 1563. The Markgrafenschloß was built between 1704 and 1738. Its gardens continued to be a notable attraction into the 1800s. In 1791, the last margrave sold his realm to the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1796, the Duke of Zweibrücken, Maximilian Joseph — the future Bavarian king— was exiled to Ansbach the French took Zweibrücken. In Ansbach, Maximilian von Montgelas wrote an elaborate concept for the future political organization of Bavaria, which is known as the Ansbacher Mémoire. Napoleon forced Prussia to cede Ansbach and its principality to Bavaria in the Franco-Prussian treaty of alliance signed at Schönbrunn Palace on 15 December 1805 at the end of the Third Coalition. The act was confirmed by the 1815 Congress of Vienna; Prussia was compensated with the Bavarian duchy of Berg. Ansbach became the capital of the circle of Middle Franconia following the unification of Germany; at the time, it had a population of 12,635. Jewish families were resident in Ansbach from at least the end of the 18th century. They set up a Jewish Cemetery in the Ruglaender Strasse, which was vandalised and razed under the Nazi regime in the Kristallnacht. It was repaired in 1946, but it was damaged several times more. A plaque on the wall of the cemetery commemorates these events. The Jewish Congregation built its synagogue at No 3 Rosenbadstrasse, but it too was damaged by the SA, though it was not burnt down for fear of damaging the neighbouring buildings. It serves today as a "Symbolic House of God". A plaque in the entrance serves as a memorial to the synagogue and to Jewish residents who were murdered during the Holocaust. In 1940, at least 500 patients were deported from the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Ansbach [Ansbach Medical and Nursing Clinic] to the extermination facilities Sonnenstein and Hartheim which were disguised as psychiatric institutions, as part of the Action T4 euthanasia action. They were gassed there. At the clinic in Ansbach itself, around 50 intellectually disabled children were injected with the drug Luminal and killed that way. A plaque was erected in their memory in 1988 in the local hospital at No. 38 Feuchtwangerstrasse. During World War II, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was located here. Also during the Second World War the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht had bases here. The nearby airbase was the home station for the Stab & I/KG53 (Staff & 1st Group of Kampfgeschwader 53) operating 38 Heinkel He 111 bombers. On 1 September 1939 this unit was one of the many that participated in the attack on Poland that started the war. All of its bridges were destroyed during the course of the war. During the Western Allied invasion of Germany in April 1945, the airfield was seized by the United States Third Army, and used by the USAAF 354th Fighter Group which flew P-47 Thunderbolts from the aerodrome (designated ALG R-82) from late April until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945. At the end of the war, 19-year-old student Robert Limpert tried to get the town to surrender to the US Forces without a fight. He was betrayed by Hitler Youth and was hung from the portal of the City Hall by the city's military commander, Col. (Oberst) Ernst Meyer. Several memorials to his heroic deed have been erected over the years, despite opposition from some residents — in the Ludwigskirche, in the Gymnasium Carolinum and at No 6 Kronenstrasse. After the Second World War, Ansbach belonged to the American Zone. The American Military authorities established a displaced persons (DP) camp in what used to be a sanatorium in what is today the Strüth quarter. Bachwoche Ansbach has been held in Ansbach since 1947. Since 1970, Ansbach has enlarged its municipal area by incorporating adjacent communities. Ansbach hosts several units of the U.S. armed forces, associated with German units under NATO. There are five separate U.S. installations: Shipton Kaserne, home to 412th Aviation Support Battalion, Katterbach Kaserne, formerly the home of the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, also home of 501st M.I. Bn and 501st Avn Bn. which has been replaced by the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade as of 2006, as part of the 1st Infantry Division's return to Fort Riley, Kansas; Bismarck Kaserne, which functions as a satellite post to Katterbach, hosting their Post Theater, barracks, Von Steuben Community Center, Military Police, and other support agencies, Barton Barracks, home to the USAG Ansbach and Bleidorn Barracks, which has a library and housing, and Urlas, which hosts the Post Exchange as well as a housing area opened in 2010. Ansbach was also home to the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division (United States) from 1972 to the early 1990s. On 24 July 2016 a bomb was detonated in a restaurant in the city, killing only the bomber himself and injuring few people. The perpetrator was reported to be a Syrian refugee whose asylum application had been rejected but who had been given exceptional leave to remain until the security situation in Syria returned to a safe condition. Witnesses reported he had tried to enter a nearby music festival but had been turned away, before detonating his device outside a nearby wine bar. Boroughs Eyb bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 October 1970 Bernhardswinden, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Brodswinden, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Claffheim, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Elpersdorf bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Hennenbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Neuses bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Strüth Wasserzell Schalkhausen, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 Geisengrund Dornberg Neudorf Steinersdorf Lord mayors 1877–1905: Ludwig Keller (1839–1911) 1905–1919: Ernst Rohmeder 1919–1934: Wilhelm Borkholder (1886–1945) 1934–1945: Richard Hänel (NSDAP) (1895-date of death unknown) 1945: Hans Schregle (1890–1970), (SPD), introduced by the Office of Military Government, United States 1945–1950: Ernst Körner (SPD) 1950–1952: Friedrich Böhner 1952–1957: Karl Burkhardt (CSU) 1957–1971: Ludwig Schönecker (CSU) 1971–1990: Ernst-Günther Zumach (CSU) (1926-2012) 1990–2008: Ralf Felber (SPD) 2008-2020: Carda Seidel (independent) since May 2020: Thomas Deffner (CSU) Sights Castle of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach Margrave museum Kaspar Hauser Monument St. Gumbertus and St. Johannis churches, both 15th century Theater Ansbach Ansbacher Kammerspiele LOFT – projectspace for contemporary art Climate Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate). Economy Around the time of the unification of Germany in 1871, the chief manufactures of Ansbach were woollen, cotton, and half-silk goods; earthenware; tobacco; cutlery; and playing cards. A considerable trade in grain, wool, and flax was also supported. By the onset of the First World War, it also produced machinery, toys, and embroidery. Today there is a large density of plastics industry in the city and rural districts around Ansbach. Transport Ansbach lies on the Treuchtlingen-Würzburg railway. Notable people Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1460–1536) Albert of Prussia (1490–1568), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and the first duke of Prussia In the late 16th century, the physician to margrave Georg Friedrich was the famous botanist, Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566) Ansbach was home of the astronomer Simon Marius (1573–1625), who observed Jupiter's moons from the castle's tower. Later he claimed to be the discoverer of the moons, which led to a dispute with the true discoverer, Galileo Galilei Johann Peter Uz (1720–1796), poet August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796-1835), poet Georges Oberhaeuser (1798–1868), optician Kaspar Hauser (1812–1833), lived in Ansbach from 1830 to 1833. He was stabbed (possibly self-inflicted) in the palace gardens Pinchas Kohn (1867–1941), was the last rabbi of Ansbach. He was the rabbinical advisor to the German occupying forces of Poland in the First World War and was also one of the founders of the World Agudath Israel movement Max Westenhöfer (1871–1957), pathologist, professor at the University of Berlin and the University of Chile. Proposed the Aquatic ape hypothesis Herbert Blendinger, Violinist and composer was born in Ansbach in 1936 Matthias Buchinger (1674–1740), a German artist, magician and illustrator, born without hands or legs Born in Ansbach Manfred Ach (born 1940), politician, from 1994 to 2008 Member of the Bavarian Parliament Wilhelm Adam (1893–1978), Colonel General Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), wife of George II of Great Britain Marcus Eliezer Bloch (1723–1799), ichthyologist Margravine Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1663–1724), Princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach, by marriage Duchess of Württemberg-Winnental Elisabeth von Brandenburg-Ansbach, Princess of Brandenburg, by marriage Duchess of Württemberg Walter Brandmüller (born 1929), theologian and church historian, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences George H. Brickner (1834–1904), U.S. Representative from Wisconsin Matthias Buchinger (1674–1740), artist, magician, calligrapher, and performer Danilo Dittrich (born 1995), football player Theodor Endres (1876-1956), General of the Artillery Theodor Escherich (1857–1911), pediatrician and bacteriologist Mario Farnbacher (born 1992), racing driver Hermann Fegelein (1906–1945), General of the Waffen-SS, was married to the sister of Eva Braun Waldemar Fegelein (1912–2000), officer in the Waffen-SS Ludwig von Förster (1792–1863), architect: Ringstrasse, 3 synagogues (Vienna, Budapest) Fritz Hommel (1854–1936), orientalist Amélie Jakobovits (née Munk, 1928–2010), wife of Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom Alex King, basketball player Georg Christian Oeder (1728–1791), pre-Linnean botanist John James Maximilian Oertel (1811–1882), born in Ansbach, was a Lutheran clergyman who later converted to Roman Catholicism and moved to the United States Sebastian Preiss (born 1981), handball player Moritz Ritter von Spies (1805–1862), Bavarian Major General and War Minister Georg Ernst Stahl (1659–1734), chemist, physician and metallurgist Twin towns – sister cities Ansbach is twinned with: Anglet, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France Bay City, Michigan, United States Fermo, Marche, Italy Jingjiang, Jiangsu, China In popular culture In the novel The Schirmer Inheritance (1953) by Eric Ambler (1909–1998), Sergeant Franz Schirmer of the Ansbach Dragoons is wounded in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau in 1807. He returns to Ansbach to settle but changes his name as he has been posted as a deserter. The bulk of the novel concerns efforts by an American law firm to trace his descendants to claim an inheritance. See also Wolf of Ansbach Notes References External links (German, English, French) Ansbach information US Army Garrison Ansbach – Ansbach Military Community Ansbach University of Applied Sciences Holocaust locations in Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27%20Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". The creed most likely originated in 5th-century Gaul as a development of the Old Roman Symbol, the old Latin creed of the 4th century. It has been used in the Latin liturgical rites since the 8th century and, by extension, in the various modern branches of Western Christianity, including the modern liturgy and catechesis of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, Moravianism, Methodism, and Congregational churches. It is shorter than the full Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed adopted in 381, but it is still explicitly trinitarian in structure, with sections affirming belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene Creed. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it was held to predate the Nicene Creed in medieval Latin tradition. The expression "Apostles' Creed" is first mentioned in a letter from the Synod of Milan dated AD 390, referring to a belief at the time that each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article to the twelve articles of the creed. History The ecclesiastical use of Latin symbolum for "creed"—in the sense of "a distinctive mark of Christians", from the sense of Greek σύμβολον, "a sign or token used for identification"—first occurs around the middle of the 3rd century, in the correspondence of St. Cyprian and St. Firmilian, the latter in particular speaking of the trinitarian formula as the "Symbol of the Trinity", and recognizing it as an integral part of the rite of baptism. The term Symbolum Apostolicum appears for the first time in a letter, probably written by Ambrose, from a Council in Milan to Pope Siricius in about AD 390 "Let them give credit to the Symbol of the Apostles, which the Roman Church has always kept and preserved undefiled". Ambrose's term is here referring to the Old Roman Creed, the immediate predecessor of what is now known as the Apostles' Creed. The narrative of this creed having been jointly created by the Apostles, with each of the twelve contributing one of twelve articles, was already current at that time. The Old Roman Creed had evolved from simpler texts based on Matthew 28:19, part of the Great Commission, and it has been argued that this earlier text was already in written form by the late 2nd century (c. 180). The earliest known formula is found within Testamentum in Galilaca D[ominus]. N[oster]. I[esu]. Christi written between 150 and 180. This formula states: "[I believe] in the Father almighty, - and in Jesus Christ, our Savior; - and in the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, in the holy Church, and in the remission of sins." As can be seen, it lacks the Christological part of the Old Roman Creed. While the individual statements of belief that are included in the Apostles' Creed – even those not found in the Old Roman Symbol – are found in various writings by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Novatian, Marcellus, Rufinus, Ambrose, Augustine, Nicetas, and Eusebius Gallus, the earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus (Excerpt from Individual Canonical Books) of St. Pirminius (Migne, Patrologia Latina 89, 1029 ff.), written between 710 and 714. Bettenson and Maunder state that it is first from Dicta Abbatis Pirminii de singulis libris canonicis scarapsus (idem quod excarpsus, excerpt), c. 750. The text of what is now known as the Apostles' Creed was most likely developed in southern Gaul around the midpoint of the 5th century. A creed that is virtually identical to the current one is recorded by Faustus of Riez. It is possible that Faustus had the identical text, as the original text written by Faustus cannot be reconstructed with certainty. A version that is identical to the current one with the single exception of infera in place of inferos is recorded in the late 5th century. However, the Old Roman Creed remained the standard liturgical text of the Roman Church throughout the 4th to 7th centuries. It was replaced by the "Gallic" version of the Apostles' Creed only in the later 8th century, under Charlemagne, who imposed it throughout his dominions. The phrase ("he descended into hell") is not found in the Nicene Creed. It echoes Ephesians 4:9, "κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς" ("he descended into the lower earthly regions"). This phrase first appeared in one of the two versions of Rufinus (d. 411), the Creed of Aquileia, and then did not appear again in any version of the creed until AD 650. Similarly, the references to the communion of saints is found neither in the Old Roman Symbol nor in the Nicene Creed. The reference to God as "creator of heaven and earth" likewise is not in the Nicene Creed of 325, but it is present in the extended version of the Nicene Creed (the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) of 381. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not use the Apostles' Creed, not because of an objection to any of its articles, but because of its omissions necessary for the definition of Nicene Christianity. The Orthodox delegates at the Council of Florence (1431–1449) explicitly challenged the western tradition that attributed the Apostles' Creed to the Twelve Apostles. This tradition was also shown to be historically untenable by Lorenzo Valla. The Roman Church does not state that text dates back to the Apostles themselves, the Roman catechism instead explaining that "the Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith." Text The following gives the original Latin text, with the traditional division into twelve articles, alongside an English translation. Underlined passages are those not present in the Old Roman Symbol as recorded by Tyrannius Rufinus. There is also a received Greek text, which alongside the Latin is found in the Psalterium Græcum et Romanum, erroneously ascribed to Pope Gregory the Great. It was first edited by Archbishop Ussher in 1647, based on a manuscript preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The Latin text agrees with the "Creed of Pirminius" edited by Charles Abel Heurtley (De Fide Symbolo, 1900, p. 71). Four other Greek translations with slight variations were discovered by Carl Paul Caspari, and published in 1879 (Alte und neue Quellen zur Geschichte des Taufsymbols, vol. 3, pp. 11 sqq.). The tradition of assigning each article to one of the apostles specifically can be traced to the 6th century. In Western sacral art, Credo Apostolorum refers to the figurative representation of the twelve apostles each alongside one of the articles. This artistic tradition extends from the high medieval to the Baroque period. The precise division of the text and the sequence of attribution to the apostles has never been entirely fixed. For example, Pelbartus Ladislaus of Temesvár, writing in the late 15th century, divides article 5 in two but combines articles 11 and 12 into one, with the following attributions: Liturgical use in Western Christianity The Apostles' Creed is used in its direct form or in interrogative forms by Western Christian communities in several of their liturgical rites, in particular those of baptism and the Eucharist. Rite of baptism The Apostles' Creed, whose present form is similar to the baptismal creed used in Rome in the third and fourth centuries, actually developed from questions addressed to those seeking baptism. The Catholic Church still today uses an interrogative form of it in the Rite of Baptism (for both children and adults). In the official English translation (ICEL, 1974) the minister of baptism asks: To each question, the catechumen, or, in the case of an infant, the parents and sponsor(s) (godparent(s)) in his or her place, answers "I do." Then the celebrant says: And all respond: Amen. The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand uses the Apostles' Creed in its baptism rite in spite of the reservations of some of its members regarding the phrase "born of the virgin Mary". The Episcopal Church in the United States of America uses the Apostles' Creed as part of a Baptismal Covenant for those who are to receive the Rite of Baptism. The Apostles' Creed is recited by candidates, sponsors and congregation, each section of the Creed being an answer to the celebrant's question, "Do you believe in God the Father (God the Son, God the Holy Spirit)?" It is also used in an interrogative form at the Easter Vigil in The Renewal of Baptismal Vows. The Church of England likewise asks the candidates, sponsors and congregation to recite the Apostles' Creed in answer to similar interrogations, in which it avoids using the word "God" of the Son and the Holy Spirit, asking instead: "Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ?", and "Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?" Moreover, "where there are strong pastoral reasons", it allows use of an alternative formula in which the interrogations, while speaking of "God the Son" and "God the Holy Spirit", are more elaborate but are not based on the Apostles' Creed, and the response in each case is: "I believe and trust in him." The Book of Common Prayer may also be used, which in its rite of baptism has the minister recite the Apostles' Creed in interrogative form. asking the godparents or, in the case "of such as are of Riper Years", the candidate: "Dost thou believe in God the Father ..." The response is: "All this I stedfastly believe." Lutherans following the Lutheran Service Book (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church–Canada), like Catholics and Anglicans, use the Apostles' Creed during the Sacrament of Baptism: Following each question, the candidate answers: "Yes, I believe". If the candidates are unable to answer for themselves, the sponsors are to answer the questions. For ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Lutherans who use the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book, the Apostles' Creed appears during the Sacrament of Holy Baptism Rite on p. 229 of the hardcover pew edition. The United Methodist Church in the United States uses the Apostles' Creed as part of their baptismal rites in the form of an interrogatory addressed to the candidate(s) for baptism and the whole congregation as a way of professing the faith within the context of the Church's sacramental act. For infants, it is the professing of the faith by the parents, sponsors, and congregation on behalf of the candidate(s); for confirmands, it is the professing of the faith before and among the congregation. For the congregation, it is a reaffirmation of their professed faith. Eucharistic rite Since the 2002 edition, the Apostles' Creed is included in the Roman Missal as an alternative, with the indication, "Instead of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, especially during Lent and Easter time, the baptismal Symbol of the Roman Church, known as the Apostles' Creed, may be used." Previously the Nicene Creed was the only profession of faith that the Missal gave for use at Mass, except in Masses for children; but in some countries use of the Apostles' Creed was already permitted. Canonical hours The Apostles' Creed is used in Anglican services of Matins and Evening Prayer (Evensong). It is invoked after the recitation or singing of the Canticles, and is the only part of the services in which the congregation traditionally turns to face the altar, if they are seated transversely in the quire. The Episcopal Church (United States) uses the Apostles' Creed in Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. Before the 1955 simplification of the rubrics of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius XII, the Apostles' Creed was recited at the beginning of matins and prime, at the end of compline, and in some preces (a series of versicles and responses preceded by , eleison ("Lord, have mercy") and the Our Father) of prime and compline on certain days during Advent and Lent. Liturgical English translations Ecumenical (interdenominational) versions International Consultation on English Texts The International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), a first inter-church ecumenical group that undertook the writing of texts for use by English-speaking Christians in common, published Prayers We Have in Common (Fortress Press, 1970, 1971, 1975). Its version of the Apostles' Creed was adopted by several churches. English Language Liturgical Consultation The English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), a successor body to the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET), published in 1988 a revised translation of the Apostles' Creed. It avoided the word "his" in relation to God and spoke of Jesus Christ as "God's only Son" instead of "his only Son". In the fourth line, it replaced the personal pronoun "he" with the relative "who", and changed the punctuation, so as no longer to present the Creed as a series of separate statements. In the same line it removed the words "the power of". It explained its rationale for making these changes and for preserving other controverted expressions in the 1988 publication Praying Together, with which it presented its new version: Roman Catholic Church The initial (1970) English official translation of the Roman Missal of the Roman Catholic Church adopted the ICET version, as did catechetical texts such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In 2008 the Catholic Church published a new English translation of the texts of the Mass of the Roman Rite, use of which came into force at the end of 2011. It included the following translation of the Apostles' Creed:. Church of England In the Church of England there are currently two authorized forms of the creed: that of the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and that of Common Worship (2000).Book of Common Prayer, 1662 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholick Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.Common WorshipI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Worship The publication Evangelical Lutheran Worship published by Augsburg Fortress, is the primary worship resource for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. It presents the official ELCA version, footnoting the phrase "he descended to the dead" to indicate an alternative reading: "or 'he descended into hell', another translation of this text in widespread use". The text is as follows: Church of Denmark The Church of Denmark still uses the phrase "We renounce the devil and all his doings and all his beings" as the beginning of this creed, before the line "We believe in God etc." This is mostly due to the influence of the Danish pastor Grundtvig. See . United Methodist Church The United Methodists in the USA commonly incorporate the Apostles' Creed into their worship services. The version which is most often used is located at No. 881 in the United Methodist Hymnal, one of their most popular hymnals and one with a heritage to brothers John Wesley and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism. It is notable for omitting the line "he descended into hell", but is otherwise very similar to the Book of Common Prayer version. The 1989 Hymnal has both the traditional version and the 1988 ecumenical version, which includes "he descended to the dead". The Apostles' Creed as found in The Methodist Hymnal of 1939 also omits the line "he descended..." The Methodist Hymnal of 1966 has the same version of the creed, but with a note at the bottom of the page stating, "Traditional use of this creed includes these words: 'He descended into hell. However, when the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the United States in 1784, John Wesley sent the new American Church a Sunday Service which included the phrase "he descended into hell" in the text of The Apostles' Creed. It is clear that Wesley intended American Methodists to use the phrase in the recitation of the Creed. The United Methodist Hymnal of 1989 also contains (at #882) what it terms the "Ecumenical Version" of this creed which is the ecumenically accepted modern translation of the International Committee on English Texts (1975) as amended by the subsequent successor body, the English Language Liturgical Consultation (1987). This form of the Apostles' Creed can be found incorporated into the Eucharistic and Baptismal Liturgies in the Hymnal and in The United Methodist Book of Worship, and hence it is growing in popularity and use. The word "catholic" is intentionally left lowercase in the sense that the word catholic applies to the universal and ecumenical Christian church. Musical settings Musical settings of the Symbolum Apostolorum as a motet are rare. English composer Robert Wylkynson (d. ca. 1515) composed a thirteen-voice canon, Jesus autem transiens, included in the Eton Choirbook, which features the text of the Creed. The French composer Le Brung published one Latin setting in 1540, and the Spanish composer Fernando de las Infantas published two in 1578. Martin Luther wrote the hymn (translated into English as "We all believe in one God") in 1524 as a paraphrase of the Apostles' Creed. In 1957, William P. Latham wrote "Credo (Metrical Version of the Apostle’s Creed)" in an SATB arrangement suitable for boys' and men's voices. In 1979 John Michael Talbot, a Third Order Franciscan, composed and recorded "Creed" on his album, The Lord's Supper. In 1986 Graham Kendrick published the popular "We believe in God the Father", closely based on the Apostles' Creed. The song "Creed" on Petra's 1990 album Beyond Belief is loosely based on the Apostles' Creed. GIA Publications published a hymn text in 1991 directly based on the Apostles' Creed, called "I Believe in God Almighty". It has been sung to hymn tunes from Wales, the Netherlands, and Ireland. Rich Mullins and Beaker also composed a musical setting titled "Creed", released on Mullins' 1993 album A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band. Notably, Mullins' version replaces "one holy catholic church" with "one holy church". Integrity Music under the Hosanna! Music series, produced a live worship acoustic album in 1993, Be Magnified, which featured Randy Rothwell as worship leader, had an upbeat enthusiastic hymn called "The Apostle’s Creed", written by Randy Rothwell Burbank. In 2014 Hillsong released a version of the Apostles' Creed under the title "This I Believe (The Creed)" on their album No Other Name. Keith & Kristyn Getty released an expression of the Apostles' Creed under the title "We Believe (Apostle's Creed)" on their 2016 album Facing a Task Unfinished''. See also Chalcedonian Creed One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church Passion of Jesus Virgin birth of Jesus Explanatory notes References Further reading External links * (with text and approximative transliteration to Latin alphabet) English translations Book of Concord 4th-century Christian texts Ancient Christian controversies Christian terminology Ecumenical creeds Christian statements of faith Pontius Pilate Trinitarianism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicable%20numbers

Amicable numbers

Amicable numbers are two different natural numbers related in such a way that the sum of the proper divisors of each is equal to the other number. That is, s(a)=b and s(b)=a, where s(n)=σ(n)-n is equal to the sum of positive divisors of n except n itself (see also divisor function). The smallest pair of amicable numbers is (220, 284). They are amicable because the proper divisors of 220 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55 and 110, of which the sum is 284; and the proper divisors of 284 are 1, 2, 4, 71 and 142, of which the sum is 220. (A proper divisor of a number is a positive factor of that number other than the number itself. For example, the proper divisors of 6 are 1, 2, and 3.) The first ten amicable pairs are: (220, 284), (1184, 1210), (2620, 2924), (5020, 5564), (6232, 6368), (10744, 10856), (12285, 14595), (17296, 18416), (63020, 76084), and (66928, 66992). . (Also see and ) It is unknown if there are infinitely many pairs of amicable numbers. A pair of amicable numbers constitutes an aliquot sequence of period 2. A related concept is that of a perfect number, which is a number that equals the sum of its own proper divisors, in other words a number which forms an aliquot sequence of period 1. Numbers that are members of an aliquot sequence with period greater than 2 are known as sociable numbers. History Amicable numbers were known to the Pythagoreans, who credited them with many mystical properties. A general formula by which some of these numbers could be derived was invented circa 850 by the Iraqi mathematician Thābit ibn Qurra (826–901). Other Arab mathematicians who studied amicable numbers are al-Majriti (died 1007), al-Baghdadi (980–1037), and al-Fārisī (1260–1320). The Iranian mathematician Muhammad Baqir Yazdi (16th century) discovered the pair (9363584, 9437056), though this has often been attributed to Descartes. Much of the work of Eastern mathematicians in this area has been forgotten. Thābit ibn Qurra's formula was rediscovered by Fermat (1601–1665) and Descartes (1596–1650), to whom it is sometimes ascribed, and extended by Euler (1707–1783). It was extended further by Borho in 1972. Fermat and Descartes also rediscovered pairs of amicable numbers known to Arab mathematicians. Euler also discovered dozens of new pairs. The second smallest pair, (1184, 1210), was discovered in 1867 by 16-year-old B. Nicolò I. Paganini (not to be confused with the composer and violinist), having been overlooked by earlier mathematicians. By 1946 there were 390 known pairs, but the advent of computers has allowed the discovery of many thousands since then. Exhaustive searches have been carried out to find all pairs less than a given bound, this bound being extended from 108 in 1970, to 1010 in 1986, 1011 in 1993, 1017 in 2015, and to 1018 in 2016. , there are over 11,227,816,808 known amicable pairs. Rules for generation While these rules do generate some pairs of amicable numbers, many other pairs are known, so these rules are by no means comprehensive. In particular, the two rules below produce only even amicable pairs, so they are of no interest for the open problem of finding amicable pairs coprime to 210 = 2·3·5·7, while over 1000 pairs coprime to 30 = 2·3·5 are known [García, Pedersen & te Riele (2003), Sándor & Crstici (2004)]. Thābit ibn Qurra theorem The Thābit ibn Qurra theorem is a method for discovering amicable numbers invented in the ninth century by the Arab mathematician Thābit ibn Qurra. It states that if , , , where is an integer and , , and are prime numbers, then and are a pair of amicable numbers. This formula gives the pairs for , for , and for , but no other such pairs are known. Numbers of the form are known as Thabit numbers. In order for Ibn Qurra's formula to produce an amicable pair, two consecutive Thabit numbers must be prime; this severely restricts the possible values of . To establish the theorem, Thâbit ibn Qurra proved nine lemmas divided into two groups. The first three lemmas deal with the determination of the aliquot parts of a natural integer. The second group of lemmas deals more specifically with the formation of perfect, abundant and deficient numbers. Euler's rule Euler's rule is a generalization of the Thâbit ibn Qurra theorem. It states that if , , , where are integers and , , and are prime numbers, then and are a pair of amicable numbers. Thābit ibn Qurra's theorem corresponds to the case . Euler's rule creates additional amicable pairs for with no others being known. Euler (1747 & 1750) overall found 58 new pairs increasing the number of pairs that were then known to 61. Regular pairs Let (, ) be a pair of amicable numbers with , and write and where is the greatest common divisor of and . If and are both coprime to and square free then the pair (, ) is said to be regular ; otherwise, it is called irregular or exotic. If (, ) is regular and and have and prime factors respectively, then is said to be of type . For example, with , the greatest common divisor is and so and . Therefore, is regular of type . Twin amicable pairs An amicable pair is twin if there are no integers between and belonging to any other amicable pair . Other results In every known case, the numbers of a pair are either both even or both odd. It is not known whether an even-odd pair of amicable numbers exists, but if it does, the even number must either be a square number or twice one, and the odd number must be a square number. However, amicable numbers where the two members have different smallest prime factors do exist: there are seven such pairs known. Also, every known pair shares at least one common prime factor. It is not known whether a pair of coprime amicable numbers exists, though if any does, the product of the two must be greater than 1067. Also, a pair of coprime amicable numbers cannot be generated by Thabit's formula (above), nor by any similar formula. In 1955, Paul Erdős showed that the density of amicable numbers, relative to the positive integers, was 0. In 1968, Martin Gardner noted that most even amicable pairs known at his time have sums divisible by 9, and a rule for characterizing the exceptions was obtained. According to the sum of amicable pairs conjecture, as the number of the amicable numbers approaches infinity, the percentage of the sums of the amicable pairs divisible by ten approaches 100% . Although all amicable pairs up to 10,000 are even pairs, the proportion of odd amicable pairs increases steadily towards higher numbers, and presumably there are more of them than of even amicable pairs (A360054 in OEIS). Gaussian amicable pairs exist. Generalizations Amicable tuples Amicable numbers satisfy and which can be written together as . This can be generalized to larger tuples, say , where we require For example, (1980, 2016, 2556) is an amicable triple , and (3270960, 3361680, 3461040, 3834000) is an amicable quadruple . Amicable multisets are defined analogously and generalizes this a bit further . Sociable numbers Sociable numbers are the numbers in cyclic lists of numbers (with a length greater than 2) where each number is the sum of the proper divisors of the preceding number. For example, are sociable numbers of order 4. Searching for sociable numbers The aliquot sequence can be represented as a directed graph, , for a given integer , where denotes the sum of the proper divisors of . Cycles in represent sociable numbers within the interval . Two special cases are loops that represent perfect numbers and cycles of length two that represent amicable pairs. References in popular culture Amicable numbers are featured in the novel The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa, and in the Japanese film based on it. Paul Auster's collection of short stories entitled True Tales of American Life contains a story ('Mathematical Aphrodisiac' by Alex Galt) in which amicable numbers play an important role. Amicable numbers are featured briefly in the novel The Stranger House by Reginald Hill. Amicable numbers are mentioned in the French novel The Parrot's Theorem by Denis Guedj. Amicable numbers are mentioned in the JRPG Persona 4 Golden. Amicable numbers are featured in the visual novel Rewrite. Amicable numbers (220, 284) are referenced in episode 13 of the 2017 Korean drama Andante. Amicable numbers are featured in the Greek movie The Other Me (2016 film). Amicable numbers are discussed in Brian Cleggs book Are Numbers Real? Amicable numbers are mentioned in the 2020 novel Apeirogon by Colum McCann. See also Betrothed numbers (quasi-amicable numbers) Amicable triple - Three-number variation of Amicable numbers. Notes References External links Arithmetic dynamics Divisor function Integer sequences

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar

Agar

Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (Gracilaria) and "tengusa" (Gelidiaceae). As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, the linear polysaccharide agarose and a heterogeneous mixture of smaller molecules called agaropectin. It forms the supporting structure in the cell walls of certain species of algae and is released on boiling. These algae are known as agarophytes, belonging to the Rhodophyta (red algae) phylum. The processing of food-grade agar removes the agaropectin, and the commercial product is essentially pure agarose. Agar has been used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Asia and also as a solid substrate to contain culture media for microbiological work. Agar can be used as a laxative; an appetite suppressant; a vegan substitute for gelatin; a thickener for soups; in fruit preserves, ice cream, and other desserts; as a clarifying agent in brewing; and for sizing paper and fabrics. Etymology The word "agar" comes from agar-agar, the Malay name for red algae (Gigartina, Eucheuma, Gracilaria) from which the jelly is produced. It is also known as Kanten () (from the phrase kan-zarashi tokoroten () or “cold-exposed agar”), Japanese isinglass, China grass, Ceylon moss or Jaffna moss. Gracilaria lichenoides is specifically referred to as agal-agal or Ceylon agar. History Jelly seaweeds were favoured and foraged by Malay communities living on the coasts of the Riau Archipelago and Singapore in Southeast Asia for centuries. The application of agar as a food additive may have been discovered in Japan in 1658 by Mino Tarōzaemon (), an innkeeper in current Fushimi-ku, Kyoto who, according to legend, was said to have discarded surplus seaweed soup (Tokoroten) and noticed that it gelled later after a winter night's freezing. Over the following centuries, agar became a common gelling agent in several Asian cuisines. Agar was first subjected to chemical analysis in 1859 by the French chemist Anselme Payen, who had obtained agar from the marine algae Gelidium corneum. Beginning in the late 19th century, agar began to be used as a solid medium for growing various microbes. Agar was first described for use in microbiology in 1882 by the German microbiologist Walther Hesse, an assistant working in Robert Koch's laboratory, on the suggestion of his wife Fanny Hesse. Agar quickly supplanted gelatin as the base of microbiological media, due to its higher melting temperature, allowing microbes to be grown at higher temperatures without the media liquefying. With its newfound use in microbiology, agar production quickly increased. This production centered on Japan, which produced most of the world's agar until World War II. However, with the outbreak of World War II, many nations were forced to establish domestic agar industries in order to continue microbiological research. Around the time of World War II, approximately 2,500 tons of agar were produced annually. By the mid-1970s, production worldwide had increased dramatically to approximately 10,000 tons each year. Since then, production of agar has fluctuated due to unstable and sometimes over-utilized seaweed populations. Composition Agar consists of a mixture of two polysaccharides: agarose and agaropectin, with agarose making up about 70% of the mixture. Agarose is a linear polymer, made up of repeating units of agarobiose, a disaccharide made up of D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactopyranose. Agaropectin is a heterogeneous mixture of smaller molecules that occur in lesser amounts, and is made up of alternating units of D-galactose and L-galactose heavily modified with acidic side-groups, such as sulfate and pyruvate. Agar exhibits hysteresis, solidifying at about 32–40 °C (305–313 K, 90–104 °F) but melting at 85 °C (358  K, 185 °F). This property lends a suitable balance between easy melting and good gel stability at relatively high temperatures. Since many scientific applications require incubation at temperatures close to human body temperature (37 °C), agar is more appropriate than other solidifying agents that melt at this temperature, such as gelatin. Uses Culinary Agar-agar is a natural vegetable gelatin counterpart. It is white and semi-translucent when sold in packages as washed and dried strips or in powdered form. It can be used to make jellies, puddings, and custards. When making jelly, it is boiled in water until the solids dissolve. Sweetener, flavoring, coloring, fruits and or vegetables are then added, and the liquid is poured into molds to be served as desserts and vegetable aspics or incorporated with other desserts such as a layer of jelly in a cake. Agar-agar is approximately 80% dietary fiber, so it can serve as an intestinal regulator. Its bulking quality has been behind fad diets in Asia, for example the kanten (the Japanese word for agar-agar) diet. Once ingested, kanten triples in size and absorbs water. This results in the consumers feeling fuller. Asian culinary One use of agar in Japanese cuisine (Wagashi) is anmitsu, a dessert made of small cubes of agar jelly and served in a bowl with various fruits or other ingredients. It is also the main ingredient in mizu yōkan, another popular Japanese food. In Philippine cuisine, it is used to make the jelly bars in the various gulaman refreshments like Sago't Gulaman, Samalamig, or desserts such as buko pandan, agar flan, halo-halo, fruit cocktail jelly, and the black and red gulaman used in various fruit salads. In Vietnamese cuisine, jellies made of flavored layers of agar agar, called thạch, are a popular dessert, and are often made in ornate molds for special occasions. In Indian cuisine, agar is used for making desserts. In Burmese cuisine, a sweet jelly known as kyauk kyaw is made from agar. Agar jelly is widely used in Taiwanese bubble tea. Other culinary It can be used as addition to or as a replacement for pectin in jams and marmalades, as a substitute to gelatin for its superior gelling properties, and as a strengthening ingredient in souffles and custards. Another use of agar-agar is in a Russian dish ptich'ye moloko (bird's milk), a rich jellified custard (or soft meringue) used as a cake filling or chocolate-glazed as individual sweets. Agar-agar may also be used as the gelling agent in gel clarification, a culinary technique used to clarify stocks, sauces, and other liquids. Mexico has traditional candies made out of Agar gelatin, most of them in colorful, half-circle shapes that resemble a melon or watermelon fruit slice, and commonly covered with sugar. They are known in Spanish as Dulce de Agar (Agar sweets) Agar-agar is an allowed nonorganic/nonsynthetic additive used as a thickener, gelling agent, texturizer, moisturizer, emulsifier, flavor enhancer, and absorbent in certified organic foods. Microbiology Agar plate An agar plate or Petri dish is used to provide a growth medium using a mix of agar and other nutrients in which microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, can be cultured and observed under the microscope. Agar is indigestible for many organisms so that microbial growth does not affect the gel used and it remains stable. Agar is typically sold commercially as a powder that can be mixed with water and prepared similarly to gelatin before use as a growth medium. Nutrients are typically added to meet the nutritional needs of the microbes organism, the formulations of which may be "undefined" where the precise composition is unknown, or "defined" where the exact chemical composition is known. Agar is often dispensed using a sterile media dispenser. Different algae produce various types of agar. Each agar has unique properties that suit different purposes. Because of the agarose component, the agar solidifies. When heated, agarose has the potential to melt and then solidify. Because of this property, they are referred to as "physical gels." In contrast, polyacrylamide polymerization is an irreversible process, and the resulting products are known as chemical gels. There are a variety of different types of agar that support the growth of different microorganisms. A nutrient agar may be permissive, allowing for the cultivation of any non-fastidious microorganisms; a commonly-used nutrient agar for bacteria is the Luria Bertani (LB) agar which contains lysogeny broth, a nutrient-rich medium used for bacterial growth. Other fastidious organisms may require the addition of different biological fluids such as horse or sheep blood, serum, egg yolk, and so on. Agar plates can also be selective, and can be used to promote the growth of bacteria of interest while inhibiting others. A variety of chemicals may be added to create an environment favourable for specific types of bacteria or bacteria with certain properties, but not conducive for growth of others. For example, antibiotics may be added in cloning experiments whereby bacteria with antibiotic-resistant plasmid are selected. Motility assays As a gel, an agar or agarose medium is porous and therefore can be used to measure microorganism motility and mobility. The gel's porosity is directly related to the concentration of agarose in the medium, so various levels of effective viscosity (from the cell's "point of view") can be selected, depending on the experimental objectives. A common identification assay involves culturing a sample of the organism deep within a block of nutrient agar. Cells will attempt to grow within the gel structure. Motile species will be able to migrate, albeit slowly, throughout the gel, and infiltration rates can then be visualized, whereas non-motile species will show growth only along the now-empty path introduced by the invasive initial sample deposition. Another setup commonly used for measuring chemotaxis and chemokinesis utilizes the under-agarose cell migration assay, whereby a layer of agarose gel is placed between a cell population and a chemoattractant. As a concentration gradient develops from the diffusion of the chemoattractant into the gel, various cell populations requiring different stimulation levels to migrate can then be visualized over time using microphotography as they tunnel upward through the gel against gravity along the gradient. Plant biology Research grade agar is used extensively in plant biology as it is optionally supplemented with a nutrient and/or vitamin mixture that allows for seedling germination in Petri dishes under sterile conditions (given that the seeds are sterilized as well). Nutrient and/or vitamin supplementation for Arabidopsis thaliana is standard across most experimental conditions. Murashige & Skoog (MS) nutrient mix and Gamborg's B5 vitamin mix in general are used. A 1.0% agar/0.44% MS+vitamin dH2O solution is suitable for growth media between normal growth temps. When using agar, within any growth medium, it is important to know that the solidification of the agar is pH-dependent. The optimal range for solidification is between 5.4 and 5.7. Usually, the application of potassium hydroxide is needed to increase the pH to this range. A general guideline is about 600 µl 0.1M KOH per 250 ml GM. This entire mixture can be sterilized using the liquid cycle of an autoclave. This medium nicely lends itself to the application of specific concentrations of phytohormones etc. to induce specific growth patterns in that one can easily prepare a solution containing the desired amount of hormone, add it to the known volume of GM, and autoclave to both sterilize and evaporate off any solvent that may have been used to dissolve the often-polar hormones. This hormone/GM solution can be spread across the surface of Petri dishes sown with germinated and/or etiolated seedlings. Experiments with the moss Physcomitrella patens, however, have shown that choice of the gelling agent – agar or Gelrite – does influence phytohormone sensitivity of the plant cell culture. Other uses Agar is used: As an impression material in dentistry. As a medium to precisely orient the tissue specimen and secure it by agar pre-embedding (especially useful for small endoscopy biopsy specimens) for histopathology processing To make salt bridges and gel plugs for use in electrochemistry. In formicariums as a transparent substitute for sand and a source of nutrition. As a natural ingredient in forming modeling clay for young children to play with. As an allowed biofertilizer component in organic farming. As a substrate for precipitin reactions in immunology. At different times as a substitute for gelatin in photographic emulsions, arrowroot in preparing silver paper and as a substitute for fish glue in resist etching. As an MRI elastic gel phantom to mimic tissue mechanical properties in Magnetic Resonance Elastography Gelidium agar is used primarily for bacteriological plates. Gracilaria agar is used mainly in food applications. In 2016, AMAM, a Japanese company, developed a prototype for Agar-based commercial packaging system called Agar Plasticity, intended as a replacement for oil-based plastic packaging. See also References External links Edible thickening agents Microbiological gelling agent Dental materials Algal food ingredients Red algae Gels Polysaccharides Japanese inventions Food stabilizers Jams and jellies E-number additives Impression material

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid%20rain

Acid rain

Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average. The more acidic the acid rain is, the lower its pH is. Acid rain can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, soils, microbes, insects and aquatic life-forms. In ecosystems, persistent acid rain reduces tree bark durability, leaving flora more susceptible to environmental stressors such as drought, heat/cold and pest infestation. Acid rain is also capable of detrimenting soil composition by stripping it of nutrients such as calcium and magnesium which play a role in plant growth and maintaining healthy soil. In terms of human infrastructure, acid rain also causes paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and statues as well as having impacts on human health. Some governments, including those in Europe and North America, have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere through air pollution regulations. These efforts have had positive results due to the widespread research on acid rain starting in the 1960s and the publicized information on its harmful effects. The main source of sulfur and nitrogen compounds that result in acid rain are anthropogenic, but nitrogen oxides can also be produced naturally by lightning strikes and sulphur dioxide is produced by volcanic eruptions. Definition "Acid rain" is a popular term referring to the deposition of a mixture from wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloudwater, and dew) and dry (acidifying particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. "Clean" or unpolluted rain has an acidic pH, but usually no lower than 5.7, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form carbonic acid, a weak acid according to the following reaction: Carbonic acid then can ionize in water forming low concentrations of carbonate and hydronium ions: Unpolluted rain can also contain other chemicals which affect its pH (acidity level). A common example is nitric acid produced by electric discharge in the atmosphere such as lightning. Acid deposition as an environmental issue (discussed later in the article) would include additional acids other than . Occasional pH readings in rain and fog water of well below 2.4 have been reported in industrialized areas. History Acid rain was first systematically studied in Europe, in the 1960s, and in the United States and Canada, the following decade. In Europe The corrosive effect of polluted, acidic city air on limestone and marble was noted in the 17th century by John Evelyn, who remarked upon the poor condition of the Arundel marbles. Since the Industrial Revolution, emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere have increased. In 1852, Robert Angus Smith was the first to show the relationship between acid rain and atmospheric pollution in Manchester, England. Smith coined the term "acid rain" in 1872. In the late 1960s, scientists began widely observing and studying the phenomenon. At first, the main focus in this research lay on local effects of acid rain. Waldemar Christofer Brøgger was the first to acknowledge long-distance transportation of pollutants crossing borders from the United Kingdom to Norway – a problem systematically studied by Brynjulf Ottar in the 1970s. Ottar's work was strongly influenced by Swedish soil scientist Svante Odén, who had drawn widespread attention to Europe's acid rain problem in popular newspapers and wrote a landmark paper on the subject in 1968. In the United States The earliest report about acid rain in the United States came from chemical evidence gathered from Hubbard Brook Valley; public awareness of acid rain in the US increased in the 1970s after The New York Times reported on these findings. In 1972, a group of scientists including Gene Likens discovered the rain that was deposited at White Mountains of New Hampshire was acidic. The pH of the sample was measured to be 4.03 at Hubbard Brook. The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study followed up with a series of research studies that analyzed the environmental effects of acid rain. Acid rain that mixed with stream water at Hubbard Brook was neutralized by the alumina from soils. The result of this research indicated that the chemical reaction between acid rain and aluminum leads to an increasing rate of soil weathering. Experimental research was done to examine the effects of increased acidity in streams on ecological species. In 1980, a group of scientists modified the acidity of Norris Brook, New Hampshire, and observed the change in species' behaviors. There was a decrease in species diversity, an increase in community dominants, and a decrease in the food web complexity. In 1980, the US Congress passed an Acid Deposition Act. This Act established an 18-year assessment and research program under the direction of the National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP). NAPAP enlarged a network of monitoring sites to determine how acidic the precipitation actually was, seeking to determine long-term trends, and established a network for dry deposition. Using a statistically based sampling design, NAPAP quantified the effects of acid rain on a regional basis by targeting research and surveys to identify and quantify the effects of acid precipitation on freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. NAPAP also assessed the effects of acid rain on historical buildings, monuments, and building materials. It also funded extensive studies on atmospheric processes and potential control programs. From the start, policy advocates from all sides attempted to influence NAPAP activities to support their particular policy advocacy efforts, or to disparage those of their opponents. For the US Government's scientific enterprise, a significant impact of NAPAP were lessons learned in the assessment process and in environmental research management to a relatively large group of scientists, program managers, and the public. In 1981, the National Academy of Sciences was looking into research about the controversial issues regarding acid rain. President Ronald Reagan dismissed the issues of acid rain until his personal visit to Canada and confirmed that the Canadian border suffered from the drifting pollution from smokestacks originating in the US Midwest. Reagan honored the agreement to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's enforcement of anti-pollution regulation. In 1982, Reagan commissioned William Nierenberg to serve on the National Science Board. Nierenberg selected scientists including Gene Likens to serve on a panel to draft a report on acid rain. In 1983, the panel of scientists came up with a draft report, which concluded that acid rain is a real problem and solutions should be sought. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy reviewed the draft report and sent Fred Singer's suggestions of the report, which cast doubt on the cause of acid rain. The panelists revealed rejections against Singer's positions and submitted the report to Nierenberg in April. In May 1983, the House of Representatives voted against legislation that aimed to control sulfur emissions. There was a debate about whether Nierenberg delayed to release the report. Nierenberg himself denied the saying about his suppression of the report and stated that the report was withheld after the House's vote because it was not ready to be published. In 1991, the US National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) provided its first assessment of acid rain in the United States. It reported that 5% of New England Lakes were acidic, with sulfates being the most common problem. They noted that 2% of the lakes could no longer support Brook Trout, and 6% of the lakes were unsuitable for the survival of many species of minnow. Subsequent Reports to Congress have documented chemical changes in soil and freshwater ecosystems, nitrogen saturation, decreases in amounts of nutrients in soil, episodic acidification, regional haze, and damage to historical monuments. Meanwhile, in 1990, the US Congress passed a series of amendments to the Clean Air Act. Title IV of these amendments established a cap and trade system designed to control emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Title IV called for a total reduction of about 10 million tons of SO2 emissions from power plants, close to a 50% reduction. It was implemented in two phases. Phase I began in 1995, and limited sulfur dioxide emissions from 110 of the largest power plants to a combined total of 8.7 million tons of sulfur dioxide. One power plant in New England (Merrimack) was in Phase I. Four other plants (Newington, Mount Tom, Brayton Point, and Salem Harbor) were added under other provisions of the program. Phase II began in 2000, and affects most of the power plants in the country. During the 1990s, research continued. On March 10, 2005, the EPA issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). This rule provides states with a solution to the problem of power plant pollution that drifts from one state to another. CAIR will permanently cap emissions of SO2 and NOx in the eastern United States. When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO2 emissions in 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia by over 70% and NOx emissions by over 60% from 2003 levels. Overall, the program's cap and trade program has been successful in achieving its goals. Since the 1990s, SO2 emissions have dropped 40%, and according to the Pacific Research Institute, acid rain levels have dropped 65% since 1976. Conventional regulation was used in the European Union, which saw a decrease of over 70% in SO2 emissions during the same time period. In 2007, total SO2 emissions were 8.9 million tons, achieving the program's long-term goal ahead of the 2010 statutory deadline. In 2007 the EPA estimated that by 2010, the overall costs of complying with the program for businesses and consumers would be $1 billion to $2 billion a year, only one fourth of what was originally predicted. Forbes says: "In 2010, by which time the cap and trade system had been augmented by the George W. Bush administration's Clean Air Interstate Rule, SO2 emissions had fallen to 5.1 million tons." The term citizen science can be traced back as far as January 1989 to a campaign by the Audubon Society to measure acid rain. Scientist Muki Haklay cites in a policy report for the Wilson Center entitled 'Citizen Science and Policy: A European Perspective' a first use of the term 'citizen science' by R. Kerson in the magazine MIT Technology Review from January 1989. Quoting from the Wilson Center report: "The new form of engagement in science received the name "citizen science". The first recorded example of the use of the term is from 1989, describing how 225 volunteers across the US collected rain samples to assist the Audubon Society in an acid-rain awareness raising campaign. The volunteers collected samples, checked for acidity, and reported back to the organization. The information was then used to demonstrate the full extent of the phenomenon." In Canada Canadian Harold Harvey was among the first to research a "dead" lake. In 1971, he and R.J. Beamish published a report, "Acidification of the La Cloche Mountain Lakes", documenting the gradual deterioration of fish stocks in 60 lakes in Killarney Park in Ontario, which they had been studying systematically since 1966. In the 1970s and 80s, acid rain was a major topic of research at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Researchers added sulfuric acid to whole lakes in controlled ecosystem experiments to simulate the effects of acid rain. Because its remote conditions allowed for whole-ecosystem experiments, research at the ELA showed that the effect of acid rain on fish populations started at concentrations much lower than those observed in laboratory experiments. In the context of a food web, fish populations crashed earlier than when acid rain had direct toxic effects to the fish because the acidity led to crashes in prey populations (e.g. mysids). As experimental acid inputs were reduced, fish populations and lake ecosystems recovered at least partially, although invertebrate populations have still not completely returned to the baseline conditions. This research showed both that acidification was linked to declining fish populations and that the effects could be reversed if sulfuric acid emissions decreased, and influenced policy in Canada and the United States. In 1985, seven Canadian provinces (all except British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan) and the federal government signed the Eastern Canada Acid Rain Program. The provinces agreed to limit their combined sulfur dioxide emissions to 2.3 million tonnes by 1994. The Canada-US Air Quality Agreement was signed in 1991. In 1998, all federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of Energy and Environment signed The Canada-Wide Acid Rain Strategy for Post-2000, which was designed to protect lakes that are more sensitive than those protected by earlier policies. Emissions of chemicals leading to acidification The most important gas which leads to acidification is sulfur dioxide. Emissions of nitrogen oxides which are oxidized to form nitric acid are of increasing importance due to stricter controls on emissions of sulfur compounds. 70 Tg(S) per year in the form of SO2 comes from fossil fuel combustion and industry, 2.8 Tg(S) from wildfires, and 7–8 Tg(S) per year from volcanoes. Natural phenomena The principal natural phenomena that contribute acid-producing gases to the atmosphere are emissions from volcanoes. Thus, for example, fumaroles from the Laguna Caliente crater of Poás Volcano create extremely high amounts of acid rain and fog, with acidity as high as a pH of 2, clearing an area of any vegetation and frequently causing irritation to the eyes and lungs of inhabitants in nearby settlements. Acid-producing gasses are also created by biological processes that occur on the land, in wetlands, and in the oceans. The major biological source of sulfur compounds is dimethyl sulfide. Nitric acid in rainwater is an important source of fixed nitrogen for plant life, and is also produced by electrical activity in the atmosphere such as lightning. Acidic deposits have been detected in glacial ice thousands of years old in remote parts of the globe. Human activity The principal cause of acid rain is sulfur and nitrogen compounds from human sources, such as electricity generation, animal agriculture, factories, and motor vehicles. Industrial acid rain is a substantial problem in China and Russia and areas downwind from them. These areas all burn sulfur-containing coal to generate heat and electricity. The problem of acid rain has not only increased with population and industrial growth, but has become more widespread. The use of tall smokestacks to reduce local pollution has contributed to the spread of acid rain by releasing gases into regional atmospheric circulation; dispersal from these taller stacks causes pollutants to be carried farther, causing widespread ecological damage. Often deposition occurs a considerable distance downwind of the emissions, with mountainous regions tending to receive the greatest deposition (because of their higher rainfall). An example of this effect is the low pH of rain which falls in Scandinavia. Chemical processes Combustion of fuels produces sulfur dioxide and nitric oxides. They are converted into sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Gas phase chemistry In the gas phase sulfur dioxide is oxidized by reaction with the hydroxyl radical via an intermolecular reaction: SO2 + OH· → HOSO2· which is followed by: HOSO2· + O2 → HO2· + SO3 In the presence of water, sulfur trioxide (SO3) is converted rapidly to sulfuric acid: SO3 (g) + H2O (l) → H2SO4 (aq) Nitrogen dioxide reacts with OH to form nitric acid: NO2 + OH· → HNO3 Chemistry in cloud droplets When clouds are present, the loss rate of SO2 is faster than can be explained by gas phase chemistry alone. This is due to reactions in the liquid water droplets. Hydrolysis Sulfur dioxide dissolves in water and then, like carbon dioxide, hydrolyses in a series of equilibrium reactions: SO2 (g) + H2O SO2·H2O SO2·H2O H+ + HSO3− HSO3− H+ + SO32− Oxidation There are a large number of aqueous reactions that oxidize sulfur from S(IV) to S(VI), leading to the formation of sulfuric acid. The most important oxidation reactions are with ozone, hydrogen peroxide and oxygen (reactions with oxygen are catalyzed by iron and manganese in the cloud droplets). Acid deposition Wet deposition Wet deposition of acids occurs when any form of precipitation (rain, snow, and so on) removes acids from the atmosphere and delivers it to the Earth's surface. This can result from the deposition of acids produced in the raindrops (see aqueous phase chemistry above) or by the precipitation removing the acids either in clouds or below clouds. Wet removal of both gases and aerosols are both of importance for wet deposition. Dry deposition Acid deposition also occurs via dry deposition in the absence of precipitation. This can be responsible for as much as 20 to 60% of total acid deposition. This occurs when particles and gases stick to the ground, plants or other surfaces. Adverse effects Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters and soils, killing insect and aquatic life-forms as well as causing damage to buildings and having impacts on human health. Surface waters and aquatic animals Both the lower pH and higher aluminium concentrations in surface water that occur as a result of acid rain can cause damage to fish and other aquatic animals. At pH lower than 5 most fish eggs will not hatch and lower pH can kill adult fish. As lakes and rivers become more acidic biodiversity is reduced. Acid rain has eliminated insect life and some fish species, including the brook trout in some lakes, streams, and creeks in geographically sensitive areas, such as the Adirondack Mountains of the United States. However, the extent to which acid rain contributes directly or indirectly via runoff from the catchment to lake and river acidity (i.e., depending on characteristics of the surrounding watershed) is variable. The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) website states: "Of the lakes and streams surveyed, acid rain caused acidity in 75% of the acidic lakes and about 50% of the acidic streams". Lakes hosted by silicate basement rocks are more acidic than lakes within limestone or other basement rocks with a carbonate composition (i.e. marble) due to buffering effects by carbonate minerals, even with the same amount of acid rain. Soils Soil biology and chemistry can be seriously damaged by acid rain. Some microbes are unable to tolerate changes to low pH and are killed. The enzymes of these microbes are denatured (changed in shape so they no longer function) by the acid. The hydronium ions of acid rain also mobilize toxins, such as aluminium, and leach away essential nutrients and minerals such as magnesium. 2 H+ (aq) + Mg2+ (clay) 2 H+ (clay) + Mg2+ (aq) Soil chemistry can be dramatically changed when base cations, such as calcium and magnesium, are leached by acid rain, thereby affecting sensitive species, such as sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Soil acidification Impacts of acidic water and Soil acidification on plants could be minor or in most cases major. Most minor cases which do not result in fatality of plant life can be attributed to the plants being less susceptible to acidic conditions and/or the acid rain being less potent. However, even in minor cases, the plant will eventually die due to the acidic water lowering the plant's natural pH. Acidic water enters the plant and causes important plant minerals to dissolve and get carried away; which ultimately causes the plant to die of lack of minerals for nutrition. In major cases, which are more extreme, the same process of damage occurs as in minor cases, which is removal of essential minerals, but at a much quicker rate. Likewise, acid rain that falls on soil and on plant leaves causes drying of the waxy leaf cuticle, which ultimately causes rapid water loss from the plant to the outside atmosphere and eventually results in death of the plant. To see if a plant is being affected by soil acidification, one can closely observe the plant leaves. If the leaves are green and look healthy, the soil pH is normal and acceptable for plant life. But if the plant leaves have yellowing between the veins on their leaves, that means the plant is suffering from acidification and is unhealthy. Moreover, a plant suffering from soil acidification cannot photosynthesize; the acid-water-induced process of drying out of the plant can destroy chloroplast organelles. Without being able to photosynthesize, a plant cannot create nutrients for its own survival or oxygen for the survival of aerobic organisms, which affects most species on Earth and ultimately ends the purpose of the plant's existence. Forests and other vegetation Adverse effects may be indirectly related to acid rain, like the acid's effects on soil (see above) or high concentration of gaseous precursors to acid rain. High altitude forests are especially vulnerable as they are often surrounded by clouds and fog which are more acidic than rain. Other plants can also be damaged by acid rain, but the effect on food crops is minimized by the application of lime and fertilizers to replace lost nutrients. In cultivated areas, limestone may also be added to increase the ability of the soil to keep the pH stable, but this tactic is largely unusable in the case of wilderness lands. When calcium is leached from the needles of red spruce, these trees become less cold tolerant and exhibit winter injury and even death. Ocean acidification Acid rain has a much less harmful effect on oceans on a global scale, but it creates an amplified impact in the shallower waters of coastal waters. Acid rain can cause the ocean's pH to fall, known as ocean acidification, making it more difficult for different coastal species to create their exoskeletons that they need to survive. These coastal species link together as part of the ocean's food chain, and without them being a source for other marine life to feed off of, more marine life will die. Coral's limestone skeleton is particularly sensitive to pH decreases, because the calcium carbonate, a core component of the limestone skeleton, dissolves in acidic (low pH) solutions. In addition to acidification, excess nitrogen inputs from the atmosphere promote increased growth of phytoplankton and other marine plants, which, in turn, may cause more frequent harmful algal blooms and eutrophication (the creation of oxygen-depleted "dead zones") in some parts of the ocean. Human health effects Acid rain does not directly affect human health. The acid in the rainwater is too dilute to have direct adverse effects. The particulates responsible for acid rain (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) do have an adverse effect. Increased amounts of fine particulate matter in the air contribute to heart and lung problems, including asthma and bronchitis. Other adverse effects Acid rain can damage buildings, historic monuments, and statues, especially those made of rocks, such as limestone and marble, that contain large amounts of calcium carbonate. Acids in the rain react with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum, which then flakes off. CaCO3 (s) + H2SO4 (aq) CaSO4 (s) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l) The effects of this are commonly seen on old gravestones, where acid rain can cause the inscriptions to become completely illegible. Acid rain also increases the corrosion rate of metals, in particular iron, steel, copper and bronze. Affected areas Places significantly impacted by acid rain around the globe include most of eastern Europe from Poland northward into Scandinavia, the eastern third of the United States, and southeastern Canada. Other affected areas include the southeastern coast of China and Taiwan. Prevention methods Technical solutions Many coal-firing power stations use flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) to remove sulfur-containing gases from their stack gases. For a typical coal-fired power station, FGD will remove 95% or more of the SO2 in the flue gases. An example of FGD is the wet scrubber which is commonly used. A wet scrubber is basically a reaction tower equipped with a fan that extracts hot smoke stack gases from a power plant into the tower. Lime or limestone in slurry form is also injected into the tower to mix with the stack gases and combine with the sulfur dioxide present. The calcium carbonate of the limestone produces pH-neutral calcium sulfate that is physically removed from the scrubber. That is, the scrubber turns sulfur pollution into industrial sulfates. In some areas the sulfates are sold to chemical companies as gypsum when the purity of calcium sulfate is high. In others, they are placed in landfill. The effects of acid rain can last for generations, as the effects of pH level change can stimulate the continued leaching of undesirable chemicals into otherwise pristine water sources, killing off vulnerable insect and fish species and blocking efforts to restore native life. Fluidized bed combustion also reduces the amount of sulfur emitted by power production. Vehicle emissions control reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides from motor vehicles. International treaties International treaties on the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants have been agreed upon by western countries for some time now. Beginning in 1979, European countries convened in order to ratify general principles discussed during the UNECE Convention. The purpose was to combat Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The 1985 Helsinki Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution furthered the results of the convention. Results of the treaty have already come to fruition, as evidenced by an approximate 40 percent drop in particulate matter in North America. The effectiveness of the Convention in combatting acid rain has inspired further acts of international commitment to prevent the proliferation of particulate matter. Canada and the US signed the Air Quality Agreement in 1991. Most European countries and Canada signed the treaties. Activity of the Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention remained dormant after 1999, when 27 countries convened to further reduce the effects of acid rain. In 2000, foreign cooperation to prevent acid rain was sparked in Asia for the first time. Ten diplomats from countries ranging throughout the continent convened to discuss ways to prevent acid rain. Following these discussions, the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) was established in 2001 as an intergovernmental initiative to provide science-based inputs for decision makers and promote international cooperation on acid deposition in East Asia. In 2023, the EANET member countries include Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. Emissions trading In this regulatory scheme, every current polluting facility is given or may purchase on an open market an emissions allowance for each unit of a designated pollutant it emits. Operators can then install pollution control equipment, and sell portions of their emissions allowances they no longer need for their own operations, thereby recovering some of the capital cost of their investment in such equipment. The intention is to give operators economic incentives to install pollution controls. The first emissions trading market was established in the United States by enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The overall goal of the Acid Rain Program established by the Act is to achieve significant environmental and public health benefits through reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the primary causes of acid rain. To achieve this goal at the lowest cost to society, the program employs both regulatory and market based approaches for controlling air pollution. See also Alkaline precipitation Citizen science - one of two 'first uses' of the term was in an acid rain campaign 1989. Gene Likens List of environmental issues Lists of environmental topics Ocean acidification Rain dust (an alkaline rain) Soil retrogression and degradation References External links National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Report – a 98-page report to Congress (2005) Acid rain for schools Acid rain for schools – Hubbard Brook United States Environmental Protection Agency – New England Acid Rain Program (superficial) Acid Rain (more depth than ref. above) U.S. Geological Survey – What is acid rain? Acid Rain: A Continuing National Tragedy – a report from The Adirondack Council on acid rain in the Adirondack region (1998) What Happens to Acid Rain? Acid Rain and how it affects fish and other aquatic organisms Fourth Report for Policy Makers (RPM4): Towards Clean Air for Sustainable Future in East Asia through Collaborative Activities- a report for policy-makers, Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia, EANET, (2019). Rain Pollution Air pollution Water pollution Forest pathology Environmental chemistry Sulfuric acid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony%20of%20Saxony

Anthony of Saxony

Anthony of Saxony (; 27 December 1755 – 6 June 1836) was a King of Saxony from the House of Wettin. He became known as Anton der Gütige ("Anthony the Kind"). He was the fifth but third surviving son of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony and his wife Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria. Early life With few chances to take part in the politics of the Electorate of Saxony or receive any land from his older brother Frederick Augustus III, Anton lived under the shadows. No Elector of Saxony after Johann Georg I gave appanages to his younger sons. During the first years of the reign of his older brother as Elector, Anthony was the third in line, preceded only by his older brother Charles. The death of Charles (8 September 1781) made him the next in line to the Electorate as Electoral Prince (de: Kurprinz); this was because all the pregnancies of the Electress Amalie, except for one daughter, ended in a stillbirth. His aunt, the Dauphine of France, had wanted to engage her daughter Marie Zéphyrine of France to Anthony; Marie Zéphyrine died in 1755 abandoning plans. Another French candidate was Marie Zéphyrine's sister Marie Clothilde (later Queen of Sardinia) but again nothing happened. In Turin on 29 September 1781 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 24 October 1781 (in person), Anthony married firstly with the Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy, daughter of the King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain. Caroline died after only one year of marriage, on 28 December 1782 having succumbed to smallpox. They had no children. In Florence on 8 September 1787 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 18 October 1787 (in person), Anthony entered his second marriage, to the Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria (Maria Theresia Josephe Charlotte Johanna), daughter of the Grand Duke Leopold I of Tuscany, later Emperor Leopold II. Mozart's opera Don Giovanni was originally intended to be performed in honor of his bride for a visit to Prague on 14 October 1787, as she traveled between Vienna and Dresden for the in-person ceremony, and librettos were printed with mention of the names of both Anton and the archduchess. The premiere could not be arranged in time, however, so the opera The Marriage of Figaro was substituted on the express orders of the bride's uncle, the Emperor Joseph II. The choice of The Marriage of Figaro was considered improper for a new bride by many observers, and the archduchess left the opera theater early without seeing the entire work performed. Mozart complained bitterly of the intrigues surrounding this incident in a letter to his friend Gottfried von Jacquin that was written in stages between 15 October and 25 October 1787. Anthony was present in Prague in September 1791 for the first performance of Mozart's opera La clemenza di Tito, which was written as part of the coronation ceremonies of his father-in-law, the Emperor Leopold II, as King of Bohemia. The couple had four children, but none survived to the age of two: Maria Ludovika Auguste Fredericka Therese Franziska Johanna Aloysia Nepomucena Ignatia Anna Josepha Xaveria Franziska de Paula Barbara (b. Dresden, 14 March 1795 – d. Dresden, 25 April 1796) Frederick Augustus (b. and d. Dresden, 5 April 1796) Maria Johanna Ludovica Anna Amalia Nepomucena Aloysia Ignatia Xaveria Josepha Franziska de Chantal Eva Apollonia Magdalena Crescentia Vincentia (b. Dresden, 5 April 1798 – d. Dresden, 30 October 1799) Maria Theresia (b. and d. Dresden, 15 October 1799) Electress Amalie gave birth for last time in 1799 to another stillborn child. After this, it became apparent that Anthony would succeed to the Electorate of Saxony, which was raised to kingdom in 1806. King of Saxony Anthony succeeded his brother Frederick August I as King of Saxony upon the latter's death, on 5 May 1827. The 71-year-old new king was completely inexperienced in government, and hence had no intention of initiating profound changes in foreign or domestic policy. Prussian diplomats discussed granting the Prussian Rhineland (predominantly Catholic) to Anthony (a Catholic) in exchange for Lutheran Saxony in 1827, but nothing came of these talks. After the July Revolution of 1830 in France, disturbances in Saxony began in autumn. These were directed primarily against the old Constitution. Therefore, on 13 September the cabinet dismissed Count Detlev von Einsiedel, followed by Bernhard von Lindenau. Because the people wished to have a younger regent, Anthony agreed to appoint his nephew Frederick Augustus Prince Co-Regent (de: Prinz-Mitregenten). As another consequence of the disturbances, a new constitution was adopted in 1831 and came into effect on 4 September of that year. With it Saxony became a Constitutional monarchy and obtained a bi-cameral legislature and a responsible ministry, which replaced the old feudal estates. The constitution was more conservative than other constitutions existing at this time in the German Union. Nevertheless, it remained in force in Saxony until 1918. The king kept his exclusive sovereignty but was bound by the Government Business to cooperate with the Ministers and the decisions of both Chambers of the Estates (de: Kammern der Ständeversammlung) meeting. The entry of Saxony into the Zollverein in 1833 let trade, industry and traffic blossom farther. Without surviving male issue, Anthony was succeeded as king by his nephew, Frederick Augustus II. Ancestors Footnotes References Kings of Saxony Saxon princes House of Wettin Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria 1755 births 1836 deaths Burials at Dresden Cathedral Nobility from Dresden German Roman Catholics Albertine branch Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert%20III%2C%20Duke%20of%20Saxony

Albert III, Duke of Saxony

Albert III () (27 January 144312 September 1500) was a Duke of Saxony. He was nicknamed Albert the Bold or Albert the Courageous and founded the Albertine line of the House of Wettin. Biography Albert was born in Grimma as the third and youngest son (but fifth child in order of birth) of Frederick II the Gentle, Elector of Saxony, and Margarete of Austria, sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. Later, he was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. After escaping from the hands of Kunz von Kaufungen, who had abducted him together with his brother Ernest, he spent some time at the court of the emperor Frederick III in Vienna. In Eger (Cheb) on 11 November 1464 Albert married Zdenka (Sidonie), daughter of George of Podebrady, King of Bohemia; but failed to obtain the Bohemian Crown on the death of George in 1471. After the death of his father in 1464, Albert and Ernest ruled their lands together, but in 1485 a division was made by the Treaty of Leipzig, and Albert received the Meissen, together with some adjoining districts, and founded the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin. Regarded as a capable soldier by the emperor, Albert (in 1475) took a prominent part in the campaign against Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and in 1487 led an expedition against Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, which failed owing to lack of support on the part of the emperor. In 1488 he was appointed Governor of the Netherlands (until 1493) and marched with the imperial forces to free the Roman king Maximilian from his imprisonment at Bruges, and when, in 1489, the King returned to Germany, Albert was left as his representative to prosecute the war against the rebels. He was successful in restoring the authority of Maximilian in Holland, Flanders, and Brabant, but failed to obtain any repayment of the large sums of money which he had spent in these campaigns. His services were rewarded in 1498 when Maximilian bestowed upon him the title of Hereditary Governor (potestat) of Friesland, but he had to make good his claim by force of arms. He had to a great extent succeeded, and was paying a visit to Saxony, when he was recalled by news of a fresh rising. The duke recaptured Groningen, but soon afterwards he died at Emden. He was buried at Meissen. Albert, who was a man of great strength and considerable skill in feats of arms, delighted in tournaments and knightly exercises. His loyalty to the emperor Frederick, and the expenses incurred in this connection, aroused some irritation among his subjects, but his rule was a period of prosperity in Saxony. Family and children With his wife Sidonie, Albrecht had nine children: Katharina (Meissen, 24 July 1468Göttingen, 10 February 1524), married firstly on 24 February 1484 in Innsbruck to Duke Sigismund of Austria, and secondly on 1497 to Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Calenberg. Georg "der Bärtige" (Meissen, 27 August 1471Dresden, 17 April 1539). Heinrich V "der Fromme" (Dresden, 16 March 1473Dresden, 18 August 1541). Frederick (Torgau, 26 October 1473Rochlitz, 14 December 1510), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. Anna (Dresden, 3 August 1478Dresden, 1479). Stillborn child (1479). Louis (Torgau, 28 September 1481Torgau?, some days later / Torgau?, young after 1498) [?]. John (born and died Torgau, 24 June 1484). John (Torgau, 2 December 1498Torgau?, some days later / Torgau?, young in September of the same year as his brother Louis) [?]. Ancestry References |- |- 1443 births 1500 deaths People from Grimma Dukes of Saxony Knights of the Golden Fleece House of Wettin Potestaats of Friesland Saxon princes Albertine branch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book%20of%20Alma

Book of Alma

The Book of Alma: The Son of Alma (), usually referred to as the Book of Alma, is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Alma the Younger, a prophet and "chief judge" of the Nephites. Alma is the longest book in the Book of Mormon and consists of sixty-three chapters, taking up almost a third of the volume. Narrative Historical outline The Book of Alma is the longest of all the books of the Book of Mormon, consisting of 63 chapters. The book records the first 39 years of what the Nephites termed "the reign of the judges", a period in which the Nephite nation adopted a constitutional theocratic government in which the judicial and executive branches of the government were combined. The history of the book is outlined as follows: Challenges to the beginning of the republic The first four chapters describe the rebellions of followers of Nehor and Amlici. Contrary to the dominant lay ministry that existed in the Nephite culture, Nehor established a church that taught universal salvation in which priests were given separate social status and were paid for their ministry. After killing a religious leader during a theological argument, Nehor was tried and executed for his crimes. The followers of Amlici resented the dominant political and religious parties and sought to reestablish the monarchy that the reign of the judges had replaced. Alma, who was chief judge, governor, and high priest over the people of Nephi, led an army against Amlici and his followers and drove the rebellion out of the land. Ministry of Alma among the Nephites Towards the end of chapter four, Alma realizes that the affairs of the Church require his entire concentration. He resigns from his political office and appoints Nephihah as chief judge and governor of the land. Chapters 5–16 record sermons and missionary travels of Alma between 83 and 78 BC. Alma and one of his converted followers, Amulek, provide important teachings about the atonement of Christ, overcoming pride and the natural man, retaining conversion, the resurrection of all men, and judgment day. Later, their teachings about faith and worship in Alma 32-34 are important sources of instruction and insight. Ministry of the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites Chapters 17 to 27 describe the missionary labors of the sons of King Mosiah II who was the last king over the people of Nephi before the peaceful transition of the nation from a monarchy to a republican form of government. The sons of Mosiah, named Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni, chose to devote themselves to missionary labors preaching to the people of the Lamanite nation, which periodically went to war against the Nephite nation. They lived and taught among the Lamanites between the years 91 and 77 BC. Ministry of Alma among the Zoramites Chapters 28 to 35 relate the account of a rebellion of a subgroup of the Nephite nation, who called themselves Zoramites. The Zoramites believed in a form of predestination and taught that all others except their people would be damned. Their apostasy from the Church was conspiring against the plans to rebel against the Nephite government. Alma took two of his sons, the sons of Mosiah, Amulek, and Zeezrom on a mission among the Zoramites in an attempt to restore their loyalty to both the Church and the state. Alma and his companions had some success among the poor class of Zoramites who were then exiled from the Zoramite community by the governing rich class of Zoramites. The wealthier Zoramites eventually defected and united with the Lamanites. Commandments of Alma to his children Chapters 36 to 42 record the teachings of Alma to his sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton. These teachings discuss the ministry and atonement of Jesus, the laws of justice and mercy, the need for repentance, and the resurrection and judgment of all people. Period of war Chapters 43 to 62 record the struggles of the Nephite people during a war against the attacking Lamanite nation between the years of 74 and 57 BC. The Chief Captain (senior military commander) of the Nephites during this time was Captain Moroni. The Nephites were ultimately successful in their defense against the Lamanites. Conclusion Chapter 63 includes concluding historical notes covering the years 56 to 53 BC. This is largely a period of post-war reconstruction and exploration in the Nephite nation. Simple outline This outline is based on main sections and antagonist characters in the Book of Alma. There are two main features in this history, chapters 1 - 42 deal with Missionary Work, and chapters 43 - 63 contain the Wars. The history of the Zoramites provides a transition from Missionary Work to the War chapters of the Book of Alma. The two main sections also mirror the first two antagonist characters, Nehor (religious agenda) and Amlici (political agenda). Mission chapters () Nehor: rebels against the Church () Amlici: rebels against the Republic () Korihor: the antichrist () Zoramites () Zoram: the Apostate Nephites religious () Zerahemnah: the war leader of the Zoramites political () War chapters () Amalickiah: the man who wants to be king () Ammoron: the vengeful brother of Amalickiah () Characters Protagonist Alma the Younger Gideon Nephihah Sons of Mosiah Ammon Aaron3 Omner Himni Amulek Zoram2 Ammon Melek Lehonti Helaman Shiblon Corianton Captain Moroni Two thousand stripling warriors Teancum Laman4 Gid Teomner Pahoran Hagoth Moronihah Antagonist Nehor Amlici Korihor Zoram Zerahemnah Amalickiah Morianton Ammoron King-men Gidoni Converts Zeezrom Lamoni Anti-Nephi-Lehi Doctrine 50 questions of Alma In , Alma the Younger speaks to the people of Zarahemla in which he asks 50 rhetorical questions, which are widely cited in the LDS church. Faith as a seed Alma's sermon on faith to the Zoramites in is widely used to explain the process of developing faith. Investigators are invited to try a similar experiment of faith in order to come to develop a testimony. It is worth noting that Alma doesn't compare faith to a seed, he compares the word to a seed (), although this is a common misconception. Nephite temple ceremony According to John W. Welch, based on the appearance of the following elements in Alma 12–13, the Nephite temple ceremony utilized familiar temple motifs, including: Abundant creation imagery regarding the fall of Adam and Eve () The redemption () The issuance of commandments () One's calling () Clothing () The facing of judgment () Symbolic entrance into the presence of God (; ) Notes Further reading . External links Story of the Book of Mormon - Alma: An educational summary of this book Alma

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioxidant

Antioxidant

Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation (usually occurring as autoxidation), a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricants, to prevent oxidation, and to foods to prevent spoilage, in particular the rancidification of oils and fats. In cells, antioxidants such as glutathione, mycothiol or bacillithiol, and enzyme systems like superoxide dismutase, can prevent damage from oxidative stress. The only dietary antioxidants are vitamins A, C, and E, but the term antioxidant has also been applied to numerous other dietary compounds that only have antioxidant properties in vitro, with little evidence for antioxidant properties in vivo. Dietary supplements marketed as antioxidants have not been shown to maintain health or prevent disease in humans. History As part of their adaptation from marine life, terrestrial plants began producing non-marine antioxidants such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C), polyphenols and tocopherols. The evolution of angiosperm plants between 50 and 200 million years ago resulted in the development of many antioxidant pigments – particularly during the Jurassic period – as chemical defences against reactive oxygen species that are byproducts of photosynthesis. Originally, the term antioxidant specifically referred to a chemical that prevented the consumption of oxygen. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, extensive study concentrated on the use of antioxidants in important industrial processes, such as the prevention of metal corrosion, the vulcanization of rubber, and the polymerization of fuels in the fouling of internal combustion engines. Early research on the role of antioxidants in biology focused on their use in preventing the oxidation of unsaturated fats, which is the cause of rancidity. Antioxidant activity could be measured simply by placing the fat in a closed container with oxygen and measuring the rate of oxygen consumption. However, it was the identification of vitamins C and E as antioxidants that revolutionized the field and led to the realization of the importance of antioxidants in the biochemistry of living organisms. The possible mechanisms of action of antioxidants were first explored when it was recognized that a substance with anti-oxidative activity is likely to be one that is itself readily oxidized. Research into how vitamin E prevents the process of lipid peroxidation led to the identification of antioxidants as reducing agents that prevent oxidative reactions, often by scavenging reactive oxygen species before they can damage cells. Uses in technology Food preservatives Antioxidants are used as food additives to help guard against food deterioration. Exposure to oxygen and sunlight are the two main factors in the oxidation of food, so food is preserved by keeping in the dark and sealing it in containers or even coating it in wax, as with cucumbers. However, as oxygen is also important for plant respiration, storing plant materials in anaerobic conditions produces unpleasant flavors and unappealing colors. Consequently, packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables contains an ≈8% oxygen atmosphere. Antioxidants are an especially important class of preservatives as, unlike bacterial or fungal spoilage, oxidation reactions still occur relatively rapidly in frozen or refrigerated food. These preservatives include natural antioxidants such as ascorbic acid (AA, E300) and tocopherols (E306), as well as synthetic antioxidants such as propyl gallate (PG, E310), tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA, E320) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT, E321). The most common molecules attacked by oxidation are unsaturated fats; oxidation causes them to turn rancid. Since oxidized lipids are often discolored and usually have unpleasant tastes such as metallic or sulfurous flavors, it is important to avoid oxidation in fat-rich foods. Thus, these foods are rarely preserved by drying; instead, they are preserved by smoking, salting or fermenting. Even less fatty foods such as fruits are sprayed with sulfurous antioxidants prior to air drying. Oxidation is often catalyzed by metals, which is why fats such as butter should never be wrapped in aluminium foil or kept in metal containers. Some fatty foods such as olive oil are partially protected from oxidation by their natural content of antioxidants, but remain sensitive to photooxidation. Antioxidant stabilizers are also added to fat-based cosmetics such as lipstick and moisturizers to prevent rancidity. Industrial uses Antioxidants are frequently added to industrial products. In 2014, the worldwide market for natural and synthetic antioxidants was US$2.25 billion with a forecast of growth to $3.25 billion by 2020. A common use is as stabilizers in fuels and additives in lubricants, to prevent oxidation and polymerization that leads to the formation of engine-fouling residues. Antioxidant polymer stabilizers are widely used to prevent the degradation of polymers such as rubbers, plastics and adhesives that causes a loss of strength and flexibility in these materials. Polymers containing double bonds in their main chains, such as natural rubber and polybutadiene, are especially susceptible to oxidation and ozonolysis. They can be protected by antiozonants. Oxidation can be accelerated by UV radiation in natural sunlight to cause photo-oxidation. Various specialised light stabilisers, such as HALS may be added to plastics to prevent this. Synthetic phenolic and aminic antioxidants are increasingly being identified as potential human and eviromental health hazards. Oxidative challenge in biology A paradox in metabolism is that, while the vast majority of complex life on Earth requires oxygen for its existence, oxygen is a highly reactive element that damages living organisms by producing reactive oxygen species. Consequently, organisms contain a complex network of antioxidant metabolites and enzymes that work together to prevent oxidative damage to cellular components such as DNA, proteins and lipids. In general, antioxidant systems either prevent these reactive species from being formed, or remove them before they can damage vital components of the cell. However, reactive oxygen species also have useful cellular functions, such as redox signaling. Thus, the function of antioxidant systems is not to remove oxidants entirely, but instead to keep them at an optimum level. The reactive oxygen species produced in cells include hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hypochlorous acid (HClO), and free radicals such as the hydroxyl radical (·OH) and the superoxide anion (O2−). The hydroxyl radical is particularly unstable and will react rapidly and non-specifically with most biological molecules. This species is produced from hydrogen peroxide in metal-catalyzed redox reactions such as the Fenton reaction. These oxidants can damage cells by starting chemical chain reactions such as lipid peroxidation, or by oxidizing DNA or proteins. Damage to DNA can cause mutations and possibly cancer, if not reversed by DNA repair mechanisms, while damage to proteins causes enzyme inhibition, denaturation and protein degradation. The use of oxygen as part of the process for generating metabolic energy produces reactive oxygen species. In this process, the superoxide anion is produced as a by-product of several steps in the electron transport chain. Particularly important is the reduction of coenzyme Q in complex III, since a highly reactive free radical is formed as an intermediate (Q·−). This unstable intermediate can lead to electron "leakage", when electrons jump directly to oxygen and form the superoxide anion, instead of moving through the normal series of well-controlled reactions of the electron transport chain. Peroxide is also produced from the oxidation of reduced flavoproteins, such as complex I. However, although these enzymes can produce oxidants, the relative importance of the electron transfer chain to other processes that generate peroxide is unclear. In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, reactive oxygen species are also produced during photosynthesis, particularly under conditions of high light intensity. This effect is partly offset by the involvement of carotenoids in photoinhibition, and in algae and cyanobacteria, by large amount of iodide and selenium, which involves these antioxidants reacting with over-reduced forms of the photosynthetic reaction centres to prevent the production of reactive oxygen species. Examples of bioactive antioxidant compounds Physiological antioxidants are classified into two broad divisions, depending on whether they are soluble in water (hydrophilic) or in lipids (lipophilic). In general, water-soluble antioxidants react with oxidants in the cell cytosol and the blood plasma, while lipid-soluble antioxidants protect cell membranes from lipid peroxidation. These compounds may be synthesized in the body or obtained from the diet. The different antioxidants are present at a wide range of concentrations in body fluids and tissues, with some such as glutathione or ubiquinone mostly present within cells, while others such as uric acid are more systemically distributed (see table below). Some antioxidants are only found in a few organisms, and can be pathogens or virulence factors. The interactions between these different antioxidants may be synergistic and interdependent. The action of one antioxidant may therefore depend on the proper function of other members of the antioxidant system. The amount of protection provided by any one antioxidant will also depend on its concentration, its reactivity towards the particular reactive oxygen species being considered, and the status of the antioxidants with which it interacts. Some compounds contribute to antioxidant defense by chelating transition metals and preventing them from catalyzing the production of free radicals in the cell. The ability to sequester iron for iron-binding proteins, such as transferrin and ferritin, is one such function. Selenium and zinc are commonly referred to as antioxidant minerals, but these chemical elements have no antioxidant action themselves, but rather are required for the activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase. (See also selenium in biology and zinc in biology.) Uric acid Uric acid is by far the highest concentration antioxidant in human blood. Uric acid (UA) is an antioxidant oxypurine produced from xanthine by the enzyme xanthine oxidase, and is an intermediate product of purine metabolism. In almost all land animals, urate oxidase further catalyzes the oxidation of uric acid to allantoin, but in humans and most higher primates, the urate oxidase gene is nonfunctional, so that UA is not further broken down. The evolutionary reasons for this loss of urate conversion to allantoin remain the topic of active speculation. The antioxidant effects of uric acid have led researchers to suggest this mutation was beneficial to early primates and humans. Studies of high altitude acclimatization support the hypothesis that urate acts as an antioxidant by mitigating the oxidative stress caused by high-altitude hypoxia. Uric acid has the highest concentration of any blood antioxidant and provides over half of the total antioxidant capacity of human serum. Uric acid's antioxidant activities are also complex, given that it does not react with some oxidants, such as superoxide, but does act against peroxynitrite, peroxides, and hypochlorous acid. Concerns over elevated UA's contribution to gout must be considered one of many risk factors. By itself, UA-related risk of gout at high levels (415–530 μmol/L) is only 0.5% per year with an increase to 4.5% per year at UA supersaturation levels (535+ μmol/L). Many of these aforementioned studies determined UA's antioxidant actions within normal physiological levels, and some found antioxidant activity at levels as high as 285 μmol/L. Vitamin C Ascorbic acid or vitamin C is a monosaccharide oxidation-reduction (redox) catalyst found in both animals and plants. As one of the enzymes needed to make ascorbic acid has been lost by mutation during primate evolution, humans must obtain it from their diet; it is therefore a dietary vitamin. Most other animals are able to produce this compound in their bodies and do not require it in their diets. Ascorbic acid is required for the conversion of the procollagen to collagen by oxidizing proline residues to hydroxyproline. In other cells, it is maintained in its reduced form by reaction with glutathione, which can be catalysed by protein disulfide isomerase and glutaredoxins. Ascorbic acid is a redox catalyst which can reduce, and thereby neutralize, reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide. In addition to its direct antioxidant effects, ascorbic acid is also a substrate for the redox enzyme ascorbate peroxidase, a function that is used in stress resistance in plants. Ascorbic acid is present at high levels in all parts of plants and can reach concentrations of 20 millimolar in chloroplasts. Glutathione Glutathione is a cysteine-containing peptide found in most forms of aerobic life. It is not required in the diet and is instead synthesized in cells from its constituent amino acids. Glutathione has antioxidant properties since the thiol group in its cysteine moiety is a reducing agent and can be reversibly oxidized and reduced. In cells, glutathione is maintained in the reduced form by the enzyme glutathione reductase and in turn reduces other metabolites and enzyme systems, such as ascorbate in the glutathione-ascorbate cycle, glutathione peroxidases and glutaredoxins, as well as reacting directly with oxidants. Due to its high concentration and its central role in maintaining the cell's redox state, glutathione is one of the most important cellular antioxidants. In some organisms glutathione is replaced by other thiols, such as by mycothiol in the Actinomycetes, bacillithiol in some gram-positive bacteria, or by trypanothione in the Kinetoplastids. Vitamin E Vitamin E is the collective name for a set of eight related tocopherols and tocotrienols, which are fat-soluble vitamins with antioxidant properties. Of these, α-tocopherol has been most studied as it has the highest bioavailability, with the body preferentially absorbing and metabolising this form. It has been claimed that the α-tocopherol form is the most important lipid-soluble antioxidant, and that it protects membranes from oxidation by reacting with lipid radicals produced in the lipid peroxidation chain reaction. This removes the free radical intermediates and prevents the propagation reaction from continuing. This reaction produces oxidised α-tocopheroxyl radicals that can be recycled back to the active reduced form through reduction by other antioxidants, such as ascorbate, retinol or ubiquinol. This is in line with findings showing that α-tocopherol, but not water-soluble antioxidants, efficiently protects glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4)-deficient cells from cell death. GPx4 is the only known enzyme that efficiently reduces lipid-hydroperoxides within biological membranes. However, the roles and importance of the various forms of vitamin E are presently unclear, and it has even been suggested that the most important function of α-tocopherol is as a signaling molecule, with this molecule having no significant role in antioxidant metabolism. The functions of the other forms of vitamin E are even less well understood, although γ-tocopherol is a nucleophile that may react with electrophilic mutagens, and tocotrienols may be important in protecting neurons from damage. Pro-oxidant activities Antioxidants that are reducing agents can also act as pro-oxidants. For example, vitamin C has antioxidant activity when it reduces oxidizing substances such as hydrogen peroxide; however, it will also reduce metal ions that generate free radicals through the Fenton reaction. 2 Fe3+ + Ascorbate → 2 Fe2+ + Dehydroascorbate 2 Fe2+ + 2 H2O2 → 2 Fe3+ + 2 OH· + 2 OH− The relative importance of the antioxidant and pro-oxidant activities of antioxidants is an area of current research, but vitamin C, which exerts its effects as a vitamin by oxidizing polypeptides, appears to have a mostly antioxidant action in the human body. Enzyme systems As with the chemical antioxidants, cells are protected against oxidative stress by an interacting network of antioxidant enzymes. Here, the superoxide released by processes such as oxidative phosphorylation is first converted to hydrogen peroxide and then further reduced to give water. This detoxification pathway is the result of multiple enzymes, with superoxide dismutases catalysing the first step and then catalases and various peroxidases removing hydrogen peroxide. As with antioxidant metabolites, the contributions of these enzymes to antioxidant defenses can be hard to separate from one another, but the generation of transgenic mice lacking just one antioxidant enzyme can be informative. Superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxiredoxins Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are a class of closely related enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of the superoxide anion into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. SOD enzymes are present in almost all aerobic cells and in extracellular fluids. Superoxide dismutase enzymes contain metal ion cofactors that, depending on the isozyme, can be copper, zinc, manganese or iron. In humans, the copper/zinc SOD is present in the cytosol, while manganese SOD is present in the mitochondrion. There also exists a third form of SOD in extracellular fluids, which contains copper and zinc in its active sites. The mitochondrial isozyme seems to be the most biologically important of these three, since mice lacking this enzyme die soon after birth. In contrast, the mice lacking copper/zinc SOD (Sod1) are viable but have numerous pathologies and a reduced lifespan (see article on superoxide), while mice without the extracellular SOD have minimal defects (sensitive to hyperoxia). In plants, SOD isozymes are present in the cytosol and mitochondria, with an iron SOD found in chloroplasts that is absent from vertebrates and yeast. Catalases are enzymes that catalyse the conversion of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen, using either an iron or manganese cofactor. This protein is localized to peroxisomes in most eukaryotic cells. Catalase is an unusual enzyme since, although hydrogen peroxide is its only substrate, it follows a ping-pong mechanism. Here, its cofactor is oxidised by one molecule of hydrogen peroxide and then regenerated by transferring the bound oxygen to a second molecule of substrate. Despite its apparent importance in hydrogen peroxide removal, humans with genetic deficiency of catalase — "acatalasemia" — or mice genetically engineered to lack catalase completely, experience few ill effects. Peroxiredoxins are peroxidases that catalyze the reduction of hydrogen peroxide, organic hydroperoxides, as well as peroxynitrite. They are divided into three classes: typical 2-cysteine peroxiredoxins; atypical 2-cysteine peroxiredoxins; and 1-cysteine peroxiredoxins. These enzymes share the same basic catalytic mechanism, in which a redox-active cysteine (the peroxidatic cysteine) in the active site is oxidized to a sulfenic acid by the peroxide substrate. Over-oxidation of this cysteine residue in peroxiredoxins inactivates these enzymes, but this can be reversed by the action of sulfiredoxin. Peroxiredoxins seem to be important in antioxidant metabolism, as mice lacking peroxiredoxin 1 or 2 have shortened lifespans and develop hemolytic anaemia, while plants use peroxiredoxins to remove hydrogen peroxide generated in chloroplasts. Thioredoxin and glutathione systems The thioredoxin system contains the 12-kDa protein thioredoxin and its companion thioredoxin reductase. Proteins related to thioredoxin are present in all sequenced organisms. Plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, have a particularly great diversity of isoforms. The active site of thioredoxin consists of two neighboring cysteines, as part of a highly conserved CXXC motif, that can cycle between an active dithiol form (reduced) and an oxidized disulfide form. In its active state, thioredoxin acts as an efficient reducing agent, scavenging reactive oxygen species and maintaining other proteins in their reduced state. After being oxidized, the active thioredoxin is regenerated by the action of thioredoxin reductase, using NADPH as an electron donor. The glutathione system includes glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidases, and glutathione S-transferases. This system is found in animals, plants and microorganisms. Glutathione peroxidase is an enzyme containing four selenium-cofactors that catalyzes the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides. There are at least four different glutathione peroxidase isozymes in animals. Glutathione peroxidase 1 is the most abundant and is a very efficient scavenger of hydrogen peroxide, while glutathione peroxidase 4 is most active with lipid hydroperoxides. Surprisingly, glutathione peroxidase 1 is dispensable, as mice lacking this enzyme have normal lifespans, but they are hypersensitive to induced oxidative stress. In addition, the glutathione S-transferases show high activity with lipid peroxides. These enzymes are at particularly high levels in the liver and also serve in detoxification metabolism. Health research Relation to diet The dietary antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E are essential and required in specific daily amounts to prevent diseases. Polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties in vitro due to their free hydroxy groups, are extensively metabolized by catechol-O-methyltransferase which methylates free hydroxyl groups, and thereby prevents them from acting as antioxidants in vivo. Interactions Common pharmaceuticals (and supplements) with antioxidant properties may interfere with the efficacy of certain anticancer medication and radiation therapy. Adverse effects Relatively strong reducing acids can have antinutrient effects by binding to dietary minerals such as iron and zinc in the gastrointestinal tract and preventing them from being absorbed. Examples are oxalic acid, tannins and phytic acid, which are high in plant-based diets. Calcium and iron deficiencies are not uncommon in diets in developing countries where less meat is eaten and there is high consumption of phytic acid from beans and unleavened whole grain bread. However, germination, soaking, or microbial fermentation are all household strategies that reduce the phytate and polyphenol content of unrefined cereal. Increases in Fe, Zn and Ca absorption have been reported in adults fed dephytinized cereals compared with cereals containing their native phytate. High doses of some antioxidants may have harmful long-term effects. The Beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) study of lung cancer patients found that smokers given supplements containing beta-carotene and vitamin A had increased rates of lung cancer. Subsequent studies confirmed these adverse effects. These harmful effects may also be seen in non-smokers, as one meta-analysis including data from approximately 230,000 patients showed that β-carotene, vitamin A or vitamin E supplementation is associated with increased mortality, but saw no significant effect from vitamin C. No health risk was seen when all the randomized controlled studies were examined together, but an increase in mortality was detected when only high-quality and low-bias risk trials were examined separately. As the majority of these low-bias trials dealt with either elderly people, or people with disease, these results may not apply to the general population. This meta-analysis was later repeated and extended by the same authors, confirming the previous results. These two publications are consistent with some previous meta-analyses that also suggested that vitamin E supplementation increased mortality, and that antioxidant supplements increased the risk of colon cancer. Beta-carotene may also increase lung cancer. Overall, the large number of clinical trials carried out on antioxidant supplements suggest that either these products have no effect on health, or that they cause a small increase in mortality in elderly or vulnerable populations. Levels in food Antioxidant vitamins are found in vegetables, fruits, eggs, legumes and nuts. Vitamins A, C, and E can be destroyed by long-term storage or prolonged cooking. The effects of cooking and food processing are complex, as these processes can also increase the bioavailability of antioxidants, such as some carotenoids in vegetables. Processed food contains fewer antioxidant vitamins than fresh and uncooked foods, as preparation exposes food to heat and oxygen. Other antioxidants are not obtained from the diet, but instead are made in the body. For example, ubiquinol (coenzyme Q) is poorly absorbed from the gut and is made through the mevalonate pathway. Another example is glutathione, which is made from amino acids. As any glutathione in the gut is broken down to free cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid before being absorbed, even large oral intake has little effect on the concentration of glutathione in the body. Although large amounts of sulfur-containing amino acids such as acetylcysteine can increase glutathione, no evidence exists that eating high levels of these glutathione precursors is beneficial for healthy adults. Measurement and invalidation of ORAC Measurement of polyphenol and carotenoid content in food is not a straightforward process, as antioxidants collectively are a diverse group of compounds with different reactivities to various reactive oxygen species. In food science analyses in vitro, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) was once an industry standard for estimating antioxidant strength of whole foods, juices and food additives, mainly from the presence of polyphenols. Earlier measurements and ratings by the United States Department of Agriculture were withdrawn in 2012 as biologically irrelevant to human health, referring to an absence of physiological evidence for polyphenols having antioxidant properties in vivo. Consequently, the ORAC method, derived only from in vitro experiments, is no longer considered relevant to human diets or biology, as of 2010. Alternative in vitro measurements of antioxidant content in foods – also based on the presence of polyphenols – include the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, and the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay. References Further reading External links Anti-aging substances Physiology Process chemicals Redox

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonn

Bonn

The federal city of Bonn ( is a city on the banks of the Rhine located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany's largest metropolitan area, with over 11 million inhabitants. It is a university city, was the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven and was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990. Bonn was the seat of government of reunited Germany from 1990 to 1999. Founded in the 1st century BC as a Roman settlement in the province Germania Inferior, Bonn is one of Germany's oldest cities. It was the capital city of the Electorate of Cologne from 1597 to 1794, residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Cologne. From 1949 to 1990, Bonn was the capital of West Germany, and Germany's present constitution, the Basic Law, was declared in the city in 1949. The era when Bonn served as the capital of West Germany is referred to by historians as the Bonn Republic. Due to a political compromise (Berlin-Bonn Act) following the reunification, the German federal government maintains a substantial presence in Bonn. Roughly a third of all ministerial jobs are located in Bonn , and the city is considered a second, unofficial, capital of the country. Bonn is the secondary seat of the President, the Chancellor, and the Bundesrat, and the primary seat of six federal government ministries and twenty federal authorities. The title of Federal City () reflects its important political status within Germany. The headquarters of Deutsche Post DHL and Deutsche Telekom, both DAX-listed corporations, are in Bonn. The city is home to the University of Bonn and a total of 20 United Nations institutions, the highest number in all of Germany. These institutions include the headquarters for Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the UN Volunteers programme. Geography Topography Situated in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany's largest metropolitan area with over 11 million inhabitants, Bonn lies within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the border with Rhineland-Palatinate. Spanning an area of more on both sides of the river Rhine, almost three-quarters of the city lies on the river's left bank. To the south and to the west, Bonn borders the Eifel region which encompasses the Rhineland Nature Park. To the north, Bonn borders the Cologne Lowland. Natural borders are constituted by the river Sieg to the north-east and by the Siebengebirge (also known as the Seven Hills) to the east. The largest extension of the city in north–south dimensions is and in west–east dimensions. The city borders have a total length of . The geographical centre of Bonn is the Bundeskanzlerplatz (Chancellor Square) in Bonn-Gronau. Administration The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is divided into five governmental districts (), and Bonn is part of the governmental district of Cologne (). Within this governmental district, the city of Bonn is an urban district in its own right. The urban district of Bonn is then again divided into four administrative municipal districts (). These are Bonn, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Bonn-Beuel and Bonn-Hardtberg. In 1969, the independent towns of Bad Godesberg and Beuel as well as several villages were incorporated into Bonn, resulting in a city more than twice as large as before. Climate Bonn has an oceanic climate (Cfb). In the south of the Cologne lowland in the Rhine valley, Bonn is in one of Germany's warmest regions. History Founding and Roman period The history of the city dates back to Roman times. In about 12 BC, the Roman army appears to have stationed a small unit in what is presently the historical centre of the city. Even earlier, the army had resettled members of a Germanic tribal group allied with Rome, the Ubii, in Bonn. The Latin name for that settlement, "Bonna", may stem from the original population of this and many other settlements in the area, the Eburoni. The Eburoni were members of a large tribal coalition effectively wiped out during the final phase of Caesar's War in Gaul. After several decades, the army gave up the small camp linked to the Ubii-settlement. During the 1st century AD, the army then chose a site to the north of the emerging town in what is now the section of Bonn-Castell to build a large military installation dubbed Castra Bonnensis, i.e., literally, "Fort Bonn". Initially built from wood, the fort was eventually rebuilt in stone. With additions, changes and new construction, the fort remained in use by the army into the waning days of the Western Roman Empire, possibly the mid-5th century. The structures themselves remained standing well into the Middle Ages, when they were called the Bonnburg. They were used by Frankish kings until they fell into disuse. Eventually, much of the building materials seem to have been re-used in the construction of Bonn's 13th-century city wall. The (star gate) in the city center is a reconstruction using the last remnants of the medieval city wall. To date, Bonn's Roman fort remains the largest fort of its type known from the ancient world, i.e. a fort built to accommodate a full-strength Imperial Legion and its auxiliaries. The fort covered an area of approximately . Between its walls it contained a dense grid of streets and a multitude of buildings, ranging from spacious headquarters and large officers' quarters to barracks, stables and a military jail. Among the legions stationed in Bonn, the "1st", i.e. the Prima Legio Minervia, seems to have served here the longest. Units of the Bonn legion were deployed to theatres of war ranging from modern-day Algeria to what is now the Russian republic of Chechnya. The chief Roman road linking the provincial capitals of Cologne and Mainz cut right through the fort where it joined the fort's main road (now, Römerstraße). Once past the South Gate, the Cologne–Mainz road continued along what are now streets named Belderberg, Adenauerallee et al. On both sides of the road, the local settlement, Bonna, grew into a sizeable Roman town. Bonn is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map. In late antiquity, much of the town seems to have been destroyed by marauding invaders. The remaining civilian population then took refuge inside the fort along with the remnants of the troops stationed here. During the final decades of Imperial rule, the troops were supplied by Franci chieftains employed by the Roman administration. When the end came, these troops simply shifted their allegiances to the new barbarian rulers, the Kingdom of the Franks. From the fort, the Bonnburg, as well as from a new medieval settlement to the South centered around what later became the minster, grew the medieval city of Bonn. Local legends arose from this period that the name of the village came from Saint Boniface via Vulgar Latin *Bonnifatia, but this proved to be a myth. Middle ages and early modern period Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the Romanesque style Bonn Minster was built, and in 1597 Bonn became the seat of the Archdiocese of Cologne. The city gained more influence and grew considerably. The city was subject to a major bombardment during the Siege of Bonn in 1689. Bonn was then returned to Cologne where it remained the capital at the Peace of Ryswick. The elector Clemens August (ruled 1723–1761) ordered the construction of a series of Baroque buildings which still give the city its character. Another memorable ruler was Max Franz (ruled 1784–1794), who founded the university and the spa quarter of Bad Godesberg. In addition he was a patron of the young Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn in 1770; the elector financed the composer's first journey to Vienna. In 1794, the city was seized by French troops, becoming a part of the First French Empire. In 1815 following the Napoleonic Wars, Bonn became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Administered within the Prussian Rhine Province, the city became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany. Bonn was of little relevance in these years. 20th century and the "Bonn Republic" During the Second World War, Bonn acquired military significance because of its strategic location on the Rhine, which formed a natural barrier to easy penetration into the German heartland from the west. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Bonn on 7 March 1945, and the US 1st Infantry Division captured the city during the battle of 8–9 March 1945. After the Second World War, Bonn was in the British zone of occupation. Following the advocacy of West Germany's first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, a former Cologne Mayor and a native of that area, Bonn became the de facto capital, officially designated the "temporary seat of the Federal institutions," of the newly formed Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. However, the Bundestag, seated in Bonn's Bundeshaus, affirmed Berlin's status as the German capital. Bonn was chosen as the provisional capital and seat of government despite the fact that Frankfurt already had most of the required facilities and using Bonn was estimated to be 95 million DM more expensive than using Frankfurt. Bonn was chosen because Adenauer and other prominent politicians intended to make Berlin the capital of the reunified Germany, and they felt that locating the capital in a major city like Frankfurt or Hamburg would imply a permanent capital and even weaken support in West Germany for reunification. In 1949, the Parliamentary Council in Bonn drafted and adopted the current German constitution, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. As the political centre of West Germany, Bonn saw six Chancellors and six Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany. Bonn's time as the capital of West Germany is commonly referred to as the Bonn Republic, in contrast to the Berlin Republic which followed reunification in 1990. After national reunification German reunification in 1990 made Berlin the nominal capital of Germany again. This decision, however, did not mandate that the republic's political institutions would also move. While some argued for the seat of government to move to Berlin, others advocated leaving it in Bonn – a situation roughly analogous to that of the Netherlands, where Amsterdam is the capital but The Hague is the seat of government. Berlin's previous history as united Germany's capital was strongly connected with the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and more ominously with both Nazi Germany and Prussia. It was felt that a new peacefully united Germany should not be governed from a city connected to such overtones of war. Additionally, Bonn was closer to Brussels, headquarters of the European Economic Community. Former West German chancellor and mayor of West Berlin Willy Brandt caused considerable offence to the Western Allies during the debate by stating that France would not have kept the seat of government at Vichy after Liberation. The heated debate that resulted was settled by the Bundestag (Germany's parliament) only on 20 June 1991. By a vote of 338–320, the Bundestag voted to move the seat of government to Berlin. The vote broke largely along regional lines, with legislators from the south and west favouring Bonn and legislators from the north and east voting for Berlin. It also broke along generational lines as well; older legislators with memories of Berlin's past glory favoured Berlin, while younger legislators favoured Bonn. Ultimately, the votes of the eastern German legislators tipped the balance in favour of Berlin. From 1990 to 1999, Bonn served as the seat of government of reunited Germany. In recognition of its former status as German capital, it holds the name of Federal City (). Bonn currently shares the status of Germany's seat of government with Berlin, with the President, the Chancellor and many government ministries (such as Food & Agriculture and Defence) maintaining large presences in Bonn. Over 8,000 of the 18,000 federal officials remain in Bonn. A total of 19 United Nations (UN) institutions operate from Bonn today. Politics and government Mayor The current Mayor of Bonn is Katja Dörner of Alliance 90/The Greens since 2020. She defeated incumbent mayor Ashok-Alexander Sridharan in the most recent mayoral election, which was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September. The results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate ! rowspan=2| Party ! colspan=2| First round ! colspan=2| Second round |- ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Ashok-Alexander Sridharan | align=left| Christian Democratic Union | 48,454 | 34.5 | 52,762 | 43.7 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Katja Dörner | align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens | 38,793 | 27.6 | 67,880 | 56.3 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Lissi von Bülow | align=left| Social Democratic Party | 28,389 | 20.2 |- | | align=left| Christoph Artur Manka | align=left| Citizens' League Bonn | 8,694 | 6.2 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Michael Faber | align=left| The Left | 7,032 | 5.0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Werner Hümmrich | align=left| Free Democratic Party | 4,853 | 3.5 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Frank Rudolf Christian Findeiß | align=left| Die PARTEI | 2,873 | 2.0 |- | | align=left| Kaisa Ilunga | align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice | 1,507 | 1.1 |- ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 140,595 ! 99.1 ! 120,642 ! 99.5 |- ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 1,219 ! 0.9 ! 627 ! 0.5 |- ! colspan=3| Total ! 141,814 ! 100.0 ! 121,269 ! 100.0 |- ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 249,091 ! 56.9 ! 249,098 ! 48.7 |- | colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer |} City council The Bonn city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. It used to be based in the Rococo-style (old city hall), built in 1737, located adjacent to Bonn's central market square. However, due to the enlargement of Bonn in 1969 through the incorporation of Beuel and Bad Godesberg, it moved into the larger Stadthaus facilities further north. This was necessary for the city council to accommodate an increased number of representatives. The mayor of Bonn still sits in the , which is also used for representative and official purposes. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 39,311 | 27.9 | 9.2 | 19 | 3 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 36,315 | 25.7 | 4.7 | 17 | 10 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 21,956 | 15.6 | 7.9 | 11 | 9 |- | | align=left| Citizens' League Bonn (BBB) | 9,948 | 7.1 | 2.0 | 5 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| The Left (Die Linke) | 8,745 | 6.2 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 7,268 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 3 | 4 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Volt Germany (Volt) | 7,148 | 5.1 | New | 3 | New |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 4,569 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 2 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Die PARTEI (PARTEI) | 3,095 | 2.2 | New | 1 | New |- | | align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG) | 1,775 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1 | ±0 |- | colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey| |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) | 869 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0 | 2 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Independents | 101 | 0.1 | – | 0 | – |- ! colspan=2| Valid votes ! 141,100 ! 99.3 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=2| Invalid votes ! 1,052 ! 0.7 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=2| Total ! 142,152 ! 100.0 ! ! 66 ! 20 |- ! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout ! 249,091 ! 57.1 ! 0.3 ! ! |- | colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer |} Land government Four delegates represent the Federal city of Bonn in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The last election took place in May 2017. The current delegates are Guido Déus (CDU), Christos Katzidis (CDU), Joachim Stamp (FDP) and Franziska Müller-Rech (FDP). Federal government Bonn's constituency is called (096). In the German federal election 2017, Ulrich Kelber (SPD) was elected a member of German Federal parliament, the Bundestag by direct mandate. It is his fifth term. Katja Dörner representing Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff for FDP were elected as well. Kelber resigned in 2019 because he was appointed Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. As Dörner was elected Lord Mayor of Bonn in September 2020, she resigned as a member of parliament after her entry into office. Culture Beethoven's birthplace is located in Bonngasse near the market place. Next to the market place is the Old City Hall, built in 1737 in Rococo style, under the rule of Clemens August of Bavaria. It is used for receptions of guests of the city, and as an office for the mayor. Nearby is the Kurfürstliches Schloss, built as a residence for the prince-elector and now the main building of the University of Bonn. The Poppelsdorfer Allee is an avenue flanked by Chestnut trees which had the first horsecar of the city. It connects the Kurfürstliches Schloss with the Poppelsdorfer Schloss, a palace that was built as a resort for the prince-electors in the first half of the 18th century, and whose grounds are now a botanical garden (the Botanischer Garten Bonn). This axis is interrupted by a railway line and Bonn Hauptbahnhof, a building erected in 1883/84. The Beethoven Monument stands on the Münsterplatz, which is flanked by the Bonn Minster, one of Germany's oldest churches. The three highest structures in the city are the WDR radio mast in Bonn-Venusberg (), the headquarters of the Deutsche Post called Post Tower () and the former building for the German members of parliament Langer Eugen () now the location of the UN Campus. Churches Bonn Minster Doppelkirche Schwarzrheindorf built in 1151 Old Cemetery Bonn (Alter Friedhof), one of the best known cemeteries in Germany , built in 1627 with Johann Balthasar Neumann's Heilige Stiege, it is a stairway for Christian pilgrims St. Remigius, where Beethoven was baptized Castles and residences Godesburg fortress ruins Modern buildings Beethovenhalle Bundesviertel (federal quarter) with many government structures including Post Tower, the tallest building in the state North Rhine-Westphalia, housing the headquarters of Deutsche Post/DHL Maritim Bonn, five-star hotel and convention centre Schürmann-Bau, headquarters of Deutsche Welle Langer Eugen, since 2006 the centre of the United Nations Campus, formerly housing the offices of the members of the German parliament Deutsche Telekom headquarters T-Mobile headquarters Kameha Grand, five-star hotel Museums Just as Bonn's other four major museums, the Haus der Geschichte or Museum of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, is located on the so-called Museumsmeile ("Museum Mile"). The Haus der Geschichte is one of the foremost German museums of contemporary German history, with branches in Berlin and Leipzig. In its permanent exhibition, the Haus der Geschichte presents German history from 1945 until the present, also shedding light on Bonn's own role as former capital of West Germany. Numerous temporary exhibitions emphasize different features, such as Nazism or important personalities in German history. The Kunstmuseum Bonn or Bonn Museum of Modern Art is an art museum founded in 1947. The Kunstmuseum exhibits both temporary exhibitions and its permanent collection. The latter is focused on Rhenish Expressionism and post-war German art. German artists on display include Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Hanne Darboven, Anselm Kiefer, Blinky Palermo and Wolf Vostell. The museum owns one of the largest collections of artwork by Expressionist painter August Macke. His work is also on display in the August-Macke-Haus, located in Macke's former home where he lived from 1911 to 1914. The Bundeskunsthalle (full name: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland or Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany), focuses on the crossroads of culture, arts, and science. To date, it attracted more than 17 million visitors. One of its main objectives is to show the cultural heritage outside of Germany or Europe. Next to its changing exhibitions, the Bundeskunsthalle regularly hosts concerts, discussion panels, congresses, and lectures. The Museum Koenig is Bonn's natural history museum. Affiliated with the University of Bonn, it is also a zoological research institution housing the Leibniz-Institut für Biodiversität der Tiere. Politically interesting, it is on the premises of the Museum Koenig where the Parlamentarischer Rat first met. The Deutsches Museum Bonn, affiliated with one of the world's foremost science museums, the Deutsches Museum in Munich, is an interactive science museum focusing on post-war German scientists, engineers, and inventions. Other museums include the Beethoven House, birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven, the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn (Rhinish Regional Museum Bonn), the Bonn Women's Museum, the Rheinisches Malermuseum and the Arithmeum. Nature There are several parks, leisure and protected areas in and around Bonn. The is Bonn's most important leisure park, with its role being comparable to what Central Park is for New York City. It lies on the banks of the Rhine and is the city's biggest park intra muros. The Rhine promenade and the Alter Zoll (Old Toll Station) are in direct neighbourhood of the city centre and are popular amongst both residents and visitors. The Arboretum Park Härle is an arboretum with specimens dating to back to 1870. The Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden) is affiliated with the university and it is here where Titan arum set a world record. The natural reserve of Kottenforst is a large area of protected woods on the hills west of the city centre. It is about in area and part of the Rhineland Nature Park (). In the very south of the city, on the border with Wachtberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, there is an extinct volcano, the Rodderberg, featuring a popular area for hikes. Also south of the city, there is the Siebengebirge which is part of the lower half of the Middle Rhine region. The nearby upper half of the Middle Rhine from Bingen to Koblenz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages and important German vineyards. Transportation Air traffic Named after Konrad Adenauer, the first post-war Chancellor of West Germany, Cologne Bonn Airport is situated north-east from the city centre of Bonn. With around 10.3 million passengers passing through it in 2015, it is the seventh-largest passenger airport in Germany and the third-largest in terms of cargo operations. By traffic units, which combines cargo and passengers, the airport is in fifth position in Germany. As of March 2015, Cologne Bonn Airport had services to 115 passenger destinations in 35 countries. The airport is one of Germany's few 24-hour airports, and is a hub for Eurowings and cargo operators FedEx Express and UPS Airlines. The federal motorway (Autobahn) A59 connects the airport with the city. Long distance and regional trains to and from the airport stop at Cologne/Bonn Airport station. Another major airport within a one-hour drive by car is Düsseldorf International Airport. Rail and bus system Bonn's central railway station, Bonn Hauptbahnhof is the city's main public transportation hub. It lies just outside the old town and near the central university buildings. It is served by regional (S-Bahn and Regionalbahn) and long-distance (IC and ICE) trains. Daily, more than 67,000 people travel via Bonn Hauptbahnhof. In late 2016, around 80 long distance and more than 165 regional trains departed to or from Bonn every day. Another long-distance station, (Siegburg/Bonn), is located in the nearby town of Siegburg and serves as Bonn's station on the high-speed rail line between Cologne and Frankfurt, offering faster connections to Southern Germany. It can be reached by Stadtbahn line 66 (approx. 25 minutes from central Bonn). Bonn has a Stadtbahn light rail and a tram system. The Bonn Stadtbahn has 4 regular lines that connect the main north–south axis (centre to Bad Godesberg) and quarters east of the Rhine (Beuel and Oberkassel), as well as many nearby towns like Brühl, Wesseling, Sankt Augustin, Siegburg, Königswinter, and Bad Honnef. All lines serve the Central Station and two lines continue to Cologne, where they connect to the Cologne Stadtbahn. The Bonn tram system consists of two lines that connect closer quarters in the south, north and east of Bonn to the Central Station. While the Stadtbahn mostly has its own right-of-way, the tram often operates on general road lanes. A few sections of track are used by both systems. These urban rail lines are supplemented by a bus system of roughly 30 regular lines, especially since some parts of the city like Hardtberg and most of Bad Godesberg completely lack a Stadtbahn/Tram connection. Several lines offer night services, especially during the weekends. Bonn is part of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (Rhine-Sieg Transport Association) which is the public transport association covering the area of the Cologne/Bonn Region. Road network Four Autobahns run through or are adjacent to Bonn: the A59 (right bank of the Rhine, connecting Bonn with Düsseldorf and Duisburg), the A555 (left bank of the Rhine, connecting Bonn with Cologne), the A562 (connecting the right with the left bank of the Rhine south of Bonn), and the A565 (connecting the A59 and the A555 with the A61 to the southwest). Three Bundesstraßen, which have a general speed limit in contrast to the Autobahn, connect Bonn to its immediate surroundings (Bundesstraßen B9, B42 and B56). With Bonn being divided into two parts by the Rhine, three bridges are crucial for inner-city road traffic: the Konrad-Adenauer-Brücke (A562) in the South, the Friedrich-Ebert-Brücke (A565) in the North, and the Kennedybrücke (B56) in the Centre. In addition, regular ferries operate between Bonn-Mehlem and Königswinter, Bonn-Bad Godesberg and Königswinter-Niederdollendorf, and Bonn-Graurheindorf and Niederkassel-Mondorf. Port Located in the northern sub-district of Graurheindorf, the inland harbour of Bonn is used for container traffic as well as oversea transport. The annual turnover amounts to around . Regular passenger transport occurs to Cologne and Düsseldorf. Economy The head offices of Deutsche Telekom, its subsidiary T-Mobile, Deutsche Post, German Academic Exchange Service, and SolarWorld are in Bonn. The third largest employer in the city of Bonn is the University of Bonn (including the university clinics) and Stadtwerke Bonn also follows as a major employer. On the other hand, there are several traditional, nationally known private companies in Bonn such as luxury food producers Verpoorten and Kessko, the Klais organ manufacture and the Bonn flag factory. The largest confectionery manufacturer in Europe, Haribo, has its founding headquarters (founded in 1922) and a production site in Bonn. Today the company is located in the Rhineland-Palatinate municipality of Grafschaft. Other companies of supraregional importance are Weck Glaswerke (production site), Fairtrade, Eaton Industries (formerly Klöckner & Moeller), IVG Immobilien, Kautex Textron, SolarWorld, Vapiano and the SER Group. Education The Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn (University of Bonn) is one of the largest universities in Germany. It is also the location of the German research institute Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) offices and of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD). Private schools Aloisiuskolleg, a Jesuit private school in Bad Godesberg with boarding facilities Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium, a Protestant private school in Bad Godesberg Bonn International School (BIS), a private English-speaking school set in the former American Compound in the Rheinaue, which offers places from kindergarten to 12th grade. It follows the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate. Libysch Schule, private Arabic high school Independent Bonn International School, (IBIS) private primary school (serving from kindergarten, reception, and years 1 to 6) École de Gaulle - Adenauer, private French-speaking school serving grades pre-school ("maternelle") to grade 4 (CM1) Kardinal-Frings-Gymnasium (KFG), private catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Beuel Liebfrauenschule (LFS), private catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne , private catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Beuel , private Catholic school of the Archdiocese of Cologne in Bad Godesberg , private boarding and day school in Oberkassel ("PÄDA"), private day school in Bad Godesberg ("CoJoBo"), private catholic day school Akademie für Internationale Bildung, private higher educational facility offering programs for international students Former schools King Fahd Academy, private Islamic school in Bad Godesberg Demographics , Bonn had a population of 327,913. About 70% of the population was entirely of German origin, while about 100,000 people, equating to roughly 30%, were at least partly of non-German origin. The city is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Germany and the 18th most populous city in the country. Bonn's population is predicted to surpass the populations of Wuppertal and Bochum before the year 2030. The following list shows the largest groups of origin of minorites with "migration background" in Bonn . Sports Bonn is home of the Telekom Baskets Bonn, the only basketball club in Germany that owns its arena, the Telekom Dome. The club is a regular participant at international competitions such as the Basketball Champions League. The city also has a semi-professional football team Bonner SC which was formed in 1965 through the merger of Bonner FV and Tura Bonn. The Bonn Gamecocks American football team play at the 12,000-capacity Stadion Pennenfeld. The headquarters of the International Paralympic Committee has been located in Bonn since 1999. The successful German Baseball Team Bonn Capitals are also found in the city of Bonn. International relations Since 1983, the City of Bonn has established friendship relations with the City of Tel Aviv, Israel, and since 1988 Bonn, in former times the residence of the Princes Electors of Cologne, and Potsdam, Germany, the formerly most important residential city of the Prussian rulers, have established a city-to-city partnership. Central Bonn is surrounded by a number of traditional towns and villages which were independent up to several decades ago. As many of those communities had already established their own contacts and partnerships before the regional and local reorganisation in 1969, the Federal City of Bonn now has a dense network of city district partnerships with European partner towns. The city district of Bonn is a partner of the English university city of Oxford, England, UK (since 1947), of Budafok, District XXII of Budapest, Hungary (since 1991) and of Opole, Poland (officially since 1997; contacts were established 1954). The district of Bad Godesberg has established partnerships with Saint-Cloud in France, Frascati in Italy, Windsor and Maidenhead in England, UK and Kortrijk in Belgium; a friendship agreement has been signed with the town of Yalova, Turkey. The district of Beuel on the right bank of the Rhine and the city district of Hardtberg foster partnerships with towns in France: Mirecourt and Villemomble. Moreover, the city of Bonn has developed a concept of international co-operation and maintains sustainability oriented project partnerships in addition to traditional city twinning, among others with Minsk in Belarus, Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Bukhara in Uzbekistan, Chengdu in China and La Paz in Bolivia. Twin towns – sister cities Bonn is twinned with: Bukhara, Uzbekistan (1999) Cape Coast, Ghana (2012) Chengdu, China (2009) Minsk, Belarus (1993) La Paz, Bolivia (1996) Potsdam, Germany (1988) Tel Aviv, Israel (1983) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (1993) Bonn city district is twinned with: Oxford, United Kingdom (1947) Budafok-Tétény (Budapest), Hungary (1991) For twin towns of other city districts, see Bad Godesberg, Beuel and Hardtberg. Notable people Pre–20th century Johann Peter Salomon (1745–1815), musician Franz Anton Ries (1755–1846), violinist and violin teacher Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer Salomon Oppenheim, Jr. (1772–1828), banker Peter Joseph Lenné (1789–1866), gardener and landscape architect Friedrich von Gerolt (1797–1879), diplomat Karl Joseph Simrock (1802–1876), writer and specialist in German Wilhelm Neuland (1806–1889), composer and conductor Johanna Kinkel (1810–1858), composer and writer Moses Hess (1812–1875), philosopher and writer Johann Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), theologian, writer, and politician Alexander Kaufmann (1817–1893), author and archivist Leopold Kaufmann (1821–1898), mayor Julius von Haast (1822–1887), New Zealand, professor of geology Dietrich Brandis (1824–1907), botanist Balduin Möllhausen (1825–1905), traveler and writer Maurus Wolter (1825–1890), Benedictine, founder and first abbot of the Abbey of Beuron and Beuronese Congregation August Reifferscheid (1835–1887), philologist Antonius Maria Bodewig (1839–1915), Jesuit missionary and founder Nathan Zuntz (1847–1920), physician Alexander Koenig (1858–1940), zoologist, founder of Museum Koenig in Bonn Alfred Philippson (1864–1953), geographer Johanna Elberskirchen (1864–1943), writer and activist Max Alsberg (1877–1933), lawyer Kurt Wolff (1887–1963), publisher Hans Riegel Sr. (1893–1945), entrepreneur Eduard Krebsbach (1894–1947), SS doctor in Nazi Mauthausen concentration camp, executed for war crimes Paul Kemp (1896–1953), actor 1900–1949 Hermann Josef Abs (1901–1994), board member of the Deutsche Bank Paul Ludwig Landsberg (1901–1944), in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, philosopher Heinrich Lützeler (1902–1988), philosopher, art historian, and literary scholar Helmut Horten (1909–1987), entrepreneur Theodor Schieffer (1910–1992), historian and medievalist Irene Sänger-Bredt (1911–1983), mathematician and physicist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (1911–1977), economist Klaus Barbie (1913–1991), Nazi SS and Gestapo war criminal, the "Butcher of Lyon" Karl-Theodor Molinari (1915–1993), General and founding chairman of the German Armed Forces Association Karlrobert Kreiten (1916–1943), pianist Hans Walter Zech-Nenntwich (born 1916), Second Polish Republic, SS Cavalry member and war criminal Walther Killy (1917–1985), German literary scholar, Der Killy Hannjo Hasse (1921–1983), actor Walter Gotell (1924–1997), actor Walter Eschweiler (born 1935), football referee Alexandra Cordes (1935–1986), writer Joachim Bißmeier (born 1936), actor Roswitha Esser (born 1941), canoeist, gold medal winner at the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968, Sportswoman of the Year 1964 Heide Simonis (born 1943), politician (SPD), former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, since 2005 honorary chairman of UNICEF Germany Paul Alger (born 1943), football player Johannes Mötsch (born 1949), archivist and historian Klaus Ludwig (born 1949), race car driver 1950-1999 Günter Ollenschläger (born 1951), medical and science journalist Hans "Hannes" Bongartz (born 1951), football player and coach Christa Goetsch (born 1952), politician (Alliance '90 / The Greens) Michael Meert (born 1953), film author and director Thomas de Maizière (born 1954), politician (CDU), former Minister of Defense and of the Interior Gerd Faltings (born 1954), mathematician, Fields Medal winner Olaf Manthey (born 1955), former touring car racing driver Michael Kühnen (1955–1991), Neo-Nazi Roger Willemsen (1955–2016), publicist, author, essayist, and presenter Norman Rentrop (born 1957), publisher, author, and investor Markus Maria Profitlich (born 1960), comedian and actor Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016), politician (FDP), Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011 Mathias Dopfner (born 1963), chief executive officer of Axel Springer AG Nikolaus Blome (born 1963), journalist Maxim Kontsevich (born 1964), mathematician, Fields Medal winner Johannes B. Kerner (born 1964), TV presenter, Abitur at the Aloisiuskolleg, and studied in Bonn Anthony Baffoe (born 1965), football player, sports presenter, and actor Sonja Zietlow (born 1968), TV presenter Burkhard Garweg (born 1968), member of the Red Army Faction Sabriye Tenberken (born 1970), Tibetologist, founder of Braille Without Borders Thorsten Libotte (born 1972), writer Tamara Gräfin von Nayhauß (born 1972), television presenter Silke Bodenbender (born 1974), actress Juli Zeh (born 1974), writer Oliver Mintzlaff (born 1975), track and field athlete and sports manager, CEO of RB Leipzig Markus Dieckmann (born 1976), beach volleyball player Bernadette Heerwagen (born 1977), actress Melanie Amann (born 1978), journalist Bushido (born 1978), musician and rapper Sebastian Stahl (born 1978), race car driver Sonja Fuss (born 1978), football player DJ Manian DJ of Cascada (born 1978) owner of Zooland Records Andreas Tölzer (born 1980), judoka Jens Hartwig (born 1980), actor Natalie Horler (born 1981), front woman of the Dance Project Cascada Marcel Ndjeng (born 1982), football player Marc Zwiebler (born 1984), badminton player Benjamin Barg (born 1984), football player Alexandros Margaritis (born 1984), race car driver Ken Miyao (born 1986), pop singer Felix Reda (born 1986), politician Peter Scholze (born 1987), mathematician, Fields Medal winner Célia Okoyino da Mbabi (born 1988), football player Luke Mockridge (born 1989), comedian and author Pius Heinz (born 1989), poker player, 2011 WSOP Main Event champion Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann (born 1990), basketball player Levina (born 1991), singer Bienvenue Basala-Mazana (born 1992), football player Annika Beck (born 1994), tennis player James Hyndman (born 1962), stage actor Konstanze Klosterhalfen (born 1997), track and field athlete 21st century Anny Ogrezeanu (born 2001), singer and The Voice of Germany winner 2022 References Bibliography External links Official website Tourist information "The Museum Mile" Germany's Museum of Art in Bonn Former national capitals Populated places on the Rhine Roman towns and cities in Germany 10s BC establishments in the Roman Empire Roman legionary fortresses in Germany Roman fortifications in Germania Inferior

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin%20Lee%20Whorf

Benjamin Lee Whorf

Benjamin Lee Whorf (; April 24, 1897 – July 26, 1941) was an American linguist and fire prevention engineer. He is known for the "Sapir–Whorf hypothesis," the idea that differences between the structures of different languages shape how their speakers perceive and conceptualize the world. This principle, named after him and his mentor Edward Sapir, was initially called linguistic relativity by Whorf because he saw the idea as having implications similar to Einstein’s principle of physical relativity. The idea, however, follows from post-Hegelian 19th-century philosophy, especially from Wilhelm von Humboldt and from Wilhelm Wundt's Völkerpsychologie. Throughout his life, Whorf was a chemical engineer by profession but as a young man, he took an interest in linguistics. At first, this interest drew him to the study of Biblical Hebrew, but he quickly went on to study the indigenous languages of Mesoamerica on his own. Professional scholars were impressed by his work and in 1930, he received a grant to study the Nahuatl language in Mexico; on his return home, he presented several influential papers on the language at linguistics conferences. This led him to begin studying linguistics with Edward Sapir at Yale University while still maintaining his day job at the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. During his time at Yale, he worked on the description of the Hopi language (including his now-infamous claims about its lack of conception of time), and the historical linguistics of the Uto-Aztecan languages, publishing many influential papers in professional journals. He was chosen as the substitute for Sapir during his medical leave in 1938. Whorf taught his seminar on "Problems of American Indian Linguistics". In addition to his well-known work on linguistic relativity, he wrote a grammar sketch of Hopi and studies of Nahuatl dialects, proposed a deciphering of Maya hieroglyphic writing, and published the first attempt towards a reconstruction of Uto-Aztecan. After his death from cancer in 1941, his manuscripts were curated by his linguist friends who also worked to spread the influence of Whorf's ideas on the relation between language, culture and cognition. Many of his works were published posthumously in the first decades after his death. In the 1960s, Whorf's views fell out of favor and he became the subject of harsh criticisms by scholars who considered language structure to primarily reflect cognitive universals rather than cultural differences. Critics argued that Whorf's ideas were untestable and poorly formulated and that they were based on badly analyzed or misunderstood data. In the late 20th century, interest in Whorf's ideas experienced a resurgence, and a new generation of scholars began reading Whorf's works, arguing that previous critiques had only engaged superficially with Whorf's actual ideas, or had attributed to him ideas he had never expressed. The field of linguistic relativity studies remains an active focus of research in psycholinguistics and linguistic anthropology, and continues to generate debate and controversy between proponents of relativism and proponents of universalism. By comparison, Whorf's other work in linguistics, the development of such concepts as the allophone and the cryptotype, and the formulation of "Whorf's law" in Uto-Aztecan historical linguistics, have met with broad acceptance. Biography Early life The son of Harry Church Whorf and Sarah Edna Lee Whorf, Benjamin Lee Whorf was born on April 24, 1897 in Winthrop, Massachusetts. Harry Church Whorf was an artist, intellectual, and designer – first working as a commercial artist and later as a dramatist. Whorf had two younger brothers, John and Richard, who both went on to become notable artists. John became an internationally renowned painter and illustrator; Richard was an actor in films such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and later an Emmy-nominated television director of such shows as The Beverly Hillbillies. Whorf was the intellectual of the three and started conducting chemical experiments with his father's photographic equipment at a young age. He was also an avid reader, interested in botany, astrology, and Middle American prehistory. He read William H. Prescott's Conquest of Mexico several times. At the age of 17, he began keeping a copious diary in which he recorded his thoughts and dreams. Career in fire prevention Whorf graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1918 with a degree in chemical engineering where his academic performance was of average quality. In 1920, he married Celia Inez Peckham, who became the mother of his three children, Raymond Ben, Robert Peckham and Celia Lee. Around the same time he began work as a fire prevention engineer (an inspector) for the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. He was particularly good at the job and was highly commended by his employers. His job required him to travel to production facilities throughout New England to be inspected. One anecdote describes him arriving at a chemical plant in which he was denied access by the director because he would not allow anyone to see the production procedure which was a trade secret. Having been told what the plant produced, Whorf wrote a chemical formula on a piece of paper, saying to the director: "I think this is what you're doing". The surprised director asked Whorf how he knew about the secret procedure, and he simply answered: "You couldn't do it in any other way." Whorf helped to attract new customers to the Fire Insurance Company; they favored his thorough inspections and recommendations. Another famous anecdote from his job was used by Whorf to argue that language use affects habitual behavior. Whorf described a workplace in which full gasoline drums were stored in one room and empty ones in another; he said that because of flammable vapor the "empty" drums were more dangerous than those that were full, although workers handled them less carefully to the point that they smoked in the room with "empty" drums, but not in the room with full ones. Whorf argued that by habitually speaking of the vapor-filled drums as empty and by extension as inert, the workers were oblivious to the risk posed by smoking near the "empty drums". Early interest in religion and language Whorf was a spiritual man throughout his lifetime although what religion he followed has been the subject of debate. As a young man, he produced a manuscript titled "Why I have discarded evolution", causing some scholars to describe him as a devout Methodist, who was impressed with fundamentalism, and perhaps supportive of creationism. However, throughout his life Whorf's main religious interest was theosophy, a nonsectarian organization based on Buddhist and Hindu teachings that promotes the view of the world as an interconnected whole and the unity and brotherhood of humankind "without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color". Some scholars have argued that the conflict between spiritual and scientific inclinations has been a driving force in Whorf's intellectual development, particularly in the attraction by ideas of linguistic relativity. Whorf said that "of all groups of people with whom I have come in contact, Theosophical people seem the most capable of becoming excited about ideas—new ideas." Around 1924, Whorf first became interested in linguistics. Originally, he analyzed Biblical texts, seeking to uncover hidden layers of meaning. Inspired by the esoteric work La langue hebraïque restituée by Antoine Fabre d'Olivet, he began a semantic and grammatical analysis of Biblical Hebrew. Whorf's early manuscripts on Hebrew and Maya have been described as exhibiting a considerable degree of mysticism, as he sought to uncover esoteric meanings of glyphs and letters. Early studies in Mesoamerican linguistics Whorf studied Biblical linguistics mainly at the Watkinson Library (now Hartford Public Library). This library had an extensive collection of materials about Native American linguistics and folklore, originally collected by James Hammond Trumbull. It was at the Watkinson library that Whorf became friends with the young boy, John B. Carroll, who later went on to study psychology under B. F. Skinner, and who in 1956 edited and published a selection of Whorf's essays as Language, Thought and Reality . The collection rekindled Whorf's interest in Mesoamerican antiquity. He began studying the Nahuatl language in 1925, and later, beginning in 1928, he studied the collections of Maya hieroglyphic texts. Quickly becoming conversant with the materials, he began a scholarly dialog with Mesoamericanists such as Alfred Tozzer, the Maya archaeologist at Harvard University, and Herbert Spinden of the Brooklyn Museum. In 1928, he first presented a paper at the International Congress of Americanists in which he presented his translation of a Nahuatl document held at the Peabody Museum at Harvard. He also began to study the comparative linguistics of the Uto-Aztecan language family, which Edward Sapir had recently demonstrated to be a linguistic family. In addition to Nahuatl, Whorf studied the Piman and Tepecano languages, while in close correspondence with linguist J. Alden Mason. Field studies in Mexico Because of the promise shown by his work on Uto-Aztecan, Tozzer and Spinden advised Whorf to apply for a grant with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to support his research. Whorf considered using the money to travel to Mexico to procure Aztec manuscripts for the Watkinson library, but Tozzer suggested he spend the time in Mexico documenting modern Nahuatl dialects. In his application Whorf proposed to establish the oligosynthetic nature of the Nahuatl language. Before leaving Whorf presented the paper "Stem series in Maya" at the Linguistic Society of America conference, in which he argued that in the Mayan languages syllables carry symbolic content. The SSRC awarded Whorf the grant and in 1930 he traveled to Mexico City, where Professor Robert H. Barlow put him in contact with several speakers of Nahuatl to serve as his informants. The outcome of the trip to Mexico was Whorf's sketch of Milpa Alta Nahuatl, published only after his death, and an article on a series of Aztec pictograms found at the Tepozteco monument at Tepoztlán, Morelos in which he noted similarities in form and meaning between Aztec and Maya day signs. At Yale Although Whorf had been entirely an autodidact in linguistic theory and field methodology up to this point, he had already made a name for himself in Mesoamerican linguistics. Whorf had met Sapir, the leading US linguist of the day, at professional conferences, and in 1931 Sapir came to Yale from the University of Chicago to take a position as Professor of Anthropology. Alfred Tozzer sent Sapir a copy of Whorf's paper on "Nahuatl tones and saltillo". Sapir replied stating that it "should by all means be published"; however, it was not until 1993 that it was prepared for publication by Lyle Campbell and Frances Karttunen. Whorf took Sapir's first course at Yale on "American Indian Linguistics". He enrolled in a program of graduate studies, nominally working towards a PhD in linguistics, but he never actually attempted to obtain a degree, satisfying himself with participating in the intellectual community around Sapir. At Yale, Whorf joined the circle of Sapir's students that included such luminaries as Morris Swadesh, Mary Haas, Harry Hoijer, G. L. Trager and Charles F. Voegelin. Whorf took on a central role among Sapir's students and was well respected. Sapir had a profound influence on Whorf's thinking. Sapir's earliest writings had espoused views of the relation between thought and language stemming from the Humboldtian tradition he acquired through Franz Boas, which regarded language as the historical embodiment of volksgeist, or ethnic world view. But Sapir had since become influenced by a current of logical positivism, such as that of Bertrand Russell and the early Ludwig Wittgenstein, particularly through Ogden and Richards' The Meaning of Meaning, from which he adopted the view that natural language potentially obscures, rather than facilitates, the mind to perceive and describe the world as it really is. In this view, proper perception could only be accomplished through formal logics. During his stay at Yale, Whorf acquired this current of thought partly from Sapir and partly through his own readings of Russell and Ogden and Richards. As Whorf became more influenced by positivist science he also distanced himself from some approaches to language and meaning that he saw as lacking in rigor and insight. One of these was Polish philosopher Alfred Korzybski's General semantics, which was espoused in the US by Stuart Chase. Chase admired Whorf's work and frequently sought out a reluctant Whorf, who considered Chase to be "utterly incompetent by training and background to handle such a subject." Ironically, Chase would later write the foreword for Carroll's collection of Whorf's writings. Work on Hopi and descriptive linguistics Sapir also encouraged Whorf to continue his work on the historical and descriptive linguistics of Uto-Aztecan. Whorf published several articles on that topic in this period, some of them with G. L. Trager, who had become his close friend. Whorf took a special interest in the Hopi language and started working with Ernest Naquayouma, a speaker of Hopi from Toreva village living in Manhattan, New York. Whorf credited Naquayouma as the source of most of his information on the Hopi language, although in 1938 he took a short field trip to the village of Mishongnovi, on the Second Mesa of the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. In 1936, Whorf was appointed Honorary Research Fellow in Anthropology at Yale, and he was invited by Franz Boas to serve on the committee of the Society of American Linguistics (later Linguistic Society of America). In 1937, Yale awarded him the Sterling Fellowship. He was a lecturer in Anthropology from 1937 through 1938, replacing Sapir, who was gravely ill. Whorf gave graduate level lectures on "Problems of American Indian Linguistics". In 1938 with Trager's assistance he elaborated a report on the progress of linguistic research at the department of anthropology at Yale. The report includes some of Whorf's influential contributions to linguistic theory, such as the concept of the allophone and of covert grammatical categories. has argued, that in this report Whorf's linguistic theories exist in a condensed form, and that it was mainly through this report that Whorf exerted influence on the discipline of descriptive linguistics. Final years In late 1938, Whorf's own health declined. After an operation for cancer, he fell into an unproductive period. He was also deeply affected by Sapir's death in early 1939. It was in the writings of his last two years that he laid out the research program of linguistic relativity. His 1939 memorial article for Sapir, "The Relation of Habitual Thought And Behavior to Language", in particular has been taken to be Whorf's definitive statement of the issue, and is his most frequently quoted piece. In his last year Whorf also published three articles in the MIT Technology Review titled "Science and Linguistics", "Linguistics as an Exact Science" and "Language and Logic". He was also invited to contribute an article to a theosophical journal, Theosophist, published in Madras, India, for which he wrote "Language, Mind and Reality". In these final pieces, he offered a critique of Western science in which he suggested that non-European languages often referred to physical phenomena in ways that more directly reflected aspects of reality than many European languages, and that science ought to pay attention to the effects of linguistic categorization in its efforts to describe the physical world. He particularly criticized the Indo-European languages for promoting a mistaken essentialist world view, which had been disproved by advances in the sciences, whereas he suggested that other languages dedicated more attention to processes and dynamics rather than stable essences. Whorf argued that paying attention to how other physical phenomena are described in the study of linguistics could make valuable contributions to science by pointing out the ways in which certain assumptions about reality are implicit in the structure of language itself, and how language guides the attention of speakers towards certain phenomena in the world which risk becoming overemphasized while leaving other phenomena at risk of being overlooked. Posthumous reception and legacy At Whorf's death, his friend G. L. Trager was appointed as curator of his unpublished manuscripts. Some of them were published in the years after his death by another of Whorf's friends, Harry Hoijer. In the decade following, Trager and particularly Hoijer did much to popularize Whorf's ideas about linguistic relativity, and it was Hoijer who coined the term "Sapir–Whorf hypothesis" at a 1954 conference. Trager then published an article titled "The systematization of the Whorf hypothesis", which contributed to the idea that Whorf had proposed a hypothesis that should be the basis for a program of empirical research. Hoijer also published studies of Indigenous languages and cultures of the American South West in which Whorf found correspondences between cultural patterns and linguistic ones. The term, even though technically a misnomer, went on to become the most widely known label for Whorf's ideas. According to John A. Lucy, "Whorf's work in linguistics was and still is recognized as being of superb professional quality by linguists". Universalism and anti-Whorfianism Whorf's work began to fall out of favor less than a decade after his death, and he was subjected to severe criticism from scholars of language, culture and psychology. In 1953 and 1954, psychologists Roger Brown and Eric Lenneberg criticized Whorf for his reliance on anecdotal evidence, formulating a hypothesis to scientifically test his ideas, which they limited to an examination of a causal relation between grammatical or lexical structure and cognition or perception. Whorf himself did not advocate a straight causality between language and thought; instead he wrote that "Language and culture had grown up together"; that both were mutually shaped by the other. Hence, has argued that because the aim of the formulation of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis was to test simple causation, it failed to test Whorf's ideas from the outset. Focusing on color terminology, with easily discernible differences between perception and vocabulary, Brown and Lenneberg published in 1954 a study of Zuni color terms that slightly support a weak effect of semantic categorization of color terms on color perception. In doing so they began a line of empirical studies that investigated the principle of linguistic relativity. Empirical testing of the Whorfian hypothesis declined in the 1960s to 1980s as Noam Chomsky began to redefine linguistics and much of psychology in formal universalist terms. Several studies from that period refuted Whorf's hypothesis, demonstrating that linguistic diversity is a surface veneer that masks underlying universal cognitive principles. Many studies were highly critical and disparaging in their language, ridiculing Whorf's analyses and examples or his lack of an academic degree. Throughout the 1980s, most mentions of Whorf or of the Sapir–Whorf hypotheses continued to be disparaging, and led to a widespread view that Whorf's ideas had been proven wrong. Because Whorf was treated so severely in the scholarship during those decades, he has been described as "one of the prime whipping boys of introductory texts to linguistics". With the advent of cognitive linguistics and psycholinguistics in the late 1980s, some linguists sought to rehabilitate Whorf's reputation, as scholarship began to question whether earlier critiques of Whorf were justified. By the 1960s, analytical philosophers also became aware of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, and philosophers such as Max Black and Donald Davidson published scathing critiques of Whorf's strong relativist viewpoints. Black characterized Whorf's ideas about metaphysics as demonstrating "amateurish crudity". According to Black and Davidson, Whorf's viewpoint and the concept of linguistic relativity meant that translation between languages with different conceptual schemes would be impossible. Recent assessments such as those by Leavitt and Lee, however, consider Black and Davidson's interpretation to be based on an inaccurate characterization of Whorf's viewpoint, and even rather absurd given the time he spent trying to translate between different conceptual schemes. In their view, the critiques are based on a lack of familiarity with Whorf's writings; according to these recent Whorf scholars a more accurate description of his viewpoint is that he thought translation to be possible, but only through careful attention to the subtle differences between conceptual schemes. Eric Lenneberg, Noam Chomsky, and Steven Pinker have also criticized Whorf for failing to be sufficiently clear in his formulation of how language influences thought, and for failing to provide real evidence to support his assumptions. Generally Whorf's arguments took the form of examples that were anecdotal or speculative, and functioned as attempts to show how "exotic" grammatical traits were connected to what were considered equally exotic worlds of thought. Even Whorf's defenders admitted that his writing style was often convoluted and couched in neologisms – attributed to his awareness of language use, and his reluctance to use terminology that might have pre-existing connotations. argues that Whorf was mesmerized by the foreignness of indigenous languages, and exaggerated and idealized them. According to Lakoff, Whorf's tendency to exoticize data must be judged in the historical context: Whorf and the other Boasians wrote at a time in which racism and jingoism were predominant, and when it was unthinkable to many that "savages" had redeeming qualities, or that their languages were comparable in complexity to those of Europe. For this alone Lakoff argues, Whorf can be considered to be "Not just a pioneer in linguistics, but a pioneer as a human being". Today many followers of universalist schools of thought continue to oppose the idea of linguistic relativity, seeing it as unsound or even ridiculous. For example, Steven Pinker argues in his book The Language Instinct that thought exists prior to language and independently of it, a view also espoused by philosophers of language such as Jerry Fodor, John Locke and Plato. In this interpretation, language is inconsequential to human thought because humans do not think in "natural" language, i.e. any language used for communication. Rather, we think in a meta-language that precedes natural language, which Pinker following Fodor calls "mentalese." Pinker attacks what he calls "Whorf's radical position", declaring, "the more you examine Whorf's arguments, the less sense they make." Scholars of a more "relativist" bent such as John A. Lucy and Stephen C. Levinson have criticized Pinker for misrepresenting Whorf's views and arguing against strawmen. Resurgence of Whorfianism Linguistic relativity studies have experienced a resurgence since the 1990s, and a series of favorable experimental results have brought Whorfianism back into favor, especially in cultural psychology and linguistic anthropology. The first study directing positive attention towards Whorf's relativist position was George Lakoff's "Women, Fire and Dangerous Things", in which he argued that Whorf had been on the right track in his focus on differences in grammatical and lexical categories as a source of differences in conceptualization. In 1992 psychologist John A. Lucy published two books on the topic, one analyzing the intellectual genealogy of the hypothesis, arguing that previous studies had failed to appreciate the subtleties of Whorf's thinking; they had been unable to formulate a research agenda that would actually test Whorf's claims. Lucy proposed a new research design so that the hypothesis of linguistic relativity could be tested empirically, and to avoid the pitfalls of earlier studies which Lucy claimed had tended to presuppose the universality of the categories they were studying. His second book was an empirical study of the relation between grammatical categories and cognition in the Yucatec Maya language of Mexico. In 1996 Penny Lee's reappraisal of Whorf's writings was published, reinstating Whorf as a serious and capable thinker. Lee argued that previous explorations of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis had largely ignored Whorf's actual writings, and consequently asked questions very unlike those Whorf had asked. Also in that year a volume, "Rethinking Linguistic Relativity" edited by John J. Gumperz and Stephen C. Levinson gathered a range of researchers working in psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology to bring renewed attention to the issue of how Whorf's theories could be updated, and a subsequent review of the new direction of the linguistic relativity paradigm cemented the development. Since then considerable empirical research into linguistic relativity has been carried out, especially at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics with scholarship motivating two edited volumes of linguistic relativity studies, and in American Institutions by scholars such as Lera Boroditsky and Dedre Gentner. In turn universalist scholars frequently dismiss as "dull" or "boring", positive findings of influence of linguistic categories on thought or behavior, which are often subtle rather than spectacular, suggesting that Whorf's excitement about linguistic relativity had promised more spectacular findings than it was able to provide. Whorf's views have been compared to those of philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and the late Ludwig Wittgenstein, both of whom considered language to have important bearing on thought and reasoning. His hypotheses have also been compared to the views of psychologists such as Lev Vygotsky, whose social constructivism considers the cognitive development of children to be mediated by the social use of language. Vygotsky shared Whorf's interest in gestalt psychology, and he also read Sapir's works. Others have seen similarities between Whorf's work and the ideas of literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, who read Whorf and whose approach to textual meaning was similarly holistic and relativistic. Whorf's ideas have also been interpreted as a radical critique of positivist science. Work Linguistic relativity Whorf is best known as the main proponent of what he called the principle of linguistic relativity, but which is often known as "the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis", named for him and Edward Sapir. Whorf never stated the principle in the form of a hypothesis, and the idea that linguistic categories influence perception and cognition was shared by many other scholars before him. But because Whorf, in his articles, gave specific examples of how he saw the grammatical categories of specific languages related to conceptual and behavioral patterns, he pointed towards an empirical research program that has been taken up by subsequent scholars, and which is often called "Sapir–Whorf studies". Sources of influence on Whorf's thinking Whorf and Sapir both drew explicitly on Albert Einstein's principle of general relativity; hence linguistic relativity refers to the concept of grammatical and semantic categories of a specific language providing a frame of reference as a medium through which observations are made. Following an original observation by Boas, Sapir demonstrated that speakers of a given language perceive sounds that are acoustically different as the same, if the sound comes from the underlying phoneme and does not contribute to changes in semantic meaning. Furthermore, speakers of languages are attentive to sounds, particularly if the same two sounds come from different phonemes. Such differentiation is an example of how various observational frames of reference leads to different patterns of attention and perception. Whorf was also influenced by gestalt psychology, believing that languages require their speakers to describe the same events as different gestalt constructions, which he called "isolates from experience". An example is how the action of cleaning a gun is different in English and Shawnee: English focuses on the instrumental relation between two objects and the purpose of the action (removing dirt); whereas the Shawnee language focuses on the movement—using an arm to create a dry space in a hole. The event described is the same, but the attention in terms of figure and ground are different. Degree of influence of language on thought If read superficially, some of Whorf's statements lend themselves to the interpretation that he supported linguistic determinism. For example, in an often-quoted passage Whorf writes: The statements about the obligatory nature of the terms of language have been taken to suggest that Whorf meant that language completely determined the scope of possible conceptualizations. However neo-Whorfians argue that here Whorf is writing about the terms in which we speak of the world, not the terms in which we think of it. Whorf noted that to communicate thoughts and experiences with members of a speech community speakers must use the linguistic categories of their shared language, which requires moulding experiences into the shape of language to speak them—a process called "thinking for speaking". This interpretation is supported by Whorf's subsequent statement that "No individual is free to describe nature with absolute impartiality, but is constrained by certain modes of interpretation even when he thinks himself most free". Similarly the statement that observers are led to different pictures of the universe has been understood as an argument that different conceptualizations are incommensurable making translation between different conceptual and linguistic systems impossible. Neo-Whorfians argue this to be a misreading since throughout his work one of his main points was that such systems could be "calibrated" and thereby be made commensurable, but only when we become aware of the differences in conceptual schemes through linguistic analysis. Hopi time Whorf's study of Hopi time has been the most widely discussed and criticized example of linguistic relativity. In his analysis he argues that there is a relation between how the Hopi people conceptualize time, how they speak of temporal relations, and the grammar of the Hopi language. Whorf's most elaborate argument for the existence of linguistic relativity was based on what he saw as a fundamental difference in the understanding of time as a conceptual category among the Hopi. He argued that the Hopi language, in contrast to English and other SAE languages, does not treat the flow of time as a sequence of distinct countable instances, like "three days" or "five years", but rather as a single process. Because of this difference, the language lacks nouns that refer to units of time. He proposed that the Hopi view of time was fundamental in all aspects of their culture and furthermore explained certain patterns of behavior. In his 1939 memorial essay to Sapir he wrote that "... the Hopi language is seen to contain no words, grammatical forms, construction or expressions that refer directly to what we call 'time', or to past, present, or future..." Linguist Ekkehart Malotki challenged Whorf's analyses of Hopi temporal expressions and concepts with numerous examples how the Hopi language refers to time. Malotki argues that in the Hopi language the system of tenses consists of future and non-future and that the single difference between the three-tense system of European languages and the Hopi system, is that the latter combines past and present to form a single category. Malotki's critique was widely cited as the final piece of evidence in refuting Whorf's ideas and his concept of linguistic relativity while other scholars defended the analysis of Hopi, arguing that Whorf's claim was not that Hopi lacked words or categories to describe temporality, but that the Hopi concept of time is altogether different from that of English speakers. Whorf described the Hopi categories of tense, noting that time is not divided into past, present and future, as is common in European languages, but rather a single tense refers to both present and past while another refers to events that have not yet happened and may or may not happen in the future. He also described a large array of stems that he called "tensors" which describes aspects of temporality, but without referring to countable units of time as in English and most European languages. Contributions to linguistic theory Whorf's distinction between "overt" (phenotypical) and "covert" (cryptotypical) grammatical categories has become widely influential in linguistics and anthropology. British linguist Michael Halliday wrote about Whorf's notion of the "cryptotype", and the conception of "how grammar models reality", that it would "eventually turn out to be among the major contributions of twentieth century linguistics". Furthermore, Whorf introduced the concept of the allophone, a word that describes positional phonetic variants of a single superordinate phoneme; in doing so he placed a cornerstone in consolidating early phoneme theory. The term was popularized by G. L. Trager and Bernard Bloch in a 1941 paper on English phonology and went on to become part of standard usage within the American structuralist tradition. Whorf considered allophones to be another example of linguistic relativity. The principle of allophony describes how acoustically different sounds can be treated as reflections of a single phoneme in a language. This sometimes makes the different sound appear similar to native speakers of the language, even to the point that they are unable to distinguish them auditorily without special training. Whorf wrote that: "[allophones] are also relativistic. Objectively, acoustically, and physiologically the allophones of [a] phoneme may be extremely unlike, hence the impossibility of determining what is what. You always have to keep the observer in the picture. What linguistic pattern makes like is like, and what it makes unlike is unlike".(Whorf, 1940) Central to Whorf's inquiries was the approach later described as metalinguistics by G. L. Trager, who in 1950 published four of Whorf's essays as "Four articles on Metalinguistics". Whorf was crucially interested in the ways in which speakers come to be aware of the language that they use, and become able to describe and analyze language using language itself to do so. Whorf saw that the ability to arrive at progressively more accurate descriptions of the world hinged partly on the ability to construct a metalanguage to describe how language affects experience, and thus to have the ability to calibrate different conceptual schemes. Whorf's endeavors have since been taken up in the development of the study of metalinguistics and metalinguistic awareness, first by Michael Silverstein who published a radical and influential rereading of Whorf in 1979 and subsequently in the field of linguistic anthropology. Studies of Uto-Aztecan languages Whorf conducted important work on the Uto-Aztecan languages, which Sapir had conclusively demonstrated as a valid language family in 1915. Working first on Nahuatl, Tepecano, Tohono O'odham he established familiarity with the language group before he met Sapir in 1928. During Whorf's time at Yale he published several articles on Uto-Aztecan linguistics, such as "Notes on the Tübatulabal language". In 1935 he published "The Comparative Linguistics of Uto-Aztecan", and a review of Kroeber's survey of Uto-Aztecan linguistics. Whorf's work served to further cement the foundations of the comparative Uto-Aztecan studies. The first Native American language Whorf studied was the Uto-Aztecan language Nahuatl which he studied first from colonial grammars and documents, and later became the subject of his first field work experience in 1930. Based on his studies of Classical Nahuatl Whorf argued that Nahuatl was an oligosynthetic language, a typological category that he invented. In Mexico working with native speakers, he studied the dialects of Milpa Alta and Tepoztlán. His grammar sketch of the Milpa Alta dialect of Nahuatl was not published during his lifetime, but it was published posthumously by Harry Hoijer and became quite influential and used as the basic description of "Modern Nahuatl" by many scholars. The description of the dialect is quite condensed and in some places difficult to understand because of Whorf's propensity of inventing his own unique terminology for grammatical concepts, but the work has generally been considered to be technically advanced. He also produced an analysis of the prosody of these dialects which he related to the history of the glottal stop and vowel length in Nahuan languages. This work was prepared for publication by Lyle Campbell and Frances Karttunen in 1993, who also considered it a valuable description of the two endangered dialects, and the only one of its kind to include detailed phonetic analysis of supra-segmental phenomena. In Uto-Aztecan linguistics one of Whorf's achievements was to determine the reason the Nahuatl language has the phoneme , not found in the other languages of the family. The existence of in Nahuatl had puzzled previous linguists and caused Sapir to reconstruct a phoneme for proto-Uto-Aztecan based only on evidence from Aztecan. In a 1937 paper published in the journal American Anthropologist, Whorf argued that the phoneme resulted from some of the Nahuan or Aztecan languages having undergone a sound change from the original * to in the position before *. This sound law is known as "Whorf's law", considered valid although a more detailed understanding of the precise conditions under which it took place has since been developed. Also in 1937, Whorf and his friend G. L. Trager, published a paper in which they elaborated on the Azteco-Tanoan language family, proposed originally by Sapir as a family comprising the Uto-Aztecan and the Kiowa-Tanoan languages—(the Tewa and Kiowa languages). Maya epigraphy In a series of published and unpublished studies in the 1930s, Whorf argued that Mayan writing was to some extent phonetic. While his work on deciphering the Maya script gained some support from Alfred Tozzer at Harvard, the main authority on Ancient Maya culture, J. E. S. Thompson, strongly rejected Whorf's ideas, saying that Mayan writing lacked a phonetic component and is therefore impossible to decipher based on a linguistic analysis. Whorf argued that it was exactly the reluctance to apply linguistic analysis of Maya languages that had held the decipherment back. Whorf sought for cues to phonetic values within the elements of the specific signs, and never realized that the system was logo-syllabic. Although Whorf's approach to understanding the Maya script is now known to have been misguided, his central claim that the script was phonetic and should be deciphered as such was vindicated by Yuri Knorozov's syllabic decipherment of Mayan writing in the 1950s. Notes Commentary notes References Sources External links B. L. Whorf, . Benjamin Lee Whorf Papers (MS 822). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. What Whorf Really Said – Evaluation of Pinker's (1994) critique of Whorf, by Nick Yee 1897 births 1941 deaths People from Winthrop, Massachusetts Linguists from the United States American Mesoamericanists MIT School of Engineering alumni Linguists of Mesoamerican languages Mesoamerican epigraphers Mayanists American translation scholars 20th-century Mesoamericanists Yale University alumni Linguists of Aztec–Tanoan languages Linguists of Uto-Aztecan languages Linguists of Tanoan languages Paleolinguists 20th-century linguists Linguists of indigenous languages of North America American chemical engineers 20th-century American anthropologists

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron%20nitride

Boron nitride

Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula BN. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexagonal form corresponding to graphite is the most stable and soft among BN polymorphs, and is therefore used as a lubricant and an additive to cosmetic products. The cubic (zincblende aka sphalerite structure) variety analogous to diamond is called c-BN; it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior. The rare wurtzite BN modification is similar to lonsdaleite but slightly softer than the cubic form. Because of excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are used in high-temperature equipment and metal casting. Boron nitride has potential use in nanotechnology. Structure Boron nitride exists in multiple forms that differ in the arrangement of the boron and nitrogen atoms, giving rise to varying bulk properties of the material. Amorphous form (a-BN) The amorphous form of boron nitride (a-BN) is non-crystalline, lacking any long-distance regularity in the arrangement of its atoms. It is analogous to amorphous carbon. All other forms of boron nitride are crystalline. Hexagonal form (h-BN) The most stable crystalline form is the hexagonal one, also called h-BN, α-BN, g-BN, and graphitic boron nitride. Hexagonal boron nitride (point group = D6h; space group = P63/mmc) has a layered structure similar to graphite. Within each layer, boron and nitrogen atoms are bound by strong covalent bonds, whereas the layers are held together by weak van der Waals forces. The interlayer "registry" of these sheets differs, however, from the pattern seen for graphite, because the atoms are eclipsed, with boron atoms lying over and above nitrogen atoms. This registry reflects the local polarity of the B–N bonds, as well as interlayer N-donor/B-acceptor characteristics. Likewise, many metastable forms consisting of differently stacked polytypes exist. Therefore, h-BN and graphite are very close neighbors, and the material can accommodate carbon as a substituent element to form BNCs. BC6N hybrids have been synthesized, where carbon substitutes for some B and N atoms. Cubic form (c-BN) Cubic boron nitride has a crystal structure analogous to that of diamond. Consistent with diamond being less stable than graphite, the cubic form is less stable than the hexagonal form, but the conversion rate between the two is negligible at room temperature, as it is for diamond. The cubic form has the sphalerite crystal structure, the same as that of diamond (with ordered B and N atoms), and is also called β-BN or c-BN. Wurtzite form (w-BN) The wurtzite form of boron nitride (w-BN; point group = C6v; space group = P63mc) has the same structure as lonsdaleite, a rare hexagonal polymorph of carbon. As in the cubic form, the boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into tetrahedra. In the wurtzite form, the boron and nitrogen atoms are grouped into 6-membered rings. In the cubic form all rings are in the chair configuration, whereas in w-BN the rings between 'layers' are in boat configuration. Earlier optimistic reports predicted that the wurtzite form was very strong, and was estimated by a simulation as potentially having a strength 18% stronger than that of diamond. Since only small amounts of the mineral exist in nature, this has not yet been experimentally verified. Its hardness is 46 GPa, slightly harder than commercial borides but softer than the cubic form of boron nitride. Properties Physical The partly ionic structure of BN layers in h-BN reduces covalency and electrical conductivity, whereas the interlayer interaction increases resulting in higher hardness of h-BN relative to graphite. The reduced electron-delocalization in hexagonal-BN is also indicated by its absence of color and a large band gap. Very different bonding – strong covalent within the basal planes (planes where boron and nitrogen atoms are covalently bonded) and weak between them – causes high anisotropy of most properties of h-BN. For example, the hardness, electrical and thermal conductivity are much higher within the planes than perpendicular to them. On the contrary, the properties of c-BN and w-BN are more homogeneous and isotropic. Those materials are extremely hard, with the hardness of bulk c-BN being slightly smaller and w-BN even higher than that of diamond. Polycrystalline c-BN with grain sizes on the order of 10 nm is also reported to have Vickers hardness comparable or higher than diamond. Because of much better stability to heat and transition metals, c-BN surpasses diamond in mechanical applications, such as machining steel. The thermal conductivity of BN is among the highest of all electric insulators (see table). Boron nitride can be doped p-type with beryllium and n-type with boron, sulfur, silicon or if co-doped with carbon and nitrogen. Both hexagonal and cubic BN are wide-gap semiconductors with a band-gap energy corresponding to the UV region. If voltage is applied to h-BN or c-BN, then it emits UV light in the range 215–250 nm and therefore can potentially be used as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers. Little is known on melting behavior of boron nitride. It sublimates at 2973 °C at normal pressure releasing nitrogen gas and boron, but melts at elevated pressure. Thermal stability Hexagonal and cubic BN (and probably w-BN) show remarkable chemical and thermal stabilities. For example, h-BN is stable to decomposition at temperatures up to 1000 °C in air, 1400 °C in vacuum, and 2800 °C in an inert atmosphere. The reactivity of h-BN and c-BN is relatively similar, and the data for c-BN are summarized in the table below. Thermal stability of c-BN can be summarized as follows: In air or oxygen: protective layer prevents further oxidation to ~1300 °C; no conversion to hexagonal form at 1400 °C. In nitrogen: some conversion to h-BN at 1525 °C after 12 h. In vacuum (): conversion to h-BN at 1550–1600 °C. Chemical stability Boron nitride is insoluble in the usual acids, but is soluble in alkaline molten salts and nitrides, such as LiOH, KOH, NaOH-, , , , , or , which are therefore used to etch BN. Thermal conductivity The theoretical thermal conductivity of hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNRs) can approach 1700–2000 W/(m⋅K), which has the same order of magnitude as the experimental measured value for graphene, and can be comparable to the theoretical calculations for graphene nanoribbons. Moreover, the thermal transport in the BNNRs is anisotropic. The thermal conductivity of zigzag-edged BNNRs is about 20% larger than that of armchair-edged nanoribbons at room temperature. Natural occurrence In 2009, a naturally occurring boron nitride mineral in the cubic form (c-BN) was reported in Tibet, and the name qingsongite proposed. The substance was found in dispersed micron-sized inclusions in chromium-rich rocks. In 2013, the International Mineralogical Association affirmed the mineral and the name. Synthesis Preparation and reactivity of hexagonal BN Boron nitride is produced synthetically. Hexagonal boron nitride is obtained by the reacting boron trioxide () or boric acid () with ammonia () or urea () in a nitrogen atmosphere: (T = 900 °C) (T = 900 °C) (T > 1000 °C) (T > 1500 °C) The resulting disordered (amorphous) boron nitride contains 92–95% BN and 5–8% . The remaining can be evaporated in a second step at temperatures in order to achieve BN concentration >98%. Such annealing also crystallizes BN, the size of the crystallites increasing with the annealing temperature. h-BN parts can be fabricated inexpensively by hot-pressing with subsequent machining. The parts are made from boron nitride powders adding boron oxide for better compressibility. Thin films of boron nitride can be obtained by chemical vapor deposition from boron trichloride and nitrogen precursors. Combustion of boron powder in nitrogen plasma at 5500 °C yields ultrafine boron nitride used for lubricants and toners. Boron nitride reacts with iodine fluoride in trichlorofluoromethane at −30 °C to produce an extremely sensitive contact explosive, , in low yield. Boron nitride reacts with nitrides of lithium, alkaline earth metals and lanthanides to form nitridoborate compounds. For example: Intercalation of hexagonal BN Similar to graphite, various molecules, such as or alkali metals, can be intercalated into hexagonal boron nitride, that is inserted between its layers. Both experiment and theory suggest the intercalation is much more difficult for BN than for graphite. Preparation of cubic BN Synthesis of c-BN uses same methods as that of diamond: cubic boron nitride is produced by treating hexagonal boron nitride at high pressure and temperature, much as synthetic diamond is produced from graphite. Direct conversion of hexagonal boron nitride to the cubic form has been observed at pressures between 5 and 18 GPa and temperatures between 1730 and 3230 °C, that is similar parameters as for direct graphite-diamond conversion. The addition of a small amount of boron oxide can lower the required pressure to 4–7 GPa and temperature to 1500 °C. As in diamond synthesis, to further reduce the conversion pressures and temperatures, a catalyst is added, such as lithium, potassium, or magnesium, their nitrides, their fluoronitrides, water with ammonium compounds, or hydrazine. Other industrial synthesis methods, again borrowed from diamond growth, use crystal growth in a temperature gradient, or explosive shock wave. The shock wave method is used to produce material called heterodiamond, a superhard compound of boron, carbon, and nitrogen. Low-pressure deposition of thin films of cubic boron nitride is possible. As in diamond growth, the major problem is to suppress the growth of hexagonal phases (h-BN or graphite, respectively). Whereas in diamond growth this is achieved by adding hydrogen gas, boron trifluoride is used for c-BN. Ion beam deposition, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, pulsed laser deposition, reactive sputtering, and other physical vapor deposition methods are used as well. Preparation of wurtzite BN Wurtzite BN can be obtained via static high-pressure or dynamic shock methods. The limits of its stability are not well defined. Both c-BN and w-BN are formed by compressing h-BN, but formation of w-BN occurs at much lower temperatures close to 1700 °C. Production statistics Whereas the production and consumption figures for the raw materials used for BN synthesis, namely boric acid and boron trioxide, are well known (see boron), the corresponding numbers for the boron nitride are not listed in statistical reports. An estimate for the 1999 world production is 300 to 350 metric tons. The major producers and consumers of BN are located in the United States, Japan, China and Germany. In 2000, prices varied from about $75–120/kg for standard industrial-quality h-BN and were about up to $200–400/kg for high purity BN grades. Applications Hexagonal BN Hexagonal BN (h-BN) is the most widely used polymorph. It is a good lubricant at both low and high temperatures (up to 900 °C, even in an oxidizing atmosphere). h-BN lubricant is particularly useful when the electrical conductivity or chemical reactivity of graphite (alternative lubricant) would be problematic. In internal combustion engines, where graphite could be oxidized and turn into carbon sludge, h-BN with its superior thermal stability can be added to engine lubricant, however, with all nano-particles suspension, Brownian-motion settlement is a key problem and settlement can clog engine oil filters, which limits solid lubricants application in a combustion engine to only automotive race settings, where engine re-building is a common practice. Since carbon has appreciable solubility in certain alloys (such as steels), which may lead to degradation of properties, BN is often superior for high temperature and/or high pressure applications. Another advantage of h-BN over graphite is that its lubricity does not require water or gas molecules trapped between the layers. Therefore, h-BN lubricants can be used even in vacuum, e.g. in space applications. The lubricating properties of fine-grained h-BN are used in cosmetics, paints, dental cements, and pencil leads. Hexagonal BN was first used in cosmetics around 1940 in Japan. However, because of its high price, h-BN was soon abandoned for this application. Its use was revitalized in the late 1990s with the optimization h-BN production processes, and currently h-BN is used by nearly all leading producers of cosmetic products for foundations, make-up, eye shadows, blushers, kohl pencils, lipsticks and other skincare products. Because of its excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are traditionally used as parts of high-temperature equipment. h-BN can be included in ceramics, alloys, resins, plastics, rubbers, and other materials, giving them self-lubricating properties. Such materials are suitable for construction of e.g. bearings and in steelmaking. Plastics filled with BN have less thermal expansion as well as higher thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity. Due to its excellent dielectric and thermal properties, BN is used in electronics e.g. as a substrate for semiconductors, microwave-transparent windows, as a heat conductive yet electrically insulating filler in thermal pastes, and as a structural material for seals. Many quantum devices use multilayer h-BN as a substrate material. It can also be used as a dielectric in resistive random access memories. Hexagonal BN is used in xerographic process and laser printers as a charge leakage barrier layer of the photo drum. In the automotive industry, h-BN mixed with a binder (boron oxide) is used for sealing oxygen sensors, which provide feedback for adjusting fuel flow. The binder utilizes the unique temperature stability and insulating properties of h-BN. Parts can be made by hot pressing from four commercial grades of h-BN. Grade HBN contains a boron oxide binder; it is usable up to 550–850 °C in oxidizing atmosphere and up to 1600 °C in vacuum, but due to the boron oxide content is sensitive to water. Grade HBR uses a calcium borate binder and is usable at 1600 °C. Grades HBC and HBT contain no binder and can be used up to 3000 °C. Boron nitride nanosheets (h-BN) can be deposited by catalytic decomposition of borazine at a temperature ~1100 °C in a chemical vapor deposition setup, over areas up to about 10 cm2. Owing to their hexagonal atomic structure, small lattice mismatch with graphene (~2%), and high uniformity they are used as substrates for graphene-based devices. BN nanosheets are also excellent proton conductors. Their high proton transport rate, combined with the high electrical resistance, may lead to applications in fuel cells and water electrolysis. h-BN has been used since the mid-2000s as a bullet and bore lubricant in precision target rifle applications as an alternative to molybdenum disulfide coating, commonly referred to as "moly". It is claimed to increase effective barrel life, increase intervals between bore cleaning, and decrease the deviation in point of impact between clean bore first shots and subsequent shots. Cubic BN Cubic boron nitride (CBN or c-BN) is widely used as an abrasive. Its usefulness arises from its insolubility in iron, nickel, and related alloys at high temperatures, whereas diamond is soluble in these metals. Polycrystalline c-BN (PCBN) abrasives are therefore used for machining steel, whereas diamond abrasives are preferred for aluminum alloys, ceramics, and stone. When in contact with oxygen at high temperatures, BN forms a passivation layer of boron oxide. Boron nitride binds well with metals, due to formation of interlayers of metal borides or nitrides. Materials with cubic boron nitride crystals are often used in the tool bits of cutting tools. For grinding applications, softer binders, e.g. resin, porous ceramics, and soft metals, are used. Ceramic binders can be used as well. Commercial products are known under names "Borazon" (by Hyperion Materials & Technologies), and "Elbor" or "Cubonite" (by Russian vendors). Contrary to diamond, large c-BN pellets can be produced in a simple process (called sintering) of annealing c-BN powders in nitrogen flow at temperatures slightly below the BN decomposition temperature. This ability of c-BN and h-BN powders to fuse allows cheap production of large BN parts. Similar to diamond, the combination in c-BN of highest thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity is ideal for heat spreaders. As cubic boron nitride consists of light atoms and is very robust chemically and mechanically, it is one of the popular materials for X-ray membranes: low mass results in small X-ray absorption, and good mechanical properties allow usage of thin membranes, thus further reducing the absorption. Amorphous BN Layers of amorphous boron nitride (a-BN) are used in some semiconductor devices, e.g. MOSFETs. They can be prepared by chemical decomposition of trichloroborazine with caesium, or by thermal chemical vapor deposition methods. Thermal CVD can be also used for deposition of h-BN layers, or at high temperatures, c-BN. Other forms of boron nitride Atomically thin boron nitride Hexagonal boron nitride can be exfoliated to mono or few atomic layer sheets. Due to its analogous structure to that of graphene, atomically thin boron nitride is sometimes called white graphene. Mechanical properties Atomically thin boron nitride is one of the strongest electrically insulating materials. Monolayer boron nitride has an average Young's modulus of 0.865TPa and fracture strength of 70.5GPa, and in contrast to graphene, whose strength decreases dramatically with increased thickness, few-layer boron nitride sheets have a strength similar to that of monolayer boron nitride. Thermal conductivity Atomically thin boron nitride has one of the highest thermal conductivity coefficients (751 W/mK at room temperature) among semiconductors and electrical insulators, and its thermal conductivity increases with reduced thickness due to less intra-layer coupling. Thermal stability The air stability of graphene shows a clear thickness dependence: monolayer graphene is reactive to oxygen at 250 °C, strongly doped at 300 °C, and etched at 450 °C; in contrast, bulk graphite is not oxidized until 800 °C. Atomically thin boron nitride has much better oxidation resistance than graphene. Monolayer boron nitride is not oxidized till 700 °C and can sustain up to 850 °C in air; bilayer and trilayer boron nitride nanosheets have slightly higher oxidation starting temperatures. The excellent thermal stability, high impermeability to gas and liquid, and electrical insulation make atomically thin boron nitride potential coating materials for preventing surface oxidation and corrosion of metals and other two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as black phosphorus. Better surface adsorption Atomically thin boron nitride has been found to have better surface adsorption capabilities than bulk hexagonal boron nitride. According to theoretical and experimental studies, atomically thin boron nitride as an adsorbent experiences conformational changes upon surface adsorption of molecules, increasing adsorption energy and efficiency. The synergic effect of the atomic thickness, high flexibility, stronger surface adsorption capability, electrical insulation, impermeability, high thermal and chemical stability of BN nanosheets can increase the Raman sensitivity by up to two orders, and in the meantime attain long-term stability and extraordinary reusability not achievable by other materials. Dielectric properties Atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride is an excellent dielectric substrate for graphene, molybdenum disulfide (), and many other 2D material-based electronic and photonic devices. As shown by electric force microscopy (EFM) studies, the electric field screening in atomically thin boron nitride shows a weak dependence on thickness, which is in line with the smooth decay of electric field inside few-layer boron nitride revealed by the first-principles calculations. Raman characteristics Raman spectroscopy has been a useful tool to study a variety of 2D materials, and the Raman signature of high-quality atomically thin boron nitride was first reported by Gorbachev et al. in 2011. and Li et al. However, the two reported Raman results of monolayer boron nitride did not agree with each other. Cai et al., therefore, conducted systematic experimental and theoretical studies to reveal the intrinsic Raman spectrum of atomically thin boron nitride. It reveals that atomically thin boron nitride without interaction with a substrate has a G band frequency similar to that of bulk hexagonal boron nitride, but strain induced by the substrate can cause Raman shifts. Nevertheless, the Raman intensity of G band of atomically thin boron nitride can be used to estimate layer thickness and sample quality. Boron nitride nanomesh Boron nitride nanomesh is a nanostructured two-dimensional material. It consists of a single BN layer, which forms by self-assembly a highly regular mesh after high-temperature exposure of a clean rhodium or ruthenium surface to borazine under ultra-high vacuum. The nanomesh looks like an assembly of hexagonal pores. The distance between two pore centers is 3.2 nm and the pore diameter is ~2 nm. Other terms for this material are boronitrene or white graphene. The boron nitride nanomesh is not only stable to decomposition under vacuum, air and some liquids, but also up to temperatures of 800 °C. In addition, it shows the extraordinary ability to trap molecules and metallic clusters which have similar sizes to the nanomesh pores, forming a well-ordered array. These characteristics promise interesting applications of the nanomesh in areas like catalysis, surface functionalisation, spintronics, quantum computing and data storage media like hard drives. Boron nitride nanotubes Boron nitride tubules were first made in 1989 by Shore and Dolan This work was patented in 1989 and published in 1989 thesis (Dolan) and then 1993 Science. The 1989 work was also the first preparation of amorphous BN by B-trichloroborazine and cesium metal. Boron nitride nanotubes were predicted in 1994 and experimentally discovered in 1995. They can be imagined as a rolled up sheet of h-boron nitride. Structurally, it is a close analog of the carbon nanotube, namely a long cylinder with diameter of several to hundred nanometers and length of many micrometers, except carbon atoms are alternately substituted by nitrogen and boron atoms. However, the properties of BN nanotubes are very different: whereas carbon nanotubes can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the rolling direction and radius, a BN nanotube is an electrical insulator with a bandgap of ~5.5 eV, basically independent of tube chirality and morphology. In addition, a layered BN structure is much more thermally and chemically stable than a graphitic carbon structure. Boron nitride aerogel Boron nitride aerogel is an aerogel made of highly porous BN. It typically consists of a mixture of deformed BN nanotubes and nanosheets. It can have a density as low as 0.6 mg/cm3 and a specific surface area as high as 1050 m2/g, and therefore has potential applications as an absorbent, catalyst support and gas storage medium. BN aerogels are highly hydrophobic and can absorb up to 160 times their weight in oil. They are resistant to oxidation in air at temperatures up to 1200 °C, and hence can be reused after the absorbed oil is burned out by flame. BN aerogels can be prepared by template-assisted chemical vapor deposition using borazine as the feed gas. Composites containing BN Addition of boron nitride to silicon nitride ceramics improves the thermal shock resistance of the resulting material. For the same purpose, BN is added also to silicon nitride-alumina and titanium nitride-alumina ceramics. Other materials being reinforced with BN include alumina and zirconia, borosilicate glasses, glass ceramics, enamels, and composite ceramics with titanium boride-boron nitride, titanium boride-aluminium nitride-boron nitride, and silicon carbide-boron nitride composition. Health issues Boron nitride (along with , NbN, and BNC) is reported to show weak fibrogenic activity, and to cause pneumoconiosis when inhaled in particulate form. The maximum concentration recommended for nitrides of nonmetals is 10 mg/m3 for BN and 4 for AlN or ZrN. See also Beta carbon nitride Borazon Borocarbonitrides Boron suboxide Superhard materials Wide-bandgap semiconductors Notes References External links National Pollutant Inventory: Boron and Compounds Materials Safety Data Sheet at University of Oxford Boron compounds Ceramic materials Nitrides III-V semiconductors Non-petroleum based lubricants Dry lubricants Abrasives Superhard materials Neutron poisons Monolayers III-V compounds Boron–nitrogen compounds Zincblende crystal structure Wurtzite structure type

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin%20board%20system

Bulletin board system

A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email. Many BBSes also offer online games in which users can compete with each other. BBSes with multiple phone lines often provide chat rooms, allowing users to interact with each other. Bulletin board systems were in many ways a precursor to the modern form of the World Wide Web, social networks, and other aspects of the Internet. Low-cost, high-performance asynchronous modems drove the use of online services and BBSes through the early 1990s. InfoWorld estimated that there were 60,000 BBSes serving 17 million users in the United States alone in 1994, a collective market much larger than major online services such as CompuServe. The introduction of inexpensive dial-up internet service and the Mosaic web browser offered ease of use and global access that BBS and online systems did not provide, and led to a rapid crash in the market starting in late 1994-early 1995. Over the next year, many of the leading BBS software providers went bankrupt and tens of thousands of BBSes disappeared. Today, BBSing survives largely as a nostalgic hobby in most parts of the world, but it is still an extremely popular form of communication for Taiwanese youth (see PTT Bulletin Board System). Most surviving BBSes are accessible over Telnet and typically offer free email accounts, FTP services, IRC and all the protocols commonly used on the Internet. Some offer access through packet switched networks or packet radio connections. History Precursors A precursor to the public bulletin board system was Community Memory, started in August 1973 in Berkeley, California. Useful microcomputers did not exist at that time, and modems were both expensive and slow. Community Memory therefore ran on a mainframe computer and was accessed through terminals located in several San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods. The poor quality of the original modem connecting the terminals to the mainframe prompted Community Memory hardware person, Lee Felsenstein, to invent the Pennywhistle modem, whose design was highly influential in the mid-1970s. Community Memory allowed the user to type messages into a computer terminal after inserting a coin, and offered a "pure" bulletin board experience with public messages only (no email or other features). It did offer the ability to tag messages with keywords, which the user could use in searches. The system acted primarily in the form of a buy and sell system with the tags taking the place of the more traditional classifications. But users found ways to express themselves outside these bounds, and the system spontaneously created stories, poetry and other forms of communications. The system was expensive to operate, and when their host machine became unavailable and a new one could not be found, the system closed in January 1975. Similar functionality was available to most mainframe users, which might be considered a sort of ultra-local BBS when used in this fashion. Commercial systems, expressly intended to offer these features to the public, became available in the late 1970s and formed the online service market that lasted into the 1990s. One particularly influential example was PLATO, which had thousands of users by the late 1970s, many of whom used the messaging and chat room features of the system in the same way that would later become common on BBSes. The first BBSes Early modems were generally either expensive or very simple devices using acoustic couplers to handle telephone operation. The user would pick up the phone, dial a number, then press the handset into rubber cups on the top of the modem. Disconnecting at the end of a call required the user to pick up the handset and return it to the phone. Examples of direct-connecting modems did exist, and these often allowed the host computer to send it commands to answer or hang up calls, but these were very expensive devices used by large banks and similar companies. With the introduction of microcomputers with expansion slots, like the S-100 bus machines and Apple II, it became possible for the modem to communicate instructions and data on separate lines. These machines typically only supported asynchronous communications, and synchronous modems were much more expensive than asynchronous modems. A number of modems of this sort were available by the late 1970s. This made the BBS possible for the first time, as it allowed software on the computer to pick up an incoming call, communicate with the user, and then hang up the call when the user logged off. The first public dial-up BBS was developed by Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE). According to an early interview, when Chicago was snowed under during the Great Blizzard of 1978, the two began preliminary work on the Computerized Bulletin Board System, or CBBS. The system came into existence largely through a fortuitous combination of Christensen having a spare S-100 bus computer and an early Hayes internal modem, and Suess's insistence that the machine be placed at his house in Chicago where it would be a local phone call for more users. Christensen patterned the system after the cork board his local computer club used to post information like "need a ride". CBBS officially went online on 16 February 1978. CBBS, which kept a count of callers, reportedly connected 253,301 callers before it was finally retired. Smartmodem A key innovation required for the popularization of the BBS was the Smartmodem manufactured by Hayes Microcomputer Products. Internal modems like the ones used by CBBS and similar early systems were usable, but generally expensive due to the manufacturer having to make a different modem for every computer platform they wanted to target. They were also limited to those computers with internal expansion, and could not be used with other useful platforms like video terminals. External modems were available for these platforms but required the phone to be dialed using a conventional handset. Internal modems could be software-controlled to perform both outbound and inbound calls, but external modems had only the data pins to communicate with the host system. Hayes' solution to the problem was to use a small microcontroller to implement a system that examined the data flowing into the modem from the host computer, watching for certain command strings. This allowed commands to be sent to and from the modem using the same data pins as all the rest of the data, meaning it would work on any system that could support even the most basic modems. The Smartmodem could pick up the phone, dial numbers, and hang up again, all without any operator intervention. The Smartmodem was not necessary for BBS use but made overall operation dramatically simpler. It also improved usability for the caller, as most terminal software allowed different phone numbers to be stored and dialed on command, allowing the user to easily connect to a series of systems. The introduction of the Smartmodem led to the first real wave of BBS systems. Limited in both speed and storage capacity, these systems were normally dedicated solely to messaging, both private email and public forums. File transfers were extremely slow at these speeds, and file libraries were typically limited to text files containing lists of other BBS systems. These systems attracted a particular type of user who used the BBS as a unique type of communications medium, and when these local systems were crowded from the market in the 1990s, their loss was lamented for many years. Higher speeds, commercialization Speed improved with the introduction of 1200 bit/s asynchronous modems in the early 1980s, giving way to 2400 bit/s fairly rapidly. The improved performance led to a substantial increase in BBS popularity. Most of the information was displayed using ordinary ASCII text or ANSI art, but a number of systems attempted character-based graphical user interfaces which began to be practical at 2400 bit/s. There was a lengthy delay before 9600 bit/s models began to appear on the market. 9600 bit/s was not even established as a strong standard before V.32bis at 14.4 kbit/s took over in the early 1990s. This period also saw the rapid rise in capacity and a dramatic drop in the price of hard drives. By the late 1980s, many BBS systems had significant file libraries, and this gave rise to leechingusers calling BBSes solely for their files. These users would use the modem for some time, leaving less time for other users, who got busy signals. The resulting upheaval eliminated many of the pioneering message-centric systems. This also gave rise to a new class of BBS systems, dedicated solely to file upload and downloads. These systems charged for access, typically a flat monthly fee, compared to the per-hour fees charged by Event Horizons BBS and most online services. Many third-party services were developed to support these systems, offering simple credit card merchant account gateways for the payment of monthly fees, and entire file libraries on compact disk that made initial setup very easy. Early 1990s editions of Boardwatch were filled with ads for single-click install solutions dedicated to these new sysops. While this gave the market a bad reputation, it also led to its greatest success. During the early 1990s, there were a number of mid-sized software companies dedicated to BBS software, and the number of BBSes in service reached its peak. Towards the early 1990s, BBS became so popular that it spawned three monthly magazines, Boardwatch, BBS Magazine, and in Asia and Australia, Chips 'n Bits Magazine which devoted extensive coverage of the software and technology innovations and people behind them, and listings to US and worldwide BBSes. In addition, in the US, a major monthly magazine, Computer Shopper, carried a list of BBSes along with a brief abstract of each of their offerings. GUIs Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was considerable experimentation with ways to improve the BBS experience from its command-line interface roots. Almost every popular system improved matters somewhat by adding ANSI-based color menus to make reading easier, and most also allowed cursor commands to offer command-line recall and similar features. Another common feature was the use of autocomplete to make menu navigation simpler, a feature that would not re-appear on the Web until decades later. A number of systems also made forays into GUI-based interfaces, either using character graphics sent from the host, or using custom GUI-based terminal systems. The latter initially appeared, unsurprisingly, on the Macintosh platform, where TeleFinder and FirstClass became very popular. FirstClass offered a host of features that would be difficult or impossible under a terminal-based solution, including bi-directional information flow and non-blocking operation that allowed the user to exchange files in both directions while continuing to use the message system and chat, all in separate windows. Will Price's "Hermes", released in 1988, combined a familiar PC style with Macintosh GUI interface. Skypix featured on Amiga a complete markup language. It used a standardized set of icons to indicate mouse driven commands available online and to recognize different filetypes present on BBS storage media. It was capable of transmitting data like images, audio files, and audio clips between users linked to the same BBS or off-line if the BBS was in the circuit of the FidoNet organization. On the PC, efforts were more oriented to extensions of the original terminal concept, with the GUI being described in the information on the host. One example was the Remote Imaging Protocol, essentially a picture description system, which remained relatively obscure. Probably the ultimate development of this style of operation was the dynamic page implementation of the University of Southern California BBS (USCBBS) by Susan Biddlecomb, which predated the implementation of the HTML Dynamic web page. A complete Dynamic web page implementation was accomplished using TBBS with a TDBS add-on presenting a complete menu system individually customized for each user. Rise of the Internet and decline of BBS The demand for complex ANSI and ASCII screens and larger file transfers taxed available channel capacity, which in turn increased demand for faster modems. 14.4 kbit/s modems were standard for a number of years while various companies attempted to introduce non-standard systems with higher performancenormally about 19.2 kbit/s. Another delay followed due to a long V.34 standards process before 28.8 kbit/s was released, only to be quickly replaced by 33.6 kbit/s, and then 56 kbit/s. These increasing speeds had the side effect of dramatically reducing the noticeable effects of channel efficiency. When modems were slow, considerable effort was put into developing the most efficient protocols and display systems possible. Running a general-purpose protocol like TCP/IP over a 1200 bit/s modem was a painful experience. With 56 kbit/s modems, however, the overhead was so greatly reduced as to be unnoticeable. Dial-up Internet service became widely available in 1994, and a must-have option for any general-use operating system by 1995. These developments together resulted in the sudden obsolescence of bulletin board technology in 1995 and the collapse of its supporting market. Technically, Internet service offered an enormous advantage over BBS systems, as a single connection to the user's Internet service provider allowed them to contact services around the world. In comparison, BBS systems relied on a direct point-to-point connection, so even dialing multiple local systems required multiple phone calls. Moreover, Internet protocols allowed that same single connection to be used to contact multiple services at the same time; for example, downloading files from an FTP library while checking the weather on a local news website. In comparison, a connection to a BBS allowed access only to the information on that system. Estimating numbers According to the FidoNet Nodelist, BBSes reached their peak usage around 1996, which was the same period that the World Wide Web and AOL became mainstream. BBSes rapidly declined in popularity thereafter, and were replaced by systems using the Internet for connectivity. Some of the larger commercial BBSes, such as MaxMegabyte and ExecPC BBS, evolved into Internet service providers. The website textfiles.com serves as an archive that documents the history of the BBS. The historical BBS list on textfiles.com contains over 105,000 BBSes that have existed over a span of 20 years in North America alone. The owner of textfiles.com, Jason Scott, also produced BBS: The Documentary, a DVD film that chronicles the history of the BBS and features interviews with well-known people (mostly from the United States) from the heyday BBS era. In the 2000s, most traditional BBS systems migrated to the Internet using Telnet or SSH protocols. As of September 2022, between 900 and 1000 are thought to be active via the Internet fewer than 30 of these being of the traditional "dial-up" (modem) variety. Software and hardware Unlike modern websites and online services that are typically hosted by third-party companies in commercial data centers, BBS computers (especially for smaller boards) were typically operated from the system operator's home. As such, access could be unreliable, and in many cases, only one user could be on the system at a time. Only larger BBSes with multiple phone lines using specialized hardware, multitasking software, or a LAN connecting multiple computers, could host multiple simultaneous users. The first BBSes used homebrew software, quite often written or customized by the system operators themselves, running on early S-100 bus microcomputer systems such as the Altair 8800, IMSAI 8080 and Cromemco under the CP/M operating system. Soon after, BBS software was being written for all of the major home computer systems of the late 1970s erathe Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore and TRS-80 being some of the most popular. A few years later, in 1981, IBM introduced the first DOS based IBM PC, and due to the overwhelming popularity of PCs and their clones, DOS soon became the operating system on which the majority of BBS programs were run. RBBS-PC, ported over from the CP/M world, and Fido BBS, developed by Tom Jennings (who later founded FidoNet) were the first notable DOS BBS programs. Many successful commercial BBS programs were developed for DOS, such as PCBoard BBS, RemoteAccess BBS, Magpie and Wildcat! BBS. Some popular freeware BBS programs for DOS included Telegard BBS and Renegade BBS, which both had early origins from leaked WWIV BBS source code. There were several dozen other BBS programs developed over the DOS era, and many were released under the shareware concept, while some were released as freeware including iniquity. BBS systems on other systems remained popular, especially home computers, largely because they catered to the audience of users running those machines. The ubiquitous Commodore 64 (introduced in 1982) was a common platform in the 1980s. Popular commercial BBS programs were Blue Board, Ivory BBS, Color64 and CNet 64. In the early 1990s, a small number of BBSes were also running on the Commodore Amiga. Popular BBS software for the Amiga were ABBS, Amiexpress, C-Net, StormforceBBS, Infinity and Tempest. There was also a small faction of devoted Atari BBSes that used the Atari 800, then the 800XL, and eventually the 1040ST. The earlier machines generally lacked hard drive capabilities, which limited them primarily to messaging. MS-DOS continued to be the most popular operating system for BBS use up until the mid-1990s, and in the early years, most multi-node BBSes were running under a DOS based multitasker such as DESQview or consisted of multiple computers connected via a LAN. In the late 1980s, a handful of BBS developers implemented multitasking communications routines inside their software, allowing multiple phone lines and users to connect to the same BBS computer. These included Galacticomm's MajorBBS (later WorldGroup), eSoft The Bread Board System (TBBS), and Falken. Other popular BBS's were Maximus and Opus, with some associated applications such as BinkleyTerm being based on characters from the Berkley Breathed cartoon strip of Bloom County. Though most BBS software had been written in BASIC or Pascal (with some low-level routines written in assembly language), the C language was starting to gain popularity. By 1995, many of the DOS-based BBSes had begun switching to modern multitasking operating systems, such as OS/2, Windows 95, and Linux. One of the first graphics-based BBS applications was Excalibur BBS with low-bandwidth applications that required its own client for efficiency. This led to one of the earliest implementations of Electronic Commerce in 1996 with replication of partner stores around the globe. TCP/IP networking allowed most of the remaining BBSes to evolve and include Internet hosting capabilities. Recent BBS software, such as Synchronet, Mystic BBS, EleBBS, DOC, Magpie or Wildcat! BBS, provide access using the Telnet protocol rather than dialup, or by using legacy DOS-based BBS software with a FOSSIL-to-Telnet redirector such as NetFoss. Presentation BBSes were generally text-based, rather than GUI-based, and early BBSes conversed using the simple ASCII character set. However, some home computer manufacturers extended the ASCII character set to take advantage of the advanced color and graphics capabilities of their systems. BBS software authors included these extended character sets in their software, and terminal program authors included the ability to display them when a compatible system was called. Atari's native character set was known as ATASCII, while most Commodore BBSes supported PETSCII. PETSCII was also supported by the nationwide online service Quantum Link. The use of these custom character sets was generally incompatible between manufacturers. Unless a caller was using terminal emulation software written for, and running on, the same type of system as the BBS, the session would simply fall back to simple ASCII output. For example, a Commodore 64 user calling an Atari BBS would use ASCII rather than the native character set of either. As time progressed, most terminal programs began using the ASCII standard, but could use their native character set if it was available. COCONET, a BBS system made by Coconut Computing, Inc., was released in 1988 and only supported a GUI (no text interface was initially available but eventually became available around 1990), and worked in EGA/VGA graphics mode, which made it stand out from text-based BBS systems. COCONET's bitmap and vector graphics and support for multiple type fonts were inspired by the PLATO system, and the graphics capabilities were based on what was available in the Borland Graphics Interface library. A competing approach called Remote Imaging Protocol (RIP) emerged and was promoted by Telegrafix in the early to mid-1990s but it never became widespread. A teletext technology called NAPLPS was also considered, and although it became the underlying graphics technology behind the Prodigy service, it never gained popularity in the BBS market. There were several GUI-based BBSes on the Apple Macintosh platform, including TeleFinder and FirstClass, but these were mostly confined to the Mac market. In the UK, the BBC Micro based OBBS software, available from Pace for use with their modems, optionally allowed for color and graphics using the Teletext based graphics mode available on that platform. Other systems used the Viewdata protocols made popular in the UK by British Telecom's Prestel service, and the on-line magazine Micronet 800 whom were busy giving away modems with their subscriptions. Over time, terminal manufacturers started to support ANSI X3.64 in addition to or instead of proprietary terminal control codes, e.g., color, cursor positioning. The most popular form of online graphics was ANSI art, which combined the IBM Extended ASCII character set's blocks and symbols with ANSI escape sequences to allow changing colors on demand, provide cursor control and screen formatting, and even basic musical tones. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, most BBSes used ANSI to make elaborate welcome screens, and colorized menus, and thus, ANSI support was a sought-after feature in terminal client programs. The development of ANSI art became so popular that it spawned an entire BBS "artscene" subculture devoted to it. The Amiga Skyline BBS software was the first in 1987 featuring a script markup language communication protocol called Skypix which was capable of giving the user a complete graphical interface, featuring rich graphics, changeable fonts, mouse-controlled actions, animations and sound. Today, most BBS software that is still actively supported, such as Worldgroup, Wildcat! BBS and Citadel/UX, is Web-enabled, and the traditional text interface has been replaced (or operates concurrently) with a Web-based user interface. For those more nostalgic for the true BBS experience, one can use NetSerial (Windows) or DOSBox (Windows/*nix) to redirect DOS COM port software to telnet, allowing them to connect to Telnet BBSes using 1980s and 1990s era modem terminal emulation software, like Telix, Terminate, Qmodem and Procomm Plus. Modern 32-bit terminal emulators such as mTelnet and SyncTerm include native telnet support. Content and access Since most early BBSes were run by computer hobbyists, they were typically technical in topic, with user communities revolving around hardware and software discussions. As the BBS phenomenon grew, so did the popularity of special interest boards. Bulletin Board Systems could be found for almost every hobby and interest. Popular interests included politics, religion, music, dating, and alternative lifestyles. Many system operators also adopted a theme in which they customized their entire BBS (welcome screens, prompts, menus, and so on) to reflect that theme. Common themes were based on fantasy, or were intended to give the user the illusion of being somewhere else, such as in a sanatorium, wizard's castle, or on a pirate ship. In the early days, the file download library consisted of files that the system operators obtained themselves from other BBSes and friends. Many BBSes inspected every file uploaded to their public file download library to ensure that the material did not violate copyright law. As time went on, shareware CD-ROMs were sold with up to thousands of files on each CD-ROM. Small BBSes copied each file individually to their hard drive. Some systems used a CD-ROM drive to make the files available. Advanced BBSes used Multiple CD-ROM disc changer units that switched 6 CD-ROM disks on demand for the caller(s). Large systems used all 26 DOS drive letters with multi-disk changers housing tens of thousands of copyright-free shareware or freeware files available to all callers. These BBSes were generally more family-friendly, avoiding the seedier side of BBSes. Access to these systems varied from single to multiple modem lines with some requiring little or no confirmed registration. Some BBSes, called elite, WaReZ or pirate boards, were exclusively used for distributing cracked software, phreaking, and other questionable or unlawful content. These BBSes often had multiple modems and phone lines, allowing several users to upload and download files at once. Most elite BBSes used some form of new user verification, where new users would have to apply for membership and attempt to prove that they were not a law enforcement officer or a lamer. The largest elite boards accepted users by invitation only. Elite boards also spawned their own subculture and gave rise to the slang known today as leetspeak. Another common type of board was the support BBS run by a manufacturer of computer products or software. These boards were dedicated to supporting users of the company's products with question and answer forums, news and updates, and downloads. Most of them were not a free call. Today, these services have moved to the Web. Some general-purpose Bulletin Board Systems had special levels of access that were given to those who paid extra money, uploaded useful files or knew the system operator personally. These specialty and pay BBSes usually had something unique to offer their users, such as large file libraries, warez, pornography, chat rooms or Internet access. Pay BBSes such as The WELL and Echo NYC (now Internet forums rather than dial-up), ExecPC, PsudNetwork and MindVox (which folded in 1996) were admired for their tight-knit communities and quality discussion forums. However, many free BBSes also maintained close knit communities, and some even had annual or bi-annual events where users would travel great distances to meet face-to-face with their on-line friends. These events were especially popular with BBSes that offered chat rooms. Some of the BBSes that provided access to illegal content faced opposition. On July 12, 1985, in conjunction with a credit card fraud investigation, the Middlesex County, New Jersey Sheriff's department raided and seized The Private Sector BBS, which was the official BBS for grey hat hacker quarterly 2600 Magazine at the time. The notorious Rusty n Edie's BBS, in Boardman, Ohio, was raided by the FBI in January 1993 for trading unlicensed software, and later sued by Playboy for copyright infringement in November 1997. In Flint, Michigan, a 21-year-old man was charged with distributing child pornography through his BBS in March 1996. Networks Most early BBSes operated as individual systems. Information contained on that BBS never left the system, and users would only interact with the information and user community on that BBS alone. However, as BBSes became more widespread, there evolved a desire to connect systems together to share messages and files with distant systems and users. The largest such network was FidoNet. As is it was prohibitively expensive for the hobbyist system operator to have a dedicated connection to another system, FidoNet was developed as a store and forward network. Private email (Netmail), public message boards (Echomail) and eventually even file attachments on a FidoNet-capable BBS would be bundled into one or more archive files over a set time interval. These archive files were then compressed with ARC or ZIP and forwarded to (or polled by) another nearby node or hub via a dialup Xmodem session. Messages would be relayed around various FidoNet hubs until they were eventually delivered to their destination. The hierarchy of FidoNet BBS nodes, hubs, and zones was maintained in a routing table called a Nodelist. Some larger BBSes or regional FidoNet hubs would make several transfers per day, some even to multiple nodes or hubs, and as such, transfers usually occurred at night or in the early morning when toll rates were lowest. In Fido's heyday, sending a Netmail message to a user on a distant FidoNet node, or participating in an Echomail discussion could take days, especially if any FidoNet nodes or hubs in the message's route only made one transfer call per day. FidoNet was platform-independent and would work with any BBS that was written to use it. BBSes that did not have integrated FidoNet capability could usually add it using an external FidoNet front-end mailer such as SEAdog, FrontDoor, BinkleyTerm, InterMail or D'Bridge, and a mail processor such as FastEcho or Squish. The front-end mailer would conduct the periodic FidoNet transfers, while the mail processor would usually run just before and just after the mailer ran. This program would scan for and pack up new outgoing messages, and then unpack, sort and "toss" the incoming messages into a BBS user's local email box or into the BBS's local message bases reserved for Echomail. As such, these mail processors were commonly called "scanner/tosser/packers". Many other BBS networks followed the example of FidoNet, using the same standards and the same software. These were called FidoNet Technology Networks (FTNs). They were usually smaller and targeted at selected audiences. Some networks used QWK doors, and others such as RelayNet (RIME) and WWIVnet used non-Fido software and standards. Before commercial Internet access became common, these networks of BBSes provided regional and international e-mail and message bases. Some even provided gateways, such as UFGATE, by which members could send and receive e-mail to and from the Internet via UUCP, and many FidoNet discussion groups were shared via gateway to Usenet. Elaborate schemes allowed users to download binary files, search gopherspace, and interact with distant programs, all using plain-text e-mail. As the volume of FidoNet Mail increased and newsgroups from the early days of the Internet became available, satellite data downstream services became viable for larger systems. The satellite service provided access to FidoNet and Usenet newsgroups in large volumes at a reasonable fee. By connecting a small dish and receiver, a constant downstream of thousands of FidoNet and Usenet newsgroups could be received. The local BBS only needed to upload new outgoing messages via the modem network back to the satellite service. This method drastically reduced phone data transfers while dramatically increasing the number of message forums. FidoNet is still in use today, though in a much smaller form, and many Echomail groups are still shared with Usenet via FidoNet to Usenet gateways. Widespread abuse of Usenet with spam and pornography has led to many of these FidoNet gateways to cease operation completely. Shareware and freeware Much of the shareware movement was started via user distribution of software through BBSes. A notable example was Phil Katz's PKARC (and later PKZIP, using the same ".zip" algorithm that WinZip and other popular archivers now use); also other concepts of software distribution like freeware, postcardware like JPEGview and donationware like Red Ryder for the Macintosh first appeared on BBS sites. Doom from id Software and nearly all Apogee Software games were distributed as shareware (Apogee is, in fact, credited for adding an order form to a shareware demo). The Internet has largely erased the distinction of sharewaremost users now download the software directly from the developer's website rather than receiving it from another BBS user 'sharing' it. Today shareware is commonly used to mean electronically-distributed software from a small developer. Many commercial BBS software companies that continue to support their old BBS software products switched to the shareware model or made it entirely free. Some companies were able to make the move to the Internet and provide commercial products with BBS capabilities. Features A classic BBS had: A computer One or more modems One or more phone lines, with more allowing for increased concurrent users A BBS software package A sysop – system operator A user community The BBS software usually provides: Menu systems One or more message bases Uploading and downloading of message packets in QWK format using XMODEM, YMODEM or ZMODEM File areas Live viewing of all caller activity by the system operator Voting – opinion booths Statistics on message posters, top uploaders / downloaders Online games (usually single player or only a single active player at a given time) A doorway to third-party online games Usage auditing capabilities Multi-user chat (only possible on multi-line BBSes) Internet email (more common in later Internet-connected BBSes) Networked message boards Most modern BBSes allow telnet access over the Internet using a telnet server and a virtual FOSSIL driver. A "yell for SysOp" page caller side menu item that sounded an audible alarm to the system operator. If chosen, the system operator could then initiate a text-to-text chat with the caller. Primitive social networking features, such as leaving messages on a user's profile See also ANSI art Free-net Imageboard Internet forum Internet Relay Chat List of BBS software List of bulletin board systems Minitel Online magazine PODSnet Shell account Terminal emulator Textboard User-generated content Usenet Notes References Citations Sources External links The BBS Corner The BBS Documentary – (Video Collection) BBSmates community and resource site (archive from 2013) The Telnet BBS Guide (BBSes available via the Internet) Textfiles.com – Collection of historical BBS documents, files and history The BBS organization (longest running bbs services site) The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems (The Atlantic, 2016) American inventions Online chat Pre–World Wide Web online services Internet forums Virtual communities Computer-mediated communication Telephony Telnet Computer-related introductions in 1978

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String%20Quartet%20No.%2016%20%28Beethoven%29

String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)

The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 and was the last major work he completed. Only the final movement of the Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was composed later. The op. 135 quartet was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death. The work is on a smaller scale than the other late quartets. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, which is headed "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß" (The Difficult Decision), Beethoven wrote in the manuscript "Muß es sein?" (Must it be?) to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement, "Es muß sein!" (It must be!). It is in four movements: Allegretto (F major) Vivace (F major) Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo (D major) "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß". Grave, ma non troppo tratto ("Muss es sein?") – Allegro ("Es muss sein!") – Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro (F minor – F major) The performance of the work takes around 22–25 minutes. Notes External links Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet Performance by the Borromeo String Quartet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format String quartet 16 1826 compositions Compositions in F major

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano%20Trio%2C%20Op.%2097%20%28Beethoven%29

Piano Trio, Op. 97 (Beethoven)

The Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated about a dozen compositions to him. The Archduke Trio was written late in Beethoven's so-called "middle period". He sketched out the draft for it in the summer of 1810 and completed the composition in March 1811. It follows the traditional four movement structure with sonata form in the first and rondo sonata form in the last movement. It also allows for a more prominent part for the piano than previous compositions. Historical Context The Archduke Trio came to fruition just months after a highly successful premiere of his Battle Symphony (Wellingtons Sieg, Op. 91). Though the relationship between Beethoven and Archduke Rudolf had its challenges, Beethoven was indebted to him for his unwavering financial support, on which account Beethoven continued to dedicate works to him. In this work, Beethoven increases the independence of the piano's role in relation to the violin and cello and in comparison with his earlier piano trios. There is much debate over the amount of time Beethoven dedicated to composing the Archduke Trio, though an earlier autograph from March 1811 could prove that it was composed in only three weeks time. At this time, Beethoven was experiencing great success with his compositions and pitting publishers against each other. He may have been considering marriage according to personal correspondence via letters. Beethoven also wrote personally to Archduke Rudolf with the newly composed trio to have it copied within the archduke's palace out of fear that it would be stolen. This was a frequent transaction between the two and resulted in the archduke establishing a library of all of Beethoven's compositions with manuscript copies for conservation. First performances Two days after completion in 1811, Beethoven played the Archduke Trio in an informal setting at the Baron Neuworth's residency with no known performance after until 1814. The first public performance was given by Beethoven himself, Ignaz Schuppanzigh (violin), and Josef Linke (cello) at the Viennese hotel Zum römischen Kaiser on April 11, 1814. At the time, Beethoven's deafness compromised his ability as a performer, and after a repeat performance a few weeks later, Beethoven never appeared again in public as a pianist. The violinist and composer Louis Spohr witnessed a rehearsal of the work, and wrote, "on account of his deafness there was scarcely anything left of the virtuosity of the artist which had formerly been so greatly admired. In forte passages the poor deaf man pounded on the keys until the strings jangled, and in piano he played so softly that whole groups of notes were omitted, so that the music was unintelligible unless one could look into the pianoforte part. I was deeply saddened at so hard a fate." The pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles attended the premiere, and wrote about the work, "in the case of how many compositions is the word 'new' misapplied! But never in Beethoven's, and least of all in this, which again is full of originality. His playing, aside from its intellectual element, satisfied me less, being wanting in clarity and precision; but I observed many traces of the grand style of playing which I had long recognized in his compositions." Structure The work is in four movements. A typical performance runs more than 40 minutes in length. Allegro moderato This first movement is in the home key of B-flat major and is in Sonata form. The first two measures present a motif consisting of five notes which are used throughout the trio in various altered forms. The main theme remains piano until the coda where it returns at a fortissimo indication. Scherzo (Allegro) Also in the home key of B-flat major, the second movement consists of a fast scherzo and trio rather than the traditional slow movement. Some editions show the repeats of scherzo and trio sections, but Beethoven published it originally as written out repeats. The triad used as motivic material in the first movement is presented as scales here in the second. Andante cantabile, ma però con moto The third movement is in the key of D major and follows variation form and is approached attacca to the finale movement. There has been some debate over the specific tempo intended by Beethoven as to the authenticity of the inclusion of "con moto" in the score. Allegro moderato This finale movement is as expected in the home key of B-flat major and employs a loose interpretation of the Rondo Sonata form structure: A B A' B A' (Coda) The similarities between all four movements rhythm can be seem culminated here where Beethoven increasingly shortens the rhythmic values before bar lines. During the lengthy coda, there is a stray in key centers as far as A major and E flat Major until returning to B-flat major at the end. Beethoven himself indicated during a rehearsal of the piece that it should not be played in a gentle manner, but with much energy and force. Reception Though there were complaints directed towards Beethoven after the public premiere regarding his abilities as a performer due to his increasing deafness, the trio itself enjoyed much success and was quickly considered as one of his masterpieces. His reputation and credibility as a composer did not diminish, but rather continued to soar. Music journals such as the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung viewed the trio as typical of the composer's output with nothing out of the ordinary. They considered the scherzo to be contrapuntal in nature, which speaks to what music textures were still acceptable for audiences at this time between the Classical and Romantic eras. Likewise, in 1823 the Allegemeine Musikalische Zeitung issued a call to musicians to perform the piece with much dedication and inspiration. References in popular culture The trio, referred to as The Archduke, plays a significant role in Elizabeth George's mystery A Traitor to Memory (2001) In Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore (2002), the piece and its history are used to explain the relationship between two main characters, Nakata and Hoshino, and the latter's development as a person. In the Coen Brothers's film The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), the melancholic third movement of this work plays a central role, particularly in the climactic final scene in the electric chair. In Colm Toibin's Nora Webster the recording figures prominently in the title character's musical development as well as the foil (the album cover) for an internal examination of how her life might have been different Footnotes External links BBC Discovering Music Concert Podcast from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Information and digitized early editions at the Beethoven-Haus Digital Archives Piano Trio 97 1811 compositions Compositions in B-flat major Music with dedications

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin%20Sonata%20No.%205%20%28Beethoven%29

Violin Sonata No. 5 (Beethoven)

The Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, is a four movement work for violin and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was first published in 1801. The work is commonly known as the Spring Sonata (Frühlingssonate), although the name "Spring" was apparently given to it after Beethoven's death. The sonata was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries, a patron to whom Beethoven also dedicated two other works of the same year—the String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 and the Violin Sonata No. 4—as well as his later Symphony No. 7 in A major. Origin Beethoven initially intended to pair this work with his Violin Sonata No. 4, Opus 23, and the two sonatas complement each other in both key and character. However, the two were not published together and thus have different opus numbers. The reason for the separation is unknown. Structure The work is in four movements: The entire sonata takes approximately 22 minutes to perform. See also Violin Sonata in A major (Beethoven) References Notes Sources External links Performance of Violin Sonata No. 5 by Corey Cerovsek (violin) and Paavali Jumppanen (piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Violin Sonata 05 1801 compositions Compositions in F major Music with dedications Music dedicated to nobility or royalty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barratry%20%28common%20law%29

Barratry (common law)

Barratry ( ) is a legal term that, at common law, described a criminal offense committed by people who are overly officious in instigating or encouraging prosecution of groundless litigation, or who bring repeated or persistent acts of litigation for the purposes of profit or harassment. Although it remains a crime in some jurisdictions, barratry has frequently been abolished as being anachronistic and obsolete. Barratry by country Australia In Australia, the term barratry is predominantly used in the first sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant. The concept has fallen into disuse in Australia. New South Wales The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in New South Wales by Section 4A of the Maintenance, Champerty and Barratry Abolition Act 1993. Victoria The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in Victoria by section 2 of the Abolition of Obsolete Offences Act 1969. Canada In Canada, barratry, alongside all common law offences except contempt of court, were abolished by the 1953 consolidation of the Criminal Code. United Kingdom England and Wales In England and Wales the common law offence of being a common barrator was abolished by section 13(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Act 1967. History Being a common barrator was an offence under the common law of England. It was classified as a misdemeanor. It consisted of "persistently stirring up quarrels in the Courts or out of them". It is uncertain whether, in the ordinary way, persons charged with commission of the offence were dealt with by indictment. In 1966, the Law Commission recommended for the offence to be abolished. It said that there had been no indictments for this offence for "many years" and that, as an indictable misdemeanor, it was "wholly obsolete". Its recommendation was implemented by the Criminal Law Act 1967. Scotland In Scots law, barratry referred to the crime committed by a judge who is induced by bribery to pronounce judgment. United States Several jurisdictions in the United States have declared barratry (in the sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant) to be a crime as part of their tort reform efforts. For example, in the U.S. states of California, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, barratry is a misdemeanor. In Texas, barratry is a misdemeanor on the first conviction, but a felony on subsequent convictions. California Penal Code Section 158: "Common barratry is the practice of exciting groundless judicial proceedings, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months and by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000)." California Penal Code Section 159: "No person can be convicted of common barratry except upon proof that he has excited suits or proceedings at law in at least three instances, and with a corrupt or malicious intent to vex and annoy." Revised Code of Washington 9.12.010: "Every person who brings on his or her own behalf, or instigates, incites, or encourages another to bring, any false suit at law or in equity in any court of this state, with intent thereby to distress or harass a defendant in the suit, or who serves or sends any paper or document purporting to be or resembling a judicial process, that is not in fact a judicial process, is guilty of a misdemeanor; and in case the person offending is an attorney, he or she may, in addition thereto be disbarred from practicing law within this state." Virginia laws on barratry, champerty, and maintenance were overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in NAACP v. Button 371 U.S. 415 (1963). Vermont Statutes Title 13, § 701: "A person who is a common barrator shall be fined not more than $50.00 and become bound with sufficient surety for his or her good behavior for not less than one year." See also Abuse of process Ambulance chasing Bleak House Champerty Collegatary Forum shopping Frivolous or vexatious In terrorem Legal threat Legal advertising Malicious prosecution Vexatious litigation Isaac Wunder order References External links Abuse of the legal system Civil law (common law) Crimes Criminal law Common law legal terminology Common law offences in England and Wales

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursa

Bursa

(, Latin: Prusa, ) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa. As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yildirim and Nilufer) plus Gursu and Kestel, largely conurbated. Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363. The city was referred to as (, meaning "God's Gift" in Ottoman Turkish, a name of Persian origin) during the Ottoman period, while a more recent nickname is ("") in reference to the parks and gardens located across its urban fabric, as well as to the vast and richly varied forests of the surrounding region. Mount Uludağ, known in classical antiquity as the Mysian Olympus or alternatively Bithynian Olympus, towers over the city, and has a well-known ski resort. Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city's main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period. Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums. The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century. History The earliest known human settlement near Bursa's current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC. It was followed by the ancient Greek city of Cius, which Philip V of Macedon granted to Prusias I, the King of Bithynia, in 202 BC. King Prusias rebuilt the city with the advice of general Hannibal of Carthage, who took refuge with Prusias after losing the war with the Roman Republic and renamed it Prusa (; sometimes rendered as Prussa). After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, bequeathed the entire kingdom to the Roman Empire in 74 BC. An early Roman Treasure was found in the vicinity of Bursa in the early 20th century. Composed of a woman's silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum. Under Byzantine rule, the town became a garrison city in 562 AD, where imperial guards were stationed there. Already by the mid-6th century, Bursa was known as a famous silk textile manufacturing centre. Bursa (from the Greek "Prusa") became the first major capital city of the early Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326. As a result, the city witnessed a considerable amount of urban growth such as the building of hospitals, caravanserais and madrasas throughout the 14th century, with the first official Ottoman mint established in the city. After conquering Edirne (Adrianople) in East Thrace, the Ottomans turned it into the new capital city in 1363, but Bursa retained its spiritual and commercial importance in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I built the Bayezid Külliyesi (Bayezid I theological complex) in Bursa between 1390 and 1395 and the Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) between 1396 and 1400. After Bayezid was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the forces Timur in 1402, the latter's grandson, Muhammad Sultan Mirza, had the city pillaged and burned. Despite this, Bursa remained as the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453. The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487. During the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal silk products. Aside from the local silk production, the city imported raw silk from Iran, and occasionally from China, and was the main production centre for the kaftans, pillows, embroidery and other silk products for the Ottoman palaces until the 17th century. Devshirme system was also implemented in Bursa and its surroundings where it was negotiated between the authorities and locals. For example, during the 1603-4 levy, the villagers of a Christian village called Eğerciler, in Bursa, declared that they were responsible for providing sheep to the capital, and the children of the village were very much needed as shepherds. They asserted that even though they were not obliged to give any children for the army, the officers took some anyway, and that they should be returned. The villagers’ claim that it was in tremendous need of future shepherds was taken seriously by the state, and a decree commanded the return of the children. Bursa was also notable for its numerous hammams (bath) built during the reign of Suleiman such as the Yeni Kaplıca. From 1867 until 1922, Bursa was the capital of Hüdavendigâr vilayet. As it was a significant cultural and trade hub, traders, most of whom were Armenians, became very wealthy. The most influential study of Bursa's silk trade and economic history is the work of Ottomanist Halil İnalcık. In July 1915, thousands of Greek Orthodox Christians sought refuge into Bursa after having been forced out of their coastal villages by orders of the Young Turk government. This worsened the situation of the native Greeks of Bursa, who had managed to survive through the attacks and boycotts of 1914. A short time late, deportation orders came for Bursa's Armenians. Protestant Armenians were initially spared from deportation, but villagers that tried to resist were massacred. Most of the deportees would perish in what became known as the Armenian Genocide. Subsequently, large numbers of Kurds and Circassians, as well as Syrians form the south, were settled in the homes and towns of the deported Christians, radically altering the demographic composition of the town and region. According to Mustafa Zahit Oner, in the last days of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, the Greek Army attempted to burn the center of Bursa however they were stopped by the allied commanders and were only able to burn the train station together with Turkish civilians in it. The Cretan artilleryman Vasilios Moustakis describes the event with the following words: "The Infantry had come through and set fire to the station. We saw an English general on horseback, who ordered the fire to be put out, because if Bursa is burned, it would be to the detriment of Greece" Following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Bursa became one of the industrial centres of the country. The economic development of the city was followed by population growth and Bursa became the 4th most populous city in Turkey. The city has traditionally been a pole of attraction, and was a major centre for refugees from various ethnic backgrounds who immigrated to Anatolia from the Balkans during the loss of the Ottoman territories in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place between the 1940s and 1990s, when the People's Republic of Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey. About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa (especially in the Hürriyet neighborhood). With the construction of new industrial zones in the period between 1980 and 2000, many people from the eastern provinces of Turkey came and settled in Bursa. Geography The area covered by Bursa corresponds to 1.41% of Turkey's land area, which makes the city 27th in the country in terms of land area. Bursa stands on the northwestern slopes of Mount Uludağ (known as the Mysian Olympus in classical antiquity), on the banks of the Nilüfer River, in the southern Marmara Region. It is the capital city of Bursa Province, which borders the Sea of Marmara and Yalova to the north; Kocaeli and Sakarya to the northeast; Bilecik to the east; and Kütahya and Balıkesir to the south. Climate Bursa has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) under the Köppen classification, and dry-hot summer subtropical climate (Csa) under the Trewartha classification. The city has hot, dry summers that last from June until September. Winters are cool and damp, also containing the most rainfall. There can be snow on the ground which will last for a week or two. Air pollution is a chronic problem in Bursa. Economy Bursa is the largest production centre of the Turkish automotive industry. Factories of motor vehicle producers like Fiat, Renault and Karsan, as well as automotive parts producers like Bosch, Mako, Valeo, Johnson Controls, Delphi have been active in the city for decades. The textile and food industries are equally strong, with Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola and other beverage brands, as well as fresh and canned food industries being present in the city's organized industrial zones. Apart from its large automotive industry, Bursa also produces a substantial amount of dairy products (by Sütaş), processed food (by ), and beverages (by ). Traditionally, Bursa was famous for being the largest centre of silk trade in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman empires, during the period of the lucrative Silk Road. The city is still a major centre for textiles in Turkey and is home to the Bursa International Textiles and Trade Centre (, or ). Bursa was also known for its fertile soil and agricultural activities, which have decreased in the recent decades due to the heavy industrialization of the city. Bursa is a major centre for tourism. One of the most popular skiing resorts of Turkey is located at Mount Uludağ, just next to the city proper. Bursa's thermal baths have been used for therapeutical purposes since Roman times. Apart from the baths that are operated by hotels, Uludağ University has a physical therapy centre which also makes use of thermal water. Transportation Bursa has a metro (Bursaray), trams and bus system for inner-city public transport, while taxi cabs are also available. Bursa's Yenişehir Airport is away from the city centre. The citizens of Bursa also prefer Istanbul's airports such as Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport for flights to foreign countries, due to Istanbul's proximity to Bursa. There are numerous daily bus and ferry services between the two cities. The long Bursa Uludağ Gondola () connects Bursa with the ski resort areas high on the mountain Uludağ. The only railway station in Bursa is the Harmancık station on the Balıkesir-Kütahya railway, which was opened in 1930. The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bursa, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 62 min. 12% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 18 min, while 31% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is , while 17% travel for over in a single direction. Education Bursa has two public universities and one private university. Uludağ University, founded in 1975 in Görükle, is the oldest institution of higher education in the city. Founded first as the Bursa University then renamed Uludağ University in 1982, the university has a student body of 47,000, one of the largest in Turkey. Bursa Technical University is the second public university of Bursa and was established in 2010, beginning education in the 2011–2012 academic year. The first private university of Bursa was the Bursa Orhangazi University, which started education in the 2012–2013 academic year. However, Orhangazi University was shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt of July 2016. Istanbul Commerce University has opened graduate programs in Bursa in 2013. The vocational high schools, Bursa Sports High School, and Bursa Agriculture Vocational High School, are located in Osmangazi district. Sports The city has one professional football club, Bursaspor, which formerly competed in the Süper Lig (Super League), the top-tier of Turkish football, until finishing 16th at the end of the 2018–19 Süper Lig season and being relegated to the TFF First League. A few years earlier, Bursaspor had managed to become the Turkish champions at the end of the 2009–10 Süper Lig season, thereby becoming the second Anatolian club to ever win the Süper Lig championship title after Trabzonspor. Henceforth, Bursaspor was often considered to be one of the five biggest football clubs in Turkey, along with Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor. The club's relegation to the TFF First League at the end of the 2018–19 season was a major shock for its fans and became a first in the history of Turkish football: Never before a club which had won the Süper Lig championship title was relegated. Bursaspor plays its home games at the Timsah Arena (meaning "Crocodile Arena", crocodile being the mascot of the team), which has a seating capacity of 45,000. The city has a professional basketball team in the Turkish Basketball League, Tofaş S.K., which is among the most successful teams. The club plays its games at the Tofaş Nilüfer Sports Hall. Politics The current Mayor of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality is Alinur Aktaş from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), in office since 2019, the AKP coalition won 49.6% of the vote against the CHP coalition which got 47% of the vote. Main sights Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) Ulu Cami is the largest mosque in Bursa and a landmark of early Ottoman architecture, which incorporated many elements from Seljuk architecture. Ordered by Sultan Bayezid I, the mosque was designed and built by architect Ali Neccar in 1396–1400. It is a large and rectangular building, with a total of twenty domes that are arranged in four rows of five, and are supported by 12 columns. Supposedly the twenty domes were built instead of the twenty separate mosques which Sultan Bayezid I had promised for winning the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. The mosque has two minarets. Inside the mosque there are 192 monumental wall inscriptions written by the famous calligraphers of that period. There is also a fountain (şadırvan) where worshipers can perform ritual ablutions before prayer; the dome over the şadırvan is capped by a skylight which creates a soft, serene light below; thus playing an important role in the illumination of the large building. The horizontally spacious and dimly lit interior is designed to feel peaceful and contemplative. The subdivisions of space formed by multiple domes and pillars create a sense of privacy and even intimacy. This atmosphere contrasts with the later Ottoman mosques (see for example the works of Suleiman the Magnificent's chief architect Mimar Sinan.) The mosques that were built after the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and influenced by the design of the 6th century Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sophia, had increasingly elevated and large central domes, which create a vertical emphasis that is intended to be more overwhelming; in order to convey the divine power of Allah, the majesty of the Ottoman Sultan, and the governmental authority of the Ottoman State. Places of interest A brief list of the places of interest in and around Bursa is presented below. For a longer list, see the places of interest in Bursa. Mosques and külliye complexes Bursa Grand Mosque and Yeşil Mosque and Bayezid I Mosque and Muradiye Mosque and Emir Sultan Mosque and Orhan Gazi Mosque and Hüdavendigar Mosque and Koca Sinan Paşa Mosque and İshak Paşa Mosque and Karacabey Grand Mosque Karabaş-i Veli Cultural Centre Somuncu Baba Mosque Üftade Tekkesi Mosque and complex Babasultan Mosque and complex Bazaars and caravanserais Yıldırım Bazaar (bedesten) Koza Han Pirinç Han İpek Han Other historic monuments Bursa Castle Irgandı Bridge İnkaya Sycamore, very big and impressive 600-year-old tree (Platanus orientalis) Museums Bursa Archaeological Museum Bursa Atatürk Museum, Bursa City Museum, Bursa Energy Museum Bursa Forestry Museum Bursa Karagöz Museum Bursa Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art Bursa Turkish Architecture Museum İznik Museum Mudanya Armistice House Museum of Ottoman House Tofaş Museum of Cars and Anatolian Carriages Parks and gardens Uludağ National Park Bursa Zoo and Botanical Garden Bursa Hüdavendigar Kent Park Hot springs and thermal baths Keramet hot spring Çekirge hot spring Armutlu hot spring Oylat hot spring Gemlik hot spring Çelik Palas thermal bath Beaches Armutlu beach Kumla beach Kurşunlu beach Orhangazi beach Mudanya beach Gallery Twin towns – sister cities Bursa is twinned with: Darmstadt, Germany (1971) Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1972) Oulu, Finland (1978) Kairouan, Tunisia (1987) Anshan, China (1991) Bitola, North Macedonia (1996) Ceadîr-Lunga, Moldova (1997) Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan (1997) Mascara, Algeria (1998) Kulmbach, Germany (1998) Pleven, Bulgaria (1998) Plovdiv, Bulgaria (1998) Tirana, Albania (1998) Košice, Slovakia (2000) Vinnytsia, Ukraine (2004) Pristina, Kosovo (2010) Bakhchysarai, Ukraine (2010) Momchilgrad, Bulgaria (2010) Mogilev, Belarus (2013) Hebron, Palestine (2014) Herzliya, Israel (2014) Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (2017) Galkayo, Somalia (2018) See also 1855 Bursa earthquake Complex of Mehmed I Emirsultan Mosque Grand Mosque of Bursa Green Tomb and Mosque List of people from Bursa List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey Siege of Bursa References Further reading External links Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Bursa Governorship Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Greek colonies in Anatolia Bithynian colonies Cities in Turkey Populated places along the Silk Road Populated places in Bursa Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Bahamas

The Bahamas

The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archipelago's population. The archipelagic state consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the U.S. state of Florida, and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes The Bahamas' territory as encompassing of ocean space. The Bahama Islands were inhabited by the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taíno, for many centuries. Christopher Columbus was the first European to see the islands, making his first landfall in the "New World" in 1492 when he landed on the island of San Salvador. Later, the Spanish shipped the native Lucayans to and enslaved them on Hispaniola, after which the Bahama islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648 due to nearly all native Bahamians being forcefully removed through enslavement or dying due to diseases brought to the islands by the Europeans. In 1649, English colonists from Bermuda, known as the Eleutheran Adventurers, settled on the island of Eleuthera. The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists to the Bahamas; they took enslaved people with them and established plantations on land grants. Enslaved Africans and their descendants constituted the majority of the population from this period on. The slave trade was abolished by the British in 1807; slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834. Subsequently, The Bahamas became a haven for freed African slaves. Africans liberated from illegal slave ships were resettled on the islands by the Royal Navy, while some North American slaves and Seminoles escaped to The Bahamas from Florida. Bahamians were even known to recognise the freedom of enslaved people carried by the ships of other nations which reached The Bahamas. Today Black-Bahamians make up 90% of the population of 400,516. The country gained governmental independence in 1973, led by Sir Lynden O. Pindling. Charles III is currently its monarch. In terms of gross domestic product per capita, The Bahamas is one of the richest independent countries in the Americas (following the United States and Canada), with an economy based on tourism and offshore finance. Naming and etymology The name Bahamas is derived from the Lucayan name ('large upper middle island'), used by the indigenous Taíno people for the island of Grand Bahama. Tourist guides often state that the name comes from the Spanish ('shallow sea'). Wolfgang Ahrens of York University argues that this is a folk etymology. Alternatively, it may originate from , a local name of unclear meaning. First attested on the 1523 Turin Map, Bahama originally referred to Grand Bahama alone but was used inclusively in English by 1670. Toponymist Isaac Taylor argues that the name was derived from Bimani (Bimini), which Spaniards in Haiti identified with Palombe, a legendary place where John Mandeville's Travels said there was a fountain of youth. History Pre-colonial era The first inhabitants of the Bahamas were the Taino people, who moved into the uninhabited southern islands from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 800s–1000s AD, having migrated there from South America; they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayans inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492. Arrival of the Spanish Columbus's first landfall in what was to Europeans a "New World" was on an island he named San Salvador (known to the Lucayans as Guanahani). Whilst there is a general consensus that this island lay within the Bahamas, precisely which island Columbus landed on is a matter of scholarly debate. Some researchers believe the site to be present-day San Salvador Island (formerly known as Watling's Island), situated in the southeastern Bahamas, whilst an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by National Geographic writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbus's log. On the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayans and exchanged goods with them, claiming the islands for the Crown of Castile, before proceeding to explore the larger isles of the Greater Antilles. The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas theoretically divided the new territories between the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal, placing the Bahamas in the Spanish sphere; however they did little to press their claim on the ground. The Spanish did however exploit the native Lucayan peoples, many of whom were enslaved and sent to Hispaniola for use as forced labour. The slaves suffered harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity; half of the Taino died from smallpox alone. As a result of these depredations the population of the Bahamas was severely diminished. Arrival of the English The English had expressed an interest in the Bahamas as early as 1629. However, it was not until 1648 that the first English settlers arrived on the islands. Known as the Eleutherian Adventurers and led by William Sayle, they migrated from Bermuda seeking greater religious freedom. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera, Greek for free. They later settled New Providence, naming it Sayle's Island. Life proved harder than envisaged however, and many – including Sayle – chose to return to Bermuda. To survive, the remaining settlers salvaged goods from wrecks. In 1670, King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America. They rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing governors, and administering the country from their base on New Providence. Piracy and attacks from hostile foreign powers were a constant threat. In 1684, Spanish corsair Juan de Alcon raided the capital Charles Town (later renamed Nassau), and in 1703, a joint Franco-Spanish expedition briefly occupied Nassau during the War of the Spanish Succession. 18th century During proprietary rule, the Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including Blackbeard (circa 1680–1718). To put an end to the "Pirates' republic" and restore orderly government, Britain made the Bahamas a crown colony in 1718, which they dubbed "the Bahama islands" under the governorship of Woodes Rogers. After a difficult struggle, he succeeded in suppressing piracy. In 1720, the Spanish attacked Nassau during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. In 1729, a local assembly was established giving a degree of self-governance for British settlers. The reforms had been planned by the previous Governor George Phenney and authorised in July 1728. During the American War of Independence in the late 18th century, the islands became a target for US naval forces. Under the command of Commodore Esek Hopkins, US Marines, the US Navy occupied Nassau in 1776, before being evacuated a few days later. In 1782 a Spanish fleet appeared off the coast of Nassau, and the city surrendered without a fight. Later, in April 1783, on a visit made by Prince William of the United Kingdom (later to become King William IV) to Luis de Unzaga at his residence in the Captaincy General of Havana, they made prisoner exchange agreements and also dealt with the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris (1783), in which the recently conquered Bahamas would be exchanged for East Florida, which would still have to conquer the city of St. Augustine, Florida in 1784 by order of Luis de Unzaga; after that, also in 1784, the Bahamas would be declared a British colony. After US independence, the British resettled some 7,300 Loyalists with their African slaves in the Bahamas, including 2,000 from New York and at least 1,033 European, 2,214 African ancestrals and a few Native American Creeks from East Florida. Most of the refugees resettled from New York had fled from other colonies, including West Florida, which the Spanish captured during the war. The government granted land to the planters to help compensate for losses on the continent. These Loyalists, who included Deveaux and also Lord Dunmore, established plantations on several islands and became a political force in the capital. European Americans were outnumbered by the African-American slaves they brought with them, and ethnic Europeans remained a minority in the territory. 19th century The Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished slave trading to British possessions, including the Bahamas. The United Kingdom pressured other slave-trading countries to also abolish slave-trading, and gave the Royal Navy the right to intercept ships carrying slaves on the high seas. Thousands of Africans liberated from slave ships by the Royal Navy were resettled in the Bahamas. In the 1820s during the period of the Seminole Wars in Florida, hundreds of North American slaves and African Seminoles escaped from Cape Florida to the Bahamas. They settled mostly on northwest Andros Island, where they developed the village of Red Bays. From eyewitness accounts, 300 escaped in a mass flight in 1823, aided by Bahamians in 27 sloops, with others using canoes for the journey. This was commemorated in 2004 by a large sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Some of their descendants in Red Bays continue African Seminole traditions in basket making and grave marking. In 1818, the Home Office in London had ruled that "any slave brought to the Bahamas from outside the British West Indies would be manumitted." This led to a total of nearly 300 enslaved people owned by US nationals being freed from 1830 to 1835. The American slave ships Comet and Encomium used in the United States domestic coastwise slave trade, were wrecked off Abaco Island in December 1830 and February 1834, respectively. When wreckers took the masters, passengers and slaves into Nassau, customs officers seized the slaves and British colonial officials freed them, over the protests of the Americans. There were 165 slaves on the Comet and 48 on the Encomium. The United Kingdom finally paid an indemnity to the United States in those two cases in 1855, under the Treaty of Claims of 1853, which settled several compensation cases between the two countries. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire on 1 August 1834. After that British colonial officials freed 78 North American slaves from the Enterprise, which went into Bermuda in 1835; and 38 from the Hermosa, which wrecked off Abaco Island in 1840. The most notable case was that of the Creole in 1841: as a result of a slave revolt on board, the leaders ordered the US brig to Nassau. It was carrying 135 slaves from Virginia destined for sale in New Orleans. The Bahamian officials freed the 128 slaves who chose to stay in the islands. The Creole case has been described as the "most successful slave revolt in U.S. history". These incidents, in which a total of 447 enslaved people belonging to US nationals were freed from 1830 to 1842, increased tension between the United States and the United Kingdom. They had been co-operating in patrols to suppress the international slave trade. However, worried about the stability of its large domestic slave trade and its value, the United States argued that the United Kingdom should not treat its domestic ships that came to its colonial ports under duress as part of the international trade. The United States worried that the success of the Creole slaves in gaining freedom would encourage more slave revolts on merchant ships. During the American Civil War of the 1860s, the islands briefly prospered as a focus for blockade runners aiding the Confederate States. Early 20th century The early decades of the 20th century were ones of hardship for many Bahamians, characterised by a stagnant economy and widespread poverty. Many eked out a living via subsistence agriculture or fishing. In August 1940, the Duke of Windsor (erstwhile King Edward VIII) was appointed Governor of the Bahamas. He arrived in the colony with his wife. Although disheartened at the condition of Government House, they "tried to make the best of a bad situation". He did not enjoy the position, and referred to the islands as "a third-class British colony". He opened the small local parliament on 29 October 1940. The couple visited the "Out Islands" that November, on Axel Wenner-Gren's yacht, which caused controversy; the British Foreign Office strenuously objected because they had been advised by United States intelligence that Wenner-Gren was a close friend of the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring of Nazi Germany. The Duke was praised at the time for his efforts to combat poverty on the islands. A 1991 biography by Philip Ziegler, however, described him as contemptuous of the Bahamians and other non-European peoples of the Empire. He was praised for his resolution of civil unrest over low wages in Nassau in June 1942, when there was a "full-scale riot". Ziegler said that the Duke blamed the trouble on "mischief makers – communists" and "men of Central European Jewish descent, who had secured jobs as a pretext for obtaining a deferment of draft". The Duke resigned from the post on 16 March 1945. Post-Second World War Modern political development began after the Second World War. The first political parties were formed in the 1950s, split broadly along ethnic lines, with the United Bahamian Party (UBP) representing the English-descended Bahamians (known informally as the "Bay Street Boys") and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) representing the Black-Bahamian majority. A new constitution granting the Bahamas internal autonomy went into effect on 7 January 1964, with Chief Minister Sir Roland Symonette of the UBP becoming the first Premier. In 1967, Lynden Pindling of the PLP became the first black Premier of the Bahamian colony; in 1968, the title of the position was changed to Prime Minister. In 1968, Pindling announced that the Bahamas would seek full independence. A new constitution giving the Bahamas increased control over its own affairs was adopted in 1968. In 1971, the UBP merged with a disaffected faction of the PLP to form a new party, the Free National Movement (FNM), a centre-right party which aimed to counter the growing power of Pindling's PLP. The United Kingdom Government gave the Bahamas its independence by an Order in Council dated 20 June 1973. The Order came into force on 10 July 1973, on which date Prince Charles delivered the official documents to Prime Minister Lynden Pindling. This date is now celebrated as the country's Independence Day. It joined the Commonwealth of Nations on the same day. Sir Milo Butler was appointed the first governor-general of The Bahamas (the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II) shortly after independence. Post-independence Shortly after independence, The Bahamas joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on 22 August 1973, and later the United Nations on 18 September 1973. Politically, the first two decades were dominated by Pindling's PLP, who went on to win a string of electoral victories. Allegations of corruption, links with drug cartels and financial malfeasance within the Bahamian government failed to dent Pindling's popularity. Meanwhile, the economy underwent a dramatic growth period fuelled by the twin pillars of tourism and offshore finance, significantly raising the standard of living on the islands. The Bahamas' booming economy led to it becoming a beacon for immigrants, most notably from Haiti. In 1992, Pindling was unseated by Hubert Ingraham of the FNM. Ingraham went on to win the 1997 Bahamian general election, before being defeated in 2002, when the PLP returned to power under Perry Christie. Ingraham returned to power from 2007 to 2012, followed by Christie again from 2012 to 2017. With economic growth faltering, Bahamians re-elected the FNM in 2017, with Hubert Minnis becoming the fourth prime minister. In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian struck the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama at Category 5 intensity, devastating the northwestern Bahamas. The storm inflicted at least US$7 billion in damages and killed more than 50 people, with 1,300 people still missing. In September 2021, the ruling Free National Movement lost to the opposition Progressive Liberal Party in a snap election, as the economy struggled to recover from its deepest crash since at least 1971. Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. Free National Movement (FNM), led by Minnis, took the remaining seats. On 17 September 2021, the chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Phillip "Brave" Davis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bahamas to succeed Hubert Minnis. Geography The landmass that makes up what is the modern-day Bahamas, lies at the northern part of the Greater Antilles region and was believed to have been formed 200 million years ago when they began to separate from the supercontinent Pangaea. The Pleistocene Ice Age around 3 million years ago, had a profound impact on the archipelago's formation. The Bahamas consists of a chain of islands spread out over some in the Atlantic Ocean, located to the east of Florida in the United States, north of Cuba and Hispaniola and west of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands (with which it forms the Lucayan archipelago). It lies between latitudes 20° and 28°N, and longitudes 72° and 80°W and straddles the Tropic of Cancer. There are some 700 islands and 2,400 cays in total (of which 30 are inhabited) with a total land area of . Nassau, capital city of The Bahamas, lies on the island of New Providence; the other main inhabited islands are Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Rum Cay, Long Island, San Salvador Island, Ragged Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma, Berry Islands, Mayaguana, the Bimini islands, Great Abaco and Great Inagua. The largest island is Andros. All the islands are low and flat, with ridges that usually rise no more than . The highest point in the country is Mount Alvernia (formerly Como Hill) on Cat Island at . The country contains three terrestrial ecoregions: Bahamian dry forests, Bahamian pine mosaic, and Bahamian mangroves. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.35/10, ranking it 44th globally out of 172 countries. Climate According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of The Bahamas is mostly tropical savannah climate or Aw, with a hot and wet season and a warm and dry season. The low latitude, warm tropical Gulf Stream, and low elevation give The Bahamas a warm and winterless climate. As with most tropical climates, seasonal rainfall follows the sun, and summer is the wettest season. There is only a difference between the warmest month and coolest month in most of the Bahama islands. Every few decades low temperatures can fall below for a few hours when a severe cold outbreak comes down from the North American mainland, however there has never been a frost or freeze recorded in the Bahamian Islands. Only once in recorded history has snow been seen in the air anywhere in The Bahamas, this occurred in Freeport on 19 January 1977, when snow mixed with rain was seen in the air for a short time. The Bahamas are often sunny and dry for long periods of time, and average more than 3,000 hours or 340 days of sunlight annually. Much of the natural vegetation is tropical scrub and cactus and succulents are common in landscapes. Tropical storms and hurricanes occasionally impact The Bahamas. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew passed over the northern portions of the islands, and Hurricane Floyd passed near the eastern portions of the islands in 1999. Hurricane Dorian of 2019 passed over the archipelago at destructive Category 5 strength with sustained winds of and wind gusts up to , becoming the strongest tropical cyclone on record to impact the northwestern islands of Grand Bahama and Great Abaco. Geology It was generally believed that the Bahamas were formed in approximately 200 million years ago, when Pangaea started to break apart. In current times, it endures as an archipelago containing over 700 islands and cays, fringed around different coral reefs. The limestone that comprises the Banks has been accumulating since at least the Cretaceous period, and perhaps as early as the Jurassic; today the total thickness under the Great Bahama Bank is over 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles). As the limestone was deposited in shallow water, the only way to explain this massive column is to estimate that the entire platform has subsided under its own weight at a rate of roughly 3.6 centimetres (2 inches) per 1,000 years. The Bahamas is part of the Lucayan Archipelago, which continues into the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Mouchoir Bank, the Silver Bank, and the Navidad Bank. The Bahamas Platform, which includes The Bahamas, Southern Florida, Northern Cuba, the Turks and Caicos, and the Blake Plateau, formed about 150 Ma, not long after the formation of the North Atlantic. The thick limestones, which predominate in The Bahamas, date back to the Cretaceous. These limestones would have been deposited in shallow seas, assumed to be a stretched and thinned portion of the North American continental crust. Sediments were forming at about the same rate as the crust below was sinking due to the added weight. Thus, the entire area consisted of a large marine plain with some islands. Then, at about 80 Ma, the area became flooded by the Gulf Stream. This resulted in the drowning of the Blake Plateau, the separation of The Bahamas from Cuba and Florida, the separation of the southeastern Bahamas into separate banks, the creation of the Cay Sal Bank, plus the Little and Great Bahama Banks. Sedimentation from the "carbonate factory" of each bank, or atoll, continues today at the rate of about per kyr. Coral reefs form the "retaining walls" of these atolls, within which oolites and pellets form. Coral growth was greater through the Tertiary, until the start of the ice ages, and hence those deposits are more abundant below a depth of . In fact, an ancient extinct reef exists half a kilometre seaward of the present one, below sea level. Oolites form when oceanic water penetrate the shallow banks, increasing the temperature about and the salinity by 0.5 per cent. Cemented ooids are referred to as grapestone. Additionally, giant stromatolites are found off the Exuma Cays. Sea level changes resulted in a drop in sea level, causing wind blown oolite to form sand dunes with distinct cross-bedding. Overlapping dunes form oolitic ridges, which become rapidly lithified through the action of rainwater, called eolianite. Most islands have ridges ranging from , though Cat Island has a ridge in height. The land between ridges is conducive to the formation of lakes and swamps. Solution weathering of the limestone results in a "Bahamian Karst" topography. This includes potholes, blue holes such as Dean's Blue Hole, sinkholes, beachrock such as the Bimini Road ("pavements of Atlantis"), limestone crust, caves due to the lack of rivers, and sea caves. Several blue holes are aligned along the South Andros Fault line. Tidal flats and tidal creeks are common, but the more impressive drainage patterns are formed by troughs and canyons such as Great Bahama Canyon with the evidence of turbidity currents and turbidite deposition. The stratigraphy of the islands consists of the Middle Pleistocene Owl's Hole Formation, overlain by the Late Pleistocene Grotto Beach Formation, and then the Holocene Rice Bay Formation. However, these units are not necessarily stacked on top of each other but can be located laterally. The oldest formation, Owl's Hole, is capped by a terra rosa paleosoil, as is the Grotto Beach, unless eroded. The Grotto Beach Formation is the most widespread. Government and politics The Bahamas is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with King of the Bahamas Charles III as head of state represented locally by a governor-general. Political and legal traditions closely follow those of England and the Westminster system. The Bahamas is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares its head of state with some other Commonwealth realms. The prime minister is the head of government and is the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Assembly. Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet, selected by the prime minister and drawn from his supporters in the House of Assembly. The current governor-general is The Honourable Cornelius A. Smith, and the current prime minister is The Hon. Philip Davis MP. Legislative power is vested in a bicameral parliament, which consists of a 38-member House of Assembly (the lower house), with members elected from single-member districts, and a 16-member Senate, with members appointed by the governor-general, including nine on the advice of the Prime Minister, four on the advice of the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, and three on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. As under the Westminster system, the prime minister may dissolve Parliament and call a general election at any time within a five-year term. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement and association. The Judiciary of the Bahamas is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English law. Political culture The Bahamas has a two-party system dominated by the centre-left Progressive Liberal Party and the centre-right Free National Movement. A handful of other political parties have been unable to win election to parliament; these have included the Bahamas Democratic Movement, the Coalition for Democratic Reform, Bahamian Nationalist Party and the Democratic National Alliance. Foreign relations The Bahamas has strong bilateral relationships with the United States and the United Kingdom, represented by an ambassador in Washington and High Commissioner in London. The Bahamas also associates closely with other nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The embassy of the United States in Nassau donated $3.6 million to the Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Management, and Reconstruction for modular shelters, medical evacuation boats, and construction materials. The donation was made 2 weeks after the one year anniversary of Hurricane Dorian. Armed forces The Bahamian military is the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the navy of The Bahamas which includes a land unit called Commando Squadron (Regiment) and an Air Wing (Air Force). Under the Defence Act, the RBDF has been mandated, in the name of the King, to defend The Bahamas, protect its territorial integrity, patrol its waters, provide assistance and relief in times of disaster, maintain order in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies of The Bahamas, and carry out any such duties as determined by the National Security Council. The Defence Force is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)'s Regional Security Task Force. The RBDF came into existence on 31 March 1980. Its duties include defending The Bahamas, stopping drug smuggling, illegal immigration and poaching, and providing assistance to mariners. The Defence Force has a fleet of 26 coastal and inshore patrol craft along with 3 aircraft and over 1,100 personnel including 65 officers and 74 women. Administrative divisions The districts of The Bahamas provide a system of local government everywhere except New Providence (which holds 70 percent of the national population), whose affairs are handled directly by the central government. In 1996, the Bahamian Parliament passed the "Local Government Act" to facilitate the establishment of family island administrators, local government districts, local district councillors and local town committees for the various island communities. The overall goal of this act is to allow the various elected leaders to govern and oversee the affairs of their respective districts without the interference of the central government. In total, there are 32 districts, with elections being held every five years. There are 110 councillors and 281 town committee members elected to represent the various districts. Each councillor or town committee member is responsible for the proper use of public funds for the maintenance and development of their constituency. The districts other than New Providence are: Economy In terms of GDP per capita, The Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas. Its currency (the Bahamian dollar) is kept at a 1-to-1 peg with the US dollar. The Bahamas relies heavily on tourism to generate most of its economic activity. Tourism as an industry not only accounts for about 70% of the Bahamian GDP, but also provides jobs for about half of the country's workforce. The Bahamas attracted 5.8 million visitors in 2012, more than 70% of whom were cruise visitors. After tourism, the next most important economic sector is banking and offshore international financial services, accounting for some 15% of GDP. It was revealed in the Panama Papers that The Bahamas is the jurisdiction with the most offshore entities or companies in the world. The economy has a very competitive tax regime (classified by some as a tax haven). The government derives its revenue from import tariffs, VAT, licence fees, property and stamp taxes, but there is no income tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, or wealth tax. Payroll taxes fund social insurance benefits and amount to 3.9% paid by the employee and 5.9% paid by the employer. In 2010, overall tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 17.2%. Agriculture and manufacturing form the third largest sector of the Bahamian economy, representing 5–7% of total GDP. An estimated 80% of the Bahamian food supply is imported. Major crops include onions, okra, tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit, cucumbers, sugar cane, lemons, limes, and sweet potatoes. Access to biocapacity in the Bahamas is much higher than world average. In 2016, the Bahamas had 9.2 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 the Bahamas used 3.7 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use less biocapacity than the Bahamas contains. As a result, the Bahamas is running a biocapacity reserve. Transport The Bahamas contains about of paved roads. Inter-island transport is conducted primarily via ship and air. The country has 61 airports, the chief of which are Lynden Pindling International Airport on New Providence, Grand Bahama International Airport on Grand Bahama Island and Leonard M. Thompson International Airport (formerly Marsh Harbour Airport) on Abaco Island. Demographics The Bahamas had a population of at the 2018 Census, of which 25.9% were 14 or under, 67.2% 15 to 64 and 6.9% over 65. It has a population growth rate of 0.925% (2010), with a birth rate of 17.81/1,000 population, death rate of 9.35/1,000, and net migration rate of −2.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population. The infant mortality rate is 23.21 deaths/1,000 live births. Residents have a life expectancy at birth of 69.87 years: 73.49 years for females, 66.32 years for males. The total fertility rate is 2.0 children born/woman (2010). The latest official estimate (as at 2022) is 400,516. The most populous islands are New Providence, where Nassau, the capital and largest city, is located; and Grand Bahama, home to the second largest city of Freeport. Racial and ethnic groups According to the 99% response rate obtained from the race question on the 2010 Census questionnaire, 90.6% of the population identified themselves as being Black, 4.7% White and 2.1% of a Mixed (African and European). Three centuries prior, in 1722 when the first official census of The Bahamas was taken, 74% of the population was native European and 26% native African. Since the colonial era of plantations, Africans or Afro-Bahamians have been the largest ethnic group in The Bahamas, whose primary ancestry was based in West Africa. The first Africans to arrive to The Bahamas were freed slaves from Bermuda; they arrived with the Eleutheran Adventurers looking for new lives. The Haitian community in The Bahamas is also largely of African descent and numbers about 80,000. Due to an extremely high immigration of Haitians to The Bahamas, the Bahamian government started deporting illegal Haitian immigrants to their homeland in late 2014. The white Bahamian population are mainly the descendants of the English Puritans and American Loyalists escaping the American Revolution who arrived in 1649 and 1783, respectively. Many Southern Loyalists went to the Abaco Islands, half of whose population was of European descent as of 1985. The term white is usually used to identify Bahamians with Anglo ancestry, as well as some light-skinned Afro-Bahamians. Sometimes Bahamians use the term Conchy Joe to describe people of Anglo descent. Generally, however, Bahamians self-identify as white or black along the lines similar to the distinction made in the US. A small portion of the Euro-Bahamian population are Greek Bahamians, descended from Greek labourers who came to help develop the sponging industry in the 1900s. They make up less than 2% of the nation's population, but have still preserved their distinct Greek Bahamian culture. Religion The islands' population is predominantly Christian. Protestant denominations collectively account for more than 70% of the population, with Baptists representing 35% of the population, Anglicans 15%, Pentecostals 8%, Church of God 5%, Seventh-day Adventists 5% and Methodists 4%. There is also a significant Roman Catholic community accounting for about 14%. Jews in the Bahamas have a history dating back to the Columbus expeditions, where Luis De Torres, an interpreter and member of Columbus' party, is believed to have been secretly Jewish. Today, there is a small community with about 200 members, according to census data, although higher estimates place this figure at 300. Muslims also have a minority presence. While some slaves and free Africans in the colonial era were Muslim, the religion was eradicated until around the 1970s, when it experienced a revival. Today, there are about 300 Muslims. There are also smaller communities of Baháʼís, Hindus, Rastafarians and practitioners of traditional African religions such as Obeah. Languages The official language of The Bahamas is English. Many people speak an English-based creole language called Bahamian dialect (known simply as "dialect") or "Bahamianese". Laurente Gibbs, a Bahamian writer and actor, was the first to coin the latter name in a poem and has since promoted its usage. Both are used as autoglossonyms. Haitian Creole, a French-based creole language is spoken by Haitians and their descendants, who make up of about 25% of the total population. It is known simply as Creole to differentiate it from Bahamian English. Education According to 2011 estimates, 95% of the Bahamian adult population are literate. The University of the Bahamas (UB) is the national higher education/tertiary system. Offering baccalaureate, masters and associate degrees, UB has three campuses, and teaching and research centres throughout The Bahamas. The University of the Bahamas was chartered on 10 November 2016. Culture The culture of the islands is a mixture of African (Afro-Bahamians being the largest ethnicity), British and American due to historical family ties, migration of freed slaves from the United States to The Bahamas, and as the dominant country in the region and source of most tourists). A form of African-based folk magic is practiced by some Bahamians, mainly in the Family Islands (out-islands) of The Bahamas. The practice of obeah is illegal in The Bahamas and punishable in law. In the outer islands also called Family Islands, handicrafts include basketry made from palm fronds. This material, commonly called "straw", is plaited into hats and bags that are popular tourist items. Junkanoo is a traditional Afro-Bahamian street parade of 'rushing', music, dance and art held in Nassau (and a few other settlements) every Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Junkanoo is also used to celebrate other holidays and events such as Emancipation Day. Regattas are important social events in many family island settlements. They usually feature one or more days of sailing by old-fashioned work boats, as well as an onshore festival. Many dishes are associated with Bahamian cuisine, which reflects Caribbean, African and European influences. Some settlements have festivals associated with the traditional crop or food of that area, such as the "Pineapple Fest" in Gregory Town, Eleuthera or the "Crab Fest" on Andros. Other significant traditions include story telling. Bahamians have created a rich literature of poetry, short stories, plays and short fictional works. Common themes in these works are (1) an awareness of change, (2) a striving for sophistication, (3) a search for identity, (4) nostalgia for the old ways and (5) an appreciation of beauty. Some major writers are Susan Wallace, Percival Miller, Robert Johnson, Raymond Brown, O.M. Smith, William Johnson, Eddie Minnis and Winston Saunders. Bahamas culture is rich with beliefs, traditions, folklore and legend. The best-known folklore and legends in The Bahamas include the lusca and chickcharney creatures of Andros, Pretty Molly on Exuma Bahamas and the Lost City of Atlantis on Bimini Bahamas. Symbols The Bahamian flag was adopted in 1973. Its colours symbolise the strength of the Bahamian people; its design reflects aspects of the natural environment (sun and sea) and economic and social development. The flag is a black equilateral triangle against the mast, superimposed on a horizontal background made up of three equal stripes of aquamarine, gold and aquamarine. The coat of arms of The Bahamas contains a shield with the national symbols as its focal point. The shield is supported by a marlin and a flamingo, which are the national animals of The Bahamas. The flamingo is located on the land, and the marlin on the sea, indicating the geography of the islands. On top of the shield is a conch shell, which represents the varied marine life of the island chain. The conch shell rests on a helmet. Below this is the actual shield, the main symbol of which is a ship representing the Santa María of Christopher Columbus, shown sailing beneath the sun. Along the bottom, below the shield appears a banner upon which is the national motto: Forward, Upward, Onward Together. The national flower of The Bahamas is the yellow elder, as it is endemic to the Bahama islands and it blooms throughout the year. Selection of the yellow elder over many other flowers was made through the combined popular vote of members of all four of New Providence's garden clubs of the 1970s—the Nassau Garden Club, the Carver Garden Club, the International Garden Club and the YWCA Garden Club. They reasoned that other flowers grown there—such as the bougainvillea, hibiscus and poinciana—had already been chosen as the national flowers of other countries. The yellow elder, on the other hand, was unclaimed by other countries (although it is now also the national flower of the United States Virgin Islands) and also the yellow elder is native to the family islands. Sport Sport is a significant part of Bahamian culture. The national sport is cricket, which has been played in The Bahamas from 1846 and is the oldest sport played in the country today. The Bahamas Cricket Association was formed in 1936, and from the 1940s to the 1970s, cricket was played amongst many Bahamians. Bahamas is not a part of the West Indies Cricket Board, so players are not eligible to play for the West Indies cricket team. The late 1970s saw the game begin to decline in the country as teachers, who had previously come from the United Kingdom with a passion for cricket, were replaced by teachers who had been trained in the United States. The Bahamian physical education teachers had no knowledge of the game and instead taught track and field, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball and Association football where primary and high schools compete against each other. Today cricket is still enjoyed by a few locals and immigrants in the country, usually from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados. Cricket is played on Saturdays and Sundays at Windsor Park and Haynes Oval in Nassau, Bahamas. Whiles the main and only cricket grounds on Grand Bahama is the Lucaya Cricket Oval. The only other sporting event that began before cricket was horse racing, which started in 1796. The most popular spectator sports are those imported from the United States, such as basketball, American football, and baseball, rather than from the British Isles, due to the country's close proximity to the United States, unlike their other Caribbean counterparts, where cricket, soccer, and netball have proven to be more popular. Over the years American football has become much more popular than soccer. Leagues for teens and adults have been developed by the Bahamas American Football Federation. However soccer, as it is commonly known in the country, is still a very popular sport amongst high school pupils. Leagues are governed by the Bahamas Football Association. In 2013 the Bahamian government has been working closely with Tottenham Hotspur of London to promote the sport in the country as well as promoting The Bahamas in the European market. In 2013, 'Spurs' became the first Premier League club to play an exhibition match in The Bahamas, facing the Jamaica men's national team. Joe Lewis, the owner of the club, is based in The Bahamas. Other popular sports are swimming, tennis and boxing, where Bahamians have enjoyed some degree of success at the international level. Other sports such as golf, rugby league, rugby union, beach soccer, and netball are considered growing sports. Athletics, commonly known as 'track and field' in the country, is the most successful sport by far amongst Bahamians. Bahamians have a strong tradition in the sprints and jumps. Track and field is probably the most popular spectator sport in the country next to basketball due to their success over the years. Triathlons are gaining popularity in Nassau and the Family Islands. The Bahamas first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation has never participated in any Winter Olympic Games. Bahamian athletes have won a total of sixteen medals, all in athletics and sailing. The Bahamas has won more Olympic medals than any other country with a population under one million. The Bahamas were hosts of the first men's senior FIFA tournament to be staged in the Caribbean, the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The Bahamas also hosted the first 3 editions of the IAAF World Relays. The nation also hosted the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, along with annual events Bahamas Bowl and Battle 4 Atlantis. See also Outline of the Bahamas Index of Bahamas-related articles References Citations Sources Further reading General history Cash Philip et al. (Don Maples, Alison Packer). The Making of The Bahamas: A History for Schools. London: Collins, 1978. Miller, Hubert W. The Colonization of The Bahamas, 1647–1670, The William and Mary Quarterly 2 no.1 (January 1945): 33–46. Craton, Michael. A History of The Bahamas. London: Collins, 1962. Craton, Michael and Saunders, Gail. Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992 Collinwood, Dean. "Columbus and the Discovery of Self", Weber Studies, Vol. 9 No. 3 (Fall) 1992: 29–44. Dodge, Steve. Abaco: The History of an Out Island and its Cays, Tropic Isle Publications, 1983. Dodge, Steve. The Compleat Guide to Nassau, White Sound Press, 1987. Boultbee, Paul G. The Bahamas. Oxford: ABC-Clio Press, 1990. Wood, David E., comp., A Guide to Selected Sources to the History of the Seminole Settlements of Red Bays, Andros, 1817–1980, Nassau: Department of Archives Economic history Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas in Slavery and Freedom. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1991. Johnson, Howard. The Bahamas from Slavery to Servitude, 1783–1933. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1996. Alan A. Block. Masters of Paradise, New Brunswick and London, Transaction Publishers, 1998. Storr, Virgil H. Enterprising Slaves and Master Pirates: Understanding Economic Life in the Bahamas. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. Social history Johnson, Wittington B. Race Relations in the Bahamas, 1784–1834: The Nonviolent Transformation from a Slave to a Free Society, Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2000. Shirley, Paul. "Tek Force Wid Force", History Today 54, no. 41 (April 2004): 30–35. Saunders, Gail. The Social Life in the Bahamas 1880s–1920s. Nassau: Media Publishing, 1996. Saunders, Gail. Bahamas Society After Emancipation. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishing, 1990. Curry, Jimmy. Filthy Rich Gangster/First Bahamian Movie. Movie Mogul Pictures: 1996. Curry, Jimmy. To the Rescue/First Bahamian Rap/Hip Hop Song. Royal Crown Records, 1985. Collinwood, Dean. The Bahamas Between Worlds, White Sound Press, 1989. Collinwood, Dean and Steve Dodge. Modern Bahamian Society, Caribbean Books, 1989. Dodge, Steve, Robert McIntire and Dean Collinwood. The Bahamas Index, White Sound Press, 1989. Collinwood, Dean. "The Bahamas", in The Whole World Handbook 1992–1995, 12th ed., New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Collinwood, Dean. "The Bahamas", chapters in Jack W. Hopkins, ed., Latin American and Caribbean Contemporary Record, Vols. 1,2,3,4, Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986. Collinwood, Dean. "Problems of Research and Training in Small Islands with a Social Science Faculty", in Social Science in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO, No. 48, 1982. Collinwood, Dean and Rick Phillips, "The National Literature of the New Bahamas", Weber Studies, Vol.7, No. 1 (Spring) 1990: 43–62. Collinwood, Dean. "Writers, Social Scientists and Sexual Norms in the Caribbean", Tsuda Review, No. 31 (November) 1986: 45–57. Collinwood, Dean. "Terra Incognita: Research on the Modern Bahamian Society", Journal of Caribbean Studies, Vol. 1, Nos. 2–3 (Winter) 1981: 284–297. Collinwood, Dean and Steve Dodge. "Political Leadership in the Bahamas", The Bahamas Research Institute, No.1, May 1987. External links The Bahamas from UCB Libraries GovPubs The Bahamas from the BBC News Key Development Forecasts for The Bahamas from International Futures Maps of the Bahamas from the American Geographical Society Library The Nassau Guardian newspaper, 1849–1922, as Open Access from the Digital Library of the Caribbean 1970s establishments in the Caribbean 1973 establishments in North America Countries in the Caribbean Countries in North America Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean English-speaking countries and territories Former English colonies Island countries Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations Member states of the Caribbean Community Member states of the United Nations Populated places established in 1647 Small Island Developing States States and territories established in 1973

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker%20Island

Baker Island

Baker Island, formerly known as New Nantucket, is an uninhabited atoll just north of the Equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north-northwest; both have been claimed as territories of the United States since 1857, though the United Kingdom considered them part of the British Empire between 1897 and 1936. The island covers , with of coastline. The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall, constant wind, and strong sunshine. The terrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a depressed central area devoid of a lagoon with its highest point being above sea level. The island now forms the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge and is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the U.S. which vouches for its defense. It is visited annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For statistical purposes, Baker is grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands. Baker Island and Howland Island are also the last pieces of land that experience the New Year (furthest behind time zone - UTC−12:00). Baker Island is one of the most remote U.S. equatorial possessions. Description A cemetery and rubble from earlier settlements are located near the middle of the west coast, where the boat landing area is located. There are no ports or harbors, with anchorage prohibited offshore. The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard, so there is a day beacon near the old village site. Baker's abandoned World War II runway, long, is completely covered with vegetation and is unserviceable. The United States claims an exclusive economic zone of and territorial sea of around Baker Island. During a 1935–1942 colonization attempt, the island was most likely on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5 hours behind UTC. Since it is uninhabited the island's time zone is unspecified, but it lies within a nautical time zone 12 hours behind UTC (UTC−12:00). History Baker was discovered in 1818 by Captain Elisha Folger of the Nantucket whaling ship Equator, who called the island "New Nantucket". In August 1825 Baker was sighted by Captain Obed Starbuck of the Loper, also a Nantucket whaler. The island is named for Michael Baker, who visited the island in 1834. Other references state that he visited in 1832, and again on August 14, 1839, in the whaler Gideon Howland, to bury an American seaman. Captain Baker claimed the island in 1855, then he sold his interest to a group who later formed the American Guano Company. The United States took possession of the island in 1857, claiming it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Its guano deposits were mined by the American Guano Company from 1859 to 1878. Laborers for the mining operations came from around the Pacific, including from Hawaii; the Hawaiian laborers named Baker Island "" ('the ‘ilima flower'). As an example of the scale of the guano mining and its destination the following ship movements were reported in late 1868. British ship Montebello, Capt Henderson, arrived Aug 17th 104 days from Liverpool, loaded 650 tons guano, departed for Liverpool 9th Sep. American ship Eldorado, Capt Woodside, arrived Sept 14th from Honolulu, loaded 1550 tons guano, departed for Liverpool Oct 5th. British bark Florence Chipman, Capt Smith, arrived Oct 13th from Rio, loaded 1400 tons guano, departed for Liverpool Nov 5th. On February 27, 1869, the British ship Shaftsbury under Captain John Davies, which had arrived at Baker's Island on 5 February from Montevideo, was wrecked after being driven onto the reef by a sudden wind shift and squall from the northwest, dragging her moorings with her. American ship Robin Hood was destroyed by fire while loading on 30 August 1869. On 7 December 1886, the American Guano Company sold all its rights to the British firm John T. Arundel and Company, which made the island its headquarters for guano digging operations in the Pacific from 1886 to 1891. Arundel applied in 1897 to the British Colonial Office for a licence to work the island on the presumption that the U.S. had abandoned their claim. The United Kingdom then considered Baker Island to be a British territory, although they never formally annexed it. The United States raised the question at the beginning of the 1920s and after some diplomatic exchanges, in 1935 they launched the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project and in May 1936 issued Executive Order 7358 to clarify their sovereignty. This short-lived attempt at colonization, via the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project, began when American colonists arrived aboard the USCGC Itasca, the same vessel that brought colonists to neighboring Howland Island, on April 3, 1935. They built a lighthouse and substantial dwellings, and they attempted to grow various plants. The settlement was named Meyerton, after Captain H.A. Meyer of the United States Army, who helped establish the camps in 1935. One sad-looking clump of coconut palms was jokingly called King–Doyle Park after two well-known citizens of Hawaii who visited on the Taney in 1938. This clump was the best on the island, planted near a water seep, but the dry climate and seabirds, eager for anything upon which to perch, did not give the trees or shrubs much of a chance to survive. King–Doyle Park was later adopted as a geographic name by the United States Geological Survey. According to the 1940 U.S. Census, its population was three American civilians, all of whom were evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks. During World War II it was occupied by the U.S. military. Airfield On August 11, 1943, a US Army defense force arrived on Baker Island as part of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. In September 1943 a airfield was opened and was subsequently used as a staging base by Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator bombers for attacks on Mili Atoll. The 45th Fighter Squadron operated P-40 fighters from the airfield from September 1 - November 27, 1943. By January 1, 1944, the airfield was abandoned. LORAN Station Baker LORAN radio navigation station Baker was a radio operations base in operation from September 1944 to July 1946. The station unit number was 91 and the radio call sign was NRN-1. Flora and fauna Baker has no natural fresh water sources. It is treeless, with sparse vegetation consisting of four kinds of grass, prostrate vines and low-growing shrubs. The island, with its surrounding waters, is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, waders and marine wildlife. It has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of lesser frigatebirds, masked boobies and sooty terns. Several species of migratory, arctic-breeding waders visit the island seasonally, including ruddy turnstones, bar-tailed godwits, sanderlings, Pacific golden plovers and bristle-thighed curlews. Green turtles and hawksbill turtles, both critically endangered, can be found along the reef. National Wildlife Refuge On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton created Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge which was expanded in 2009 to add submerged lands within of the island. The refuge now includes of land and of water. Baker, along with six other islands, was administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. In January 2009, that entity was redesignated the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush. Environmental challenges include abandoned military debris from World War II and illegal fishing offshore. Invasive exotics introduced by human activity, including cockroaches and coconut palms, have also displaced native wildlife. Feral cats, first introduced in 1937, were eradicated in 1965. Public entry to the island is only by special use permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and it is generally restricted to scientists and educators. Representatives from the agency visit the island on average once every two years, usually coordinating transportation with a NOAA vessel. Ruins and artifacts Debris from past human occupation is scattered throughout the island and in offshore waters. Most is from the U.S. military occupation of the island from 1942 to 1946. The most noticeable remnant is the airstrip. It is completely overgrown with vegetation and is unusable. In the northeast section, apparently the main camp area, are the remains of several buildings and heavy equipment. Five wooden antenna poles about in height remain standing in the camp. Debris from several crashed airplanes and large equipment such as bulldozers are scattered around the island. Numerous bulldozer excavations containing the remnants of metal, fuel and water drums are scattered about the north central portion and northern edge of the island. The Navy reported the loss of 11 landing craft in the surf during World War II. Gallery See also 64th Coast Artillery (United States) History of the Pacific Islands Howland and Baker Islands, includes coverage of the Howland-Baker EEZ List of Guano Island claims List of islands of the United States List of lighthouses in the United States Minor Outlying Islands References External links Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge Baker Island. This article incorporates material from The World Factbook 2000. Coral islands Uninhabited Pacific islands of the United States Important Bird Areas of United States Minor Outlying Islands Important Bird Areas of Oceania Seabird colonies