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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purge_(novel) | Purge (novel) | Purge (Finnish: Puhdistus) is a novel by Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen, which has been translated into thirty-eight languages. Oksanen's third Finnish-language novel, Purge was published in 2008 and is based upon her original play of the same name, staged at the Finnish National Theatre in 2007.
Purge is a story of two women forced to confront their own dark pasts, of collusion and resistance, of rape and sexual slavery set against the backdrop of the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
== Conception ==
The novel was originally conceived as a play. The play was written in 2007 and produced at the National Theatre of Finland. In writing the novel, Oksanen chose for the plot to diverge from its original ending and focus on different themes.
== Background ==
After existing as an independent country for twenty-one years, Estonia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in June 1940 during World War II. In 1941–1944, Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany. From February to November 1944, the German forces were expelled by the Red Army. The Soviet rule was re-established by force, and sovietisation followed, mostly carried out in 1944–1950. The forced collectivisation of agriculture began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation in March 1949. The Soviet authorities confiscated private farms and forced peasants to join collective farms. An armed resistance movement of forest brothers was active until the mass deportations. A total of 30,000 participated in or supported the movement; 2,000 were killed. The Soviet authorities fighting the forest brothers also suffered hundreds of casualties. Some innocent civilians were killed on both sides. In addition, a number of underground nationalist schoolchildren's groups were active. Most of their members were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The punitive actions decreased rapidly after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953; from 1956 to 1958, a large part of the deportees and political prisoners were allowed to return. Political arrests and numerous other kinds of crimes against humanity were committed during the occupation period until the late 1980s. In the end, the attempt to integrate the Estonian society into the Soviet system failed. Although the armed resistance was defeated, the population remained anti-Soviet. This helped Estonians to organise a new resistance movement in the late 1980s, regain their independence in 1991, and then rapidly develop a modern society.
== Plot ==
The plot begins in 1992 with an elderly woman, Aliide Truu, who lives in a remote portion of Estonia. The woman had isolated herself from the surrounding society and watches the youth of her nation, including her daughter, leaving the countryside for the more urban regions and Finland. One day while looking out the kitchen window, she discovers Zara, the granddaughter of her sister Ingel. Zara had been forced into sex trade by the Russian mafia, but has escaped from them. The only guide she had to finding help is a photograph from her grandmother with Aliide's name on it. The story then continues with a series of flashbacks, which develops the relationship between Aliide and her sister, which hinged upon their competition for the love of Hans Pekk during World War II. The story ends as Aliide begins to reconcile herself with her jealousy of her sister, and Zara's redemption from her disenchantment with the world caused by her sexual subjugation.
=== Characters ===
The plot of Purge focuses on two main female characters, on both of whom reviewers have commented as being complex and integral to the understanding of the themes of the book. The novel begins with Aliide Truu, an elderly woman who has survived many horrors of the Soviet occupation of Estonia. The Aliide whom the reader first meets has alienated herself from the local people, and is strongly self-reliant. Though cloaked in a rough exterior, she represents a woman who has weathered considerable hardship. She has hardly anything in the way of motherly instinct, especially in regard to the other main character, Zara.
Zara is the grandniece of Aliide, and at the beginning of the book she is subjected to sex trafficking by the Russian mafia. Her interaction with her great-aunt eventually forces Aliide to reconstruct and confront the history of her past. Ultimately, Aliide is responsible for delivering Zara from the torments caused by the sexual violence perpetrated against her.
== Themes ==
Sexual violence and its manifestation in the sex trade becomes one of the central themes in the book. Both of the main characters lose control of their bodies as they are abused. Though each women perseveres through the disgrace and purges herself of this disgrace by burning their clothes. However, sexual violence and terror recurs when Tallinn gets a sex shop that is staffed by ex-KGB, who had perpetuated the violence earlier in the novel. Ultimately, Oksanen successfully captures the horrors inflicted upon women by European military conflicts as well as exploring contemporary sex trafficking.
Resistance also permeates the book, especially against the Russification of Estonia. In the entries in Hans' diary and other parts of the narrative the anti-Russification poet Paul-Eerik Rummo appear. Also, Zara's grandmother continues to hold on to native Estonian tongue, resisting a change in language.
The complexity of family history and the uncovering of tragedy in that history is fundamental to the book. However, the focus is increasingly upon the story of the protagonist, sometimes missing some of the more horrifying or interesting parts of Estonian History. Jacob Silverman in The New Republic points out that this perspective on history, which only carries the narrative up to 1992, offers a contemporary perspective on the issues that face modern Estonia and a "window... of understanding" into it and its past.
== Style ==
Purge on the surface level is very bleak, while it explores the dark events of the Soviet occupation of Estonia. A review in the Winnipeg Free Press pointed out that Oksanen did "not shrink from depicting rape, torture or murder." The novel is also very realistic, focusing on small details of the characters, as well as presenting very close visual detail. The realism even goes so far as to depict tender moments, so that these horrific historical events can have a "human face". By doing so, Oksanen creates what Jacob Silverman called an "empathic treatment of all the miserable choices Estonians faced during their periods of oppression" under the brutal rule of the Soviet Union.
The story has very short chapters, with quickly shifting times and locations, which a Canadian reviewer mused was probably because of its original conception as a play. Finlit reviewer Lauri Sihvonen places emphasis on this precision of detail and style, saying "everything is packed into the language, every verb lives and breathes"
The narrative is interspersed with notebook entries of Hans Pekk and continues to move back and forth through time via flashbacks. This organization does not follow traditional chronology, but as Paul Binding in The Independent said, it "corresponds to an inner logic of association and feeling, and so builds up the more strongly to the emotionally shattering climax." However this logic is hyperfocused on the telling of the story of the protagonists, sometimes ignoring some of the more brutal or poignant parts of history.
Suspense is also an important element to the novel, as secrets from the family's past are revealed.
== Reception ==
The novel ranked number one on the bestseller list for fiction in Finland and Estonia. The novel subsequently won the Finlandia Prize (2008), the Runeberg Prize (2009) the Nordic Council Literature Prize (2010) and Prix Femina (2010).
The novel won the Fnac prize in 2010, selected from some 300 works published in France amid positive reviews by French critics, it was the first time the prize had been awarded to a foreigner. The success of the novel has seen a resurgence of the play on stage with premieres of the play happening across Europe, notably at London's Arcola Theatre on the 24 February 2012 (on Estonian independence day) www.arcolatheatre.com. A film of the same name was released in the fall of 2012, produced by Markus Selin, and directed by Antti Jokinen. An opera of the same name, composed by Jüri Reinvere, was shown in the Finnish National Opera in 2012.
In Estonia, the book has been met with mixed views. Some like Piret Tali and Jaan Kaplinski have expressed more critical views, seeing the book as too trivial and sensationalist, whereas others like Mihhail Lotman have defended the author. Professor Rein Raud agrees that the narrative is skilfully composed. He questions, however, the book's historical license, and hints that the book's success in Estonia may derive from its alignment with the currently "correct ideology" in Estonian historiography, whereby Raud sees parallels with Hans Leberecht's communist propaganda writings. In Library Journal, reviewer Evelyn Beck writes that "Oksanen adeptly handles dual story lines and multiple points of view as she keeps us turning pages to reach the dramatic conclusion" and recommended the book "for fans of classic Russian writers like Tolstoy and Pasternak, as well as those who enjoy a contemporary tale of lust and betrayal".
== Film ==
The novel has been adapted into a film directed by Antti Jokinen and was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Fox | Laurence Fox | Laurence Paul Fox (born 26 May 1978) is an English actor, right-wing political activist and leader of the Reclaim Party. A member of the British entertainment industry's Fox family, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and debuted in the film The Hole (2001). His best-known role is James Hathaway in the TV drama series Lewis (2006–2015).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox was a frequent critic of the British government's response. He was also publicly critical of the George Floyd protests that began in 2020. After founding the right-wing populist political party Reclaim, he stood unsuccessfully in the 2021 London mayoral election in opposition to what he deemed "extreme political correctness". He subsequently stood unsuccessfully in the 2024 London Assembly election. Fox's political career has resulted in multiple controversies and legal disputes.
== Early life and education ==
Laurence Paul Fox was born in Leeds on 26 May 1978, the son of Mary Elizabeth Piper and actor James Fox. His paternal grandfather was talent agent Robin Fox and his paternal grandmother was actress Angela Worthington, whose father was playwright Frederick Lonsdale. He has two older brothers named Tom and Robin, a younger sister named Lydia, and a younger brother named Jack. Robin is a film producer, while Lydia and Jack are actors; Lydia is married to comedian and filmmaker Richard Ayoade. Fox's uncles are actors Edward Fox and producer Robert Fox. He is also the cousin of actors Emilia and Freddie Fox, the children of his uncle Edward.
Fox was raised as an evangelical Christian. At the age of 13, he was enrolled at Harrow School. He was expelled a few weeks before taking his A-Level exams, and was unable to obtain a place at any university due to a report about him from Harrow.
After working as a gardener and in an office, he decided to follow his family into acting, and successfully auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). During his time there, he appeared in numerous student productions, including the lead roles of Gregers Werle in Ibsen's The Wild Duck, Marcus Andronicus in Titus Andronicus, and Stephen Daedalus in an adaptation of James Joyce's novel Ulysses. He graduated in 2001.
== Acting career ==
Fox made his acting debut in the horror-thriller film The Hole (2001). He next appeared in Robert Altman's film Gosford Park (2001). He then donned uniforms in a slew of film and television features, including roles as a German airman in Island at War (2004), an SS officer in The Last Drop (2005), and as British soldiers in the 2002 films Deathwatch and Ultimate Force, and in Colditz (2005). In the last made-for-television film, Fox played Capt. Tom Willis who, after an unsuccessful attempt to break out of a prisoner-of-war camp, is brought to Oflag IV-C in Colditz Castle, one of the most infamous German POW camps for officers in World War II. Actor Kevin Whately caught Fox's performance in the last ten minutes of the film. The next day, at a meeting regarding a new project, Whately mentioned that Fox "would be worth taking a look at".
As a result, Fox was cast in the ITV detective drama Lewis as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway, who becomes the partner of Detective Inspector Robert Lewis, played by Whately. The pilot of this spin-off from Inspector Morse (1987–2000) was ITV's highest-rated drama of 2006.
Fox has portrayed Prince Charles, in Whatever Love Means (2005); Wisley, one of Jane Austen's suitors, in Becoming Jane (2007); and Sir Christopher Hatton, the Lord Chancellor of England, in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, also released in 2007. In the same year Fox was seen on ITV as Cecil Vyse in Andrew Davies's adaptation of A Room with a View based on E. M. Forster's 1908 novel.
On stage, Fox appeared in Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw at the Strand Theatre (now the Novello Theatre) in London in 2002, and John Ford's 17th-century play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore in 2005. Between 2006 and 2007 he starred in Treats by Christopher Hampton with his future wife, Billie Piper. In April 2007, Fox received a police caution after he was arrested for assault when he punched a photographer outside the Garrick Theatre in London where he was performing in Treats. The caution remained on his record for three years. In 2013, Fox played Guy Haines in Strangers on a Train at London's Gielgud Theatre. On 9 May 2015, he read a letter written by a soldier three days before his death in the Second World War, as part of VE Day 70: A Party to Remember, an anniversary concert for VE Day.
In 2018, Fox joined the cast of the ITV series Victoria, for its third season, playing Lord Palmerston.
In November 2020, Fox was dropped by his talent agency, Artists Rights Group, after stating on Question Time that an audience member's description of him as a "white privileged male" was "racist". He had been dropped by his previous managers, Authentic Talent, earlier in the year.
In 2021, Fox portrayed Hunter Biden in filmmaker Robert Davi's biopic My Son Hunter, starring alongside fellow conservatives Gina Carano and John James, the former of whom was also dropped by her agent after allegedly expressing some of the same opinions as Fox. The film was distributed by the American right-wing media company Breitbart.
== Other ventures ==
=== Music ===
Fox has released two albums, Holding Patterns in 2016 and A Grief Observed in 2019. The former charted, at no. 89, but the latter did not.
=== Broadcasting ===
From November 2022, Fox presented a regular Friday night slot on GB News.
In September 2023, during an appearance on Dan Wootton's GB News show, Fox said of journalist Ava Evans: "Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman ever [...] That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day after day." He concluded by saying: "Who'd want to shag that?" Fox and Wootton, along with Calvin Robinson, were suspended by the channel. Fox released on Twitter an apparent private message exchange with Wootton in which he had reacted approvingly to what Fox had said. In early October 2023, GB News confirmed that, following its investigation, it had terminated the contracts of Fox and Robinson. Ofcom, the government's broadcasting regulatory body, opened an investigation into the incident. Ofcom announced that the incident was the most complained-about broadcast on British television in 2023, with the regulator receiving 8,867 complaints. On 4 March 2024 Ofcom ruled that Fox's "misogynistic" comments broke broadcasting rules and "were degrading and demeaning both to [her] and women generally".
== Personal views ==
=== Diversity in acting ===
In 2016, Fox criticised Julie Walters and Christopher Eccleston for speaking about a lack of working-class voices in acting. He said: "I think people should keep pretty quiet about stuff like that especially given the money they earn. It's not completely true either. And didn't Julie Walters get paid 400 grand using taxpayers' money to do something recently? She's a really sweet woman but, please, shut up."
In 2020, Fox told James Delingpole in a podcast: "The most annoying thing is the minute a black actor — it's the same with working-class actors — the minute they've got five million quid in the bank, every interview they do is about how racism is rampant and rife in the industry."
=== Political correctness ===
In a November 2019 interview with The Times to promote his second album, Fox said YouTube videos had "totally radicalised" him against "woke culture" and "political correctness".
=== COVID-19 ===
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox criticised the British government's response to the pandemic and encouraged people to disregard the government's social distancing guidance and disobey other public health restrictions. During an interview on Good Morning Britain, he said that "if the NHS can't cope, then the NHS isn't fit for purpose". Hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid censured this. During a national lockdown in March 2021, Fox participated in an anti-lockdown protest.
=== Race and racism ===
Appearing as a panellist on the BBC's political debate programme Question Time in January 2020, Fox said that Meghan Markle was not a victim of racism and described an audience member who called him a "white privileged male" as racist. The British actors' union Equity called him "a disgrace to our industry" for his views, but withdrew its criticism and apologised two months later.
In January 2020, Fox attracted media attention for stating that the depiction of a Sikh soldier in the film 1917 was "forced diversity" in spite of Sikh soldiers having fought on the Western Front in the First World War. When interviewed, he explained, "I suppose it would have been less incongruous to me if he'd got on the truck to a whole regiment of Sikh soldiers. [...] I mean, as you've noticed, I say quite a lot of unfortunate things, but I think it's really important that one is able to express one's opinion." He followed by apologising on Twitter to "fellow humans who are Sikhs" and wrote, "I am as moved by the sacrifices your relatives made as I am by the loss of all those who die in war, whatever creed or colour. Please accept my apology for being clumsy in the way I expressed myself."
In August 2021, Fox posted a tweet stating "get kneeling, fuckers" about the recent arrest of black footballer Benjamin Mendy on charges of rape and sexual assault. The tweet was removed by Twitter and the account was temporarily locked for violating its rules against "hateful conduct".
In August 2023, Fox posted a photo of himself in blackface, describing himself as having "racially transitioned".
=== Progress pride flag ===
In June 2022, Fox tweeted an image of a swastika made from the Progress Pride flag with the caption, "You can openly call the [Union Flag] a symbol of fascism and totalitarianism on Twatter [sic]. You cannot criticise the holy flags." This led to his being suspended from Twitter for a day. His actions were publicly condemned by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
== Political activity ==
=== Reclaim Party ===
After becoming "a prominent right-wing commentator" around the time of the pandemic, in 2020, Fox attracted funding for a new political party, provisionally called Reclaim, and dubbed "UKIP for culture". In October 2020, Fox became leader of the party, succeeding Jeremy Hosking.
It emerged in October 2020 that the party name had yet to be successfully registered with the Electoral Commission and that there was a naming conflict with the "Reclaim Project" of Manchester, an established charity in Manchester endeavouring to give opportunities to working-class children. The name Reclaim Party was approved in February 2021 as an identity mark for Brexit Express.
In May 2023, the Reclaim Party gained its first MP, Andrew Bridgen, after he was expelled from the governing Conservative Party. Bridgen resigned from the party in December 2023 due to a "difference in the direction of the party".
In July 2023, Fox stood in the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election as a Reclaim Party candidate. He finished fourth with 2.3% of the vote, losing his deposit.
=== 2021 candidacy for London mayor ===
In March 2021, Fox announced he would stand in the London mayoral election, in order to "fight against extreme political correctness" and pledging to "end the Met's obsession with diversity and inclusivity."
The major source of Fox's campaign funds was Brexit backer Jeremy Hosking, who, in the first quarter of 2021, gave the Reclaim Party more than £1,000,000 in cash and services. Fox finished in sixth place with 47,634 votes (1.9%) in the mayoral election losing his £10,000 election deposit.
=== 2024 London elections ===
Fox attempted to stand in 2024 London mayoral election but failed to fill in the nomination forms correctly. The election authorities returned Fox's deposit and other fees.
He was a candidate on the London-wide list in the 2024 London Assembly election, though he stood under 'no description', rather than for Reclaim. He received 13,795 out of a total 2,476,687 votes (0.56%) and was not elected, losing his £5,000 deposit.
== Legal issues ==
=== 2021 Blake, Seymour and Thorp v Fox defamation and libel lawsuit ===
In October 2020, Fox announced he would boycott the supermarket Sainsbury's because they "support racial segregation and discrimination", making reference to the store establishing "safe spaces" for black employees, while asking others to do the same. Sainsbury's later clarified that the safe spaces were online support groups established in response to Black Lives Matter and were promoted as part of support for Black History Month. Feeling he was "falsely smeared as a racist", Fox replied to a number of tweets reacting to that announcement by calling their authors paedophiles. Two of those people, RuPaul's Drag Race UK contestant Crystal (Colin Seymour) and Simon Blake, deputy chair of the LGBT rights charity Stonewall, both gay men, later announced they would sue Fox for defamation. Fox deleted the tweets and explained in further tweets that he wanted to teach people a lesson in calling people something which they are not.
In April 2021, Crystal and Blake lodged a claim for defamation in the High Court and were joined in the legal action by actress Nicola Thorp, whom Fox also called a paedophile. In response, Fox filed a countersuit over the accusations of racism. In December 2021, judge Barbara Fontaine urged the protagonists to reach a compromise; Fox's lawyers had estimated his legal costs would be between £360,000 and £500,000 for a full trial.
In April 2022, Fox requested a jury trial and said that "a judge could show involuntary bias", the first such request since the Defamation Act 2013. It was refused. Court documents revealed that this request cost Fox legal fees of more than £116,000. Later that month the High Court ruled that Fox must pay more than £36,000 in legal fees to Blake, Seymour and Thorp.
The trial progressed at the High Court to decisions on preliminary issues such as the "natural and ordinary" meanings of the tweets, which included that they were a factual claim that "Ms Thorp was a paedophile". Fox took this decision to the Court of Appeal, who ruled in August 2023 that they were "satisfied that the ordinary reasonable reader of that tweet would not have taken the word [paedophile] literally", but dismissed Fox's other challenges.
The libel trial and trials for counterclaims were heard between 22 November and 1 December 2023 at the High Court by Mrs Justice Collins Rice as judge, with Blake and Seymour as claimants, against Fox as defendant and counterclaimant, and Thorp as defendant to the counterclaim.
On 29 January 2024 a judgment was given with Justice Collins Rice ruling in favour of the claimants. The judge ruled that Fox's labelling of Crystal and Blake as paedophiles was "seriously harmful, defamatory and baseless" and Fox's tweets "the very epitome of 'mere retaliation' – an escalatory and disproportionate response by way of entirely irrelevant statements." In ruling against Fox, the judge summarised that "the law affords few defences to defamation of this sort. Mr Fox did not attempt to show these allegations were true, and he was not able to bring himself on the facts within the terms of any other defence recognised in law."
Fox's counterclaims of defamation against Crystal, Blake and Thorp were also dismissed. Whilst the judge did not make a judgement on whether or not describing Fox as "a racist" was "substantially true", the judge ruled that the expression of such opinions were unlikely to significantly damage his reputation and that there were multiple other probable causes to any reputational damage. The judge summarised that "Mr Fox did not attempt to show these allegations were true, and he was not able to bring himself on the facts within the terms of any other defence recognised in law".
On 25 April 2024, it was announced that Fox would have to pay a total of £180,000 in compensatory damages to Crystal and Blake. Fox appealed the verdict, and in October 2025 the Court of Appeal reduced the sum of damages to £90,000 and ordered the case to be re-tried.
=== 2023 ULEZ protest arrest ===
On 4 October 2023, it was reported that Fox had been arrested by police on suspicion of conspiring to commit criminal damage to ULEZ cameras and encouraging or assisting offences to be committed. He was reported as having said on the previous day in an interview on Rumble that he declared support for a ULEZ vigilante group, saying: "I encourage them to tear down every single camera there is and I will be joining them [...] I am pretty close with several and I will be out there with my angle grinder."
In May 2025, it was reported that Fox had been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, and was expected to appear in court to answer the charge.
=== 2024 Olympics defamation complaint ===
During the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on 26 July, Fox commented on a segment featuring French drag performer and host of Drag Race France Nicky Doll, along with other French drag performers, calling them "deviant little pedos" and "child fuckers" on Twitter. Nicky Doll responded the following day on Twitter saying "Lawyer on the line, see you in court!" Doll later posted on 2 August that he had filed a defamation complaint against Fox and other Twitter users through lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens and NGO STOP Homophobie.
=== 2024 Fox v Yassin libel lawsuit ===
On 31 January 2024, a hearing was held at the High Court whereby Fox took legal action against a man who called him a "racist" on social media. Fox sued Mukhtar Ali Yassin for libel over a row on X (formerly known as Twitter) over four tweets sent during the exchange in May 2023. Ben Gallop, representing Fox, told the court that Yassin had made "seriously defamatory allegations of racism against my client that are bare comments". Judge Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled that a hearing should take place to decide whether the posts were statements of fact or opinion, and what should be included in any future trial. Fox said in March 2024 that he had discontinued the case; Yassin said Fox had agreed to its dismissal, paying thousands of pounds of legal fees to do so.
=== 2024 upskirt photo incident ===
On 3 May 2024, multiple news sources reported that Fox was under investigation by police for allegedly sharing an upskirt photo of the broadcaster Narinder Kaur on Twitter. Fox said he "would like to apologise" to Kaur, stating it was not his fault that Kaur was pictured in the compromising image more than 15 years ago. On 25 March 2025, Fox was charged with a sexual offence in relation to an alleged breach of section 66A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, with Fox alleged to have intentionally shared sexual images of someone without their consent, with the aim of causing alarm, distress, or humiliation, or for sexual gratification. Fox responded by describing the allegations as "untrue, ridiculous, vexatious and malicious nonsense", stating: "This is yet another deeply concerning example of the two-tier British justice system in all its Soviet glory."
== Personal life ==
Fox met actress Billie Piper while they were performing together in the play Treats in 2006. They started dating soon after, and were married on 31 December 2007. Fox and Piper have two sons. They divorced in May 2016. In 2024, Piper commented on the divorce in British Vogue, where she expressed the desire for her children to have privacy and anonymity, and the difficulty of this given Fox's public profile. Fox disputed some of Piper's claims. He also said that the pair had been to court many times since their split and criticised the family court system as biased towards the mother.
In June 2025, Fox married his long-term girlfriend, Elizabeth Barker.
In an October 2012 Independent interview, Fox described himself as a "vaguely lapsed Christian" who occasionally prays and thinks "the world is a better place for people who believe in God" despite not having "squared that circle" himself.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
Some information in this table was obtained from Laurence Fox: Filmography, Internet Movie Database (IMDb), retrieved 16 March 2008.
=== Theatre ===
Some information in this table was obtained from the following websites: Laurence Fox, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, archived from the original on 3 February 2008, retrieved 18 March 2008; Laurence Fox: Other works, Internet Movie Database (IMDb), retrieved 16 March 2008.
== Discography ==
Albums
Holding Patterns (2016)
A Grief Observed (2019)
Singles/EPs
"Gunfight" (2012)
"So Be Damned" (2013)
Sorry for My Words EP (2013)
"Headlong" (2015)
"Rise Again" (2016) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Teen_Choice_Awards | 2003 Teen Choice Awards | The 2003 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 2, 2003, at the Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, California. The awards celebrate the year's achievements in music, film, television, sports, fashion, comedy, video games, and the Internet, and were voted on by viewers living in the US, aged 13 and over through various social media sites. The event was hosted by David Spade with Kelly Clarkson, Evanescence, and The Donnas as performers.
== Performers ==
Performers included:
Kelly Clarkson – "Low"
Evanescence – "Going Under"
The Donnas – "Too Bad About Your Girl"
Verne Troyer as "5 Cent" – "In Da Club"
== Presenters ==
Presenters included
== Winners and nominees ==
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold text.
=== Movies ===
References:
=== Television ===
=== Music ===
References:
=== Miscellaneous ===
References: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld | Seinfeld | Seinfeld ( SYNE-feld) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of 180 episodes. Its ensemble cast stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and focuses on his personal life with his three friends: best friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander), ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and eccentric apartment neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards).
Seinfeld is set mostly in and around the titular character's apartment in Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City. It has been described as "a show about nothing", often focusing on the minutiae of daily life. Interspersed in all episodes of the first seven seasons are moments of stand-up comedy from the fictional Jerry Seinfeld, frequently related to the episode's events.
As a rising comedian in the late 1980s, Jerry Seinfeld was presented with an opportunity to create a show with NBC. He asked Larry David, a fellow comedian and friend, to help create a premise for a sitcom. The series was produced by West/Shapiro Productions and Castle Rock Entertainment and is distributed in syndication by Sony Pictures Television. It was largely written by David and Seinfeld along with scriptwriters. A favorite among critics, the series led the Nielsen ratings in Seasons 6 and 9 and finished among the top two (along with ER of the same network) every year from 1994 to 1998. Only two other shows—I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show—finished their runs at the top of the ratings.
Seinfeld is universally regarded as one of the greatest and most influential American shows of all time. Its most renowned episodes include "The Chinese Restaurant", "The Soup Nazi", "The Parking Garage", "The Marine Biologist", "The Contest", and "The Strike", which introduced the December 23rd holiday of Festivus. E! named the series the "Number 1 reason [why] the '90s ruled". Quotes from numerous episodes have become catchphrases in popular culture.
== Production ==
=== Conception ===
Seinfeld began as a 23-minute pilot titled "The Seinfeld Chronicles". Created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, developed by NBC executive Rick Ludwin, and produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, it was a mix of Seinfeld's stand-up comedy routines and idiosyncratic, conversational scenes focusing on mundane aspects of everyday life like laundry, the buttoning of the top button on one's shirt, and the effort by men to interpret the intent of women spending the night in Seinfeld's apartment.
The pilot was filmed at Stage 8 of Desilu Cahuenga studios, the same studio where The Dick Van Dyke Show was filmed (seen by the crew as a good omen), and was recorded at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood. The pilot was first screened to a group of two dozen NBC executives in Burbank, California, in early 1989. This one, however, did not yield the explosion of laughter garnered by the pilots for the decade's previous NBC successes like The Cosby Show and The Golden Girls. Brandon Tartikoff was not convinced the show would work. A Jewish man from New York himself, Tartikoff characterized it as "Too New York, too Jewish". Test audiences were even harsher. NBC's practice at the time was to recruit 400 households by phone to ask them to evaluate pilots it aired on an unused channel on its cable system. An NBC research department memo summarized the pilot's performance among the respondents as "weak", which Warren Littlefield, then second-in-command in NBC's entertainment division, called "a dagger to the heart". Comments included, "You can't get too excited about two guys going to the laundromat", "Jerry's loser friend George isn't a forceful character", "Jerry needs a stronger supporting cast", and "Why are they interrupting the stand-up for these stupid stories?" Seinfeld and David did not see the memo for several years, but after they became aware of it, they hung it in a bathroom on the set. Seinfeld comments, "We thought, if someone goes in to use this bathroom, this is something they should see. It fits that moment."
Around the time the show's pilot was filmed, Castle Rock Entertainment had also produced another pilot for NBC that featured Ann Jillian in her almost-similarly eponymous TV series. When The Seinfeld Chronicles tested poorly with audiences, Castle Rock focused on Jillian's series, which tested better with audiences and received a full-season order. Ann Jillian lasted only a single season of 13 episodes and was off the air by the end of 1990.
=== First seasons ===
When NBC announced its 1989–90 (primetime) schedule in May 1989, The Seinfeld Chronicles was not included, but the show's supporters did not give up. The pilot first aired on July 5, 1989, and finished second in its time slot against the CBS police drama Jake and the Fatman, receiving a Nielsen rating of 10.9/19. The ratings did not exhibit the regional skew Tartikoff predicted, much to the encouragement of the show's supporters. Ludwin canceled one of the Bob Hope specials budgeted for that season so the entertainment division had the money to order four more episodes of The Seinfeld Chronicles, which formed the rest of the show's first season (the series was by then retitled to Seinfeld)—a move without which Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rosenthal later said there "would be no Seinfeld". Although this was a very low order number for a new series—and the smallest sitcom order in TV history—Castle Rock failed to find any other buyers when it shopped the show to other networks, and accepted the order. Seinfeld did not return to the airwaves until May 30, 1990, and it was another three years before it became a Top 5-rated show. Preston Beckman, in charge of NBC's research department at the time, reminisced, "The show was different. Nobody had seen anything like it. It wasn't unusual for poor-testing shows to get on the air, but it was very rare that they became hits."
When the program was first repeated on July 5, 1990, it received a rating of 13.9/26. These ratings were high enough to secure a second season. NBC research showed that the show was popular with young male adults, a demographic sought after by advertisers. This gave NBC an incentive to keep broadcasting the show. One DVD reviewer, Britt Gillette, wrote that "this initial episode exhibits the flashes of brilliance that made Seinfeld a cultural phenomenon."
=== Filming ===
The show was written by David and Seinfeld, along with writers who included Larry Charles, Peter Mehlman, Gregg Kavet, Carol Leifer, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Steve Koren, Jennifer Crittenden, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Dan O'Keefe, Charlie Rubin, Marjorie Gross, Alec Berg, Elaine Pope, and Spike Feresten.
Other than the pilot, the series was filmed at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, Los Angeles. The first three seasons were filmed on Soundstage 19; it then moved to the larger Stage 9 for the remainder of its production. Despite numerous establishing shots taken in New York City, all scenes of the actors walking in New York were also filmed at CBS Studio Center, on their New York Street backlot. Street scenes and park scenes were filmed in the CBS Studio Centre's New York Street and Central Park backlots, respectively.
A source of problems for the cast was the small sets, especially that of Jerry's apartment; Alexander noted, "If you knew you were doing a series for nine years, you would never build that set." Adding to the problem was that the scripts contained only minimal physical direction, leaving the actors needing help to come up with actions to perform while speaking. Eventually, they got into a routine of directing each other on how to make their movements look natural. Alexander said this helped them build chemistry with each other.
Filming usually went long, as the cast and Larry David were perfectionists. If a joke did not elicit the desired reaction, they rewrote it and performed it again. In at least one case, "The Marine Biologist", this led to David writing an entirely new scene requiring Alexander to memorize a monologue in only a matter of minutes. Laugh tracks were used only for matching shots, not for artificially adding laughter.
Various locations used for establishing shots included Tom's Restaurant at 112th Street and Broadway (Monk's Cafe), Midtown West's Roosevelt Hospital (recurring exterior emergency room scene and indoor scenes in 'The Junior Mint' and 'The Bris'), Cornell Medical Centre at 525 East 68th Street, 22-39 37th Street, Queens (The Costanzas' house), the Taconic State Parkway exit to the Hopewell Junction, Dutchess County, New York (driving scene in 'The Bubble Boy'), and the Amagansett farmers market, Long Island ('The Hamptons'). The exterior shot used for Jerry's New York apartment building was actually located at 757 S New Hampshire Avenue, Los Angeles. The real-life exterior of Pendant Publishing, Elaine's workplace, is located at 1325 Ave of the Americas, New York. The live stand-up comedy performed by Seinfeld at the beginning of most episodes was truly filmed at The Improv, a comedy club at 358 West 44th Street, Manhattan; though it closed in 1993, another comedy club operates at the site today. The Yankee Stadium exterior seen in the show has now been demolished. Most office building establishing shots are real businesses and locations. Various real street locations can be gleaned from the car windows during driving scenes. By the final season, each episode of the series cost $3 million to $3.5 million.
More than 120 episodes make reference to the Superman franchise. Teri Hatcher, who played Lois Lane on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, plays Jerry's girlfriend Sidra. Paula Marshall, who played Christina Riley on the Superboy TV series, portrays the journalist Sharon, who Jerry says reminds him of Lois Lane. Sherman Howard, who played Lex Luthor on Superboy, portrays Roy. Superman logos and figurines frequently appear in Jerry's apartment. Seinfeld and Superman later appeared in an American Express commercial.
== Series overview ==
=== Plotlines ===
Many Seinfeld episodes are based on the writers' real-life experiences, with the experiences reinterpreted for the characters' storylines. For example, George's storyline in "The Revenge" is based on Larry David's experience at Saturday Night Live. "The Contest" is also based on David's experiences. "The Smelly Car" storyline is based on Peter Mehlman's lawyer friend, who could not get a bad smell out of his car. "The Strike" is based on Dan O'Keefe's dad, who made up his own holiday: Festivus. Other stories take a variety of turns. "The Chinese Restaurant" consists of George, Jerry, and Elaine waiting for a table throughout the entire episode. "The Boyfriend", revolving around Keith Hernandez, extends through two episodes. "The Betrayal" is famous for using reverse chronology and was inspired by a similar plot device in a Harold Pinter play, Betrayal. Some stories were inspired by headlines and rumors, as explained in the DVD features "Notes About Nothing", "Inside Look" and "Audio Commentary". In "The Maestro", Kramer's lawsuit is roughly similar to the McDonald's coffee case. "The Outing" is based primarily on rumors that Larry Charles heard about Jerry Seinfeld's sexuality.
=== Themes ===
The series was often described as "a show about nothing". However, in 2014, Seinfeld stated: "The pitch for the show, the real pitch, when Larry and I went to NBC in 1988, was [that] we want to show how a comedian gets his material. The show "about nothing" was just a joke in an episode many years later, and Larry and I to this day are surprised that it caught on as a way that people describe the show because, to us, it's the opposite of that." David similarly commented: "I like taking the worst qualities that a person has and trying to make something funny out of it. Doesn't everybody do terrible things and have terrible thoughts? Just by trying to be as funny, you're going to deal with a lot of things that are real, so the show's really about something. The whole thing about the show being about nothing is ridiculous."
Much of the show's humor is based upon repeated use of irony, incongruity, and (oftentimes unfortunate) coincidences. Additionally, guest characters are frequently introduced with little to no context, with a humorous focus on the atypical names of these characters, which often contain alliteration. In keeping with Seinfeld's reputation as a clean comedian, though the show frequently contains dialogue around sexual themes, the show notably avoids using almost all explicit sexual terminology. Notably, in the popular episode "The Contest", whose plot line concerns a contest amongst the main characters to see which one can go the longest without masturbating, the word 'masturbation' is never mentioned. Seinfeld broke several conventions of mainstream television. David is credited with refusing to follow a predictable sitcom formula that would have a romantic relationship develop between Jerry and Elaine.
The show offers no growth or reconciliation to its characters and eschews sentimentality. An episode is typically driven by humor interspersed with the superficial conflicts of characters with peculiar dispositions. Many episodes revolve around the characters' involvement in the lives of others, with typically disastrous results. On the set, the notion that the characters should not develop or improve throughout the series was expressed as the "no hugging, no learning" rule. Larry David was adamant from the beginning that he did not want the characters to mature, grow or learn from their past mistakes. The characters are "thirty-something singles with vague identities, no roots, and conscious indifference to morals." Also unlike most sitcoms, there are no moments of pathos; the audience is never made to feel sorry for any of the characters. Even Susan's death in "The Invitations" elicits no genuine emotions from anybody in the show. Seinfeld does not shy away from making light of tough topics, from death to illness to disability.
The show frequently engages in fourth-wall-breaking humor and self-satire. One such example is the story arc, where the characters promote a TV sitcom series named Jerry. The show within a show, Jerry was much like Seinfeld in that it was "about nothing," and Seinfeld played himself. The fictional Jerry was launched in the Season 4 finale, but unlike Seinfeld, it was not picked up as a series. Jerry is one of many examples of metafiction in the show. There are no fewer than 22 fictional movies featured, like Rochelle, Rochelle. Because of these several elements, Seinfeld became the first TV series since Monty Python's Flying Circus to be widely described as postmodern.
Seinfeld is an avid Abbott and Costello fan and has cited The Abbott and Costello Show as an influence on Seinfeld: "Everybody on the show knows I'm a fan. We're always joking about how we do stuff from their show. George and I will often get into a riff that has the rhythm from the old Abbott and Costello shows. And sometimes, I'll hit George in the chest the way Abbott would hit Costello". The series includes numerous references to the team. George Costanza's middle name is "Louis", after Costello. "The Old Man" episode features a cantankerous character named "Sid Fields" as a tribute to the landlord on the team's TV show. Kramer's friend is named Mickey Abbott. A copywriter for the J. Peterman catalog is named Eddie Sherman, after the team's longtime agent. In Episode 30, Kramer hears the famous Abbott and Costello line, "His father was a mudder. His mother was a mudder."
=== Catchphrases ===
Many terms were coined, popularized, or re-popularized in the series' run and have become part of popular culture, including "Yada, yada, yada", "No soup for you!", "Master of my domain", "That's a shame", and "Not that there's anything wrong with that." The lexicon of Seinfeldian code words and recurring phrases that evolved around particular episodes is referred to as Seinlanguage, which is also the title of Jerry Seinfeld's best-selling book on humor. These terms include "man hands", "shrinkage", "regift", and "double dip".
=== Consumer products ===
A recurring feature of Seinfeld was its inclusion of specific products, especially candy, as plot points. These might be a central feature of a plot (e.g., Junior Mints, Twix, Chuckles, Jujyfruits, bite-size Three Musketeers, Snickers, Chunky, Oh Henry!, Drake's Coffee Cake and PEZ), or an association of candy with a guest character (e.g. Oh Henry! bars) or simply a conversational aside (e.g., Chuckles, Clark Bar, Twinkies). A large number of non-candy products were also featured throughout the series.
The show's creators claim that they weren't engaging in a product placement strategy for commercial gain. One motivation for the use of real-world products, entirely unrelated to commercial considerations, is the comedy value of funny-sounding phrases and words. "I knew I wanted Kramer to think of watching the operation like going to see a movie," explained Seinfeld writer/producer Andy Robin in an interview published in The Hollywood Reporter. "At first, I thought maybe a piece of popcorn falls into the patient. I ran that by my brother, and he said, 'No, Junior Mints are just funnier.'"
Many advertisers capitalized on the popularity of Seinfeld. American Express created a webisode where Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman (voiced by Patrick Warburton, who played the role of Puddy) starred in its commercial. The makers of the Today Sponge created the "Spongeworthy" game on their website, inspired by "The Sponge". An advertisement featured Jason Alexander in a Chrysler commercial. In this, Alexander acts much like his character George, and his relationship with Lee Iacocca plays on George's relationship with Steinbrenner. Similarly, Michael Richards was the focus of a series of advertisements for Vodafone, which ran in Australia, where he dressed and acted precisely like Kramer, including the trademark bumbling pratfalls. In addition, the show occasionally incorporated fictional products like a Scotch brand called "Hennigan's" (a blend of "Hennessy" and "Brannigans") and a canned meat product called "Beef-a-reeno" (a parody of "Beef-a-roni").
=== Music ===
The Seinfeld music was composed by Jonathan Wolff, who had previously composed for sitcoms including Who's the Boss? and Married with Children. The pilot episode had a theme composed by a different composer, but Seinfeld felt it interfered with his standup sequences. Whereas previous sitcoms had been melodic and lyrical, Wolff did not want to create a typical theme and instead wanted to create an instantly recognizable "audio signature". He composed a theme comprising samples of slap bass taken from multiple sources, edited and processed with compression, equalized and other effects. He added percussion with finger snaps and mouth noises to create an organic "percolating energy" and blend with the "quirky" patterns of Seinfeld's speech. When the network asked for a more conventional theme for the second season, David refused. Wolff composed variations on the theme to match the rhythms and dialogue of each episode.
In "The Note", the first episode of Season 3, the bumper music featured scatting female backup singers who sang a phrase that sounded like the tune "Easy to Beat". Jerry Seinfeld and executive producer Larry David both liked Wolff's additions, and three episodes were produced with this new style of music. However, they had neglected to inform NBC and Castle Rock executives of the change, and when the season premiere aired, the executives were surprised and unimpressed and requested that they return to the original style. The subsequent two episodes were redone, leaving this episode as the only one with additional music elements. In the commentary of "The Note", Louis-Dreyfus facetiously suggests it was removed because the perceived lyric related closely to the low ratings at the time. The soundtrack was given a digital release on July 2, 2021.
== Cast and characters ==
=== Main characters ===
Jerry Seinfeld (himself) – Jerry is a "minor celebrity" stand-up comedian who is often depicted as "the voice of common sense and reason" amid the general insanity generated by the people in his world. However, the in-show character is also overly fixated on minor imperfections, often ending romantic relationships for the tiniest of perceived flaws in a dating partner. He is a mild germophobe and neat freak, as well as a fan of Superman, New York Mets, and breakfast cereal. Jerry's apartment is the center of a world visited by his eccentric friends and a focus of the show.
George Costanza (Jason Alexander) – George has been Jerry's best friend since high school. He is stingy, conniving, pedantic, and envious of others' achievements. He is depicted as a loser who is perpetually lacking confidence about his capabilities. He rants and lies easily about his profession, relationships, and almost everything else, which usually creates trouble for him later. He often uses the alias Art Vandelay when lying or concocting a cover story. Despite these shortcomings, George is usually very reliable to his friends and frequently has success in dating women. After a series of disastrous jobs (the disasters often being of his own making), George eventually secures a steady career as an assistant to the traveling secretary for the New York Yankees -- for a while. The character of George was based on Larry David himself.
Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) – Elaine is Jerry's ex-girlfriend and later friend. Generally depicted as smarter than her friends, she is friendly while also being sarcastic, somewhat elitist, and hot-tempered. She is occasionally depicted as vegetarian or pescatarian, without the strength of conviction to keep this up regularly. She sometimes tends to be too honest with people (usually by losing her temper), which often gets her into trouble. She usually gets caught up in her boyfriends' quirks, eccentric employers' unusual behaviors and idiosyncrasies, and the maladjustment of total strangers. She tends to make poor choices in men she dates and is often overly reactive. She works for a time at Pendant Publishing with Mr. Lippman. Later she is hired as a personal assistant for Mr. Pitt. She eventually worked for the J. Peterman catalog as a writer. Elaine is popularly described as an amalgamation of David's and Seinfeld's girlfriends during their early days in New York as struggling comedians.
Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) – Kramer is Jerry's slacker neighbor. His trademarks include his humorous upright pompadour hairstyle, vintage clothes, and energetic sliding bursts through Jerry's apartment door. Kramer was heavily based on a neighbor of David's during his amateur comedic years in Manhattan. At times, he appears naïve, uneducated, and impulsive, and at other times, quick-witted, helpful, and empathetic; similarly he is exaggeratedly successful, socially, with his charisma and laid-back personality. This is seen in his success with women and employers. He has been described as a "hipster doofus". Although he never holds a steady job, he is rarely short of money and frequently invents wacky schemes that often work at first but eventually fail. Kramer is friends with Newman, and they work well together despite their differences. He often provides slapstick gags.
=== Recurring characters ===
Many characters have made multiple appearances, notably Jerry's parents, Morty and Helen Seinfeld, who reside in Florida; George's parents, the overbearing Frank and Estelle Costanza; George's on-again, off-again fiancée Susan Ross; Jerry's Uncle Leo; Elaine's variety of bosses, Mr. Lippman, Mr. Pitt and J. Peterman; Elaine's on-again, off-again boyfriend David Puddy; and Kramer's friend, Newman, a mail carrier who lives in the same building and is Jerry's nemesis. In addition to recurring characters, Seinfeld features numerous celebrities who appear as themselves or as girlfriends, boyfriends, bosses, and other acquaintances.
Seinfeld's girlfriends
A number of actresses made guest appearances as Seinfeld's love interests in single episodes:
Isabel (Tawny Kitaen) – "The Nose Job" (season 3, episode 9)
Nina (Catherine Keener) – "The Letter" (season 3, episode 21)
Marla (Jane Leeves) – "The Virgin" (season 4, episode 10)
Sidra (Teri Hatcher) – "The Implant" (season 4, episode 19)
Amy (Anna Gunn) – "The Glasses" (season 5, episode 3)
Jody (Jennifer Coolidge) – "The Masseuse" (season 5, episode 9)
Jane (Jami Gertz) – "The Stall" (season 5, episode 12)
Meryl (Courteney Cox) – "The Wife" (season 5, episode 17)
Margaret (Marita Geraghty) - "The Big Salad" (season 6, episode 2)
Jeannie (Janeane Garofalo) – "The Invitations" (season 7, episode 24)
Ellen (Christine Taylor) – "The Van Buren Boys" (season 8, episode 14)
Jenna (Kristin Davis) – "The Pothole" (season 8, episode 16)
Beth (Debra Messing) – "The Yada Yada" (season 8, episode 19)
Valerie (Lauren Graham) – "The Millennium" (season 8, episode 20)
Alex (Melinda Clarke) – "The Muffin Tops" (season 8, episode 21)
Lanette (Amanda Peet) – "The Summer of George" (season 8, episode 22)
Patty (Lori Loughlin) – "The Serenity Now" (season 9, episode 3)
Sara (Marcia Cross) – "The Slicer" (season 9, episode 7)
== Episodes ==
Compared to other family and group sitcoms of the era, Seinfeld stood out. The principal characters are not related by family or work-associated connections but remain distinctly close friends throughout the series. Many characters were based primarily on Seinfeld's and David's real-life acquaintances. Two prominent recurring characters were fictional depictions of actual well-known people: Jacopo Peterman of the J. Peterman catalog (based on John Peterman) and George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees. Many characters were introduced as new writers got involved with Seinfeld. Other characters based on real people include the Soup Nazi and Jackie Chiles, who was based on Johnnie Cochran.
Episodes have separate plot strands, but the characters' stories often intertwine at the end. The narratives reveal the creators' "consistent efforts to maintain the intimacy" among the small cast of characters.
The show maintains a strong sense of continuity, as characters and plots from past episodes are often referenced or expanded on. Occasionally, story arcs span multiple episodes or entire seasons, such as Season 4, which revolves around the pilot pitch to NBC by Jerry and George. Another example is Jerry's girlfriend Vanessa, who appears in "The Stake Out" and with whom he ends the relationship when things do not work out in "The Stock Tip". Larry David, the head writer and executive producer for the first seven seasons, was praised for keeping a close eye on minor details and ensuring the main characters' lives remained consistent and believable. Curb Your Enthusiasm, David's later comedy series, also had an overarching plot for all but the first season.
A major difference between Seinfeld and the sitcoms that preceded it is that the principal characters never learn from their mistakes. In effect, they are indifferent and even callous toward the outside world and sometimes one another. A mantra of the show's producers was "No hugging, no learning." Entertainment Weekly's TV critic Ken Tucker has described them as "a group dynamic rooted in jealousy, rage, insecurity, despair, hopelessness, and a touching lack of faith in one's fellow human beings." This leads to very few happy endings, except at somebody else's expense. More often in every episode, situations resolve with characters getting a justly deserved comeuppance.
=== Seasons 1–3 ===
The show premiered as The Seinfeld Chronicles on July 5, 1989. After it aired, a pickup by NBC seemed unlikely, and the show was offered to Fox, which declined to pick it up. Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, however, diverted money from his budget by canceling a Bob Hope television special, and the next four episodes were filmed. These episodes were highly rated as they followed summer re-runs of Cheers on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., and the series was finally picked up. At one point, NBC considered airing these episodes on Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. but gave the slot to a short-lived sitcom called FM instead. The series was renamed simply Seinfeld as a precautionary measure due to the failure of the short-lived 1990 ABC series with a similarly sounding title, The Marshall Chronicles. After airing the remaining four episodes of its first season the summer of 1990, NBC ordered 13 more episodes. David believed that he and Seinfeld had no more stories to tell and advised Seinfeld to turn down the order, but Seinfeld agreed to the additional episodes. Season 2 was bumped off its scheduled premiere of January 16, 1991, due to the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War. It settled into a regular time slot on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. and eventually flipped with veteran series Night Court to 9 p.m.
TV critics championed Seinfeld in its early seasons, even as it was slow to cultivate a substantial audience. For the first three seasons, Jerry's stand-up comedy act would bookend at the beginning and end of each episode, even functioning as transitions during the show. A few episodes set a benchmark for later seasons. "The Deal" establishes Jerry and Elaine's relationship by setting rules about having sex while remaining friends. "The Parking Garage" was the first episode shot with no audience for the episode and, after "The Chinese Restaurant", to not show Jerry's apartment. "The Keys" contains a crossover to CBS show Murphy Brown, marking the first such cooperation between rival networks. "The Busboy" introduces George, Kramer and Elaine as having their own storylines for the first time. Although Castle Rock Entertainment's Glenn Padnick thought Seinfeld was too generous, showcasing his co-stars' comedic talent became a trademark throughout the series.
Larry Charles wrote an episode for Season 2, "The Bet", in which Elaine buys a gun from Kramer's friend. This episode was not filmed because the content was deemed unacceptable, and it was replaced by the episode "The Phone Message". "The Stranded", which aired during Season 3, was initially intended for Season 2. At the beginning of this episode, Jerry clears up the continuity error over George's real estate job.
=== Seasons 4–5 ===
Season 4 marked the sitcom's entry into the Nielsen ratings Top 30. It contains several of the most popular episodes, such as "The Bubble Boy", in which George and the bubble boy argue over Trivial Pursuit, and "The Junior Mint" in which Jerry and Kramer accidentally fumble a mint in the operating room. This was the first season to use a story arc of Jerry and George creating their own sitcom, Jerry. Also, at this time, the use of Jerry's stand-up act slowly declined, and the stand-up segment in the middle of Seinfeld episodes was cut.
Much publicity followed the controversial episode "The Contest", an Emmy Award-winning episode written by David, whose subject matter was considered inappropriate for prime-time network TV. To circumvent this taboo, the word "masturbation" was never used in the script, instead substituted for by a variety of oblique references. Midway through that season, Seinfeld was moved from its original 9:00 p.m. time slot on Wednesdays to 9:30 p.m. on Thursdays, following Cheers again, which gave the show even more popularity. Ratings also sparked the move, as Tim Allen's sitcom Home Improvement on ABC had aired at the same time, and Home Improvement kept beating Seinfeld in the ratings. NBC moved the series after Ted Danson announced the end of Cheers and Seinfeld quickly surpassed the ratings of the 9:00 p.m. Cheers reruns that spring. The show won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993, beating out its family-oriented, time-slot competitor Home Improvement, which was only in its second season on rival network ABC.
Season 5 was an even bigger ratings hit, consisting of popular episodes, such as "The Puffy Shirt", in which Jerry feels embarrassed wearing a "pirate" shirt on The Today Show, "The Non-Fat Yogurt" featuring Rudy Giuliani, the Republican then-mayor-elect of New York, and "The Opposite" in which George, doing the opposite of what his instincts tell him he should do, lands a job with the New York Yankees and Elaine leaves "Pendant Publishing" because of a comedy of errors that led to its demise. Another story arc has George returning to live with his parents. Amid the story arc, Kramer creates and promotes his coffee table book. The show was again nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost to the Cheers spin-off Frasier, then in its first season. Seinfeld was nominated for the same award every year for its entire run but, after its win at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1994, always lost to Frasier, which went on to win a record 39 Emmy Awards in its 11-season run.
=== Seasons 6–7 ===
In Season 6, Andy Ackerman replaced Tom Cherones as director of the show. The series remained well regarded and produced some of its most famous episodes, such as "The Beard", in which Jerry is put through a lie detector test to make him admit that he watched Melrose Place; "The Switch", in which Kramer's mom, Babs, reveals that his first name is Cosmo; and "The Understudy", in which Elaine meets J. Peterman for the first time. Story arcs used in this season were Elaine working as a personal assistant to her eccentric boss Justin Pitt and George's parents' temporary separation. This was the first season in which Seinfeld reached No. 1 in the Nielsen Ratings. The use of Jerry's stand-up act declined, and the end stand-up segment no longer appeared because the storylines for all four characters grew denser.
In Season 7, a story arc involved George getting engaged to his ex-girlfriend, Susan Ross, after the pilot Jerry proved unsuccessful. In it, George spends most of the season regretting and trying to get out of the engagement. Along with the regular half-hour episodes, two notable one-hour episodes were "The Cadillac", in which George plans to date award-winning actress Marisa Tomei, and "The Bottle Deposit", with Elaine and Sue Ellen Mischke participating in a bidding war to buy JFK's golf clubs in an auction.
=== Seasons 8–9 ===
Seinfeld's final two seasons were considered distinct from the earlier seasons. Most noticeably, David left the writing crew (but returned to write "The Finale" in 1998), resulting in Seinfeld taking over David's duties as showrunner, and, under the direction of a new writing staff, Seinfeld became a faster-paced show. The show no longer contained extracts of Jerry performing stand-up comedy—Jerry had no time or energy for this with his new responsibilities—and storylines occasionally delved into fantasy and broad humor. For example, in "The Bizarro Jerry", Elaine is torn between exact opposites of her friends and Jerry dates a woman who has the now-famous "man hands". Some notable episodes from Season 8 include "The Little Kicks", showing Elaine's horrible dancing, and "The Chicken Roaster", which portrays the Kenny Rogers Roasters chicken restaurant, which opened during that time. A story arc in this season involves Peterman going to Burma in "The Foundation" until he recovered from a nervous breakdown in "The Money", followed by Elaine writing Peterman's biography in "The Van Buren Boys", which leads to Kramer's parody of Kenny Kramer's Reality Tour seen in "The Muffin Tops".
The final season included episodes like "The Merv Griffin Show", in which Kramer converts his apartment into a talk-show studio and plays the character of talk-show host, "The Betrayal" that presents in reverse chronological order what happened to Sue Ellen's wedding in India, and "The Frogger" in which George pushes a Frogger machine across the street, mimicking the action of the game itself. The last season included a story arc in which Elaine has an on/off relationship with Puddy. Despite the enormous popularity and willingness of the cast to return for a tenth season, Seinfeld decided to end the show after Season 9, believing he would thereby be able to ensure the show would maintain its quality and go out on top. NBC offered Seinfeld $110 million—a record $5 million an episode for a 22-episode tenth season—but he declined.
A major controversy caused in the ninth season was the accidental burning of a Puerto Rican flag by Kramer in "The Puerto Rican Day". This scene caused a furor among Puerto Ricans, and as a result, NBC showed this episode only once. Seinfeld defused the protestors by not letting this episode continue in syndication, as revealed in "Inside Look" on DVD. However, the episode would be added to the syndicated rerun package several years later uncut.
=== Series finale ===
After nine years on the air, NBC and Seinfeld announced on December 25, 1997, that the series would end production the following spring in 1998. The announcement made the front page of the major New York newspapers, including The New York Times. Seinfeld was featured on the cover of Time magazine's first issue of 1998. The series ended with a 75-minute episode (cut to 60 minutes in syndication, in two parts) written by co-creator and ex-executive producer Larry David, which aired on May 14, 1998. Before the finale, a 45-minute retrospective clip show, "The Chronicle", was aired. The retrospective was expanded to an hour after the original airing and aired again on NBC as an hour-long episode, and has since aired in syndication.
It was the first episode since the finale of season 7, "The Invitations", to feature opening and closing stand-up comedy acts by Seinfeld. The finale was filmed before an audience of NBC executives and friends of the show. The press and public were shut out of the taping to keep its plot secret; those who attended the shoot of the final episode were required to sign written "vows of silence". The secrecy only seemed to increase speculation about how the series would end. The episode's producers gave false information to the media, spreading a rumor about Newman ending up in the hospital and Jerry and Elaine sitting in a chapel, presumably to marry.
The final episode enjoyed a historic audience, estimated at 76.3 million viewers (58% of all viewers that night) making it the fourth-most watched regular series finale in U.S. TV history, behind M*A*S*H, Cheers and The Fugitive. However, the finale received mixed reviews from critics and fans of the show. The finale poked fun at the many rumors that were circulating, seeming to move into multiple supposed plots before settling on its actual storyline—a lengthy trial where the gang is prosecuted for violating a "Duty to Rescue" law and sentenced to prison terms.
According to Forbes magazine, Seinfeld's earnings from the show in 1998 came to US$267 million, including syndication earnings. He refused NBC's offer of $5 million per episode, or over $100 million total, to continue into a tenth season. The offer NBC made to Seinfeld was over three times higher per episode than anyone on TV had ever been offered before. Seinfeld told the network that he was not married nor had children, and wished to focus on his personal life. As reported in July 2007, he was the second-highest earner in the TV industry, earning at the time $60 million a year. The episode became the first to command over $1 million a minute for advertising—a mark previously attained only by the Super Bowl.
== Reception and legacy ==
Elizabeth Magnotta and Alexandra Strohl analyze the success of Seinfeld with recourse to the incongruity theory of humor: "The Incongruity Theory claims that humor is created out of a violation of an expectation. For humor to result from this unexpected result, the event must have an appropriate emotional climate, comprised of the setting, characters, prior discourse, relationships of the characters, and the topic." Specifically, Magnotta and Strohl focus on "The Marine Biologist", where George is embroiled in yet another lie, and on "The Red Dot", where George tries to save a few dollars at Elaine's expense by giving her a marked-down cashmere sweater.
In "Translating Seinfeld", Jennifer Armstrong observes that Seinfeld is less famous among non-English speakers as its unique style of humor is "too cultural and word-based to make for easy translation". Carol Iannone sums up the legacy of this American hit in her Modern Age article "Seinfeld: The Politically Incorrect Comedy" when she says, "It may be the first situation comedy truly to achieve the status of art." Nod Miller, of the University of East London, has discussed the self-referential qualities of the show:
Seinfeld is suffused with postmodern themes. To begin with, the boundary between reality and fiction is frequently blurred: this is illustrated in the central device of having Jerry Seinfeld play the character Jerry Seinfeld. In the show's fourth season, several episodes revolved around the narrative of Jerry and George (whose character is co-creator Larry David's alter ego) pitching 'a show about nothing' based on the everyday life of a stand-up comedian to NBC. The reaction of the fictional NBC executives, by all accounts, mirrored the initial responses of those who eventually commissioned Seinfeld. The fourth season ends with "The Pilot", an episode focusing on the casting, taping and screening of the show-within-the-show, Jerry. This episode also illustrates neatly the self-referential quality which is one of Seinfeld's hallmarks. The series finale was so replete with references to earlier shows as to render it largely incomprehensible to those not already well-versed in the personae and preoccupations of the Seinfeld universe.
William Irwin has edited an anthology of scholarly essays on philosophy in Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing. Some entries include "The Jerry Problem and the Socratic Problem", "George's Failed Quest for Happiness: An Aristotelian Analysis", "Elaine's Moral Character", "Kramer the 'Seducer'", "Making Something Out of Nothing: Seinfeld, Sophistry and the Tao", "Seinfeld, Subjectivity, and Sartre", "Mr. Peterman, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Me" and "Minimally Decent Samaritans and Uncommon Law".
=== U.S. television ratings ===
=== Awards and honors ===
Seinfeld has received awards and nominations in various categories throughout the mid-1990s. It was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993, Golden Globe Award for Best TV Series (Comedy) in 1994, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1995, 1997 and 1998. Apart from these, the show was also nominated for an Emmy award from 1992 to 1998 for Outstanding Comedy Series, Golden Globe award from 1994 to 1998 for Best TV-Series (Comedy), and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series from 1995 to 1998. The show even received the Peabody Award in 1993.
TV Guide named it the greatest TV show of all time in 2002, and in 2013, the magazine ranked it as the second-greatest TV show. A 2015 The Hollywood Reporter survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named Seinfeld as their #5 favorite show. In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked Seinfeld as the sixth-greatest TV show of all time. In 2023, Variety ranked Seinfeld as the eighth-greatest TV show of all time.
== Distribution ==
Free streaming service Channel 4 has been running Seinfeld in its original 4:3 format since February 2020. On April 29, 2015, it was officially announced, during Hulu's upfronts presentation in New York, that all nine seasons of Seinfeld would stream on the platform starting in June 2015. The deal was for around $130 million to $180 million. On May 20, 2015, Hulu announced that every episode would be available starting June 24, 2015. Hulu's streaming rights for the series expired on June 23, 2021. In January 2017, Amazon acquired the UK rights to all seasons of Seinfeld for its Amazon Prime Video streaming service.
On November 8, 2016, the Australian streaming service Stan announced via Twitter that later in the week all episodes would be available to stream for the first time in Australia. All episodes were available from November 11, 2016, with the remastered versions of all episodes on the service featuring HD and Widescreen enhancements. The widescreen offered was cropped from the original 4:3 format negatives, thus resulting in better visual quality than the previously available DVD version, however, the top and bottom portions of the frame were cut out to achieve the widescreen aspect ratio. In April 2020, all seasons of Seinfeld were also made available on-demand via pay television service Foxtel, as well as its internet-based alternative Foxtel Now.
In September 2019, Netflix and Sony Pictures announced that Netflix had acquired the exclusive global streaming rights for Seinfeld, starting on October 1, 2021, superseding the above Hulu and Amazon rights. As of 2023, Netflix's version of Seinfeld is available in 4K resolution. The transition was criticized as the show, initially displayed in 4:3 aspect ratio, had been converted to 16:9, resulting in some gags getting cropped, similarly to how The Simpsons was initially rendered on Disney+. Netflix has yet to comment on this situation.
=== Home media releases ===
The hour-long, two-part clip show episode "The Highlights of 100" became the first Seinfeld episode available on home video when it was released on VHS in 1995 by food company General Mills. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment) released all nine seasons of Seinfeld on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 between 2004 and 2007. On November 6, 2007, Seinfeld: The Complete Series was released on DVD. The complete series box set includes a 2007 "roundtable" reunion of the four main cast members and Larry David; only highlights of this were also included in the Season 9 set.
The first complete series box set in Australia (Region 4) was released on October 24, 2007. The second boxset was released on December 2, 2008, and was a Collectible Fridge design packaging. On August 5, 2009, another Limited-Edition boxset was released, similar to the first boxset but does not include the book and the packaging was slightly different. On November 23, 2011, an additional Limited-Edition boxset was released. On November 14, 2018, a Festivus Celebration Edition was released which contained napkins and cups, playing cards and thumb wrestle gadgets. On August 12, 2020, yet another Complete Series boxset was released.
The entire series was released on Blu-ray (in the cropped 16:9 aspect ratio) and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (in the original 4:3 aspect ratio) on December 17, 2024.
=== Syndication ===
According to Barry Meyer, chairman of Warner Bros. Entertainment (parent company of Castle Rock Entertainment), Seinfeld made $2.7 billion through June 2010 through off-network syndication and cable syndication. As of February 2017 the show had made an estimated $4.06 billion in syndication. Steve Bannon, who invested in the show, later said, "We calculated what it would get us if it made it to syndication. We were wrong by a factor of five". In September 2019, it was announced that Viacom (now Paramount Global) had acquired cable syndication rights to the series from TBS, with it airing on Comedy Central from October 2021, to July 2025, Nick at Nite from May 31, 2022, until November 12, 2022, and TV Land since February 11, 2023.
=== High-definition versions ===
There are two high-definition versions of Seinfeld. The first is that of the network television (non-syndicated) versions in the original aspect ratio of 4:3 that were downscaled for the DVD releases. Clips from this high-definition version in its upscale were seen on NBC during The 'Seinfeld' Story special. Syndicated broadcast stations and the cable networks TBS and Comedy Central (and also Fox) began airing the syndicated version of Seinfeld in HD. Unlike the version used for the DVD, Sony Pictures cropped the top and bottom parts of the frame while restoring previously cropped images on the sides from the 35mm film source to use the entire 16:9 frame.
== After Seinfeld ==
=== Another scene ===
On the November 1, 2007, episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld mentioned the possibility of shooting one last scene after the characters leave jail. He mentioned that he was too busy to do it at the time, but did not announce what the scene would entail, as its production is not a certainty. In a commentary from the final season DVD, Seinfeld outlines that he and Jason Alexander spoke about this scene being in Monk's Cafe, with George saying "That was brutal" about the foursome's stint in prison.
On an episode of Saturday Night Live that Jerry Seinfeld hosted on October 2, 1999, a sketch was produced that showed what life was like for Jerry behind bars after being transferred to the fictional prison portrayed on the HBO series Oz. The roughly four-minute sketch shows the opening credits for the HBO series with clips of Jerry mixed in doing various activities around the prison. The sketch continues and mixes in different storylines from both Oz and Seinfeld and has Jerry interacting with various characters from the show in his typical quick-witted, sarcastic way.
=== The Seinfeld "curse" ===
Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander, and Richards have all tried to launch new sitcoms as title-role characters. Almost every show was canceled quickly, usually within the first season. This gave rise to the term Seinfeld curse: the failure of a sitcom starring one of the three, despite the conventional wisdom that each person's Seinfeld popularity should almost guarantee a strong, built-in audience for the actor's new show. Shows specifically cited regarding the Seinfeld curse are Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Watching Ellie, Jason Alexander's Bob Patterson and Listen Up, and Michael Richards's The Michael Richards Show. This phenomenon was mentioned throughout the second season of Larry David's HBO program Curb Your Enthusiasm, which aired in 2001. In real life, David has repeatedly dismissed the idea of a curse, saying, "It's so completely idiotic. It's very hard to have a successful sitcom."
The success of Louis-Dreyfus in the 2006–2010 CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which included winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2006, led many to believe that she had broken the curse. In her acceptance speech, Louis-Dreyfus held up her award and exclaimed, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!" The show produced enough episodes to air in reruns in syndication for several years, something the other shows did not achieve. The Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Louis-Dreyfus made references to the curse. Nevertheless, the series' ratings declined soon after, and it was canceled after the fifth season. She went on to win six further Emmys (for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series) for her acclaimed performance as Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO comedy series Veep.
=== Curb Your Enthusiasm ===
Early in March 2009, it was announced that the Seinfeld cast would reunite for season seven of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The cast first appeared in the third episode of the season, all playing fictional versions of themselves. The season-long story is that Larry David tries to initiate a Seinfeld reunion show as a ploy to win back his ex-wife, Cheryl. Along with the four main characters, some Seinfeld supporting actors like Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris and Steve Hytner appeared in the ninth episode at a table read for the reunion show. Although much dialogue in Curb Your Enthusiasm is improvised, the plot was scripted, and the Seinfeld special that aired within the show was scripted and directed by Seinfeld regular Andy Ackerman, making this the first time since Seinfeld went off the air that the central cast appeared together in a scripted show.
=== Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee ===
Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Wayne Knight, playing their respective Seinfeld characters, appeared in a spot presented during halftime of Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014. Fox came up with the idea of doing such a spot, due in part to the Super Bowl's location being New York City adjacent that year. An uncut version appeared on Crackle.com immediately afterward, as an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee titled "The Over-Cheer", establishing Seinfeld's character on the series as an older version of his Seinfeld character. Although the spot was used to advertise Seinfeld's web series, it was not considered a commercial, as Sony, which produces the series, did not pay for it. While Seinfeld indicated that the webisode would probably be the last cast reunion, saying, "I have a feeling you've seen the final coda on that very unique experience," since then, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have also appeared in episodes. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan | Michigan | Michigan ( MISH-ig-ən) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio to the southeast, and the Canadian province of Ontario to the east, northeast and north. With a population of 10.14 million and an area of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km2), Michigan is the tenth-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by total area east of the Mississippi River. The state capital is Lansing, while its most populous city is Detroit. The Metro Detroit region in Southeast Michigan is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. Other important metropolitan areas include Grand Rapids, Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, the Tri-Cities, and Muskegon.
Michigan consists of two peninsulas: the heavily forested Upper Peninsula (commonly called "the U.P."), which juts eastward from northern Wisconsin, and the more populated Lower Peninsula, stretching north from Ohio and Indiana. The peninsulas are separated by the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and are linked by the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge along Interstate 75. Bordering four of the five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any U.S. political subdivision, measuring 3,288 miles. The state ranks second behind Alaska in water coverage by square miles and first in percentage, with approximately 42%, and it also contains 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.
The Great Lakes region has largely been inhabited for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples such as the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot.
Some people contend that the region's name is derived from the Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ (mishigami), meaning "large water" or "large lake". Others say that it comes from the Mishiiken Tribe of Mackinac Island, also called Michinemackinawgo by Ottawa historian Andrew Blackbird, whose surrounding lands were referred to as Mishiiken-imakinakom, later shortened to Michilimackinac.
In the 17th century, French explorers claimed the area for New France. French settlers and Métis established forts and settlements.
After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the area came under British control and later the U.S. following the Treaty of Paris (1783), though control remained disputed with Indigenous tribes until treaties between 1795 and 1842. The area was part of the larger Northwest Territory; the Michigan Territory was organized in 1805.
Michigan was admitted as the 26th state on January 26, 1837, entering as a free state and quickly developing into an industrial and trade hub that attracted European immigrants, particularly from Finland, Macedonia, and the Netherlands.
In the 1930s, migration from Appalachia and the Middle East and the Great Migration of Black Southerners further shaped the state, especially in Metro Detroit.
Michigan has a diversified economy with a gross state product of $738.308 billion as of Q3 2025, ranking 14th among the 50 states. Although the state has developed a diverse economy, in the early 20th century it became widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, which developed as a major national economic force. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies (whose headquarters are all in Metro Detroit). Once exploited for logging and mining, today the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula is important for tourism because of its abundance of natural resources. The Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech industry.
== History ==
When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were the Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa (Ottawa), and the Boodewaadamii/Bodéwadmi (Potawatomi). The three nations coexisted peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been at least 35,000, were the largest.
The Ojibwe Indians (also known as Chippewa in the U.S.), an Anishinaabe tribe, were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern and central Michigan. Bands also inhabited Ontario and southern Manitoba, Canada; and northern Wisconsin, and northern and north-central Minnesota. Smaller groups of Algonquian Indians like the Noquet in the Upper Peninsula were present for thousands of years but subsequently absorbed by neighboring tribes before and during European contact. The Ottawa Indians lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern, western, and southern Michigan, but also in southern Ontario, northern Ohio, and eastern Wisconsin. The Potawatomi were in southern and western Michigan, in addition to northern and central Indiana, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and southern Ontario. Other Algonquian tribes in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, the Sac (or Sauk), and the Meskwaki (Fox). The Wyandot were an Iroquoian-speaking people in this area; they were historically known as the Huron by the French, and were the historical adversaries of the Iroquois Confederation.
=== 17th century ===
French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé's expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, as a base for Catholic missions. Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were well received by the area's Indian populations, with few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph. In 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present-day city of Niles.
=== 18th century ===
In 1701, French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or "Fort Pontchartrain on-the-Strait" on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes St. Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced Louis XIV's chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and discourage British aspirations.
The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent (about 0.85 acres (3,400 m2), the equivalent of just under 200 feet (61 m) per side) and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in what was considered the wilderness of Michigan. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne (Catholic Church of Saint Anne) was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation remains active. Cadillac later departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716. French attempts to consolidate the fur trade led to the Fox Wars, in which the Meskwaki (Fox) and their allies fought the French and their Native allies.
At the same time, the French strengthened Fort Michilimackinac at the Straits of Mackinac to better control their lucrative fur-trading empire. By the mid-18th century, the French also occupied forts at present-day Niles and Sault Ste. Marie, though most of the rest of the region remained unsettled by Europeans. France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765. It was the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans. French settlers also established small farms south of the Detroit River opposite the fort, near a Jesuit mission and Huron village.
From 1660 until the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France. In 1760, Montreal fell to the British forces, ending the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River were ceded by defeated France to Great Britain. After the Quebec Act was passed in 1774, Michigan became part of the British Province of Quebec. By 1778, Detroit's population reached 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in Quebec province.
During the American Revolutionary War, Detroit was an important British supply center. Most of the inhabitants were French-Canadians or American Indians, many of whom had been allied with the French because of long trading ties. Because of imprecise cartography and unclear language defining the boundaries in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the British retained control of Detroit and Michigan after the American Revolution. When Quebec split into Lower and Upper Canada in 1791, Michigan was part of Kent County, Upper Canada. It held its first democratic elections in August 1792 to send delegates to the new provincial parliament at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake).
Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. It retained control of territory east and south of the Detroit River, which are now included in Ontario, Canada. Questions remained over the boundary for many years, and the United States did not have uncontested control of the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island until 1818 and 1847, respectively.
=== 19th century ===
During the War of 1812, the commander of the Army of the Northwest, Brigadier General William Hull, surrendered Detroit and the Michigan Territory to the British after a nearly bloodless siege in August 1812. An American attempt to retake Detroit in January 1813 resulted in a severe American defeat at the Battle of Frenchtown. This battle, still ranked as the bloodiest ever fought in the state, had the highest number of American casualties of any battle of the war.
Michigan was retaken by the Americans in September 1813 after the British abandoned Detroit following the Battle of Lake Erie. Forces led by Major General William Henry Harrison reoccupied Detroit and launched an invasion of Upper Canada which culminated in a British defeat at the Battle of the Thames. The more northerly areas of Michigan such as Fort Mackinac were held by the British until the 1815 Treaty of Ghent restored the old boundaries. A number of forts, including Fort Wayne, were built by the United States in Michigan during the 19th century out of fears of renewed fighting with Britain.
The population grew slowly until the opening in 1825 of the Erie Canal through the Mohawk Valley in New York, connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and New York City. The new route attracted a large influx of settlers to the Michigan territory. They worked as farmers, lumbermen, shipbuilders, and merchants and shipped out grain, lumber, and iron ore. By the 1830s, Michigan had 30,000 residents, more than enough to apply and qualify for statehood.
A constitutional convention of assent was held to lead the territory to statehood. In October 1835 the people approved the constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government. Congressional recognition was delayed pending resolution of a boundary dispute with Ohio known as the Toledo War. Congress awarded the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio. Michigan received the western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession and formally entered the Union as a free state on January 26, 1837. The Upper Peninsula proved to be a rich source of lumber, iron, and copper. Michigan led the nation in lumber production from the 1850s to the 1880s. Railroads became a major engine of growth from the 1850s onward, with Detroit the chief hub.
A second wave of French-Canadian immigrants settled in Michigan during the late 19th to early 20th century, working in lumbering areas in counties on the Lake Huron side of the Lower Peninsula, such as the Saginaw Valley, Alpena, and Cheboygan counties, as well as throughout the Upper Peninsula, with large concentrations in Escanaba and the Keweenaw Peninsula.
The first statewide meeting of the Republican Party took place on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan, where the party adopted its platform. The state was predominantly Republican until the 1930s, reflecting the political continuity of migrants from across the Northern Tier of New England and New York. Michigan made a significant contribution to the Union in the American Civil War and sent more than forty regiments of volunteers to the federal armies.
=== 20th century ===
Michigan's economy underwent a transformation at the turn of the 20th century. Many individuals, including Ransom E. Olds, John and Horace Dodge, Henry Leland, David Dunbar Buick, Henry Joy, Charles King, and Henry Ford, provided the concentration of engineering know-how and technological enthusiasm to develop the automotive industry. Ford's development of the moving assembly line in Highland Park marked a new era in transportation. Like the steamship and railroad, mass production of automobiles was a far-reaching development. More than the forms of public transportation, the affordable automobile transformed private life. Automobile production became the major industry of Detroit and Michigan, and permanently altered the socioeconomic life of the United States and much of the world.
With the growth, the auto industry created jobs in Detroit that attracted immigrants from Europe and migrants from across the United States, including both blacks and whites from the rural South. By 1920, Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the U.S.. Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom. By the 1930s, so many immigrants had arrived that more than 30 languages were spoken in the public schools, and ethnic communities celebrated in annual heritage festivals. Over the years immigrants and migrants contributed greatly to Detroit's diverse urban culture, including popular music trends. The influential Motown Sound of the 1960s was led by a variety of individual singers and groups.
Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, also became an important center of manufacturing. Since 1838, the city has been noted for its furniture industry. In the 21st century, it is home to five of the world's leading office furniture companies. Grand Rapids is home to a number of major companies including Steelcase, Amway, and Meijer. Grand Rapids is also an important center for GE Aviation Systems.
Michigan held its first United States presidential primary election in 1910. With its rapid growth in industry, it was an important center of industry-wide union organizing, such as the rise of the United Auto Workers.
In 1920 WWJ (AM) in Detroit became the first radio station in the United States to regularly broadcast commercial programs. Throughout that decade, some of the country's largest and most ornate skyscrapers were built in the city. Particularly noteworthy are the Fisher Building, Cadillac Place, and the Guardian Building, each of which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark (NHL).
In 1927 a school bombing took place in Clinton County. The Bath School disaster resulted in the deaths of 38 schoolchildren and constitutes the deadliest mass murder in a school in U.S. history.
Michigan converted much of its manufacturing to satisfy defense needs during World War II; it manufactured 10.9% of the United States military armaments produced during the war, ranking second (behind New York) among the 48 states.
Detroit continued to expand through the 1950s, at one point doubling its population in a decade. After World War II, housing was developed in suburban areas outside city cores to meet demand for residences. The federal government subsidized the construction of interstate highways, which were intended to strengthen military access, but also allowed commuters and business traffic to travel the region more easily. Since 1960, modern advances in the auto industry have led to increased automation, high-tech industry, and increased suburban growth. Longstanding tensions in Detroit culminated in the Twelfth Street riot in July 1967.
During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, increasing fuel costs and other factors made significantly more global competition and recession among families. Michigan lost a significant amount of population due to global competition and the dramatic unavailability of manufacturing jobs. Meanwhile, Michigan had increased use of technology, specifically when the IBM Personal Computer started selling in the state, in which became mostly used at work.
=== 21st century ===
Michigan became the leading auto-producing state in the U.S., with the industry primarily located throughout the Midwestern United States; Ontario, Canada; and the Southern United States. With almost ten million residents in 2010, Michigan is a large and influential state, ranking tenth in population among the fifty states. Detroit is the centrally located metropolitan area of the Great Lakes megalopolis and the second-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. (after Chicago) linking the Great Lakes system.
The Metro Detroit area in Southeast Michigan is the state's largest metropolitan area (roughly 50% of the population resides there) and the eleventh largest in the United States. The Grand Rapids metropolitan area in Western Michigan is the state's fastest-growing metro area, with more than 1.3 million residents as of 2006.
== Geography ==
Michigan consists of two peninsulas separated by the Straits of Mackinac. The 45th parallel north runs through the state, marked by highway signs and the Polar-Equator Trail— along a line including Mission Point Light near Traverse City, the towns of Gaylord and Alpena in the Lower Peninsula and Menominee in the Upper Peninsula. With the exception of two tiny areas drained by the Mississippi River by way of the Wisconsin River in the Upper Peninsula and by way of the Kankakee-Illinois River in the Lower Peninsula, Michigan is drained by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed and is the only state with the majority of its land thus drained. No point in the state is more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.
The Great Lakes that border Michigan from east to west are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. The state is bounded on the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, sharing land and water boundaries with both. Michigan's western boundaries are almost entirely water boundaries, from south to north, with Illinois and Wisconsin in Lake Michigan; then a land boundary with Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, that is principally demarcated by the Menominee and Montreal Rivers; then water boundaries again, in Lake Superior, with Wisconsin and Minnesota to the west, capped around by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and east.
The heavily forested Upper Peninsula is relatively mountainous in the west. The Porcupine Mountains, which are part of one of the oldest mountain chains in the world, rise to an altitude of almost 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and form the watershed between the streams flowing into Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The surface on either side of this range is rugged. The state's highest point, in the Huron Mountains northwest of Marquette, is Mount Arvon at 1,979 feet (603 m). The peninsula is as large as Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island combined but has fewer than 330,000 inhabitants. The people are sometimes called "Yoopers" (from "U.P.'ers"), and their speech (the "Yooper dialect") has been heavily influenced by the numerous Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants who settled the area during the lumbering and mining boom of the late 19th century.
The Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten and many residents hold up a hand to depict where they are from. It is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west and occupies nearly two-thirds of the state's land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills and glacial moraines usually not more than a few hundred feet tall. It is divided by a low water divide running north and south. The larger portion of the state is on the west of this and gradually slopes toward Lake Michigan. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is either Briar Hill at 1,705 feet (520 m), or one of several points nearby in the vicinity of Cadillac. The lowest point is the surface of Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m).
The geographic orientation of Michigan's peninsulas makes for a long distance between the ends of the state. Ironwood, in the far western Upper Peninsula, lies 630 miles (1,010 kilometers) by highway from Lambertville in the Lower Peninsula's southeastern corner. The geographic isolation of the Upper Peninsula from Michigan's political and population centers makes the region culturally and economically distinct. Frequent attempts to establish the Upper Peninsula as its own state have failed to gain traction.
A feature of Michigan that gives it the distinct shape of a mitten is the Thumb, which projects into Lake Huron, forming Saginaw Bay. Other notable peninsulas of Michigan include the Keweenaw Peninsula, which projects northeasterly into Lake Superior from the Upper Peninsula and largely comprising Michigan's Copper Country region, and the Leelanau Peninsula, projecting from the Lower Peninsula into Lake Michigan, forming Michigan's "little finger".
Numerous lakes and marshes mark both peninsulas, and the coast is much indented. Keweenaw Bay, Whitefish Bay, and the Big and Little Bays De Noc are the principal indentations on the Upper Peninsula. The Grand and Little Traverse, Thunder, and Saginaw bays indent the Lower Peninsula. Michigan has the second longest shoreline of any state—3,288 miles (5,292 km), including 1,056 miles (1,699 km) of island shoreline.
The state has numerous large islands, the principal ones being the North Manitou and South Manitou, Beaver, and Fox groups in Lake Michigan; Isle Royale and Grande Isle in Lake Superior; Marquette, Bois Blanc, and Mackinac islands in Lake Huron; and Neebish, Sugar, and Drummond islands in St. Mary's River. Michigan has about 150 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822. They were built to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the passenger ships and freighters traveling the Great Lakes (see: lighthouses in the United States).
The state's rivers are generally small, short and shallow, and few are navigable. The principal ones include the Detroit River, St. Marys River, and St. Clair River which connect the Great Lakes; the Au Sable, Cheboygan, and Saginaw, which flow into Lake Huron; the Ontonagon, and Tahquamenon, which flow into Lake Superior; and the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, and Escanaba, which flow into Lake Michigan. The state has 11,037 inland lakes—totaling 1,305 square miles (3,380 km2) of inland water—in addition to 38,575 square miles (99,910 km2) of Great Lakes waters. No point in Michigan is more than six miles (9.7 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.
The state is home to several areas maintained by the National Park Service including: Isle Royale National Park, in Lake Superior, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Other national protected areas in the state include: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Huron National Forest, Manistee National Forest, Hiawatha National Forest, Ottawa National Forest and Father Marquette National Memorial. The largest section of the North Country National Scenic Trail passes through Michigan.
With 78 state parks, 19 state recreation areas, and six state forests, Michigan has the largest state park and state forest system of any state.
=== Climate ===
Michigan has a continental climate with two distinct regions. The southern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula (south of Saginaw Bay and from the Grand Rapids area southward) have a warmer climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of the Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate (Köppen Dfb), with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. Some parts of the state average high temperatures below freezing from December through February, and into early March in the far northern parts. During the winter through the middle of February, the state is frequently subjected to heavy lake-effect snow. The state averages from 30 to 40 inches (76 to 102 cm) of precipitation annually; however, some areas in the northern lower peninsula and the upper peninsula average almost 160 inches (4,100 mm) of snowfall per year. Michigan's highest recorded temperature is 112 °F (44 °C) at Mio on July 13, 1936, and the coldest recorded temperature is −51 °F (−46 °C) at Vanderbilt on February 9, 1934.
The state averages 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year. These can be severe, especially in the southern part of the state. The state averages 17 tornadoes per year, which are more common in the state's extreme southern section. Portions of the southern border have been almost as vulnerable historically as states further west and in Tornado Alley. For this reason, many communities in the very southern portions of the state have tornado sirens to warn residents of approaching tornadoes. Farther north, in Central Michigan, Northern Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula, tornadoes are rare.
=== Geology ===
The geological formation of the state is greatly varied, with the Michigan Basin being the most major formation. Primary boulders are found over the entire surface of the Upper Peninsula (being principally of primitive origin), while Secondary deposits cover the entire Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula exhibits Lower Silurian sandstones, limestones, copper and iron bearing rocks, corresponding to the Huronian system of Canada. The central portion of the Lower Peninsula contains coal measures and rocks of the Pennsylvanian period. Devonian and sub-Carboniferous deposits are scattered over the entire state.
Michigan rarely experiences earthquakes, and those that it does experience are generally smaller ones that do not cause significant damage. A 4.6-magnitude earthquake struck in August 1947. More recently, a 4.2-magnitude earthquake occurred on Saturday, May 2, 2015, shortly after noon, about five miles south of Galesburg, Michigan (9 miles southeast of Kalamazoo) in central Michigan, about 140 miles west of Detroit, according to the Colorado-based U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. No major damage or injuries were reported, according to then-Governor Rick Snyder's office.
=== Administrative divisions ===
State government is decentralized among three tiers—statewide, county and township. Counties are administrative divisions of the state, and townships are administrative divisions of a county. Both of them exercise state government authority, localized to meet the particular needs of their jurisdictions, as provided by state law. There are 83 counties in Michigan.
Cities, state universities, and villages are vested with home rule powers of varying degrees. Home rule cities can generally do anything not prohibited by law. The fifteen state universities have broad power and can do anything within the parameters of their status as educational institutions that is not prohibited by the state constitution. Villages, by contrast, have limited home rule and are not completely autonomous from the county and township in which they are located.
There are two types of township in Michigan: general law township and charter. Charter township status was created by the Legislature in 1947 and grants additional powers and stream-lined administration in order to provide greater protection against annexation by a city. As of April 2001, there were 127 charter townships in Michigan. In general, charter townships have many of the same powers as a city but without the same level of obligations. For example, a charter township can have its own fire department, water and sewer department, police department, and so on—just like a city—but it is not required to have those things, whereas cities must provide those services. Charter townships can opt to use county-wide services instead, such as deputies from the county sheriff's office instead of a home-based force of ordinance officers.
== Demographics ==
Since the 1800 U.S. census, Michigan has experienced relatively positive and stable population growth trends; beginning with a population of 3,757, the 2010 census recorded 9,883,635 residents. At the 2020 United States census, its population was 10,077,331, an increase of 2.03% since 2010's tabulation. According to the United States Census Bureau, it is the third-most populous state in the Midwest and its East North Central subregion, behind Ohio and Illinois.
The center of population of Michigan is in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is northwest of the village of Morrice.
According to the American Immigration Council in 2019, an estimated 6.8% of Michiganders were immigrants, while 3.8% were native-born U.S. citizens with at least one immigrant parent. Numbering approximately 678,255 according to the 2019 survey, the majority of Michigander immigrants came from Mexico (11.5%), India (11.3%), Iraq (7.5%), China (5.3%), and Canada (5.3%); the primary occupations of its immigrants were technology, agriculture, and healthcare. Among its immigrant cohort, there were 108,105 undocumented immigrants, making up 15.9% of the total immigrant population.
According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 8,206 homeless people in Michigan.
=== Race and ethnicity ===
Since colonial European and American settlement, the majority of Michigan's population has been predominantly non-Hispanic or non-Latino white; Americans of European descent live throughout every county in the state, and most of Metro Detroit. Large European American groups include those of German, British, Irish, Polish and Belgian ancestry. Scandinavian and Finnish Americans have a notable presence in the Upper Peninsula. Western Michigan is known for its Dutch heritage, especially in Holland and metropolitan Grand Rapids.
Black and African Americans—coming to Detroit and other northern cities in the Great Migration of the early 20th century—have formed a majority of the population in Detroit and other cities including Flint and Benton Harbor. Since the 2021 census estimates—while Detroit was still the largest city in Michigan with a majority black population—it was no longer the largest black-majority city in the U.S., citing crime and higher-paying jobs given to whites.
As of 2007, about 300,000 people in Southeastern Michigan trace their descent from the Middle East and Asia. Dearborn has a sizeable Arab American community, with many Assyrians, and Lebanese who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, along with more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. Dearborn also houses an Armenian minority population, initially consisting of entirely young men. There is a statue of Komitas, an Armenian priest and composer, standing on Jefferson Avenue, in Detroit. As of 2007, almost 8,000 Hmong people lived in the state of Michigan, about double their 1999 presence in the state. Most lived in northeastern Detroit, but they had been increasingly moving to Pontiac and Warren. By 2015, the number of Hmong in the Detroit city limits had significantly declined. Lansing hosts a statewide Hmong New Year Festival. The Hmong community also had a prominent portrayal in the 2008 film Gran Torino, which was set in Detroit.
As of 2015, 80% of Michigan's Japanese population lived in the counties of Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne in the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas. As of April 2013, the largest Japanese national population is in Novi, with 2,666 Japanese residents, and the next largest populations are respectively in Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield Township, Farmington Hills, and Battle Creek. The state has 481 Japanese employment facilities providing 35,554 local jobs. 391 of them are in Southeast Michigan, providing 20,816 jobs, and the 90 in other regions in the state provide 14,738 jobs. The Japanese Direct Investment Survey of the Consulate-General of Japan, Detroit stated more than 2,208 additional Japanese residents were employed in the State of Michigan as of 1 October 2012, than in 2011. During the 1990s, the Japanese population of Michigan experienced an increase, and many Japanese people with children moved to particular areas for their proximity to Japanese grocery stores and high-performing schools.
=== Languages ===
In 2010, about 91.11% (8,507,947) of Michigan residents age five and older spoke only English at home, while 2.93% (273,981) spoke Spanish, 1.04% (97,559) Arabic, 0.44% (41,189) German, 0.36% (33,648) Chinese (which includes Mandarin), 0.31% (28,891) French, 0.29% (27,019) Polish, and Syriac languages (such as Modern Aramaic and Northeastern Neo-Aramaic) was spoken as a main language by 0.25% (23,420) of the population over the age of five. In total, 8.89% (830,281) of Michigan's population age five and older spoke a mother language other than English. Since 2021, 90.1% of residents aged five and older spoke only English at home, and Spanish was the second-most spoken language with 2.9% of the population speaking it.
=== Religion ===
Following British and French colonization of the region surrounding Michigan, Christianity became the dominant religion, with Roman Catholicism historically being the largest single Christian group for the state. Until the 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church was the only organized religious group in Michigan, reflecting the territory's French colonial roots. Detroit's St. Anne's parish, established in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, is the second-oldest Roman Catholic parish in the United States. On March 8, 1833, the Holy See formally established a diocese in the Michigan territory, which included all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas east of the Mississippi River. When Michigan became a state in 1837, the boundary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit was redrawn to coincide with that of the state; the other dioceses were later carved out from the Detroit Diocese but remain part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit. Several Native American religions have been practiced in Michigan.
In 2020, there were 1,492,732 adherents of Roman Catholicism. There's also a significant Independent Catholic presence in Metro Detroit, including the Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ established by Archbishop Karl Rodig; the see of this church operates in a former Roman Catholic parish church.
With the introduction of Protestantism to the state, it began to form the largest collective Christian group. In 2010, the Association of Religion Data Archives reported the largest Protestant denomination was the United Methodist Church with 228,521 adherents; followed by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 219,618, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 120,598 adherents. The Christian Reformed Church in North America had almost 100,000 members and more than 230 congregations in Michigan. The Reformed Church in America had 76,000 members and 154 congregations in the state. By the 2020 study, non- and inter-denominational Protestant churches formed the largest Protestant group in Michigan, numbering 508,904. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod grew to become the second-largest single Christian denomination, and United Methodists declined to being the third-largest. The Lutheran Protestant tradition was introduced by German and Scandinavian immigrants. Altogether, Baptists numbered 321,581 between the National Missionary Baptists, National Baptists, American Baptists, Southern Baptists, National Baptists of America, Progressive National Baptists, and Full Gospel Baptists; black Baptists formed the largest constituency. In West Michigan, Dutch immigrants fled from the specter of religious persecution and famine in the Netherlands around 1850 and settled in and around what is now Holland, Michigan, establishing a "colony" on American soil that fervently held onto Calvinist doctrine that established a significant presence of Reformed churches.
In the same 2010 survey, Jewish adherents in the state of Michigan were estimated at 44,382, and Muslims at 120,351. The first Jewish synagogue in the state was Temple Beth El, founded by twelve German Jewish families in Detroit in 1850. Islam was introduced by immigrants from the Near East during the 20th century. Michigan is home to the largest mosque in North America, the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. Battle Creek, Michigan, is also the birthplace of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was founded on May 21, 1863.
== Economy ==
Michigan is among the wealthiest regions in the world. As of 2025, its gross state product (GSP) stands at $738 billion ($72,898 per capita), ranking 14th among the 50 U.S. states. Michigan's nominal GDP is larger than that of every nation in Africa and all but three nations in South America. Its nominal per capita GDP exceeds all but two nations in the European Union. When adjusted for purchasing power parity, Michigan's per capita GDP is significantly higher than the European average, surpassing the figures of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
As of December 2025, the state recorded total non-farm employment of 4,543,300 across 315,965 employer establishments. Michigan is home to 15 Fortune 500 companies as of 2024, and in 2025 alone, 152,800 new businesses were formed. The state's 983,079 small businesses represent 99.6% of all businesses and employ 47.7% of the state's workforce. As of May 2025, Michigan had an unemployment rate of 5.4%.
The state's five largest employment sectors are education and health services; professional and business services; manufacturing; trade, transportation, and utilities; and leisure and hospitality. In output, the five largest sectors are manufacturing, followed by financial services; professional and business services; education and health services; and trade, transportation, and utilities.
As the busiest international border crossing in North America by trade volume, the Detroit–Windsor crossing plays a pivotal role in the global supply chain, handling approximately one third of all Canada–U.S. trade. Additionally, the Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes, is the world's busiest lock system by tonnage, with 80 million tons passing through annually.
Michigan's economy is heavily reliant on trade, with international commerce accounting for roughly 42% of the state's economy; Canada remains its largest trading partner. Manufacturing, particularly the automotive industry, generates one seventh of the state's economy. In 2023, Michigan exported $81 billion worth of goods. Transportation equipment, including motor vehicles and parts, is the state's top export, accounting for 45% of all exports in 2022. Michigan ranks first in the nation for the export of motor vehicles and parts.
=== Taxation and regulation ===
Michigan's personal income tax is a flat rate of 4.25%. In addition, 24 cities impose income taxes; rates are set at 1% for residents and 0.5% for non-residents in all but four cities. Michigan's state sales tax is 6%, though items such as food and medication are exempted. Property taxes are assessed on the local level, but every property owner's local assessment contributes six mills (a rate of $6 per $1000 of property value) to the statutory State Education Tax. Property taxes are appealable to local boards of review and need the approval of the local electorate to exceed millage rates prescribed by state law and local charters. In 2011, the state repealed its business tax and replaced it with a 6% corporate income tax which substantially reduced taxes on business. Article IX of the Constitution of the State of Michigan also provides limitations on how much the state can tax.
A 6% use tax is levied on goods purchased outside the state (that are brought in and used in state), at parity with the sales tax. The use tax applies to internet sales/purchases from outside Michigan and is equivalent to the sales tax.
On December 20, 2019, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of bills into law effectively legalizing online gambling activities in Michigan, which allowed commercial and tribal casinos to apply for internet gaming licenses.
=== Agriculture ===
A wide variety of commodity crops, fruits, and vegetables are grown in Michigan, making it second only to California among US states in the diversity of its agriculture. The state has 54,800 farms utilizing 10,000,000 acres (40,000 km2) of land which sold $6.49 billion worth of products in 2010. The most valuable agricultural product is milk. Leading crops include corn, soybeans, flowers, wheat, sugar beets, and potatoes. Livestock in the state included 78,000 sheep, a million cattle, a million hogs, and more than three million chickens. Livestock products accounted for 38% of the value of agricultural products while crops accounted for the majority.
Michigan is a leading grower of fruit in the US, including blueberries, tart cherries, apples, grapes, and peaches.
Michigan produces 70 percent of the country's cherries. Most of these cherries are Montmorency cherries.
Plums, pears, and strawberries are also grown in Michigan. These fruits are mainly grown in West Michigan due to the moderating effect of Lake Michigan on the climate. There is also significant fruit production, especially cherries, but also grapes, apples, and other fruits, in northwest Michigan along Lake Michigan. Michigan produces wines, beers and a multitude of processed food products. Kellogg's cereal is based in Battle Creek, Michigan and processes many locally grown foods. Thornapple Valley, Ball Park Franks, Koegel Meat Company, and Hebrew National sausage companies are all based in Michigan.
Michigan is home to very fertile land in the Saginaw Valley and Thumb areas. Products grown there include corn, sugar beets, navy beans, and soybeans. Sugar beet harvesting usually begins the first of October. It takes the sugar factories about five months to process the 3.7 million tons of sugarbeets into 485,000 tons of pure, white sugar. Michigan's largest sugar refiner, Michigan Sugar Company is the largest east of the Mississippi River and the fourth largest in the nation. Michigan sugar brand names are Pioneer Sugar and the newly incorporated Big Chief Sugar. Potatoes are grown in Northern Michigan, and corn is dominant in Central Michigan. Alfalfa, cucumbers, and asparagus are also grown.
=== Tourism ===
As of 2011, Michigan's tourists spent $17.2 billion per year in the state, supporting 193,000 tourism jobs. Michigan's tourism website ranks among the busiest in the nation. Destinations draw vacationers, hunters, and nature enthusiasts from across the United States and Canada. Michigan is over 50% forest land, much of it quite remote. The forests, lakes and thousands of miles of beaches are top attractions. Event tourism draws large numbers to occasions like the Tulip Time Festival and the National Cherry Festival.
In 2006, the Michigan State Board of Education mandated all public schools in the state hold their first day of school after Labor Day, in accordance with the new post-Labor Day school law. A survey found 70% of all tourism business comes directly from Michigan residents, and the Michigan Hotel, Motel, & Resort Association claimed the shorter summer between school years cut into the annual tourism season. However, a bill introduced in 2023 would cancel this requirement, allowing individual districts to decide when their school year should begin.
Tourism in metropolitan Detroit draws visitors to leading attractions, especially The Henry Ford, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Zoo, and to sports in Detroit. Other museums include the Detroit Historical Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, museums in the Cranbrook Educational Community, and the Arab American National Museum. The metro area offers four major casinos, MGM Grand Detroit, Hollywood Casino, Motor City, and Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; moreover, Detroit is the largest American city and metropolitan region to offer casino resorts.
Hunting and fishing are significant industries in the state. Charter boats are based in many Great Lakes cities to fish for salmon, trout, walleye, and perch. Michigan ranks first in the nation in licensed hunters (over one million) who contribute $2 billion annually to its economy. More than three-quarters of a million hunters participate in white-tailed deer season alone. Many school districts in rural areas of Michigan cancel school on the opening day of firearm deer season, because of attendance concerns.
Michigan's Department of Natural Resources manages the largest dedicated state forest system in the nation. The forest products industry and recreational users contribute $12 billion and 200,000 associated jobs annually to the state's economy. Public hiking and hunting access has also been secured in extensive commercial forests. The state has the highest number of golf courses and registered snowmobiles in the nation.
The state has numerous historical markers, which can themselves become the center of a tour. The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.
With its position in relation to the Great Lakes and the countless ships that have foundered over the many years they have been used as a transport route for people and bulk cargo, Michigan is a world-class scuba diving destination. The Michigan Underwater Preserves are 13 underwater areas where wrecks are protected for the benefit of sport divers.
== Culture ==
=== Arts ===
==== Music ====
Michigan music is known for three music trends: early punk rock, Motown/soul music and techno music. Michigan musicians include Tally Hall, Bill Haley & His Comets, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye "The Prince of Soul", Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Aretha Franklin, Mary Wells, Tommy James and the Shondells, ? and the Mysterians, Al Green, The Spinners, Grand Funk Railroad, the Stooges, the MC5, the Knack, Madonna "The Queen of Pop", Bob Seger, Jack Scott, Ray Parker Jr., Jackie Wilson, Aaliyah, Eminem, Babytron, Kid Rock, Jack White and Meg White (the White Stripes), Big Sean, Alice Cooper, Greta Van Fleet, Mustard Plug, and Del Shannon.
==== Performance arts ====
Major theaters in Michigan include the Fox Theatre, Music Hall, Gem Theatre, Masonic Temple Theatre, the Detroit Opera House, Fisher Theatre, The Fillmore Detroit, Saint Andrew's Hall, Majestic Theater, and Orchestra Hall.
The Nederlander Organization, the largest controller of Broadway productions in New York City, originated in Detroit.
=== Sports ===
Michigan's major-league sports teams include: Detroit Tigers baseball team, Detroit Lions football team, Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team, and the Detroit Pistons men's basketball team. All of Michigan's major league teams play in the Metro Detroit area. The state also has a professional second-tier (USL Championship) soccer team in Detroit City FC, which plays its home games at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan.
The Pistons played at Detroit's Cobo Arena until 1978 and at the Pontiac Silverdome until 1988 when they moved into The Palace of Auburn Hills. In 2017, the team moved to the newly built Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit. The Detroit Lions played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit until 1974, then moved to the Pontiac Silverdome where they played for 27 years between 1975 and 2002 before moving to Ford Field in Detroit in 2002. The Detroit Tigers played at Tiger Stadium (formerly known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium) from 1912 to 1999. In 2000, they moved to Comerica Park. The Red Wings played at Olympia Stadium before moving to Joe Louis Arena in 1979. They later moved to Little Caesars Arena to join the Pistons as tenants in 2017. Professional hockey got its start in 1903 in Houghton, Michigan, when the Portage Lakers were formed.
The Michigan International Speedway is the site of NASCAR races and Detroit was formerly the site of a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix race. From 1959 to 1961, Detroit Dragway hosted the NHRA's U.S. Nationals. Michigan is home to one of the major canoeing marathons: the 120-mile (190 km) Au Sable River Canoe Marathon. The Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race is also a favorite.
Twenty-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams was born in Saginaw. The 2011 World Champion for Women's Artistic Gymnastics, Jordyn Wieber is from DeWitt. Wieber was also a member of the gold medal team at the London Olympics in 2012.
Collegiate sports in Michigan are popular in addition to professional sports. The state's two largest athletic programs are the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans. They compete in the NCAA Big Ten Conference for most sports. The Michigan High School Athletic Association features around 300,000 participants.
== Education ==
Michigan's education system serves nearly 1.4 million K-12 students in public schools as of the 2024–25 school year. In 2008–09, more than 124,000 students attend private schools and an uncounted number are homeschooled under certain legal requirements. The public school system had a $14.5 billion budget in 2008–09. From 2009 to 2019, over 200 private schools in Michigan closed, partly due to competition from charter schools. In 2022, U.S. News & World Report rated three Michigan high schools among the nation's 100 best: City High Middle School (18th), the International Academy of Macomb (21st), and the International Academy (52nd). Washtenaw International High School ranked 107th.
The University of Michigan is Michigan's oldest higher educational institution and among the oldest research universities in the nation. It was founded in 1817, 20 years before Michigan Territory achieved statehood. Kalamazoo College is the state's oldest private liberal arts college, founded in 1833 by a group of Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute. From 1840 to 1850, the college operated as the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan. Methodist settlers in Spring Arbor Township founded Albion College in 1835. It is the state's second-oldest private liberal arts college.
Michigan Technological University is the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School. Eastern Michigan University was founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School for the training of teachers. It was the nation's fourth-oldest normal school and the first U.S. normal school outside New England. In 1899, the Michigan State Normal School became the nation's first normal school to offer a four-year curriculum. Michigan State University was founded in 1855 as the nation's first agricultural college.
The Carnegie Foundation classifies eight of the state's institutions (Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State University, Central Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Oakland University, University of Michigan) as research universities.
The state of Michigan has six MD-granting medical schools: Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University, University of Michigan Medical School, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, and Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. Additionally, Michigan is home to five American Bar Association accredited law schools: Michigan State University College of Law, Cooley Law School, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, and Wayne State University Law School.
In 2006, the University Research Corridor in Michigan was formed with the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University as members. It was renamed Research Universities for Michigan in May 2025, adding Michigan Technological University as its first new member.
== Infrastructure ==
=== Energy ===
In 2020, Michigan consumed 113,740- gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electrical energy and produced 116,700 (GWh) of electrical energy.
Coal power is Michigan's leading source of electricity, producing roughly half its supply or 53,100 GWh of electrical energy (12.6 GW total capacity) in 2020. Although Michigan has no active coal mines, coal is easily moved from other states by train and across the Great Lakes by lake freighters. The lower price of natural gas is leading to the closure of most coal plants, with Consumer Energy planning to close all of its remaining coal plants by 2025; DTE plans to retire 2100MW of coal power by 2023. The coal-fired Monroe Power Plant in Monroe, on the western shore of Lake Erie, is the nation's 11th-largest electric plant, with a net capacity of 3,400 MW.
Nuclear power is also a significant source of electrical power in Michigan, producing roughly one-quarter of the state's supply or 28,000-gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electrical energy (4.3 GW total capacity) in 2020. The three active nuclear power plants supply Michigan with about 26% of its electricity. Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, just north of Bridgman, is the state's largest nuclear power plant, with a net capacity of 2,213 MW. The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is the second-largest, with a net capacity of 1,150 MW. It is also one of the two nuclear power plants in the Detroit metropolitan area (within a 50-mile radius of Detroit's city center), about halfway between Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, the other being the Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station, in Ottawa County, Ohio. The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, south of South Haven, closed in May 2022. The Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant, Michigan's first nuclear power plant and the nation's fifth, was decommissioned in 1997.
Utility companies were required to generate at least 10% of their energy from renewable sources by 2015, under Public Act 295 of 2008. In 2016, the legislature set another mandate to reach at least 12.5% renewable energy by 2019 and 15% by end of year 2021, which all utilities subject to the law successfully met. By the end of 2022, Michigan had at least 6 GW of renewable generating capacity, and was projected to have at least 8 GW by the end of 2026. Wind energy accounted for 59% of all Michigan energy credits in 2021.
=== Transportation ===
==== International crossings ====
Michigan has seven international crossings with Ontario, Canada:
Ambassador Bridge, North America's busiest international border, crossing the Detroit River
Blue Water Bridge, a twin-span bridge (Port Huron, Michigan, and Point Edward, Ontario, but the larger city of Sarnia is usually referred to on the Canadian side)
Canadian Pacific Railway tunnel
Detroit–Windsor Tunnel
International Bridge (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario)
St. Clair River Railway Tunnel (Port Huron and Sarnia)
Walpole–Algonac Ferry (Algonac, Michigan, and Walpole Island First Nation, Ontario)
The Gordie Howe International Bridge, a second international bridge between Detroit and Windsor, is under construction. It is expected to be completed in early 2026.
Michigan only has one major ferry service still in operation with Ontario, the Walpole–Algonac Ferry, after the closures of the Bluewater Ferry and the Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry.
==== Railroads ====
Michigan is served by four Class I railroads: the Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, and the Norfolk Southern Railway. These are augmented by several dozen short line railroads. The vast majority of rail service in Michigan is devoted to freight, with Amtrak and various scenic railroads the exceptions.
Three Amtrak passenger rail routes serve the state. The Pere Marquette from Chicago to Grand Rapids, the Blue Water from Chicago to Port Huron, and the Wolverine from Chicago to Pontiac. There are plans for commuter rail for Detroit and its suburbs (see SEMCOG Commuter Rail).
==== Roadways ====
Interstate 75 (I-75) is the main thoroughfare between Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw extending north to Sault Ste. Marie and providing access to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The freeway crosses the Mackinac Bridge between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Auxiliary highways include I-275 and I-375 in Detroit; I-475 in Flint; and I-675 in Saginaw.
I-69 enters the state near the Michigan–Ohio–Indiana border, and it extends to Port Huron and provides access to the Blue Water Bridge crossing into Sarnia, Ontario.
I-94 enters the western end of the state at the Indiana border, and it travels east to Detroit and then northeast to Port Huron and ties in with I-69. I-194 branches off from this freeway in Battle Creek. I-94 is the main artery between Chicago and Detroit.
I-96 runs east–west between Detroit and Muskegon. I-496 loops through Lansing. I-196 branches off from this freeway at Grand Rapids and connects to I-94 near Benton Harbor. I-696 branches off from this freeway at Novi and connects to I-94 near St. Clair Shores.
U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) enters Michigan at the city of Ironwood and travels east to the town of Crystal Falls, where it turns south and briefly re-enters Wisconsin northwest of Florence. It re-enters Michigan north of Iron Mountain and continues through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the cities of Escanaba, Manistique, and St. Ignace. Along the way, it cuts through the Ottawa and Hiawatha national forests and follows the northern shore of Lake Michigan. Its eastern terminus lies at exit 344 on I-75, just north of the Mackinac Bridge.
US 23 enters Michigan at the Ohio state line in the suburban spillover of Toledo, Ohio, as a freeway and leads northward to Ann Arbor before merging with I-75 just south of Flint. Concurrent with I-75 through Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City, it splits from I-75 at Standish as an intermittently four-lane/two-lane surface road closely following the western shore of Lake Huron generally northward through Alpena before turning west to northwest toward Mackinaw City and I-75 again, where it terminates.
US 31 enters Michigan as Interstate-quality freeway at the Indiana state line just northwest of South Bend, Indiana, heads north to I-196 near Benton Harbor, and follows the eastern shore of Lake Michigan to Mackinaw City, where it has its northern terminus.
US 127 enters Michigan from Ohio south of Hudson as a two-lane, undivided highway and closely follows the Michigan meridian, the principal north–south line used to survey Michigan in the early 19th century. It passes north through Jackson and Lansing before terminating south of Grayling at I-75, and is a four-lane freeway for the majority of its course.
US 131 has its southern terminus at the Indiana Toll Road roughly one mile south of the Indiana state line as a two-lane surface road. It passes through Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids as a freeway of Interstate standard and continues as such to Manton, where it reverts to two-lane surface road to its northern terminus at US 31 in Petoskey.
==== Intercity bus services ====
Amtrak Thruway
Barons Bus Lines
Flixbus
Greyhound Lines
Indian Trails
Megabus
==== Airports ====
Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the western suburb of Romulus, was in 2010 the 16th busiest airfield in North America measured by passenger traffic. The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids is the next busiest airport in the state, served by eight airlines to 23 destinations. Flint Bishop International Airport is the third largest airport in the state, served by four airlines to several primary hubs. Other frequently trafficked airports include Cherry Capital Airport, in Traverse City; Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport, serving the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek region; Capital Region International Airport, located outside of Lansing; and MBS International Airport serving the Midland, Bay City and Saginaw tri-city region. Additionally, smaller regional and local airports are located throughout the state including on several islands.
== Government ==
=== State government ===
Michigan is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate; and the judicial branch. The Michigan Constitution allows for the direct participation of the electorate by statutory initiative and referendum, recall, and constitutional initiative and referral (Article II, § 9, defined as "the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws, called the initiative, and the power to approve or reject laws enacted by the legislature, called the referendum. The power of initiative extends only to laws which the legislature may enact under this constitution"). Lansing is the state capital and is home to all three branches of state government.
The governor and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be re-elected only once. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer. Michigan has two official Governor's Residences; one is in Lansing, and the other is on Mackinac Island. The other constitutionally elected executive officers are the lieutenant governor, who is elected on a joint ticket with the governor; the secretary of state; and the attorney general. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate (voting only in case of a tie) and is also a member of the cabinet. The secretary of state is the chief elections officer and is charged with running many licensure programs including motor vehicles, all of which are done through the branch offices of the secretary of state.
The Michigan Legislature consists of a 38-member Senate and 110-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the legislature are elected through first past the post elections by single-member electoral districts of near-equal population that often have boundaries which coincide with county and municipal lines. Senators serve four-year terms concurrent to those of the governor, while representatives serve two-year terms. The Michigan State Capitol was dedicated in 1879 and has hosted the executive and legislative branches of the state ever since.
The Michigan judiciary consists of two courts with primary jurisdiction (the Circuit Courts and the District Courts), one intermediate level appellate court (the Michigan Court of Appeals), and the Michigan Supreme Court. There are several administrative courts and specialized courts. District courts are trial courts of limited jurisdiction, handling most traffic violations, small claims, misdemeanors, and civil suits where the amount contended is below $25,000. District courts are often responsible for handling the preliminary examination and for setting bail in felony cases. District court judges are elected to terms of six years. In a few locations, municipal courts have been retained to the exclusion of the establishment of district courts. There are 57 circuit courts in the State of Michigan, which have original jurisdiction over all civil suits where the amount contended in the case exceeds $25,000 and all criminal cases involving felonies. Circuit courts are also the only trial courts in the State of Michigan which possess the power to issue equitable remedies. Circuit courts have appellate jurisdiction from district and municipal courts, as well as from decisions and decrees of state agencies. Most counties have their own circuit court, but sparsely populated counties often share them. Circuit court judges are elected to terms of six years. State appellate court judges are elected to terms of six years, but vacancies are filled by an appointment by the governor. There are four divisions of the Court of Appeals in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Marquette. Cases are heard by the Court of Appeals by panels of three judges, who examine the application of the law and not the facts of the case unless there has been grievous error pertaining to questions of fact. The Michigan Supreme Court consists of seven members who are elected on non-partisan ballots for staggered eight-year terms. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction only in narrow circumstances but holds appellate jurisdiction over the entire state judicial system.
=== Law ===
Michigan has had four constitutions, the first of which was ratified on October 5 and 6, 1835. There were also constitutions from 1850 and 1908, in addition to the current constitution from 1963. The current document has a preamble, 11 articles, and one section consisting of a schedule and temporary provisions. The current constitution also includes a provision beginning in the general election held in 1978, and every 16 years thereafter, the question of a general revision of the constitution shall be submitted to the electors of the state, next scheduled to be considered November 2026. Michigan, like every U.S. state except Louisiana, has a common law legal system.
=== Politics ===
Having been a Democratic-leaning state at the presidential level since the 1990s, Michigan has evolved into a swing state after Donald Trump won the state in 2016. He then won it again in 2024, after losing it by a slim 2.8% to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Governors since the 1970s have alternated between the Democrats and Republicans, and statewide offices including attorney general, secretary of state, and senator have been held by members of both parties in varying proportion. Additionally, from 1994 until 2022, the governor-elect had always come from the party opposite the presidency. Following the 2024 elections, control of Michigan Legislature is split, with the Democratic Party having a slim majority of two seats in the Senate while the Republican Party holds a 58-seat majority in the House. The state's congressional delegation is commonly split, with one party or the other typically holding a narrow majority; as of 2025 Republicans have a 7–6 majority.
Michigan was the home of Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States. Born in Nebraska, he moved as an infant to Grand Rapids. The Gerald R. Ford Museum is in Grand Rapids, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is on the campus of his alma mater, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
In a 2020 study, Michigan was ranked as the 13th easiest state for citizens to vote in. Amendments to the constitution in 2020 and 2022 also provide for voting by mail, audits of statewide election results, and to vote free of harassment, threats, and intimidation. The Cato Institute ranks Michigan 7th in its overall ranking for personal and economic freedom in the United States in the 2021 and 2023 editions of its Freedom in the 50 States index. In 2022, Michigan voters passed an amendment recognizing abortion and contraceptive rights within the state's constitution.
== State symbols and nicknames ==
Michigan is traditionally known as "The Wolverine State", and the University of Michigan uses the wolverine as its mascot. The association is well and long established: for example, many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the American Civil War and George Armstrong Custer, who led the Michigan Brigade, called them the "Wolverines". The origins of this association are obscure; it may derive from a busy trade in wolverine furs in Sault Ste. Marie in the 18th century or may recall a disparagement intended to compare early settlers in Michigan with the vicious mammal. Wolverines are, however, extremely rare in Michigan. A sighting in February 2004 near Ubly was the first confirmed sighting in Michigan in 200 years. Another wolverine was found dead in 2010.
== Sister regions ==
Shiga Prefecture, Japan
Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyfford_Still | Clyfford Still | Clyfford Still (November 30, 1904 – June 23, 1980) was an American painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately following World War II, and is credited as one of the movement’s pioneers. His shift from representational to abstract painting occurred between 1938 and 1942, earlier than his colleagues like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, who continued to paint in figurative-surrealist styles well into the 1940s.
== Biography ==
Still was born in 1904 in Grandin, North Dakota and spent his childhood in Spokane, Washington and Bow Island in southern Alberta, Canada. In 1925 he visited New York, briefly studying at the Art Students League. He attended Spokane University from 1926 to 1927 and returned in 1931 with a fellowship, graduating in 1933. That fall, he became a teaching fellow, then faculty member at Washington State College (now Washington State University), where he obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1935 and taught until 1941. He spent the summers of 1934 and 1935 at the Trask Foundation (now Yaddo) in Saratoga Springs, New York.
In 1937, along with Washington State colleague Worth Griffin, Still co-founded the Nespelem Art Colony that produced hundreds of portraits and landscapes depicting Colville Indian Reservation Native American life over the course of four summers.
In 1941 Still relocated to the San Francisco Bay area where he worked in various war industries while pursuing painting. He had his first solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) in 1943. He taught at the Richmond Professional Institute (RPI), now Virginia Commonwealth University, from 1943 to 1945, then went to New York City.
Mark Rothko, whom Still had met in California in 1943, introduced him to Peggy Guggenheim, who gave him a solo exhibition at her gallery, The Art of This Century Gallery, in early 1946. The following year Guggenheim closed her gallery and Still, along with Rothko and other Abstract Expressionists, joined the Betty Parsons gallery.
Still returned to San Francisco, where he became a highly influential professor at the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute), teaching there from 1946 to 1950. He encouraged some of his students to open a gallery called Metart, which was short-lived but influential. In 1950, he moved to New York City, where he lived most of the decade during the height of Abstract Expressionism, but during his time in New York, he also became increasingly critical of the art world. In the early 1950s, Still severed ties with commercial galleries. In 1961 he moved to a 22-acre farm near Westminster, Maryland, removing himself further from the art world. Still used a barn on the property as a studio during the warm weather months. In 1966, Still and his second wife purchased a 4,300-square-foot house at 312 Church Street in New Windsor, Maryland, about eight miles from their farm, where he lived until his death.
== Family life ==
Still married Lillian August Battan circa 1930. They had two daughters, born in 1939 and 1942. The couple separated in the late 1940s and divorced in 1954. In 1957, Still married Patricia Alice Garske, who had been one of his students at Washington State and was sixteen years his junior.
== Paintings ==
Having developed his signature style in San Francisco between 1946 and 1950 while teaching at the California School of Fine Arts, Still is considered one of the foremost Color Field painters – his non-figurative paintings are non-objective, and largely concerned with juxtaposing different colors and surfaces in a variety of formations. Unlike Mark Rothko or Barnett Newman, who organized their colors in a relatively simple way (Rothko in the form of nebulous rectangles, Newman in thin lines on vast fields of color), Still's arrangements are less regular. In fact, he was one of the few painters who combined practices of Color Field paintings with that of Gestural, Action Paintings. His jagged flashes of color give the impression that one layer of color has been "torn" off the painting, revealing the colors underneath. Another point of departure with Newman and Rothko is the way the paint is laid on the canvas; while Rothko and Newman used fairly flat colors and relatively thin paint, Still uses a thick impasto, causing subtle variety and shades that shimmer across the painting surfaces. His large mature works recall natural forms and natural phenomena at their most intense and mysterious; ancient stalagmites, caverns, foliage, seen both in darkness and in light lend poetic richness and depth to his work. By 1947, he had begun working in the format that he would intensify and refine throughout the rest of his career – a large-scale color field applied with palette knives. Among Still's well-known paintings is 1957-D No. 1, 1957 (right), which is mainly black and yellow with patches of white and a small amount of red. These four colors, and variations on them (purples, dark blues) are predominant in his work, although there is a tendency for his paintings to use darker shades.
== Exhibitions ==
In 1943, Still's first solo show took place at the San Francisco Museum of Art. In 1947, Jermayne MacAgy, assistant director of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, gave him a solo show there. The artist then declined all public exhibitions from 1952 to 1959. A first comprehensive Still retrospective took place at the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, in 1959. Later solo exhibitions of Still's paintings were presented by the Institute of Contemporary Art of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1963 and at the Marlborough-Gerson gallery, New York, from 1969 to 1970. In 1975, a permanent installation of a group of his works opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 1979, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art organized the largest survey of Still's art to date and the largest presentation afforded by this institution to the work of a living artist.
== Awards ==
Still received the Award of Merit for Painting in 1972 from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became a member in 1978, and the Skowhegan Medal for Painting in 1975.
== Estate and museum ==
Still wrote a will in 1978 that left a portion of his work, along with his archives, to his wife Patricia and stated: "I give and bequeath all the remaining works of art executed by me in my collection to an American city that will agree to build or assign and maintain permanent quarters exclusively for these works of art and assure their physical survival with the explicit requirement that none of these works of art will be sold, given, or exchanged but are to be retained in the place described above exclusively assigned to them in perpetuity for exhibition and study." After Still's death in 1980, the Still collection of approximately 2,400 works was sealed off completely from public and scholarly access for more than twenty years.
In August 2004, the City of Denver, Colorado announced it had been chosen by Patricia Still to receive the artworks contained within the Clyfford Still Estate (roughly 825 paintings on canvas and 1575 works on paper – drawings and limited-edition fine-art prints). The Clyfford Still Museum, an independent nonprofit organization, opened under the directorship of Dean Sobel in November 2011. The museum also houses the complete Still archives of sketchbooks, journals, notebooks, the artist's library, and other archival materials, inherited upon Patricia Still's death in 2005.
The building was designed by Allied Works Architecture, led by Brad Cloepfil. The museum is recognized as a successful implementation of contemporary architecture and an icon for the city of Denver. From January 24 to April 17, 2016, the Denver Art Museum hosted a temporary exhibit called "Case Work", which showcased the design process used for this museum and other major works by Allied and Cloepfil. After Denver, the exhibit was planned to show at the Portland Art Museum and then embark on a two-year international tour.
In March 2011, a Maryland court with jurisdiction over Patricia Still's estate ruled that four of Still's works could be sold before they officially became part of the museum's collection. In November 2011, Sotheby's in New York sold the four works; PH-351 (1940) for US$1.2 million, 1947-Y-No. 2 (1947) for US$31.4 million, 1949-A-No. 1 (1949) for US$61.7 million and PH-1033 (1976) for US$19.6 million. The proceeds from the sales, US$114 million, went to the Clyfford Still Museum "to support its endowment and collection-related expenses." In the decade prior to the sale, only 11 of Still's works came up at auction. The Clyfford Still Museum opened on November 18, 2011.
In December 2011, a visitor to the museum was accused of causing $10,000 worth of damage to Still's 1957-J no.2 oil painting.
In 2013, the Clyfford Still Museum Research Center was launched. Its aim is to explore the period of art and history in which the abstract painter worked. Plans include a fellowship program, cross-disciplinary scholarly publications, and research symposia.
== Other collections ==
Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, New York (33 paintings, 1937–1963)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (30 paintings, ca. 1936–1974)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (12 paintings, 1943–1977)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (8 paintings, ca. 1935–1962)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Tate collection, London (on loan to Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art)
Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection, Albany, New York
The Kreeger Museum, Washington, D.C.
Glenstone, Potomac, Maryland
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut
== Quotes ==
=== From Still ===
"I never wanted color to be color. I never wanted texture to be texture, or images to become shapes. I wanted them all to fuse together into a living spirit."
"It's intolerable to be stopped by a frame's edge."
"I am not interested in illustrating my time. A man's 'time' limits him, it does not truly liberate him. Our age – it is one of science, of mechanism, of power and death. I see no point in adding to its mechanism of power and death. I see no point in adding to its mammoth arrogance the compliment of a graphic homage."
"How can we live and die and never know the difference?"
=== From others ===
"Still makes the rest of us look academic." --Jackson Pollock
"His show (at Peggy Guggenheim's The Art of This Century Gallery in 1946), of all those early shows [Pollock, Rothko, Motherwell], was the most original. A bolt out of the blue. Most of us were still working through images ... Still had none."--Robert Motherwell
"When I first saw a 1948 painting of Still's ... I was impressed as never before by how estranging and upsetting genuine originality in art can be."--Clement Greenberg, art critic; "American-Type Painting", Partisan Review, 1955, p. 58.
"It was in the mid-1940s that Still asserted himself as one of the most formally inventive artists of his generation."
--John Golding, art historian; Paths to the Absolute, 2000, Princeton University Press
"With their crude palette-knifed and troweled surfaces, their immense space, their strong color, their relentless vertical and horizontal expansiveness, Still's abstract works project a forcefulness perhaps unequaled in Abstract Expressionist painting."
--Stephen Polcari, art historian; Abstract Expressionism and the Modern Experience, 1991, Cambridge University Press
"A singular talent whose dimension will not be fully known in his own lifetime."--Robert Hughes, former Time art critic; Time, Prairie Coriolanus, February 9, 1976 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Defenders_members | List of Defenders members | The Defenders are a loosely organized team of fictional characters mostly, but not solely, superheroes in the Marvel Universe. For much of their history, there was no official membership. Thus, the Defenders had a reputation as being a non-team, a term which was coined in the pages of the comic. All could be considered Defenders. The following list attempts to make sense of their membership but may not be complete.
== Original "non-team" ==
=== Founders ===
These characters helped form the team in Marvel Features #1 (December 1971).
=== Recruits of the early 1970s ===
=== Recruits of the mid-1970s ===
=== Defenders for a day ===
The team had managed to keep its existence a secret from the general public until a television documentary film by supporting character Dollar Bill announced it to the world. Dollar made a special mention to the currently open membership for the team. Consequently, in Defenders #62 (August 1978), the currently active members were joined by a large number of former associates and new recruits. The majority of the latter served for a single mission before quitting in Defenders #64 (October 1978).
=== Rival group ===
Taking advantage of the newfound notoriety of the team, a number of supervillains formed their own rival group of so-called Defenders in Defenders #63 (September 1978). They soon came to conflict with their heroic counterparts and consequently disbanded in Defenders #64 (October 1978).
=== Early 1980s recruits ===
== New Defenders ==
In Defenders #125 (November 1983) the team was reorganized into a more formal organization, somewhat modeled after the Avengers. By this time, several former members had severed ties with the team.
=== Founders ===
=== Later recruits ===
=== Dragon Circle ===
By the time of Defenders #152 (February 1986), Moondragon had fallen under the control of the Dragon of the Moon. The Dragon led her to attack the Defenders. During the battle, the physical forms of Andromeda, Gargoyle, Interloper, Manslaughter, Moondragon, and Valkyrie were destroyed. Candace Southern retired. Angel, Beast, and Iceman were joined by Cyclops and Marvel Girl in forming X-Factor.
Gargoyle and Moondragon were later able to gain new corporeal forms. However the other four remained disembodied spirits until Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme vol 3 #3–4 (March–April 1989). There they managed to gain temporary but recurring spiritual possession over the bodies of four residents of Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. These four unknowingly acted as their representatives in forming a successor group of the Defenders.
Sian Bowen: Host to the spirit of Valkyrie.
Geneviene Cass: Host to the spirit of Andromeda.
Will Fanshawe: Host to the spirit of Interloper.
Roger Loomis: Host to the spirit of Manslaughter.
Dafydd ap Iowerth: Alleged descendant of King Arthur and host to his spirit.
Doctor Strange: Associate member.
== Secret Defenders ==
Debuting in Dr. Strange (vol. 3) #50 (February 1993) the Secret Defenders were another successor group to the team. They were very loosely organized, consisting of a leader and the various associates recruited for a mission at hand. They would disband again after each mission. Several "members" were former Defenders. Others had no previous connection to the team. Some served for a single mission while others were recurring members.
=== Founders ===
=== Early recruits ===
=== Questing villains ===
From Secret Defenders #12-14 (December 1993 and February 1994), the title of characters was an organized group of super-villains, where Thanos was the leader and recruiter of this group. That was in the quest of finding and obtaining the Oracle of Ancient Knowledge. They apparently disbanded after the successful mission.
=== Final recruits ===
By Secret Defenders #15 (May 1994), Doctor Strange's duties and circumstances required him elsewhere. He retired after naming Doctor Druid as his replacement. The latter would serve as leader until the group disbanded in Secret Defenders #25 (March 1995).
=== Note ===
Before and during the initial few months of publication of Secret Defenders, an advertisement that Marvel used depicted a team consisting of Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, John Blaze, Maverick, and Wolverine, a team which never existed in the comics. Neither John Blaze nor Maverick were ever part of a Secret Defenders team in any published story.
== Cursed members and The Order ==
In Defenders (vol. 2) #1 (March 2001), four former Defenders were forced to regroup to help Nighthawk and Hellcat in a battle against Yandroth. He was defeated but cursed them to gather every time planet Earth faces a threat. This continued until Defenders (vol. 2) #12 (February 2002). Four members of the team formed The Order. This group attempted to conquer the world in order to protect it. Its activities were featured in The Order #1-6 (April–September 2002). The group disbanded again after Gaia lifted Yandroth's curse which was associated with her.
=== Founders ===
=== Recruits ===
=== Recruits against The Order ===
This incarnation of the Defenders was divided among two rival groups.
The Order (Doctor Strange, the Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Silver Surfer) and the Defenders (Hellcat, Nighthawk, and Valkyrie). The three decided to recruit the so-called "female analogs" of their former teammates. They would serve until both teams disbanded.
== Initiative Team (Last Defenders) ==
Kyle Richmond requested an Initiative version of the Defenders from Tony Stark, intending to fill the ranks with previous Defenders including Gargoyle, Hellcat, and Devil Slayer. However, Stark assembled an entirely different team in hopes of the Defenders maintaining a stable roster for once. The team was officially disbanded after its first mission was deemed a failure.
=== Founders ===
=== Last Defenders recruits ===
After the Initiative team disbands, Richmond attempts to continue by hiring registered mercenaries to replace the teammates that Stark had assigned to him. After he was forced to retire from his superhero career, he privately assembles and supports a version of the Defenders based on an encounter with a future version of that team. This team is later forcibly disbanded by H.A.M.M.E.R.
== Fear Itself: The Deep's Defenders ==
This incarnation of the Defenders was formed during the Fear Itself storyline in order to liberate Atlantis from Attuma (in the form of Nerkodd: Breaker of Oceans).
== Defenders Vol. 4 ==
The Defenders came together again when it comes to keeping the Concordance Engine from falling into the wrong hands.
== Fearless Defenders ==
== Defenders Vol. 5 ==
A new, street-level team calling themselves the Defenders form to stop crime. This team is based on the Netflix version of the team.
== Defenders Vol. 6 ==
== Defenders Beyond ==
== Marvel Cinematic Universe ==
Members of "The Defenders" appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Marvel's The Defenders. Each of the Defenders listed below have an individual series all leading up to the miniseries |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(state) | Victoria (state) | Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of 227,444 km2 (87,817 sq mi); the second-most-populous state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; and the most densely populated state in Australia (31.1 per km2). Victoria's economy is the second-largest among Australian states and is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating.
Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet), the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean) to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid northwest.
The majority of the Victorian population is concentrated in the central-south area surrounding Port Phillip, and in particular within the metropolitan area of Greater Melbourne, Victoria's state capital and largest city and also Australia's second-largest city, where over three-quarters of the culturally diverse population live (35.1% of inhabitants being immigrants). The state is also home to four of Australia's 20 largest cities: Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.
Victoria is home to numerous Aboriginal groups, including the Boonwurrung, the Bratauolung, the Djadjawurrung, the Gunai, the Gunditjmara, the Taungurung, the Wathaurong, the Wurundjeri, and the Yorta Yorta. There were more than 30 Aboriginal languages spoken in the area prior to European colonisation. In 1770 James Cook claimed the east coast of the Australian continent for the Kingdom of Great Britain. The first European settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay. Much of Victoria was included in 1836 in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.
Named in honour of Queen Victoria, Victoria was separated from New South Wales and established as a separate Crown colony in 1851, achieving responsible government in 1855. The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased Victoria's population and wealth. By the time of Australian Federation in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city in Australasia, and was the seat of Federal government until Canberra became the national capital in 1927. The state continued to grow strongly through various periods of the 20th and 21st centuries due to high levels of international and interstate migration. Melbourne hosts a number of museums, art galleries, and theatres; in 2016 a sports marketing company named it the world's sporting capital.
Victoria has 38 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 12 seats in the Australian Senate. At state level, the Parliament of Victoria consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Labor Party, led by Jacinta Allan as premier, has governed Victoria since 2014. The Governor of Victoria, the representative of the monarch in the state, is currently Margaret Gardner. Victoria is divided into 79 local government areas, as well as several unincorporated areas which the state administers directly.
== History ==
=== Indigenous Victorians ===
The state of Victoria was home to many Aboriginal Australian nations that had occupied the land for tens of thousands of years before European settlement. According to Gary Presland, Aboriginal people have lived in Victoria for about 40,000 years, living a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming eels.
At the Keilor Archaeological Site, a human hearth excavated in 1971 was radiocarbon-dated to about 31,000 years BP, making Keilor one of the earliest sites of human habitation in Australia. A cranium found at the site has been dated at between 12,000 and 14,700 years BP.
Archaeological sites in Tasmania and on the Bass Strait Islands have been dated to between 20,000 and 35,000 years ago when sea levels were 130 metres below present level allowing First Nations Peoples to move across the region of southern Victoria and onto the land bridge of the Bassian plain to Tasmania by at least 35,000 years ago.
During the Ice Age about 20,000 years BP, the area now the bay of Port Phillip would have been dry land, and the Yarra and Werribee rivers would have joined to flow through the heads then south and south west through the Bassian plain before meeting the ocean to the west. Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands became separated from mainland Australia around 12,000 BP, when the sea level was approximately 50m below present levels. Port Phillip was flooded by post-glacial rising sea levels between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago.
Oral history and creation stories from the Wada wurrung, Woiwurrung and Bun wurrung languages describe the flooding of the bay. Hobsons Bay was once a kangaroo hunting ground. Creation stories describe how Bunjil was responsible for the formation of the bay, or the bay was flooded when the Yarra River was created.
=== British colonisation ===
Victoria, like Queensland, was named after Queen Victoria, who had been on the British throne for 14 years when the colony was established in 1851. After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, Australia was divided into an eastern half named New South Wales and a western half named New Holland, under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney.
The first British settlement in the area later known as Victoria was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Bay on Port Phillip. It consisted of 402 people (five government officials, nine officers of marines, two drummers, and 39 privates, five soldiers' wives and a child, 307 convicts, 17 convicts' wives, and seven children). They had been sent from England in HMS Calcutta under the command of Captain Daniel Woodriff, principally out of fear that the French, who had been exploring the area, might establish their own settlement and thereby challenge British rights to the continent.
In 1826, Colonel Stewart, Captain Samuel Wright, and Lieutenant Burchell were sent in HMS Fly (Captain Wetherall) and the brigs Dragon and Amity, took a number of convicts and a small force composed of detachments of the 3rd and 93rd regiments. The expedition landed at Settlement Point (now Corinella), on the eastern side of Western Port Bay, which was the headquarters until the abandonment of Western Port at the insistence of Governor Darling about 12 months afterwards. Victoria's next settlement was at Portland, on the south west coast of what is now Victoria. Edward Henty settled Portland Bay in 1834.
==== Batman's treaty ====
Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman, who set up a base in Indented Head, and John Pascoe Fawkner. From settlement, the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, a separately administered part of New South Wales. Shortly after, the site now known as Geelong was surveyed by Assistant Surveyor W. H. Smythe, three weeks after Melbourne. And in 1838, Geelong was officially declared a town, despite earlier European settlements dating back to 1826. On 6 June 1835, just under two years before Melbourne was officially recognised as a settlement, John Batman, the leader of the Port Phillip Association presented Wurundjeri Elders with a land use agreement.
This document, now referred to as the Batman treaty, was later given to the British government to claim that local Aboriginal people had given Batman access to their land in exchange for goods and rations. The treaty itself was declared void as Batman did not have permission from the Crown to establish Melbourne. Today, the meaning and interpretation of this treaty is contested. Some argue it was a pretence for taking Aboriginal land in exchange for trinkets, while others argue it was significant in that it sought to recognise Aboriginal land rights. The exact location of the meeting between Batman and the Kulin men with whom he made the treaty is unknown, although it is believed to have been by the Merri Creek. According to historian Meyer Eidelson, it is generally believed to have occurred on the Merri near modern-day Rushall Station.
=== Colonial Victoria ===
On 1 July 1851, writs were issued for the election of the first Victorian Legislative Council, and the absolute independence of Victoria from New South Wales was established proclaiming a new Colony of Victoria. Days later, still in 1851 gold was discovered near Ballarat, and subsequently at Bendigo. Later discoveries occurred at many sites across Victoria. This triggered one of the largest gold rushes the world has ever seen. The colony grew rapidly in both population and economic power. In 10 years, the population of Victoria increased sevenfold from 76,000 to 540,000. All sorts of gold records were produced, including the "richest shallow alluvial goldfield in the world" and the largest gold nugget. In the decade 1851–1860 Victoria produced 20 million ounces of gold, one-third of the world's output.
In 1855 the Geological Survey collected and determined the major ion chemistry for groundwater in Victoria. Immigrants arrived from all over the world to search for gold, especially from Ireland and China. By 1857, 26,000 Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy is particularly strong in Bendigo and its environs.
In 1854 at Ballarat, an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria was made by miners protesting against mining taxes (the "Eureka Stockade"). This was crushed by British troops, but the confrontation persuaded the colonial authorities to reform the administration of mining concessions (reducing the hated mining licence fees) and extend the electoral franchise. The following year, the Imperial Parliament granted Victoria responsible government with the passage of the Colony of Victoria Act 1855. Some of the leaders of the Eureka rebellion went on to become members of the Victorian Parliament.
In 1857, reflecting the growing presence of Irish Catholic immigrants, John O'Shanassy became the colony's second Premier with the former Young Irelander, Charles Gavan Duffy as his deputy. Melbourne's Protestant establishment was ill-prepared "to countenance so startling a novelty". In 1858–59, Melbourne Punch cartoons linked Duffy and O'Shanassy to the terrors of the French Revolution.
In 1862 Duffy's Land Act attempted, but failed, through a system of extended pastoral licences, to break the land-holding monopoly of the so-called "squatter" class. In 1871, having led, on behalf of small farmers, opposition to Premier Sir James McCulloch's land tax, Duffy, himself, was briefly Premier.
In 1893 widespread bank failures brought to an end a sustained period of prosperity and of increasingly wild speculation in land and construction. Melbourne nonetheless retained, as the legacy of the gold rush, its status as Australia's primary financial centre and largest city. In 1901, Victoria became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia. While Canberra was being built, Melbourne served until 1927 as the country's first federal capital.
=== 20th and 21st centuries ===
== Geography ==
Victoria's northern border follows a straight line (the Black–Allan Line) from Cape Howe to the start of the Murray River and then follows the Murray River as the remainder of the northern border. On the Murray River, the border is the southern bank of the river. This precise definition was not established until 1980, when a ruling by Justice Ninian Stephen of the High Court of Australia settled the question as to which state had jurisdiction in the unlawful death of a man on an island in the middle of the river. The ruling clarified that no part of the watercourse is in Victoria. The border also rests at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range, which stretches along the east coast and terminates west of Ballarat. It is bordered by South Australia to the west and shares Australia's shortest land border with Tasmania. The official border between Victoria and Tasmania is at 39°12' S, which passes through Boundary Islet in the Bass Strait for 85 metres.
Victoria contains many topographically, geologically and climatically diverse areas, ranging from the wet, temperate climate of Gippsland in the southeast to the snow-covered Victorian alpine areas which rise to almost 2,000 m (6,600 ft), with Mount Bogong the highest peak at 1,986 m (6,516 ft). There are extensive semi-arid plains to the west and northwest. There is an extensive series of river systems in Victoria. Most notable is the Murray River system. Other rivers include: Ovens River, Goulburn River, Patterson River, King River, Campaspe River, Loddon River, Wimmera River, Elgin River, Barwon River, Thomson River, Snowy River, Latrobe River, Yarra River, Maribyrnong River, Mitta Mitta River, Hopkins River, Merri River and Kiewa River. The state symbols include the pink heath (state flower), Leadbeater's possum (state animal) and the helmeted honeyeater (state bird). Ecological communities include Victorian Volcanic Plain grasslands, Northern Plains Grassland and Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland, all of which are critically endangered.
According to Geoscience Australia, the geographic centre of Victoria is located in Mandurang at 36° 51' 15"S, 144° 16' 52" E. The small rural locality is located 10 km (6 mi) south of Bendigo. Due to its central location and the region's historical ties to the gold rush, the town is widely regarded as the "Heart of Gold". The state's capital, Melbourne, contains about 70% of the state's population and dominates its economy, media, and culture. For other cities and towns, see list of localities (Victoria) and local government areas of Victoria.
=== Regions ===
Victoria is divided into distinct geographic regions, most commonly for the purposes of economic development, while others for land management (agriculture or conservation) and for censusing (statistical or meteorological) or electoral purposes. The most commonly used regions are those created by the state government for the purposes of economic development.
In addition to Greater Melbourne, the Victoria State Government has divided Victoria into five regions covering all parts of the state. The five regional Victoria divisions are:
Barwon South West
Gippsland
Grampians
Hume
Loddon Mallee
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology defines regions for its own purposes, some of which share names with the economic regions, even though the exact boundaries may not correlate. As of November 2014, they are:
Mallee
Wimmera
Northern Country
North East Victoria
East Gippsland
West & South Gippsland
Central Victoria
North Central Victoria
South West Victoria
Alpine Victoria
Central ( Melbourne )
=== Cities and towns ===
This is a list of places in the Australian state of Victoria by population. Urban centres are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as being a population cluster of 1,000 or more people. The below figures broadly represent the populations of the contiguous built-up areas of each city:
=== Climate ===
Victoria has a varied climate that ranges from semi-arid temperate with hot summers in the north-west, to temperate and cool along the coast. Victoria's main land feature, the Great Dividing Range, produces a cooler, mountain climate in the centre of the state. Winters along the coast of the state, particularly around Melbourne, are relatively mild (see chart).
The coastal plain south of the Great Dividing Range has Victoria's mildest climate. Air from the Southern Ocean helps reduce the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Melbourne and other large cities are located in this temperate region.
The Mallee and upper Wimmera are Victoria's warmest regions with hot winds blowing from nearby semi-deserts. Average temperatures exceed 32 °C (90 °F) during summer and 15 °C (59 °F) in winter. Except at cool mountain elevations, the inland monthly temperatures are 2–7 °C (4–13 °F) warmer than around Melbourne (see chart). Victoria's highest maximum temperature of 48.9 °C (120.0 °F) was recorded in Walepup/ Hopetoun on 27 January 2026, during the January 2026 heatwave affecting the State.
The Victorian Alps in the northeast are the coldest part of Victoria. The Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range mountain system extending east–west through the centre of Victoria. Average temperatures are less than 9 °C (48 °F) in winter and below 0 °C (32 °F) in the highest parts of the ranges. The state's lowest minimum temperature of −11.7 °C (10.9 °F) was recorded at Omeo on 15 June 1965, and again at Falls Creek on 3 July 1970. Temperature extremes for the state are listed in the table below:
==== Rainfall ====
Rainfall in Victoria increases from south to the northeast, with higher averages in areas of high altitude. Mean annual rainfall exceeds 1,800 millimetres (71 inches) in some parts of the northeast but is less than 280 mm (11 in) in the Mallee. Rain is heaviest in the Otway Ranges and Gippsland in southern Victoria and in the mountainous northeast. Snow generally falls only in the mountains and hills in the centre of the state. Rain falls most frequently in winter, but summer precipitation is heavier. Rainfall is most reliable in Gippsland and the Western District, making them both leading farming areas. Victoria's highest recorded daily rainfall was 377.8 mm (14.87 in) at Tidal River in Wilsons Promontory National Park on 23 March 2011.
== Demographics ==
It is estimated that on 30 June 2025, Victoria had a population of 7,074,468. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that the population may well reach 10.3 million by 2051.
Victoria's founding Anglo-Celtic population has been supplemented by successive waves of migrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia and, most recently, Africa and the Middle East. Victoria's population is ageing in proportion with the average of the remainder of the Australian population.
About 72% of Victorians are Australian-born. This figure falls to around 66% in Melbourne but rises to higher than 95% in some rural areas in the north west of the state. Less than 1% of Victorians identify themselves as Aboriginal.
More than 75% of Victorians live in Melbourne, located in the state's south. The greater Melbourne metropolitan area is home to an estimated 5,207,145 people. Urban centres outside Melbourne include Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, Mildura, Warrnambool, Wodonga and the Latrobe Valley.
Victoria is Australia's most urbanised state: nearly 90% of residents living in cities and towns. State Government efforts to decentralise population have included an official campaign run since 2003 to encourage Victorians to settle in regional areas, however Melbourne continues to rapidly outpace these areas in terms of population growth.
=== Ancestry and immigration ===
At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:
0.8% of the population, or 47,788 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.
At the 2016 census, 64.9% of residents were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were England (2.9%), India (2.9%), mainland China (2.7%), New Zealand (1.6%) and Vietnam (1.4%).
=== Language ===
As of the 2016 census, 72.2% of Victorians speak English at home. Speakers of other languages include Mandarin (3.2%), Italian (1.9%), Greek (1.9%), Vietnamese (1.7%), and Arabic (1.3%).
=== Religion ===
In the 2016 Census, 47.9% of Victorians described themselves as Christian, 10.6% stated that they followed other religions and 32.1% stated that they had no religion or held secular or other spiritual beliefs. In the survey, 31.7% of Victorians stated they had no religion, Roman Catholics were 23.2%, 9.4% did not answer the question, 9% were Anglican and 3.5% were Eastern Orthodox. In 2017 the proportion of couples marrying in a civil ceremony in Victoria was 77.3%; the other 22.7% were married in a religious ceremony.
=== Age structure and fertility ===
The government predicts that nearly a quarter of Victorians will be aged over 60 by 2021. The 2016 census revealed that Australian median age has crept upward from 35 to 37 since 2001, which reflects the population growth peak of 1969–72. In 2017, Victoria recorded a TFR of 1.724.
=== Average demographic ===
The "average Victorian" according to the demographic statistics may be described as follows:
== Crime ==
In the year ending September 2020, the statistics were skewed by the introduction of six new public safety offences relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Total offences numbered 551,710, with 32,713 of these being breaches of Chief Health Officer Directions. The total offences occurred at a rate of 8,227 per 100,000 people, up 4.4% on the previous year. While there have been some dips along the way, the rate of recorded offences have increased year on year since 2011, when the figure was 6,937.7 offences per 100,000 people.
== Government ==
=== Parliament ===
Victoria has a parliamentary form of government based on the Westminster System. Legislative power resides in the Parliament consisting of the Governor (the representative of the King), the executive (the Government), and two legislative chambers. The Parliament of Victoria consists of the lower house Legislative Assembly, the upper house Legislative Council and the monarch. Eighty-eight members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to four-year terms from single-member electorates.
In November 2006, the Victorian Legislative Council elections were held under a new multi-member proportional representation system. The State of Victoria was divided into eight electorates with each electorate represented by five representatives elected by Single Transferable Vote. The total number of upper house members was reduced from 44 to 40 and their term of office is now the same as the lower house members—four years. Elections for the Victorian Parliament are now fixed and occur in November every four years. Prior to the 2006 election, the Legislative Council consisted of 44 members elected to eight-year terms from 22 two-member electorates.
=== Premier and cabinet ===
The Premier of Victoria is the leader of the political party or coalition with the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier is the public face of government and, with cabinet, sets the legislative and political agenda. Cabinet consists of representatives elected to either house of parliament. It is responsible for managing areas of government that are not exclusively vested in the Commonwealth, by the Australian Constitution, such as education, health and law enforcement. The current Premier of Victoria is Jacinta Allan.
=== Governor ===
Executive authority is vested in the Governor of Victoria who represents and is appointed by the monarch. The post is usually filled by a retired prominent Victorian. The governor acts on the advice of the premier and cabinet. The current Governor of Victoria is Margaret Gardner.
=== Constitution ===
Victoria has a written constitution enacted in 1975, but based on the 1855 colonial constitution, passed by the United Kingdom Parliament as the Victoria Constitution Act 1855, which establishes the Parliament as the state's law-making body for matters coming under state responsibility. The Victorian Constitution can be amended by the Parliament of Victoria, except for certain "entrenched" provisions that require either an absolute majority in both houses, a three-fifths majority in both houses, or the approval of the Victorian people in a referendum, depending on the provision. To this day, not a single referendum has been held to change the Victorian Constitution.
=== Politics ===
Victoria is considered by some analysts to be the most progressive state in the nation. The state recorded the highest Yes votes of any state in the republic referendum, same-sex marriage survey and Indigenous Voice referendum. Victorians are said to be "generally socially progressive, supportive of multiculturalism, wary of extremes of any kind". Premier Jacinta Allan leads the Victorian Labor Party who replaced Daniel Andrews after his resignation in September 2023. Labor has been in power since the November 2014 Victorian state election, and has been in power in 31 of the 42 years since 1982.
The centre-left Australian Labor Party (ALP), the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia, the rural-based National Party of Australia, and the left-wing environmentalist Australian Greens are Victoria's main political parties. Traditionally, Labor is strongest in Melbourne's working and middle class western, northern and inner-city suburbs, and the regional cities of Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong. The Liberals' main support lies in Melbourne's more affluent eastern suburbs and outer suburbs, and some rural and regional centres. The Nationals are strongest in Victoria's North Western and Eastern rural regional areas. The Greens, who won their first lower house seats in 2014, are strongest in inner Melbourne.
=== Federal government ===
Victorian voters elect 50 representatives to the Parliament of Australia, including 38 members of the House of Representatives and 12 members of the Senate. Since 1 April 2023, the ALP hold 25 Victorian house seats, the Liberals 10, the Nationals three, the Greens one, and independents the remaining three. The ALP and the Liberals hold four senate seats each, while the Nationals, Greens, UAP and an independent hold one seat each.
=== Local government ===
Victoria is incorporated into 79 municipalities for the purposes of local government, including 39 shires, 32 cities, seven rural cities and one borough. Shire and city councils are responsible for functions delegated by the Victorian parliament, such as city planning, road infrastructure and waste management. Council revenue comes mostly from property taxes and government grants.
== Education ==
=== Primary and secondary ===
Victoria's state school system dates back to 1872, when the colonial government legislated to make schooling both free and compulsory. The state's public secondary school system began in 1905. Before then, only private secondary schooling was available. Today, a Victorian school education consists of seven years of primary schooling (including one preparatory year) and six years of secondary schooling.
The final years of secondary school are optional for children aged over 17. Victorian children generally begin school at age five or six. On completing secondary school, students earn the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or Victorian Certificate of Education - Vocational Major (VCE-VM). Students who successfully complete their VCE (not including VCE-VM students) also receive an ATAR, to determine university admittance (unless the student is 'going unscored'.
Victorian schools are either publicly or privately funded. Public schools, also known as state or government schools, are funded and run directly by the Victorian Department of Education. Students do not pay tuition fees, but some extra costs are levied. Private fee-paying schools include parish schools run by the Roman Catholic Church and independent schools similar to British public schools. Independent schools are usually affiliated with Protestant churches. Victoria also has several private Jewish and Islamic primary and secondary schools. Private schools also receive some public funding. All schools must comply with government-set curriculum standards. In addition, Victoria has six government selective schools, Melbourne High School for boys, MacRobertson Girls' High School for girls, the coeducational schools John Monash Science School, Nossal High School and Suzanne Cory High School, and the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. Students at these schools are exclusively admitted on the basis of an academic selective entry test. Victoria also offers an online schooling system, called Virtual School Victoria, or VSV.
As of February 2019, Victoria had 1,529 public schools, 496 Catholic schools and 219 independent schools. Just under 631,500 students were enrolled in public schools, and just over 357,000 in private schools. Over 58 per cent of private students attend Catholic schools. More than 552,300 students were enrolled in primary schools and more than 418,600 in secondary schools. Retention rates for the final two years of secondary school were 84.3 per cent for public school students and 91.5 per cent for private school students. Victoria has about 46,523 full-time teachers.
=== Tertiary education ===
Victoria has nine universities. The first to offer degrees, the University of Melbourne, enrolled its first student in 1855. The largest, Monash University, has an enrolment of over 83,000 students—more than any other Australian university.
The number of students enrolled in Victorian universities was 418,447 in 2018, an increase of 5.3% on the previous year. International students made up 40% of enrolments and account for the highest percentage of pre-paid university tuition fees. The largest number of enrolments were recorded in the fields of business, administration and economics, with nearly 30% of all students, followed by arts, humanities, and social science, with 18% of enrolments.
Victoria has 12 government-run institutions of technical and further education (TAFE). The first vocational institution in the state was the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute (established in 1839), which is now the Melbourne Athenaeum. More than 1,000 adult education organisations are registered to provide recognised TAFE programs. In 2014, there were 443,000 students enrolled in vocational education in the state. By 2018, the number of students in the sector had dropped by 40 per cent to 265,000—a five-year low which the education department attributed to withdrawal of funding to low-quality providers and a societal shift to university education.
=== Libraries ===
The State Library Victoria is the State's research and reference library. It is responsible for collecting and preserving Victoria's documentary heritage and making it available through a range of services and programs. Material in the collection includes books, newspapers, magazines, journals, manuscripts, maps, pictures, objects, sound and video recordings and databases. The state has public libraries in most LGAs (typically with multiple branches in their respective municipal areas) and academic libraries in universities, and some special libraries.
== Economy ==
The state of Victoria is the second largest economy in Australia after New South Wales, accounting for a quarter of the nation's gross domestic product. The total gross state product (GSP) at current prices for Victoria was A$459 billion in June 2020, with a GSP per capita of A$68,996.
=== Agriculture ===
Victoria is Australia's second-largest agricultural producer in gross value of production, representing about 25 percent of Australia's total food production. There are 67,600 people employed in the agricultural industry, making it the 6th largest employer in the state. There are about 21,600 farms in the state, managing more than 11.4 million hectares or 50% of the state's total landmass, of which 40% was used for cropping and 50% for grazing. Victorian farms produce nearly 90% of Australian pears and a third of apples. The main vegetable crops include asparagus, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes.
More than 14 million sheep and 5 million lambs graze over 10% of Victorian farms, mostly in the state's north and west. Pgt standard race 126 was the most common Stem Rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) race here from 1929 to 1941, as it was for the whole of Australia. First detected on Tasmania in 1954, standard race 21 was the most common race by the next year in this state, the southern part of NSW, and Tasmania. Leaf Rust (P. triticina) is known to have been present here, and throughout the continent, at least since European colonization. P. triticina pathotype 104-2,3,(6),(7),11 was first found here in 1984 and has contributed to populations ever since. It is considered to be foreign to Australia due to a difference in pathogenicity and due to its unique Pgm2 c allele.
Victorian farms produce nearly 90% of Australian pears and a third of apples. It is also a leader in stone fruit (Prunus) production. The main vegetable crops include asparagus, broccoli, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Last year, 121,200 metric tons (133,600 short tons) of pears and 270,000 metric tons (300,000 short tons) of tomatoes were produced. More than 14 million sheep and 5 million lambs graze over 10% of Victorian farms, mostly in the state's north and west. In 2004, nearly 10 million lambs and sheep were slaughtered for local consumption and export. Victoria also exports live sheep to the Middle East for meat and to the rest of the world for breeding. More than 108,000 metric tons (119,000 short tons) of wool clip was also produced—one-fifth of the Australian total.
Victoria is the centre of dairy farming in Australia. It is home to 60% of Australia's 3 million dairy cattle and produces nearly two-thirds of the nation's milk, almost 6.4 billion litres (1.7 billion US gallons). The state also has 2.4 million beef cattle, with more than 2.2 million cattle and calves slaughtered each year. In 2003–04, Victorian commercial fishing crews and aquaculture industry produced 11,634 metric tons (12,824 short tons) of seafood valued at nearly A$109 million. Blacklipped abalone is the mainstay of the catch, bringing in A$46 million, followed by southern rock lobster worth A$13.7 million. Most abalone and rock lobster is exported to Asia.
Most of Australia – including this state – imposed a moratorium on GM canola in 2003 to consider the positives and negatives. After consideration the ban here was lifted in 2008 and the state's produced a review of the effects of the moratorium and the expected economic and other effects of adoption or failure to adopt GM canola. The government finds a benefit of AUS$45 per hectare ($18/acre)/season over conventional.
Late in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Australian agriculture was heavily impacted by the resulting supply chain issues. The scarcity of freight space and disruption to Chinese New Year purchases was particularly painful, with China being Australia's largest export market and a particularly large buyer of live seafood. As of 2022 there are almost 100 strawberry farms here, most close to Melbourne CBD in the Yarra Valley. They are represented by the Victorian Strawberries organization, who recommend varieties for production.
=== Manufacturing ===
Victoria has a diverse range of manufacturing enterprises and Melbourne is considered Australia's most important industrial city. The post-World War II manufacturing boom was fuelled by international investment, attracted to the state by the availability of cheap land close to the city and inexpensive energy from the Latrobe Valley. Victoria produced 26.4% of total manufacturing output in Australia in 2015–16, behind New South Wales at 32.4%.
Machinery and equipment manufacturing is the state's most valuable manufacturing activity, followed by food and beverage products, petrochemicals and chemicals. Prominent manufacturing plants in the state include the Portland and Point Henry aluminium smelters, owned by Alcoa; Geelong and Altona oil refineries; a major petrochemical facility at Laverton; and Victorian-based CSL, a global biotechnology company that produces vaccines and plasma products, among others. Victoria also plays an important role in providing goods for the defence industry.
Victoria proportionally relies on manufacturing more than any other state in Australia, constituting 8.6% of total state product; slightly higher than South Australia at 8.0%. However, this proportion has been declining for three decades; in 1990 at the time of the early 1990s recession manufacturing constituted 20.3% of total state output. Manufacturing output peaked in absolute terms in 2008, reaching $28.8 billion and has slowly fallen over the decade to $26.8 billion in 2016 (−0.77% per annum). Since 1990, manufacturing employment has also fallen in both aggregate (367,700 to 274,400 workers) and proportional (17.8% to 9.0%) terms. The strong Australian dollar as a result of the 2000s mining boom, small population and isolation, high wage base and the general shift of manufacturing production towards developing countries have been cited as some of the reasons for this decline.
Historically, Victoria has been a hub for the manufacturing plants of the major car brands Ford, Toyota and Holden; however, closure announcements by all three companies in the 2010s has meant Australia will completely lose their car manufacturing industry by the end of 2017. Holden's announcement occurred in May 2013 following Ford's decision in December the previous year (Ford's Victorian plants, in Broadmeadows and Geelong, closed in October 2016). Toyota followed suit in February 2014 with an expected announcement as without Holden or Ford, local supply chains would struggle to create the economics of scale required to supply one manufacturer.
=== Land ===
Victoria adopted the Torrens system of land registration with the Real Property Act 1862. The Torrens system did not replace the common law system but applied only to new land grants and to land that has been voluntarily registered under the Act, and its successors. The common law system continues to apply to all other private landholdings. Crown land held in Victoria is managed under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 and the Land Act 1958.
=== Mining ===
Mining in Victoria contributes around A$6 billion to the gross state product (~2%) but employs less than 1% of workers. The Victorian mining industry is concentrated on energy producing minerals, with brown coal, petroleum and gas accounting for nearly 90% of local production. The oil and gas industries are centred off the coast of Gippsland in the state's east, while brown coal mining and power generation is based in the Latrobe Valley.
In 1985, oil production from the offshore Gippsland Basin peaked to an annual average of 450,000 barrels (72,000 m3) per day. In 2005–2006, the average daily oil production has declined to 83,000 bbl (13,200 m3)/d, but despite the decline Victoria still produces almost 19.5% of crude oil in Australia. In the 2005–06 fiscal year, the average gas production was over 700 million cubic feet (20,000,000 m3) per day (M cuft/d) and represented 18% of the total national gas sales, with demand growing at 2% per year. Campaigning resulted in a prohibition on onshore gas exploration and production in Victoria in 2014,. This was partially lifted in 2021 but the state retains a constitutional ban on fracking.
Brown coal is Victoria's leading mineral, with 66 million tonnes mined each year for electricity generation in the Latrobe Valley, Gippsland. The region is home to the world's largest known reserves of brown coal. Despite being the historic centre of Australia's gold rush, Victoria today contributes a mere 1% of national gold production. Victoria also produces limited amounts of gypsum and kaolin. Victoria's gold production is mostly derived from the Fosterville and Stawell Gold Mines.
=== Tourism ===
Tourism is a significant industry in the state of Victoria, Australia. The country's second most-populous city, Melbourne was visited by 2.7 million international overnight visitors and 9.3 million domestic overnight visitors during the year ending December 2017. Named the world's most liveable city from 2011 to 2017, Melbourne's culture and lifestyle have been increasingly promoted internationally, leading to average year-on-year growth of international visitors of 10% in the five years to 2017. Some major tourist destinations in Victoria are:
The metropolis of Melbourne, particular its inner city suburbs (known also for shopping tourism) and the attractions of the city centre such as Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Museum, the Melbourne Aquarium and Scienceworks, tourism precincts such as Melbourne Docklands, Southbank and St Kilda as well as cultural and sporting tourist icons such as Arts Centre Melbourne, the East End Theatre District, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known as the MCG, and the Eureka Tower, with the highest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere, Skydeck 88.
Victoria has more than 2000 kilometres of coastline with hundreds of beaches.
The Goldfields region featuring the historic cities of Ballarat, Beechworth, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Maldon and Daylesford.
Natural attractions, such as The Twelve Apostles, Wilsons Promontory, The Grampians, the fairy penguins (particularly at Phillip Island and St Kilda), the Buchan Caves and the Gippsland Lakes.
The Dandenong Ranges (in particular the Puffing Billy Railway).
Healesville Sanctuary, which specialises in local Australian species.
Towns along the Murray River and Riverina including Echuca and Mildura including waterskiing.
Geelong and its famous Waterfront, Eastern Beach and Geelong West's Pakington Street.
The Bellarine Peninsula which features vineyards and historic resort towns such as Queenscliff, Drysdale and Portarlington.
The Werribee Park Mansion and Werribee Open Range Zoo.
The Surf Coast which features famous beaches such as Bells Beach, Torquay and Lorne
Mornington Peninsula, particularly for its wineries in Red Hill and secluded beaches in Mount Eliza and Mornington, The Pillars in Mount Martha, Arthur's Seat and the coastal attractions of Portsea, Sorrento and Flinders.
Yarra Valley (in particular Healesville Sanctuary and wineries).
Great Ocean Road, which features The Twelve Apostles, historic towns of Port Fairy and Portland, cliffs and whale watching and resort towns such as Lorne.
The Victorian Alpine Region, part of the Australian Alps, particularly for skiing.
The Central Victorian Highlands, "High country" are very well known for winter sports and bushwalking.
Wine regions across the entire state.
Other popular tourism activities are gliding, hang-gliding, hot air ballooning and scuba diving. Major events that explore cultural diversity, music and sports play a big part in Victoria's tourism. The V8 Supercars and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, the Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool and the Australian International Airshow at Avalon and numerous local festivals such as the popular Port Fairy Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, Pako Festa in Geelong West, Bells Beach Surf Classic and the Bright Autumn Festival amongst others.
== Transport ==
Victoria has the highest population density in any state in Australia, with population centres spread out over most of the state; only the far northwest and the Victorian Alps lack permanent settlement. As of October 2013, smoking tobacco is prohibited in the sheltered areas of train stations, and tram and bus stops, as is the use of e-cigarettes. Between 2012 and 2013, 2002 people were issued with infringement notices. The state government announced a plan in October 2013 to prohibit smoking on all Victorian railway station platforms and raised tram stops.
The Victorian road network services the population centres, with highways generally radiating from Melbourne and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other. Many of the highways are built to freeway standard ("M" freeways), while most are generally sealed and of reasonable quality.
Rail transport in Victoria is provided by several private and public railway operators who operate over government-owned lines. Major operators include: Metro Trains Melbourne which runs an extensive, electrified, passenger system throughout Melbourne and suburbs; V/Line which is now owned by the Victorian Government, operates a concentrated service to major regional centres, as well as long-distance services on other lines; Pacific National, CFCL Australia which operate freight services; Great Southern Rail which operates The Overland Melbourne—Adelaide; and NSW TrainLink which operates XPTs Melbourne—Sydney.
There are also several smaller freight operators and numerous tourist railways operating over lines which were once parts of a state-owned system. Victorian lines mainly use the 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge. However, the interstate trunk routes, as well as a number of freight lines in the north and west of the state have been converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge. Two tourist railways operate over 760 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge lines, which are the remnants of five formerly government-owned lines which were built in mountainous areas.
Melbourne has the world's largest tram network, currently operated by Yarra Trams. As well as being a popular form of public transport, over the last few decades trams have become one of Melbourne's major tourist attractions. There are also tourist trams operating over portions of the former Ballarat and Bendigo systems. There are also tramway museums at Bylands, Haddon and Hawthorn.
Melbourne Airport is the major domestic and international gateway for the state. Avalon Airport is the state's second busiest airport, which complements Essendon and Moorabbin Airports to see the remainder of Melbourne's air traffic. Hamilton Airport, Mildura Airport, Mount Hotham and Portland Airport are the remaining airports with scheduled domestic flights. There are no fewer than 27 other airports in the state with no scheduled flights. The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia, and is located in Melbourne on the mouth of the Yarra River, which is at the head of Port Phillip. Additional seaports are at Westernport, Geelong, and Portland.
== Utilities ==
=== Energy ===
Victoria's major utilities include a collection of brown-coal-fired power stations, particularly in the Latrobe Valley. One of these was the recently decommissioned Hazelwood Power Station, which was number 1 on the worldwide List of least carbon efficient power stations. The Victorian government is aiming to cut 40.6 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
=== Water ===
Victoria's water infrastructure includes a series of dams and reservoirs, predominantly in Central Victoria, that hold and collect water for much of the state. The water collected is of a very high quality and requires little chlorination treatment, giving the water a taste more like water collected in a rainwater tank. In regional areas however, such as in the west of the state, chlorination levels are much higher. The Victorian Water Grid consists of a number of new connections and pipelines being built across the State. This allows water to be moved around Victoria to where it is needed most and reduces the impact of localised droughts in an era thought to be influenced by climate change. Major projects already completed as part of the Grid include the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline and the Goldfields Superpipe.
== Sport ==
Victoria is the home of Australian rules football, with ten of the 18 Australian Football League (AFL) clubs based in the state. The AFL Grand Final is traditionally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the last Saturday of September. The state has a public holiday the day before the Grand Final, which coincides with the AFL Grand Final parade. The MCG is sometimes called the spiritual home of Australian rules football.
The Victorian cricket team play in the national Sheffield Shield cricket competition. Victoria is represented in the National Rugby League by the Melbourne Storm. Prior to their axing at the end of the 2024 season, Victoria was represented by the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby. It is represented in the National Basketball League by Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix. It is also represented in soccer by Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Western United in the A-League. Melbourne has held the 1956 Summer Olympics, 2006 Commonwealth Games and the FINA World Swimming Championship.
Melbourne is also home to the Australian Open tennis tournament in January each year, which is the first of the world's four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, as well as the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, which is, on an annual basis, usually held in March or April. It hosted the Australian Masters golf tournament from 1979 to 2015. Victoria's Bells Beach hosts one of the world's longest-running surfing competition, the Bells Beach SurfClassic, which is part of The ASP World Tour. The Melbourne Vixens and Melbourne Mavericks represent Victoria in the Super Netball league.
Victoria's Phillip Island is home of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit which hosts the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix which features MotoGP (the world's premier motorcycling class), as well as the Australian round of the World Superbike Championship and the domestic V8 Supercar racing, which also visits Sandown Raceway and the rural Winton Motor Raceway circuit. Australia's most prestigious footrace, the Stawell Gift, is an annual event. Victoria is also home to the Aussie Millions poker tournament, the tournament with the highest potential proceeds in the Southern Hemisphere.
The main horse racing tracks in Victoria are Caulfield Racecourse, Flemington Racecourse and Sandown Racecourse. The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival is one of the biggest horse racing events in the world and is one of the world's largest sporting events. The main race is for the $6 million Melbourne Cup, and crowds for the carnival usually exceed 700,000. Victoria was due to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games but withdrew on 18 July 2023 as a result of increased costs of holding the event.
Major professional teams include:
Australian rules football (AFL): Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong Cats, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs
Basketball (NBL): Melbourne United, South East Melbourne Phoenix
Cricket (BBL): Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars
Cricket (Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup): Victoria cricket team
Netball (Super Netball): Melbourne Vixens, Collingwood Magpies
Rugby league (NRL): Melbourne Storm
Rugby union (Super Rugby): Melbourne Rebels
Soccer (A-League): Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory, Western United
== Sister states ==
Victoria has four sister states:
Jiangsu, China (1979)
Aichi Prefecture, Japan (1980)
Busan, South Korea (1994)
Sichuan, China (2016) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._national_banks_of_Hawaii | U.S. national banks of Hawaii | The first bank established in the Kingdom of Hawaii was Bishop & Co., founded by Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich in 1858. Almost 25 years later, Spreckels & Co. was founded by Claus Spreckels in partnership with William G. Irwin in 1884. The Kingdom opened the Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank on July 1, 1886. By 1895 the Yokohama Specie Bank opened a branch in Honolulu and the merchant importer/exporter Hackfeld & Co. went into banking. Following the annexation of Hawaii in July 1898, plans were set in motion to establish the First American Bank of Hawaii backed by investors in New York and California. A prospectus soliciting stock subscriptions was released on May 8, 1899, and the bank opened for business on September 5, 1899. The founding board of directors included Cecil Brown (President), B.F. Dillingham (Vice-President), M.P. Robinson, Bruce Cartwright, and G.W. Macfarlane. Additional officers included W.G. Cooper (Cashier), E.M. Boyd (Secretary), and George F. McLeod (Auditor). The expressed purpose for founding the bank was to eventually convert it into a National Bank under the National Bank Act. On April 30, 1900 a special act of Congress extended the National Banking Act to include the Territory of Hawaii.
== The First National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu ==
The First National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu was organized on July 25, 1900 and received operational authorization (bank charter #5550) from the Comptroller of the Treasury on August 23, 1900. The bank opened for business on October 1, 1900 with $500,000 capital on deposit with the U.S. Treasury.
The founding board of directors included: Cecil Brown (President), Mark P. Robinson (Vice-president), Bruce Cartwright, Frank Hustace, and George Macfarlane. By the end of 1901 only Brown and Robinson remained from the founding group, joined by Lincoln L. McCandless, Gilbert J. Waller, and August Dreier.
The initial national bank notes issued in 1900 were signed by bank president Cecil Brown and cashier W.G. Cooper. Cooper was replaced by Levi Tenney Peck in 1905. Due in large part to failing health, in 1915 Brown resigned as president to become Chairman of the Board and Peck became president. Brown died in 1917.
The bank changed titles (name) several times. The First National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu, the First American Savings Bank, the Army National Bank of Schofield Barracks, and the Baldwin National Bank of Kahului merged to form the Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu on July 6, 1929. On November 3, 1933, the bank’s title was changed to the Bishop National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu. On April 15, 1960 the title dropped “Honolulu” becoming The First National Bank of Hawaii. Finally, on January 2, 1969 the bank gave up its converted from a national to a state bank with the title The First Bank of Hawaii.
During the course of its charter as a U.S. national bank, the First National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu (first title) issued 977,832 large size banknotes (1900–28), the Bishop First National Bank at Honolulu (second title) issued 696,672 small size banknotes (1929–33), and the Bishop National Bank at Honolulu (third title) issued 149,488 small size banknotes (1933–35).
== The First National Bank of Wailuku ==
The First National Bank of Wailuku was organized on September 5, 1901 and received charter #5994 from the Comptroller of the Treasury on October 17, 1901. The bank opened for business on November 27, 1901.
The founding board of directors included: Charles M. Cooke (President), Charles D. Lufkin (Cashier), Clarence H. Cooke, Joseph B. Atherton, and Cecil Brown. Four months later Lufkin was the only original director remaining: W.J. Lowrie (President), W.T. Robinson (VP), Charles D. Lufkin (Cashier), F.J. Wheeler, and Ralph A. Wadsworth. The bank was initially capitalized at $25,000 in 1902 and raised to $35,000 in 1904.
Charles Cooke returned as president in 1903 and served until his death (August 27, 1909). He was succeeded by his son Clarence Hyde Cooke.
The First National Bank of Wailuku issued 11,964 large size banknotes for a total of $97,800 in circulating notes. Only two banknotes are currently known to exist.
== The Lahaina National Bank ==
The Lahaina National Bank was organized (approval given) on April 17, 1903 with the following directors: Charles D. Lufkin, Ralph A. Wadsworth, W.T. Robinson, David C. Lindsay, and Clarence H. Cooke. A charter for the bank (#8101) was not issued by the Treasury Department until February 1906, (capitalized at $25,000) by which time the board consisted of Charles M. Cooke (President), Charles D. Lufkin (Vice-president), Frank C. Atherton (Cashier), Peter C. Jones, and Clarence H. Cooke. When the bank opened for business on April 2, 1906 the roster of directors had some additional changes: Charles M. Cooke (President), William Henning (Vice-president), Charles D. Lufkin (Cashier), Ralph A. Wadsworth, and L. Barkhausen.
The Lahaina National Bank issued 1,772 large size banknotes for a total of $22,150 in circulating notes. Only one banknote is currently known to exist.
== The Baldwin National Bank of Kahului ==
The Baldwin National Bank of Kahului was organized on February 20, 1906 and received charter #8207 from the Comptroller of the Treasury on May 5, 1906. The bank was initially capitalized at $40,000, but increased the amount to $50,000 the following year.
The founding board of directors was made up of Henry Perrine Baldwin (President), Joseph P. Cooke (Vice-president), David C. Lindsay (Cashier), John N.S. Williams, and Samuel M. Damon. Henry Perrine Baldwin died in 1911 and was succeeded as bank president by his son, Henry Alexander Baldwin.
The Baldwin National Bank issued 19,964 large size banknotes for a total of $161,950 in circulating notes. Five banknotes are currently known to exist. The bank gave up its national charter in 1921 to become the Baldwin Bank Limited, capitalized at $100,000 with George S. Waterhouse (president) and G.D. Baldwin (cashier) as officers.
== The First National Bank of Paia ==
The First National Bank of Paia was organized in March 1913 and received charter #10451 from the Comptroller of the Treasury on September 26, 1913 capitalized at $25,000. The bank opened for business on October 20, 1913.
The founding board of directors was made up of Clarence H. Cooke (President), Charles D. Lufkin (Cashier), Ralph A. Wadsworth, Daniel H. Case, and Joaquin Garcia.
The First National Bank of Paia initially ordered 2,200 banknotes (in 10s and 20s) from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency but amended the order to 800 notes for a total of $10,000 in circulating notes. There are no known examples and it is suspected that the notes were never issued by the bank and returned to the Comptroller upon liquidation.
== The Army National Bank of Schofield Barracks ==
The United States Army gave Bishop & Company permission (June 24, 1914) to construct a temporary building to serve as a banking facility at Schofield Barracks. During the week of January 8, 1917, the Bishop & Company branch office submitted an application to organize as a National Bank.
On June 5, 1917, the Department of Justice issued a favorable opinion on the application, and the Army National Bank of Schofield Barracks received charter #11050 from the Comptroller of the Treasury on August 3, 1917. capitalized at $100,000.
The founding board of directors was made up of Ernest H. Wodehouse (President), Allen W.T. Bottomley (Vice-president), Orville N. Tyler (Cashier), James D. Dole, John Waterhouse, Harold G. Dillingham, and Joseph O. Carter.
The Army National Bank did not issue banknotes.
== Bank of Maui ==
The National banks in Wailuku, Lahaina, and Paia were all organized by Charles Dexter Lufkin, generally in partnership with the Cooke family (either Charles or Clarence as president), and Lufkin as cashier. The National Banking Act did not allow chartered banks to have branches so Lufkin et al. opened separate banks but under the same management. In essence, The Lahaina National Bank and The First National Bank of Paia were functioning as branches of the First National Bank of Wailuku. National banking laws also prohibited the use of real estate as loan collateral. Citing this in three separate bank shareholder meetings (all held the same day), the management of the three banks proposed relinquishing their charters as national banks and incorporating under the laws of the Territory of Hawaii.
On April 30, 1917 the Bank of Maui, Limited, was chartered by the Territorial Treasurer with Clarence Cooke as president. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency lists all three banks as going into liquidation on May 1, 1917.
== Officers authorized to sign National bank notes == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshinobu_Ishikawa | Yoshinobu Ishikawa | Yoshinobu Ishikawa (石川 嘉延, Ishikawa Yoshinobu; born November 24, 1940) was the governor of Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 1993. A native of Kakegawa, Shizuoka, formerly known as Daitō, Shizuoka, and graduate of the University of Tokyo, Department of Law, he had worked at the Ministry of Home Affairs since 1964 before being elected governor.
== Early career ==
After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Department of Law in 1964, he joined the Ministry of Home Affairs and began work in the government bureaucracy. He worked within the ministry for 20 years before being given a position as Head of the Shizuoka Prefecture Home Affairs Office. Following a two-year stint there, he climbed the ladder of the Ministry, was briefly transferred to the National Land Agency, and eventually became Head of the Civil Servant Department in the Home Affairs Ministry in 1992. Only a year after, he decided to run for governor of his home prefecture of Shizuoka and resigned from the ministry in June 1993. He was elected for his first of four terms in August 1993.
== Resignation ==
Due to repeated delays in the opening of Shizuoka Airport, Governor Ishikawa announced at a news conference on March 25, 2009 that he would resign. The airport was the largest construction project in the prefecture at the time but the opening was delayed until June 2009. The main cause of the delay was due to the flawed original survey for the runway. The original survey placed the runway near some trees that were too high and could not be removed. It was decided in March 2009 that the runway would be shortened and therefore, the airport would not open on time. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_One_Arena | Capital One Arena | Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on December 2, 1997 as MCI Center, but renamed to Verizon Center in 2006 when MCI was acquired by Verizon Communications. The name was changed to Capital One Arena in 2017 when Capital One bank, headquartered in nearby Tysons, Virginia, purchased the naming rights.
Owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, it is the home arena of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Georgetown University men's basketball team. It was also home to the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1998 to 2018, after which they moved to the CareFirst Arena in southeast Washington for the 2019 season. The arena project was a commercial success for its backers.
The development of the arena has contributed to the gentrification of the surrounding area, the displacement of most of its Asian-American residents (the local Chinese-American population, which numbered over 3,000 before the arena's construction, was a mere 300 in 2023), and the replacement of most of the small businesses and restaurants that served the Asian-American community by national chains.
== History ==
The block where the arena was built, between 6th and 7th and F and G Streets, historically held a mix of residences and small businesses. By the 1960s, it was suffering from urban decay, like much of the eastern end of Downtown Washington. In 1973, while the Gallery Place Metro station was being developed below it, the District government bought the land in hopes of redeveloping it. Capital Landmark Associates was selected in 1979 to develop the site with a planned mixed-use complex including retail, offices, apartments, and a hotel. Most of the remaining buildings on the site were demolished in 1985. The project languished for many years but never materialized, and was finally canceled in 1992.
Before the arena's opening, the Capitals and the Wizards (then known as the Washington Bullets) played at USAir Arena in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The teams experienced subpar attendance because the location was inconvenient for both Washington and Baltimore residents, and their arena, though only 20 years old, was not up to the standards of other NBA and NHL venues. In December 1993, Abe Pollin, the owner of both teams, began studying options to move the teams to a new arena to be built with public financing, with possible locations including Baltimore, downtown Washington, and Laurel, Maryland.
A group of Washington business leaders brokered a deal between Pollin and the District government to build an arena at the Gallery Place site, with the District paying for the $150 million project, which was envisioned to have shopping, food, and exhibitors for daily use even when there was no arena event. The D.C. Council approved a special tax on businesses to finance the deal. However, a competing proposal soon emerged, when Robert Johnson, head of Black Entertainment Television, offered to build the arena with mostly private financing. With the arena deal facing criticism amid the District's budget crisis, Pollin eventually agreed to privately fund the construction of the building, which ultimately came to $200 million (US$375 million in 2024 dollars). The District would pay for other costs, including purchasing the portion of the land it did not already own, preparing the site, and expanding the Metro station; these eventually amounted to $79 million (US$141 million in 2024 dollars). The District leased the land to Pollin at a below-market rate of $300,000 per year.
A naming rights deal was struck with MCI Communications to name the arena as the MCI Center. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in October 1995. On December 2, 1997, the arena held its first event, a game between the Wizards and the Seattle SuperSonics, with President Bill Clinton in attendance. The arena had a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) Discovery Channel Store from 1998 to 2001 and the MCI National Sports Gallery, an interactive sports museum with interactive games, memorabilia, and the American Sportscasters Hall of Fame inside from 1998 to 2000 or 2001 which was repurposed for office space. Clinton toured the gallery before the game, playing the museum games. A block of F Street NW between 6th and 7th Street NW outside the arena was declared Fun Street, complete with signage. This block later was declared Abe Pollin Way in 2007. The arena was noted for building spectator seats vertically rather than out, creating better views for all attending albeit with limited leg room in the upper levels, as well as spacious quarters for players and coaches with advanced competitive research technology. The arena concourse featured multimedia arenaNet stations where fans could check scores, watch highlights, and send digital postcards over email. These replaced an abandoned idea to have smart seats with televisions and technology that was scrapped due to technological challenges. Arena technology was powered by a virtual LAN software and switching technology called ArenaNET from Cabletron Systems.
In 1999, a group led by technology executive Ted Leonsis bought a 36% stake in Pollin's holdings, including the MCI Center, as well as full ownership of the Capitals. The Leonsis group increased its stake to 44% in 2000.
In January 2006, Verizon Communications purchased MCI and the arena's name was changed accordingly to Verizon Center. VIDA Fitness opened its first location in the arena that same year. The following year, in 2007, the "first true indoor high-definition LED scoreboard" was installed in the arena. In May 2024, VIDA Fitness announced that they would close their Gallery Place location. Gallery Place, a 14-screen movie theater, opened at Capital One Arena in 2004.
In June 2010, following Pollin's death in November 2009, the Leonsis group, newly organized as Monumental Sports & Entertainment, bought out Pollin's interests, gaining full ownership of the arena and the Wizards.
A report emerged in May 2015 that Verizon would not renew its naming rights to the Verizon Center when its agreement with Monumental was to end in 2018. In the same week, it was announced that Etihad Airways signed a deal to become the official airline of the arena, sparking speculation that Etihad might be the leading contender to assume naming rights in 2017. However, on August 9, 2017, it was announced that the bank Capital One had purchased the rights, renaming the venue Capital One Arena. In October 2024, it was revealed that Etihad Airways is no longer the official airline for Capital One Arena as United Airlines (which operates a hub at Dulles International Airport) was chosen as the new official airline.
In 2019 and 2020, Monumental Sports undertook a $30 million renovation of the arena. This included completely replacing the arena's seating, improving the concourse, and altering many of the arena's dining options. A new, larger overhead video board was also added as well as a new SkyRing video screen that goes around the top of the arena.
In July 2020, bookmaker William Hill opened a sportsbook at the arena, following the 2018 legalization of sports betting in Washington. It was the first brick-and-mortar sportsbook in the District, and the first to open at a professional sports venue in the United States.
On June 23, 2023, The Washington Post reported that Monumental Sports was considering moving the Capitals and Wizards to a new arena in the National Landing area of Arlington in Northern Virginia if the Washington, D.C. government did not invest in upgrades to the arena and surrounding area. Despite this, the article outlined that the city intended on continuing its dialogue with the company to keep both teams in Capital One Arena. Monumental later pivoted to a part of the National Landing area lying in a different Northern Virginia jurisdiction, announcing on December 13, 2023, that it planned to build the new arena in the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria. Under the revised plan, Capital One Arena would have remained in use as a concert and event venue during the NBA and NHL seasons, and also become the permanent home of Monumental's Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, the Washington Mystics. In March 2024, after officials in Alexandria announced that the $2 billion entertainment and sports complex plans were scrapped, Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she had signed a deal with both teams' majority owner, Ted Leonsis, to keep the Capitals and Wizards in the District "at least until 2050." The deal will see a massive renovation to the arena which will be completed by 2028 in six phases, changing the exterior and interior that will include new technology and improved fan experiences.
Capital One Arena is undergoing a multi-year $850 million renovation that will completely alter the exterior and parts of the interior of the arena. $515 million is coming from the District of Columbia government, while the rest is being paid for by Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns the teams. The renovation is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2027-2028 NHL and NBA seasons.
The indoor parade of the second inauguration of Donald Trump took place in the arena on January 20, 2025.
== Sports ==
=== Ice hockey ===
The arena has been home to the Capitals NHL team since its opening. As a result, numerous memorable moments in franchise history have occurred in the arena. The arena hosted games three and four of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, when the Capitals lost to the Detroit Red Wings in four games. The Red Wings hoisted the namesake Stanley Cup in the arena on June 16, 1998, after winning game four by a score of 4–1. On April 5, 2008, the Capitals won the Southeast Division in the last game of the regular season, after beating the Florida Panthers 3–1. Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals between the Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, played on May 4, 2009, saw dueling hat tricks from Ovechkin and rival Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, culminating in a 4–3 victory for Washington thanks to an additional goal from David Steckel. The arena also hosted games three and four of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. The Capitals won both games and then went on to win game five in Las Vegas to capture the Stanley Cup for the first major sports championship for a Washington, D.C. team since the 1991 Washington Redskins. The Capitals had their Stanley Cup banner installation ceremony in the arena before their first game of the next season, which took place on October 3, 2018.
On April 4, 2025, with Wayne Gretzky and commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, Ovechkin scored goals 893 and 894 in a 5-3 Capitals win over the Chicago Blackhawks. This tied him with Gretzky for the all-time goals record.
==== Non-NHL hockey events ====
The arena hosted the 2009 "Frozen Four", the final round of the 2009 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament Boston University took Miami OH in overtime 4–3.
The inaugural 2024 Capital Hockey Classic took place on December 12, 2024, This event marked the first full-fledged college hockey event since the 2009 D1 Finals. It featured military and club collegiate ice hockey teams.
The Capital Hockey Classic aimed to capture attention, especially since it occurred just two days before the Army-Navy game at the nearby Northwest Stadium. The event included two matches: the first game featured Army vs Navy Club hockey at 5PM, followed by the Army Black Knights vs. the Penn State Nittany Lions D1 match at 7PM.
On January 18, 2026, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) played their first game in Washington, D.C. between the Montreal Victoire and New York Sirens. The Sirens won 2–1 against the Victoire in front of 17,228 fans, setting a new attendance record for women's hockey in the United States.
=== Basketball ===
The arena has been home to the Wizards NBA team since its opening and was home to the Washington Mystics WNBA team from 1998 to 2018, before the Mystics moved to a new, smaller arena in the Congress Heights area of southeast Washington. In 2024, the Mystics relocated their June 7 and September 19 games against the Indiana Fever to Capital One Arena, citing the demand of tickets as a result of the rising popularity of Caitlin Clark. The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team has also played there since the arena's opening. The arena has hosted three basketball all star games: the 2001 NBA All-Star Game and the 2002 and 2007 WNBA All-Star Games. The arena has been home to many playoff games, but has yet to host an NBA Finals.
The arena has hosted games for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament several times. It hosted first- and second-round games in 1998, 2002, 2008 and 2011, and hosted the regional finals in 2006, 2013 and 2019. Most notably the 2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team from nearby Fairfax, Virginia advanced to the Final Four in the arena. The arena also hosted the Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament in 2018 and 2022. It hosted the ACC men's basketball tournament in 2005, 2016, and 2024. In 2017 the arena hosted the Big Ten men's basketball tournament.
The Harlem Globetrotters play in the arena on an annual basis, often against the Washington Generals, a team named in honor of President Dwight Eisenhower.
=== Combat sports ===
Mike Tyson's final non-exhibition fight (Mike Tyson vs. Kevin McBride) was held at the arena on June 11, 2005. On June 19, 2011, WWE Capitol Punishment was held at the arena, featuring: John Cena, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Big Show and The Miz. On October 1, 2011, UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson was held at the arena. On December 7, 2019, UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik was held at the arena. The arena is also set to host the 42nd edition of Saturday Night's Main Event on December 13, 2025, which will feature John Cena's final match in his 26-year career.
=== Arena football ===
In 2017, the Washington Valor began play at the arena for their inaugural season in the Arena Football League. The Valor folded in 2019 and the arena has not hosted an Arena League game since.
=== Gymnastics and figure skating ===
The arena hosted the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships and the 2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.
== Music, entertainment, and other events ==
The arena is a major location for concerts and cultural events in the D.C. region. Among the musical performers, cultural figures, and entertainment shows that have performed at the arena are Beyoncé, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott, Olivia Rodrigo, Duran Duran, Ricardo Arjona, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Muse, Paul McCartney, Queen, U2, Iron Maiden, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Britney Spears, The Three Tenors, Drake, Barbra Streisand, Bon Jovi, Prince, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, the Dalai Lama, Tina Turner, Keith Urban, Paul Simon, Sting, The Police, Taylor Swift, Tame Impala, Coldplay, Tyler, the Creator, Elton John, Usher, Green Day, Blink-182, The Who, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Cage the Elephant, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, Ateez, Seventeen, NCT Dream, Jonas Brothers, AJR, IU, Howard University graduation speech by U.S. president Joe Biden, and a Michelle Obama book tour event.
The Washington International Horse Show took place every October in the arena for more than 20 years through 2019, after which it was moved out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The arena served as the venue for U.S. president Donald Trump's inaugural parade on January 20, 2025. The day before, Trump held a rally in the arena.
=== Professional wrestling ===
The arena has hosted various professional wrestling events; it hosted the final four editions of WCW's Starrcade pay-per-view, followed by WWE's Backlash in 2000, SummerSlam in 2005, Cyber Sunday in 2007, Survivor Series in 2009, Capitol Punishment in 2011, and Battleground in 2016. The arena frequently hosts Raw and SmackDown episodes as well.
On October 2, 2019, the Capital One Arena hosted the first ever episode of Dynamite, the first weekly television series of All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
On December 13, 2025, the Capital One Arena hosted WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event XLII, featuring John Cena's final match in his 26-year wrestling career.
== Criticism ==
=== Gentrification ===
When the arena opened, there was concern that it would lead to the displacement of Chinese businesses and culture in the area that is the city's Chinatown. The surrounding area has indeed been dramatically gentrified, and most of the Chinese residents and businesses who lived and operated in the neighborhood when the arena first opened have been displaced because of the spike in real estate prices. 2011 estimates hold that the number of Chinese in the neighborhood is down to around 400 to 500. The Chinese-owned restaurants and businesses in the Chinatown area are largely gone and there has not been a full-service Chinese grocery in the neighborhood since 2005.
A similar stadium project proposed for Philadelphia's Chinatown sparked comparisons in 2023 to the Capital One Arena, and caused significant community backlash prior to its cancellation.
=== Ice quality issues ===
In December 2007, then-Capitals captain Chris Clark stated that he believed the arena had the worst ice in the NHL. "There's a lot of ruts in the ice. It's soft. It's wet half the time. I could see a lot of injuries coming from the ice there. It could cost [players] their jobs... Even guys on other teams say the same thing. When we're facing off, they say, 'How do you guys play on this?'" Capitals owner Ted Leonsis addressed this criticism directly. The ice quality issue has been persistent both since the opening of the facility and with the Capitals franchise in general. Since Leonsis' acquisition of the facility, the quality of the ice has improved and the number of complaints has noticeably decreased. During playoff games, the arena installs additional portable refrigeration units outside the arena to aid the ice conditions during the warm and humid summer months.
== Gallery == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rock_%26_Alternative_Songs | Hot Rock & Alternative Songs | Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternative, mainstream rock, and triple A radio stations in the United States. Beginning with the chart dated October 20, 2012, the chart has followed the methodology of the Billboard Hot 100 by incorporating digital download sales, streaming data, and radio airplay of rock songs over all formats. From that time until mid-2020, only the performance of core rock songs, including those with an "alternative bent", were tabulated and ranked for the chart. With the chart dated June 13, 2020, Billboard revamped the chart to permit a broader selection of songs considered alternative "hybrids" with other genres and renamed it to Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
== Number ones ==
The first number-one track on the chart was Green Day's "Know Your Enemy". Since its introduction, 74 songs have reached the number-one position on chart. Imagine Dragons have had the most with five, combining for a total of 104 weeks at the summit. Panic! at the Disco's "High Hopes" spent a record 65 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart, and along with their song "Hey Look Ma, I Made It", the band claimed the number-one spot on the chart for the entirety of 2019.
== Statistics ==
=== By artist ===
=== Songs by total number of weeks at number one === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England#Geography | England#Geography | England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. England shares a land border with Scotland to the north and another land border with Wales to the west, and is surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. At the 2021 census, the population was 56,490,048. London is both the largest city and the capital.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic. It takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had extensive cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased to be a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union brought into effect a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland that created the Kingdom of Great Britain.
England is the origin of the English language, the English legal system (which served as the basis for the common law systems of many other countries), association football, and the Anglican branch of Christianity; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England is home to the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world: the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209. Both universities are ranked amongst the most prestigious in the world.
England's terrain chiefly consists of low hills and plains, especially in the centre and south. Upland and mountainous terrain is mostly found in the north and west, including Dartmoor, the Lake District, the Pennines, and the Shropshire Hills. The London metropolitan area has a population of over 15 million as of 2025, representing the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan area. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century.
== Toponymy ==
The name "England" is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means "land of the Angles". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages. They came from the Angeln region of what is now the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The earliest recorded use of the term, as "Engla londe", is in the late-ninth-century translation into Old English of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term was then used to mean "the land inhabited by the English", and it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was then part of the English kingdom of Northumbria. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years later the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense.
The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, in which the Latin word Anglii is used. The etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars; it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. How and why a term derived from the name of this tribe, rather than others such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons to distinguish them from continental Saxons (Eald-Seaxe) of Old Saxony in Germany. In Scottish Gaelic, the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England (Sasunn); similarly, the Welsh name for the English language is Saesneg. A romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend. Albion is also applied to England in a more poetic capacity, though its original meaning is the island of Britain as a whole.
== History ==
=== Prehistory ===
The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to about 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago. Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years. After the last ice age only large mammals such as mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceros remained. Roughly 11,000 years ago, when the ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The sea level was lower than the present day and Britain was connected by land bridge to Ireland and Eurasia.
As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later. Neolithic farmers from the Iberian Peninsula migrated to the region around 4100 BC.
The Beaker culture arrived around 2,500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores. It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge (phase III) and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in the area, the Beaker culture people made bronze, and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs, advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields), as well as the production of more effective weapons.
During the Iron Age, Celtic culture, deriving from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, arrived from Central Europe. Brythonic was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to Ptolemy's Geographia there were around 20 tribes in the area. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic attempted to invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from the Trinovantes.
=== Ancient history ===
The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius, subsequently conquering much of Britain, and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as Britannia province. The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the Catuvellauni led by Caratacus. Later, an uprising led by Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at the Battle of Watling Street. The author of one study of Roman Britain suggested that from 43 AD to 84 AD, the Roman invaders killed somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 people from a population of perhaps 2,000,000. This era saw a Greco-Roman culture prevail with the introduction of Roman law, Roman architecture, aqueducts, sewers, many agricultural items and silk. In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (now York), where Constantine was subsequently proclaimed emperor a century later.
There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to Bede, missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in 180 AD, to settle differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials, which were disturbing the church. There are traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through Joseph of Arimathea, while others claim through Lucius of Britain. By 410, during the decline of the Roman Empire, Britain was left exposed by the end of Roman rule in Britain and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars. Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished. This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local "congregations" were centred in the monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church.
=== Middle Ages ===
Roman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Saxons, Angles, Jutes and Frisians who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province. These groups then began to settle in increasing numbers over the course of the fifth and sixth centuries, initially in the eastern part of the country. Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the Battle of Mount Badon, but subsequently resumed, overrunning the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under Brittonic control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of the 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a Dark Age. Details of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain are consequently subject to considerable disagreement; the emerging consensus is that it occurred on a large scale in the south and east but was less substantial to the north and west, where Celtic languages continued to be spoken even in areas under Anglo-Saxon control. Roman-dominated Christianity had, in general, been replaced in the conquered territories by Anglo-Saxon paganism, but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by Augustine from 597. Disputes between the Roman- and Celtic-dominated forms of Christianity ended in victory for the Roman tradition at the Council of Whitby (664), which was ostensibly about tonsures (clerical haircuts) and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice.
During the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex. Over the following centuries, this process of political consolidation continued. The 7th century saw a struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence. In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the Danes culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under Alfred the Great was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors, it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the Danelaw. This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under Æthelstan in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by Eadred in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with the conquest of this united kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and again by his son Cnut in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived North Sea Empire that also included Denmark and Norway. However, the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042.
A dispute over the succession to Edward led to an unsuccessful Norwegian Invasion in September 1066 close to York in the North, and the successful Norman Conquest in October 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy invading at Hastings late September 1066. The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language.
Subsequently, the House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II, adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine. They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being Richard I, Edward I, Edward III and Henry V. The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including the signing of Magna Carta, an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Wales became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century and the Lordship of Ireland was given to the English monarchy by the Pope. During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the House of Valois claimed to be legitimate claimants to the House of Capet and of France; the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War. The Black Death epidemic hit England; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants.
Between 1453 and 1487, a civil war known as the War of the Roses waged between the two branches of the royal family, the Yorkists and Lancastrians. Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors, a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed.
=== Early modern period ===
During the Tudor period, England began to develop naval skills, and exploration intensified in the Age of Discovery. Henry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England. In contrast with much of European Protestantism, the roots of the split were more political than theological. He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with the 1535–1542 acts. There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism. The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor age of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ("the Virgin Queen"). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history that represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of great art, drama, poetry, music and literature. England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government.
Competing with Spain, the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke. The Roanoke colony failed and is known as the lost colony after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving supply ship. With the East India Company, England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East. During the Elizabethan period, England was at war with Spain. An armada sailed from Spain in 1588 as part of a wider plan to invade England and re-establish a Catholic monarchy. The plan was thwarted by bad coordination, stormy weather and successful harrying attacks by an English fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham. This failure did not end the threat: Spain launched two further armadas, in 1596 and 1597, but both were driven back by storms.
=== Union with Scotland ===
The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the King of Scots, James VI, a kingdom which had been a long-time rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I, thereby creating a personal union. He styled himself King of Great Britain, although this had no basis in English law. Under the auspices of James VI and I the Authorised King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century.
Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the English Civil War was fought between the supporters of Parliament and those of King Charles I, known colloquially as Roundheads and Cavaliers respectively. This was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms, involving Scotland and Ireland. The Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced by the Commonwealth. Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector in 1653; a period of personal rule followed. After Cromwell's death and the resignation of his son Richard as Lord Protector, Charles II was invited to return as monarch in 1660, in a move called the Restoration. With the reopening of theatres, fine arts, literature and performing arts flourished throughout the Restoration of the "Merry Monarch" Charles II. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Amongst the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament. Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch. With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.
In 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the city of London, but it was rebuilt shortly afterward with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren. By the mid-to-late 17th century, two political factions had emerged – the Tories and Whigs. Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II, some of them, along with the Whigs, during the Revolution of 1688 invited the Dutch Prince William of Orange to defeat James and become the king. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. Under the Stuart dynasty England expanded in trade, finance and prosperity. The Royal Navy developed Europe's largest merchant fleet. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed, the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate.
=== Late modern and contemporary periods ===
Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in British overseas trade protected by the Royal Navy paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire. Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development. The opening of Northwest England's Bridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in the canal age in Britain. In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway – the Stockton and Darlington Railway – opened to the public.
During the Industrial Revolution, many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at Birmingham and Manchester, with the latter the world's first industrial city. England maintained relative stability throughout the French Revolution, under George III and William Pitt the Younger. The regency of George IV is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon planned to invade from the south-east; however, this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British: at sea by Horatio Nelson, and on land by Arthur Wellesley. The major victory at the Battle of Trafalgar confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century. The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of Britishness and a united national British people, shared with the English, Scots and Welsh.
London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era, and trade within the British Empire – as well as the standing of the British military and navy – was prestigious. Technologically, this era saw many innovations that proved key to the United Kingdom's power and prosperity. Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage.
Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the Allies. Two decades later, in World War II, the United Kingdom was again one of the Allies. Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during the Blitz. Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation, and there was a speeding-up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle's development of the jet engine led to wider air travel. Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, providing publicly funded health care to all permanent residents free at the point of need. Combined, these prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century.
Since the 20th century, there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the British Isles, but also from the Commonwealth, particularly the Indian subcontinent. Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the service industry. As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became the European Union.
Since the late 20th century the administration of the United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism. There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum.
== Governance ==
=== Politics ===
England is part of the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. There has not been a government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707, putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union, joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England.
England is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments. There has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a 2004 referendum, this has not been carried out. In 2024, an England-only intergovernmental body, known as the Mayoral Council for England, was established to bring together ministers from the UK Government, the Mayor of London and the leaders of combined authorities.
In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at the Palace of Westminster, there are 543 members of parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total. England is represented by 347 MPs from the Labour Party, 116 from the Conservative Party, 65 from the Liberal Democrats, four for Reform UK and four for the Green Party of England and Wales.
=== Law ===
The English law legal system, developed over the centuries, is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States (except Louisiana). Despite now being part of the United Kingdom, the legal system of the Courts of England and Wales continued, under the Treaty of Union, as a separate legal system from the one used in Scotland. The general essence of English law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent – stare decisis – to the facts before them.
The court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales. It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords. A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, which must follow its directions.
The Secretary of State for Justice is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system and prisons and probation in England. Crime increased between 1981 and 1995 but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006. The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it one of the highest incarceration rates in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000. His Majesty's Prison Service, reporting to the Ministry of Justice, manages most prisons, housing 81,309 prisoners in England and Wales as of September 2022.
=== Subdivisions ===
The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division, controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government.
Outside the London region, England's highest tier is the 48 ceremonial counties. These are used primarily as a geographical frame of reference. Of these, 38 developed gradually since the Middle Ages; these were reformed to 51 in 1974 and to their current number in 1996. Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally. Some counties, such as Herefordshire, are only divided further into civil parishes. The royal county of Berkshire and the metropolitan counties have different types of status to other ceremonial counties.
The second tier is made up of combined authorities and the 27 county-tier shire counties. In 1974, all ceremonial counties were two-tier; and with the metropolitan county tier phased out, the 1996 reform separated the ceremonial county and the administrative county tier.
England is also divided into local government districts. The district can align to a ceremonial county, or be a district tier within a shire county, be a royal or metropolitan borough, have borough or city status, or be a unitary authority.
At the community level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with their own councils; in Greater London only one such parish, Queen's Park, exists as of 2014 after they were abolished in 1965 until legislation allowed their recreation in 2007.
==== London ====
From 1994 until the early 2010s England was divided for a few purposes into regions; a 1998 referendum for the London Region created the London Assembly two years later. A failed 2004 North East England devolution referendum cancelled further regional assembly devolution with the regional structure outside London abolished.
Administratively, London is divided between 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The 32 London boroughs form the ceremonial county of Greater London, with the City of London being a separate ceremonial county.
== Geography ==
=== Landscape and rivers ===
Geographically, England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly. It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom: to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales.
England is closer than any other part of mainland Britain to the European continent. It is separated from France (Hauts-de-France) by a 21-mile (34 km) sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone. England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
The ports of London, Liverpool, and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames, Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 220 miles (350 km), the Severn is the longest river flowing through England. It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore (a tidal bore), which can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height. However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is 215 miles (346 km) in length. There are many lakes in England; the largest is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District.
Most of England's landscape consists of low hills and plains, with upland and mountainous terrain in the north and west of the country. The northern uplands include the Pennines, a chain of uplands dividing east and west, the Lake District mountains in Cumbria, and the Cheviot Hills, straddling the border between England and Scotland. The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in the Lake District. The Shropshire Hills are near Wales while Dartmoor and Exmoor are two upland areas in the south-west of the country. The approximate dividing line between terrain types is often indicated by the Tees–Exe line.
The Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago. Their geological composition includes, amongst others, sandstone and limestone, and also coal. There are karst landscapes in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The Pennine landscape is high moorland in upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain two national parks, the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District. In the West Country, Dartmoor and Exmoor of the Southwest Peninsula include upland moorland supported by granite.
The English Lowlands are in the central and southern regions of the country, consisting of green rolling hills, including the Cotswold Hills, Chiltern Hills, North and South Downs; where they meet the sea they form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover. This also includes relatively flat plains such as the Salisbury Plain, Somerset Levels, South Coast Plain and The Fens.
=== Climate ===
England has a temperate maritime climate: it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C (32 °F) in winter and not much higher than 32 °C (90 °F) in summer. The weather is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October. Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.
Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its northern latitude and the warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream. Rainfall is higher in the west, and parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country. Since weather records began, the highest temperature recorded was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, while the lowest was −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond, Shropshire.
=== Nature and wildlife ===
The fauna of England is similar to that of other areas in the British Isles with a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate life in a diverse range of habitats. National nature reserves in England are designated by Natural England as key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to protect the most significant areas of habitat and of geological formations. NNRs are managed on behalf of the nation, many by Natural England themselves, but also by non-governmental organisations, including the members of The Wildlife Trusts partnership, the National Trust, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. There are 221 NNRs in England covering 110,000 hectares (1,100 square kilometres). Often they contain rare species or nationally important populations of plants and animals.
.
The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body, established in 1995 and sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment in England. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the minister responsible for environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England.
England has a temperate oceanic climate in most areas, lacking extremes of cold or heat, but does have a few small areas of subarctic and warmer areas in the South West. Towards the North of England the climate becomes colder and most of England's mountains and high hills are located here and have a major impact on the climate and thus the local fauna of the areas. Deciduous woodlands are common across all of England and provide a great habitat for much of England's wildlife, but these give way in northern and upland areas of England to coniferous forests (mainly plantations) which also benefit certain forms of wildlife. Some species have adapted to the expanded urban environment, particularly the red fox, which is the most successful urban mammal after the brown rat, and other animals such as common wood pigeon, both of which thrive in urban and suburban areas.
=== Major conurbations ===
The Greater London Built-up Area is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the busiest cities in the world. It is considered a global city and has a population larger than any other country in the United Kingdom besides England itself. Other urban areas of considerable size and influence tend to be in northern England or the English Midlands. There are 50 settlements which have designated city status in England, while the wider United Kingdom has 66.
While many cities in England are quite large, such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Bradford, Nottingham, population size is not a prerequisite for city status. Traditionally the status was given to towns with diocesan cathedrals, so there are smaller cities like Wells, Ely, Ripon, Truro and Chichester.
== Economy ==
England's economy is one of the largest and most dynamic in the world, with a GDP per capita of £37,852 in 2022. HM Treasury, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy. Usually regarded as a mixed market economy, it has adopted many free market principles, yet maintains an advanced social welfare infrastructure.
The economy of England is the largest part of the UK's economy. England is a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly aerospace, the arms industry, and the software industry. London, home to the London Stock Exchange, the United Kingdom's main stock exchange and the largest in Europe, is England's financial centre, with 100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations being based there. As of 2025, London is the largest financial centre in Europe and the second largest in the world.
London has been named as the fastest growing technology hub in Europe, with England having over 100 unique tech companies with a value of $1 billion or more. The Bank of England, founded in 1694 as private banker to the government of England and a state-owned institution since 1946, is the United Kingdom's central bank. The bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, although not in other parts of the UK. The government has devolved responsibility to the bank's Monetary Policy Committee for managing the monetary policy of the country and setting interest rates.
England is highly industrialised, but since the 1970s there has been a decline in traditional heavy and manufacturing industries, and an increasing emphasis on a more service industry-oriented economy. Tourism has become a significant industry, attracting millions of visitors to England each year. The export part of the economy is dominated by pharmaceuticals, automotives, crude oil and petroleum from the English parts of North Sea oil along with Wytch Farm, aircraft engines and alcoholic beverages. The creative industries accounted for 7 per cent GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6 per cent per annum between 1997 and 2005.
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised and efficient by European standards, producing 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force. Two-thirds of production is devoted to livestock, the remainder to arable crops. The main crops that are grown are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets. England retains a significant fishing industry. Its fleets bring home a variety of fish, ranging from sole to herring. England is also rich in natural resources including coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, and silica.
=== Science and technology ===
Prominent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Robert Hooke, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, Edward Jenner, Francis Crick, Joseph Lister, Joseph Priestley, Thomas Young, Christopher Wren and Richard Dawkins.
England was a leading centre of the Scientific Revolution from the 17th century. As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, England was home to many significant inventors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering. Thomas Newcomen's steam engine helped spawn the Industrial Revolution.
The Father of Railways, George Stephenson, built the first public inter-city railway line in the world, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. With his role in the marketing and manufacturing of the steam engine, and invention of modern coinage, Matthew Boulton (business partner of James Watt) is regarded as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history. The physician Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine is said to have "saved more lives ... than were lost in all the wars of mankind since the beginning of recorded history."
Inventions and discoveries of the English include the jet engine; the first industrial spinning machine; the first computer and the first modern computer; the World Wide Web along with HTML; the first successful human blood transfusion; the motorised vacuum cleaner; the lawn mower; the seat belt; the hovercraft; the electric motor; steam engines; and theories such as the Darwinian theory of evolution and atomic theory. Newton developed the ideas of universal gravitation, Newtonian mechanics, and calculus, and Robert Hooke his eponymously named law of elasticity. Other inventions include the iron plate railway, the thermosiphon, tarmac, the rubber band, the mousetrap, "cat's eye" road marker, joint development of the light bulb, steam locomotives, the modern seed drill and many modern techniques and technologies used in precision engineering.
English innovators made crucial contributions to computing from the earliest concepts to the microchip era. Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace conceived the first programmable computer, while George Boole created the binary logic underlying all digital systems, known as boolean logic. Alan Turing defined the foundations of computing and pioneered artificial intelligence, while Tommy Flowers built Colossus, proving electronic computing feasible. Sir Frederic Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill developed the Manchester Baby, while Sir Maurice Wilkes developed EDSAC contributing to the first stored-program computers that established modern computer architecture. Geoffrey Dummer conceptualised the integrated circuit.
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. Founded on 28 November 1660, It is the oldest national scientific institution in the world. The Royal Institution of Great Britain was founded in 1799 by leading English scientists, including Henry Cavendish. Some experts claim that the earliest concept of a metric system was invented by John Wilkins in 1668.
Scientific research and development remains important in the universities of England, with many establishing science parks to facilitate production and co-operation with industry. Cambridge is the most intensive research cluster for science and technology in the world. In 2022, the UK produced 6.3 per cent of the world's scientific research papers and had a 10.5 per cent share of scientific citations, the third highest in the world (after the United States and China). Scientific journals produced in England include Nature, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation has responsibility for science in England.
=== Transport ===
The Department for Transport is the government body responsible for overseeing transport in England. The department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport.
England has a dense and modern transportation infrastructure. There are many motorways in England, and many other trunk roads, such as the A1 Great North Road, which runs through eastern England from London to Newcastle (much of this section is motorway) and onward to the Scottish border. The longest motorway in England is the M6, from Rugby through the North West up to the Anglo-Scottish border, a distance of 232 miles (373 km). Other major routes include: the M1 from London to Leeds, the M25 which encircles London, the M60 which encircles Manchester, the M4 from London to South Wales, the M62 from Liverpool via Manchester to East Yorkshire, and the M5 from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West.
Bus transport across the country is widespread; major companies include Arriva, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead Group, Mobico Group, Rotala and Stagecoach Group. Bus rapid transit originated in England with the Runcorn Busway opening in 1971. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. National Cycle Route offers cycling routes nationally.
Rail transport in England is the oldest in the world: passenger railways originated in England in 1825. Much of Britain's 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of rail network lies in England, covering the country fairly extensively. There is rail transport access to France and Belgium through an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel, which was completed in 1994.
Great British Railways is a planned state-owned public body that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2024. The Office of Rail and Road is responsible for the economic and safety regulation of England's railways. Crossrail was Europe's largest construction project with a £15 billion projected cost, opened in 2022. High Speed 2, a high-speed north–south railway line, is under construction since 2019.
There is a rapid transit network in two English cities: the London Underground, and the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland. There are several extensive tram networks, such as the Manchester Metrolink, Sheffield Supertram, West Midlands Metro, Nottingham Express Transit, and Tramlink in South London. England also has extensive domestic and international aviation links. The largest airport is Heathrow, which is the world's second busiest airport measured by number of international passengers.
By sea there is ferry transport, both local and international, including from Liverpool to Ireland and the Isle of Man, and Hull to the Netherlands and Belgium. There are around 4,400 miles (7,100 km) of navigable waterways in England, half of which is owned by the Canal & River Trust, however, water transport is very limited. The River Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury in the Thames Estuary, one of the United Kingdom's three major ports.
=== Energy ===
Successive governments have outlined numerous commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Notably, the UK is one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy, and wind power production is its fastest growing supply. Wind power contributed 26.8% of UK electricity generation in 2022. England is home to Hornsea 2, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, situated in waters roughly 89 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire.
The Climate Change Act 2008 was passed in Parliament with an overwhelming majority across political parties. It sets out emission reduction targets that the UK must comply with legally. It represents the first global legally binding climate change mitigation target set by a country. UK government energy policy aims to play a key role in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, while meeting energy demand. Shifting availabilities of resources and development of technologies also change the country's energy mix through changes in costs.
The current energy policy is the responsibility of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth is responsible for green finance, climate science and innovation, and low carbon generation. In 2024, the United Kingdom was ranked 5 out of 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index. A law has been passed that UK greenhouse gas emissions will be net zero by 2050.
== Healthcare ==
The National Health Service (NHS), is the publicly funded healthcare system responsible for providing the majority of healthcare in the country. The NHS began on 5 July 1948, putting into effect the provisions of the National Health Service Act 1946. It was based on the findings of the Beveridge Report, prepared by the economist and social reformer, William Beveridge. The NHS is largely funded by general taxation and National Insurance payments; it provides most of its services free at the point of use, although there are charges for some people for eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of personal care.
The government department responsible for the NHS is the Department of Health, under the Secretary of State for Health. Most of the department's expenses are on the NHS – £98.6 billion was spent in 2008–2009. Regulatory bodies such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council are organised on a UK-wide basis, as are non-governmental bodies such as the Royal Colleges.
The average life expectancy is 77.5 years for males and 81.7 years for females, the highest of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The south of England has a higher life expectancy than the north, but regional differences seem to be slowly narrowing: between 1991–1993 and 2012–2014, life expectancy in the North East increased by 6.0 years and in the North West by 5.8 years.
== Demography ==
=== Population ===
With over 56 million inhabitants, England is by far the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total. England taken as a unit and measured against international states would be the 26th largest country by population in the world.
The English people are British people. There is an English diaspora in former parts of the British Empire; especially the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Since the late 1990s, many English people have migrated to Spain. Due in particular to the economic prosperity of South East England, it has received many economic migrants from the other parts of the United Kingdom. There has been significant Irish migration. The proportion of ethnically European residents totals at 81.7%, including White British, Germans and Poles, down from 94.1% in 1991. Other people from much further afield in the former British colonies have arrived since the 1950s: in particular, about 7% of people living in England have family origins in the Indian subcontinent, mostly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. About 0.7% are Chinese, 0.6% are Arabs. 4.0% of the population are black, from Africa and the Caribbean, especially former British colonies, and 2.9% identified as multiracial or mixed.
In 2007, 22% of primary school children in England were from ethnic minority families, and in 2011 that figure was 26.5%. About half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to immigration.
England contains one indigenous national minority, the Cornish people, recognised by the UK government under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2014.
=== Language ===
English, today widely spoken around the world, originated in what is now England, where it remains the principal tongue. According to a 2011 census, it is spoken well or very well by 98% of the population
English language learning and teaching is an important economic activity. There is no legislation mandating an official language for England, but English is the only language used for official business. Despite the country's relatively small size, there are many distinct regional accents.
Cornish died out as a community language in the 18th century but is being revived, and is now protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is spoken by 0.1% of people in Cornwall, and is taught to some degree in several primary and secondary schools.
State schools teach students a second language or third language from the ages of seven, most commonly French, Spanish or German. It was reported in 2007 that around 800,000 school students spoke a foreign language at home, the most common being Punjabi and Urdu. However, following the 2011 census data released by the Office for National Statistics, figures now show that Polish is the main language spoken in England after English. In 2022, British Sign Language became an official language of England when the British Sign Language Act 2022 came into effect.
=== Religion ===
In the 2021 census, 46.3% of the population of England specified their religion as Christian, 36.7% answered that they had no religion, 6.7% specified that they were Muslim, while 4.3% of the population belongs to other religions and 6% did not give an answer. Christianity is the most widely practised religion in England. The established church of England is the Church of England, which left communion with Rome in the 1530s when Henry VIII was unable to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The church regards itself as both Catholic and Protestant.
There are High Church and Low Church traditions and some Anglicans regard themselves as Anglo-Catholics, following the Tractarian movement. The monarch of the United Kingdom is the supreme governor of the Church of England, which has around 26 million baptised members (of whom the vast majority are not regular churchgoers). In 2016, research at St. Mary's University in London reported that 19.8% of the population of England and Wales identified as Anglican. It forms part of the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as its symbolic worldwide head. Many cathedrals and parish churches are historic buildings of significant architectural importance, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral.
The second-largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church. Since its reintroduction after the Catholic Emancipation, the Church has organised ecclesiastically on an England and Wales basis where there are 4.5 million members (most of whom are English). In 2016, 8.3% of the population of England and Wales identified as Catholic. There has been one Pope from England to date, Adrian IV, while saints Bede and Anselm are regarded as Doctors of the Church.
A form of Protestantism known as Methodism is the third largest Christian practice and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley. It gained popularity in the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and amongst tin miners in Cornwall. There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Unitarians and The Salvation Army.
The patron saint of England is Saint George; his symbolic cross is included in the flag of England. There are many other English and associated saints, including Cuthbert, Edmund, Alban, Wilfrid, Aidan, Edward the Confessor, John Fisher, Thomas More, Petroc, Piran, Margaret Clitherow and Thomas Becket. There are non-Christian religions practised. Jews have a history of a small minority on the island since 1070. They were expelled from England in 1290 following the Edict of Expulsion, and were allowed back in 1656.
Especially since the 1950s, religions from the former British colonies have grown in numbers, due to immigration. Islam is the most common of these, now accounting for around 5% of the population in England. Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are next in number, adding up to 2.8% combined, introduced from India and Southeast Asia.
A small minority of the population practise ancient Pagan religions. Neopaganism in the United Kingdom is primarily represented by Wicca and Neopagan witchcraft, Druidry, and Heathenry. According to the 2011 census, there are roughly 53,172 people who identify as Pagan in England, including 11,026 Wiccans. 24.7% of people in England declared no religion, compared with 14.6% in 2001. Norwich had the highest such proportion at 42.5%, followed by Brighton and Hove at 42.4%.
== Education ==
The Department for Education is the government department responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including education. State-funded schools are attended by about 93% of English schoolchildren. Education is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education.
Children between the ages of 3 and 5 attend nursery or an Early Years Foundation Stage reception unit within a primary school. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 attend primary school, and secondary school is attended by those aged between 11 and 16. State-funded schools are obliged by law to teach the National Curriculum; basic areas of learning include English literature, English language, mathematics, science, art & design, citizenship, history, geography, religious education, design & technology, computing, ancient & modern languages, music, and physical education. The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD currently ranks the overall knowledge and skills of British 15-year-olds as 13th in the world in literacy, mathematics, and science with the average British student scoring 503.7, well above the OECD average of 493.
Although most English secondary schools are comprehensive, there are selective intake grammar schools to which entrance is subject to passing the eleven-plus exam. Around 7.2 per cent of English schoolchildren attend private schools, which are funded by private sources. Standards in state schools are monitored by the Office for Standards in Education, and in private schools by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
After finishing compulsory education, students take GCSE examinations. Students may then opt to continue into further education for two years. Further education colleges (particularly sixth form colleges) often form part of a secondary school site. A-level examinations are sat by a large number of further education students, and often form the basis of an application to university. Further education covers a wide curriculum of study and apprenticeships, including T-levels, BTEC, NVQ and others. Tertiary colleges provide both academic and vocational courses.
=== Higher education ===
Higher education students normally attend university from age 18 onwards, where they study for an academic degree. There are over 90 universities in England, all but one of which are public institutions. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is the government department responsible for higher education in England. Students are generally entitled to student loans to cover tuition fees and living costs. The first degree offered to undergraduates is the bachelor's degree, which usually takes three years to complete. Students are then able to work towards a postgraduate degree, which usually takes one year, or a doctorate, which takes three or more years.
England's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world. As of 2024, four England-based universities, the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and University College London, are ranked amongst the top ten in the 2024 QS World University Rankings. The University of Cambridge, founded in 1209, and the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, are the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world.
The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2010 its MBA programme was ranked best in the world by the Financial Times. Academic degrees in England are usually split into classes: first class, upper second class, lower second class, third, and unclassified. The King's School, Canterbury and King's School, Rochester are the oldest schools in the English-speaking world. Many of England's most well-known schools, such as Winchester College, Eton, St Paul's School, Harrow School and Rugby School are fee-paying institutions.
== Culture ==
=== Architecture ===
Many ancient standing stone monuments were erected during the prehistoric period; amongst the best known are Stonehenge, Devil's Arrows, Rudston Monolith and Castlerigg. With the introduction of Ancient Roman architecture there was a development of basilicas, baths, amphitheaters, triumphal arches, villas, Roman temples, Roman roads, Roman forts, stockades and aqueducts. It was the Romans who founded the first cities and towns such as London, Bath, York, Chester and St Albans. Perhaps the best-known example is Hadrian's Wall stretching right across northern England. Another well-preserved example is the Roman Baths at Bath, Somerset.
Early medieval architecture's secular buildings were simple constructions mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. Ecclesiastical architecture ranged from a synthesis of Hiberno–Saxon monasticism, to Early Christian basilica and architecture characterised by pilaster-strips, blank arcading, baluster shafts and triangular headed openings. After the Norman conquest in 1066 various castles were created; the best known include the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Durham Castle and Windsor Castle.
Throughout the Plantagenet era, an English Gothic architecture flourished, with prime examples including the medieval cathedrals such as Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and York Minster. Expanding on the Norman base there was also castles, palaces, great houses, universities and parish churches. Medieval architecture was completed with the 16th-century Tudor style; the four-centred arch, now known as the Tudor arch, was a defining feature as were wattle and daub houses domestically. In the aftermath of the Renaissance a form of architecture echoing classical antiquity synthesised with Christianity appeared, the English Baroque style of architect Christopher Wren being particularly championed.
Georgian architecture followed in a more refined style, evoking a simple Palladian form; the Royal Crescent at Bath is one of the best examples of this. With the emergence of romanticism during Victorian period, a Gothic Revival was launched. In addition to this, around the same time the Industrial Revolution paved the way for buildings such as The Crystal Palace. Since the 1930s various modernist forms have appeared whose reception is often controversial, though traditionalist resistance movements continue with support in influential places.
=== Gardens ===
Landscape gardening, as developed by Capability Brown, set an international trend for the English landscape garden. Gardening, and visiting gardens, are regarded as typically English pursuits. The English garden presented an idealised view of nature. At large country houses, the English garden usually included lakes, sweeps of gently rolling lawns set against groves of trees, and recreations of classical temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape.
By the end of the 18th century, the English garden was being imitated by the French landscape garden, and as far away as Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, the gardens of the future Emperor Paul. It also had a major influence on the public parks and gardens which appeared around the world in the 19th century. The English landscape garden was centred on the English country house and manor houses.
English Heritage and the National Trust preserve great gardens and landscape parks throughout the country. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is held every year by the Royal Horticultural Society and is said to be the largest gardening show in the world.
=== Folklore ===
English folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present across England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include pixies, giants, elves, bogeymen, trolls, goblins and dwarves. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, such as the tales featuring Offa of Angel and Wayland the Smith, others date from after the Norman invasion. The legends featuring Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood, and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham, are amongst the best-known of these.
During the High Middle Ages tales originating from Brythonic traditions entered English folklore and developed into the Arthurian myth. These were derived from Anglo-Norman, Welsh and French sources, featuring King Arthur, Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table such as Lancelot. These stories are most centrally brought together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).
Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries. On 5 November people celebrate Bonfire Night to commemorate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot centred on Guy Fawkes. There are various national and regional folk activities, participated in to this day, such as Morris dancing, Maypole dancing, Rapper sword in the North East, Long Sword dance in Yorkshire, Mummers Plays, bottle-kicking in Leicestershire, and cheese-rolling at Cooper's Hill. There is no official national costume, but a few are well established such as the Pearly Kings and Queens associated with cockneys, the Royal Guard, the Morris costume and Beefeaters.
=== Cuisine ===
Since the early modern period the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, English cuisine enjoyed an excellent reputation, though a decline began during the Industrial Revolution with increasing urbanisation. The cuisine of England has, however, recently undergone a revival, which has been recognised by food critics with some good ratings in Restaurant's best restaurant in the world charts.
Traditional examples of English food include the Sunday roast, featuring a roasted joint (usually beef, lamb, chicken or pork) served with assorted vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Other prominent meals include fish and chips and the full English breakfast (generally consisting of bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms and eggs). Various meat pies are consumed, such as steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, cottage pie, pork pie (usually eaten cold) and the Cornish pasty.
Sausages are commonly eaten, either as bangers and mash or toad in the hole. Lancashire hotpot is a well-known stew originating in the northwest. Some of the more popular cheeses are Cheddar, Red Leicester, Wensleydale, Double Gloucester and Blue Stilton. Many Anglo-Indian hybrid dishes, curries, have been created, such as chicken tikka masala and balti. Traditional English dessert dishes include apple pie or other fruit pies; spotted dick – all generally served with custard; and, more recently, sticky toffee pudding. Sweet pastries include scones served with jam or cream, dried fruit loaves, Eccles cakes and mince pies as well as sweet or spiced biscuits.
Common non-alcoholic drinks include tea and coffee; frequently consumed alcoholic drinks include wine, ciders and English beers, such as bitter, mild, stout and brown ale.
=== Visual arts ===
The earliest known examples are the prehistoric rock and cave art pieces, most prominent in North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria, but also feature further south, for example at Creswell Crags. With the arrival of Roman culture in the 1st century, various forms of art such as statues, busts, glasswork and mosaics were the norm. There are numerous surviving artefacts, such as those at Lullingstone and Aldborough. During the Early Middle Ages the style favoured sculpted crosses and ivories, manuscript painting, gold and enamel jewellery, demonstrating a love of intricate, interwoven designs such as in the Staffordshire Hoard discovered in 2009. Some of these blended Gaelic and Anglian styles, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and Vespasian Psalter. Later Gothic art was popular at Winchester and Canterbury, examples survive such as Benedictional of St. Æthelwold and Luttrell Psalter.
The Tudor era saw prominent artists as part of their court; portrait painting, which would remain an enduring part of English art, was boosted by German Hans Holbein, and natives such as Nicholas Hilliard built on this. Under the Stuarts, Continental artists were influential especially the Flemish, examples from the period include Anthony van Dyck, Peter Lely, Godfrey Kneller and William Dobson. The 18th century saw the founding of the Royal Academy; a classicism based on the High Renaissance prevailed, with Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds becoming two of England's most treasured artists.
In the 19th century, John Constable and J. M. W. Turner were major landscape artists. The Norwich School continued the landscape tradition, while the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, led by artists such as Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais, revived the Early Renaissance style with their vivid and detailed style. Prominent amongst 20th-century artists was Henry Moore, regarded as the voice of British sculpture, and of British modernism in general. The Royal Society of Arts is an organisation committed to the arts.
=== Literature, poetry, and philosophy ===
Early authors such as Bede and Alcuin wrote in Latin. The period of Old English literature provided the epic poem Beowulf and the secular prose of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, along with Christian writings such as Judith, Cædmon's Hymn and hagiographies. Following the Norman conquest Latin continued amongst the educated classes, as well as an Anglo-Norman literature.
Middle English literature emerged with Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, along with Gower, the Pearl Poet and Langland. William of Ockham and Roger Bacon, who were Franciscans, were major philosophers of the Middle Ages. Julian of Norwich, who wrote Revelations of Divine Love, was a prominent Christian mystic. With the English Renaissance literature in the Early Modern English style appeared. William Shakespeare, whose works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, remains one of the most championed authors in English literature.
Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sydney, Thomas Kyd, John Donne, and Ben Jonson are other established authors of the Elizabethan age. Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes wrote on empiricism and materialism, including scientific method and social contract. Filmer wrote on the Divine Right of Kings. Marvell was the best-known poet of the Commonwealth, while John Milton authored Paradise Lost during the Restoration.
Some of the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Samuel Johnson and Jeremy Bentham. More radical elements were later countered by Edmund Burke who is regarded as the founder of conservatism. The poet Alexander Pope with his satirical verse became well regarded. The English played a significant role in romanticism: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Blake and William Wordsworth were major figures.
In response to the Industrial Revolution, agrarian writers sought a way between liberty and tradition; William Cobbett, G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc were main exponents, while the founder of guild socialism, Arthur Penty, and cooperative movement advocate G. D. H. Cole are somewhat related. Empiricism continued through John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell, while Bernard Williams was involved in analytics. Authors from around the Victorian era include Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells and Lewis Carroll. Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as George Orwell, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, C. S. Lewis, Enid Blyton, Aldous Huxley, Agatha Christie, Terry Pratchett, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J. K. Rowling.
=== Performing arts ===
The traditional folk music of England is centuries old and has contributed to several genres prominently; mostly sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music. It has its own distinct variations and regional peculiarities. Ballads featuring Robin Hood, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in the 16th century, are an important artefact, as are John Playford's The Dancing Master and Robert Harley's Roxburghe Ballads collections. Some of the best-known songs are Greensleeves, Pastime with Good Company, Maggie May and Spanish Ladies amongst others. Many nursery rhymes are of English origin such as Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, Roses Are Red, Jack and Jill, London Bridge Is Falling Down, The Grand Old Duke of York, Hey Diddle Diddle and Humpty Dumpty. Traditional English Christmas carols include "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "The First Noel", "I Saw Three Ships" and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen".
Early English composers in classical music include Renaissance artists Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, followed by Henry Purcell from the Baroque period and Thomas Arne who was well known for his patriotic song Rule, Britannia!. German-born George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in London and became a national icon in Britain, creating some of the most well-known works of classical music, especially his English oratorios, The Messiah, Solomon, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Classical music attracted much attention in the 18th century with the formation of the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, which was the longest running classical music festival of its kind until the final concerts in 1912. The English Musical Renaissance was a hypothetical development in the late 19th and early 20th century, when English composers, often those lecturing or trained at the Royal College of Music, were said to have freed themselves from foreign musical influences. There was a revival in the profile of composers from England in the 20th century led by Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and others. Present-day composers from England include Michael Nyman, best known for The Piano, and Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose musicals have achieved enormous success in the West End and worldwide.
In popular music, many English bands and solo artists have been cited as the most influential and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and Def Leppard are amongst the highest-selling recording artists in the world. Many musical genres have origins in (or strong associations with) England, such as British invasion, progressive rock, hard rock, Mod, glam rock, heavy metal, Britpop, indie rock, gothic rock, shoegazing, acid house, garage, trip hop, drum and bass and dubstep.
Large outdoor music festivals in the summer and autumn are popular, such as Glastonbury, V Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. England was at the forefront of the illegal, free rave movement from the late 1980s, which inspired the pan-European culture of teknivals. The Boishakhi Mela is a Bengali New Year festival celebrated by the British Bangladeshi community. It is the largest open-air Asian festival in Europe. After the Notting Hill Carnival, it is the second-largest street festival in the UK, attracting over 80,000 visitors.
The most prominent opera house in England is the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. The Proms is a major annual cultural event in the English calendar. The Royal Ballet is one of the world's foremost classical ballet companies. The Royal Academy of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822, receiving its royal charter in 1830. England is home to numerous major orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Other forms of entertainment that originated in England include the circus and the pantomime.
=== Cinema ===
England has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema, producing some of the greatest actors, directors and motion pictures of all time, including Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, David Lean, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, Peter Sellers, Julie Andrews, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet and Daniel Day-Lewis. Hitchcock and Lean are amongst the most critically acclaimed filmmakers. Hitchcock's The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1926) helped shape the thriller genre in film, while his 1929 Blackmail is often regarded as the first British sound feature film.
Major film studios in England include Pinewood, Elstree and Shepperton. Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in England, including two of the highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond). Ealing Studios in London has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world. Famous for recording many motion picture film scores, the London Symphony Orchestra first performed film music in 1935. The Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee saw the production of the first gory horror films showing blood and guts in colour.
The BFI Top 100 British films includes Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), a film regularly voted the funniest of all time by the UK public. English producers are also active in international co-productions and English actors, directors and crew feature regularly in American films. The UK film council ranked David Yates, Christopher Nolan, Mike Newell, Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass the five most commercially successful English directors since 2001. Other contemporary English directors include Sam Mendes, Guy Ritchie and Richard Curtis. Current actors include Tom Hardy, Daniel Craig, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lena Headey, Felicity Jones, Emilia Clarke, Lashana Lynch, and Emma Watson. Acclaimed for his motion capture work, Andy Serkis opened The Imaginarium Studios in London in 2011. The visual effects company Framestore in London has produced some of the most critically acclaimed special effects in modern film. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on English people, stories or events. The 'English Cycle' of Disney animated films include Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh.
=== Sites and institutions ===
English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A non-governmental charity, the National Trust holds a complementary role, focussed on landscapes and country houses. 17 of the 25 United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best-known of these are: Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, the Tower of London, the Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Blenheim Palace and the Lake District.
London's British Museum holds more than seven million objects, one of the largest and most comprehensive collections in the world, illustrating and documenting global human culture from its beginnings to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in almost all known languages and formats, including around 25 million books. The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the Turner Prize.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has overall responsibility for cultural property and heritage. A blue plaque, the oldest historical marker scheme in the world, is a permanent sign installed in a public place in England to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event. In 2011 there were around 1,600 museums in England. Entry to most museums and galleries is free. London is one of the world's most visited cities, regularly taking the top five most visited cities in Europe. It is considered a global centre of finance, art and culture.
=== Media ===
The BBC, founded in 1922, is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and Internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates numerous television and radio stations in the UK and abroad and its domestic services are funded by the television licence. The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest of any kind. It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages.
London dominates the media sector in England: national newspapers and television and radio are largely based there, although Manchester is also a significant national media centre. The UK publishing sector, including books, directories and databases, journals, magazines and business media, newspapers and news agencies, has a combined turnover of around £20 billion and employs around 167,000 people. National newspapers produced in England include The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and the Financial Times.
Magazines and journals published in England that have achieved worldwide circulation include Nature, New Scientist, The Spectator, Prospect, NME and The Economist. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has overall responsibility over media and broadcasting in England.
=== Sport ===
England has a strong sporting heritage, and during the 19th century codified many sports that are now played around the world. Sports originating in England include association football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, tennis, boxing, badminton, squash, rounders, hockey, snooker, billiards, darts, table tennis, bowls, netball, thoroughbred horseracing, greyhound racing and fox hunting. It has helped the development of golf, sailing and Formula One. England has been crowned world champion in several major sports including: Cricket, Rugby and Association Football.
Football is the most popular of these sports. The England national football team, whose home venue is Wembley Stadium, played Scotland in the first-ever international football match in 1872. Referred to as the "home of football" by FIFA, England hosted and won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. With a British television audience peak of 32.30 million viewers, the final is the most watched television event ever in the UK. England is recognised by FIFA as the birthplace of club football: Sheffield F.C., founded in 1857, is the world's oldest club. The England women's national football team won the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, hosted by England. England was also victorious in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025, winning the final in a penalty shootout against Spain.
Cricket is generally thought to have been developed in the early medieval period amongst the farming and metalworking communities of the Weald. The England cricket team is a composite England and Wales team. One of the game's top rivalries is The Ashes series between England and Australia, contested since 1882. Lord's Cricket Ground situated in London is sometimes referred to as the "Mecca of Cricket". After winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup, England became the first country to win the World Cups in football, rugby union, and cricket.
William Penny Brookes was prominent in organising the format for the modern Olympic Games. London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times, in 1908, 1948, and 2012. England competes in the Commonwealth Games, held every four years. Sport England is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in England.
Rugby union originated in Rugby School, Warwickshire in the early 19th century. The top level of club participation is the English Premiership. England's Red Roses won the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. Rugby league was born in Huddersfield in 1895. Since 2008, the England national rugby league team has been a full test nation in lieu of the Great Britain national rugby league team, which won three World Cups. Club sides play in Super League, the present-day embodiment of the Rugby Football League Championship. Rugby League is most popular amongst towns in the northern English counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria.
Golf has been prominent in England, due in part to its cultural and geographical ties to Scotland. There are professional tours for men and women, in two main tours: the PGA and the European Tour. The world's oldest golf tournament, and golf's first major is The Open Championship, played both in England and Scotland. The biennial golf competition, the Ryder Cup, is named after English businessman Samuel Ryder.
Tennis was created in Birmingham in the late 19th century, and the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and widely considered the most prestigious. Wimbledon has a major place in the English cultural calendar.
In boxing, under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, England has produced many world champions across the weight divisions internationally recognised by the governing bodies.
Originating in 17th and 18th-century England, the thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. The National Hunt horse race the Grand National, is held annually at Aintree Racecourse in early April. It is the most watched horse race in the UK, and three-time winner Red Rum is the most successful racehorse in the event's history.
The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created Formula One World Championship. England has seen the manufacture some of the most technically advanced racing cars, and many of today's racing companies choose England as their base of operations. England also has a rich heritage in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, and has produced several world champions.
Darts is a widely popular sport in England; a professional competitive sport, it is a traditional pub game. Another popular sport commonly associated with pub games is snooker, and England has produced several world champions.
The English are keen sailors and enjoy competitive sailing; founding and winning some of the world's most famous international competitive tournaments across the various race formats, including the match race, a regatta, and the America's Cup.
== National symbols ==
The St George's Cross has been the national flag of England since the 13th century. Originally, the flag was used by the maritime Republic of Genoa. The English monarch paid a tribute to the Doge of Genoa from 1190 onwards so that English ships could fly the flag as a means of protection when entering the Mediterranean.
A red cross was a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries, and became associated with Saint George. Since 1606 the St George's Cross has formed part of the design of the Union Flag, a Pan-British flag designed by King James I. During the English Civil War and Interregnum, the New Model Army's standards and the Commonwealth's Great Seal both incorporated the flag of Saint George.
There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the Tudor rose, the nation's floral emblem, and the Three Lions featured on the Royal Arms of England. The Tudor rose was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time of the Wars of the Roses as a symbol of peace. It is a syncretic symbol in that it merged the white rose of the Yorkists and the red rose of the Lancastrians. It is also known as the Rose of England. The oak tree is a symbol of England: the Royal Oak symbol and Oak Apple Day commemorate the escape of King Charles II after his father's execution, when he hid in an oak to avoid detection by the parliamentarians before safely reaching exile.
The Royal Arms of England, a national coat of arms featuring three lions, originated with Richard the Lionheart in 1198. It is blazoned as gules, three lions passant guardant or and it provides one of the most prominent symbols of England. England does not have an official national anthem, as the United Kingdom as a whole has God Save the King. However, Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory (used for England during the 2002 Commonwealth Games), and I Vow to Thee, My Country are often considered unofficial English national anthems. England's National Day is 23 April which is Saint George's Day: Saint George is the patron saint of England. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_University | New York University | New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institution near City Hall based on a curriculum focused on a secular education. The university moved in 1833 and has maintained its main campus in Greenwich Village surrounding Washington Square Park. Since then, the university has added an engineering school in Brooklyn's MetroTech Center and graduate schools throughout Manhattan.
NYU is one of the largest private universities in the United States by enrollment, with a total of 51,848 enrolled students in 2021. It is one of the most applied-to schools in the country and admissions are considered selective.
NYU's main campus in New York City is organized into undergraduate schools in the fields of arts and science, individualized study, education, business, engineering, and the arts. NYU's graduate schools covers the fields of medicine, law, public service, professional studies, social work, and nursing. The university's internal academic centers include the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Center for Data Science, Center for Neural Science, Clive Davis Institute, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, Institute of Fine Arts, and the NYU Langone Health System.
NYU is a global university system with degree-granting portal campuses at NYU Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and NYU Shanghai in China, and academic learning centers in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. Past and present faculty and alumni include 39 Nobel Laureates, 8 Turing Award winners, 5 Fields Medalists, 31 MacArthur Fellows, 26 Pulitzer Prize winners, 3 heads of state, 5 U.S. governors, 12 U.S. senators, and 58 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
== History ==
Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish "in this immense and fast-growing city ... a system of rational and practical education fitting and graciously opened to all." A three-day-long "literary and scientific convention" held in City Hall in 1830 and attended by over 100 delegates debated the terms of a plan for a new university. These New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based upon merit rather than birthright or social class.
On April 18, 1831, the institution that would become NYU was established with the support of a group of prominent New York City residents from the city's merchants, bankers, and traders. Albert Gallatin was elected as its first president. On April 21, 1831, the new institution received its charter and was incorporated as the University of the City of New York by the New York State Legislature; older documents often refer to it by that name. The university has been popularly known as New York University since its inception and was officially renamed New York University in 1896. In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, situated near City Hall. In 1835, the School of Law, NYU's first professional school, was established. Although the impetus to found a new school was partly a reaction by evangelical Presbyterians to what they perceived as the Episcopalianism of Columbia College, NYU was created non-denominational, unlike many American colleges at the time. The American Chemical Society was founded in 1876 at NYU.
Soon after its founding, it became one of the nation's largest universities, with an enrollment of 9,300 in 1917. The university purchased a campus at University Heights in the Bronx because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York City's development further uptown. NYU's move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken. The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was. As a result, most of the university's operations, along with the undergraduate College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering, were housed there. NYU's administrative operations were moved to the new campus, but the graduate schools of the university remained at Washington Square. In 1914, Washington Square College was founded as the downtown undergraduate college of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the "Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead, Long Island." This extension would later become a fully independent Hofstra University.
In 1950, NYU was elected to the Association of American Universities, a nonprofit organization of leading public and private research universities.
Financial crisis gripped the New York City government in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the troubles spread to the city's institutions, including NYU. Feeling the pressures of imminent bankruptcy, NYU President James McNaughton Hester negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the City University of New York, which occurred in 1973. In 1973, the New York University School of Engineering and Science merged into Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, which eventually merged back into NYU in 2014, forming the present Tandon School of Engineering. After the sale of the Bronx campus, University College merged with Washington Square College. In the 1980s, under the leadership of President John Brademas, NYU launched a billion-dollar campaign that was led by Naomi B. Levine and was spent almost entirely on updating facilities. The campaign was set to complete in 15 years, but ended up being completed in 10.
In 1991, L. Jay Oliva was inaugurated the 14th president of the university. Following his inauguration, he moved to form the League of World Universities, an international organization consisting of rectors and presidents from urban universities across six continents. The league and its 47 representatives gather every two years to discuss global issues in education.
In 2003, President John Sexton launched a $2.5 billion campaign for funds to be spent especially on faculty and financial aid resources. Under Sexton's leadership, NYU also began its transformation into a global university, including the opening of a campus in Abu Dhabi in 2010.
Mortgage loans issued to some administrators and faculty by the university were criticized following published reports of August 2013, detailing terms of the loans, including that the school had issued some which approached zero percent interest rates, and some that were partially forgiven. Uniquely, among universities, the school had also issued multi-million-dollar loans for luxury vacation homes. President Sexton would step down at the end of his term in 2016, in the wake of a vote of no confidence in March 2013, closely followed by controversy over having received a vacation home loan from NYU.
In August 2018, the New York University Grossman School of Medicine announced it would be offering full-tuition scholarships to all current and future students in its MD program regardless of need or merit, making it the only top-10 medical school in the United States to do so.
In Spring 2022, President Andrew D. Hamilton announced that the 2023 academic year would be his last, and that he would be returning to research. He was succeeded by Linda G. Mills, the university's first female president.
=== Enrollment ===
From 2007 to 2018, NYU experienced a 114% increase in applications to its university system, increasing from around 35,000 applicants to more than 120,000 in 2024 and 2025. This has also caused the acceptance rate to drop significantly, with a record-low acceptance rate of 8% in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, this number dropped even further to 7.7% for the upcoming Class of 2029. In parallel to NYU's expansion in the early 1900s, the university similarly expanded vigorously in the early 2000s, becoming the largest private university in the United States with a combined undergraduate/graduate enrollment of over 59,000 students as of 2018.
=== University logo ===
The university logo, the upheld torch, is derived from the Statue of Liberty, signifying NYU's service to New York City. The torch is depicted on both the NYU seal and the more abstract NYU logo, designed in 1965 by renowned graphic designer Tom Geismar of the branding and design firm Chermayeff & Geismar. There are at least two versions of the possible origin of the university color, violet. Some believe that it may have been chosen because violets are said to have grown abundantly in Washington Square and around the buttresses of the Old University Building. Others argue that the color may have been adopted because the violet was the flower associated with Athens, the center of learning in ancient Greece.
=== Cultural setting ===
Washington Square and Greenwich Village have been hubs of cultural life in New York City since the early 19th century. Much of this culture has intersected with NYU at various points in its history. Artists of the Hudson River School, the United States' first prominent school of painters, settled around Washington Square. Samuel F.B. Morse, a noted artist who also pioneered the telegraph and created the Morse Code, served as the first chair of Painting and Sculpture. He and Daniel Huntington were early tenants of the Old University Building in the mid-19th century. (The university rented out studio space and residential apartments within the "academic" building.) As a result, they had notable interaction with the cultural and academic life of the university.
In the 1870s, sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French lived and worked near the Square. By the 1920s, Washington Square Park was nationally recognized as a focal point for artistic and moral rebellion. As such, the Washington Square campus became more diverse and bustled with urban energy, contributing to academic change at NYU. Famed residents of this time include Eugene O'Neill, John Sloan, and Maurice Prendergast. In the 1930s, the abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, and the realists Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton had studios around Washington Square. In the 1960s the area became one of the centers of the beat and folk generation, when Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan settled there. This led to tension with the university, which at the time was in the midst of an aggressive facilities expansion phase. In 1975, the university opened The Grey Art Gallery at 100 Washington Square East, housing the NYU art collection and featuring museum quality exhibitions.
=== Budget and fundraising ===
NYU has successfully completed a seven-year, $2.5 billion campaign, surpassing expectations by raising more than $3 billion over the seven-year period. Started in 2001, this campaign was the university's largest in its history, in which they planned to "raise $1 million per day for scholarships and financial aid, faculty building, new academic initiatives, and enhancing NYU's physical facilities." The campaign included a $50 million gift from the Tisch family (after which one building and the art school are named) and a $60 million gift from six trustees called "The Partners Fund", aimed at hiring new faculty. On October 15, 2007, the university announced that the Silver family donated $50 million to the School of Social Work, which will be renamed as a result. This is the largest donation ever to a school of social work in the United States.
The 2007–2008 academic year was the most successful fundraising year to date for NYU, with the school raising $698 million in only the first 11 months of the year, representing a 70% increase in donations from the prior year. The university also recently announced plans for NYU's Call to Action, a new initiative to ask alumni and donors to support financial aid for students at NYU.
The university has announced a 25-year strategic development plan, scheduled to coincide with its bicentennial in 2031. Included in the "NYU 200" plans are increasing resident and academic space, hiring additional faculty, and involving the New York City community in a transparent planning process. Additionally, NYU hopes to make their buildings more environmentally friendly, which will be facilitated by an evaluation of all campus spaces. As a part of this plan, NYU purchased 118 million kilowatt-hours of wind power during the 2006–2007 academic year – the largest purchase of wind power by any university in the country and any institution in New York City. For 2007, the university expanded its purchase of wind power to 132 million kilowatt-hours. As a result, the EPA ranked NYU as one of the greenest colleges in the country in its annual College & University Green Power Challenge.
NYU consistently ranks as one of the top fundraising institutions in the country, raising $506.4 million in 2015 and $648 million in 2016. NYU is also the 19th wealthiest university in America with $5.3 billion in cash and investments in fiscal year 2014.
== Campus ==
NYU's New York City campus includes more than 171 buildings spread between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Most of the school's buildings in Manhattan are located across a roughly 230-acre (93 ha) area bounded by Houston Street to the south, Broadway to the east, 14th Street to the north, and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) to the west. The core of NYU consists of buildings that surround Washington Square Park. In addition to its New York campus, NYU has 49 additional buildings overseas located throughout two 'portal' campuses and 12 Global Academic Centers.
=== Washington Square campus ===
Since the late 1970s, the central part of NYU has been its Washington Square campus in the heart of Greenwich Village. The Washington Square Arch is an unofficial symbol of NYU. Until 2007, NYU had held its commencement ceremonies in Washington Square Park, but because of renovations to Washington Square moved the 2008 ceremonies to the original Yankee Stadium and all subsequent ones to the current Yankee Stadium.
The Silver Center for Arts and Science, home to the College of Arts & Science and the Graduate School of Arts & Science, is one of the main academic buildings on the Washington Square campus. It is located on Washington Square East, between Washington Place and Waverly Place, and many individual departments of the two schools it houses are located in its vicinity. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt Hall, the main building for the School of Law, is located near the southwest corner of Washington Square between Macdougal Street and Sullivan Street on Washington Square South. The Kimmel Center for University Life is also on Washington Square South, and is the primary hub for student life at the university, providing event and meeting space for student organizations and other gatherings. Located closer to the eastern edge of the campus along Broadway are the main buildings for the Tisch School of the Arts and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, as well as the main office for Liberal Studies and NYU's Bookstore and Student Health Center. Other nearby university buildings and complexes of note include 5 Washington Place, which houses NYU's distinguished Department of Philosophy, 7 East 12th Street, which serves as the main building for the School of Professional Studies, the Brown Building, which was the location of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire before its acquisition by NYU, as well as Washington Square Village and University Village, two housing complexes for faculty members and graduate students. Undergraduate residence halls in the immediate surroundings of Washington Square include Goddard Hall, Lipton Hall, and Weinstein Hall, while those that are slightly farther but still nearby include Brittany Hall and Rubin Hall.
In the 1990s, NYU became a "two square" university by building a second community around Union Square, in close proximity to Washington Square. NYU's Union Square community primarily consists of the priority residence halls of Carlyle Court, Palladium Residence Hall, Alumni Hall, Coral Tower, Thirteenth Street Hall, University Hall, Third North Residence Hall, and Founders Hall.
On its Washington Square campus, NYU operates theaters and performance facilities that are often used by the Tisch School of the Arts as well as the university's music conservatory, which is within the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. External productions are also occasionally held in NYU's facilities. The largest performance accommodations at NYU are the Skirball Center for Performing Arts (850 seats) at 566 LaGuardia Place, just south of Washington Square South, and the Eisner-Lubin Auditorium (560 seats) in the Kimmel Center. Notably, the Skirball Center has hosted important speeches on foreign policy by John Kerry and Al Gore. The Skirball Center is the largest performing arts facility south of 42nd Street.
NYU also has international houses meant to foster the study of particular cultures and languages on its Washington Square campus, including the Deutsches Haus, La Maison Française, Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò, the Glucksman Ireland House to foster Irish studies, the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, the Hagop Kevorkian Center, an Africa House, and a China House. Most of these international houses are located on Washington Mews, a private street north of Washington Square Park.
The closest New York City Subway stations servicing the Washington Square campus are Eighth Street–New York University and West Fourth Street–Washington Square. In addition, NYU runs its own shuttle service, University Transportation Services, linking the Washington Square campus to other university locations and major transit hubs. The nearest major highway is the West Side Highway (NY 9A) to the west. The campus is located less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Holland Tunnel, and 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Brooklyn Bridge.
==== Gould Plaza ====
The Jeffrey S. Gould Plaza, located between Washington Square East and Mercer Street on West 4th Street, is surrounded by the buildings for some departments of the College of Arts and Science as well as the main buildings for the Stern School of Business and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Other NYU buildings near the plaza include the Bonomi Family Admissions Center, the Jeffrey S. Gould Welcome Center, the Alumni Relations building, Goddard Hall, Frederick Loewe Theatre, and the main building for the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, as well as unrelated religious institutions such as Judson Memorial Church, the Islamic Center at NYU, and Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. Because of its high student traffic during the academic year, Gould Plaza has become a popular meeting spot for NYU students and a performance area for street musicians and buskers.
==== Bobst Library ====
The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, built between 1967 and 1972, is the largest library at NYU and one of the largest academic libraries in the United States. Designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, the 12-story, 425,000-square-foot (39,500 m2) structure sits on the southern edge of Washington Square Park (at 70 Washington Square South) and is the flagship of an eight-library, 4.5 million-volume system. Bobst Library offers one Multidisciplinary Reference Center, a Research Commons, 28 miles (45 km) of open-stacks shelving, and approximately 2,000 seats for student study. The library is visited by more than 6,800 users each day, and circulates more than one million books annually.
Bobst's Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media is one of the world's largest academic media centers, where students and researchers use more than 95,000 audio and video recordings per year.
Bobst Library is also home to many special collections. The Fales Collection houses collections of English and American fiction in the United States, the unique Downtown Collection, documenting the New York literary avant-garde arts scene from the 1970s to the present, and the Food and Cookery Collection, which documents American food history with a focus on New York City. Bobst Library also houses the Tamiment Library, which holds collections in labor history, socialism, anarchism, communism, and American radicalism for scholarly research. Tamiment includes the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, the Archives of Irish America, the Center for the Cold War and the U.S., and the Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center.
Bobst Library made headlines in the early 2000s when Steven Stanzak, who is also known as "Bobst Boy", gained a following for living in Bobst Library after he was unable to pay for board at the university and began to write about his life on a self published blog. The story was reported by Washington Square News before becoming an overnight national sensation, which helped Stanzak receive financial assistance from NYU until graduation.
=== Brooklyn campus ===
NYU's Brooklyn campus is located at MetroTech Center, an urban academic-industrial research park. It sits on top of the Jay Street–MetroTech station, is only a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge, and is connected to NYU's Manhattan campus via the NYU Shuttle Bus System. It houses the Tandon School of Engineering, the Center for Urban Science and Progress and also several of Tisch School of the Arts and Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development's degree programs.
MetroTech Commons, the 3.5-acre (14,000 m2) privately owned public space at the heart of the MetroTech complex, functions as a quad for students at the Brooklyn campus in much the same way that Washington Square Park does for students at the main campus, hosting events including concerts, health fairs, chess tournaments and holiday celebrations. Bounded by Lawrence and Duffield Streets, the square is frequently adorned by modern art exhibits. Two pieces called Alligator and Visionary are part of the Commons' permanent public art collection by the well-known sculptor Tom Otterness.
The Brooklyn campus is home to NYU's Game Center Open Library, which is the largest collection of games held by any university in the world, as well as the NYU MakerSpace and Design Lab, which allows all NYU students who undergo training sessions to access advanced 3D printing, prototyping, CNC machining, and stress testing devices.
In 2014, NYU Langone Medical Center acquired a 125,000 square feet (11,600 m2) healthcare facility in Brooklyn. Quickly following this announcement, NYU announced in 2017 that it would invest over $500 million in the coming years to renovate and expand its Brooklyn campus, including 370 Jay Street, which opened in December 2017.
=== Other NY metropolitan area facilities ===
The NYU Langone Health medical center is situated near the East River waterfront at 550 First Avenue between East 30th and 34th Streets. The campus hosts the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Tisch Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, Hassenfeld Children's Hospital, and the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Other NYU and NYU-affiliated medical centers across the city include the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, the NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn, and the Bellevue Hospital. In Mineola, Long Island, the NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island campus is home to NYU's second medical school, the NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine.
NYU's Silver School of Social Work (formerly Ehrenkranz School of Social Work) manages branch campus programs in Westchester County at Sarah Lawrence College and in Rockland County at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
In Sterling Forest, near Tuxedo, NYU has a research facility that contains various institutes, in particular the Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine. The Midtown Center at 11 West 42nd Street is home to the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. The Woolworth Building in the financial district is home to some of NYU's professional studies and education programs.
NYU has two units located on the Upper East Side. The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a discrete entity within NYU, independent of any other school or department of the university, is located on East 84th Street, while the Institute of Fine Arts, a graduate school of art history and fine arts, is located at the James B. Duke House at 1 East 78th Street. Additionally, the nearby Stephen Chan House at 14 East 78th Street houses the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, which boasts the oldest graduate degree-granting conservation program in the world.
=== Global campuses and sites ===
NYU has a host of foreign facilities used for study away programs, referred to as Global Academic Centers. As of 2012, NYU operates 12 academic sites in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America, including undergraduate academic-year and summer study away programs in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. One of the most noteworthy sites is the 57-acre (230,000 m2) campus of NYU Florence, located at Villa LaPietra in Italy. The estate was bequeathed by the late Sir Harold Acton to NYU in 1994, and at the time it was the largest donation to a university in history. In spring 2014, NYU Paris moved to a new campus, formerly occupied by the École Spéciale des Travaux Publics (ESTP Paris), in the student area of the Quartier Latin, where NYU Law also set up an EU Regulatory Policy Clinic in partnership with HEC Paris taught by Alberto Alemanno and Vincent Chauvet.
In addition to the Global Academic Centers, NYU also maintains 10 Global Research Initiative Institutes, 9 of them are located in the academic centers at Berlin, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, and Washington DC, with the other being located in Athens. Meant to provide faculty and graduate students with NYU infrastructural support while conducting international research projects, those who are interested can apply for fellowships at all sites during the academic-year and a limited number of sites during the summer.
==== Abu Dhabi campus ====
Spearheaded by John Sexton, president of the university during 2002–2015; in Fall 2010, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) opened as the university's first overseas "Portal Campus" with an inaugural class of 150 students.
The campus faced controversy even before it opened. In 2009, the university responded to a series of interviews in The New York Times that showed a pattern of labor abuses at its fledgling Abu Dhabi location (which would open for classes the next year), creating a statement of labor values for Abu Dhabi campus workers. A 2014 follow-up article found that while some conditions had improved, contractors for the university were still frequently subjecting their workers to third-world labor conditions. The article documented that these conditions included confiscation of worker passports, forced overtime, recruitment fees and cockroach-filled dorms where workers had to sleep under beds. According to the article, workers who attempted to protest the NYU contractors' conditions were promptly arrested. Reports also claimed that those arrested by police were later abused at the police station. Many workers who were not local were then deported to their home countries. The university quickly responded to the reports with an apology to the workers. Though the campus construction costs were entirely funded by the Abu Dhabi government, as will be the operational costs and any future expansions, in 2015, NYU additionally compensated thousands of migrant workers on its Abu Dhabi complex.
Unlike NYU's other study abroad centers, NYUAD functions as a separate liberal arts college within a university, offering complete degree programs to students admitted directly to NYUAD. NYUAD recruits students from all over the world and describes itself as the "World's Honor College". The main campus for NYUAD is on Saadiyat Island and opened in 2014. Until then, the school operated from a campus located in downtown Abu Dhabi.
==== Shanghai campus ====
In 2011, NYU announced plans to open another portal campus, NYU Shanghai, for the fall semester of 2013. It was expected to have about 3,000 undergraduate students, the majority of whom would be Chinese. It was approved by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China in January 2011. NYU's local partner would be East China Normal University (ECNU). ECNU's president Yu Lizhong would be the chancellor and play a major role in government relations while Jeffrey S. Lehman, former president of Cornell amongst other positions, would serve as vice chancellor and have "free rein in academic affairs". Since late summer of 2014, NYU Shanghai has been based in Pudong, Shanghai, at 1555 Century Ave. The main campus is contained in a single building, the Academic Center, a new 15-story building with two underground floors. On May 30, 2019, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new campus building in the Qiantan International Business Zone. The Qiantan campus building is also located in Pudong, and was designed and built by architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF). The design features four buildings arranged in a pinwheel shape reminiscent of NYU Shanghai's logo, that are connected as one building above the fifth floor. In 2022, the university moved up to 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students into the new campus.
==== Former global campuses ====
Tisch School of the Arts, Asia was NYU's first branch campus abroad. The result of a partnership between Tisch School of the Arts and the Singapore Government, it offered Master of Fine Arts degrees in animation and digital arts, dramatic writing, film and international media producing. The campus opened in fall 2007 with the intention to enroll approximately 250 students. Anticipated enrollment figures were not achieved, financial irregularities were alleged, and President Pari Sara Shirazi was dismissed from her post by NYU in November 2011. She subsequently announced her intention to commence legal proceedings against NYU alleging wrongful termination and defamation. In a letter to the Tisch Asia community dated November 8, 2012, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell announced that the campus would close after 2014 with recruitment and admission of new students suspended with immediate effect. In 2016, three former students of the now defunct Tisch Asia sued NYU.
Before moving to its current location at the former campus of ESTP Paris, NYU Paris was located in a small building in the historic neighborhood of Passy.
=== Residence halls ===
NYU houses approximately 12,000 undergraduate and graduate residents, and had the seventh-largest university housing system in the U.S. as of 2007, and one of the largest among private schools. NYU's undergraduate housing system consists of more than 20 residence halls and is governed by the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC), an umbrella student council organization.
Uniquely, many of NYU's residence halls are converted apartment complexes or old hotels. In general, NYU residence halls receive favorable ratings, and some are opulent. Many rooms are spacious and contain amenities considered rare for individual college residence hall rooms, such as kitchens, lavatories, living rooms and common areas. The university operates its own transit system to transport its students by bus to its campus. A few of the residence halls are considered to be among the nicest in the nation, being furnished with granite counter-tops, stainless-steel appliances, in-hall gyms, wood flooring, marble bathroom fixtures, large floor lounges, floor to ceiling windows and extensive views of lower and midtown Manhattan.
Undergraduate students are guaranteed housing during their enrollment at NYU and are split into two categories, FYRE (First-Year Residential Experience) and TRUE (The Residential Upperclassmen Experience). Most FYRE halls are located near the Washington Square area. While nearly all TRUE halls are located near the Union Square area, two former residence halls were located in the Financial District and one is still in use in Chinatown. Two residence halls are located in and around the MetroTech Commons, intended to serve NYU's Brooklyn Campus.
In 2007, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) named NYU the National School of the Year for IRHC and NRHH's strong efforts over the past year. In addition, NYU was named the National Program of the Year for UltraViolet Live, the annual inter-hall competition that raises funds for Relay For Life.
=== Sustainability ===
NYU has made the greening of its campus a large priority. For example, NYU has been the largest university purchaser of wind energy in the U.S. since 2009. With this switch to renewable power, NYU is achieving benefits equivalent to removing 12,000 cars from the road or planting 72,000 trees. In May 2008, the NYU Sustainability Task Force awarded $150,000 in grants to 23 projects that would focus research and efforts toward energy, food, landscape, outreach, procurement, transportation and waste.
These projects include a student-led bike-sharing program modeled after Paris' Velib program with 30 bikes free to students, staff, and faculty. NYU received a grade of "B" on the College Sustainability Report Card 2010 from the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
NYU purchased 118 million kilowatt-hours of wind power during the 2006–2007 academic year – the largest purchase of wind power by any university in the country and any institution in New York City. For 2007, the university expanded its purchase of wind power to 132 million kilowatt-hours.
The EPA ranked NYU as one of the greenest colleges in the country in its annual College & University Green Power Challenge.
=== NYU 2031 ===
In 2007, NYU created a strategic plan for a six billion-dollar, 25-year, 6,000,000-square-foot (560,000 m2) expansion scheduled to conclude by the university's bicentennial in 2031. Details of the plan include 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m2) of additional on-campus housing and 3,500,000 sq ft (330,000 m2) of modern academic spaces spread between NYU's New York City campuses.
The expansion started in earnest in 2017 with the groundbreaking of 181 Mercer Street, a new multi-purpose building that will act as the flagship athletic facility for NYU, while also accompanying a 350-bed Residence Hall, 58 general purpose classrooms and a 350-seat theater. The roughly 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2), $1.1 billion building is directly adjacent to the south eastern corner of the Washington Square campus and represents a significant focus on the university owned super blocks. Work on the plans second project, 370 Jay Street, a 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m2) addition to the Brooklyn campus is scheduled to conclude in 2019. The building will house 'the digital arts and sciences' such as the Tandon School of Engineering departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering; the Tisch School of the Arts Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music and Game Center and various other NYU initiatives such as the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and NYU Wireless (5G research).
To date, NYU has confirmed specific construction details for its NYU 2031 plan to the tune of 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2) at a cost of $1.6 billion with roughly 12 years to go until the university's bicentennial. In order to meet the plans outlined goals on time, the university would have to significantly increase spending, fundraising and construction over the next decade.
== Academics ==
=== Admissions and scholarships ===
Admission to NYU is highly selective. For the undergraduate first-year class of 2029, 7.7% were admitted from an applicant pool of more than 120,000. Three of NYU's undergraduate colleges offered admission to fewer than 5% of applicants. In 2021, NYU became the first private university in the US to top 100,000 applications.
Of those admitted, about 6,500 made up the total enrollment for the class, representing 102 countries, all 50 US states, and the District of Columbia. Most freshmen have a typical unweighted GPA of 3.7/A (90–95%) and are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. The median SAT score was 1540 out of 1600 (within the 99th percentile). The student-to-faculty ratio at the New York campus is 9:1, and less than that at the Abu Dhabi and Shanghai campuses. The average scholarship amount awarded to freshmen is over $35,000, and 20% of freshmen received Pell Grants.
As of 2016, NYU's graduate schools have acceptance rates of 1.8% to the School of Medicine, 23% to the School of Business, 28% to the School of Engineering, 29% to the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and 34% to the School of Law.
Average MCAT score of students at the School of Medicine is 522, average GMAT score of graduate students at the School of Business is 723, and the median LSAT score of students at the School of Law is 170.
=== Schools and leadership ===
NYU is a private, global, non-sectarian and not-for-profit institution of higher education organized into 10 undergraduate schools and 15 graduate/professional schools, with a roughly even split of students between the divisions. Arts and Science is currently NYU's largest academic division. It has three subdivisions: the College of Arts and Science, the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and the Liberal Studies program. The College of Arts and Science and Liberal Studies program are undergraduate divisions, and the former has existed since the founding of NYU.
According to NYU, it has created a "global network university" with its primary campus, two "portal" campuses, and 12 academic sites. The portal campuses at NYU Shanghai and NYU Abu Dhabi function as full-fledged colleges, allowing students to study all four years of their undergraduate studies and receive a degree, never having set foot on NYU's traditional campus in New York. The academic sites at Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. function as study away sites, allowing students to spend up to a year away from their home campus. NYU, citing a report by the Institute of International Education, asserts that it has sent more students abroad and brought more international students in than any other university for five continuous years.
The President of New York University, is selected by the board of trustees and serves as the primary executive officer of the university for an unspecified term length. On July 1, 2023, Linda G. Mills became the 17th and current President of NYU.
=== Research ===
NYU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and research expenditures totaled $917.7 million in 2017. The university was the founding institution of the American Chemical Society. The NYU Grossman School of Medicine received $305 million in external research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2014. NYU was granted 90 patents in 2014, the 19th most of any institution in the world. NYU owns the fastest supercomputer in New York City. As of 2016, NYU hardware researchers and their collaborators enjoy the largest outside funding level for hardware security of any institution in the United States, including grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the United States Army Research Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Semiconductor Research Corporation, and companies including Twitter, Boeing, Microsoft, and Google.
In 2019, four NYU Arts & Science departments ranked in Top 10 of Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities by academic subjects (economics, politics, psychology, and sociology).
=== Rankings ===
Nationally, NYU is ranked 17th in the Center for World University Rankings, 9th by QS World University Rankings, 17th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 27th by Business Insider, and 25th by U.S. News & World Report.
Globally, NYU is ranked 23 in the Center for World University Rankings, 25th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 26th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 35th in the QS World University Rankings. Additionally, NYU is ranked 26th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings Reputation Rankings.
U.S. News & World Report ranks NYU's graduate schools 6th for law, 10th for public policy, 9th for mathematics (1st for applied mathematics), 8th for Occupational therapy under Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, 10th for business, 11th for economics, 12th for political science, 4th for medical school research, 10th for education, 19th for nursing doctorate, 38th for physical therapy, 30th for computer science, 36th for psychology, and 38th for engineering.
Globally, NYU's social sciences are ranked 8th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 15th by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 16th by the QS World University Rankings. NYU is globally ranked 11th for psychology by the QS World University Ranking. The Social Psychology Network ranks NYU 5th for industrial/organizational psychology, 14th for clinical psychology, and U.S. News & World Report ranks NYU 9th for social psychology and 9th for behavioral neuroscience.
U.S. News & World Report ranks the New York University School of Law 1st for tax law, 1st for international law, 1st for business and corporate law (tie), and 1st in criminal law. The publication also ranks The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service 10th in public policy. The NYU Department of Philosophy is globally ranked 1st by The Philosophical Gourmet Report and the QS World University Rankings. The annual Global Employability Survey in The New York Times ranks NYU 11th nationally and 29th globally for employability. NYU ranks 19th in the world based on the number of patents generated.
Globally, NYU is ranked 7th by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for producing alumni who are millionaires, 5th among universities with the highest number of alumni worth $30 million or more, and 4th by Wealth-X for producing ultra high net-worth and billionaire alumni.
== Student life ==
=== Student government ===
The Student Government Assembly (SGA) is the governing student body at NYU. The SGA has been involved in controversial debates on campus, including a campus-wide ban on the sale of The Coca-Cola Company's products in 2005 to protest its refusal to investigate apparent human rights violations at their Colombian bottling plant and the Graduate Student Organizing Committee unionization in 2001 and subsequent strike in 2005. The Coke ban was lifted by the University Senate on February 5, 2009. SGA consists of 75 voting members from subsidiary student government organs including the Student Senators Council (SSC) and the Presidents Council, which are elected from their respective individual undergraduate and graduate colleges.
In 2018, the structure of the university's student government was called into question by students through school newspapers and social media pages calling for "sweeping changes to its byzantine structure." Advocates claimed the structure of SGA failed to represent all students, wasted university funds and operated in an undemocratic manner. Opponents claimed that advocates were merely motivated by legislation supporting the BDS movement that was likely to pass.
=== Student organizations ===
NYU has over 450 student clubs and organizations on campus. In addition to the sports teams, fraternities, sororities, and study clubs, there are many organizations on campus that focus on entertainment, arts, and culture.
==== Journalism, media, and broadcast organizations ====
These organizations include various student media clubs: for instance, the daily student newspaper the Washington Square News, the NYU Local daily blog, The Plague comedy magazine, "Washington Square Local web-based satire news source, and the literary journals Washington Square Review and The Minetta Review, as well as student-run event producers such as the NYU Program Board and the Inter-Residence Hall Council. It also operates radio station WNYU-FM 89.1 with a diverse college radio format, transmitting to the entire New York metropolitan area from the original campus, and via booster station WNYU-FM1 which fills in the signal in lower Manhattan from atop one of the Silver Towers, next to the football field at the Washington Square campus.
Students publish a campus comedy magazine, The Plague. Like many college humor magazines, this often pokes fun at popular culture as well as campus life and the idiosyncrasies of New York University. The Plague was founded in 1978 by Howard Ostrowsky along with Amy Burns, John Rawlins, Joe Pinto and Dan Fiorella, and is currently published once per semester. It is not NYU's first humor magazine, as The Medley was a humor magazine published by the Eucleian Society from 1913 to 1950.
==== Debate team ====
Since winning the national championship in the 2003–2004 season, the NYU Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) debate team is considered one of the perennial collegiate policy debate teams in the country. For the 2020–21 season, they placed 5th in the nation at CEDA Open Nationals and 2nd in the nation at JV Nationals, along with students named the 1st and 4th place speakers at Novice Nationals. In 2021, they ranked 10th in the nation, finishing ahead of Harvard and Cornell. This marked 14 years of Top 20 National finishes dating back to the 2007 season.
==== Mock trial team ====
The New York University Mock Trial team is consistently ranked as one of the best collegiate mock trial teams in the country. NYU has qualified for the National Championship Tournament for 10 consecutive seasons and placed in the top 10 during each of those years. In the 2009–2010 season, NYU won the 26th National Championship Tournament in Memphis over rival Harvard. The following season, they qualified for the final round once more only to be the runners-up to UCLA. In the American Mock Trial Association's 2015–2016 power rankings, NYU ranks third, behind Harvard and Yale.
==== Campus traditions ====
NYU has traditions which have persisted across campuses. Since the beginning of the 20th century initiation ceremonies have welcomed incoming NYU freshmen. At the Bronx University Heights Campus, seniors used to grab unsuspecting freshmen, take them to a horse-watering trough, and then dunk them head-first into what was known colloquially as "the Fountain of Knowledge". This underground initiation took place until the 1970s. Today freshmen take part in university-sponsored activities during what is called "Welcome Week". In addition, throughout the year the university traditionally holds Apple Fest (an apple-themed country fest that began at the University Heights campus), the Violet Ball (a dance in the atrium of Bobst Library), Strawberry Fest (featuring New York City's longest strawberry shortcake), and the semi-annual midnight breakfast where Student Affairs administrators serve free breakfast to students before finals.
==== A cappella groups ====
NYU is home to a number of student-run a cappella groups, several of which compete regularly at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). Most notable of these groups is The NYU N'Harmonics, who won the ICCA title in 2019. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked The NYU N'Harmonics at No. 6 among all ICCA-competing groups.
=== Greek life ===
Some of the first fraternities in the country were formed at NYU. Greek life first formed on the NYU campus in 1837 when Psi Upsilon chartered its Delta Chapter. The first fraternities at NYU were social ones. With their athletic, professional, intellectual, and service activities, later groups sought to attract students who also formed other groups. Since then, Greek letter organizations have proliferated to include 25 social fraternities and sororities. As of 2014, approximately 13% of NYU undergraduate students are members of fraternities or sororities.
Four governing boards oversee Greek life at the university. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) has jurisdiction over all twelve recognized fraternities on campus. Eight sororities are under the jurisdiction of the Panhellenic Council (PhC), which features seven national sororities (ΔΦΕ, ΑΕΦ, ΑΣΤ, ΠΒΦ, ΚΚΓ, ΖΤΑ, ΔΓ) and two local sororities (ΑΦΖ and ΘΦΒ). Five multicultural organizations maintain membership in the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), including two fraternities and three sororities. All three of the aforementioned boards are managed under the auspices of the Inter-Greek Council.
Greek organizations have historical significance at NYU. Delta Phi Epsilon, Zeta Psi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Tau Delta Phi, Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi were founded at NYU. Zeta Psi was chartered in 1847, Delta Sigma Pi in 1907, Alpha Epsilon Pi in 1913 Delta Phi Epsilon was founded in 1917. The NYU Gamma chapter of Delta Phi, founded in 1841, is the longest continuously active fraternity chapter in the world, having never gone inactive since its establishment. Delta Phi is also the oldest continuously active fraternity in the United States, being the only organization in the original Union Triad to remain active since its institute. The NYU Gamma chapter of Zeta Beta Tau is the oldest active ΖΒΤ chapter in the country.
=== Secret societies ===
During the University Heights era, an apparent rift evolved with some organizations distancing themselves from students from the downtown schools. The exclusive Philomathean Society operated from 1832 to 1888 (formally giving way in 1907 and reconstituted into the Andiron Club). Included among the Andiron's regulations was "Rule No.11: Have no relations save the most casual and informal kind with the downtown schools." The Eucleian Society, rival to the Philomathean Society, was founded in 1832. The Knights of the Lamp was a social organization founded in 1914 at the School of Commerce. This organization met every full moon and had a glowworm as its mascot. The Red Dragon Society, founded in 1898, is thought to be the most selective society at NYU.
In addition, NYU's first yearbook was formed by fraternities and "secret societies" at the university. There have been several attempts to restart old societies by both former and incoming undergraduate classes.
=== ROTC ===
NYU does not have an ROTC program on campus. However, NYU students may participate in the U.S. Army ROTC program through NYC Army ROTC (Yankee Battalion), headquartered at Fordham University. Students may also participate in the U.S. Air Force ROTC program through AFROTC Detachment 560 headquartered at Manhattan College.
== Athletics ==
NYU's sports teams are referred to as the NYU Violets, the colors being the trademarked hue "NYU Violet" and white. Since 1981, the school mascot has been a bobcat, whose origin can be traced back to the abbreviation then being used by the Bobst Library computerized catalog—short: Bobcat. NYU's sports teams include baseball, men's and women's varsity basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Most of NYU's sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division III and the University Athletic Association, while fencing and ice hockey participate in Division I. While NYU has had All-American football players, the school has not had a varsity football team since 1952.
NYU students also compete in club and intramural sports, including badminton, baseball, basketball, crew, cycling, equestrianism, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, softball, squash, tennis, triathlon, and ultimate. The Palladium Athletic Facility serves as the home base of NYU's Varsity and Club intercollegiate athletic teams, while NYU's 404 and Brooklyn athletic facilities offer additional space for the NYU fitness community. Many of NYU's varsity teams play their games at various facilities and fields throughout Manhattan because of the scarcity of space for playing fields near campus. NYU is currently in the process of building a new billion dollar flagship athletic facility known as 181 Mercer Street. When complete, the new home of NYU Athletics will host a six-lane swimming pool, four full basketball courts, a complete in-door running track and other sports related offerings.
== Notable faculty ==
== Notable alumni ==
As of 2020, multiple heads of state, royalty, one U.S. Supreme Court justice, five U.S. governors, 17 billionaires, 8 Turing Award winners, 5 Fields Medalists, 31 MacArthur Fellows, 167 Guggenheim Fellows, three astronauts, seven Abel Prize winners, seven Lasker Award winners, a Crafoord Prize winner, 26 Pulitzer Prize winners, 37 Academy Award winners, 30 Emmy Award winners, 25 Tony Award winners, 12 Grammy Award winners, multiple Forbes 30 under 30 and Time 100 notables, and numerous members of the National Academies of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, United States Congress, and U.S. diplomats have been affiliated with faculty or alumni. Multiple Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Schwarzman Scholars and a Mitchell Scholar are affiliated with the university, with NYU Abu Dhabi producing more Rhodes Scholars per student than any university in the world.
NYU has more than 500,000 living alumni as of 2015. As of October 2020, 38 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with NYU. The university is also associated with a great number of important inventions and discoveries, such as cardiac defibrillator and artificial cardiac pacemaker (Barouh Berkovits), closed-chest cardiac defibrillator (William B. Kouwenhoven), laser (Gordon Gould), atom bomb (Frederick Reines), polio vaccine (Albert Sabin), RFID (Mario Cardullo), telephone handset (Robert G. Brown), wireless microphone (Hung-Chang Lin), first digital image scanner (Russell A. Kirsch), television (Benjamin Adler), light beer (Joseph Owades), non-stick cookware (John Gilbert), black hole thermodynamics (Jacob Bekenstein), polymer science (Herman Francis Mark), microwave (Ernst Weber), X-ray crystallography (Paul Peter Ewald), barcode (Jerome Swartz), structure of the DNA (Francis Crick), tau lepton (Martin Lewis Perl), processes for creating food coloring, decaffeination and sugar substitute (Torunn Atteraas Garin), processes for the mass production of penicillin (Jasper H. Kane), X-ray generator and rotational radiation therapy (John G. Trump), nuclear reactor and hydrogen bomb (John Archibald Wheeler), and contact lenses (Norman Gaylord), among many others. Alumnus Fred Waller who invented Cinerama and the Waller Gunnery Trainer, also obtained the first patent for a water ski.
Some of the most prolific inventors in American history are NYU alumni, for example Jerome H. Lemelson whose 605 patents involved the cordless telephone, fax machine, videocassette recorder and camcorder, among others; Samuel Ruben whose inventions include electric battery; James Wood who invented cable-lift elevator, fabricated the steel cables for the Brooklyn Bridge and contributed to the development of lockmaking, submarine, electric generator, electric motor, transformer and the design of the refrigerator; and Albert Macovski whose innovations include the single-tube color camera and real-time phased array imaging for ultrasound. NYU is the birthplace of the tractor beam and 5G. Before and during World War II, NYU's Tandon School of Engineering worked on problems whose solution led to the development of radar, and later broke ground in electromagnetic theory, electronics in general, and solved re-entry problems of the crewed space capsules, as well as helped develop and design the NASDAQ Automated Quote System and trading floors. Developer of the early telephone systems in the United States Bancroft Gherardi Jr., developer of the submarine communications facilities Jack M. Sipress, inventor of Italy's first computer Mario Tchou, designer of the Panama Canal locks Henry C. Goldmark, designer of the Pentagon Hugh John Casey, designer of the Apollo Lunar Module Thomas J. Kelly, as well as the designer of virtually every major bridge in New York City from the George Washington to the Verrazzano, Leopold Just, are also NYU alumni.
Many of the world's most renowned companies, such as IBM (Charles Ranlett Flint), Twitter (Jack Dorsey), Bloomberg L.P. (Charles Zegar), Jacobs Engineering Group (Joseph J. Jacobs), Hudson Group (Robert B. Cohen), MTV (Tom Freston), Barnes & Noble (Leonard Riggio), Northrop Grumman (William T. Schwendler), Automatic Data Processing (Henry Taub), Duracell (Samuel Ruben), Bugle Boy (William C. W. Mow), Virgin Mobile USA (Dan Schulman), among many others, were founded or co-founded by NYU alumni. Many of the world's most famous companies were either owned or led by NYU alumni. These include, Lockheed Martin (Robert J. Stevens), Xerox (Ursula Burns), Yahoo! (Alfred Amoroso), TPV Technology (Jason Hsuan), 20th Century Fox (Marvin Davis), BAE Systems Inc (Mark Ronald), AECOM (John Dionisio), Pfizer (John Elmer McKeen), Ingersoll Rand (Herbert L. Henkel), General Motors (Alfred P. Sloan), and Sears (Arthur C. Martinez).
Others include The New York Times (Spencer Trask), Stanley Black & Decker (John Trani), American International Group (Harvey Golub), American Express (Edward P. Gilligan), Qwest (Joseph Nacchio), Chase Bank (Walter V. Shipley), CBS (Laurence Alan Tisch), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (Charles A. Heimbold, Jr.), Citigroup (Robert I. Lipp), Morgan Stanley (Robert A. Kindler), Marvel Entertainment (John Turitzin), ConocoPhillips (John Carrig), Deloitte (Barry Salzberg), Sony Pictures Entertainment (Peter Guber), GQ (Steven Florio), Viacom (Thomas E. Dooley), Liberty Media (John C. Malone), Verizon (Lawrence Babbio Jr.) and Chemtura (Vincent A. Calarco). A pioneer of Silicon Valley, Eugene Kleiner, and the World Trade Center site owner, Larry Silverstein, are also alumni. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Square_Classic | Red Square Classic | The Red Square Classic and the Moscow Classic are annual bonspiels (curling tournaments) on the men's World Curling Tour (WCT). The Red Square Classic is played outdoors at Red Square, while the Moscow Classic is played at the New League curling club in Moscow, Russia. Both events are held in early February within a week of each other.
The Red Square Classic ran as a solo event from 2014 to 2017. It was replaced by the Moscow Classic in 2018. In 2019, the event returned to Red Square, and in 2020 both events were held for the first time. In 2021, the events were cancelled and replaced by a mixed doubles event.
== Past champions ==
== Mixed doubles ==
Moscow first held a mixed doubles tour event in December 2019 called the ISS WCT Moscow Mixed Doubles. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Hard_Rock_Performance | Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance | The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2011.
The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989. The category was originally presented as Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, combining two of the most popular music genres of the 1980s. Jethro Tull won that award for the album Crest of a Knave, beating Metallica, who were expected to win with the album ...And Justice for All. This choice led to widespread criticism of the academy, as journalists suggested that the music of Jethro Tull did not belong in the hard rock or heavy metal genres. In response, the academy created the categories Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, separating the genres.
The band Living Colour was presented the first award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990. From 1992 to 1994, the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal. The bands Foo Fighters, Living Colour, and the Smashing Pumpkins share the record for the most wins, with two each. American artists were presented with the award more than any other nationality, though it was also presented to musicians or groups originating from Australia twice and from the United Kingdom once. Alice in Chains holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with eight.
The award was discontinued in 2012 due to a major overhaul of Grammy categories. In 2012 and 2013, quality hard rock performances were honored in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category. However, in 2014, the category was split, returning the stand-alone Best Metal Performance category and recognizing quality hard rock performances in the Best Rock Performance category. According to the Recording Academy, "It was determined that metal has a very distinctive sound, and hard rock more closely aligns with rock and can exist comfortably as one end of the rock spectrum."
== Recipients ==
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
== Multiple wins ==
== Multiple nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Shawnee_Tribe_of_Oklahoma | Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma | The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma is one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. They are located in Oklahoma and Missouri.
The tribe holds an annual powwow every September at their powwow grounds. This is not a closed powwow, and visitors from other tribes or peoples are welcome as long as they respect the Shawnee culture.
== Government ==
The headquarters of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe are Wyandotte, Oklahoma, and their tribal jurisdictional area is in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. There are 3,921 enrolled tribal citizens, and 904 of them living within the state of Oklahoma. Some live nearby in Missouri, where the tribe has a Cultural Preservation Center at Seneca, Missouri, and a community in western Missouri.
As of 2025, the current administration is:
Glenna J. Wallace, first elected in 2006
2nd Chief: Chris Samples
Secretary: Kathie Kent
Treasurer: Terri Landis
1st Council: Clint Kissee
2nd Council: Shawn Daugherty
3rd Council: Cliff Carpenter
The Business Committee is the Legislative Branch and consists of six members elected at large. The Second Chief, Treasurer, Secretary, First Council, Second Council, and Third Council comprise the Business Committee. The Eastern Shawnee Tribe issues its own tribal vehicle tags.
Citizenship in the tribe is based on documented lineal descent to persons listed on the Dawes Rolls. The tribe has no minimum blood quantum requirements.
== Economic Development ==
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma owns and operates the Indigo Sky Casino & Resort and Outpost Casino. They operate their own housing authority. They own 51% of the shares in the People's Bank of Seneca, Missouri; The Eastern Shawnee Tribe owns a Print Shop; Four Feathers Recycling, an Early Childhood Learning Center, and a splash pad. Their annual economic impact is estimated by the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commissions to be $164,000,000.
== History ==
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma are primarily descendants of Shawnees who lived in Ohio until the 1830s. The Shawnees, an Eastern Woodland tribe who were once nomadic, occupied territory throughout what became the eastern United States, living in present-day Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. In the late 18th century, European-American encroachment crowded Shawnee lands in the east, and one band migrated to Missouri, eventually becoming the Absentee Shawnee tribe.
Three reservations were granted to the Shawnees in Ohio by the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs: Wapakoneta, Lewistown, and Hog Creek. After the Indian Removal Act of 1830 passed, the Lewiston band, who lived with a group of Senecas, relocated to Indian Territory in July 1831, and were known as the "Mixed Band" of Senecas and Shawnees. Another band, who would become the federally recognized Shawnee Tribe, relocated to Kansas in August 1831.
The U.S. federal government carved out a 60,000-acre (240 km2) reservation for the "Mixed Band" or United Nation of Senecas and Shawnees from Cherokee lands in Indian Territory in 1832. A treaty was negotiated between the US and the Seneca and Shawnee in 1867, which made portions of their land available to other tribes, and restored the independence of the Seneca and Shawnee tribes. They were from different language families, Iroquoian and Algonquian, respectively. The Shawnees of the "Mixed Band" became the Eastern Shawnee Tribe. The Eastern Shawnee organized as a federally recognized tribe under the 1936 Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act.
In May 2019, the Eastern Shawnee ceremonial grounds flooded with three feet of water. Thirty families were evacuated, and "local roads stayed impassable for weeks." Tribal leaders have joined the city of Miami in opposition to increased water levels at Pensacola Dam and Grand Lake. They argue that when the water backs up downstream on the Neosho River, it can increase problems with flooding in their communities.
== Flag ==
The tribe's flag displays our tribal seal on a white (sometimes red) field. The seal displays the Me-she-Pe-She, the panther, and the Wa-be-the, the swan. The story of the beginning of our tribe was recorded by George Blue Jacket in 1829 as a record of the tale passed down through generations of Shawnee people.
The story goes that the Grandmother of Shawnee people came across the great salt water (Atlantic Ocean, presumably) holding the tail of a panther and our Grandfather was carried on the back of a swan, thus beginning the Shawnee People. The Panther also represents courage, strength, and prowess in battle. The Swan symbolizes tranquility, peace and beauty. The symbolism of these two animals contrasts just as distinctly as the black and white colors contrast. The two feathers on the spear symbolize our dual citizenship in the United States and Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. The spear itself represents that we will fight to our death to defend this universe that we hold as sacred.
All of this sits inside of a circle, representing the universe; continuous, never-ending, with no beginning nor no ending, only one world, one universe, one tribe united. The round shape encircles and holds all of the other objects, just as the tribe holds all of its citizens as one. The shape with four eagle feathers at the bottom. The four feathers hold significance to our tribe and many others as a symbol of the four elements, four winds and four directions. Eagle feathers were used for our flag due to the fact that the Eagle is the most revered of all species and symbolizes courage, strength and spirit. The Eagle is said to be the closest to the Creator and rumored to have even seen the Creator's face.
== Notable Eastern Shawnee people ==
J. R. Conrad (1974–), National Football League player
Moscelyne Larkin (1925–2012), ballerina
Glenna J. Wallace, Chief (2006-present)
Taylor M. Wright (1993–), U.S. Army Officer
Thomas Captain, Chief (1850 - 1920)
Thomas A Captain, Chief (1884 - 1980) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisaku_Kimura | Daisaku Kimura | Daisaku Kimura (木村 大作, Kimura Daisaku) is a Japanese film director and cinematographer.
== Overviews ==
He won the award for best director at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize for Mt. Tsurugidake.
== Filmography ==
Submersion of Japan (1973)
Mt. Tsurugidake
Climbing to Spring (2014)
Samurai's Promise (2018)
== Honours ==
Person of Cultural Merit (2020) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump | Donald Trump | Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
Born into a wealthy New York City family, Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He became the president of his family's real estate business in 1971, renamed it the Trump Organization, and began acquiring and building skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. He launched side ventures, many licensing the Trump name, and filed for six business bankruptcies in the 1990s and 2000s. From 2004 to 2015, he hosted the reality television show The Apprentice, bolstering his fame as a billionaire. Presenting himself as a political outsider, Trump won the 2016 presidential election against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.
During his first presidency, Trump imposed a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, expanded the Mexico–United States border wall, and enforced a family separation policy on the border. He rolled back environmental and business regulations, signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and appointed three Supreme Court justices. He withdrew the U.S. from agreements on climate, trade, and Iran's nuclear program, and started a trade war with China. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he downplayed its severity, contradicted health officials, and signed the CARES Act. After losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Trump attempted to overturn the result, culminating in the January 6 Capitol attack in 2021. He was impeached in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and in 2021 for incitement of insurrection; the Senate acquitted him both times.
In 2023, Trump was found liable in civil cases for sexual abuse and defamation and for business fraud. He was found guilty in 34 counts of falsifying business records in 2024, making him the first U.S. president convicted of a felony. After winning the 2024 presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris, he was sentenced to a discharge, and two federal felony indictments against him for retention of classified documents and obstruction of the 2020 election were dismissed without prejudice.
Trump began his second presidency by initiating mass layoffs of federal workers. He imposed tariffs on nearly all countries at the highest level since the Great Depression and signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. His administration's actions—including its targeting of political opponents and civil society, persecution of transgender people, mass deportation of immigrants, and extensive use of executive orders—have drawn over 550 lawsuits challenging their legality. In Latin America, he pursued a legally contested campaign to attack alleged drug traffickers, and ordered a military raid into Venezuela to capture the country's president. In February 2026, Trump authorized joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran that resulted in the 2026 Iran war.
Since 2015, Trump's leadership style and political agenda—often referred to as Trumpism—have reshaped the Republican Party's identity. Many of his comments and actions have been characterized as racist or misogynistic. He has made many false or misleading statements during his campaigns and presidency, to a degree unprecedented in American politics, and promotes conspiracy theories. Trump's actions have been described by researchers as authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding. After his first term, scholars and historians ranked him as one of the worst presidents in American history.
== Early life and education ==
Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at Jamaica Hospital in the New York City borough of Queens, the fourth child of Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. He is of German and Scottish descent. He grew up with his older siblings, Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth, and his younger brother, Robert, in a 23-room mansion in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood of Queens. Fred Trump paid his children each about $20,000 a year, equivalent to $265,000 a year in 2024. Trump was a millionaire in inflation-adjusted dollars by age eight.
Trump attended the private Kew-Forest School through seventh grade. His father enrolled him in the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, from eighth to twelfth grade. The academy pushed students into sports and taught the imperative of winning.
Trump considered a show business career but instead, to be closer to home, enrolled at Fordham University in 1964. He participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps during his first year, attending classes in a military uniform every Wednesday, but dropped it in his second year. In his junior year, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, most often commuting to his father's office on weekends, and graduated in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in economics. Contrary to his statements that he was top of his class with the highest grades possible, Wharton's published academic honors and dean's list do not include his name. By the time he went to Wharton he was eyeing a career in real estate. He was exempted from the draft during the Vietnam War due to a claim of bone spurs in his heels.
== Business career ==
=== Real estate ===
Starting in 1968, Trump was employed at Trump Management, his father's real estate company, which managed the middle-class apartment complexes Fred had built in Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn. His main tasks were collecting rent and making repairs for about five years. Trump asked his father to expand to Manhattan where prices were higher, but his father was content in the outer boroughs. In 1971, he moved to Manhattan, where he planned to move the business and commuted to his father's office. That year, his father made himself chairman and Trump president. Trump began using the Trump Organization as an umbrella for the corporate names of his father's businesses.
Roy Cohn, Trump's most important early influence after his father, was his fixer, lawyer, and mentor for 13 years in the 1970s and 1980s. Cohn taught Trump to think that life is transactional. In 1973, Cohn helped Trump countersue the U.S. government for $100 million (equivalent to $725 million in 2025) over its charges that Trump's properties had discriminated against Black applicants and tenants. The case was settled in a consent decree agreeing to desegregate, which the Trumps ended up in court for violating four years later. Helping Trump projects, Cohn was a consigliere whose Mafia connections controlled construction unions. In 1979, Cohn introduced political consultant Roger Stone to Trump, who enlisted Stone's services to deal with the federal government.
Trump showed a propensity for litigation, no matter the outcome and cost; even when he lost, he described the case as a win. By 2018, Trump had been involved in more than 4,000 lawsuits, liens, and other filings, often filed for nonpayment against him by employees, contractors, real estate brokers, and his own attorneys. Between 1991 and 2009, Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six of his businesses: the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts company.
In 1992 and 1994, Trump, working with several relatives, formed a shell company for paying the vendors providing services and supplies for Trump's rental units, then billing those services and supplies to Trump Management with significant markups; the increased costs were used to get state approval for increasing the rents of his rent-stabilized units. Besides inflating rents, the schemes served to transfer assets from Fred Trump to his children and nephew and lower their tax burden.
==== Manhattan and Chicago developments ====
Trump gained public attention in 1978 with the launch of his family's first Manhattan venture: the renovation of the derelict Commodore Hotel, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. The financing was facilitated by a $400 million city property tax abatement arranged for him by his father who also, jointly with Hyatt, guaranteed a $70 million bank construction loan. The hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that same year, he obtained rights to develop Trump Tower, a mixed-use skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. The building houses the headquarters of the Trump Corporation and Trump's PAC and was his primary residence until 2019. In 1988, Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel with a loan from a consortium of 16 banks. The hotel filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and a reorganization plan was approved a month later, with the banks taking control of the property.
In 1995, Trump defaulted on over $3 billion of bank loans, and the lenders seized the Plaza Hotel along with most of his other properties in a "vast and humiliating restructuring" that allowed him to avoid personal bankruptcy. Trump's last major construction project was the 92-story mixed-use Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, which opened in 2008. In 2024, The New York Times and ProPublica reported that the Internal Revenue Service was investigating whether he had twice written off losses incurred through construction cost overruns and lagging sales of residential units in the building he had declared to be worthless on his 2008 tax return.
==== Atlantic City casinos ====
In 1984, Trump opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino, with financing and management help from the Holiday Corporation. It was unprofitable, and he paid Holiday $70 million in May 1986 to take sole control. In 1985, he bought the unopened Atlantic City Hilton Hotel and renamed it Trump's Castle. Both casinos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992. Trump bought a third Atlantic City venue in 1988, the Trump Taj Mahal. It was financed with $675 million in junk bonds and completed for $1.1 billion, opening in April 1990. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991. Under the provisions of the restructuring agreement, Trump gave up half his initial stake and personally guaranteed future performance. To reduce his $900 million of personal debt, he sold the Trump Shuttle airline; his megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been leased to his casinos and kept docked; and other businesses. In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of the Trump Plaza. THCR purchased the Taj Mahal and the Trump Castle in 1996 and went bankrupt in 2004 and 2009, leaving him with 10 percent ownership. He remained chairman until 2009.
==== Golf clubs ====
In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. In 1995, he converted the estate into a private club with an initiation fee and annual dues. Trump continued to use a wing of the house as a private residence. He declared the club his primary residence in 2019. Trump began building and buying golf courses in 1999, owning 17 golf courses globally by 2016.
=== Licensing the Trump name ===
The Trump Organization often licensed the Trump name for consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, learning courses, and home furnishings. Over 50 licensing or management deals involved his name, generating at least $59 million for his companies. By 2018, only two consumer goods companies continued to license Trump's name. During the 2000s, he licensed his name to real estate developments. Forty of the projects he announced were not completed.
=== Side ventures ===
In 1970, Trump invested $70,000 of his father's wealth to receive billing as coproducer of a Broadway comedy—and lost the money. After making low-ball bids for the New York Mets and the Cleveland Indians baseball teams, in 1983 for about $6 million, he purchased the New Jersey Generals, a team in the United States Football League. The league folded after the 1985 season, largely due to his attempt to move to a fall schedule (when it would have competed with the National Football League for audience) and his attempt to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust suit. In 1989 and 1990, he lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.
From 1986 to 1988, he purchased significant blocks of shares in various public companies while suggesting that he intended to take over the company and then sold his shares for a profit, leading some observers to think he was engaged in greenmail. The New York Times found that he initially made millions of dollars in such stock transactions, but "lost most, if not all, of those gains after investors stopped taking his takeover talk seriously".
In 1988, Trump purchased the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, financing the purchase with $380 million (equivalent to $1.03 billion in 2025) in loans from a syndicate of 22 banks. He renamed the airline Trump Shuttle and operated it until 1992. He defaulted on his loans in 1991, and ownership passed to the banks. In 1996, he purchased the Miss Universe pageants, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. Due to disagreements with CBS about scheduling, he took both pageants to NBC in 2002. In 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe. NBC and Univision dropped the pageants in June 2015 in reaction to his comments about Mexican immigrants.
==== Trump University ====
In 2005, Trump cofounded Trump University, a company that sold real estate seminars for up to $35,000. After New York State authorities notified the company that its use of "university" violated state law because it was not an academic institution, its name was changed to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010. In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University, alleging that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers. Additionally, two class actions were filed in federal court against Trump and his companies. Internal documents revealed that employees were instructed to use a hard-sell approach, and former employees testified that Trump University had defrauded or lied to its students. Shortly after he won the 2016 presidential election, he agreed to pay a total of $25 million to settle the three cases.
=== Foundation ===
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a private foundation established in 1988. From 1987 to 2006, Trump gave his foundation $5.4 million, which had been spent by the end of 2006. After donating a total of $65,000 in 2007–2008, he stopped donating any personal funds to the charity, which received millions from other donors, including $5 million from Vince McMahon. The foundation gave to health and sports-related charities, conservative groups, and charities that held events at Trump properties. In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including self-dealing and tax evasion. Also in 2016, the New York attorney general stated the foundation had violated state law by soliciting donations without submitting to required annual external audits and ordered it to cease its fundraising activities in New York immediately. Trump's team announced in December 2016 that the foundation would be dissolved.
In June 2018, the New York attorney general's office filed a civil suit against the foundation, Trump, and his adult children, seeking $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties. In December 2018, the foundation ceased operation and disbursed its assets to other charities. In November 2019, a New York state judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to a group of charities for misusing the foundation's funds, in part to finance his presidential campaign.
=== Legal affairs and bankruptcies ===
According to a review of state and federal court files conducted by USA Today in 2018, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions. While Trump has not filed for personal bankruptcy, his over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times between 1991 and 2009. They continued to operate while the banks restructured debt and reduced his shares in the properties. During the 1980s, more than 70 banks had lent Trump $4 billion. After his corporate bankruptcies of the early 1990s, most major banks, with the exception of Deutsche Bank, declined to lend to him. After the January 6 Capitol attack, Deutsche Bank also decided not to do business with him or his affiliated company in the future.
== Media career ==
Trump has published 19 books under his name, most written or cowritten by ghostwriters. His first book, The Art of the Deal (1987), was a New York Times Best Seller, and was credited by The New Yorker with making Trump famous as an "emblem of the successful tycoon". The book was ghostwritten by Tony Schwartz, who is credited as a coauthor. Trump had cameos in many films and television shows from 1985 to 2001. Trump acquired his style of politics from professional wrestling. From the late 1980s, he sporadically played himself as a super-rich boss at events staged by professional wrestling promotion WWE, including WrestleMania 23 in 2007. Starting in the 1990s, Trump appeared 24 times as a guest on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show. He had his own short-form talk radio program, Trumped!, from 2004 to 2008. From 2011 until 2015, he was a guest commentator on Fox & Friends. In 2021, Trump, who had been a member since 1989, resigned from SAG-AFTRA to avoid a disciplinary hearing regarding the January 6 attack; two days later, the union permanently barred him.
Producer Mark Burnett made Trump a television star when he created the reality show The Apprentice, which Trump hosted from 2004 to 2015 (including variant The Celebrity Apprentice). On the shows, he was a superrich chief executive who eliminated contestants with the catchphrase "you're fired". The New York Times called his portrayal "a highly flattering, highly fictionalized version" of himself. The shows remade Trump's image for millions of viewers nationwide. With the related licensing agreements, they earned him more than $400 million.
== Early political aspirations ==
Trump registered as a Republican in Queens in 1969 and in Manhattan in 1987; a member of the Independence Party, the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, in 1999; a Democrat in 2001; a Republican in 2009; unaffiliated in 2011; and a Republican in 2012.
In 1987, Trump placed full-page advertisements in major newspapers, expressing his views on foreign policy and how to eliminate the federal budget deficit. In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater, asking to be put into consideration to be Republican nominee George H. W. Bush's running mate. Bush found the request "strange and unbelievable". Trump was a candidate in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries for three months before he withdrew in February 2000. In 2011, Trump considered challenging President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. He spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February and gave speeches in states with early primaries. In May 2011, he announced that he would not run.
== 2016 presidential election ==
Trump announced his candidacy for the 2016 election in June 2015. He campaigned as a rich, successful businessman and an outsider without political experience, and claimed media bias against him. Trump's campaign statements were often opaque and suggestive; a record number were false. He became the Republican front-runner in March 2016 and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May. This and later campaigns featured the slogan "Make America Great Again".
Trump described NATO as "obsolete" and espoused views described by The Washington Post as noninterventionist and protectionist. His campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and strongly enforcing immigration laws. Other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations, modernizing services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. He advocated increasing military spending and extreme vetting or banning of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. He promised to build a wall on the Mexico–U.S. border and vowed that Mexico would pay for it. He pledged to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., and criticized birthright citizenship for incentivizing "anchor babies". According to an analysis in Political Science Quarterly, Trump made "explicitly racist and sexist appeals to win over white voters" during his 2016 presidential campaign. In particular, his campaign launch speech drew criticism for claiming Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists"; in response, NBC fired him from Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump's FEC-required reports listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $265 million. He did not release his tax returns, contrary to the practice of every major candidate since 1976 and to promises he made in 2014 and 2015 to release them if he ran for office. He said his tax returns were being audited, and that his lawyers had advised him against releasing them. After a lengthy court battle to block release of his tax returns and other records to the Manhattan district attorney for a criminal investigation, including two appeals by Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court, in February 2021 the high court allowed the records to be released to the prosecutor for review by a grand jury. In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that he had declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years.
Trump won the election with 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. After elector defections on both sides, the official count was 304 to 227. The fifth person to be elected president despite losing the popular vote, he received nearly 2.9 million fewer votes than Clinton, 46.3% to her 48.25%. He was the only president who neither served in the military nor held any government office prior to becoming president. His election marked the return of a Republican undivided government. Trump's victory sparked protests in major U.S. cities.
== First presidency (2017–2021) ==
Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. The day after his inauguration, an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including 500,000 in Washington, D.C., protested against him in the Women's Marches. During his first two weeks in office, Trump signed eighteen executive orders, including authorizing procedures for repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, advancement of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects, and planning for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
=== Conflicts of interest ===
Trump continued to profit from his businesses during his first presidency and knew how his administration's policies affected them. Although he said he would eschew "new foreign deals", the Trump Organization pursued operational expansions in Scotland, Dubai, and the Dominican Republic. Lobbyists, foreign government officials, and Trump donors and allies generated hundreds of millions of dollars for his resorts and hotels.
=== Domestic policy ===
Trump took office at the height of the longest economic expansion in American history, which began in 2009 and continued until February 2020, when the COVID-19 recession began. In December 2017, he signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals and eliminated the penalty associated with the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. Under Trump, the federal budget deficit increased by almost 50 percent, to nearly $1 trillion in 2019. By the end of his term, the U.S. national debt increased by 39 percent, reaching $27.75 trillion, and the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio hit a post-World War II high.
Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.
He reduced the budget for renewable energy research by 40 percent and reversed Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change. He withdrew from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation to not ratify it.
Trump aimed and aims to boost the production and exports of fossil fuels. Natural gas expanded under Trump, but coal continued to decline.
He rolled back more than 100 federal environmental regulations, including those that curbed greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and the use of toxic substances. He weakened protections for animals and environmental standards for federal infrastructure projects, and expanded permitted areas for drilling and resource extraction, such as allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge.
Trump dismantled federal regulations on health, labor, the environment, and other areas, including a bill that revoked the Obama-era regulation restricting the sale of firearms to severely mentally ill people. During his first six weeks in office, he delayed, suspended, or reversed ninety federal regulations, often "after requests by the regulated industries".
Trump vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. He scaled back the act's implementation through executive orders. He expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail"; his administration halved the enrollment period and drastically reduced funding for enrollment promotion.
In response to the opioid epidemic, Trump signed legislation in 2018 to increase funding for drug treatments, but was widely criticized for failing to make a concrete strategy. He barred organizations that provide abortions or abortion referrals from receiving federal funds. His administration rolled back key components of the Obama administration's workplace protections against discrimination of LGBTQ people. His attempted rollback of anti-discrimination protections for transgender patients in August 2020 was halted by a federal judge after a Supreme Court ruling extended employees' civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation. His administration took an anti-marijuana position, revoking Obama-era policies that provided protections for states that legalized marijuana. Trump is a long-time advocate of capital punishment, and his administration oversaw the federal government execute 13 prisoners, more than in the previous 56 years combined, ending a 17-year moratorium.
=== Pardons and commutations ===
During his first term, Trump granted 237 requests for clemency, fewer than all presidents since 1900 with the exception of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Only 25 of them had been vetted by the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney; the others were granted to people with personal or political connections to him, his family, and his allies, or recommended by celebrities. In his last full day in office, he granted 73 pardons and commuted 70 sentences. The pardons of three military service members convicted of or charged with violent crimes were opposed by military leaders.
=== Immigration ===
As president, Trump described illegal immigration as an "invasion" of the United States and drastically escalated immigration enforcement. He implemented harsh policies against asylum seekers and deployed nearly 6,000 troops to the U.S.–Mexico border to stop illegal crossings. He reduced the number of refugees admitted to record lows, from an annual limit of 110,000 before he took office to 15,000 in 2021. Trump also increased restrictions on granting permanent residency to immigrants needing public benefits. One of his central campaign promises was to build a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border; during his first term, the U.S. built 73 miles (117 km) of wall in areas without barriers and 365 miles (587 km) to replace older barriers. In 2018, Trump's refusal to sign any spending bill unless it allocated funding for the border wall resulted in the longest-ever federal government shutdown, for 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019. The shutdown ended after he agreed to fund the government without any funds for the wall. To avoid another shutdown, Congress passed a funding bill with $1.4 billion for border fencing in February. Trump later declared a national emergency on the southern border to divert $6.1 billion of funding to the border wall despite congressional disagreement.
In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order that denied entry to citizens from six Muslim-majority countries for four months and from Syria indefinitely. The order caused many protests and legal challenges that resulted in nationwide injunctions. A revised order giving some exceptions was also blocked by courts, but the Supreme Court ruled in June that the ban could be enforced on those lacking "a bona fide relationship with a person or entity" in the U.S. Trump replaced the ban in September with a presidential proclamation extending travel bans to North Koreans, Chadians, and some Venezuelan officials, but excluded Iraq and Sudan. The Supreme Court allowed that version to go into effect in December 2017, and ultimately upheld the ban in 2019.
From 2017 to 2018, the Trump administration had a policy of family separation that separated over 4,400 children, some as young as four months old, from migrant parents at the U.S.–Mexico border. The unprecedented policy sparked public outrage in the country. Despite Trump initially blaming Democrats and insisting he could not stop the policy with an executive order, he acceded to public pressure in June 2018 and mandated that illegal immigrant families be detained together unless "there is a concern" of risk for the child. A judge later ordered that the families be reunited and further separations stopped except in limited circumstances, though over 1,000 additional children were separated from their families after the order. By April 2024, 1,360 children had not been confirmed as reunified with their families.
=== Foreign policy ===
Trump describes himself as a "nationalist" and his foreign policy as "America First". He supported populist, neo-nationalist, and authoritarian governments. Unpredictability, uncertainty, and inconsistency characterized foreign relations during his tenure. Relations between the U.S. and its European allies were strained under Trump. He criticized NATO allies and privately suggested that the U.S. should withdraw from NATO.
Trump supported many of the policies of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2020, Trump hosted the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize their foreign relations.
Trump began a trade war with China in 2018 after imposing tariffs and other trade barriers he said would force China to end longstanding unfair trade practice and intellectual property infringement. Trump weakened the toughest U.S. sanctions imposed after the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. Trump praised and, according to some critics, rarely criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin, though he opposed some actions of Russia's government. He withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing alleged Russian noncompliance, and supported Russia's possible return to the G7.
As North Korea's nuclear weapons were increasingly seen as a serious threat, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader, meeting Kim Jong Un three times between June 2018 and June 2019. Talks on North Korean denuclearization broke down in October 2019, and no agreement was reached.
=== Personnel ===
By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. By July 2018, 61 percent of his senior aides had left and 141 staffers had left in the previous year. Both figures set a record for recent presidents. Various close personal aides to Trump stopped working for him or were forced to leave. Trump publicly disparaged several of his former top officials.
Trump had four White House chiefs of staff, marginalizing or pushing out several. In May 2017, he dismissed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey, saying a few days later that he was concerned about Comey's role in the Trump–Russia investigations. Three of Trump's 15 original cabinet members left or were forced to resign within his first year. Trump was slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying many of the positions are unnecessary. In October 2017, there were hundreds of sub-cabinet positions without a nominee. By January 8, 2019, of 706 key positions, 433 had been filled and he had no nominee for 264.
=== Judiciary ===
Trump appointed 234 federal judges, including 54 to the courts of appeals and three to the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, which politically shifted the Court to the right. In the 2016 campaign, he pledged that Roe v. Wade would be overturned "automatically" if he were elected and given the opportunity to appoint two or three anti-abortion justices. He later took credit when Roe was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022; all three of his Supreme Court nominees voted with the majority. Trump disparaged courts and judges he disagreed with, often in personal terms, and questioned the judiciary's constitutional authority. His attacks on courts drew rebukes from observers, including sitting federal judges, concerned about the effect of his statements on the judicial independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
=== COVID-19 pandemic ===
After ignoring public health warnings and calls for action from health officials within his administration for weeks, Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force in late January. In March, he signed into law the CARES Act—a $2.2 trillion bipartisan economic stimulus bill—the largest stimulus in U.S. history. After weeks of attacks to draw attention away from his slow response, Trump halted funding of the World Health Organization in April. He encouraged right-wing protests against social-distancing policies in states with stay-at-home orders and repeatedly pressured federal health agencies to take actions he favored, such as approving unproven treatments.
In October, Trump was hospitalized for three days with a severe case of COVID-19 while his medical team downplayed the severity of his condition.
=== Investigations ===
After he assumed office, Trump was the subject of increasing Justice Department and congressional scrutiny, with investigations covering his election campaign, transition, and inauguration, actions taken during his presidency, his private businesses, personal taxes, and his charitable foundation. There were ten federal criminal investigations, eight state and local investigations, and twelve congressional investigations.
In July 2016, the FBI launched Crossfire Hurricane, an investigation into possible links between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. After Trump fired Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened a second investigation into Trump's personal and business dealings with Russia. In January 2017, three U.S. intelligence agencies jointly stated with "high confidence" that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor Trump. Crossfire Hurricane was later transferred to Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation; the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia was ended by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after he told the FBI that Mueller would pursue the matter. At the request of Rosenstein, the Mueller investigation examined criminal matters "in connection with Russia's 2016 election interference". Mueller's final report in March 2019 found that Russia interfered in 2016 to favor Trump and that Trump and his campaign welcomed and encouraged the effort, but that the evidence "did not establish" that Trump campaign members conspired or coordinated with Russia. Trump claimed the report exonerated him despite Mueller writing that it did not. The report also detailed potential obstruction of justice by Trump but "did not draw ultimate conclusions" and left the decision to charge the laws to Congress.
=== Impeachments ===
Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives, though acquitted by the Senate on both occasions. The first impeachment arose from a whistleblower complaint that in July 2019 Trump had pressured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, in an attempt to gain an advantage in the 2020 presidential election. In December 2019, the House voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and the Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
The second impeachment came after the January 6 Capitol attack, for which the House charged Trump with incitement of insurrection on January 13, 2021. Trump left office on January 20, and was acquitted on February 13. Seven Republican senators voted for conviction.
=== 2020 presidential election and rejection of outcome ===
Trump filed to run for reelection only a few hours after becoming president in 2017. He held his first reelection rally less than a month after taking office and officially became the Republican nominee in August 2020. Trump's campaign focused on crime, claiming that cities would descend into lawlessness if Democratic nominee Joe Biden won. Starting in early 2020, Trump sowed doubts about the election, claiming without evidence that it would be rigged and that widespread use of mail balloting would produce massive election fraud. He repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results if he lost and commit to a peaceful transition of power.
Joe Biden won the November 2020 election, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3 percent) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.8 percent) and 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, with the Electoral College formalizing Biden's victory on December 14. Trump declared victory before the results were known on the morning after the election. Days later, when Biden was projected the winner, Trump baselessly alleged election fraud. As part of an effort to overturn the results, Trump and his allies filed many lawsuits challenging the results, which were rejected by at least 86 judges in both state and federal courts for having no factual or legal basis.
Trump's allegations were also refuted by state election officials, and the Supreme Court declined to hear a case asking it to overturn the results in four states won by Biden. Trump repeatedly sought help to overturn the results, personally pressuring Republican local and state office-holders, Republican legislators, the Justice Department, and Vice President Pence, urging actions such as replacing presidential electors, or that Georgia officials "find" votes and announce a "recalculated" result. Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration on January 20.
=== January 6 attack ===
On January 6, 2021, while Congress was certifying the presidential election results, Trump held a rally at which he called for the election to be overturned and urged his supporters to "fight like hell" and "take back our country" by marching to the Capitol. His supporters then formed a mob that broke into the building, disrupting certification and causing the evacuation of Congress. More than 140 police officers were injured, and five people died during or after the attack. The event has been described as an attempted self-coup by Trump. Congress later reconvened and confirmed Biden's victory in the early hours of January 7.
== Between presidencies (2021–2025) ==
Upon leaving the White House, Trump began living at Mar-a-Lago, establishing an office there as provided for by the Former Presidents Act. His continuing false claims concerning the 2020 election were commonly referred to as the "big lie" by his critics, although in May 2021, he and many of his supporters began using the term to refer to the election itself. The Republican Party used his false claims about the election to justify imposing new voting restrictions in its favor. He continued to pressure state legislators to overturn the election. Unlike other former presidents, Trump continued to dominate his party; a 2022 profile in The New York Times described him as a modern party boss. He continued fundraising, raising a war chest containing more than twice that of the Republican Party, and profited from fundraisers many Republican candidates held at Mar-a-Lago. Much of his focus was on party governance and installing in key posts officials loyal to him. In the 2022 midterm elections, Trump endorsed over 200 candidates for various offices. In February 2022, his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) launched a pro-Trump social media platform called Truth Social. In March 2024, TMTG became a public company.
=== Legal issues ===
In 2019, journalist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s and sued him for defamation over his denial. Carroll sued him again in 2022 for battery and further defamation. He was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and ordered to pay $5 million in one case and $83.3 million in the other. Federal appeals courts upheld both findings and awards in December 2024 and September 2025, respectively.
In 2022, New York filed a civil lawsuit against Trump accusing him of inflating the Trump Organization's value to gain an advantage with lenders and banks. He was found liable and ordered to pay nearly $355 million plus interest. In August 2025, the appeals court upheld his liability and nonmonetary penalties, but voided the monetary penalty as excessive.
In connection with Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his involvement in the January 6 attack, in December 2022 the U.S. House committee on the attack recommended criminal charges against him for obstructing an official proceeding, inciting or assisting an insurrection, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. In August 2023, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, indicted him on 13 charges, including racketeering, for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election in the state. The case was dismissed in November 2025 after the new prosecutor declined to pursue the charges.
In January 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15 boxes of documents Trump had taken to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, some of which were classified. In the ensuing Justice Department investigation, officials retrieved more classified documents from his lawyers. On August 8, 2022, FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago for illegally held documents, including those in breach of the Espionage Act, collecting 11 sets of classified documents, some marked top secret. A federal grand jury constituted by Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 on 31 counts of "willfully retaining national defense information" under the Espionage Act, among other charges. Trump pleaded not guilty. In July 2024, judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, ruling Smith's appointment as special prosecutor was unconstitutional. After his reelection, the 2020 election obstruction case and the classified documents case were dismissed without prejudice due to Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
In May 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The case stemmed from evidence that he booked Michael Cohen's hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels as business expenses to cover up his alleged 2006–2007 affair with Daniels during the 2016 election. On January 10, 2025, the judge gave Trump a no-penalty sentence known as an unconditional discharge, saying that punitive requirements would have interfered with presidential immunity.
=== 2024 presidential election ===
In November 2022, Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election and created a fundraising account. In March 2023, the campaign began diverting ten percent of the donations to his leadership PAC. His campaign had paid $100 million towards his legal bills by March 2024.
During the campaign, Trump made increasingly violent and authoritarian statements.
He said that he would weaponize the FBI and the Justice Department against his political opponents and use the military to target Democratic politicians and those not supporting his candidacy. He used harsher and more dehumanizing anti-immigrant rhetoric than during his presidency.
His rhetoric, calling his political opponents "the enemy", vermin, and fascists, has been described by some historians and scholars as authoritarian, fascist,
and unlike anything a political candidate has ever said in American history. Age and health concerns also arose during the campaign, with several medical experts highlighting an increase in rambling, tangential speech and behavioral disinhibition.
Trump mentioned "rigged election" and "election interference" earlier and more frequently than in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns and refused to commit to accepting the 2024 election results. On July 13, 2024, Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. Two days later, the 2024 Republican National Convention nominated him as their presidential candidate. In September he was targeted but unharmed in another assassination attempt in Florida. Trump won the election in November 2024 with 312 electoral votes to incumbent vice president Kamala Harris's 226. He also won the popular vote with 49.8% to Harris's 48.3%. His victory in 2024 was in large part due to the 2021–2023 inflation surge. Several outlets described his reelection as an extraordinary comeback.
Trump's policy platform (Agenda 47) was vague, to limit criticism and maintain flexibility. Trump occasionally disavowed knowledge of the Project 2025 group, formed to institutionalize Trumpism, despite personnel overlap with his first administration. Trump chose several Project 2025 authors for his second administration, and most of his early second term executive actions would "mirror or partially mirror" its proposals.
== Second presidency (2025–present) ==
Trump began his second term upon his inauguration on January 20, 2025. He became the oldest to assume the presidency, the first president with a felony conviction, and the second person to serve two nonconsecutive terms as president. The New York Times stated his attempts to expand presidential power are a defining characteristic of his second term, and they emphasized his conflicts with judicial authority.
=== Early actions ===
More than a month before the 100-day mark of Trump's second term, he had issued more executive orders than any other U.S. president's first 100 days. As of mid-January 2026, his orders and actions had been challenged in over 550 lawsuits nationwide. Of these, plaintiffs had prevailed in 195 cases, the government had prevailed in 109 cases, there were split rulings in 16 cases, 228 cases were pending, and 25 cases were closed. Both Republican and Democratic judicial appointees have found numerous constitutional and statutory flaws with Trump administration policies.
Following legal setbacks, Trump increased his criticism of the judiciary and called for impeachment of federal judges who ruled against him. By mid-July 2025, a Washington Post analysis found he defied judges and the courts in roughly one third of all cases against him, actions which were described by legal experts as unprecedented for any presidential administration.
His administration asserted a constitutional right to ignore federal law in its justification of several actions such as in his refusal to enforce a federal ban on TikTok, with legal experts describing it as claiming a "constitutional power to immunize private parties to commit otherwise illegal acts with impunity".
=== Conflicts of interest (2025–present) ===
Trump's second presidency has been described as having fewer guardrails against conflicts of interest than his first, breaking with decades of ethical norms, and raising substantial corruption concerns. He maintained a publicly traded company in Trump Media & Technology Group, and diversified it into financial services. He pursued new overseas real estate deals involving state-affiliated entities, and had several branding and licensing deals selling Trump-branded merchandise. He profited from events held at his hotels and golf courses and did not place his assets in a blind trust, as previous presidents had done.
Trump launched, promoted, and personally benefited from two cryptocurrency tokens ("meme coins"), $Trump and $Melania. He also directly benefited from his family's cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial, which engaged in an unprecedented mixing of private enterprise and government policy.
=== Mass terminations of federal employees ===
Trump implemented a hiring freeze across the federal government and ordered telework of federal employees to be discontinued within 30 days. He ordered a review of many career civil service positions with the intention of reclassifying them into at-will positions without job protections. He initiated mass job terminations of federal employees, which were described by legal experts as unprecedented or in violation of federal law, with the intent of replacing them with workers more aligned with his agenda. By late February 2025, the administration had fired more than 30,000 people. He ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) projects in the federal government and rescinded Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 Executive Order 11246, which had mandated that federal contractors take affirmative action to end racial discrimination.
Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency largely dismantled several federal agencies including USAID and the Department of Education, unilaterally fired several thousand staff, and reduced administrative functions to statutory minimums.
=== Targeting political opponents ===
During his second presidency, the Trump administration took a series of actions using the government to target political opponents and civil society. He threatened, signed executive actions, and ordered investigations into his political opponents, critics, and organizations aligned with the Democratic Party. He ended the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence, weaponizing it and agencies across the federal government to target his political enemies. Trump's actions against civil society were described by hundreds of legal experts and political scientists as authoritarian, contributing to democratic backsliding, and negatively impacting the rule of law.
=== Pardons and commutations (2025–present) ===
Trump's pardons and grants of clemency favored political allies and loyalists, and disproportionately pardoned "the powerful, famous, well-connected and wealthy" accused of white-collar crime. Trump granted clemency to all January 6 rioters convicted or charged on his first day in office, including those who violently attacked police, by pardoning more than 1,500 and commuting the sentences of 14.
=== Domestic policy (2025–present) ===
Trump ordered agencies to stop enforcement of disfavored rules in an attempt at large-scale deregulation that legal experts described as illegal and contrary to decades of federal law. He sought greater government control over private businesses and shifted away from traditional conservative free market orthodoxy, engaging in state capitalism by taking direct government equity stakes in multiple U.S. corporations.
==== Science ====
Trump canceled and paused federal grants and made large cuts to scientific research, several of which were found by judges and the Government Accountability Office as being illegal and unconstitutional. Trump and his administration's Make America Healthy Again agenda promoted anti-science and anti-vaccine activism, resulting in a resurgence of whooping cough and measles.
==== National emergencies/health policy ====
Trump relied on declaring national emergencies to justify hundreds of actions and bypass congressional approval or regulatory review. For instance, he declared a national energy emergency, allowing the suspension of environmental regulations, loosening the rules for fossil fuel extraction and limiting renewable energy projects. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change during his first presidency, Biden reentered the agreement in 2021, and Trump again withdrew from the agreement during his second presidency.
==== Social ====
Trump attributed societal problems to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and wokeness. Equating diversity with incompetence, he reversed pro-diversity policies in the federal government. On DEI and antisemitism grounds, he threatened cultural institutions and sixty universities, and forced law firms to capitulate to his political agenda.
Trump expanded the domestic use of the military and ordered military deployments to several Democratic Party-led cities, and threatened to expand his deployments further.
Through a series of executive orders and other actions, Trump banned transgender people from the military; restricted or defunded gender-affirming healthcare; opposed inclusive language; censored research and education materials; targeted schools, universities, and cultural institutions accused of promoting what his government calls "gender ideology"; barred transgender athletes from sports; and required U.S. passports to state transgender people's sex assigned at birth.
==== One Big Beautiful Bill Act ====
In July 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The bill made the temporary tax cuts of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent and added additional tax deductions for a total of around $4.5 trillion, mostly benefiting the highest income brackets and costing people in the lowest income bracket $1,600 per year. It increased funding for national defense, deportations, the border wall, and Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. It removed tax credits for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and for buyers of electric vehicles. The bill cut funding for Medicaid and SNAP and added additional work requirements for eligibility and a $35 co-payment for some Medicaid services; the cuts and additional requirements will take effect after the 2026 general election. The bill was projected by the Congressional Budget Office to increase the budget deficit by $3.4 trillion by 2034, cause 11.8 million people to lose Medicaid coverage, and eliminate SNAP benefits for three million people.
=== Immigration (2025–present) ===
During Trump's first days in office, he instructed Border Patrol agents to summarily deport illegal immigrants crossing the border and disabled the CBP One app that was being used to schedule border crossings. Trump resumed the Remain in Mexico policy, designated drug cartels as terrorist groups, and ordered construction to be resumed on a border wall. He also revoked the parole status of immigrants who entered the U.S. under CBP One and ended humanitarian parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans. In March 2025, he used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to imprison illegal immigrants without trial at the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. Trump targeted activists, legal immigrants, tourists, and students with visas who expressed criticism of his policies or pro-Palestinian advocacy. Several American citizens were detained and deported. His aggressive and hardline deportation campaign led to large nationwide protests and violent confrontations with migrants and protesters which increased in intensity following high-profile killings of U.S. citizens by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge in January 2026.
=== Foreign policy (2025–present) ===
Trump's second term foreign policy was described as expansionist and imperialist. His administration favored hard power to achieve its America First foreign policy goals, and dismantled or withdrew support from domestic and international organizations dedicated to advancing American soft power. Trump's relations with U.S. allies have been transactional and ranged from indifference to hostility, while he has sought friendlier relations with certain U.S. adversaries.
In February 2025, Trump and Vice President Vance berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a highly contentious televised meeting. Media outlets described it as an unprecedented public confrontation between an American president and a foreign head of state.
Trump has taken a pro-Israel stance and continued support for Israel in the Gaza war. From March to May 2025, Trump launched an extensive aerial campaign against Houthi targets in Yemen—his first major military operation in the Middle East during his second term. As part of the 2025 Iran–Israel war, Trump ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in June. His plan for a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was signed in October 2025, leading to the creation of the Board of Peace. In February 2026, Trump authorized joint U.S./Israeli air strikes on Iran and sent aircraft carriers and other combat ships to the Middle East. Israeli aerial bombs killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders; Iran retaliated with rocket attacks on neighboring countries.
Trump's economic policies have been described as protectionist, with him imposing tariffs on most countries, including large tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico. He started a global trade war, imposing tariffs at the highest level since the 1930 Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act at the onset of the Great Depression. In February 2026, the Supreme Court ruled the tariffs he imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to be illegal. Trump frequently threatened and enacted tariffs against treaty allies for opposing his political objectives.
In Latin America, Trump pursued legally controversial military strikes against alleged drug boats in international waters, and ordered a large military buildup. In November 2025, Trump pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been extradited to the U.S. in 2022 and sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking. In January 2026, the U.S. captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in a military raid in Venezuela and took him to New York, where he was charged with drug trafficking.
In 2025, Trump threatened the annexation of Greenland, including by military force or the imposition of tariffs on European allies. In January 2026, he appeared to withdraw both threats, stating that he had reached "the framework of a future deal" with NATO.
=== Personnel (2025–present) ===
In his second term, Trump selected cabinet members with personal loyalty to him, with the "focus on loyalty over subject-matter expertise". In February 2025, the White House stated that Elon Musk was a special government employee. Trump gave Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to many federal government agencies. Musk's teams operated in eighteen departments and agencies in the administration's first month, including in the Treasury Department's $5 trillion payment system, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration.
== Political practice and rhetoric ==
Starting with his advocacy of birther conspiracy theories in the 2010s, Trump helped bring once-fringe far-right ideas and organizations into the mainstream.
The alt-right movement coalesced around and supported his candidacy due in part to opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.
During his 2016 campaign, Trump's politics and rhetoric led to the formation of a political movement known as Trumpism, which has been compared to a cult of personality.
His political positions have been described as populist or right-wing populist, and favoring an expansion of presidential power under a maximalist interpretation of the unitary executive theory.
Many of his actions and rhetoric have been described as authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding, as well as establishing an "us versus them" narrative. Trump's rhetoric has been described as using fearmongering and demagogy which intensified during his 2024 presidential campaign. He appeals to evangelical Christians and Christian nationalists, and regularly vilifies his political opponents as "evil".
=== Racial and gender views ===
Many of Trump's comments and actions have been characterized as racist. Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters. He explicitly and routinely disparages racial, religious, and ethnic minorities, and scholars consistently find that racist and Islamophobic attitudes regarding blacks, immigrants, and Muslims are strong indicators of support for Trump.
He has been accused of racism for running full-page newspaper advertisements and insisting that a group of five black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were cleared of suspicion in 2002. Trump's comments on the 2017 Unite the Right rally, condemning "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" and stating that there were "very fine people on both sides", were criticized as implying a moral equivalence between the white supremacist demonstrators and the counter-protesters. In a January 2018 discussion of immigration legislation, he reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African nations as "shithole countries", remarks condemned as racist. In July 2019, a House of Representatives resolution condemned Trump for racist remarks about four minority Democratic congresswomen. His 2024 campaign made extensive use of dehumanizing language and racial stereotypes.
In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, federal law-enforcement officials used tear gas and other crowd control tactics to remove a largely peaceful crowd of lawful protesters from Lafayette Square, outside the White House. Trump then posed with a Bible for a photo op at the nearby St. John's Episcopal Church, with religious leaders condemning both the treatment of protesters and the photo opportunity itself.
Trump has a history of belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media. He made lewd comments, disparaged women's physical appearances, and referred to them using derogatory epithets. In October 2016, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent, saying that, "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy." He characterized the comments as "locker-room talk". The incident's widespread media exposure led to his first public apology, videotaped during his 2016 presidential campaign. As of 2020, 26 women have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape, kissing without consent, groping, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. He has denied the allegations.
=== Link to violence and hate crimes ===
Trump has been identified as a key figure in increasing political violence in the U.S., both for and against him. He is described as embracing extremism, conspiracy theories such as QAnon, and far-right militia movements to a greater extent than any modern American president.
Research suggests that Trump's rhetoric is associated with an increased incidence of hate crimes, and that he has an emboldening effect on expressing prejudicial attitudes due to his normalization of explicit racial rhetoric. Researchers have also argued that Trump's "negative characterisations of, and false claims made about, those who became the targets" of the mob at the January 6 riot was a case of stochastic terrorism. Numerous defendants investigated or prosecuted for violent acts and hate crimes cited his rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive leniency. A nationwide review by ABC News in May 2020 identified at least 54 criminal cases, from August 2015 to April 2020, in which he was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence mostly by white men and primarily against minorities. Trump's refusal to condemn the white supremacist Proud Boys during a 2020 presidential debate and his comment, "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by", were said to have led to increased recruitment for the pro-Trump group. Counterterrorism researchers described his normalization and revisionist history of the January 6 Capitol attack, and grant of clemency to all January 6 rioters, as encouraging future political violence.
=== False or misleading statements and conspiracy theories ===
Trump frequently makes false statements in public remarks, to an extent that was unprecedented in American politics. His false and misleading statements were documented by fact-checkers, including at The Washington Post, which tallied 30,573 false or misleading statements made by him during his first presidency, increasing in frequency over time. His falsehoods are a distinctive part of his political identity and have been described as firehosing.
During the first 100 days of his second term, Trump relied on false, misleading, and exaggerated claims to justify his executive actions and policies. Throughout the first year of the term, he continued to make untrue statements as frequently as before but with less variety while increasing the frequency of repeating a "core set" of falsehoods.
Some of Trump's falsehoods were inconsequential, while others had more far-reaching effects, such as his unproven promotion of antimalarial drugs as a treatment for COVID-19, contributing to a U.S. shortage of these drugs and panic buying in Africa and South Asia. His attacks on mail-in ballots and other election practices weakened public faith in the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, while his disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic delayed and weakened the national response to it. He habitually does not apologize for his falsehoods. Until 2018, the media rarely referred to his falsehoods as lies, including when he repeated demonstrably false statements.
Since before his first presidency, Trump has promoted numerous conspiracy theories. In 2011, Trump became the leading proponent of the racist "birther" conspiracy theory that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States, and he claimed credit for pressuring the government to publish Obama's birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent. Trump often prefaced his conspiracies by claiming he heard them from someone else, and promoted conspiracies such as climate change denial, alleged Ukrainian interference in U.S. elections, and vaccines and autism. After the 2020 presidential election, he promoted conspiracy theories for his defeat that were characterized as "the big lie".
=== Relationship with news media ===
In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, estimated at $2 billion. As a candidate and as president, he frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people".
The first Trump presidency reduced formal press briefings from about one hundred in 2017 to two by 2019 and revoked the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. By 2024, Trump repeatedly voiced support for outlawing political dissent and criticism, and said that reporters should be prosecuted for not divulging confidential sources and media companies should possibly lose their broadcast licenses for unfavorable coverage of him.
In his second term, Trump's actions against the media were unprecedented in modern American history, and historians described them as mirroring actions by authoritarian leaders to censor political opponents and negatively impacting the freedom of speech and free press. The campaign to police speech drew comparisons to cancel culture, government censorship, and McCarthyism. The Federal Communications Commission launched investigations into media outlets accused of bias against him. As a result of Trump's threats, media executives instructed journalists and their staff to self-censor and reduce criticism of Trump. Many have characterized Trump as causing a significant decline in freedom of the press, including journalist advocacy groups and academic sources.
=== Social media ===
During Trump's first term, he often used Twitter to communicate directly with the public and sideline the press. After years of criticism for allowing Trump to post misinformation and falsehoods, Twitter began to tag some of his tweets with fact-checks in May 2020. Twitter banned him after the January 6 attack. He was banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms after the January 6 attack. The loss of his social media presence diminished his ability to shape events and correlated with a dramatic decrease in the volume of misinformation on Twitter. In February 2022, he launched social media platform Truth Social where he attracted a fraction of his Twitter following. Twitter reinstated his account in November 2022. The two-year ban at Meta Platforms lapsed in January 2023, allowing him to return to Facebook and Instagram.
== Assessments ==
=== Public image ===
In Trump's first term, from 2017 to 2021, international approval ratings of U.S. leadership dropped from about 22 percent in a Gallup poll of 134 countries to 16 percent—lower than China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin—in a Pew Research poll of 13 countries. In 2017, estimation of U.S. leadership declined most among allies. Domestically, Trump had chiefly partisan support: 88 percent among Republicans and 7 percent among Democrats. In a 2021 Gallup poll, he was the only president never to reach a 50 percent approval rating, and he was the first not to be named most admired in his first year in office.
=== Scholarly rankings ===
After Trump's first term, historians ranked Trump as the fourth-worst president in C-SPAN's 2021 survey of presidential historians. He rated lowest in the leadership characteristics categories for moral authority and administrative skills. The Siena College Research Institute's 2022 survey ranked him third-worst. He was ranked near the bottom in all categories except for luck, willingness to take risks, and party leadership, and ranked last in several categories. In 2018 and 2024, the American Political Science Association ranked him the worst president.
== Personal life ==
=== Family ===
In 1977, Trump married Ivana Zelníčková. They had three children: Donald Jr. (b. 1977), Ivanka (b. 1981), and Eric (b. 1984). The couple divorced in 1990, following his affair with model and actress Marla Maples. He and Maples married in 1993 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Tiffany (b. 1993), whom Maples raised in California. In 2005, he married Slovenian model Melania Knauss. They have one son, Barron (b. 2006).
=== Wealth ===
Trump has said he began his career with "a small loan of a million dollars" from his father and that he had to pay it back with interest. He borrowed at least $60 million from his father, largely did not repay the loans, and received another $413 million (2018 equivalent, adjusted for inflation) from his father's company. Posing as a Trump Organization official named "John Barron", Trump called journalist Jonathan Greenberg in 1984, trying to get a higher ranking on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. Trump self-reported his net worth over a wide range: from minus $900 million in 1990 to $10 billion in 2015. In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion, based on interviews with more than 80 sources. In 2025, the magazine estimated his net worth at $5.1 billion and ranked him the 700th wealthiest person in the world.
=== Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein ===
Trump had a 15-year friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Persons who knew them at the time said they frequently "hit on" and competed for women. Media attention and public pressure mounted in 2025, when his administration did not release files relating to Epstein, despite Trump's promise to do so during the 2024 campaign. Some of the files were released in December 2025, mostly heavily redacted. Roughly three million additional pages released in 2026 included approximately 38,000 references to Trump, his wife, Mar-a-Lago, and other Trump-related terms. References to Trump included "salacious information" and uncorroborated statements about him from witnesses in transcripts made over several decades.
=== Health ===
Trump says he has never drunk alcohol, smoked cigarettes, or used drugs, and that he sleeps about four or five hours a night. He has called golfing his "primary form of exercise", but usually does not walk the course. He considers exercise a waste of energy, believing the body is "like a battery, with a finite amount of energy" which is depleted by exercise.
In 2015, his campaign released a letter from his longtime personal physician, Harold Bornstein, stating that he would "be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency". In 2018, Bornstein said Trump had dictated the contents of the letter and that three of Trump's agents had seized his medical records in a February 2017 raid on Bornstein's office.
=== Religion ===
Trump called himself a Presbyterian and a Protestant in 2016. In 2020, he said he was a nondenominational Christian. However, many have questioned the depth of these religious affiliations. A survey during his first presidency (2017–2021) showed that 63 percent of Americans did not believe that he was religious, despite professing a Christian affiliation, and that only 44 percent believed he was a Christian. Some of Trump's comments on the Bible or Christian practice have led critical observers to suggest that his knowledge of Christianity is superficial or erroneous, and few biographers have described him as deeply or even particularly religious.
In his first term, Trump appointed his personal pastor and spiritual advisor, televangelist Paula White-Cain, to the White House Office of Public Liaison. During his second term, he appointed her as senior advisor of the newly created White House Faith Office. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Roddick_career_statistics#Singles:_5_finals_(1–4) | Andy Roddick career statistics#Singles: 5 finals (1–4) | This is a list of the main career statistics of retired professional American tennis player, Andy Roddick. Throughout his career, Roddick won thirty-two ATP singles titles including one grand slam singles title and five ATP Masters 1000 singles titles. He was also the runner-up at the Wimbledon Championships in 2004, 2005 and 2009 and the US Open in 2006, losing on all four occasions to Roger Federer. Roddick was also a four-time semifinalist at the Australian Open and a three-time semifinalist at the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals. On November 3, 2003, Roddick became the World No. 1 for the first time in his career.
== Career achievements ==
Roddick reached his first career Grand Slam singles quarterfinal at the 2001 US Open, where he lost to fourth-seeded Australian and eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set thriller 7–6, 3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6. A year later, he reached his first Masters Series singles final at the 2002 Rogers Cup, losing in straight sets to Argentine Guillermo Cañas. The following year, Roddick reached his first grand slam semifinal at the 2003 Australian Open, where he lost to thirty-first seed Rainer Schüttler in four sets, 5–7, 6–2, 3–6, 3–6. In August, after beating Roger Federer for the first time in 5 meetings, Roddick would advance to the final of the 2003 Rogers Cup. Playing an Argentine in the Rogers Cup final for the second consecutive year, he would defeat David Nalbandian in straight sets to win his first Big title in singles at the Rogers Cup. The following week, Roddick would win his first five matches at the 2003 Cincinnati Masters to reach his third Masters Series final where he would face his childhood friend, Mardy Fish. After nearly 2+1⁄2 hours, Roddick would defeat Fish 4–6, 7–6(7-3), 7-6(7-4) his second consecutive Masters Series title. Two weeks later, Roddick rallied from two sets, and a match point, down to defeat Nalbandian in five sets to reach his first Grand Slam singles final at the 2003 US Open. Roddick defeated No. 4-seed Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, 6–3, 7–6, 6–3, to win his first and only Grand Slam singles title of his career (he would make four more grand slam finals, but lost all four to Roger Federer. By virtue of his Canada Masters, Cincinnati Masters, and US Open titles in the same season, Roddick became just the 2nd man in the Open Era, joining Patrick Rafter, to complete the Summer Slam (Rafael Nadal would join them in 2013). Roddick's six Tour titles throughout the year allowed him to qualify for the year-ending 2003 ATP World Tour Finals for the first time in his career. He advanced to the semifinals of the event after victories over Guillermo Coria and Carlos Moyá in the round robin stage but lost in straight sets to then world No. 2 Roger Federer. Despite the loss, Roddick finished the year as the Year-end No. 1 for the first (and only) time in his career, becoming the first American player to finish as Year-end No. 1 since Andre Agassi in 1999.
In July 2004, Roddick reached his first Wimbledon final but lost in four sets to then World No. 1, Roger Federer. He reached the final of the event again the following year but once again lost to Federer, this time in straight sets. The following year, Roddick reached his fourth grand slam singles final but once again lost to Federer, this time in the final of the US Open. In 2007, Roddick reached the semifinals of the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals for the third and final time in his career, losing in straight sets to Spaniard, David Ferrer.
Roddick enjoyed a resurgent year in 2009, during which he reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the fourth and final time in his career and the fourth round of the French Open for the first and only time in his career. The highlight of Roddick's year came at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships where he reached his third final at the event and fifth and final grand slam singles final. There, he lost to Federer 7–5, 6–7(6-8), 6–7(5-7), 6–3, 14–16 in 4 hours 16 minutes. On July 22, 2012, Roddick won his thirty-second and final career singles title at the Atlanta Tennis Championships, defeating Gilles Müller of Luxembourg in the final in three sets; Roddick won his first career singles title at the same event eleven years prior.
== Singles performance timeline ==
*Qualified for Year-end championships in 2005 and 2009, but pulled out both times due to injury.
1 Held as Hamburg Masters (outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009 – onward.
2 Held as Stuttgart Masters (indoor hard) until 2001, Madrid Masters (indoor hard) from 2002 to 2008, and Shanghai Masters (outdoor hard) 2009 – onward.
== Significant finals ==
=== Grand Slam finals ===
==== Singles: 5 finals (1 title, 4 runner-ups) ====
=== Masters Series finals ===
==== Singles: 9 finals (5 titles, 4 runner-ups) ====
==== Doubles: 2 finals (1 title, 1 runner-up) ====
== ATP career finals ==
=== Singles: 52 (32 titles, 20 runner-ups) ===
=== Doubles: 8 (4–4) ===
== ATP Challenger Tour career finals ==
=== Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up) ===
=== Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) ===
== Record against top 10 players ==
Roddick's match record against players who were ranked in the top 10, with those who reached No. 1 in boldface
=== Top 10 wins ===
Roddick has a 37–73 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
== National participation ==
=== Team competition: 2 (1–1) ===
=== Davis Cup (33–12) ===
== Grand Slam titles details ==
== ATP Tour career earnings ==
* Statistics correct as of 3 January 2021.
== Career Grand Slam seedings ==
The tournaments won by Roddick are in boldface, while those where he was runner-up are italicized.
== Notable exhibitions ==
=== Team competitions === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet | Hamlet | The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.
Hamlet is considered among the "most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language", with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others". It is widely considered one of the greatest plays of all time. Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and passages missing from the others. Many works have been pointed to as possible sources for Shakespeare's play, from ancient Greek tragedies to Elizabethan dramas.
== Characters ==
== Plot ==
=== Act I ===
Prince Hamlet of Denmark is the son of the recently deceased King Hamlet, and nephew of King Claudius, his father's brother and successor. Claudius hastily married King Hamlet's widow, Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and took the throne for himself. Denmark has a long-standing feud with neighbouring Norway, in which King Hamlet slew King Fortinbras of Norway in a battle some years ago. Although Denmark defeated Norway and the Norwegian throne fell to King Fortinbras's infirm brother, Denmark fears that an invasion led by the dead Norwegian king's son, Prince Fortinbras, is imminent.
On a cold night on the ramparts of Elsinore, the Danish royal castle, the sentries Bernardo and Marcellus discuss a ghost resembling the late King Hamlet which they have recently seen, and bring Prince Hamlet's friend Horatio as a witness. After the ghost appears again, the three vow to tell Prince Hamlet what they have witnessed.
The court gathers the next day, and King Claudius and Queen Gertrude discuss affairs of state with their elderly adviser Polonius. Claudius grants permission for Polonius's son Laertes to return to school in France, and he sends envoys to inform the King of Norway about Fortinbras. Claudius also questions Hamlet regarding his continuing to grieve for his father, and forbids him to return to his university in Wittenberg. After the court exits, Hamlet despairs of his father's death and his mother's hasty remarriage. Learning of the ghost from Horatio, Hamlet resolves to see it himself.
As Polonius's son Laertes prepares to depart for France, Polonius offers him advice that culminates in the maxim "to thine own self be true." Polonius's daughter, Ophelia, admits her interest in Hamlet, but Laertes warns her against seeking the prince's attention, and Polonius orders her to reject his advances. That night on the rampart, the ghost appears to Hamlet, tells the prince that he was murdered by Claudius (by pouring poison into his ear as he slept), and demands that Hamlet avenge the murder. Hamlet agrees, and the ghost vanishes. The prince confides to Horatio and the sentries that from now on he plans to "put an antic disposition on", or act as though he has gone mad. Hamlet forces them to swear to keep his plans for revenge secret; however, he remains uncertain of the ghost's reliability.
=== Act II ===
Ophelia tells her father, Polonius, that Hamlet arrived at her door the prior night half-undressed and behaving erratically. Polonius states that Hamlet's madness is due to "the very ecstasy of love" and resolves to inform Claudius and Gertrude. As he enters to do so, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two student acquaintances of Hamlet, are leaving after the royal couple have requested that they investigate the cause of Hamlet's mood and behaviour. Polonius then waits while messengers from Norway inform Claudius that the king of Norway has rebuked Prince Fortinbras for attempting to re-fight his father's battles. The forces that Fortinbras had conscripted to march against Denmark will instead be sent against Poland, though they will pass through Danish territory to get there.
Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude his theory regarding Hamlet's behaviour, and then speaks to Hamlet in a hall of the castle to try to learn more. Hamlet feigns madness and subtly insults Polonius all the while. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, Hamlet greets his "friends" warmly but quickly discerns that they are there to spy on him for Claudius. Hamlet admits that he is upset at his situation but refuses to give the true reason, instead remarking "What a piece of work is a man". Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that they have brought along a troupe of actors that they met while travelling to Elsinore. Hamlet, after welcoming the actors and dismissing his friends-turned-spies, asks them to deliver a soliloquy about the death of King Priam, as witnessed by Queen Hecuba, at the climax of the Trojan War. Hamlet then asks the actors to stage The Murder of Gonzago, a play featuring a death in the style of his father's murder. Hamlet intends to study Claudius's reaction to the play, and thereby determine the truth of the ghost's story of Claudius's guilt.
=== Act III ===
Polonius forces Ophelia to return Hamlet's love letters to the prince while he and Claudius secretly watch in order to evaluate Hamlet's reaction. Hamlet is walking alone in the hall as the King and Polonius await Ophelia's entrance. Hamlet muses on thoughts of life versus death. When Ophelia enters and tries to return Hamlet's things, Hamlet accuses her of immodesty and cries "get thee to a nunnery". His reaction convinces Claudius that Hamlet is not mad for love. Shortly thereafter, the court assembles to watch the play Hamlet has commissioned. After seeing the Player King murdered by his rival pouring poison in his ear, Claudius abruptly rises and runs from the room; for Hamlet, this is proof of his uncle's guilt.
Gertrude summons Hamlet to her chamber to demand an explanation. Meanwhile, Claudius talks to himself about the impossibility of repenting, since he still has possession of his ill-gotten goods: his brother's crown and wife. He sinks to his knees. Hamlet, on his way to visit his mother, sneaks up behind him but does not kill him, reasoning that killing Claudius while he is praying will send him straight to heaven while his father's ghost is stuck in purgatory. In the queen's bedchamber, Hamlet and Gertrude fight bitterly. Polonius, spying on the conversation from behind a tapestry, calls for help as Gertrude, believing Hamlet wants to kill her, calls out for help herself.
Hamlet, believing it is Claudius, stabs wildly, killing Polonius, but he pulls aside the curtain and sees his mistake. In a rage, Hamlet brutally insults his mother for her apparent ignorance of Claudius's villainy, but the ghost enters and reprimands Hamlet for his inaction and harsh words. Unable to see or hear the ghost herself, Gertrude takes Hamlet's conversation with it as further evidence of madness. After begging the queen to stop sleeping with Claudius, Hamlet leaves, dragging Polonius's corpse away.
=== Act IV ===
Hamlet jokes with Claudius about where he has hidden Polonius's body, and the king, fearing for his life, sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany Hamlet to England with a sealed letter to the English king requesting that Hamlet be executed immediately.
Unhinged by grief at Polonius's death, Ophelia wanders Elsinore. Laertes arrives back from France, enraged by his father's death and his sister's madness. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is solely responsible, but a letter soon arrives indicating that Hamlet has returned to Denmark, foiling Claudius's plan. Claudius switches tactics, proposing a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet to settle their differences. Laertes will be given a poison-tipped foil, and, if that fails, Claudius will offer Hamlet poisoned wine as a congratulation. Gertrude interrupts to report that Ophelia has drowned, though it is unclear whether it was suicide or an accident caused by her madness.
=== Act V ===
Horatio has received a letter from Hamlet, explaining that the prince escaped by negotiating with pirates who attempted to attack his England-bound ship, and the friends reunite offstage. Two gravediggers discuss Ophelia's apparent suicide while digging her grave. Hamlet arrives with Horatio and banters with one of the gravediggers, who unearths the skull of a jester from Hamlet's childhood, Yorick. Hamlet picks up the skull, saying "Alas, poor Yorick" as he contemplates mortality. Ophelia's funeral procession approaches, led by Laertes. Hamlet and Horatio initially hide, but when Hamlet realizes that Ophelia is the one being buried, he reveals himself, proclaiming his love for her. Laertes and Hamlet fight by Ophelia's graveside, but the brawl is broken up.
Back at Elsinore, Hamlet explains to Horatio that he had discovered Claudius's letter among Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's belongings and replaced it with a forged copy indicating that his former friends should be killed instead. A foppish courtier, Osric, interrupts the conversation to deliver the fencing challenge to Hamlet from Laertes. Hamlet, despite Horatio's pleas, accepts it. Hamlet does well at first, leading the match by two hits to none, and Gertrude raises a toast to him using the poisoned glass of wine Claudius had set aside for Hamlet. Claudius tries to stop her but is too late: she drinks, and Laertes realizes the plot will be revealed. Laertes slashes Hamlet with his poisoned blade. In the ensuing scuffle, they switch weapons, and Hamlet wounds Laertes with his own poisoned sword. Gertrude collapses and, claiming she has been poisoned, dies. In his dying moments, Laertes reconciles with Hamlet and reveals Claudius's plan. Hamlet rushes at Claudius and kills him. As the poison takes effect, Hamlet, hearing that Fortinbras is marching through the area, names the Norwegian prince as his successor. Horatio, distraught at the thought of being the last survivor and living whilst Hamlet does not, says he will commit suicide by drinking the dregs of Gertrude's poisoned wine, but Hamlet begs him to live on and tell his story. Hamlet dies in Horatio's arms, proclaiming "the rest is silence". Fortinbras, who was ostensibly marching towards Poland with his army, arrives at the palace, along with an English ambassador bringing news of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's deaths. Horatio promises to recount the full story of what happened, and Fortinbras, seeing the entire Danish royal family dead, takes the crown for himself and orders a military funeral to honour Hamlet.
== Sources ==
Hamlet-like legends are so widely found (for example in Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Byzantium, and Arabia) that the core "hero-as-fool" theme is possibly Indo-European in origin. Several ancient written precursors to Hamlet can be identified. The first is the anonymous Scandinavian Saga of Hrolf Kraki. In this, the murdered king has two sons—Hroar and Helgi—who spend most of the story in disguise, under false names, rather than feigning madness, in a sequence of events that differs from Shakespeare's. The second is the Roman legend of Brutus, recorded in two separate Latin works. Its hero, Lucius ("shining, light"), changes his name and persona to Brutus ("dull, stupid"), playing the role of a fool to avoid the fate of his father and brothers, and eventually slaying his family's killer, King Tarquinius. A 17th-century Nordic scholar, Torfaeus, compared the Icelandic hero Amlóði (Amlodi) and the hero Prince Ambales (from the Ambales Saga) to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Similarities include the prince's feigned madness, his accidental killing of the king's counsellor in his mother's bedroom, and the eventual slaying of his uncle.
Many of the earlier legendary elements are interwoven in the 13th-century "Life of Amleth" (Latin: Vita Amlethi) by Saxo Grammaticus, part of Gesta Danorum. Written in Latin, it reflects classical Roman concepts of virtue and heroism, and was widely available in Shakespeare's day. Significant parallels include the prince feigning madness, his mother's hasty marriage to the usurper, the prince killing a hidden spy, and the prince substituting the execution of two retainers for his own. A reasonably faithful version of Saxo's story was translated into French in 1570 by François de Belleforest, in his Histoires tragiques. Belleforest embellished Saxo's text substantially, almost doubling its length, and introduced the hero's melancholy.
According to one theory, Shakespeare's main source may be an earlier play—now lost—known today as the Ur-Hamlet. Possibly written by Thomas Kyd or by Shakespeare, the Ur-Hamlet would have existed by 1589, and would have incorporated a ghost. Shakespeare's company, the Chamberlain's Men, may have purchased that play and performed a version for some time, which Shakespeare reworked. However, no copy of the Ur-Hamlet has survived, and it is impossible to compare its language and style with the known works of any of its putative authors. In 1936 Andrew Cairncross suggested that, until more becomes known, it may be assumed that Shakespeare wrote the Ur-Hamlet. Eric Sams lists reasons for supporting Shakespeare's authorship. Harold Jenkins considers that there are no grounds for thinking that the Ur-Hamlet is an early work by Shakespeare, which he then rewrote. Professor Terri Bourus in 2016, one of three general editors of the New Oxford Shakespeare, in her paper "Enter Shakespeare's Young Hamlet, 1589" suggests that Shakespeare was "interested in sixteenth-century French literature, from the very beginning of his career" and therefore "did not need Thomas Kyd to pre-digest Belleforest's histoire of Amleth and spoon-feed it to him". She considers that the hypothesized Ur-Hamlet is Shakespeare's Q1 text, and that this derived directly from Belleforest's French version.
The precise combination of Shakespeare's use of the Ur-Hamlet, Belleforest, Saxo, or Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy as sources for Hamlet is not known. However, elements of Belleforest's version which are not in Saxo's story do appear in Shakespeare's play.
Most scholars reject the idea that Hamlet is in any way connected with Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet Shakespeare, who died in 1596 at age eleven. Conventional wisdom holds that Hamlet is strongly connected to legend, and the name Hamnet was quite popular at the time. However, Stephen Greenblatt has argued that the coincidence of the names and Shakespeare's grief for the loss of his son may lie at the heart of the tragedy. He notes that the name of Hamnet Sadler, the Stratford neighbour after whom Hamnet was named, was often written as Hamlet Sadler and that, in the loose orthography of the time, the names were virtually interchangeable.
Scholars have often speculated that Hamlet's Polonius might have been inspired by William Cecil (Lord Burghley)—Lord High Treasurer and chief counsellor to Queen Elizabeth I. E. K. Chambers suggested Polonius's advice to Laertes may have echoed Burghley's to his son Robert Cecil. John Dover Wilson thought it almost certain that the figure of Polonius caricatured Burghley. A. L. Rowse speculated that Polonius's tedious verbosity might have resembled Burghley's. Lilian Winstanley thought the name Corambis (in the First Quarto) did suggest Cecil and Burghley. Harold Jenkins considers the idea of Polonius as a caricature of Burghley to be conjecture, perhaps based on the similar role they each played at court, and perhaps also based on the similarity between Burghley addressing his Ten Precepts to his son, and Polonius offering "precepts" to his son, Laertes. Jenkins suggests that any personal satire may be found in the name "Polonius", which might point to a Polish or Polonian connection. G. R. Hibbard hypothesised that differences in names (Corambis/Polonius:Montano/Raynoldo) between the First Quarto and other editions might reflect a desire not to offend scholars at Oxford University. (Robert Pullen, was the founder of Oxford University, and John Rainolds, was the President of Corpus Christi College.)
== Date ==
"Any dating of Hamlet must be tentative", states the New Cambridge editor, Phillip Edwards. MacCary suggests 1599 or 1600; James Shapiro offers late 1600 or early 1601; Wells and Taylor suggest that the play was written in 1600 and revised later; the New Cambridge editor settles on mid-1601; the New Swan Shakespeare Advanced Series editor agrees with 1601; Thompson and Taylor, tentatively ("according to whether one is the more persuaded by Jenkins or by Honigmann") suggest a terminus ad quem of either spring 1601 or sometime in 1600.
The earliest date estimate relies on Hamlet's frequent allusions to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, itself dated to mid-1599. The latest date estimate is based on an entry, of 26 July 1602, in the Register of the Stationers' Company, indicating that Hamlet was "latelie Acted by the Lo: Chamberleyne his servantes".
In 1598, Francis Meres published his Palladis Tamia, a survey of English literature from Chaucer to its present day, within which twelve of Shakespeare's plays are named. Hamlet is not among them, suggesting that it had not yet been written. As Hamlet was very popular, Bernard Lott, the series editor of New Swan, believes it "unlikely that he [Meres] would have overlooked ... so significant a piece".
The phrase "little eyases" in the First Folio (F1) may allude to the Children of the Chapel, whose popularity in London forced the Globe company into provincial touring. This became known as the War of the Theatres, and supports a 1601 dating. Katherine Duncan-Jones accepts a 1600–01 attribution for the date Hamlet was written, but notes that the Lord Chamberlain's Men, playing Hamlet in the 3000-capacity Globe, were unlikely to be put to any disadvantage by an audience of "barely one hundred" for the Children of the chapel's equivalent play, Antonio's Revenge; she believes that Shakespeare, confident in the superiority of his own work, was making a playful and charitable allusion to his friend John Marston's very similar piece.
A contemporary of Shakespeare's, Gabriel Harvey, wrote a marginal note in his copy of the 1598 edition of Chaucer's works, which some scholars use as dating evidence. Harvey's note says that "the wiser sort" enjoy Hamlet, and implies that the Earl of Essex—executed in February 1601 for rebellion—was still alive. Other scholars consider this inconclusive. Edwards, for example, concludes that the "sense of time is so confused in Harvey's note that it is really of little use in trying to date Hamlet". This is because the same note also refers to Spenser and Watson as if they were still alive ("our flourishing metricians"), but also mentions "Owen's new epigrams", published in 1607.
== Texts ==
Three early editions of the text, each different, have survived, making attempts to establish a single "authentic" text problematic.
First Quarto (Q1): In 1603 the booksellers Nicholas Ling and John Trundell published, and Valentine Simmes printed, the so-called "bad" first quarto, under the name The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke. Q1 contains just over half of the text of the later second quarto.
Second Quarto (Q2): In 1604 Nicholas Ling published, and James Roberts printed, the second quarto, under the same name as the first. Some copies are dated 1605, which may indicate a second impression; consequently, Q2 is often dated "1604/5". Q2 is the longest early edition, although it omits about 77 lines found in F1 (most likely to avoid offending James I's queen, Anne of Denmark).
First Folio (F1): In 1623 Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard published The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke in the First Folio, the first edition of Shakespeare's Complete Works.
This list does not include three additional early texts, John Smethwick's Q3, Q4, and Q5 (1611–37), which are regarded as reprints of Q2 with some alterations.
Early editors of Shakespeare's works, beginning with Nicholas Rowe (1709) and Lewis Theobald (1733), combined material from the two earliest sources of Hamlet available at the time, Q2 and F1. Each text contains material that the other lacks, with many minor differences in wording: scarcely 200 lines are identical in the two. Editors have combined them in an effort to create one "inclusive" text that reflects an imagined "ideal" of Shakespeare's original. Theobald's version became standard for a long time, and his "full text" approach continues to influence editorial practice to the present day. Some contemporary scholarship, however, discounts this approach, instead considering "an authentic Hamlet an unrealisable ideal. ... there are texts of this play but no text". The 2006 publication by Arden Shakespeare of different Hamlet texts in different volumes is perhaps evidence of this shifting focus and emphasis. Other editors have continued to argue the need for well-edited editions taking material from all versions of the play. Colin Burrow has argued that most of us should read a text that is made up by conflating all three versions ... it's about as likely that Shakespeare wrote: "To be or not to be, ay, there's the point" [in Q1], as that he wrote the works of Francis Bacon. I suspect most people just won't want to read a three-text play ... [multi-text editions are] a version of the play that is out of touch with the needs of a wider public.
Traditionally, editors of Shakespeare's plays have divided them into five acts. None of the early texts of Hamlet, however, were arranged this way, and the play's division into acts and scenes derives from a 1676 quarto. Modern editors generally follow this traditional division but consider it unsatisfactory; for example, after Hamlet drags Polonius's body out of Gertrude's bedchamber, there is an act-break after which the action appears to continue uninterrupted.
Q1 was discovered in 1823. Only two copies are extant. According to Jenkins, "The unauthorized nature of this quarto is matched by the corruption of its text." Yet Q1 has value: it contains stage directions (such as Ophelia entering with a lute and her hair down) that reveal actual stage practices in a way that Q2 and F1 do not; it contains an entire scene (usually labelled 4.6) that does not appear in either Q2 or F1; and it is useful for comparison with the later editions. The major deficiency of Q1 is in the language: particularly noticeable in the opening lines of the famous "To be, or not to be" soliloquy: "To be, or not to be, aye there's the point. / To die, to sleep, is that all? Aye all: / No, to sleep, to dream, aye marry there it goes." However, the scene order is more coherent, without the problems of Q2 and F1 of Hamlet seeming to resolve something in one scene and enter the next drowning in indecision. New Cambridge editor Kathleen Irace has noted that "Q1's more linear plot design is certainly easier [...] to follow [...] but the simplicity of the Q1 plot arrangement eliminates the alternating plot elements that correspond to Hamlet's shifts in mood."
Q1 is considerably shorter than Q2 or F1 and may be a memorial reconstruction of the play as Shakespeare's company performed it, by an actor who played a minor role (most likely Marcellus). Scholars disagree whether the reconstruction was pirated or authorised. It is suggested by Irace that Q1 is an abridged version intended especially for travelling productions, thus the question of length may be considered as separate from issues of poor textual quality. Editing Q1 thus poses problems in whether or not to "correct" differences from Q2 and F. Irace, in her introduction to Q1, wrote that "I have avoided as many other alterations as possible, because the differences...are especially intriguing...I have recorded a selection of Q2/F readings in the collation." The idea that Q1 is not riddled with error but is instead eminently fit for the stage has led to at least 28 different Q1 productions since 1881. Other productions have used the Q2 and Folio texts, but used Q1's running order, in particular moving the to be or not to be soliloquy earlier. Developing this, some editors such as Jonathan Bate have argued that Q2 may represent "a 'reading' text as opposed to a 'performance' one" of Hamlet: an edition containing all of Shakespeare's material for the play for the pleasure of readers, so not representing the play as it would have been staged.
== Analysis and criticism ==
=== Critical history ===
From the early 17th century, the play was famous for its ghost and vivid dramatisation of melancholy and insanity, leading to a procession of mad courtiers and ladies in Jacobean and Caroline drama. Though it remained popular with mass audiences, late 17th-century Restoration critics saw Hamlet as primitive and disapproved of its lack of unity and decorum. This view changed drastically in the 18th century, when critics regarded Hamlet as a hero—a pure, brilliant young man thrust into unfortunate circumstances.
By the mid-18th century, however, the advent of Gothic literature brought psychological and mystical readings, returning madness and the ghost to the forefront. Not until the late 18th century did critics and performers begin to view Hamlet as confusing and inconsistent. Before then, he was either mad, or not; either a hero, or not; with no in-betweens. These developments represented a fundamental change in literary criticism, which came to focus more on character and less on plot. In the 18th century, one negative French review of Hamlet would be widely discussed for centuries, in particular in publications throughout the 19th and 20th century. In 1768, Voltaire wrote a negative review of Hamlet, stating that "it is vulgar and barbarous drama, which would not be tolerated by the vilest populace of France or Italy... one would imagine this piece to be a work of a drunken savage", while acknowledging that it contains "some sublime strokes worthy of the greatest genius".
By the 19th century, Romantic critics valued Hamlet for its internal, individual conflict reflecting the strong contemporary emphasis on internal struggles and inner character in general. Then too, critics started to focus on Hamlet's delay as a character trait, rather than a plot device. This focus on character and internal struggle continued into the 20th century, when criticism branched in several directions, discussed in context and interpretation below.
=== Dramatic structure ===
Modern editors have divided the play into five acts, and each act into scenes. The First Folio marks the first two acts only. The quartos do not have such divisions. The division into five acts follows Seneca, who in his plays, regularized the way ancient Greek tragedies contain five episodes, which are separated by four choral odes. In Hamlet the development of the plot or the action are determined by the unfolding of Hamlet's character. The soliloquies do not interrupt the plot, instead they are highlights of each block of action. The plot is the developing revelation of Hamlet's view of what is "rotten in the state of Denmark". The action of the play is driven forward in dialogue; but in the soliloquies time and action stop, the meaning of action is questioned, fog of illusion is broached, and truths are exposed.
The contrast between appearance and reality is a significant theme. Hamlet is presented with an image, and then interprets its deeper or darker meaning. Examples begin with Hamlet questioning the reality of the ghost. It continues with Hamlet's taking on an "antic disposition" in order to appear mad, though he is not. The contrast (appearance and reality) is also expressed in several "spying scenes": Act two begins with Polonius sending Reynaldo to spy on his son, Laertes. Claudius and Polonius spy on Ophelia as she meets with Hamlet. In act two, Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. Similarly, the play-within-a-play is used by Hamlet to reveal his step-father's hidden nature.
There is no subplot, but the play presents the affairs of the courtier Polonius, his daughter, Ophelia, and his son, Laertes—who variously deal with madness, love and the death of a father in ways that contrast with Hamlet's. The graveyard scene eases tension prior to the catastrophe, and, as Hamlet holds the skull, it is shown that Hamlet no longer fears damnation in the afterlife, and accepts that there is a "divinity that shapes our ends".
Hamlet's enquiring mind has been open to all kinds of ideas, but in act five he has decided on a plan, and in a dialogue with Horatio he seems to answer his two earlier soliloquies on suicide: "We defy augury. There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows aught, what is't to leave betimes."
=== Length ===
The First Quarto (1603) text of Hamlet contains 15,983 words, the Second Quarto (1604) contains 28,628 words, and the First Folio (1623) contains 27,602 words. Counting the number of lines varies between editions, partly because prose sections in the play may be formatted with varied lengths. Editions of Hamlet that are created by conflating the texts of the Second Quarto and the Folio are said to have approximately 3,900 lines; the number of lines varies between those editions based on formatting the prose sections, counting methods, and how the editors have joined the texts together. Hamlet is by far the longest play that Shakespeare wrote, and one of the longest plays in the Western canon. It might require more than four hours to stage; a typical Elizabethan play would need two to three hours. It is speculated that because of the considerable length of Q2 and F1, there was an expectation that those texts would be abridged for performance, or that Q2 and F1 may have been aimed at a reading audience.
That Q1 is so much shorter than Q2 has spurred speculation that Q1 is an early draft, or perhaps an adaptation, a bootleg copy, or a stage adaptation. On the title page of Q2, its text is described as "newly imprinted and enlarged to almost as much again as it was". That is probably a comparison to Q1.
=== Language ===
Much of Hamlet's language is courtly: elaborate, witty discourse, as recommended by Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 etiquette guide, The Courtier. This work specifically advises royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language. Osric and Polonius, especially, seem to respect this injunction. Claudius's speech is rich with rhetorical figures—as is Hamlet's and, at times, Ophelia's—while the language of Horatio, the guards, and the gravediggers is simpler. Claudius's high status is reinforced by using the royal first person plural ("we" or "us"), and anaphora mixed with metaphor to resonate with Greek political speeches.
Of all the characters, Hamlet has the greatest rhetorical skill. He uses highly developed metaphors, stichomythia, and in nine memorable words deploys both anaphora and asyndeton: "to die: to sleep— / To sleep, perchance to dream". In contrast, when occasion demands, he is precise and straightforward, as when he explains his inward emotion to his mother: "But I have that within which passes show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe". At times, he relies heavily on puns to express his true thoughts while simultaneously concealing them. Pauline Kiernan argues that Shakespeare changed English drama forever in Hamlet because he "showed how a character's language can often be saying several things at once, and contradictory meanings at that, to reflect fragmented thoughts and disturbed feelings". She gives the example of Hamlet's advice to Ophelia, "get thee to a nunnery", which, she claims, is simultaneously a reference to a place of chastity and a slang term for a brothel, reflecting Hamlet's confused feelings about female sexuality. However Harold Jenkins does not agree, having studied the few examples that are used to support that idea, and finds that there is no support for the assumption that "nunnery" was used that way in slang, or that Hamlet intended such a meaning. The context of the scene suggests that a nunnery would not be a brothel, but instead a place of renunciation and a "sanctuary from marriage and from the world's contamination". Thompson and Taylor consider the brothel idea incorrect considering that "Hamlet is trying to deter Ophelia from breeding".
Hamlet's first words in the play are a pun; when Claudius addresses him as "my cousin Hamlet, and my son", Hamlet says as an aside: "A little more than kin, and less than kind."
An unusual rhetorical device, hendiadys, appears in several places in the play. Examples are found in Ophelia's speech at the end of the nunnery scene: "Th'expectancy and rose of the fair state" and "And I, of ladies most deject and wretched". Many scholars have found it odd that Shakespeare would, seemingly arbitrarily, use this rhetorical form throughout the play. One explanation may be that Hamlet was written later in Shakespeare's life, when he was adept at matching rhetorical devices to characters and the plot. Linguist George T. Wright suggests that hendiadys had been used deliberately to heighten the play's sense of duality and dislocation.
Hamlet's soliloquies have captured the attention of scholars. Hamlet interrupts himself, vocalising either disgust or agreement with himself and embellishing his own words. He has difficulty expressing himself directly and instead blunts the thrust of his thought with wordplay. It is not until late in the play, after his experience with the pirates, that Hamlet is able to articulate his feelings freely.
== Context and interpretation ==
=== Religious ===
Written at a time of religious upheaval and in the wake of the English Reformation, the play is alternately Catholic (or piously medieval) and Protestant (or consciously modern). The ghost describes himself as being in purgatory and as dying without last rites. This and Ophelia's burial ceremony, which is characteristically Catholic, make up most of the play's Catholic connections. Some scholars have observed that revenge tragedies come from Catholic countries such as Italy and Spain, where the revenge tragedies present contradictions of motives, since according to Catholic doctrine the duty to God and family precedes civil justice.
Much of the play's Protestant tones derive from its setting in Denmark—both then and now a predominantly Protestant country, though it is unclear whether the fictional Denmark of the play is intended to portray this implicit fact. Dialogue refers explicitly to the German city of Wittenberg where Hamlet, Horatio, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attend university, implying where the Protestant reformer Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the church door in 1517.
=== Philosophical ===
Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as relativist, existentialist, and sceptical. For example, he expresses a subjectivistic idea when he says to Rosencrantz: "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so". The idea that nothing is real except in the mind of the individual finds its roots in the Greek Sophists, who argued that since nothing can be perceived except through the senses—and since all individuals sense, and therefore perceive things differently—there is no absolute truth, but rather only relative truth. The clearest alleged instance of existentialism is in the "to be, or not to be" speech, where Hamlet is thought by some to use "being" to allude to life and action, and "not being" to death and inaction.
Hamlet reflects the contemporary scepticism promoted by the French Renaissance humanist Michel de Montaigne. Prior to Montaigne's time, humanists such as Pico della Mirandola had argued that man was God's greatest creation, made in God's image and able to choose his own nature, but this view was subsequently challenged in Montaigne's Essais of 1580. Hamlet's "What a piece of work is a man" seems to echo many of Montaigne's ideas, and many scholars have discussed whether Shakespeare drew directly from Montaigne or whether both men were simply reacting similarly to the spirit of the times.
=== Psychoanalytic ===
==== Sigmund Freud ====
Sigmund Freud’s thoughts regarding Hamlet were first published in his book The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), as a footnote to a discussion of Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex, all of which is part of his consideration of the causes of neurosis. Freud does not offer over-all interpretations of the plays, but uses the two tragedies to illustrate and corroborate his psychological theories, which are based on his treatments of his patients and on his studies. Productions of Hamlet have used Freud's ideas to support their own interpretations. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud says that according to his experience "parents play a leading part in the infantile psychology of all persons who subsequently become psychoneurotics," and that "falling in love with one parent and hating the other" is a common impulse in early childhood, and is important source material of "subsequent neurosis". He says that "in their amorous or hostile attitude toward their parents" neurotics reveal something that occurs with less intensity "in the minds of the majority of children". Freud considered that Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex, with its story that involves crimes of parricide and incest, "has furnished us with legendary matter which corroborates" these ideas, and that the "profound and universal validity of the old legends" is understandable only by recognizing the validity of these theories of "infantile psychology".
Freud explores the reason "Oedipus Rex is capable of moving a modern reader or playgoer no less powerfully than it moved the contemporary Greeks". He suggests that "It may be that we were all destined to direct our first sexual impulses toward our mothers, and our first impulses of hatred and violence toward our fathers." Freud suggests that we "recoil from the person for whom this primitive wish of our childhood has been fulfilled with all the force of the repression which these wishes have undergone in our minds since childhood".
These ideas, which became a cornerstone of Freud's psychological theories, he named the "Oedipus complex", and, at one point, he considered calling it the "Hamlet complex". Freud considered that Hamlet "is rooted in the same soil as Oedipus Rex". But the difference in the "psychic life" of the two civilizations that produced each play, and the progress made over time of "repression in the emotional life of humanity" can be seen in the way the same material is handled by the two playwrights: In Oedipus Rex incest and murder are brought into the light as might occur in a dream, but in Hamlet these impulses "remain repressed" and we learn of their existence through Hamlet's inhibitions to act out the revenge, while he is shown to be capable of acting decisively and boldly in other contexts. Freud asserts, "The play is based on Hamlet’s hesitation in accomplishing the task of revenge assigned to him; the text does not give the cause or the motive of this." The conflict is "deeply hidden".
Hamlet is able to perform any kind of action except taking revenge on the man who murdered his father and has taken his father's place with his mother—Claudius has led Hamlet to realize the repressed desires of his own childhood. The loathing which was supposed to drive him to revenge is replaced by "self-reproach, by conscientious scruples" which tell him "he himself is no better than the murderer whom he is required to punish". Freud suggests that Hamlet's sexual aversion expressed in his "nunnery" conversation with Ophelia supports the idea that Hamlet is "an hysterical subject".
Freud suggests that the character Hamlet goes through an experience that has three characteristics, which he numbered: 1) "the hero is not psychopathic, but becomes so" during the course of the play. 2) "the repressed desire is one of those that are similarly repressed in all of us." It is a repression that "belongs to an early stage of our individual development". The audience identifies with the character of Hamlet, because "we are victims of the same conflict." 3) It is the nature of theatre that "the struggle of the repressed impulse to become conscious" occurs in both the hero onstage and the spectator, when they are in the grip of their emotions, "in the manner seen in psychoanalytic treatment".
Freud points out that Hamlet is an exception in that psychopathic characters are usually ineffective in stage plays; they "become as useless for the stage as they are for life itself", because they do not inspire insight or empathy, unless the audience is familiar with the character's inner conflict. Freud says, "It is thus the task of the dramatist to transport us into the same illness."
John Barrymore's long-running 1922 performance in New York, directed by Thomas Hopkins, "broke new ground in its Freudian approach to character", in keeping with the post-World War I rebellion against everything Victorian. He had a "blunter intention" than presenting the genteel, sweet prince of 19th-century tradition, imbuing his character with virility and lust.
Beginning in 1910, with the publication of "The Œdipus-Complex as an Explanation of Hamlet's Mystery: A Study in Motive" Ernest Jones—a psychoanalyst and Freud's biographer—developed Freud's ideas into a series of essays that culminated in his book Hamlet and Oedipus (1949). Influenced by Jones's psychoanalytic approach, several productions have portrayed the "closet scene", where Hamlet confronts his mother in her private quarters, in a sexual light. In this reading, Hamlet is disgusted by his mother's "incestuous" relationship with Claudius while simultaneously fearful of killing him, as this would clear Hamlet's path to his mother's bed. Ophelia's madness after her father's death may also be read through the Freudian lens: as a reaction to the death of her hoped-for lover, her father. Ophelia is overwhelmed by having her unfulfilled love for him so abruptly terminated and drifts into the oblivion of insanity. In 1937, Tyrone Guthrie directed Laurence Olivier in a Jones-inspired Hamlet at The Old Vic. Olivier later used some of these same ideas in his 1948 film version of the play.
In the Bloom's Shakespeare Through the Ages volume on Hamlet, editors Bloom and Foster express a conviction that the intentions of Shakespeare in portraying the character of Hamlet in the play exceeded the capacity of the Freudian Oedipus complex to completely encompass the extent of characteristics depicted in Hamlet throughout the tragedy: "For once, Freud regressed in attempting to fasten the Oedipus Complex upon Hamlet: it will not stick, and merely showed that Freud did better than T.S. Eliot, who preferred Coriolanus to Hamlet, or so he said. Who can believe Eliot, when he exposes his own Hamlet Complex by declaring the play to be an aesthetic failure?" The book also notes James Joyce's interpretation, stating that he "did far better in the Library Scene of Ulysses, where Stephen marvellously credits Shakespeare, in this play, with universal fatherhood while accurately implying that Hamlet is fatherless, thus opening a pragmatic gap between Shakespeare and Hamlet."
Joshua Rothman has written in The New Yorker that "we tell the story wrong when we say that Freud used the idea of the Oedipus complex to understand Hamlet". Rothman suggests that "it was the other way around: Hamlet helped Freud understand, and perhaps even invent, psychoanalysis". He concludes: "The Oedipus complex is a misnomer. It should be called the 'Hamlet complex'."
==== Jacques Lacan ====
In the 1950s, the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan analyzed Hamlet to illustrate some of his concepts. His structuralist theories about Hamlet were first presented in a series of seminars given in Paris and later published in "Desire and the Interpretation of Desire in Hamlet". Lacan postulated that the human psyche is determined by structures of language and that the linguistic structures of Hamlet shed light on human desire. His point of departure is Freud's Oedipal theories, and the central theme of mourning that runs through Hamlet. In Lacan's analysis, Hamlet unconsciously assumes the role of phallus—the cause of his inaction—and is increasingly distanced from reality "by mourning, fantasy, narcissism and psychosis", which create holes (or lack) in the real, imaginary, and symbolic aspects of his psyche. Lacan's theories influenced some subsequent literary criticism of Hamlet because of his alternative vision of the play and his use of semantics to explore the play's psychological landscape.
=== Feminist ===
In the 20th century, feminist critics opened up new approaches to Gertrude and Ophelia. New historicist and cultural materialist critics examined the play in its historical context, attempting to piece together its original cultural environment. They focused on the gender system of early modern England, pointing to the common trinity of maid, wife, or widow, with whores outside of that stereotype. In this analysis, the essence of Hamlet is the central character's changed perception of his mother as a whore because of her failure to remain faithful to Old Hamlet. In consequence, Hamlet loses his faith in all women, treating Ophelia as if she too were a whore and dishonest with Hamlet.
Carolyn Heilbrun's 1957 essay "The Character of Hamlet's Mother" defends Gertrude, arguing that the text never hints that Gertrude knew of Claudius poisoning King Hamlet. This analysis has been praised by many feminist critics, combating what is, by Heilbrun's argument, centuries' worth of misinterpretation. By this account, Gertrude's worst crime is of pragmatically marrying her brother-in-law in order to avoid a power vacuum. This is borne out by the fact that King Hamlet's ghost tells Hamlet to leave Gertrude out of Hamlet's revenge, to leave her to heaven, an arbitrary mercy to grant to a conspirator to murder.
Ophelia has also been defended by feminist critics, most notably Elaine Showalter. Ophelia is surrounded by powerful men: her father, brother, and Hamlet. All three disappear: Laertes leaves, Hamlet abandons her, and Polonius dies. Conventional theories had argued that without these three powerful men making decisions for her, Ophelia is driven into madness. Feminist theorists argue that she goes mad with guilt because, when Hamlet kills her father, he has fulfilled her sexual desire to have Hamlet kill her father so they can be together. Showalter points out that Ophelia has become the symbol of the distraught and hysterical woman in modern culture.
== Influence ==
Hamlet is one of the most quoted works in the English language, and is often included on lists of the world's greatest literature. As such, it reverberates through the writing of later centuries. Academic Laurie Osborne identifies the direct influence of Hamlet in numerous modern narratives, and divides them into four main categories: fictional accounts of the play's composition, simplifications of the story for young readers, stories expanding the role of one or more characters, and narratives featuring performances of the play.
English poet John Milton was an early admirer of Shakespeare and took evident inspiration from his work. As John Kerrigan discusses, Milton originally considered writing his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) as a tragedy. While Milton did not ultimately go that route, the poem still shows distinct echoes of Shakespearean revenge tragedy, and of Hamlet in particular. As scholar Christopher N. Warren argues, Paradise Lost's Satan "undergoes a transformation in the poem from a Hamlet-like avenger into a Claudius-like usurper," a plot device that supports Milton's larger Republican internationalist project. The poem also reworks theatrical language from Hamlet, especially around the idea of "putting on" certain dispositions, as when Hamlet puts on "an antic disposition," similarly to the Son in Paradise Lost who "can put on / [God's] terrors."
Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, published about 1749, describes a visit to Hamlet by Tom Jones and Mr Partridge, with similarities to the "play within a play". In contrast, Goethe's Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, written between 1776 and 1796, not only has a production of Hamlet at its core but also creates parallels between the ghost and Wilhelm Meister's dead father. In the early 1850s, in Pierre, Herman Melville focuses on a Hamlet-like character's long development as a writer. Ten years later, Dickens's Great Expectations contains many Hamlet-like plot elements: it is driven by revenge-motivated actions, contains ghost-like characters (Abel Magwitch and Miss Havisham), and focuses on the hero's guilt. Academic Alexander Welsh notes that Great Expectations is an "autobiographical novel" and "anticipates psychoanalytic readings of Hamlet itself". About the same time, George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss was published, introducing Maggie Tulliver "who is explicitly compared with Hamlet" though "with a reputation for sanity".
In the 1920s, James Joyce managed "a more upbeat version" of Hamlet—stripped of obsession and revenge—in Ulysses, though its main parallels are with Homer's Odyssey. In the 1990s, two novelists were explicitly influenced by Hamlet. In Angela Carter's Wise Children, To be or not to be is reworked as a song and dance routine, and Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince has Oedipal themes and murder intertwined with a love affair between a Hamlet-obsessed writer, Bradley Pearson, and the daughter of his rival. In the late 20th century, David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest draws heavily from Hamlet and takes its title from the play's text.
There is the story of the woman who read Hamlet for the first time and said, "I don't see why people admire that play so. It is nothing but a bunch of quotations strung together."
— Isaac Asimov, Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, p. vii, Avenal Books, 1970
== Performance history ==
=== Shakespeare's day to the Interregnum ===
Shakespeare almost certainly wrote the role of Hamlet for Richard Burbage. He was the chief tragedian of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, with a capacious memory for lines and a wide emotional range. Judging by the number of reprints, Hamlet appears to have been Shakespeare's fourth most popular play during his lifetime—only Henry IV Part 1, Richard III and Pericles eclipsed it. Shakespeare provides no clear indication of when his play is set; however, as Elizabethan actors performed at the Globe in contemporary dress on minimal sets, this would not have affected the staging.
Firm evidence for specific early performances of the play is scant. It is sometimes argued that the crew of the ship Red Dragon, anchored off Sierra Leone, performed Hamlet in September 1607; however, this claim is based on a 19th-century insert of a 'lost' passage into a period document, and is today widely regarded as a hoax, likely to have been perpetrated by John Payne Collier. More credible is that the play toured in Germany within five years of Shakespeare's death, and that it was performed before James I in 1619 and Charles I in 1637. Oxford editor George Hibbard argues that, since the contemporary literature contains many allusions and references to Hamlet (only Falstaff is mentioned more, from Shakespeare), the play was surely performed with a frequency that the historical record misses.
All theatres were closed down by the Puritan government during the Interregnum. Even during this time, however, playlets known as drolls were often performed illegally, including one called The Grave-Makers based on act 5, scene 1 of Hamlet.
=== Restoration and 18th century ===
The play was revived early in the Restoration. When the existing stock of pre-civil war plays was divided between the two newly created patent theatre companies, Hamlet was the only Shakespearean favourite that Sir William Davenant's Duke's Company secured. It became the first of Shakespeare's plays to be presented with movable flats painted with generic scenery behind the proscenium arch of Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. This new stage convention highlighted the frequency with which Shakespeare shifts dramatic location, encouraging the recurrent criticism of his failure to maintain unity of place. In the title role, Davenant cast Thomas Betterton, who continued to play the Dane until he was 74. David Garrick at Drury Lane produced a version that adapted Shakespeare heavily; he declared: "I had sworn I would not leave the stage till I had rescued that noble play from all the rubbish of the fifth act. I have brought it forth without the grave-digger's trick, Osrick, & the fencing match". The first actor known to have played Hamlet in North America is Lewis Hallam Jr., in the American Company's production in Philadelphia in 1759.
John Philip Kemble made his Drury Lane debut as Hamlet in 1783. His performance was said to be 20 minutes longer than anyone else's, and his lengthy pauses provoked the suggestion by Richard Brinsley Sheridan that "music should be played between the words". Sarah Siddons was the first actress known to play Hamlet; many women have since played him as a breeches role, to great acclaim. In 1748, Alexander Sumarokov wrote a Russian adaptation that focused on Prince Hamlet as the embodiment of an opposition to Claudius's tyranny—a treatment that would recur in Eastern European versions into the 20th century. In the years following America's independence, Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, the young nation's leading tragedian, performed Hamlet among other plays at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and at the Park Theatre in New York. Although chided for "acknowledging acquaintances in the audience" and "inadequate memorisation of his lines", he became a national celebrity.
=== 19th century ===
From around 1810 to 1840, the best-known Shakespearean performances in the United States were tours by leading London actors—including George Frederick Cooke, Junius Brutus Booth, Edmund Kean, William Charles Macready, and Charles Kemble. Of these, Booth remained to make his career in the States, fathering the nation's most notorious actor, John Wilkes Booth (who later assassinated Abraham Lincoln), and its most famous Hamlet, Edwin Booth. Edwin Booth's Hamlet at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in 1875 was described as "... the dark, sad, dreamy, mysterious hero of a poem. [... acted] in an ideal manner, as far removed as possible from the plane of actual life". Booth played Hamlet for 100 nights in the 1864/5 season at the Winter Garden Theatre, inaugurating the era of long-run Shakespeare in America.
In the United Kingdom, the actor-managers of the Victorian era (including Kean, Samuel Phelps, Macready, and Henry Irving) staged Shakespeare in a grand manner, with elaborate scenery and costumes. The tendency of actor-managers to emphasise the importance of their own central character did not always meet with the critics' approval. George Bernard Shaw's praise for Johnston Forbes-Robertson's performance contains a sideswipe at Irving: "The story of the play was perfectly intelligible, and quite took the attention of the audience off the principal actor at moments. What is the Lyceum coming to?"
In London, Edmund Kean was the first Hamlet to abandon the regal finery usually associated with the role in favour of a plain costume, and he is said to have surprised his audience by playing Hamlet as serious and introspective. In stark contrast to earlier opulence, William Poel's 1881 production of the Q1 text was an early attempt at reconstructing the Elizabethan theatre's austerity; his only backdrop was a set of red curtains. Sarah Bernhardt played the prince in her popular 1899 London production. In contrast to the "effeminate" view of the central character that usually accompanied a female casting, she described her character as "manly and resolute, but nonetheless thoughtful ... [he] thinks before he acts, a trait indicative of great strength and great spiritual power".
In France, Charles Kemble initiated an enthusiasm for Shakespeare; and leading members of the Romantic movement such as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas saw his 1827 Paris performance of Hamlet, particularly admiring the madness of Harriet Smithson's Ophelia. In Germany, Hamlet had become so assimilated by the mid-19th century that Ferdinand Freiligrath declared that "Germany is Hamlet". From the 1850s, the Parsi theatre tradition in India transformed Hamlet into folk performances, with dozens of songs added.
=== 20th century ===
Apart from some western troupes' 19th-century visits, the first professional performance of Hamlet in Japan was Otojirō Kawakami's 1903 Shinpa ("new school theatre") adaptation. Tsubouchi Shōyō translated Hamlet and produced a performance in 1911 that blended Shingeki ("new drama") and Kabuki styles. This hybrid-genre reached its peak in Tsuneari Fukuda's 1955 Hamlet. In 1998, Yukio Ninagawa produced an acclaimed version of Hamlet in the style of Nō theatre, which he took to London.
Konstantin Stanislavski and Edward Gordon Craig—two of the 20th century's most influential theatre practitioners—collaborated on the Moscow Art Theatre's seminal production of 1911–12. While Craig favoured stylised abstraction, Stanislavski, armed with his 'system,' explored psychological motivation. Craig conceived of the play as a symbolist monodrama, offering a dream-like vision as seen through Hamlet's eyes alone. This was most evident in the staging of the first court scene. The most famous aspect of the production is Craig's use of large, abstract screens that altered the size and shape of the acting area for each scene, representing the character's state of mind spatially or visualising a dramaturgical progression. The production attracted enthusiastic and unprecedented worldwide attention for the theatre and placed it "on the cultural map for Western Europe".
The first modern dress stagings of Hamlet happened in 1925 in London and then New York. Barry Jackson's Birmingham Repertory Theatre opened their production, directed by H.K. Ayliff at the Kingsway Theatre on August 25, 1925. Ivor Brown reported, "Many of the first night audience came to scoff and remained to hold its breath, to marvel and enjoy ... Shakespeare's victory over time and tailoring was swift and sweeping." Horace Brisbin Liveright's modern dress production opened at the Booth Theater in New York on November 9, 1925, the same night that the London production moved to Birmingham. It was known "more dryly, and perhaps with a touch of something more sinister, as 'the plain-clothes Hamlet'" and did not reach the same level of success.
Hamlet is often played with contemporary political overtones. Leopold Jessner's 1926 production at the Berlin Staatstheater portrayed Claudius's court as a parody of the corrupt and fawning court of Kaiser Wilhelm. In Poland, the number of productions of Hamlet has tended to increase at times of political unrest, since its political themes (suspected crimes, coups, surveillance) can be used to comment on a contemporary situation. Similarly, Czech directors have used the play at times of occupation: a 1941 Vinohrady Theatre production "emphasised, with due caution, the helpless situation of an intellectual attempting to endure in a ruthless environment". In China, performances of Hamlet often have political significance: Gu Wuwei's 1916 The Usurper of State Power, an amalgam of Hamlet and Macbeth, was an attack on Yuan Shikai's attempt to overthrow the republic. In 1942, Jiao Juyin directed the play in a Confucian temple in Sichuan Province, to which the government had retreated from the advancing Japanese. In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the protests at Tiananmen Square, Lin Zhaohua staged a 1990 Hamlet in which the prince was an ordinary individual tortured by a loss of meaning. In this production, the actors playing Hamlet, Claudius and Polonius exchanged roles at crucial moments in the performance, including the moment of Claudius's death, at which point the actor mainly associated with Hamlet fell to the ground.
Notable stagings in London and New York include Barrymore's 1925 production at the Haymarket; it influenced subsequent performances by John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier. Gielgud played the central role many times: his 1936 New York production ran for 132 performances, leading to the accolade that he was "the finest interpreter of the role since Barrymore". Although "posterity has treated Maurice Evans less kindly", throughout the 1930s and 1940s he was regarded by many as the leading interpreter of Shakespeare in the United States and in the 1938/39 season he presented Broadway's first uncut Hamlet, running four and a half hours. Evans later performed a highly truncated version of the play that he played for South Pacific war zones during World War II which made the prince a more decisive character. The staging, known as the "G.I. Hamlet", was produced on Broadway for 131 performances in 1945/46. Olivier's 1937 performance at The Old Vic was popular with audiences but not with critics, with James Agate writing in a famous review in The Sunday Times, "Mr. Olivier does not speak poetry badly. He does not speak it at all." In 1937 Tyrone Guthrie directed the play at Elsinore, Denmark, with Laurence Olivier as Hamlet and Vivien Leigh as Ophelia.
In 1963, Olivier directed Peter O'Toole as Hamlet in the inaugural performance of the newly formed National Theatre; critics found resonance between O'Toole's Hamlet and John Osborne's hero, Jimmy Porter, from Look Back in Anger.
Richard Burton received his third Tony Award nomination when he played his second Hamlet, his first under John Gielgud's direction, in 1964 in a production that holds the record for the longest run of the play in Broadway history (137 performances).
In 1968, Joseph Papp staged at The Public Theater what became known as "Naked" Hamlet because the text was stripped down. It starred Martin Sheen as Hamlet, and Sheen delivered the monologues either in Spanish or with a Spanish accent, as Hamlet's alter-ego, a Puerto Rican janitor named Ramon.
Other New York portrayals of Hamlet of note include that of Ralph Fiennes's in 1995 (for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor)—which ran, from first preview to closing night, a total of one hundred performances. About the Fiennes Hamlet Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that it was "... not one for literary sleuths and Shakespeare scholars. It respects the play, but it doesn't provide any new material for arcane debates on what it all means. Instead it's an intelligent, beautifully read ..." Stacy Keach played the role with an all-star cast at Joseph Papp's Delacorte Theater in the early 1970s, with Colleen Dewhurst's Gertrude, James Earl Jones's King, Barnard Hughes's Polonius, Sam Waterston's Laertes and Raul Julia's Osric. Sam Waterston later played the role himself at the Delacorte for the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the show transferred to the Vivian Beaumont Theater in 1975 (Stephen Lang played Bernardo and other roles). Stephen Lang's Hamlet for the Roundabout Theatre Company in 1992 received mixed reviews and ran for sixty-one performances. David Warner played the role with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1965. William Hurt (at Circle Repertory Company off-Broadway, memorably performing "To be, or not to be" while lying on the floor), Jon Voight at Rutgers, and Christopher Walken (fiercely) at Stratford, Connecticut, have all played the role, as has Diane Venora at The Public Theatre. The Internet Broadway Database lists sixty-six productions of Hamlet.
Ian Charleson performed Hamlet from 9 October to 13 November 1989, in Richard Eyre's production at the Olivier Theatre, replacing Daniel Day-Lewis, who had abandoned the production. Seriously ill from AIDS at the time, Charleson died eight weeks after his last performance. Fellow actor and friend, Sir Ian McKellen, said that Charleson played Hamlet so well it was as if he had rehearsed the role all his life; McKellen called it "the perfect Hamlet". The performance garnered other major accolades as well, some critics echoing McKellen in calling it the definitive Hamlet performance.
Keanu Reeves performed Hamlet from 12 January to 4 February 1995 at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba). The production garnered positive reviews from worldwide media outlets.
=== 21st century ===
Hamlet continues to be staged regularly. Actors performing the lead role have included: Simon Russell Beale, Ben Whishaw, David Tennant, Tom Hiddleston, Angela Winkler, Samuel West, Christopher Eccleston, Maxine Peake, Rory Kinnear, Oscar Isaac, Michael Sheen, Christian Camargo, Paapa Essiedu and Michael Urie.
In May 2009, Hamlet opened with Jude Law in the title role at the Donmar Warehouse West End season at Wyndham's Theatre. The production officially opened on 3 June and ran through 22 August 2009. A further production with Jude Law ran at Elsinore Castle in Denmark from 25 to 30 August 2009, and then moved to Broadway, and ran for 12 weeks at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York.
In October 2011, a production starring Michael Sheen opened at the Young Vic, in which the play was set inside a psychiatric hospital.
In 2013, American actor Paul Giamatti played the title role of Hamlet in modern dress, at the Yale Repertory Theatre, at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Globe Theatre of London initiated a project in 2014 to perform Hamlet in every country in the world in the space of two years. Titled Globe to Globe Hamlet, it began its tour on 23 April 2014, the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, and performed in 197 countries.
Benedict Cumberbatch played the role for a 12-week run in a production at the Barbican Theatre, opening on 25 August 2015. It was called the "most in-demand theatre production of all time" and sold out in seven hours after tickets went on sale 11 August 2014, more than a year before the play opened.
A 2017 Almeida Theatre production, directed by Robert Icke and starring Andrew Scott, was transferred that same year to the West End's Harold Pinter Theatre.
Tom Hiddleston played the role for a three-week run at Vanbrugh Theatre that opened on 1 September 2017 and was directed by Kenneth Branagh.
In 2018, The Globe Theatre's newly instated artistic director Michelle Terry played the role in a production notable for its gender-blind casting.
A production by Bristol Old Vic starring Billy Howle in title role, Niamh Cusack as Gertrude, Mirren Mack as Ophelia opened on 13 October 2022.
=== Film and TV performances ===
An early film version of Hamlet is Sarah Bernhardt's five-minute film of the fencing scene, which was produced in 1900. The film was an early attempt at combining sound and film; music and words were recorded on phonograph records, to be played along with the film. Silent versions were released in 1907, 1908, 1910, 1913, 1917, and 1920. In the 1921 film Hamlet, Danish actress Asta Nielsen played the role of Hamlet as a woman who spends her life disguised as a man.
Laurence Olivier's 1948 moody black-and-white Hamlet won Best Picture and Best Actor Academy Awards and is as of 2024, the only Shakespeare film to have done so. His interpretation stressed the Oedipal overtones of the play and cast 28-year-old Eileen Herlie as Hamlet's mother opposite himself at 41 as Hamlet.
In 1953, actor Jack Manning performed the play in 15-minute segments over two weeks in the short-lived late night DuMont series Monodrama Theater. New York Times TV critic Jack Gould praised Manning's performance as Hamlet.
The 1964 Soviet film Hamlet (Russian: Гамлет) is based on a translation by Boris Pasternak and directed by Grigori Kozintsev, with a score by Dmitri Shostakovich. Innokenty Smoktunovsky was cast in the role of Hamlet.
John Gielgud directed Richard Burton in a Broadway production at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1964–65, the longest-running Hamlet in the U.S. to date. A live film of the production was produced using "Electronovision", a method of recording a live performance with multiple video cameras and converting the image to film. Eileen Herlie repeated her role from Olivier's film version as the Queen, and the voice of Gielgud was heard as the ghost. The Gielgud/Burton production was also recorded complete and released on LP by Columbia Masterworks.
The first Hamlet in color was a 1969 film directed by Tony Richardson with Nicol Williamson as Hamlet and Marianne Faithfull as Ophelia.
In 1990 Franco Zeffirelli, whose Shakespeare films have been described as "sensual rather than cerebral", cast Mel Gibson—then famous for the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon movies—in the title role of his 1990 version; Glenn Close—then famous as the psychotic "other woman" in Fatal Attraction—played Gertrude, and Paul Scofield played Hamlet's father.
Kenneth Branagh adapted, directed, and starred in a 1996 film version of Hamlet that contained material from the First Folio and the Second Quarto. Branagh's Hamlet was the first unabridged theatrical film adaptation of the play and has a runtime of 242 minutes (just over four hours). Branagh set the film with late 19th-century costuming and furnishings, a production in many ways reminiscent of a Russian novel of the time, and Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century, became Elsinore Castle in the external scenes. The film is structured as an epic and makes frequent use of flashbacks to highlight elements not made explicit in the play: Hamlet's sexual relationship with Kate Winslet's Ophelia, for example, or his childhood affection for Yorick (played by Ken Dodd).
In 2000, Michael Almereyda's Hamlet set the story in contemporary Manhattan, with Ethan Hawke playing Hamlet as a film student. Claudius (played by Kyle MacLachlan) became the CEO of "Denmark Corporation", having taken over the company by killing his brother.
The 2014 Bollywood film Haider is an adaptation set in modern Kashmir.
In 2025, the Tribeca Film festival hosted at the Public Theatre the world premiere of a completely audio production of the play by Make-Believe Association with Daniel Kyri in the title role. Using Shakespeare's text, it brought listeners into Hamlet's mind to hear only what he heard; it continues as a six-part podcast.
== Derivative works ==
This section is limited to derivative works written for the stage.
Tom Stoppard's 1966 play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead retells many of the events of the story from the point of view of the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and gives them a backstory of their own. Several times since 1995, the American Shakespeare Center has mounted repertories that included both Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with the same actors performing the same roles in each.
W. S. Gilbert wrote a short comic play titled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in which Hamlet's play is presented as a tragedy written by Claudius in his youth of which he is greatly embarrassed. Through the chaos triggered by Hamlet's staging of it, Guildenstern helps Rosencrantz vie with Hamlet to make Ophelia his bride.
Lee Blessing's Fortinbras is a comical sequel to Hamlet in which all the deceased characters come back as ghosts. The New York Times said it is "scarcely more than an extended comedy sketch, lacking the portent and linguistic complexity of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Fortinbras operates on a far less ambitious plane, but it is a ripping yarn and offers Keith Reddin a role in which he can commit comic mayhem".
Caridad Svich's 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) includes elements of the story of Hamlet but focuses on Ophelia. In Svich's play, Ophelia is resurrected and rises from a pool of water, after her death in Hamlet. The play is a series of scenes and songs, and was first staged at a public swimming pool in Brooklyn.
David Davalos's Wittenberg is a "tragical-comical-historical" prequel to Hamlet that depicts the Danish prince as a student at Wittenberg University (now known as the University of Halle-Wittenberg), where he is torn between the conflicting teachings of his mentors John Faustus and Martin Luther. The New York Times reviewed the play, saying, "Mr. Davalos has molded a daft campus comedy out of this unlikely convergence", and Nytheatre.com's review said the playwright "has imagined a fascinating alternate reality, and quite possibly, given the fictional Hamlet a back story that will inform the role for the future."
Mad Boy Chronicle by Canadian playwright Michael O'Brien is a dark comedy loosely based on Hamlet, set in Viking Denmark in 999 AD.
In 2025 Radiohead's Thom Yorke collaborated with directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones at the Royal Shakespeare Company to make a work fusing Hamlet with Radiohead's album Hail to the Thief. The work featured Samuel Blenkin as Hamlet. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_ladies_of_the_United_States | List of first ladies of the United States | The first lady of the United States is the hostess of the White House. The position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, but, on occasion, the title has been applied to women who were not presidents' wives, such as when the president was a bachelor or widower, or when the wife of the president was unable to fulfill the duties of the first lady. The first lady is not an elected position; it carries no official duties and receives no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the president. Traditionally, the first lady does not hold outside employment while occupying the office, although Eleanor Roosevelt earned money writing and giving lectures, but gave most of it to charity, and Jill Biden maintained her regular job as an educator during her time in the role. The first lady has her own staff, including the White House social secretary, the first lady's chief of staff, the communications director, the White House chief floral designer, and the executive chef. The Office of the First Lady is also in charge of all social and ceremonial events of the White House, and is a branch of the Executive Office of the President.
There have been total of 54 first ladies.
Following Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, his wife, Melania Trump, became the 44th official first lady. There are four living former first ladies: Hillary Clinton; Laura Bush; Michelle Obama; and Jill Biden. The most recent first lady to die was Rosalynn Carter. The first first lady was Martha Washington. Presidents John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson had two official first ladies; both remarried during their presidential tenures. The wives of four presidents died before their husbands were sworn into office but are still considered first ladies by the White House and National First Ladies' Library: Martha Jefferson; Rachel Jackson; Hannah Van Buren; and Nell Arthur.
One woman who was not married to a president is still considered an official first lady: Harriet Lane, niece of bachelor James Buchanan. The other non-spousal relatives who served as White House hostesses are not recognized by the First Ladies' Library.
In 2007, the United States Mint began releasing a set of half-ounce $10 gold coins under the First Spouse Program with engravings of portraits of the first ladies on the obverse. When a president served without a spouse, a gold coin was issued that bears an obverse image emblematic of Liberty as depicted on a circulating coin of that era and a reverse image emblematic of themes of that president's life. This is true for the coins for Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan's first ladies, but not the coin for Chester A. Arthur's first lady, which instead depicts suffragette Alice Paul.
== List ==
This list includes all persons who served as first ladies, regardless of whether they were married to the incumbent president or not, as well as persons who are considered first ladies by the official White House website and the White House Historical Association. It is sorted by the name the first ladies were commonly known as.
== Other spouses of presidents of the United States ==
Certain spouses of presidents of the United States are not considered first ladies of the United States.
Four presidents were widowed prior to their presidencies:
Thomas Jefferson was married to Martha Wayles from 1772 until her death in 1782.
Andrew Jackson was married to Rachel Donelson from 1794 until her death in 1828.
Martin Van Buren was married to Hannah Hoes from 1807 until her death in 1819.
Chester A. Arthur was married to Ellen Lewis Herndon from 1859 until her death in 1880.
Two presidents were widowed and remarried prior to their presidencies:
Theodore Roosevelt was married to Alice Lee from 1880 until her death in 1884. He was subsequently married to Edith Carow from 1886 to his death in 1919.
Joe Biden was married to Neilia Hunter from 1966 until her death in 1972. He has subsequently been married to Jill Jacobs since 1977.
Two presidents were divorced and remarried prior to their presidencies:
Ronald Reagan was married to Jane Wyman from 1940 until 1949. He was subsequently married to Nancy Davis from 1952 to his death in 2004.
Donald Trump was married to Ivana Zelníčková from 1977 until 1992 and to Marla Maples from 1993 until 1999. He has subsequently been married to Melania Knauss since 2005.
Two presidents remarried after their presidencies:
Millard Fillmore was married to Caroline Carmichael from 1858 until his death in 1874.
Benjamin Harrison was married to Mary Dimmick, the niece of his first wife, from 1896 until his death in 1901. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Republic_of_Serbia | Socialist Republic of Serbia | The Socialist Republic of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian: Социјалистичка Република Србија / Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian: Народна Република Србија / Narodna Republika Srbija, lit. 'National Republic of Serbia'), commonly abbreviated as Republic of Serbia, SR Serbia or simply Serbia, was one of the six constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in what is now the modern day states of Serbia and the disputed territory of Kosovo. Its formation was initiated in 1941, and achieved in 1944–1946, when it was established as a federated republic within Yugoslavia. In that form, it lasted until the constitutional reforms from 1990 to 1992, when it was reconstituted, as the Republic of Serbia within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the largest constituent republic of Yugoslavia, in terms of population and territory. Its capital, Belgrade, was also the federal capital of Yugoslavia.
== History ==
=== World War II ===
After the collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the April War (1941), the entire country was occupied and partitioned between Axis powers. Central territories of Serbia and the northern region of Banat were occupied by Nazi Germany, that enforced direct control over the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, with a puppet Government installed in Belgrade. Southern regions of Metohija and Kosovo were occupied by Fascist Italy and annexed into the Italian Albania. The region of Bačka was annexed by Hungary, while Syrmia was possessed by the Independent State of Croatia. Southeastern parts of Serbia were occupied by Bulgaria.
At the beginning of the occupation, there were two resistance movements: Chetniks and Partisans. They had conflicting ideological and political programs, with Chetniks abandoning initial joint resistance efforts alongside Partisans by the end of the Uprising in Serbia, switching instead to extensive collaboration with Axis forces. Partisans advocated transformation of Yugoslavia into a federation, with Serbia becoming one of its federal units. In the autumn of 1941, first provisional institutions were established by partisans in some liberated territories, headed by the Main National Liberation Committee for Serbia. It was seated in Užice, and thus the movement became known as the Republic of Užice. However, the German offensive crushed this proto-state in December of the same year. After that, main partisan forces moved to Bosnia.
=== People's Republic of Serbia ===
Serbia was liberated in the autumn of 1944, by partisan forces and the Red Army. Soon after the liberation of Belgrade on 20 October, creation of new administration was initiated. In November 1944, the Anti-fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Serbia was convened, affirming the policy of reconstituting Yugoslavia as a federation, with Serbia as one of its federal units. Thus was laid the foundation for the creation of the Federated State of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Федерална Држава Србија), as a federated state within new Democratic Federal Yugoslavia.
The process was formalised in April 1945, when the provisional People's Assembly of Serbia was created, also appointing the first People's Government of Serbia. Two newly created regions, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija, decided to merge into Serbia. On November 29 (1945), Yugoslavia was officially proclaimed as federal republic, and in January 1946, after the first Constitution of federal Yugoslavia was adopted, the Federated State of Serbia was renamed to People's Republic of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian: Народна Република Србија / Narodna Republika Srbija).
In November 1946, elections for the Constitutional Assembly of Serbia were held, and in January 1947, Constitution of Serbia was adopted, reaffirming its position within Yugoslav federation, and also regulating the position of autonomous units (Vojvodina as autonomous province; Kosovo and Metohija as autonomous region). In 1953, a constitutional law was adopted, introducing further social reforms.
By that time, internal political life in Serbia was fully dominated by the Communist Party of Serbia, formed in May 1945 as a branch of the ruling Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In order to suppress remaining monarchist opposition, communists initiated the creation of a wider political coalition, thus establishing the People's Front of Yugoslavia (PFY), in August 1945. Other political parties were soon dissolved, and remnants of political life were constrained within the PFY, that was under full control of the ruling Communist Party.
=== Socialist Republic of Serbia ===
In 1963, a new Yugoslav Constitution was adopted, renaming the federal state into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and its federal units into socialist republics, thus introducing the name: Socialist Republic of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Социјалистичка Република Србија).
In 1966, one of the most prominent Serbs in the Communist party and also vice-president of Yugoslavia (1963–1966) and founder of Yugoslav intelligence agency OZNA, Aleksandar Ranković was removed from positions due to allegations of spying on SFRY President Josip Broz Tito.
After the Croatian Spring in 1971, almost whole party leadership of Serbia was removed from office, under the charge of being "liberal". Latinka Perović and Marko Nikezić were marked as leaders of this liberal movement inside League of Communists of Serbia.
In 1974, new constitution was adopted, increasing the powers of provinces, and making them de facto republics. For the first time the institution of president was formed, as President of the Presidency of Socialist Republic of Serbia. Assembly was electing 15 members of the presidency and one president for a 4-year term, and later 2-year term. The new constitution practically suspended Serbia's authority over the provinces.
After the new constitution was adopted, Dragoslav Marković, then President of Serbia ordered a secret study on this issue. In January 1975, the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia requested a revision of constitutional solutions with explanation that the constitution divided the republic into three parts, thus preventing Serbia from exercising its "historic right to a nation state in the Yugoslav federation". Furthermore, the study Marković requested was completed in 1977 and was named The Blue Book. Although there were differing opinions in the state leadership on the position of the provinces – for example, Edvard Kardelj supported the demands of Serbian leaders – the result of the arbitration was the conclusion that the position of the provinces within Serbia should not be changed. The Federal leadership, led by Tito, believed that the constitutional solution from 1974 could satisfy all the claims of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, but also respect the specifics and special interests of the autonomous provinces. Although the conflict was (temporarily) pacified in this way, the issue remained unresolved.
For most of its existence in the SFRY, Serbia was loyal and generally subordinate to the federal government. This changed after the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980, when Albanian, as well as Serbian nationalism in Kosovo arose. In 1981, major protests erupted in Kosovo demanding the status of republic. The League of Communists was split on how to respond. At the same time, an economic crisis in Yugoslavia started. The leaders of the country were unable to carry out any reforms due to the political instability.
President of League of Communists of Serbia Slobodan Milošević visited Kosovo in April 1987 and promised rapid action in order to protect peace and the Serbs of Kosovo. Ethnic tensions in Kosovo heated up when a Kosovo Albanian soldier opened fire on his fellow soldiers in Paraćin, in an event known as the Paraćin massacre. Then President of Serbia Ivan Stambolić wanted to make compromise, rather than fast solution. He found himself in a clash with Milošević. This conflict culminated with 8th Session and replacement of Stambolić with Petar Gračanin as President of Serbia.
=== Constitutional reform ===
In 1988, new amendments to the Yugoslav Constitution were adopted, initiating a process of democratization. During 1988 and 1989, a successful round of coups in the Communist party leadership, known as Antibureucratic revolution, in Vojvodina, Kosovo as well as Montenegro, replaced autonomous leaderships in this regions. The coups were led by Slobodan Milošević; supporter of Serbian nationalism. The events were condemned by the communist governments of the western Yugoslav republics (especially SR Slovenia and SR Croatia), who successfully resisted the attempts to expand the revolt onto their territories, and turned against Milošević. The rising antagonism eventually resulted in the dissolution of the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1990, and subsequently in the breakup of Yugoslavia.
In 1989, Slobodan Milošević was elected as President of the State Presidency of Serbia. He demanded that the federal Yugoslav government act for the interests of Serbia in Kosovo by sending in the Yugoslav People's Army to suppress separatism in the province. At the same time, several reforms of federal electoral system were proposed, with Serbia supporting a "one-citizen, one-vote" system, which would have given a majority of votes to Serbs. By that time, ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia increased, and the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia collapsed, followed by the crisis of federal institutions. After these events, in 1989 Assembly of Socialist Republic of Serbia voted for constitution amendments that revoked high autonomy for provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo.
After Slovenian authorities forbid a group of Serbs supporting his politics to gather in Ljubljana, Milosević started a trade war with Socialist Republic of Slovenia in late 1989. This Serbian–Slovenian conflict culminated in January 1990 on 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia when Slovenians left the meeting followed by Croatian delegates.
After 1990, the state was known simply as Republic of Serbia (Serbo-Croatian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija), and in December of the same year, Slobodan Milošević was elected as first President of the Republic. In 1992, when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, Serbia became one of its two constituent republics. In 2003, this state union was re-formed into Serbia and Montenegro, and in 2006, Serbia became an independent republic after Montenegro separated.
== Administrative divisions ==
Within Socialist Republic of Serbia two autonomous provinces existed: Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo. The central part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia located outside of the two autonomous provinces was generally known as "Serbia proper" ("Uža Srbija").
Geographically SR Serbia bordered Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east and Albania to the south-west. Within Yugoslavia, it bordered SR Macedonia to the south and SRs Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to the west.
== Demographics ==
=== 1971 census ===
In 1971, total population of the Socialist Republic of Serbia numbered 8,446,590 people, including:
Serbs = 6,142,070 (72.7%)
Albanians = 984,761 (11.66%)
Hungarians = 430,314 (5.10%)
Croats = 184,913 (2.19%)
ethnic Muslims = 154,330 (1.83%)
ethnic Yugoslavs = 123,824 (1.47%)
Slovaks = 76,733 (0.82%)
Romanians (self-declared) = 57,419 (0.62%)
Bulgarians = 53,800 (0.58%)
Romani = 49,894 (0.54%)
Macedonians = 42,675 (0.46%)
Rusyns = 20,608 (0.22%)
Turks = 18,220 (0.20%)
Slovenes = 15,957 (0.17%)
"Vlachs" (Romanians) = 14,724 (0.16%)
=== 1981 census ===
In 1981, total population of the Socialist Republic of Serbia numbered 9,313,677 people, including:
Serbs = 6,331,527 (67.96%)
Albanians = 1,303,032 (13.99%)
Yugoslavs = 441,941 (4.75%)
Hungarians = 390,468 (4.19%)
Muslims = 215,166 (2.31%)
Croats = 149,368 (1.60%)
Romani = 110,956 (1.19%)
Macedonians = 48,986 (0.53%)
Slovenes = 12,006 (0.13%)
== Politics ==
During the socialist era in Yugoslavia, the only legal political parties were the three branches of the federal League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ): League of Communists of Serbia (SKS), League of Communists of Vojvodina (SKV) and League of Communists of Kosovo (SKK). The Serbian branch remained relatively stable and loyal to the federal party until the late 1980s, when it became split over what action to take in Kosovo when protests and fights broke out between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.
The more traditional Communists supported President Ivan Stambolić, who advocated continued neutrality as a means to solve the dispute; while more radical and nationalist-leaning members supported Slobodan Milosević, who advocated the protection of Kosovo Serbs, who had claimed that their population was being pressured to leave Kosovo by Albanian separatists. Milosević utilized public sentiment and opposition to Kosovo Albanian separatism to rally large numbers of supporters to help him overthrow the Communist leadership in Vojvodina, Kosovo and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro in what was known as the anti-bureaucratic revolution. Afterwards, the Serbian League of Communists selected Milosević as its leader. Milosević took a hard stand on Albanian nationalism in Kosovo and pressured the Yugoslav government to give him emergency powers to deal with Kosovo Albanian separatists. Furthermore, he reduced the autonomy of the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina and installed politicians loyal to him to serve as their representatives.
In the Congress of the Yugoslav League of Communists in 1990, Milosević and his subordinate representatives for Vojvodina, Kosovo and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro attempted to silence opposition from the Socialist Republic of Slovenia who opposed the actions taken against Kosovo Albanian leadership, by blocking all reforms proposed by the Slovene representatives. The tactic failed and Slovenia, along with its ally Croatia, abdicated from the Yugoslav Communist Party. This caused the Yugoslav Communist party to fall apart, and then the state of Yugoslavia itself one year later.
== Government ==
Since 1945, the most senior state official in Serbia, and thus de facto head of state, was President of the People's Assembly of Serbia, who also presided over the collective Presidency of the People's Assembly (1945–1953), and Presidency of the Assembly (1953–1990). In 1974, new Constitution of Serbia was adopted, and collective state presidency was formed, not as a committee of the Assembly, but as a supreme governing body. Since then, President of the Presidency served as the most senior state official of the Socialist Republic of Serbia. At first, President was elected for 4 years mandate, but in 1982 it was lowered to 2 years.
Main executive body, since 1945, was the People's Government of Serbia. In 1953, it was renamed as the Executive Council of Serbia. It served as the executive branch of the People's Assembly. The president of the Executive Council had a role of prime minister.
List of presidents of Serbia
Prime Minister of Serbia
Minister of Internal Affairs (SR Serbia) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Gonin | Simone Gonin | Simone Gonin (born 23 August 1989) is an Italian curler from Pinerolo.
He represented Italy at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
He was ejected from a game against the Czech Republic at the 2022 World Men's Curling Championship after smashing his broom. The head of the brush popped off, and landed on the adjacent sheet in front of U.S. skip Korey Dropkin while he was throwing. Gonin was apologetic when he retrieved his brush head, and Dropkin made his shot anyway. Despite the incident, Gonin was awarded the Collie Campbell Memorial Award for sportsmanship at the event. The Italian team also won the bronze medal that year, the first medal for Italy at the World Men's Championship.
== Personal life ==
Gonin is employed as a curling instructor and manager. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Rogers_(politician)#Career | Lynn Rogers (politician)#Career | Lynn Wayne Rogers (born September 11, 1958) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 41st Kansas State Treasurer from 2021 to 2023. He previously served as the 51st lieutenant governor of Kansas from 2019 to 2021. A Democrat, he had previously served on the board of Wichita Public Schools from 2001 to 2017, and in the Kansas Senate representing the 25th district in west Wichita from 2017 to 2019.
== Early life and education ==
Rogers was born on September 11, 1958, in Fremont, Nebraska. Raised by Republican parents, he grew up on a large hog farm in rural Nebraska. His grandfather was a county commissioner, and his father served on a local school board.
Rogers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1980.
== Career ==
After graduating from college, Rogers began working as a marketing specialist for Citibank Savings. After working for Citibank in Chicago, he moved with his wife to Wichita, Kansas in 1985, where he accepted a marketing position with the Farm Credit Bank of Wichita. In 1993, Rogers became a vice president with CoBank Farm Credit Leasing, where he would remain until his election to the Kansas Senate in 2016.
=== School district politics ===
In the 1990s, as a parent of a public school student, Rogers was active in a Wichita-area Parent-teacher organization (PTO), and aided fundraising for the Wichita Public Schools, including the district's bond drive in 2000. Rogers' first elected office was as a member of the Wichita School Board, where he served from 2001 to 2018.
During his tenure on the school board, Rogers switched his affiliation from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, citing frustration with Republicans in attempts to gut support for the public schools.
=== Kansas Senate ===
In 2016, he was elected to the Kansas Senate's 25th district, replacing outgoing Republican Senator Michael O'Donnell, who vacated the seat to run for Sedgwick County Commissioner. In his time as a senator, Rogers worked to "reverse the Brownback-Colyer tax experiment and invest more in our schools." Rogers focused primarily on education, agricultural and banking issues.
In the Kansas Senate, senator Laura Kelly sat at the desk next to his, and became his mentor.
=== Lieutenant governor ===
On May 24, 2018, Senator Kelly announced that she had selected Rogers as her running mate in the 2018 Kansas gubernatorial election. On November 6, 2018, Kelly and Rogers defeated the Republican gubernatorial ticket of Kris Kobach and Wink Hartman, as well as the independent ticket of Greg Orman and John Doll. Rogers became the first lieutenant governor from Wichita since fellow Democrat Thomas Docking served in the 1980s.
In addition to representing Kansas in official visits to other states, Rogers has spent much of his tenure traveling extensively throughout the state, engaging in political outreach, and visiting over half of the state's 105 counties.
=== Kansas Treasurer ===
In December 2020, Governor Laura Kelly announced that she had selected Rogers to replace Jake LaTurner as Kansas State Treasurer after LaTurner was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Rogers assumed office on January 2, 2021, with David Toland succeeding him as Lieutenant Governor. He ran for a full term in 2022, losing to Republican State Representative Steven C. Johnson.
== Personal life ==
Rogers is married to Kris Rogers. They have grown children, including a son who serves as a staff attorney for the Oklahoma Supreme Court. They have a daughter who teaches in the Kansas City area, and another son "involved in Wichita's arts community." |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelley_O%27Hara | Kelley O'Hara | Kelley Maureen O'Hara (born August 4, 1988) is an American former professional soccer player. She represented the United States national team on 160 occasions, winning two FIFA Women's World Cups and an Olympic gold medal. She spent most of her club career with National Women's Soccer League club NJ/NY Gotham FC. Known for her intensity, she played primarily as a wingback but played as a forward in college and occasionally played an attacking role in her professional career.
O'Hara was awarded the Hermann Trophy while playing for the Stanford Cardinal in 2009. She then played for FC Gold Pride and the Boston Breakers in Women's Professional Soccer. When the NWSL was formed in 2013, she joined Gotham FC (then known as Sky Blue FC). She later played for Utah Royals FC and the Washington Spirit, with whom she scored the winning goal in the NWSL Championship in 2021. She returned to Gotham and won her second NWSL Championship in 2023. She was named to the FIFA FIFPRO Women's World 11 in 2019.
O'Hara played internationally for the United States from 2010 to 2023. She appeared at four Women's World Cups in 2011; 2015, helping the team win the title; 2019, defending the title; and 2023. She appeared at three Olympic Games, including at the 2012 Olympics, where she was one of three U.S. players that played every minute of the tournament as they won gold; 2016; and 2020, where she won bronze.
O'Hara announced that she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2024 NWSL season. On September 21, 2024, she was put on the season-ending injury list due to chronic knee degeneration, thus effectively ending her career.
== Early life ==
O'Hara was born in Fayetteville, Georgia, near Atlanta to parents Dan and Karen O'Hara. She has a brother named Jerry and a sister named Erin. O'Hara has Irish heritage. O'Hara grew up in Peachtree City, Georgia and graduated from Starr's Mill High School in Fayette County where she played four years on the varsity soccer team and captained the team during her junior and senior years. O'Hara helped lead the Panthers to the 5A state title in 2006 with 20 goals and 16 assists. The team finished second in the state championships during her sophomore year. O'Hara was named Parade All-American as a junior and a senior and All-League, All-County and All-State all four years. In 2006, she was named the 2006 Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) Player of the Year and Gatorade Georgia State Player of the Year. She was also named NSCAA All-American.
O'Hara played for club teams, the Peachtree City Lazers and AFC Lightning before playing for the U.S. U-16s in 2004 and then joining the U-17 youth women's national team of that same year. She played on the Concorde Fire South '88 Elite that went on to win the 2007 GA U19G State Cup and advance to the Semi Finals of Regionals.
=== Stanford Cardinal (2006–2009) ===
A two-time Parade All-American coming into her freshman year at Stanford University, O'Hara led the Cardinal in scoring in 2006 with nine goals. She repeated that feat during her sophomore year, helping the Cardinal to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
During O'Hara's junior year, Stanford advanced to the College Cup for the first time since 1993, defeating 2005 national champion Portland, 1–0. The Cardinal would fall in the semi-final, 0–1, to Notre Dame.
As a senior, she had one of the best seasons in Division I history, scoring 26 goals with 13 assists. O'Hara's senior year ended in the 2009 College Cup, where the Cardinal lost to North Carolina. O'Hara received two yellow cards in the second half, ejecting her from the game, forcing the Cardinal to finish the game a woman down. The game ended with a score of 1–0, thus marking North Carolina's twentieth National Championship. She finished her college career at Stanford with 57 goals and 32 assists, both school records at the time.
O'Hara was awarded the 2009 Hermann Trophy as collegiate soccer's top player. She had been on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list for three consecutive seasons. O'Hara was also a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority during her time at Stanford.
On August 5, 2025, O'Hara was named to the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
== Club career ==
Prior to graduating from Stanford, O'Hara played for the Pali Blues of the USL W-League (semi-pro) in the summer of 2009, scoring four goals during her tenure with the club.
=== WPS: FC Gold Pride, Boston Breakers (2010–2011) ===
O'Hara was drafted third overall by FC Gold Pride at the 2010 WPS Draft. In addition to the close proximity of home stadium Pioneer Stadium to O'Hara's alma mater Stanford University, O'Hara had previously worked with FC Gold Pride head coach Albertin Montoya when he served as an assistant coach at Stanford University in 2008.
The team dominated the season finishing first during the regular season after defeating the Philadelphia Independence 4–1 with goals from O'Hara, Christine Sinclair and Marta. As the regular season champion, the team earned a direct route to the championship playoff game where they faced the Philadelphia Independence. During the final, FC Gold Pride defeated the Independence 4–0 to clinch the WPS Championship. Despite their successful season, the club ceased operations on November 16, 2010, due to not meeting the league's financial reserve requirement.
After FC Gold Pride folded in November 2010, O'Hara was signed by the Boston Breakers. She scored 10 goals during her two seasons in the WPS playing primarily as an outside midfielder. On January 5, 2012, it was announced O'Hara would be going back to her hometown because she had signed with the Atlanta Beat. However, the league folded just before the 2012 season began.
=== NWSL: Sky Blue FC, 2013–2017 ===
On January 11, 2013, O'Hara joined Sky Blue FC in the new National Women's Soccer League. Because the club's head coach, Jim Gabarra, played O'Hara as a forward, she reverted to a role she filled with success in college.
Over her career at Sky Blue, O'Hara has been played in several roles including forward, winger, right-back, and central midfielder.
=== Utah Royals FC, 2017–2020 ===
On December 29, 2017, O'Hara was traded to Utah Royals FC. Due to a hamstring injury, O'Hara only appeared in 8 games for Utah in 2018. O'Hara contributed to Utah's first-ever franchise win, scoring a goal in the team's 2–0 victory over the Washington Spirit in May 2018.
Utah finished the season in 5th place, just 2 points shy of making the playoffs. O'Hara underwent ankle surgery after the 2018 season.
In 2019, she made only 2 starts in 4 appearances for Utah due to injuries and World Cup duties. She was still recuperating from an off-season ankle injury at the start of the NWSL season and saw limited minutes as a substitute in two late-April games. Following her World Cup win, O'Hara started in two games for Utah at the end of July, notching an assist in the team's 2–2 draw against Portland. She was named to the 2019 NWSL second XI.
O'Hara played only 65 minutes for the Royals in the abbreviated 2020 NWSL season. She was still recovering from an injury at the start of the Challenge Cup and did not dress for the first few games. She saw limited minutes in Utah's July 13 game against Chicago and the July 18 game against Houston.
Starting in August 2020, rumors of a O'Hara trade to the Washington Spirit began to circulate and O'Hara announced in August that she would opt out of the 2020 NWSL Fall Series, set to begin in early September.
=== Washington Spirit, 2021–2022 ===
O'Hara's trade to the Spirit was officially announced on December 2, 2020. The deal sent $75,000 in allocation money to the Utah Royals and a 2022 first round draft pick. O'Hara stated that she requested the move to Spirit so that she could live, work in a same city with her partner.
The Spirit won their first NWSL Championship on November 20, 2021, when they defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 2–1 in extra time at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. O'Hara scored the winning goal in the 97th minute of the game.
=== NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2023–2024 ===
After the 2022 season, O'Hara announced on November 15 that she would sign with NJ/NY Gotham FC, returning to the club she formerly played for when it was called Sky Blue. The move made her the first NWSL player to sign with a new team in free agency. Gotham FC officially announced her signing on January 25, 2023. O'Hara won her second NWSL championship with Gotham in 2023.
O'Hara announced on May 2, 2024, that she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the season. On September 21, 2024, O'Hara was put on the season-ending injury list due to chronic knee degeneration, thus effectively ending her career.
== International career ==
=== Youth national teams (2005–2010) ===
O'Hara represented the United States in various youth national teams from 2005 through 2010. She scored 24 goals in her 35 under-20 caps, the third-most ever for a U.S. player in the U-20 age group. She was a member of the fourth-place United States U-20 women's national soccer team that competed in the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship in Russia. O'Hara scored two goals in the tournament: one against the Congo (for which game she was named FIFA's player of the match) and one against Germany. She was also the first player in the tournament to be ejected from a game, having picked up two yellow cards in the game against Argentina.
O'Hara rejoined the U-20 national team at the 2007 Pan American Games. She scored four goals in the women's football tournament, against Paraguay, Panama, and Mexico. The United States, which only sent their U-20 women to the tournament, would fall in the final game, 0–5, to a full-strength Brazilian senior team featuring Brazilian powerhouse, Marta.
In February 2008, O'Hara returned to the U-20 women's national team to play in the U-20 Four Nations Tournament in Chile. Her last appearance for the U-20 team occurred in July 2008, at the 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico. O'Hara helped the U-20 team qualify for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile. She did not play in the U-20 World Cup, instead remaining with her college team in its NCAA postseason campaign.
=== Senior national team (2010–2023) ===
She was called into the senior national team's training camp in December 2009 and attended the January 2010 training camp in the lead-up to the 2010 Algarve Cup. O'Hara earned her first senior national team cap in March 2010, coming in as a substitute during a friendly match against Mexico.
=== 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup ===
After falling short of making the 21 player World Cup roster, O'Hara was called up to replace Lindsay Tarpley who tore her ACL in a send-off match against Japan on May 14, 2011. O'Hara earned just one cap at right midfield in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in the final group stage game against Sweden. The United States went on to win the silver medal in that tournament.
=== 2012 Olympics ===
Throughout her national U-20s, collegiate, and club career, O'Hara was one of the top young offensive players in the United States, but under head coach Pia Sundhage, O'Hara was converted to play outside back in 2012 after teammate Ali Krieger went down with an ACL injury in the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Against Guatemala on January 22, 2012, in the Olympic Qualifiers, she made her first start at left back and registered three assists. O'Hara started at right back against Costa Rica in the match that qualified the United States for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. O'Hara played in every minute of the United States' gold medal run, one of three American players to do so.
=== 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup ===
In the United States' first four games of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Hara did not see any playing time. O'Hara made her first start of the tournament in the quarter-final game against China PR. She was replaced by Christen Press in the 61st minute. O'Hara scored her first career international goal in the United States' 2–0 victory over Germany in the semi-final. In the final against Japan, O'Hara entered the game in the 61st minute to replace Megan Rapinoe. The United States went on to defeat Japan 5–2, winning the first World Cup title since 1999 and the third overall World Cup title for the United States since the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1991.
=== 2016 Olympics ===
During their 2016 appearance at the Olympics, the United States soccer team gained their worst-ever tournament finish. O'Hara played in the first game, which resulted in a 2-0 defeat of New Zealand. Against France, the United States won 1-0. The final game of the play-in round was against Colombia, which resulted in a 2-2 tie, in which O'Hara received a foul. Once they progressed to the quarter-finals, the United States' played their final game of the Olympics against Sweden, losing to the team on penalties. During this final contest, O'Hara posted 2 shots.
=== 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup ===
Despite injuries which kept her from playing regularly for the United States in the year leading up to the World Cup, O'Hara was named to Jill Ellis' roster for the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France. She played in five of the United States' seven games and appeared in all knockout stage games.
In the team's opening game
against Thailand, O'Hara crossed the ball to Alex Morgan in the 12th minute who converted O'Hara's service to notch the team's first goal of the tournament. The U.S. went on to beat Thailand 13–0. O'Hara made her second assist of the tournament in the semifinal against England when she delivered a cross from the right flank to Christen Press whose 10th minute goal put the U.S. in the lead.
O'Hara started in the final against the Netherlands but was substituted at halftime due to a collision just before the break with the Dutch winger Lieke Martens. The U.S. won the match 2–0 and O'Hara won her second World Cup.
=== 2020 Olympics ===
Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Olympics were postponed until the following summer. During the first game of Olympics, the United States lost against Sweden 3-0. After this loss, O'Hara noted that the team needed to be "ruthless" in their next game against New Zealand, which they won 6-1. Against Australia, the United States ended the game in a draw of 0-0.
The United States progressed to the quarter-final games, which they played against the Netherlands. O'Hara played the full game, pushing up the flanks in the final third. The game ended 2-2, with the United States winning 4-2 on penalties.
During the semi-final game, the United States faced off against Canada. O'Hara started the game, receiving a yellow card 30 minutes in after making a late challenge against Nichelle Prince. Canada scored after receiving a penalty. O'Hara was replaced by Sam Mewis at 80 minutes. The United States were unable to mount a comeback and lost to Canada for the first time in 20 years.
=== 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup ===
On June 21, 2023, Vlatko Andonovski named O'Hara to the United States squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia, her fourth World Cup tournament. She made her tournament debut in the 84th minute of the group-stage opener against Vietnam. While she did not feature in the next two games against the Netherlands and Portugal, she made her next appearance during the game against Sweden, coming on in the last minute of extra time before the penalty shootout. O'Hara was the third U.S. player to miss her penalty shot, and Sweden advanced on penalties, eliminating the U.S. from the World Cup in the Round of 16.
== Endorsements ==
O'Hara has appeared in multiple commercials and advertisements for Under Armour. In 2015, she appeared in television commercials and promotional materials promoting chocolate milk on behalf of the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.
== Podcast ==
In July 2020, O'Hara launched a podcast with sports website Just Women's Sports. The podcast was rebranded as The Players' Pod in April 2022. Website founder Haley Rosen had asked O'Hara to join the advisory board. O'Hara said that she instead asked to host their podcast because she'd "always thought hosting a podcast would be fun." O'Hara says her goal is to generate "open, candid conversations" about the lives of athletes, particularly female athletes. The podcast posted its last episode on August 9, 2023.
== Personal life ==
O'Hara was one of many out LGBT athletes to compete in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. As of 2019, during her off-season, she resides with her partner, Kameryn Stanhouse, in Washington, D.C. She got engaged to Stanhouse on New Year's Eve 2022, announcing it to fans via Instagram. On April 23, 2024, O'Hara announced that she was one of the executive producers of "Ripe!," a queer short film in which two young women develop feelings for each other after a competitive moment in a pickup soccer game. "Ripe!," which celebrates the ripening of LGBTQIA+ identities and shedding queer shame, premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival on June 9, 2024.
== Career statistics ==
=== Club ===
As of October 20, 2024
=== International ===
As of match played August 6, 2023
Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each O'Hara goal.
== Honors ==
FC Gold Pride
WPS Championship: 2010
Washington Spirit
NWSL Championship: 2021
NJ/NY Gotham FC
NWSL Championship: 2023
United States U20
CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship runner-up: 2008
United States
FIFA Women's World Cup: 2015, 2019, runner-up: 2011
Olympic Gold Medal: 2012
Olympic Bronze Medal: 2020
CONCACAF Women's Championship: 2014; 2018; 2022
CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2012; 2016; 2020
SheBelieves Cup: 2016; 2018; 2020, 2021; 2022
Algarve Cup: 2011, 2013, 2015
Four Nations Tournament: 2011
Individual
Pac-10 Conference First-Team: 2006, 2007, 2009
U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year Finalist: 2007, 2009
Hermann Trophy Winner: 2009
NCAA All-American First-Team: 2009
ESPN Academic All-America First-Team: 2009
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame: Inducted February 22, 2020. O'Hara was the youngest person ever inducted and first soccer player to be inducted.
IFFHS CONCACAF Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020
FIFPro Women's World XI: 2019
Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame: Class of 2025 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Radcliffe | Daniel Radcliffe | Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor, best known for portraying the title character in all eight films of the Harry Potter film series from 2001 to 2011.
Radcliffe branched out to stage acting in 2007, starring in the West End and Broadway productions of Equus. He returned to Broadway in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), earning a Grammy Award nomination. His other Broadway roles include Martin McDonagh's drama The Cripple of Inishmaan (2014) and Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along (2023), the latter of which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and another Grammy Award nomination. He also starred in the London revivals of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (2017) and Samuel Beckett's Endgame (2020).
Radcliffe also expanded his film roles, acting in a variety of genres such as the horror film The Woman in Black (2012), surreal drama Swiss Army Man (2016), thriller Now You See Me 2 (2016), and comedy The Lost City (2022). He also portrayed Allen Ginsberg in the biopic Kill Your Darlings (2013) and "Weird Al" Yankovic in the musical parody Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022). The latter earned him nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Television Award. He also played multiple roles in the anthology comedy series Miracle Workers from 2019 to 2023.
Radcliffe has contributed to various charities, including Demelza Hospice Care for Children and the Trevor Project. The latter awarded him its Hero Award in 2011 for his advocacy with LGBTQ youth.
== Early life and education ==
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born on 23 July 1989 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in the Hammersmith district of London the only child of casting agent Marcia Jeannine Gresham (née Jacobson) and literary agent Alan George Radcliffe. His Jewish mother, born in South Africa, traces her ancestry to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, and was raised in the English town of Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex. His Northern Irish father was raised in a "very working-class" Protestant family in Banbridge in County Down. In 2019, he explored both sides of his family history in the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?. Radcliffe's parents had both acted as children. As a casting agent, his mother was involved in BBC productions including The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
Radcliffe was educated at three private schools for boys in London: Redcliffe School, Sussex House School, and the City of London School. After the release of the first Harry Potter film, attending school proved difficult for him as some fellow pupils became hostile, though he states they were just trying to "have a crack at the kid that plays Harry Potter" rather than acting out of jealousy. As his acting career began to consume his schedule, he continued his education through on-set tutors. He has admitted to not being a very good student, considering school useless and finding the work "really difficult". He achieved A grades in the three AS level exams that he took in 2006, but decided to take a break from education and did not attend university. Part of his reasoning was he already knew he wanted to be an actor and screenwriter, and it would be difficult to have a normal university experience.
== Career ==
=== 1999–2001: Acting debut and early career ===
Radcliffe first expressed a desire to act at age five. After one of his mother's casting agent friends secured him an audition, he made his acting debut at age ten in BBC One's two-part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield (1999), portraying the title character as a young boy. He made his film debut in The Tailor of Panama (2001), an American film based on John le Carré's 1996 spy novel, which was a moderate commercial success.
=== 2001–2011: Stardom with Harry Potter ===
In 2000, producer David Heyman met Radcliffe while he was at the theatre with his father, a well-known literary agent whom Heyman was friends with. He asked him to audition for the role of Harry Potter for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the best-selling book by British author J. K. Rowling. Rowling had been searching for an unknown British actor to personify the character, and the film's director Chris Columbus recalled thinking, "This is what I want. This is Harry Potter" after he saw a video of the young actor in David Copperfield. Eight months later, following several auditions, Radcliffe was selected to play the part. Rowling endorsed the selection, saying: "I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry." Radcliffe's parents originally turned down the offer, as they had been told that it would involve six films shot in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. instead offered Radcliffe a two-film contract with shooting in the UK; Radcliffe was unsure at the time if he would act in more than two Harry Potter films.
The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone took place in 2001. Radcliffe received a seven-figure salary for the lead role, but asserted that the fee was "not that important" to him; his parents chose to invest the money for him. The film was highly popular and was met with positive reviews, and critics took notice of Radcliffe: "Radcliffe is the embodiment of every reader's imagination. It is wonderful to see a young hero who is so scholarly looking and filled with curiosity and who connects with very real emotions, from solemn intelligence and the delight of discovery to deep family longing," wrote Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle.
A year later, Radcliffe starred in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second installment of the series. Reviewers were positive about the lead actors' performances but had polarising opinions on the film overall. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) was the third film in the series. Radcliffe's performance was criticised by The New York Times film critic A. O. Scott, who felt that co-star Emma Watson had to carry him with her performance. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) was the second-highest grossing Harry Potter film at that point, and Radcliffe singled out the humour as a reason for the film's creative success.
The future of the Harry Potter franchise was put into question when Radcliffe, Watson, and co-star Rupert Grint hesitated to sign on to continue their roles. Around this time, Radcliffe, Watson and Grint were offered the opportunity to star in a remake The Wizard of Oz, which they all turned down with Radcliffe saying: "I was like a karate kicking cowardly lion and I remember I was like 14 or 15 and I was like, ‘I don’t know a lot about the world, but this is a bad idea and it should not be made." By March 2007, Radcliffe decided to sign on for the final Harry Potter films; his signing put an end to weeks of press "speculation that he would be denied the role due to his involvement in Equus", in which he had performed nude onstage. Radcliffe reprised the role of Harry for the fifth time in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Radcliffe stated that director David Yates and co-star Imelda Staunton made Order of the Phoenix the "most fun" film to work on in the series. His performance earned him several award nominations, and he received the 2008 National Movie Award for "Best Male Performance". Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson left imprints of their hands, feet, and wands in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the series' sixth instalment, was released in July 2009. Radcliffe received nominations for Best Male Performance and Global Superstar at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.
For financial and scripting reasons, the last Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) was divided into two films that were shot back-to-back. This decision drew criticism from the series' fans, but Radcliffe defended the split, stating that it would have been impossible to properly adapt the final novel into a single film.
The two-film finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2, was released in November 2010 and July 2011, respectively. While Deathly Hallows – Part 1 grossed $960 million, Deathly Hallows – Part 2 grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide; as of May 2019, it was the 11th-highest-grossing film of all time. Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was critically acclaimed, as was Radcliffe's performance; Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post asked, "Who could have predicted that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson would turn out to be good actors"? Critic Rex Reed remarked, "Frankly, I'm sorry to see [Radcliffe] go"; Roger Ebert gave the film a highly positive review, but felt that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson were "upstaged by the supporting [actors]".
Radcliffe acknowledged that some people would never be able to separate him from the Harry Potter character; however, he has said he is "proud to be associated with this film series forever". Despite positive feelings about the films, he has no interest in doing more Harry Potter films. After Rowling hinted about writing an eighth book, Radcliffe was asked if he would do another Harry Potter film, to which he replied, "[It is] very doubtful. I think 10 years is a long time to spend with one character". Despite devoting so much time to the series, Radcliffe has asserted that he did not miss out on a childhood like other child actors, remarking, "I've been given a much better perspective on life by doing Potter."
=== 2002–2008: West End and Broadway Theatre debut ===
In 2002, Radcliffe made his stage debut as a celebrity guest in a West End production of The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Branagh—who also appeared with him in the second Harry Potter film. He appeared in the film December Boys, an Australian family drama about four orphans that was shot in 2005 and released to theaters in mid-September 2007. On 13 April 2006, a portrait of Radcliffe by Stuart Pearson Wright was unveiled as part of a new exhibition opening at the National Theatre, before being moved to the National Portrait Gallery.
In 2007, Radcliffe co-starred with Carey Mulligan in My Boy Jack, a television drama film shown on ITV. The film received mostly positive reviews, with several critics praising Radcliffe's performance as an eighteen-year-old who goes missing in action during a battle. Radcliffe stated, "For many people my age, the First World War is just a topic in a history book. But I've always been fascinated by the subject and think it's as relevant today as it ever was." Later that year, he published several poems under the pen name Jacob Gershon—a combination of his middle name and the Hebrew version of his mother's maiden name Gresham—in the underground fashion magazine Rubbish.
At age seventeen, in a bid to demonstrate that he was prepared for adult roles, Radcliffe starred in a West End revival of Peter Shaffer's play Equus at the Gielgud Theatre. The piece had not been revived since its first run in 1973. Radcliffe took on the lead role of Alan Strang, a stable boy who has an obsession with horses. Advance sales topped £1.7 million. The role generated significant pre-opening media interest, as Radcliffe performed a nude scene. Equus opened on 27 February 2007 and ran until 9 June 2007. Radcliffe's performance was acclaimed, as critics were impressed by the nuance and depth of his against-type role. Charles Spencer of The Telegraph wrote that the actor "displays a dramatic power and an electrifying stage presence that marks a tremendous leap forward." He added: "I never thought I would find the diminutive (but perfectly formed) Radcliffe a sinister figure, but as Alan Strang ... there are moments when he seems genuinely scary in his rage and confusion." The production transferred to Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre in September 2008. Radcliffe continued in the lead role, starring alongside Kate Mulgrew, Anna Camp, and his Harry Potter co-star Richard Griffiths. Radcliffe was nervous about reprising the role on Broadway as he considered American audiences to be more discerning than those in London. Radcliffe's performance was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
=== 2010–2018: Return to Broadway and independent films ===
After voicing a character in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XXI" in late 2010, Radcliffe debuted as J. Pierrepont Finch in a 2011 Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The role had previously been played by Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick. Other cast members included John Larroquette, Rose Hemingway and Mary Faber. Both the actor and production received favourable reviews, with USA Today commenting: "Radcliffe ultimately succeeds not by overshadowing his fellow cast members, but by working in conscientious harmony with them – and having a blast in the process." Radcliffe's performance in the show earned him Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. The production itself later received nine Tony Award nominations. Radcliffe left the show on 1 January 2012.
Radcliffe's first post-Harry Potter project was the 2012 horror film The Woman in Black, adapted from the 1983 novel by Susan Hill. The film was released on 3 February 2012 in the United States and Canada, and was released on 10 February in the UK. Radcliffe portrays a man sent to deal with the legal matters of a mysterious woman who has just died, and soon after he begins to experience strange events and hauntings from the ghost of a woman dressed in black. He has said he was "incredibly excited" to be part of the film and described the script as "beautifully written".
In 2013, he portrayed American beat poet Allen Ginsberg in the thriller drama Kill Your Darlings, directed by John Krokidas. He also starred in an Irish-Canadian romantic comedy film The F Word (2013) directed by Michael Dowseand written by Elan Mastai, based on TJ Dawe and Michael Rinaldi's play Toothpaste and Cigars and then he starred in Horns, an American dark fantasy horror film directed by Alexandre Aja. Both of the films premiered at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival. Also in 2013, Radcliffe performed at the Noël Coward Theatre in the stage play revival of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan as the lead, Billy Claven, for which he won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Radcliffe starred as Igor in a science fiction horror film Victor Frankenstein (2015), directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Max Landis. The film was based on contemporary adaptations of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein. He also starred as Sam Houser, one of the founders of Rockstar Games, in the biographical drama film The Gamechangers.
Radcliffe starred in the action adventure film Now You See Me 2 (2016) alongside Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, and Woody Harrelson. playing a technological prodigy, entrepreneur, criminal mastermind and a main leading antagonist all along with Michael Caine's character named Arthur Tressler (of whom Radcliffe's character is revealed to be the son), who whilst in turn resents magic. In 2016, Radcliffe portrayed Manny, a talkative corpse, in the indie film Swiss Army Man with Paul Dano. That same year, He also starred in critically acclaimed independent film Imperium (2016) with Toni Collette, and Tracy Letts. He played Nate Foster, an idealistic FBI agent who goes undercover to take down a radical white supremacy group. The film received an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus reading, "The unsettling Imperium boasts troublingly timely themes and a talented cast led by Daniel Radcliffe as an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a ring of white supremacists."
Radcliffe starred off-Broadway at The Public Theater in a documentary theatre piece titled Privacy, playing the role of The Writer. In 2017, he starred as Yossi Ghinsberg in the thriller Jungle, which was based on an internationally best-selling memoir of the same name by Yossi Ghinsberg. In 2018, Radcliffe portrayed a pilot smuggling drugs across borders in the independent action-thriller Beast of Burden directed by Jesper Ganslandt. The same year, he returned to Broadway in the ninety-minute comedy play The Lifespan of a Fact at Studio 54 Theatre with Bobby Cannavale and Cherry Jones. The play revolves around a determined young fact checker who goes up against his demanding editor and an unorthodox author. As part of his research for the role, Radcliffe spent a day working in the fact checking department of The New Yorker.
=== 2019–present: Career expansion ===
In 2019, Radcliffe starred as Craig in the TBS comedy limited series Miracle Workers based on the book by Simon Rich. The show's second season premiered on 28 January 2020. He voice–starred as Rex Dasher, a secret agent who helps Marla, in the animated film Playmobil: The Movie directed by Lino DiSalvo. In 2020, Radcliffe starred as Miles in the action comedy film Guns Akimbo directed by Jason Lei Howden and co-starring Samara Weaving and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. He also starred as Tim Jenkin in the thriller film Escape from Pretoria, based on the real-life prison escape by three young political prisoners from jail in South Africa in 1979. He also played the role of Prince Frederick in the Netflix special Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt opposite Ellie Kemper. Radcliffe reunited with multiple cast members of the Harry Potter film series for an HBO Max special titled Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which was released on 1 January 2022. Radcliffe stars as the villain, Abigail Fairfax, in the action-adventure comedy film The Lost City, opposite Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. He portrayed musician "Weird Al" Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, a biographical parody film produced for The Roku Channel, for which he received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
In early 2022, Radcliffe returned to the stage acting alongside Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez in the New York Theatre Workshop revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, in which he played Charley Kringas. The revival started on 21 November 2022 and opened on 12 December 2022, running for a limited engagement through 8 January 2023, before transferring to a critically acclaimed run on Broadway. The production closed on 7 July 2024. For his performance, Radcliffe won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. A film version of Merrily We Roll Along, starring Radcliffe and his co-stars from their stage production, had been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The release date for the U.S. was set for 5 December 2025. Radcliffe returned to Broadway in the interactive one-man play Every Brilliant Thing at the Hudson Theatre in February 2026.
Radcliffe is set to star alongside Lucas Hedges in the war thriller Trust the Man. In May 2025, it was announced that Radcliffe would star in the Tina Fey-produced television series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins alongside Tracy Morgan and Erika Alexander. The first episode premiered in January 2026.
== Acting credits and accolades ==
Radcliffe is known for his starring roles portraying the title role in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011), poet Allen Ginsberg in the biographical drama Kill Your Darlings (2013) and musical satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic in the biopic parody Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022), the later of which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. He has also acted in numerous other films from a wide variety of genres such as the horror films The Woman in Black (2012), Horns (2013) and Victor Frankenstein (2015), the surrealist comedy Swiss Army Man (2015), the romantic comedy The F Word (2013), the crime thriller Imperium (2016), and the adventure comedy The Lost City (2022).
He has also established himself as a stage actor, making his Broadway debut in a revival of the Peter Shaffer play Equus (2007). He returned to Broadway in the musical revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2011), earning a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, the Martin McDonagh play The Cripple of Inishmaan (2014), and Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along (2023), the latter of which earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and another Grammy Award nomination.
== Other ventures ==
=== Philanthropy ===
Radcliffe has lent his support to various charitable organisations. He designed the Cu-Bed for Habitat's VIP Kids range (a cube made of eight smaller ones which can be made into a bed, chaise-longue or chair) with all the royalties from the sale of the bed going directly to his favourite charity, Demelza House Children's Hospice in Sittingbourne, Kent. Radcliffe has urged fans to make donations to the charity's Candle for Care programme in lieu of giving him Christmas presents. In 2008, he was among several celebrities who donated their old glasses to an exhibit honouring victims of the Holocaust. During the Broadway run of Equus he auctioned off a pair of jeans and other items worn in the show, for New-York-based Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and was a presenter at the 2011 Gypsy of the Year competition. He has also made donations in support of Get Connected UK, a London-based free confidential national helpline for troubled youth.
=== Political and social views ===
Radcliffe is a supporter of the Labour Party. He previously supported the Liberal Democrats, and endorsed then-Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in the 2010 general election. In 2012, however, he switched his political alignment to Labour, citing disillusionment with the performance of Clegg and the Liberal Democrats while in government, and approving of then-Labour leader Ed Miliband. In 2015, he endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party leadership campaign. He told The Big Issue, "I feel like this show of sincerity by a man who has been around long enough and stuck to his beliefs long enough that he knows them and doesn't have to be scripted is what is making people sit up and get excited. It is great."
Radcliffe supports abolishing the British monarchy and replacing it with a republic. He also supports British unionism, and opposed the 2014 Scottish independence referendum because he "personally like[s] the UK being how it is".
Radcliffe is supportive of the LGBTQ community. Speaking out against homophobia, he began filming public service announcements in 2009 for The Trevor Project, promoting awareness of gay teen suicide prevention. He first learned of the organization while performing Equus on Broadway in 2008 and has contributed financially to it. He said in a 2010 interview, "I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals. Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it." In the same interview, he stressed the importance of public figures advocating for equal rights. He received The Trevor Project's Hero Award in 2011 for his contributions. In June 2020, amid controversy over Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling's remarks on transgender people, Radcliffe penned an essay published by The Trevor Project in which he voiced support for the transgender community and expressed regret that Rowling's statements tarnished some fans' experience of the Harry Potter books.
== Personal life ==
=== Relationships and family ===
Radcliffe splits his time between homes in the Fulham area of London and the West Village neighbourhood of New York City's Manhattan borough. He has been in a relationship with American actress Erin Darke since 2012, after having met on the set of Kill Your Darlings. They have a son, who was born in April 2023. Radcliffe called fatherhood "the literal best thing that ever happened [to me]."
Radcliffe is close with his family, whom he credits for keeping him grounded. He has said that his parents, who have been married for 30 years, have inspired him in his relationship with Darke. In August 2010, he became teetotal after finding himself becoming too reliant on alcohol, particularly during the filming of Half-Blood Prince. In March 2020, he appeared as the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, where he discussed his alcohol misuse during his teens and his decision to become teetotal, and how his parents' support and staying in his native England helped him cope with fame.
=== Wealth ===
Radcliffe was reported to have earned £1 million for the first Harry Potter film, around £15 million for the sixth, and around £39 million for the final two movies combined. In all, he is estimated to have made a total of £75.4 million from the entire franchise. He appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2006, which estimated his personal fortune to be £14 million, making him one of the richest young people in the UK. In March 2009, he was ranked at number one on the Forbes "Most Valuable Young Stars" list, and by April The Daily Telegraph measured his net worth at £30 million, making him the 12th richest young person in the UK. Radcliffe was considered to be the richest teenager in England later that year. In February 2010, he was named the sixth highest-paid Hollywood male star and placed at number five on Forbes' December list of Hollywood's highest-grossing actors with a film revenue of US$780 million, mainly due to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released that year. As of 2021, Radcliffe's net worth is estimated at £95 million.
=== Health ===
In 2008, Radcliffe revealed that he has a mild form of the neurological disorder dyspraxia, which sometimes prevents him from doing simple activities such as writing or tying his shoelaces. He said, "I was having a hard time at school, in terms of being crap at everything, with no discernible talent." While on the set of the 2013 film Horns, Radcliffe accidentally drank antifreeze, which caused him to become "horrendously ill" for "a disgusting, feverish three days."
=== Religious and political beliefs ===
Radcliffe stated of his beliefs in 2012: "There was never [religious] faith in the house. I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English." He has said that his family are "Christmas tree Jews," and he said: "I'm an atheist, but I'm very proud of being Jewish. It means I have a good work ethic, and you get Jewish humour and you're allowed to tell Jewish jokes." In 2009, he stated that he was an atheist and said, "I'm very relaxed about [being an atheist]. I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do. Anything he does on television, I will watch." He said in 2012, "I'm an atheist, and a militant atheist when religion starts impacting on legislation." In 2019, he described himself as "agnostic leaning toward atheism". In 2009, Radcliffe stated that although he considers himself a "fierce patriot", he is not a royalist, adding that the monarchy "symbolized a lot of what is wrong with the country".
== Explanatory notes == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Hollywood | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is a 2019 period comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a co-production between the United States, United Kingdom, and China. It features an ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie. Set in 1969 Los Angeles, the film follows a fading actor and his adrenaline junkie stunt double as they navigate the rapidly changing film industry with the threat of the Tate murders looming.
Announced in July 2017, it is Tarantino's first film not to involve Bob and Harvey Weinstein, as he ended his partnership with the brothers following the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein. After a bidding war, the film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, which met Tarantino's demands, including final cut privilege. Pitt, DiCaprio, Robbie, Zoë Bell, Kurt Russell and others joined the cast between January and June 2018. Principal photography lasted from June through November around Los Angeles. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the final film to feature Luke Perry, who died on March 4, 2019, and is dedicated to his memory.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 26, and in the United Kingdom on August 14. It grossed over $392 million worldwide and received acclaim from critics, although historical inaccuracies and the portrayals of some artists were criticized. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as one of the Top-10 films of 2019, and it won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was nominated for 10 awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning two (Best Supporting Actor for Pitt and Best Production Design), and received numerous other accolades. The Writers Guild of America ranked the film's screenplay the 22nd-greatest of the 21st century. Tarantino has stated that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his favorite film that he has made.
A novelization, written by Tarantino in his debut as an author, was published in 2021. A sequel to the film, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher, with Pitt in the lead role, is currently in production, and is scheduled to be released in 2026.
== Plot ==
In February 1969, Hollywood actor Rick Dalton, a former Western TV star, copes with a fading career, his most recent roles being guest appearances as TV villains. Agent Marvin Schwarz suggests working in spaghetti Westerns in Italy, which Rick considers inferior. Rick's best friend, stunt double, personal assistant, and driver is Cliff Booth, a World War II special ops veteran living in a trailer with his pit bull Brandy. Cliff struggles to find stunt work due to a past altercation with Bruce Lee, and rumors that he committed uxoricide. Although he does not know them personally, Rick is aware that young actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, live next door. Rick longs to befriend them, thinking it could reignite his career.
While fixing the TV antenna on Rick's roof, Cliff notices a hippie arriving at the Polanski residence. The man, Charles Manson, asks for music producer Terry Melcher, but Tate's friend, Jay Sebring, says Melcher has moved. Later, Tate watches herself in The Wrecking Crew at a local film theater, and Cliff gives hitchhiker Pussycat a ride to Spahn Ranch, a former Western film set where Cliff did stunt work.
Cliff checks on George Spahn, the ranch's nearly blind owner, seeking to make sure the hippies living there are not exploiting him. Cliff physically forces ranch hippie Clem to change his car tire after it was deliberately punctured. The hippies' leader Tex is summoned to deal with the situation, but he arrives as Cliff is driving away.
While filming an episode for the TV series Lancer, Rick struggles to deliver his lines, causing him to have an emotional breakdown in his trailer. He later gives a powerful performance during his character's speech, impressing director Sam Wanamaker and his co-star Trudi, boosting his confidence.
Schwarz books Rick to star in a Sergio Corbucci spaghetti Western. Cliff accompanies Rick for the six-month shoot in Italy, where Rick films three additional films and marries Italian starlet Francesca Capucci. Before returning to the US, Rick tells Cliff that he can no longer afford his salary, which Cliff amicably understands.
Returning to Los Angeles on August 8, 1969, Rick and Cliff go drinking to commemorate their time together. Returning to Rick's house, Cliff smokes an acid-laced cigarette and takes Brandy for a walk, while Rick makes margaritas. Manson's followers Tex, Sadie, Katie and Flowerchild arrive to murder the Tate house occupants. Hearing a car's loud muffler, an enraged Rick orders the group off the private street. Recognizing him, the family members decide to kill him instead, when Sadie reasons that through television shows such as Rick's, Hollywood has "taught them to murder".
Flowerchild deserts the group, fleeing with their car. Breaking into Rick's house armed with knives and a gun, the remaining group confronts Capucci and Cliff, with Tex announcing that he is “the Devil and here to do the Devil’s business”. Cliff recognizes them from Spahn Ranch and orders Brandy to attack. Brandy mauls Tex and bites off his genitals, and Cliff finishes him off by stomping him to death. He is stabbed by Katie, but swiftly beats her to death using random objects around the home. Brandy attacks and disfigures Sadie, who crashes through the back garden and startles Rick, who has been listening to music and was totally unaware of the fighting inside. As Sadie attempts to shoot him, Rick retrieves a working stunt flamethrower from a shed and incinerates her with it.
After the police have taken statements and an ambulance brings Cliff to the hospital, Sebring and Tate invite Rick to Tate's house for a drink.
== Cast ==
Quentin Tarantino portrays the director of Dalton's Red Apples cigarettes commercial and the voice of Bounty Law. Musician Toni Basil appears in the opening credits, during the Pan Am scene, dancing with Sharon Tate. Margot Robbie also briefly reprises her role as Laura Cameron, a stewardess from the TV series Pan Am. Although her face is not seen, she makes and serves a cocktail to Dalton on his flight home from Italy.
Additionally, the film features appearances from Clifton Collins Jr. as Ernesto "The Mexican Vaquero", a character on Lancer; Omar Doom as Donnie, a biker on Spahn Ranch; Clu Gulager (in his last film role) as a book store owner; Perla Haney-Jardine as an LSD-selling hippie; Martin Kove and James Remar respectively, as a Sheriff and "Ugly Owl Hoot", two characters on Bounty Law; Brenda Vaccaro as Schwarz's wife Mary Alice; Tarantino's wife Daniella Pick as Daphna Ben-Cobo, Dalton's co-star in Nebraska Jim; Lew Temple, Vincent Laresca, JLouis Mills and Maurice Compte as Land Pirates; and Gabriela Flores as Maralu the Fiddle Player. Ex-UFC star Keith Jardine performed stunts on the movie.
An extended cut, released theatrically in October 2019, included an appearance by James Marsden as Burt Reynolds and a voiceover by Walton Goggins. Danny Strong and Tim Roth shot scenes that were cut; Strong portrayed Dean Martin and Paul Barabuta (based on Rudolph Altobelli), the homeowner of 10050 Cielo Drive, while Roth portrayed Raymond, Sebring's English butler. Sebring had a butler in real life named Amos Russell, who was interviewed by the police while investigating the Tate murders. Despite being removed from the final theatrical cut of the film, Roth still received credit for acting in the film.
== Character details ==
=== Fictional characters ===
==== Rick Dalton ====
Dalton is an actor who starred in the fictitious television Western series Bounty Law from 1959 to 1963, inspired by real-life series Wanted Dead or Alive, starring Steve McQueen. After Bounty Law, Dalton began to appear in supporting film roles, leading to a four-picture contract with Universal Pictures, ending in 1967. His film career never took off, and in 1967 he started to guest star on TV series as villains.
==== Cliff Booth ====
Booth, Dalton's stunt double, personal assistant and best friend, is an indestructible World War II hero, specializing in knives and close-quarters combat, and "one of the deadliest guys alive." He is a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, and has killed more Japanese soldiers than any other American soldier. Booth first met Dalton during the third season of Bounty Law in 1961 when he was brought in as his stunt double. A month into the job he saved Dalton's life after he caught on fire while filming an episode. Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt modeled Booth after Tom Laughlin's portrayal of Billy Jack. Booth had performed stunts on The Born Losers and was paid with the denim outfit worn by Laughlin as Billy Jack, which is what he wears in the film. Booth is inspired by Gary Kent, a stuntman for a film made at the Spahn Ranch while the Manson Family lived there, as well as stuntman, professional wrestler and two-time national judo champion Gene LeBell. LeBell came to work on The Green Hornet after complaints that Bruce Lee was "kicking the shit out of the stuntmen", though some aspects of LeBell's story have been disputed. Like Booth, LeBell was suspected of murder but never convicted. Pitt channeled Steve McQueen's stunt double Bud Ekins for his portrayal of Booth. Tarantino also revealed that Booth was inspired by a real stuntman who "was the closest equivalent to Stuntman Mike" (Kurt Russell) from Death Proof. He was "absolutely indestructible … scared everybody … [and] killed his wife on a boat and got away with it."
Billie Booth is Cliff's wife, whose death in the film—and the ambiguity surrounding it—is a reference to Natalie Wood's, as is Billie's sister's name, Natalie. Unlike the ambiguity of the film, in the novelization Cliff did in fact murder Billie. He shot her with a speargun, almost tearing her in half, which he immediately regretted. There is a connection between Cliff and Robert Blake, to whom Tarantino dedicates the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood novel. Also in the novelization, Cliff had murdered three other people, including another stuntman.
==== Other fictional characters ====
Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters), the precocious child actor who portrays Mirabella on Lancer, is inspired by Jodie Foster, while Mirabella is inspired by the character Teresa O'Brien from said series, portrayed by Elizabeth Baur. The character is older in the real-life Lancer. Fraser goes on to become an Academy Award–nominated actress. Her third nomination is for Tarantino's 1999 remake of The Lady in Red.
Marvin Schwarz of the William Morris Agency is Dalton's agent, a role that Tarantino wrote specifically for Al Pacino.
Francesca Capucci the Italian starlet who marries Dalton is based on 1960s Italian actresses and sex symbols, namely Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Virna Lisi and Monica Vitti.
Some characters, such as Zoë Bell's stunt coordinator Janet Lloyd and Heba Thorisdottir's makeup artist Sonya, were portrayed by individuals who performed the same jobs for the film.
Randy Lloyd is the stunt coordinator for The Green Hornet, a position that was held by Bennie Dobbins on the series in real life.
Michael Madsen's Sheriff Hackett on Bounty Law is partially inspired by Peter Breck, who also served as Madsen's inspiration for Joe Gage in Tarantino's The Hateful Eight; specifically Breck's role in The Big Valley.
Martin Kove's inspiration for his Sheriff on Bounty Law was Henry Fonda's portrayal of Wyatt Earp in John Ford's 1946 film My Darling Clementine. In casting Kove, Madsen, and James Remar for Bounty Law, Tarantino said he cast genre character actors of today to mirror character actors of the 1950s and 1960s who would appear on TV Westerns, such as Claude Akins and Vic Morrow.
=== Historical characters ===
Sharon Tate was an actress married to film director Roman Polanski, and is Dalton's neighbor in the film. Margot Robbie did not consult Polanski about playing Tate, but read his 1984 autobiography Roman by Polanski in preparation for the role. Tate filmed her last movie, The Thirteen Chairs, in Italy in 1969 during her pregnancy, at the same time as Dalton films movies there in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Roman Polanski, a film director whose credits include Rosemary's Baby and The Fearless Vampire Killers, where he first met Tate.
Jay Sebring was a celebrity hairstylist, Tate's friend and ex-boyfriend, and friend of Bruce Lee (whom he helped get started in Hollywood) and Steve McQueen. Sebring and Tate attended a party at Cass Elliot's house which Charles Manson also attended.
Abigail Folger, heir to the Folgers coffee fortune, and her boyfriend Wojciech Frykowski were Tate's friends.
James Stacy was an actor who played Johnny Madrid Lancer on Lancer. Stacy is last shown in the film leaving the Lancer set on a motorcycle; Stacy was in a motorcycle accident in 1973 that resulted in the death of his passenger and the loss of his arm and leg. His ex-wife, actress Connie Stevens, also portrayed in the film, organized a fundraiser for his recovery.
Wayne Maunder, who portrayed Scott Lancer on Lancer, died during the filming of the movie while Luke Perry, who plays him in his last film role, died shortly afterwards. Luke's son Jack Perry appears with him in the film.
Sam Wanamaker directed the real pilot of Lancer, as he does in the film. The Land Pirates were characters in the real pilot, who also appear in the pilot within the film. Wanamaker led the recreation of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre after moving to London while blacklisted from Hollywood in the 1950s. In the film he likens Rick Dalton's character on Lancer to Shakespeare's Hamlet. In a deleted scene Wanamaker says, "You'd be amazed how many Westerns the plot is Shakespearean." He goes on to try to convince Dalton to play his character as Edmund from Shakespeare's King Lear.
Business Bob Gilbert (Scoot McNairy) is a character on Lancer being portrayed by Bruce Dern. (McNairy is playing Dern, playing Business Bob)
Bruce Lee was an actor and martial artist who starred as Kato on The Green Hornet. He taught Tate martial arts for The Wrecking Crew and also trained Sebring, Polanski and McQueen.
Steve McQueen was an actor and friend of Tate, Sebring, and Lee. On the night of the Tate murders, Sebring invited McQueen over to Tate's house, but his date wanted to stay in. After the murders, the police found a Manson Family hit list including McQueen's name.
Mama Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips were members of the folk band the Mamas & the Papas. The sheet music for their song "Straight Shooter" was found on the piano at the murder scene in the Tate–Polanski residence. The song is also used in the film and teaser trailer. Polanski had an affair with Phillips while he was married to Tate. After the Tate murders, Polanski suspected Michelle's husband, John Phillips, of the killings out of revenge for the affair.
Connie (Monica Staggs) and Curt (Mark Warrack) are horse-riding customers at Spahn Ranch. As one way of earning their keep, the Manson family gave horse-riding tours to people visiting the ranch. Tarantino stated that he thinks his mother and step-father (Connie and Curt) took him horse riding at Spahn Ranch when he was six years old.
Perla Haney-Jardine's hippie girl, who sells the acid-dipped cigarette to Cliff Booth, is based on "Today" Louise Malone, a hippie who appears in the 1968 documentary Revolution. As in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, she sells the acid cigarettes at a traffic light. Tarantino said the dialogue in the scene is taken from the documentary.
Allen Kincade (Spencer Garrett) is a celebrity television interviewer who is based on Wink Martindale. The character was named Wink Martindale in the screenplay but changed to Allen Kincade shortly before shooting due to clearance issues.
The bookseller at Larry Edmunds Bookshop being portrayed by Clu Gulager who sells a copy of Tess of the d'Urbervilles to Sharon Tate is Milton Luboviski, who was the real-life proprietor.
Harvey "Humble Harve" Miller, portrayed by Rage Stewart, was a Los Angeles KHJ Boss Radio DJ who was convicted of killing his wife.
The TV show Hullabaloo Rick Dalton appears on in the film was a real-life show, and one of the go-go dancers portrayed is Lada St. Edmund, who went on to become the highest paid stuntwoman in Hollywood history.
=== The Manson Family ===
George Spahn was an 80-year-old nearly blind man who rented his ranch out for Westerns. The Manson family lived on the ranch.
Charlie is Charles Manson, a convicted felon and cult leader of "the Family" (later dubbed "the Manson family" by the media), a hippie commune based in California. Members of the Family committed nine murders in the summer of 1969. Damon Herriman, who portrays Manson, also portrays him in David Fincher's Netflix series Mindhunter. Tarantino revealed that, since the Tate murders never happen in the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood universe, neither do the LaBianca murders. The Manson Family gets kicked off Spahn Ranch and splits up, with Manson never becoming a familiar name or cult figure.
"Pussycat", aka Debra Jo Hillhouse, is a composite character, with her nickname based on Kathryn Lutesinger's "Kitty Kat", yet modeled after and most notably based on Ruth Ann Moorehouse. Manson frequently sent Moorehouse into the city to lure men with money back to Spahn Ranch. Lutesinger met Manson through her boyfriend, Bobby Beausoleil. There was a Manson Family member named Pussycat, who is mentioned by Ed Sanders in his book The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion; according to those interviewed, Pussycat underwent an exorcism with Manson present. The real identity of Pussycat is never revealed. She is also an homage to Myra (Laurie Heineman) from John G. Avildsen's Save the Tiger.
"Squeaky" was Lynette Fromme's nickname, given to her by Spahn because of the sound she made when he touched her. She was Spahn's main caretaker, tending to his needs, sexual or otherwise.
"Tex" was Charles Watson's nickname. Spahn gave it to him because of his Texas accent. Within the film's universe the police later theorize that Tex, Sadie, and Katie broke into Rick Dalton's house because they "were frying on acid and were out to perform a Satanic ritual," based on Cliff Booth telling them that Tex said he was "the Devil".
"Sadie" was Susan Atkins' nickname. Manson gave everyone fake IDs, and the name on Atkins' was "Sadie Mae Glutz". Atkins was called "Sexy Sadie" after a track on the Beatles' self-titled album that some of the Family members may have believed was about her. Mikey Madison, who played Sadie, would later portray a similar character in the 2022 film Scream. Like Sadie, her character Amber Freeman is a knife-wielding psycho killer. Amber decides to murder based on films whereas Sadie does so based on TV. Sadie gets set on fire by Rick Dalton, while Amber is set ablaze by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox).
"Katie" was Patricia Krenwinkel's nickname because of the name on her fake ID. Madisen Beaty, who portrays Krenwinkel, previously portrayed her on the TV series Aquarius.
"Flowerchild" is the movie's name for Linda Kasabian, the fourth family member to go to Tate's house. In 1970, Kasabian was described as a "true flower child".
"Snake" was Dianne Lake's nickname, given to her by Manson because she rolled around in grass pretending to be a snake. At 14 she became the youngest member of the Manson Family after being kicked off Wavy Gravy's Hog Farm. Her parents were associates of Manson and her mother had dropped acid with him before Lake joined them.
"Blue" was Sandra Good's nickname. Manson told her, "Woman, you're earth. I'm naming you Blue. Fix the air and the water. It's your job." Kansas Bowling, the actress who plays her, appears in the film with her sister Parker Love Bowling, who plays Family member "Tadpole". Parker previously portrayed a Manson girl in a re-enactment for the Canadian History Channel.
"Gypsy" was Catherine Share's nickname, which she gave herself after meeting a man named Gypsy, with whom she shared a birthday and believed him to be her cosmic twin.
"Happy Cappy" is based on Catherine Gillies, who was nicknamed "Capistrano" by Spahn because she grew up in San Juan Capistrano and was later shortened to "Cappy" by the family. Josephine Valentina Clark, the actress who plays her, added the "Happy" while working on the character.
"Lulu" was one of Leslie Van Houten's nicknames, and "Clem" one of Steve Grogan's.
"Tophat", portrayed in the film by Ronnie Zappa, was an alias of Bobby Beausoleil. In his 2001 book Turn Off Your Mind, Gary Lachman mentions that, "Beausoleil had a style; a top hat that set him apart from the usual hippie fare." Beausoleil wrote: "I spied a felt top hat in the window of a … shop … I couldn't afford (it) … but it felt like it had been made for me … I couldn't resist the temptation to buy it." Beausoleil claimed that as soon as he put on the hat, ideas floating in his head came together.
The character of "Sundance" was named by Cassidy Vick Hice, the actress who portrays her. She wrote, "I was asked to name my character by Quentin himself."
Straight Satan David, portrayed in the film by David Steen, is a member of the Straight Satans Motorcycle Club, associates of the Family. Manson attempted to recruit them as personal security but, with the exception of club treasurer Danny DeCarlo, was unsuccessful. DeCarlo lived on the ranch as part of the Family.
Bill "Sweet William" Fritsch, portrayed by Tom Hartig was a member of the Hells Angels and Diggers and a Manson Family associate. Fritsch worked security for the Altamont Free Concert and acted in deleted scenes of Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising.
== Production ==
=== Writing and development ===
The screenplay for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was developed slowly over several years by Quentin Tarantino. While he knew he wanted it to be titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, evoking the idea of a fairy tale, he publicly referred to the project as Magnum opus. The life of the work for the first five years was as a novel, which Tarantino considered to be an exploratory approach to the story, not yet having decided if it would be a screenplay. Tarantino tried other writing approaches: the early scene between Rick Dalton and Marvin Schwarz was originally written as a one-act play.
Tarantino discovered the centerpiece for the work about 10 years previously while filming his 2007 film Death Proof with Kurt Russell who had been working with the same stunt double, John Casino, for several years. Even though there was only a small bit for Casino to do, Tarantino was asked to use him, and agreed. The relationship fascinated Tarantino and inspired him to make a film about Hollywood. Tarantino stated, while Casino may have been a perfect double for Russell years earlier, when he met them, "this was maybe the last or second-to-last thing they'd be doing together".
Tarantino first created stuntman Cliff Booth, giving him a massive backstory. Next, he created actor Rick Dalton for whom Booth would stunt double. Tarantino decided to have them be Sharon Tate's next-door neighbors in 1969. The first plot point he developed was the ending, moving backwards from there, this being the first time Tarantino had worked this way. He thought of doing an Elmore Leonard-type story, but realized he was confident enough in his characters to let them drive the film and let it be a day in the life of Booth, Dalton, and Tate. He would use sequences from Dalton's films for the action, inspired by Richard Rush's 1980 film The Stunt Man, which used the scenes from the WWI movie they were making within the film as the action. Further, to get his mind into Dalton, Tarantino wrote five episodes of the fictional television show Bounty Law, in which Dalton had starred, having become fascinated with the amount of story crammed into half-hour episodes of 1950s western shows.
Tarantino kept the only copy of the third act of the script in a safe to prevent it from being released prematurely. DiCaprio, Robbie, and Pitt were the only other people who read the entire script. In an interview with Adam Sandler, Pitt revealed that the only other copy of the script was burned by Tarantino.
=== Preproduction and casting ===
On July 11, 2017, it was reported that Tarantino's next film would be about the Manson murders. Harvey and Bob Weinstein would be involved, but it was not known whether The Weinstein Company (TWC) would distribute the film, as Tarantino sought to cast before sending a package to studios. Tarantino approached Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence for roles and Margot Robbie was being considered for the role of Sharon Tate.
After the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, Tarantino cut ties with Weinstein and sought a new distributor, after having worked with Weinstein for his entire career. At this point, Leonardo DiCaprio was revealed to be among a short list of actors Tarantino was considering. A short time later, reports circulated that studios were bidding for the film, and that David Heyman had joined as a producer, along with Tarantino and Shannon McIntosh.
On November 11, 2017, Sony Pictures announced they would distribute the film, beating Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, and Lionsgate. Tarantino's demands included a $95 million budget, final cut privilege, "extraordinary creative controls", 25% of first-dollar gross, and the stipulation that the rights revert to him after 10 to 20 years.
In January 2018, DiCaprio signed on, taking a lower salary than usual to collaborate with Tarantino again. Al Pacino was being considered for a role. On February 28, 2018, the film was titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with Pitt cast as Cliff Booth. DiCaprio and Pitt were each paid $10 million. In March 2018, Robbie, who had expressed interest in working with Tarantino, signed to co-star as Sharon Tate, while Zoë Bell confirmed she would appear. In May 2018, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, and Michael Madsen joined the cast. Timothy Olyphant was also cast. In June 2018, Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, Clifton Collins Jr., Keith Jefferson, Nicholas Hammond, Pacino, and Scoot McNairy joined the cast. Spencer Garrett, James Remar, and Mike Moh were announced in July. In August 2018, Damon Herriman as Charles Manson, and Lena Dunham, Austin Butler, Danny Strong, Rafał Zawierucha, Rumer Willis, Dreama Walker, and Margaret Qualley were cast.
Butler auditioned, but was unclear about the role for which he was considered. Tarantino told him it was for a villain or a hero on Lancer, when in fact it was for Tex Watson. To prepare for her audition, Maya Hawke practiced with her father, Ethan Hawke. She stated, "He (Tarantino) actually organized a really amazing callback process that was unlike anything I've ever been through … except maybe auditioning for drama school." Willis auditioned for two roles, neither of which she got, but was later offered the part of Joanna Pettet. Sydney Sweeney said everyone she auditioned with did so for the same character, then were told they could do extra credit. Some did artwork, and she wrote a letter in character. Julia Butters says her sitcom American Housewife was on while Tarantino was writing her character, Trudi Fraser. He looked up and said, "Maybe she can try this."
Burt Reynolds was cast as George Spahn in May 2018, but died in September before he was able to film his scenes and was replaced by Bruce Dern. Reynolds did a rehearsal and script reading, which became his last performance. After Reynolds read the script and learned Pitt would be portraying Booth, Reynolds advised Tarantino: "You gotta have somebody say, 'You're pretty for a stunt guy.'" The line appears in the film, spoken to Booth by Bruce Lee. The last thing Reynolds did before he died was run lines with his assistant for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Tarantino initially approached Jennifer Lawrence to portray Manson family member Squeaky Fromme, saying, "She was interested but something just didn't work out." Lawrence later contributed the online vitriol she received (which also included Tate's sister Debra, who deemed her "not pretty enough") to her not doing the role when it was previously theorized she was approached for the Tate role; saying: "The internet just, like, went out of their way to call me ugly." Tarantino had also spoken to Tom Cruise about playing Cliff Booth, who was being considered for the role. Charlie Day was offered to audition for the part of Manson, but did not appear as scheduled because he did not want to see himself in that role. Macaulay Culkin auditioned for an undisclosed role, which he later characterized as "a disaster" due in part it being his first audition in eight years. It was also initially reported that frequent Tarantino collaborator Samuel L. Jackson was in talks for a role as the villain of a Bounty Law episode.
=== Filming and design ===
Tarantino aimed to portray 1960s Hollywood as seen through the eyes of a child, stating:the jumping off point was going to be my memory – as a six-year old sitting in the passenger seat of my stepfather's Karmann Ghia. And even that shot, that kind of looks up at Cliff as he drives by the Earl Scheib, and all those signs, that's pretty much my perspective, being a little kid ...
Principal photography began on June 18, 2018, in Los Angeles, California, and wrapped on November 1, 2018. Tarantino's directive was to turn Los Angeles of 2018 into Los Angeles of 1969 without computer-generated imagery. For this, he tapped into previous collaborators for production: editor Fred Raskin, cinematographer Robert Richardson, sound editor Wylie Stateman and makeup artist Heba Thorisdottir. He also brought first-time collaborators, production designer Barbara Ling, based on her work recreating historical settings in The Doors, and costume designer Arianne Phillips. Despite Tarantino's intent, the production wound up using more than 75 digital visual effects shots by Luma Pictures and Lola VFX, mainly to cover up modern billboards and erasing non-1960s buildings from driving shots.
To film at the Pussycat Theater, production designer Barbara Ling and her team covered the building's LED signage and reattached the theater's iconic logo, rebuilding the letters and neon. Ling said the lettering on every marquee in the film is historically accurate. To restore Larry Edmunds Bookshop, she reproduced the original storefront sign and tracked down period-appropriate merchandise, even recreating book covers. Her team restored the Bruin and Fox Village theaters, including their marquees, and the storefronts around them. Stan's Donuts, across the street from the Bruin, got a complete makeover.
The Playboy Mansion scene was shot at the actual mansion. Tarantino was adamant about filming there, but obtaining permission took a while, since the mansion had been sold to a private owner following Hugh Hefner's death. Tarantino and Ling met with the new owner to discuss the parts they wanted to use, but he was reluctant since the property was in the middle of a renovation. After long negotiations, he agreed, and Ling was able to dress the vacant mansion, front courtyard, and backyard for the party scene, evoking as much of the 1960s appearance of the mansion as possible. The dance sequence for the scene was choreographed by Toni Basil who knew Sharon Tate and once dated Jay Sebring. She also choreographed Dalton's Hullabaloo scene. Though the film is set in 1969, the mansion was actually not acquired by Playboy until 1971, resulting in an obvious anachronism.
Several important scenes were shot at the Musso & Frank Grill, which was a "must have" location for Tarantino according to Rick Schuler, supervising location manager. "I feel so lucky that there's a place like the Musso & Frank Grill, one that exists now exactly how it has always been," Tarantino said. "It was fantastic being able to shoot at an iconic landmark that is so authentic and connected to Hollywood."
The scenes involving the Tate–Polanski house were not filmed at Cielo Drive, the winding street where the 3,200 square-foot house once stood. The house was razed in 1994 and replaced with a mansion nearly six times the size. Scenes involving the house were filmed at three different locations around Los Angeles, one for the interior, one for the exterior, and a Universal City location for the scenes depicting the iconic cul-de-sac driveway.
Movie poster artist Steven Chorney created the poster for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as a reference to The Mod Squad. He and Renato Casaro created the posters for the movies within the film, Nebraska Jim, Operation Dyn-O-Mite, Uccidimi Subito Ringo Disse il Gringo, Hell-Fire Texas, and Comanche Uprising, which was reprinted for Dalton's home parking spot. Mad magazine caricaturist Tom Richmond created the covers of Mad and TV Guide featuring Dalton's Jake Cahill modeled after the art of Jack Davis.
Tarantino told Richardson, "I want [it] to feel retro, but I want [it] to be contemporary." Richardson shot in Kodak 35 mm with Panavision cameras and lenses, to weave time periods. For Bounty Law, they shot in black and white, and brief sequences in Super 8 and 16 mm Ektachrome. In the film, Lancer was shot on a retrofitted Western street backlot at Universal Studios, designed by Ling. Richardson crossed Lancer with Alias Smith and Jones for the retro-future look Tarantino wanted. The way they filmed Lancer was not possible in 1969, but Tarantino wanted his personal touch on it. Richardson said that filming the movie touched him personally: "The film speaks to all of us … We are all fragile beings with a limited time to achieve whatever it is we desire … that at any moment that place will shift … so take stock in life and have the courage to believe in yourself." In order to build the Lancer set Ling watched "Enormous amounts of episodes" of the series. She built a western town filled with adobe buildings. For Bounty Law, she went for a dusty, dirty, early Deadwood look, to separate it from the "Moneyed Lancer world".
Spahn Ranch was recreated in detail over about a three-month period. A wildfire completely destroyed the ranch in 1970, so the scenes for the movie were filmed at nearby Corriganville Movie Ranch in Simi Valley, which was also a movie ranch at one time. Tarantino made sure to use dogs in the scenes. He said in real life, many dogs lived on the ranch and made it feel alive. He even made sure some dogs were moving around in every shot. He was inspired to use the dogs in this manner from the way Francis Ford Coppola used helicopters in Apocalypse Now during the Robert Duvall scenes.
To improve the use of practical effects, Leonardo DiCaprio was allowed to light stunt coordinators on fire while shooting scenes with a flamethrower. The exterior of the Van Nuys drive-in theater scene was filmed at the Paramount Drive-in theater, since the Van Nuys Drive-in theater no longer exists. As the camera rises up over the theater, the shot transitions to a miniature set with toy cars. For some of the driving scenes, the Hollywood Freeway and Marina Freeway in Los Angeles were shut down for hours to fill them with vintage cars. The scene depicting Bruce Lee training Jay Sebring was filmed at Sebring's actual house.
The scene in which Rick Dalton flubs his lines in Lancer was not in the screenplay, but rather an idea DiCaprio had on set while filming. Afterwards Tarantino came up with the idea for Dalton's "freakout" scene in his trailer, taking inspiration from Robert De Niro's performance in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. Tarantino stated, "It's got to be like Travis Bickle when he's in his apartment by himself." DiCaprio improvised the entire scene.
=== Soundtrack ===
The soundtrack from the film is a compilation album of classic rock, which includes several tracks from Paul Revere & the Raiders, as well as 1960s radio ads and DJ patter. The film also contains numerous songs and scores not included on the soundtrack, including from artists the Mamas & the Papas and Elmer Bernstein.
== Release and reception ==
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2019, the 25th anniversary of Tarantino's premiere of Pulp Fiction at the festival. It was released theatrically in the United States on July 26, 2019, by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. The film was originally scheduled for release on August 9, 2019, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Tate–LaBianca murders.
A teaser trailer was released on March 20, 2019, featuring 1960s music by the Mamas and the Papas ("Straight Shooter") and by Los Bravos ("Bring a Little Lovin'"). The official trailer was released on May 21, 2019, featuring the songs "Good Thing" by Paul Revere & the Raiders, and "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" by Neil Diamond. The studio spent around $110 million marketing the film. An extended cut of the film featuring four additional scenes was released in theaters on October 25, 2019.
=== Home media ===
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released through digital retailers on November 22, 2019, and on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and DVD on December 10. The 4K version is available as a regular version and a collector's edition. In April 2020, Media Play News magazine announced Once Upon a Time in Hollywood earned Title of the Year and Best Theatrical Home release in the 10th annual Home Media Awards. Both the DVD and Blu-ray contain a deleted scene, in which Charles Manson confronts Paul Barabuta, portrayed by Danny Strong, the homeowner and caretaker of the Tate-Polanski residence. Barabuta is based on the home's owner, Rudolph Altobelli, and its caretaker, William Garretson.
=== Box office ===
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood grossed $142.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $249.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $392.1 million. By some estimates, the film needed to gross around $250 million worldwide in order to break-even, with others estimating it would need to make $400 million in order to turn a profit.
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $30–40 million from 3,659 theaters in its opening weekend, with some projections having it as high as $50 million or as low as $25 million. The week of its release, Fandango reported the film was the highest pre-seller of any Tarantino film. The film made $16.9 million on its first day, including $5.8 million from Thursday night previews (the highest total of Tarantino's career). It went on to debut to $41.1 million, finishing second behind holdover The Lion King and marking Tarantino's largest opening. Comscore reported that 47% of audience members went to see the film because of who the director was (compared to the typical 7%) and 37% went because of the cast (compared to normally 18%). The film grossed $20 million in its second weekend, representing a "nice" drop of just 51% and finishing third, and then made $11.6 million and $7.6 million the subsequent weekends. In its fifth weekend the film made $5 million, bringing its running domestic total to $123.1 million, becoming the second-highest of Tarantino's career behind Django Unchained. In its ninth weekend, its global total earnings reached $329.4 million, surpassing Inglourious Basterds to become Tarantino's second-highest global grosser behind Django Unchained.
=== Critical response ===
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 580 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Thrillingly unrestrained yet solidly crafted, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tempers Tarantino's provocative impulses with the clarity of a mature filmmaker's vision." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 84 out of 100, based on 62 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average of 4 out of 5 stars and a 58% "definite recommend".
The Hollywood Reporter said critics had "an overall positive view", with some calling it "Tarantino's love letter to '60s L.A.," praising its cast and setting, while others were "divided on its ending." ReelViews' James Berardinelli awarded the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying it was "made by a movie-lover for movie-lovers. And even those who don't qualify may still enjoy the hell out of it." RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico gave it four out of four stars, calling it "layered and ambitious, the product of a confident filmmaker working with collaborators completely in tune with his vision". The Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper described it as "a brilliant and sometimes outrageously fantastic mash-up of real-life events and characters with pure fiction", giving it full marks.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it five out of five stars, praising Pitt and DiCaprio's performances and calling it "Tarantino's dazzling LA redemption song". Steve Pond of TheWrap said: "Big, brash, ridiculous, too long, and in the end invigorating, the film is a grand playground for its director to fetishize old pop culture and bring his gleeful perversity to the craft of moviemaking." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, remarking that "All the actors, in roles large and small, bring their A games to the film. Two hours and 40 minutes can feel long for some. I wouldn't change a frame." Katie Rife of The A.V. Club gave it a B+, noting "The relationship between Rick and Cliff is at the emotional heart of Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood" and calling it Tarantino's "wistful midlife crisis movie".
In Little White Lies, Christopher Hooton described it as "occasionally tedious" but "constantly awe-inspiring", noting it did not seem to be a "love letter to Hollywood" but an "obituary for a moment in culture that looks unlikely to ever be resurrected." Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman called it a "heady engrossing collage of a film—but not, in the end, a masterpiece."
Richard Brody of The New Yorker called it an "obscenely regressive vision of the sixties" that "celebrates white-male stardom (and behind-the-scenes command) at the expense of everyone else." Caspar Salmon of The Guardian took issue with the violence in the film, writing, "Tarantino's filmography reveals a director in search of increasingly gruesome settings to validate his revenge fantasies and … blood-thirst."
Since its release, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has been regarded as one of the best films of the 2010s and 21st century. The Writers Guild of America ranked the film's screenplay the 22nd greatest of the 21st century. Tarantino has stated that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his favorite film of those he has made. The February 2020 issue of New York Magazine lists Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."
=== Top ten lists ===
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was included on many critics' top-ten lists.
=== Accolades ===
At the 92nd Academy Awards, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing; and won Best Supporting Actor and Best Production Design. The film's other nominations include ten British Academy Film Awards (winning one), twelve Critics' Choice Movie Awards (winning four), five Golden Globe Awards (winning three) and four Screen Actors Guild Awards (winning one). The National Board of Review included the film as one of the top 10 films of the year and awarded Tarantino Best Director and Pitt Best Supporting Actor. The American Film Institute included it as one of the top 10 films of 2019.
== Analysis ==
=== Story, themes and character symbolism ===
Dan Schindel of Hyperallergic wrote of the symbolism in the film's nostalgia. He wrote the detail is almost "microscopic", in its use of "hundreds of period ephemera" across various media, most of which are unrecognizable to most viewers. Schindel writes that these forgotten memories surround the character of Rick Dalton because he too is a piece of forgotten nostalgia. Schindel also writes about the dynamics between the characters. Dalton and Booth represent the duality of attitudes towards "their seeming impending obsolescence." Booth being relaxed and accepting it and Dalton being fragile and insecure about it. Critic Raphael Abraham extends this view, noting that Tarantino's use of nostalgia in the film reaches beyond character to reimagine history itself. By turning the tragic Manson murders into a kind of fairytale, Tarantino uses revisionist storytelling to create a "joyride" through the darker moments of Hollywood's past, allowing characters like Dalton to find symbolic redemption amid the backdrop of a reimagined 1969. As Dalton's whole life is about how he is perceived, he is obsessed with how he wishes to be perceived. Sharon Tate, also an actor, is filled with joy when she is able to see herself entertain a theater audience. But, Schindel says, that scene also humanizes her, making her a person, rather than the "victim" she has become. He also expresses that Dalton and Booth represent Old Hollywood, while Tate represents New Hollywood and the future. Schindel states that Tarantino uses darkness, both for Booth and his questionable past as well as in the Manson Family. While Booth's possible crimes shade the nostalgia, the Manson clan shades the future. In the end, however, not only are Booth and Dalton able to save the future, but Dalton becomes the hero he always wanted to be.
Travis Woods also wrote of what the three characters represent and how it is demonstrated in the film. He states that the three leads represent the past, present, and future. Dalton is the past, stuck in a fading world and afraid to let go. Booth is the present, always living in the moment, and Tate the promise of a future on the rise. They also represent three class levels of Hollywood with Booth literally living in the shadows of the movie industry. His home is a trailer in the shadows of the Van Nuys Drive-In Theater. Woods also construes how Booth being the stunt double of Dalton is illustrated throughout. Dalton struggles with an emotional arc and change, while Booth clashes with danger and physical obstacles. Woods points out the actor's job is to provide the audience with the emotional arc, while the stuntman's job is to step in for the physicality and danger, as told to us in the first scene. This is shown when Dalton faces his existential fears on the set of Lancer by taking on a new acting challenge on a Western set and overcoming his fears and inner struggles. Meanwhile, Booth comes in to handle the dangerous stuff on another Western set where he also triumphs. While they both have their victories, Tate has hers as well by not only simply living her life but also by watching herself in a movie with an audience. Woods writes the finale ties it all together; "How a stunt works, and fantasy is made real: the actor performs a scene all the way up to a threat of violence. There's a cut, and the stunt double enters the scene, stands in for the actor and cheats death." And so, Dalton fearlessly confronts the would-be killers outside of his home. After a cut, "Booth enters the scene … cheats death," and handles the physical danger. At the end, Dalton re-enters and gets the glory. A feat that could not have been achieved by either the actor or stuntman alone, but only together. Woods concludes, this also represents the past and present "uniting to allow for a better future". "The past leads to the present, and the present leads to the future, and all three are required for the narrative to continue."
David G. Hughes wrote of the symbolized fantasy. He noted that Tate is a "symbol of effervescent life, unadulterated joy, and graceful innocence," while Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune saw the character as a Goddess. However Hughes was much more interested in what Booth represents. He wrote how Dalton's stress and psychological issues prevent him from being a symbol of fantasy for the audience. Booth is the film's hero and simultaneously works loyally for Dalton from a place of low social standing. Hughes states this could be "a Marxist point about invisible labor and the Substructure." However, Hughes feels this does not work to engage the audience. He draws on Sigmund Freud and his Psychopathic Characters on the Stage. He says what makes Booth interesting and particularly Brad Pitt's portrayal of him is sex appeal. Being handsome, strong, loyal, and courageous makes him desirable. Hughes states that Booth is Laura Mulvey's "… perfect, … complete, more powerful ideal ego." Tarantino has Booth fight Bruce Lee to create the myth of Booth. Hughes also writes that Booth embodies the Buddha's teachings on Zen, but also that he is capable of "barbaric violence". These qualities make him the "fantasy of righteous male power". Hughes compares Booth to Charles Manson, saying both are violent outcasts who sit between the worlds of Western Renaissance and Eastern philosophy. However, he says they are the antithesis of each other. While Booth has a code, Manson only serves himself. Manson "is Hollywood's monster from the id [and Booth] is its ego ideal and savior." A Los Angeles Catholic bishop, Robert Barron, praised the character of Cliff Booth as embodying the four cardinal virtues.
Naomi Fry of The New Yorker wrote how the film is about the disposability of people in Hollywood. She sees Dalton and Tate as needing to be seen as their livelihoods depend on it and "an actor onscreen as a conduit for [their] own fantasies and those of others." Dalton feels he is no longer able to do this, and is tortured by the feeling. Booth has also been discarded by Hollywood to the point of Dalton having to beg for him to be used. Fry says of Dalton's career that there is "a sense of the ruthlessness of Hollywood, whose denizens are devastated when the industry almost inevitably turns away its gaze." She also notes how Tarantino "pulls a neat trick by casting DiCaprio and Pitt," two of the biggest movie stars as a has-been and a nobody.
Armond White and Kyle Smith of National Review, in separate reviews, interpreted and praised the film as being politically conservative, with Smith writing that "It mercilessly sends up leftist values. In its foundations, it's so breathtakingly right-wing it could have been made by Mel Gibson."
=== The finale and the Manson Family ===
Theologian David Bentley Hart wrote that Once Upon a Time "exhibit[s] a genuine ethical pathos" for its portrayal of "cosmic justice". Hart wrote how he was a child when the Tate murders occurred and that the Manson Family were "the first monsters who ever truly terrified me and tormented me with nightmares." He remembers how the children at his school would tell the stories of the Manson Family murders. Hart praised the revisionism when "Tarantino's version of the story unexpectedly veered away into some other, dreamlike, better world, where the monsters inadvertently passed through the wrong door and met the end they deserved." Hart states "the artistic masterstroke" comes in the end when Tate is heard "as a disembodied voice … speaking from that alternative reality, that terrestrial paradise that evil could not enter."
Av Sinensky wrote about the ending of the film when Susan Atkins concludes that the Manson Family members should kill Dalton because he played a character who killed people on TV, he "taught them to kill." Sinensky notes that Tarantino is putting "the words of his critics into the mouth of a Manson murderer," regarding his use of fictional gratuitous violence. While David G. Hughes opined that Tarantino is using the scene to say that those who crusade against fictional violence are hypocrites and complicit in real violence. Hughes wrote that by switching the real-life violence by Manson Family members with movie violence instead directed at them, "Tarantino is making a firm distinction between cruel real-world violence and ethical, cathartic fantasy violence."
Priscilla Page identified the mythological narrative of the Manson Family murders as "fram[ing] our understanding of what was happening in America and the world." In the film Spahn Ranch represents the intersection of Hollywood fantasy "and the dark underbelly of Los Angeles." Michael Phillips likened the Manson girls to "strung out Sirens," while Page described the Manson Family as "ghosts haunting Spahn Ranch … Demons to be exorcised." When Booth matches Tex Watson's pointed gun with his pointed finger, justice lies with the fictional violence that purges the mythologized violence. Revenge is furthered as "the film denies Manson a meaningful presence … demythologizes [him], reduces him to a cameo, exposes the Manson Family as inept, and makes Sharon Tate the story's beating heart."
Steven Boone referred to Dalton going to Tate's house as "entering the gates of Cielo Drive's Hollywood heaven." Something his colleague Simon Abrams also alluded to when he commented, "Jay Sebring invites [Dalton] in for a drink like a hipper St. Peter." Dan Schindel also saw Dalton's walk up Tate's driveway as "an ascent to heaven", based on the "rising camera movement". Naomi Fry compared Dalton going through the gates as him entering the Garden of Eden.
Writing in the academic journal Animation, Jason Barker draws from Aristotle's Poetics to analyze in detail the film's use of "cartoon violence", speculating that such violence "is more or less inversely related to the film's dramatic content". Barker concludes that: "Through self-indulgent, inane, insane and tyrannical cartoonism, Once Upon a Time. . . in Hollywood presents not so much a measure of contemporary violence, as a measure of indifference to violence: dramatic indifference and, perhaps, social indifference to a cartoon violence that is real in more ways than one."
=== Booth's fantasy ===
Several critics interpreted Cliff Booth as an unreliable narrator when it came to him remembering his fight with Bruce Lee. "In the span of seconds" the fight "goes from being viewed by dozens of people to absolutely no one." The crowd just disappears which some believe shows the flashback to be a "false memory". The interpretation is that Booth is only remembering what he wants to and "the purpose of that scene is to show us we can't trust Cliff."
Steven Hyden of Uproxx interpreted the ending of the film as a vision of Cliff Booth brought on through his consumption of LSD. Hyden proposes that when Booth smokes the acid-cigarette and says, "And away we go," it marks the beginning of his vision. He then leaves to take his dog Brandy for a walk, walking by the car of killers down the street who Hyden believes Booth sees in the car and recognizes from Spahn Ranch. This allows Booth's imagination to run wild thanks to the acid. He imagines the killers in the car talking about his and Dalton's show, Bounty Law. He then imagines a scenario that lets him play out his violent fantasies and allows Dalton to be a hero, using a flamethrower from a film he would never actually still own but which occupies a place in Booth's memory. Hyden writes that the ending is Booth's hallucinatory fantasy that allows him to stay employed by Dalton, while also allowing Dalton to be accepted by the New Hollywood elite, Sharon Tate. Also that in this fantasy Tate and members of the Manson Family are fans of Dalton, just as Booth is.
Steven Boone of The Hollywood Reporter also commented on the ending feeling like Booth's fantasy. About the ending, he wrote "It's as if stuntman Cliff, a serene Hollywood foot soldier … was the editor here." Kyle Anderson theorized the ending is not only Booth's fantasy but Dalton's as well. He states that Booth's memory of fighting Lee is "his twisted recollection of an event that probably didn't happen." Anderson notes that "Cliff is a complete psychopath" whose life has amounted to menial labor, while "Rick [is] a washed-up loser." The ending is not "just a dream of what might have happened," it is Booth's and Dalton's dream. Booth gets to fulfill his hero fantasy and instead of Dalton losing his house and career he gets to be idolized and accepted by the "cool kids".
=== Billie Booth ===
Anna Swanson wrote about the death of Billie and how it is used to frame the rest of the film. She writes how Tarantino not showing us what happens is a deliberate decision and also an homage to the death of Marvin (Phil LaMarr) in Pulp Fiction and the fact we do not know why Vincent Vega's (John Travolta) gun goes off and shoots Marvin. Within the film one can interpret Billie's death as Cliff's speargun accidentally going off in the same vein as Vincent's gun, or as a cold-blooded murder by Cliff and a cover up, or in a number of other scenarios. Swanson argues that which interpretation the individual viewer has will lead them to view the rest of the film through that lens and have a completely different experience than someone who views it alternatively. She notes we do not even know whose perspective the Billie Booth scene is from. It is a flashback within a flashback and so could be Cliff's memory but as it is told by Randy it could be his perspective based on what he heard. It could be what Cliff is imagining Randy is saying to Rick. It could even be an "omniscient perspective". If one views Cliff as innocent it makes him easier to like, and could be "suggesting an innocent man's life can be ruined by unfortunate circumstances beyond his control." However, if one views Cliff as guilty, "It's a depiction of the extent to which someone can literally get away with murder." In referencing the ending of the film, Swanson asks if Cliff is guilty, "Are we supposed to forgive one death he caused because of the lives he saved?" Swanson concludes that another purpose of the scene is to build up the theme of "Hollywood mythology". Referring to the scene's allusion to Natalie Wood, she writes "the myths last, while the truth is lost in an ocean vaster than the rolling neon streets of the Hollywood of yore."
Lindsey Romain says the scene is "a Rorschach Test for the audience". She argues that how the viewer interprets the scene changes the interpretation of the ending of the film. If Cliff murdered Billie then he is despicable and the killings he commits at the end are self-serving. However, if he is innocent then he is a hero. Romain writes "either read is accurate, and both feel purposeful." By leaving Billie's death open-ended, Romain believes Tarantino is asking, "Is Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood a touching fable about reclaiming relevance, or a horror story about a business that forgives heinous acts the second righteousness is procured?" Romain concludes that "maybe it's both," and "about art … about violence and how we participate in and consume it."
=== Red Apple ad ===
Writing for The Washington Post, Sonny Bunch commented on the mid-credits Red Apple cigarettes advertisement scene. He believes it is a commentary of current filmmaking and a "pitch-perfect parody of the films that have dominated box office charts in recent history." Bunch compares the fake ad to the real ones used as mid-credit scenes in the DC, Marvel, and Fast & Furious franchises. The scenes in those films are used to advertise the next film in their franchise. He also notes how those ads tie their franchises' universes together just as Red Apple does with the Tarantino universe.
== Cultural references ==
The title is a reference to director Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America. On the poster of Dalton's film Red Blood Red Skin, inspired by Land Raiders, he appears with Telly Savalas. The posters for the two films are the same, except with Dalton replacing George Maharis. The movie Voytek Frykowski is watching is Teenage Monster, presented by horror host Seymour.
Archive footage from many films is included in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, including C.C. and Company, Lady in Cement, Three in the Attic, and The Wrecking Crew, in which Sharon Tate appears as Freya Carlson. Three scenes were digitally altered, replacing the original actors with Rick Dalton. One from an episode of The F.B.I., entitled "All the Streets Are Silent", in which Dalton appears as the character portrayed by Burt Reynolds in the actual episode. Another from Death on the Run, with Dalton's face imposed over Ty Hardin's. The third is from The Great Escape, with Dalton appearing as Virgil Hilts, the role made famous by Steve McQueen. For The 14 Fists of McCluskey, a World War II film-within-the-film starring Dalton, footage and music from Hell River is used.
=== Connections to other Tarantino films ===
Cliff Booth is a reference to Brad Pitt's character in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, Lt. Aldo Raine, a special forces WWII veteran who takes the cover of a stuntman. One of Rick Dalton's Italian films in the movie is directed by real-life director Antonio Margheriti. Antonio Margheriti is also used as an alias for Sgt. Donny Donowitz (Eli Roth) in Inglourious Basterds. The scene involving Dalton playing a character who burns Nazis with a flamethrower is similar to the ending of Inglourious Basterds, which ends with Nazi leadership being burned to death.
The final scene features Dalton in a commercial for fictional Red Apple cigarettes, which appear in many Tarantino films. Additionally another common Tarantino brand Big Kahuna Burger is advertised on a billboard. When Dalton and Booth get back from Italy they walk by the blue mosaic wall in LAX, the same wall that the title character in Tarantino's Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) moves past in the opening credits of that film. The characters of stunt coordinator husband and wife, Randy (Kurt Russell) and Janet Lloyd (Zoë Bell) are an homage to characters in Tarantino's Death Proof; Stuntman Mike McKay (Russell) and Zoë Bell who plays herself, a stunt woman.
In the film, Bruce Lee engages in a fight with Cliff Booth on the set of The Green Hornet. The Green Hornet theme song is featured in Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1. The masks worn by the Crazy 88 gang in that film are the same as Lee's mask as Kato in The Green Hornet. The car Booth drives is a 1964 blue Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible. It is the same year, color, make and model of the car that Beatrix "the Bride" Kiddo (Uma Thurman) drives in Kill Bill: Volume 2. Similarly, Rick Dalton's 1966 Cadillac de Ville is the same car driven by Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) in Reservoir Dogs. It was owned by Madsen.
== Historical accuracy and influence ==
In a scene, Sharon Tate goes into Larry Edmunds Bookshop and purchases a copy of Tess of the d'Urbervilles. In real life, Tate gave a copy to Roman Polanski shortly before her death. In 1978 Polanski directed the film adaptation, Tess (1979), dedicating it to Tate.
Tate and Polanski's Yorkie Terrier in the film is named "Dr. Sapirstein", as was Tate's Yorkie in real life, named after the doctor portrayed by Ralph Bellamy in Rosemary's Baby. The carrier she puts the dog in is the one that Tate actually owned.
In the film, Tate goes to see The Wrecking Crew at the Fox Bruin Theater. She convinces the theater's employees that she stars in the movie after they fail to recognize her. Tarantino stated the scene came from a personal experience. When True Romance was released, he saw it at the same theater, where he eventually convinced its employees that he wrote the script. The outfit Margot Robbie wears in the scene is based on the one Tate wore in Eye of the Devil.
On the set of Batman, for a crossover episode with The Green Hornet, a fight was scripted with Kato (Bruce Lee) losing to Dick Grayson's Robin (Burt Ward). When Lee received the script, he refused to do it, so it was changed to a draw. When the cameras rolled, Lee stalked Ward until Ward backed away. Lee laughed and told him he was "lucky it is a TV show." Stuntman Gene LeBell carried Lee around in a Fireman's Carry when he first arrived on The Green Hornet set in response to Lee being tough on stuntmen. In the film, stuntman Cliff Booth fights Lee on the set of The Green Hornet; the fight ends in a draw. Booth refers to Lee as "Kato".
According to Rudolph Altobelli, who rented the house to Polanski and Tate, in March 1969, Charles Manson showed up. Polanski's friend, Iranian photographer Shahrokh Hatami (who directed the short documentary Mia and Roman) also said he saw Manson enter the grounds. Hatami approached Manson, asking him what he wanted. He told Hatami he was looking for Terry Melcher. Hatami responded the house was the Polanski residence and perhaps Melcher lived in the guest house. Altobelli told Manson that Melcher no longer lived there. This happens in the film, with Jay Sebring in place of Altobelli and Hatami.
On the night of August 8, 1969, Patricia Krenwinkel, Tex Watson, and Susan Atkins broke into Tate's house, murdering her and four others. In the film, they go to Tate's house to commit the murders but instead end up breaking into Dalton's house after he interrupts them. Linda Kasabian went along that night, though she did not murder anyone and stayed outside the whole time as a lookout. In the film, she goes along and does not murder anyone but takes off and does not stay. Watson told his victims, "I'm the Devil, and I'm here to do the Devil's business." In the film, he says it to Cliff Booth.
In the film, Atkins convinces the others to seek revenge by killing Rick Dalton, star of a TV western. Since TV taught them to kill, it is fitting they kill the guy from TV, and "My idea is to kill the people who taught us to kill!" In real life, Manson Family member Nancy Pitman said: "We are what you have made us. We were brought up on your TV. We were brought up watching Gunsmoke and Have Gun – Will Travel." Sandra Good said: "You want to talk about devils and demonic and immorals and evil, go to Hollywood. We don't touch the evil of that world. We don't even skim it." In the film when the four Manson Family members who drive to Tate's house are sitting outside in their car, Rick Dalton comes out of his house and yells at them to leave. In real-life the four members stopped at the house of Rudolf Weber, down the street from Tate's house. Weber came out and yelled at them to leave. Weber told the police he was tired of hippies on his street.
Clem Grogan was convicted of the murder of stuntman Donald Shea on Spahn Ranch, whom he repeatedly beat with a lead pipe. In the film, Grogan is instead beaten by stuntman Cliff Booth. The 1959 Ford Galaxie driven by the Manson Family is a detailed replica of the car used in the Tate–LaBianca murders. Car coordinator Steven Butcher found the actual car, but after a meeting with Tarantino, they decided using it would be "too creepy". Boeing 747s are used in several airliner scenes, but were not in commercial use until 1970; the film is set in 1969.
=== In popular culture ===
On August 6, 2021, the rock band Twin Atlantic released a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood-themed music video for their song "Bang On the Gong," with lead singer, Sam McTrusty taking inspiration from Rick Dalton.
During the opening credits of the Japanese anime, Chainsaw Man, the opening scene of the movie has been referenced.
== Character controversies ==
=== Bruce Lee ===
The film's depiction of Bruce Lee drew criticism. In the film, Lee is asked on a film set whether he could defeat Muhammad Ali in a fight, to which he responds that he would "make him a cripple". Cliff responds with laughter, causing Lee to challenge him to a fight. Although Lee initially kicks Cliff to the ground, Cliff manages to throw Lee into the side of a car. Fans and contemporaries of Lee, including his protégé Dan Inosanto, criticized the portrayal. Lee's daughter Shannon described the depiction as "an arrogant asshole who was full of hot air" and that "they didn't need to treat him in the way white Hollywood did when he was alive." Lee's student and friend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who starred with Lee in Game of Death, stated that Tarantino's portrayal of Lee was "sloppy and somewhat racist".
Mike Moh, who played Lee, said he was conflicted at first: "Bruce in my mind was literally a god. [He] didn't always have the most affection for stuntmen; he didn't respect all of them." He stated, "Tarantino loves Bruce Lee; he reveres him." Brad Pitt and stunt coordinator Robert Alonzo objected to an extended version of the fight in which Lee loses. According to Lee's friend and The Green Hornet stuntman Gene LeBell, Lee had a reputation for "kicking the shit out of the stuntmen. They couldn't convince him that he could go easy and it would still look great on film." In the 2018 Bruce Lee: A Life, Lee's biographer Matthew Polly wrote, Lee would jump-kick people on the set. According to Lee's co-star Van Williams, it stopped when "He dislocated [a set designer's] jaw." Polly continued, "Bruce insisted on close quarters combat. The stuntmen hated it." Williams said, "[The stuntmen] … didn't want to work on the show. They were tired of getting hurt." LeBell was tasked with "calming Bruce down."
Tarantino responded, saying Lee was "kind of an arrogant guy," and that Lee's widow, Linda, wrote in her 1975 book Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew that he could beat Muhammad Ali. Polly considered this a misquote as Linda only wrote, "Even the most scathing critics admitted that Bruce's Gung fu was sensational. One critic wrote, 'Those who watched him would bet on Lee to render Cassius Clay (Ali) senseless if they were put in a room and told anything goes.'" In 1972, Lee himself stated: "Everybody says I must fight Ali some day. … Look at my hand. That's a little Chinese hand. He'd kill me."
Shannon filed a complaint with the China Film Administration affecting the film's release in China unless alterations were made. After Tarantino refused to remove the scene, China cancelled the release of the film on October 18, 2019, one week before its release date there.
=== Sharon Tate ===
After being contacted over concerns, Tarantino invited a representative of Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate's widower, over to his house to read the script and report back to Polanski, to assure him "he didn't have anything to worry about". Tarantino stated: "When it comes to Polanski, we're talking about a tragedy that would be unfathomable for most human beings," and that he did not contact him while writing it, as he did not want to cause him anxiety. Despite this, Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, criticized Tarantino for using Polanski's likeness after the film's premiere.
Debra Tate, Sharon's sister, initially opposed the film, saying it was exploitative and perpetuated mistruths: "To celebrate the killers and the darkest portion of society as being sexy or acceptable in any way, shape or form is just perpetuating the worst of our society." After Tarantino contacted her and showed her the script, she withdrew her opposition, saying: "This movie is not what people would expect it to be when you combine the Tarantino and Manson names." She felt that Tarantino was a "very stand-up guy"; after visiting the set, she was impressed by Robbie and lent her some of Sharon's jewelry and perfume to wear in the film.
After the premiere, journalist Farah Nayeri asked Tarantino why Robbie had so few lines. Tarantino responded, "I reject your hypothesis." Robbie elaborated, "I think the moments on screen show those wonderful sides of [Tate] could be adequately done without speaking." Tarantino said, "I thought it would both be touching and pleasurable and also sad and melancholy to just spend a little time with [Tate], just existing … I wanted you to see Sharon a lot."
=== Manson Family ===
Charles Manson was convicted of the murders of Tate and four others, despite not being present, due mostly to a theory presented by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi that Manson was trying to instigate an apocalyptic race war, leaving only Black Muslims and the Family. According to the theory, the Black Muslims would eventually look to Manson to lead them. According to members of the Family – Paul Watkins, Juan Flynn and Barbara Hoyt – Manson referred to the race war as Helter Skelter, getting the name from the song of the same name.
Musician and filmmaker Boots Riley criticized Tarantino's film for not portraying Bugliosi's Helter Skelter narrative, or depicting the Family as white supremacists, as did Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times, in which she wrote that portraying the Manson Family as hippies is "a more bankable image than Manson the ignorant white supremacist."
However, according to members of The Family – Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, Catherine Share, and Ruth Ann Moorehouse – the Tate murders were not perpetrated to start Helter Skelter, but as copycat murders mirroring that of Gary Hinman, in an attempt to convince police the killer was still at large, and get Bobby Beausoleil released from jail, as he was charged with Hinman's murder. He stated the murders had nothing to do with race.
According to Jay Sebring's protégé and business partner Jim Markham, who provided original Sebring hair products for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the murders were instigated by a drug deal gone bad, not a race war. He believes Manson was at Tate's house the day before the murders to sell drugs to Sebring and Voytek Frykowski, which resulted in the two beating Manson up. In his interview with Truman Capote, Beausoleil said, "They burned people on dope deals. Sharon Tate and that gang."
On The Joe Rogan Experience, Tarantino said he thought Bugliosi's theory was "bullshit". He believes Manson never sent anyone over to Tate's house to murder anyone, and that the murders happened spontaneously.
== Related projects ==
=== Novels ===
==== Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ====
In November 2020, Tarantino signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins. On June 29, 2021, he published his first novel, an adaptation of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Jason Leigh who previously starred in Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. According to Tarantino, her Hateful Eight character Daisy Domergue was "A Manson girl out west, like Susan Atkins or something."
According to Tarantino, the novel is "a complete rethinking of the entire story," and adds details to various sequences and characters, including several chapters dedicated to the backstory of Cliff Booth. The novel also departs from the film, the film's finale occurs towards the beginning of the novel, and its aftermath includes Rick Dalton earning newfound fame as a regular on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It also focuses on Charles Manson's pursuit of a music career, the "inner worlds" of Sharon Tate and Trudi Fraser, and has a whole chapter focused on actor Aldo Ray.
==== The Films of Rick Dalton ====
In June 2021, Tarantino revealed he wrote and plans to publish a second novel connected to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood about the films of Rick Dalton. The book details every film and TV series of Dalton's entire career, some of which are completely fictional but the majority of Dalton's work are real, with Dalton replacing the actors who actually starred in the films. In it, Cliff Booth writes a film for Dalton featuring a flamethrower, which they produce and Dalton directs.
=== Film and television ===
==== Sequel/Spin-off ====
In April 2025, it was reported that David Fincher had been hired to direct a sequel, with Netflix acquiring the film's screenplay from Tarantino. DiCaprio and Pitt were in talks to reprise their roles as Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth respectively. It was reported by Deadline Hollywood later that same month that the film would be called The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth and would follow Booth as a Hollywood studio fixer. Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II were cast in the film later that year. The film is scheduled to be released in select theaters and on Netflix in 2026.
==== Extended cut ====
On August 5, 2019, it was announced that a four-hour cut of the film may be coming to Netflix. On January 3, 2020, Collider confirmed the statement in an interview with Quentin Tarantino, revealing the extended-cut of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood would probably be available in approximately one year. In June 2021 Tarantino said the extended cut would probably be released "in a couple of years." It will be around three hours and 20 minutes and be released theatrically.
==== Bounty Law ====
Also in 2019, Tarantino expressed interest in creating a Bounty Law television series based on five half-hour scripts he wrote in preparation for the film and that he plans on writing three more episodes. Tarantino said he does not know who would play Jake Cahill, the lead but added "if [Leonardo DiCaprio] wants to do it that'd be great." The series would be shot in black and white and follow the half-hour format of Western television shows from the 1950s. Scenes from the episodes already written appear in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino plans on directing all episodes of the series.
==== Lancer ====
Tarantino hopes Robert Rodriguez will turn his version of Lancer from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood into a film.
=== Stage ===
In June 2021 Tarantino announced his plan to produce a stage adaptation of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He already wrote the play, which takes place in Italy. The entire second act consists of Rick Dalton, Marvin Schwarz, and Sergio Corbucci having dinner in Rome. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmania | Tasmania | Tasmania (/tæzˈmeɪniə/; palawa kani: Lutruwita) is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's smallest and least populous state, with 573,479 residents as of June 2023. The state capital and largest city is Hobart, with around 40% of the population living in the Greater Hobart area. Tasmania is the most decentralised state in Australia, with the lowest proportion of its residents living within its capital city.
Tasmania's main island was first inhabited by Aboriginal peoples, who today generally identify as Palawa or Pakana.
It is believed that Aboriginal Tasmanians became isolated from mainland Aboriginal groups around 11,700 years ago, when rising sea levels formed Bass Strait.
In 1803, Tasmania was permanently settled by Europeans as a penal settlement of the British Empire, partly to pre-empt French territorial claims during the Napoleonic Wars. At the time of British arrival, the Aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 3,000 and 7,000. Within three decades, however, this number declined drastically due to violent conflict, known as the Black War, and the spread of infectious diseases. The Black War peaked between 1825 and 1831, resulting in the declaration of martial law for more than three years and causing the deaths of nearly 1,100 Aboriginal people and settlers.
Under British rule, the island was initially part of the Colony of New South Wales; however, it became a separate colony under the name Van Diemen's Land (named after Anthony van Diemen) in 1825. Approximately 80,000 convicts were sent to Van Diemen's Land before this practice, known as transportation, ceased in 1853. In 1855, the present Constitution of Tasmania was enacted, and the following year the colony formally changed its name to Tasmania. In 1901, it became a founding constituent state of Australia (one of six) through the process of the federation of Australia.
Today, Tasmania has the second smallest economy of the Australian states and territories; economic activity involves principally tourism, agriculture, aquaculture, education, and healthcare. Tasmania is a significant agricultural exporter, as well as a significant destination for eco-tourism. About 42% of its land area, including national parks and World Heritage Sites (21%), is protected in some form of reserve. The first environmental political party in the world was founded in Tasmania.
== Toponymy ==
Tasmania is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemen's Land after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later shortened to Van Diemen's Land by the British. It was officially renamed "Tasmania" in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856.
Tasmania was sometimes referred to as "Dervon", as mentioned in the Jerilderie Letter written by the notorious Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in 1879. The colloquial expression or nickname for the state is "Tassie". Tasmania is also sometimes referenced by its short-form name "Tas", mainly when written (eg, in business names, websites, addresses). TAS is also the Australia Post abbreviation for the state.
=== Names from Indigenous languages ===
In the constructed palawa kani language, the main island of Tasmania is called "Lutruwita", a name originally derived from the Bruny Island Tasmanian language. George Augustus Robinson recorded it as Loe.trou.witter, but also as Trow.wer.nar, probably from one or more of the eastern or Northeastern Tasmanian languages. However, he also recorded this name for Cape Barren Island. In the 20th century, some writers used it as an Aboriginal name for Tasmania—spelled "Trowenna" or "Trowunna". It is now believed that that name is more properly applied to Cape Barren Island, which has had an official dual name of "Truwana" since 2014.
A number of palawa kani names, based on historical records of aboriginal names, have been accepted by the Tasmanian government. A dozen of these (below) are 'dual-use' (bilingual) names, and another two are unbounded areas with only palawa names.
Bilingual names
Palawa names
Larapuna: an unbounded area centred on the Bay of Fires
Narawntapu National Park (formerly Asbestos Range National Park)
Putalina: an unbounded area centred on Oyster Cove (including the community of Oyster Cove)
There are also a number of archaeological sites with Palawa names. Some of these names have been contentious, with names being proposed without consultation with the aboriginal community, or without having a connection to the place in question.
As well as a diverse First Nations geography, where remnants are preserved in rough form by European documentation, Tasmania is known as a place for unorthodox place-names. These names often come about from lost definitions, where descriptive names have lost their old meanings and have taken on new modern interpretations (e.g. 'Bobs Knobs'). Other names have retained their original meaning, and are often quaint or endearing descriptions (e.g. 'Paradise').
== History ==
=== Physical history ===
The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the last glacial period about 11,700 years ago. Much of the island is composed of Jurassic dolerite intrusions (the upwelling of magma) through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the world's largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains and cliffs formed from this rock type. The central plateau and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerites. Mount Wellington above Hobart is a good example, showing distinct columns known as the Organ Pipes.
In the southern midlands as far south as Hobart, the dolerite is underlaid by sandstone and similar sedimentary stones. In the southwest, Precambrian quartzites were formed from very ancient sea sediments and form strikingly sharp ridges and ranges, such as Federation Peak or Frenchmans Cap.
In the northeast and east, continental granites can be seen, such as at Freycinet, similar to coastal granites on mainland Australia. In the northwest and west, mineral-rich volcanic rock can be seen at Mount Read near Rosebery, or at Mount Lyell near Queenstown. Also present in the south and northwest is limestone with caves.
The quartzite and dolerite areas in the higher mountains show evidence of glaciation, and much of Australia's glaciated landscape is found on the Central Plateau and the Southwest. Cradle Mountain, another dolerite peak, for example, was a nunatak. The combination of these different rock types contributes to scenery which is distinct from any other region of the world. In the far southwest corner of the state, the geology is almost wholly quartzite, which gives the mountains the false impression of having snow-capped peaks year round.
=== Aboriginal people ===
Evidence indicates the presence of Aboriginal people in Tasmania about 42,000 years ago. Rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago and by the time of European contact, the Aboriginal people in Tasmania had nine major nations or ethnic groups. At the time of the British occupation and colonisation in 1803, the indigenous population was estimated at between 3,000 and 10,000.
Historian Lyndall Ryan's analysis of population studies led her to conclude that there were about 7,000 spread throughout the island's nine nations; Nicholas Clements, citing research by N.J.B. Plomley and Rhys Jones, settled on a figure of 3,000 to 4,000. They engaged in fire-stick farming, hunted game including kangaroo and wallabies, caught seals, mutton-birds, shellfish and fish and lived as nine separate "nations" on the island, which they knew as "Trouwunna".
=== European arrival and governance ===
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on 24 November 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who landed at today's Blackman Bay. More than a century later, in 1772, a French expedition led by Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne landed at (nearby but different) Blackmans Bay, and the following year Tobias Furneaux became the first Englishman to land in Tasmania when he arrived at Adventure Bay, which he named after his ship HMS Adventure. Captain James Cook also landed at Adventure Bay in 1777. Matthew Flinders and George Bass sailed through Bass Strait in 1798–1799, determining for the first time that Tasmania was an island.
Sealers and whalers based themselves on Tasmania's islands from 1798, and in August 1803 New South Wales Governor Philip King sent Lieutenant John Bowen to establish a small military outpost on the eastern shore of the Derwent River in order to forestall any claims to the island by French explorers who had been exploring the southern Australian coastline. Bowen, who led a party of 49, including 21 male and three female convicts, named the camp Risdon.
Several months later, a second settlement was established by Captain David Collins, with 308 convicts, 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) to the south in Sullivans Cove on the western side of the Derwent, where fresh water was more plentiful. The latter settlement became known as Hobart Town or Hobarton, later shortened to Hobart, after the British Colonial Secretary of the time, Lord Hobart. The settlement at Risdon was later abandoned. Left on their own without further supplies, the Sullivans Cove settlement suffered severe food shortages and by 1806 its inhabitants were starving, with many resorting to scraping seaweed off rocks and scavenging washed-up whale blubber from the shore to survive.
A smaller colony was established at Port Dalrymple on the Tamar River in the island's north in October 1804 and several other convict-based settlements were established, including the particularly harsh penal colonies at Port Arthur in the southeast and Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast. Tasmania was eventually sent 75,000 convicts—four out of every ten people transported to Australia. By 1819, the Aboriginal and British population reached parity with about 5000 of each, although among the colonists men outnumbered women four-to-one. Free settlers began arriving in large numbers from 1820, lured by the promise of land grants and free convict labour. Settlement in the island's northwest corner was monopolised by the Van Diemen's Land Company, which sent its first surveyors to the district in 1826. By 1830, one-third of Australia's non-Indigenous population lived in Van Diemen's Land and the island accounted for about half of all land under cultivation and exports.
==== Black War ====
Tensions between Tasmania's Aboriginal and white inhabitants rose, partly driven by increasing competition for kangaroo and other game. Explorer and naval officer John Oxley in 1810 noted the "many atrocious cruelties" inflicted on Aboriginal people by convict bushrangers in the north, which in turn led to black attacks on solitary white hunters. Hostilities increased further with the arrival of 600 colonists from Norfolk Island between 1807 and 1813. They established farms along the River Derwent and east and west of Launceston, occupying ten percent of Van Diemen's Land. By 1824 the colonial population had swelled to 12,600, while the island's sheep population had reached 200,000. The rapid colonisation transformed traditional kangaroo hunting grounds into farms with grazing livestock as well as fences, hedges and stone walls, while police and military patrols were increased to control the convict farm labourers.
Violence began to spiral rapidly from the mid-1820s in what became described as the "Black War". Aboriginal inhabitants were driven to desperation by hunger – that included a desire for agricultural produce, as well as feeling anger at the prevalence of abductions of women and girls. New settlers motivated by fear carried out self-defence operations as well as attacks as a means of suppressing the native threat – or even in some cases, exacting revenge. Van Diemen's Land had an enormous gender imbalance, with male colonists outnumbering females six to one in 1822—and 16 to one among the convict population. Historian Nicholas Clements has suggested the "voracious appetite" for native women was the most important trigger for the explosion of violence from the late 1820s.
From 1825 to 1828, the number of native attacks more than doubled each year, raising panic among settlers. Over the summer of 1826–1827 clans from the Big River, Oyster Bay and North Midlands nations speared stock-keepers on farms and made it clear that they wanted the settlers and their sheep and cattle to move from their kangaroo hunting grounds. Settlers responded vigorously, resulting in many mass-killings. In November 1826, Governor Sir George Arthur issued a government notice declaring that colonists were free to kill Aboriginal people when they attacked settlers or their property, and in the following eight months more than 200 Aboriginal people were killed in the Settled Districts in reprisal for the deaths of 15 colonists. After another eight months, the death toll had risen to 43 colonists and probably 350 Aboriginal people. In April 1828, Arthur issued a Proclamation of Demarcation forbidding Aboriginal people to enter the settled districts without a passport issued by the government. Arthur declared martial law in the colony in November that year, and this remained in force for over three years, the longest period of martial law in Australian history.
In November 1830, Arthur organised the so-called "Black Line", ordering every able-bodied male colonist to assemble at one of seven designated places in the Settled Districts to join a massive drive to sweep Aboriginal people out of the region and on to the Tasman Peninsula. The campaign failed and was abandoned seven weeks later, but by then Tasmania's Aboriginal population had fallen to about 300.
==== Removal of Aboriginal people ====
After hostilities between settlers and Aboriginal peoples ceased in 1832, almost all of the remnants of the Indigenous population were persuaded by government agent George Augustus Robinson to move to Flinders Island. Many quickly succumbed to infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, reducing the population further. Of those removed from Tasmania, the last to die was Truganini, in 1876.
The near-destruction of Tasmania's Aboriginal population has been described as an act of genocide by historians including Robert Hughes, James Boyce, Lyndall Ryan and Tom Lawson. However, other historians including Henry Reynolds, Richard Broome and Nicholas Clements do not agree with the genocide thesis, arguing that the colonial authorities did not intend to destroy the Aboriginal population in whole or in part. Boyce has claimed that the April 1828 "Proclamation Separating the Aborigines from the White Inhabitants" sanctioned force against Aboriginal people "for no other reason than that they were Aboriginal". However, as Reynolds, Broome and Clements point out, there was open warfare at the time. Boyce described the decision to remove all Tasmanian Aboriginal people after 1832—by which time they had given up their fight against white colonists—as an extreme policy position. He concluded: "The colonial government from 1832 to 1838 ethnically cleansed the western half of Van Diemen's Land." Nevertheless, Clements and Flood note that there was another wave of violence in north-west Tasmania in 1841, involving attacks on settlers' huts by a band of Aboriginal Tasmanians who had not been removed from the island.
==== Proclamation as a colony ====
Van Diemen's Land—which thus far had existed as a territory within the colony of New South Wales—was proclaimed a separate colony, with its own judicial establishment and Legislative Council, on 3 December 1825. Transportation to the island ceased in 1853 and the colony was renamed Tasmania in 1856, partly to differentiate the burgeoning society of free settlers from the island's convict past.
The Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which gained Royal Assent in 1855. The Privy Council also approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856 the newly elected bicameral parliament sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a self-governing colony of the British Empire.
The colony suffered from economic fluctuations, but for the most part was prosperous, experiencing steady growth. With few external threats and strong trade links with the Empire, Tasmania enjoyed many fruitful periods in the late 19th century, becoming a world-centre of shipbuilding. It raised a local defence force that eventually played a significant role in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and Tasmanian soldiers in that conflict won the first two Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians.
==== Federation ====
In 1901, the Colony of Tasmania united with the five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Tasmanians voted in favour of federation with the largest majority of all the Australian colonies.
=== 20th and 21st century ===
Tasmania was an early adopter of electric street lighting. Australia's first electric street lights were switched on in Waratah in 1886. Launceston became the first completely electrified city on the island in 1885, followed closely by the township of Zeehan in 1900.
The state economy was riding mining prosperity until World War I. In 1901, the state population was 172,475. The 1910 foundation of what would become Hydro Tasmania began to shape urban patterns, as well as future major damming programs. Hydro's influence culminated in the 1970s when the state government announced plans to flood environmentally significant Lake Pedder. As a result of the eventual flooding of Lake Pedder, the world's first green party was established; the United Tasmania Group. National and international attention surrounded the campaign against the Franklin Dam in the early 1980s.
Tasmanian Enid Lyons became the first female member of the House of Representatives at the 1943 federal election and first female to serve in the federal cabinet. In May 1948, Margaret McIntyre achieved another milestone as the first female elected to the Parliament of Tasmania. Less than six months after her election, McIntyre died in the crash of the Lutana near Quirindi on 2 September 1948.
After the end of World War II, the state saw major urbanisation, and the growth of towns like Ulverstone. It gained a reputation as "Sanitorium of the South" and a health-focused tourist boom began to grow. The Princess of Tasmania began her maiden voyage in 1959, the first car ferry to Tasmania. As part of the boom, Tasmania allowed the opening of the first casino in Australia in 1968. Queen Elizabeth II visited the state in 1954, and the 50s and 60s were charactered by the opening of major public services, including the Tasmanian Housing Department and Metro Tasmania public bus services. A jail was opened at Risdon in 1960, and the State Library of Tasmania the same year. The University of Tasmania also moved to its present location in 1963.
The state was badly affected by the 1967 Tasmanian fires, killing 64 people and destroying over 652,000 acres in five hours. In 1975 the Tasman Bridge collapsed when the bridge was struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra. It was the only bridge in Hobart, and made crossing the Derwent River by road at the city impossible. The nearest bridge was approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north, at Bridgewater.
Throughout the 1980s, strong environmental concerns saw the building of the Australian Antarctic Division headquarters, and the proclamation of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The Franklin Dam was blocked by the federal government in 1983, and CSIRO opened its marine studies centre in Hobart. Pope John Paul II would hold mass at Elwick Racecourse in 1986.
The 1990s were characterised by the fight for LGBT rights in Tasmania, culminating in the intervention of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1997 and the decriminalization of homosexuality that year. Christine Milne became the first female leader of a Tasmanian political party in 1993, and major council amalgamations reduce the number of councils from 46 to 29.
Following the Port Arthur massacre on 28 April 1996, which resulted in the loss of 35 lives and injured 23 others, the Australian Government conducted a review of its firearms policies and enacted new nationwide gun ownership laws under the National Firearms Agreement.
In 2000, Queen Elizabeth II once again visited the state. Gunns rose to prominence as a major forestry company during this decade, only to collapse in 2013. In 2004, Premier Jim Bacon died in office from lung cancer. In January 2011 philanthropist David Walsh opened the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart to international acclaim. Within 12 months, MONA became Tasmania's top tourism attraction.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania resulted in at least 230 cases and 13 deaths as of September 2021. In 2020, after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (SARS-CoV-2) and its spread to Australia, the Tasmanian government issued a public health emergency on 17 March, the following month receiving the state's most significant outbreak from the North-West which required assistance from the Federal government. In late 2021, Tasmania was leading the nationwide vaccination response.
== Geography ==
Tasmania, the largest island of Australia, has a landmass of 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) and is located directly in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe. To its north, it is separated from mainland Australia by Bass Strait. Tasmania is the only Australian state that is not located on the Australian mainland. About 2,500 kilometres (1,300 nautical miles) south of Tasmania island lies the George V Coast of Antarctica. Depending on which borders of the oceans are used, the island can be said to be either surrounded by the Southern Ocean, or to have the Pacific on its east and the Indian to its west. Still other definitions of the ocean boundaries would have Tasmania with the Great Australian Bight to the west, and the Tasman Sea to the east. The southernmost point on mainland Tasmania is approximately 43°38′37″S 146°49′38″E at South East Cape, and the northernmost point on mainland Tasmania is approximately 40°38′26″S 144°43′33″E in Woolnorth / Temdudheker near Cape Grim / Kennaook. Tasmania lies at similar latitudes to Te Waipounamu / South Island of New Zealand and parts of Patagonia in South America. Areas at equivalent latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere include Hokkaido in Japan, Northeast China (Manchuria), Central Italy, and United States cities such as New York and Chicago.
The most mountainous region is the Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central western parts of the state. The Midlands located in the central east, is fairly flat, and is predominantly used for agriculture, although farming activity is scattered throughout the state. Tasmania's tallest mountain is Mount Ossa at 1,617 m (5,305 ft). Much of Tasmania is still densely forested, with the Southwest National Park and neighbouring areas holding some of the last temperate rain forests in the Southern Hemisphere. The Tarkine, containing Savage River National Park located in the island's far north west, is the largest temperate rainforest area in Australia covering about 3,800 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi). With its rugged topography, Tasmania has a great number of rivers. Several of Tasmania's largest rivers have been dammed at some point to provide hydroelectricity. Many rivers begin in the Central Highlands and flow out to the coast. Tasmania's major population centres are mainly situated around estuaries (some of which are named rivers).
Tasmania is in the shape of a downward-facing triangle, likened to a shield, heart, or face. It consists of the main island as well as at least a thousand neighbouring islands within the state's jurisdiction. The largest of these are Flinders Island in the Furneaux Group of Bass Strait, King Island in the west of Bass Strait, Cape Barren Island south of Flinders Island, Bruny Island separated from Tasmania by the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Macquarie Island 1,500 km from Tasmania, and Maria Island off the east coast.
Tasmania features a number of separated and continuous mountain ranges. The majority of the state is defined by a significant dolerite exposure, though the western half of the state is older and more rugged, featuring buttongrass plains, temperate rainforests, and quartzite ranges, notably Federation Peak and Frenchmans Cap. The presence of these mountain ranges is a primary factor in the rain shadow effect, where the western half receives the majority of rainfall, which also influences the types of vegetation that can grow. The Central Highlands feature a large plateau which forms a number of ranges and escarpments on its north side, tapering off along the south, and radiating into the highest mountain ranges in the west. At the north-west of this, another plateau radiates into a system of hills where takayna / Tarkine is located.
The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) divides Tasmania into 9 bioregions:
Ben Lomond, Furneaux, King, Central Highlands, Northern Midlands, Northern Slopes, Southern Ranges, South East, and West.
Tasmania's environment consistes of many different biomes or communities across its different regions. It is the most forested state in Australia, and preserves the country's largest areas of temperate rainforest. A distinctive type of moorland found across the west, and particularly south-west of Tasmania, are buttongrass plains, which are speculated to have been expanded by Tasmanian Aboriginal burning practices. Tasmania also features a diverse alpine garden environment, such as cushion plant. Highland areas receive consistent snowfall above ~1,000 metres every year, and due to cold air from Antarctica, this level often reaches 800 m, and more occasionally 600 or 400 metres. Every five or so years, snow can form at sea level. This environment gives rise to the cypress forests of the Central Plateau and mountainous highlands. In particular, the Walls of Jerusalem with large areas of rare pencil pine, and its closest relative King Billy pine. On the West Coast Range and partially on Mount Field, Australia's only winter-deciduous plant, deciduous beech is found, which forms a carpet or krummholz, or very rarely a 4-metre tree.
Tasmania features a high concentration of waterfalls. These can be found in small creeks, alpine streams, rapid rivers, or off precipitous plunges. Some of the tallest waterfalls are found on mountain massifs, sometimes at a 200-metre cascade. The most famous and most visited waterfall in Tasmania is Russell Falls in Mount Field due to its proximity to Hobart and stepped falls at a total height of 58 metres.
Tasmania also has a large number of beaches, the longest of which is Ocean Beach on the West Coast at about 40 kilometres. Wineglass Bay in Freycinet on the east coast is a well-known landmark of the state.
The Tasmanian temperate rainforests cover a few different types. These are also considered distinct from the more common wet sclerophyll forests, though these eucalypt forests often form with rainforest understorey and ferns (such as tree-ferns) are not usually absent. Rainforest found in deep gullies are usually difficult to traverse due to dense understorey growth, such as from horizontal (Anodopetalum biglandulosum). Higher-elevation forests (~500 to 800 m) have smaller ground vegetation and are thus easier to walk in. The most common rainforests usually have a 50-metre canopy and are varied by environmental factors. Emergent growth usually comes from eucalyptus, which can tower another 50 metres higher (usually less), providing the most common choice of nesting for giant wedge-tailed eagles.
The human environment ranges from urban or industrial development to farming or grazing land. The most cultivated area is the Midlands, where it has suitable soil but is also the driest part of the state.
Tasmania's insularity was possibly detected by Captain Abel Tasman when he charted Tasmania's coast in 1642. On 5 December, Tasman was following the east coast northward to see how far it went. When the land veered to the north-west at Eddystone Point, he tried to keep in with it but his ships were suddenly hit by the Roaring Forties howling through Bass Strait. Tasman was on a mission to find the Southern Continent, not more islands, so he abruptly turned away to the east and continued his continent-hunting.
The next European to enter the strait was Captain James Cook on HMS Endeavour in April 1770. However, after sailing for two hours westward into the strait against the wind, he turned back east and noted in his journal that he was "doubtful whether they [i.e. Van Diemen's Land and New Holland] are one land or no".
The strait was named after George Bass, after he and Matthew Flinders passed through it while circumnavigating Van Diemen's Land in the Norfolk in 1798–99. At Flinders' recommendation, the Governor of New South Wales, John Hunter, in 1800 named the stretch of water between the mainland and Van Diemen's Land "Bass's Straits". Later it became known as Bass Strait.
The existence of the strait had been suggested in 1797 by the master of Sydney Cove when he reached Sydney after deliberately grounding his foundering ship and being stranded on Preservation Island (at the eastern end of the strait). He reported that the strong south westerly swell and the tides and currents suggested that the island was in a channel linking the Pacific and southern Indian Ocean. Governor Hunter thus wrote to Joseph Banks in August 1797 that it seemed certain a strait existed.
=== Climate ===
Tasmania has a relatively cool temperate climate compared to the rest of Australia, spared from the hot summers of the mainland and experiencing four distinct seasons. Summer is from December to February when the average maximum sea temperature is 21 °C (70 °F) and inland areas around Launceston reach 24 °C (75 °F). Other inland areas are much cooler, with Liawenee, located on the Central Plateau, one of the coldest places in Australia, ranging between 4 and 17 °C (39 and 63 °F) in February. Autumn is from March to May, with mostly settled weather, as summer patterns gradually take on the shape of winter patterns. The winter months are from June to August and are generally the wettest and coldest months in the state, with most high lying areas receiving considerable snowfall. Winter maximums are 12 °C (54 °F) on average along coastal areas and 3 °C (37 °F) on the central plateau, as a result of a series of cold fronts from the Southern Ocean. Inland areas receive regular freezes throughout the winter months. Spring is from September to November, and is an unsettled season of transition, where winter weather patterns begin to take the shape of summer patterns, although snowfall is still common up until October. Spring is generally the windiest time of the year with afternoon sea breezes starting to take effect on the coast.
=== Biodiversity ===
Geographically and biological isolated, Tasmania is known for its unique endemic flora and fauna.
==== Flora ====
Tasmania has extremely diverse vegetation, from the heavily grazed grassland of the dry Midlands to the tall evergreen eucalypt forest, alpine heathlands and large areas of cool temperate rainforests and moorlands in the rest of the state. Many species are unique to Tasmania, and some are related to species in South America and New Zealand through ancestors which grew on the supercontinent of Gondwana, 50 million years ago. Nothofagus gunnii, commonly known as Australian beech, is Australia's only temperate native deciduous tree and is found exclusively in Tasmania.
Distinctive species of plant in Tasmania include:
Eucalyptus regnans (mountain ash) – the tallest flowering plant and hardwood in the world, reaching 100 m (328 ft).
Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle beech) – the most abundant temperate rainforest canopy species found in Tasmania.
Nothofagus gunnii (deciduous beech) – Australia's only winter-deciduous tree.
Atherosperma moschatum (blackheart sassafras) – a co-dominant rainforest tree with a nutmeg aroma.
Lagarostrobos franklinii (Huon pine) – one of the oldest-lived tree species, and a self-preserving timber.
Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (celery-top pine) – a celery-leaved conifer found in rainforests.
Athrotaxis (Tasmanian cedar/redwood) – a genus comprising three extant species related to sequoia found in Tasmania.
Eucryphia lucida (leatherwood) – a prominent floral symbol of Tasmania and a unique monofloral honey species.
===== Bush tucker =====
Tasmania also has a number of native edibles, known as bush tucker in Australia. These plants were foraged by the Tasmanian Aboriginals and also used for other purposes, such as construction. Unusual trees such as cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii) had their manna used to make a syrup or an alcohol (cider). Other trees such as wattles (acacias) like blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and mimosa (Acacia dealbata) could have their seeds eaten or crushed into a powder. There are also many berries such as snowberry (Gaultheria hispida), fruits such as heartberry (Aristotelia peduncularis), and vegetables such as river mint (Mentha australis), though no crops like maize that are used for large production.
==== Fauna ====
Tasmania has a large percentage of endemism whilst featuring many types of animals found on mainland Australia. Many of these species, such as the platypus, are larger than their mainland relatives.
The island of Tasmania was home to the thylacine, a marsupial which resembled a fossa or some say a wild dog. Known colloquially as the Tasmanian tiger for the distinctive striping across its back, it became extinct in mainland Australia much earlier because of competition by the dingo, introduced in prehistoric times. Owing to persecution by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters and, in the final years, collectors for overseas museums, it appears to have been exterminated in Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936 and is now found in the wild only in Tasmania. Tasmania was one of the last regions of Australia to be introduced to domesticated dogs. Dogs were brought from Britain in 1803 for hunting kangaroos and emus. This introduction completely transformed Aboriginal society, as it helped them to successfully compete with European hunters and was more important than the introduction of guns for the Aboriginal people.
Tasmania is a hotspot for giant habitat trees and the large animal species that occupy them, notably the endangered Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax fleayi), the Tasmanian masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae castanops), the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (Astacopsis gouldi), the yellow wattlebird (Anthochaera paradoxa), the green rosella (Platycercus caledonicus) and others. Tasmania is also home to the world's only three migratory parrots, the critically endangered Orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster), the Blue-winged parrot (Neophema chrysostoma), and the fastest parrot in the world, the swift parrot (Lathamus discolor).
Tasmania has 12 endemic species of bird in total.
==== Mycology ====
Tasmania is a hotspot for fungal diversity. The importance of fungi in Tasmania's ecology is often overlooked; nonetheless, they play a vital role in the natural vegetation cycle. Tasmania's southwestern wilderness hosts a rich diversity of alpine lichens, with at least 162 documented species. The region's alpine lichen flora is particularly notable for its high level of endemism, with approximately 16% of species found nowhere else in the world. The area's cool maritime climate, Precambrian geology, and extensive peat formations create unique habitats for these organisms. The lichen communities differ significantly from those found on Tasmania's eastern dolerite mountains, with the southwestern species showing stronger affinities to New Zealand and sub-Antarctic flora rather than to mainland Australia. Major lichen habitats in the alpine southwest include heathlands, alpine lawns, feldmark (windswept rocky plateaus), and large rock outcrops, each supporting distinct assemblages of species. Some particularly diverse genera in the region include Bunodophoron, Cladia, Cladonia, Menegazzia, Micarea, Pertusaria, Pseudocyphellaria, Psoroma, Siphula, and Stereocaulon.
==== Conservation ====
Like the rest of Australia, Tasmania suffers from an endangered species problem. In particular, many important Tasmanian subspecies and world-significant species of animal are classified as at risk in some way. A famous example is the Tasmanian devil, which is endangered due to devil facial tumour disease. Some species have already gone extinct, primarily due to human interference, such as in the case of the thylacine or the Tasmanian emu. In Tasmania, there are about 90 endangered, vulnerable, or threatened vertebrate species classified by the state or Commonwealth governments. Because of a reliance on roads and private vehicle transport, and a high concentration of animal populations divided by this development, Tasmania has the worst (per kilometre) roadkill rate in the world, with 32 animals killed per hour and at least 300,000 per year.
Protected areas of Tasmania cover 21% of the island's land area in the form of national parks. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) was inscribed by UNESCO in 1982, where it is globally significant because "most UNESCO World Heritage sites meet only one or two of the ten criteria for that status. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) meets 7 out of 10 criteria. Only one other place on earth—China’s Mount Taishan—meets that many criteria".
Controversy surrounds the decision in 2014 by the Abbott federal Liberal government to request the area's delisting and opening for resource exploration (before it was rejected by the UN Committee at Doha), and the current mining and deforestation in the state's Tarkine region, the largest single temperate rainforest in Australia.
== Demography ==
The population of Tasmania is the most homogeneous of any Australian state, being mostly of British (primarily English) descent.
Until 2012, Tasmania was the only state in Australia with an above-replacement total fertility rate; Tasmanian women had an average of 2.24 children each. By 2012 the birth rate had slipped to 2.1 children per woman, bringing the state to the replacement threshold, but it continues to have the second-highest birth rate of any state or territory (behind the Northern Territory).
Major population centres include Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, and Ulverstone. Kingston is often defined as a separate city but is generally regarded as part of the Greater Hobart Area.
=== Ancestry and immigration ===
At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:
19.3% of the population was born overseas at the 2016 census. The five largest groups of overseas-born were from England (3.7%), New Zealand (1%), Mainland China (0.6%), Scotland (0.4%) and the Netherlands (0.4%).
4.6% of the population, or 23,572 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.
=== Language ===
At the 2021 census, 86.1% of inhabitants spoke only English at home, with the next most common languages being Mandarin (1.5%), Nepali (1.3%), Punjabi (0.5%) and Spanish (0.3%).
=== Religion ===
In 2021, 50.0% of people in Tasmania reported having no religious affiliation, a substantial increase from 38.2% in 2016 and just 5.1% in 1971. Meanwhile, Christianity remained the largest religious affiliation in the state, with 38.4% identifying as Christian, though this proportion has steadily declined over time—from 88.7% in 1971 to 49.7% in 2016.
Non-Christian religions accounted for 4.5% of the population in 2021, with Hinduism (1.7%), Buddhism (1.0%), and Islam (0.9%) being the most prevalent among them.
== Government ==
The form of the government of Tasmania is prescribed in its constitution, which dates from 1934. Since 1901, Tasmania has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth and prescribes which powers each level of government is allowed.
Tasmania is represented in the Senate by 12 senators, on an equal basis with all other states. In the House of Representatives, Tasmania is entitled to five seats, which is the minimum allocation for a state guaranteed by the Constitution—the number of House of Representatives seats for each state is otherwise decided on the basis of their relative populations, and Tasmania has never qualified for five seats on that basis alone. Tasmania's House of Assembly use a system of multi-seat proportional representation known as Hare-Clark.
=== Parliamentary elections ===
At the 2002 state election, the Labor Party won 14 of the 25 House seats. The people decreased their vote for the Liberal Party; representation in the Parliament fell to seven seats. The Greens won four seats, with over 18% of the popular vote, the highest proportion of any Green party in any parliament in the world at that time.
Tasmania in parliamentary elections has consecutively elected minority governments since 2024. The premiership of Jeremy Rockliff has retained government with the support of the crossbench.
=== Politics ===
Tasmania has a number of undeveloped regions. Proposals for local economic development have been faced with requirements for environmental sensitivity, or opposition. In particular, proposals for hydroelectric power generation were debated in the late 20th century. In the 1970s, opposition to the construction of the Lake Pedder reservoir impoundment led to the formation of the world's first Green party, the United Tasmania Group.
In the early 1980s the state debated the proposed Franklin River Dam. The anti-dam sentiment was shared by many Australians outside Tasmania and proved a factor in the election of the Hawke Labor government in 1983, which halted construction of the dam. Since the 1980s the environmental focus has shifted to old growth logging and mining in the Tarkine region, which have both proved divisive. The Tasmania Together process recommended an end to clear felling in high conservation old growth forests by January 2003, but was unsuccessful.
In 1996, the House of Assembly consisted of 35 seats with 7 seats per each of the five electorates. By the 1998 election, the number of seats had been reduced down to 25, or 5 per each electorate. This resulted in the reduction of the Greens' number of seats from 4 to 1, and increased the proportion of seats held by both the Labor and Liberal parties. This was despite growth in population (five-fold since responsible government) and an increase in the voting percentage required for a majority government. There was also no public consultation, and inquiries at the time had recommended the opposite. The House of Assembly Select Committee in 2020 recommended in its report that the number should be increased again from 25 to 35, arguing that such a small representation would undermine democracy and limit the capabilities of the government. In 2010, the major party leadership had even endorsed reinstating the 35 seat number, but Liberal and Labor support was withdrawn the following year, with only the Greens keeping their commitment.
=== Local government ===
Tasmania has 29 local government areas. Local councils are responsible for functions delegated by the Tasmanian parliament, such as urban planning, road infrastructure and waste management. Council revenue comes mostly from property taxes and government grants.
As with the House of Assembly, Tasmania's local government elections use a system of multi-seat proportional representation known as Hare–Clark. Local government elections take place every four years and are conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission by full postal ballot. The next local government elections will be held during October 2026.
== Economy ==
Traditionally, Tasmania's main industries have been mining (including copper, zinc, tin, and iron), agriculture, forestry, and tourism. Tasmania is on Australia's electrical grid and in the 1940s and 1950s, a hydro-industrialisation initiative was embodied in the state by Hydro Tasmania. These all have had varying fortunes over the last century and more, involved in ebbs and flows of population moving in and away dependent upon the specific requirements of the dominant industries of the time. The state also has a large number of food exporting sectors, including but not limited to seafood (such as salmon, abalone and crayfish).
In the 1960s and 1970s there was a decline in traditional crops such as apples and pears, with other crops and industries eventually rising in their place. During the 15 years until 2010, new agricultural products such as wine, saffron, pyrethrum and cherries have been fostered by the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research.
Favourable economic conditions throughout Australia, cheaper air fares, and two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries have all contributed to what is now a rising tourism industry.
About 1.7% of the Tasmanian population are employed by local government. Other major employers include Nyrstar, Norske Skog, Grange Resources, Rio Tinto, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart, and Federal Group. Small business is a large part of the community life, including Incat, Moorilla Estate and Tassal. In the late 1990s, a number of national companies based their call centres in the state after obtaining cheap access to broad-band fibre optic connections.
34% of Tasmanians are reliant on welfare payments as their primary source of income. This number is in part due to the large number of older residents and retirees in Tasmania receiving Age Pensions. Due to its natural environment and clean air, Tasmania is a common retirement selection for Australians.
=== Science and technology ===
The modern scientific sector in Tasmania benefits from around $500 million in annual investment.
Tasmania has a long history of scientific and technological innovation. The first scientific-style observations were conducted by the First Nation Tasmanians, primarily through the watching and mythologising of the night sky. Their story explaining the phases of the moon and sun "is one of the rare accounts that explicitly acknowledges that the light of the Moon is a reflection of the Sun's light".
The French D'Entrecasteaux Expedition of 1792–93 had anchored twice during its search of the missing La Pérouse in the Baie de la Recherche (Recherche Bay) in far-south Tasmania. During their stay, the crew took botanical, astronomical, and geomagnetic observations which were the first of their kind performed on Australian soil. As well as this, they engaged in amicable relations with the locals and environment, gifting the area a "French garden", in which "the relatively extensive, well-documented (both pictorially and written) encounters [...] between [them] provided a very early opportunity for meetings and mutual observation".
The longest-running branch of the Royal Society outside of the United Kingdom is the Royal Society of Tasmania which was summoned in 1843. The Tasmanian Society of Natural History had been formed previously in 1838 before its merger with the Royal Society in 1849. It had been served by early botanists working in Tasmania such as Ronald Gunn and his correspondences.
Although Tamworth in New South Wales is often credited as being the first place in Australia with electric street lighting in 1888, Waratah in North West Tasmania was actually the first place to do so in Australia in 1886, although at a smaller scale.
== Culture ==
=== Literature ===
Notable titles by Tasmanian authors include The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, The Alphabet of Light and Dark by Danielle Wood, The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson and The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch, The Rain Queen by Katherine Scholes, Bridget Crack by Rachel Leary, and The Blue Day Book by Bradley Trevor Greive. A small part of Helen Garner's Monkey Grip is set in Hobart as the main characters take a sojourn there. Children's books include They Found a Cave by Nan Chauncy, The Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner, Finding Serendipity, A Week Without Tuesday and Blueberry Pancakes Forever by Angelica Banks, Tiger Tale by Marion and Steve Isham. Tasmania is home to the eminent literary magazine that was formed in 1979, Island magazine, and the biennial Tasmanian Writers and Readers Festival, now renamed the Hobart Writers Festival.
Tasmanian Gothic is a literary genre which expresses the island state's "peculiar 'otherness' in relation to the mainland, as a remote, mysterious and self-enclosed place." Marcus Clarke's novel For the Term of his Natural Life, written in the 1870s and set in convict era Tasmania, is a seminal example. This distinctive Gothic is not just restricted to literature, but can be represented through all the arts, such as in painting, music, or architecture.
=== Visual arts ===
The biennial Tasmanian Living Artists' Week is a ten-day statewide festival for Tasmania's visual artists. The fourth festival in 2007 involved more than 1000 artists. Tasmania is home to two winners of the prestigious Archibald Prize—Jack Carington Smith in 1963 for a portrait of James McAuley, and Geoffrey Dyer in 2003 for his portrait of Richard Flanagan. Photographers Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis are known for works that became iconic in the Lake Pedder and Franklin Dam conservation movements. English-born painter John Glover (1767–1849) is known for his paintings of Tasmanian landscapes, and is the namesake for the annual Glover Prize, which is awarded to the best landscape painting of Tasmania. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) opened in January 2011 at the Moorilla Estate in Berriedale, and is the largest privately owned museum complex in Australia.
=== Music and performing arts ===
Tasmania has a varied musical scene, ranging from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra whose home is the Federation Concert Hall, to a substantial number of small bands, orchestras, string quintets, saxophone ensembles and individual artists who perform at a variety of venues around the state. Tasmania is also home to a vibrant community of composers including Constantine Koukias, Maria Grenfell and Don Kay. Tasmania is also home to one of Australia's leading new music institutions, IHOS Music Theatre and Opera and gospel choirs, the Southern Gospel Choir. Prominent Australian metal bands Psycroptic and Striborg hail from Tasmania. Noir-rock band The Paradise Motel and 1980s power-pop band The Innocents are also citizens.
The Tasmanian Aboriginals were known to have sung oral traditions, as Fanny Cochrane Smith (the last fluent speaker of any Tasmanian language) had done so in recordings from 1899 to 1903. Tasmania has been home to some early and prominent Australian composers. In piano, Kitty Parker from Longford was described by world-famous Australian composer Percy Grainger as his most gifted student. Peter Sculthorpe was originally from Launceston and became well known in Australia for his works which were influenced by his Tasmanian origins, and he is, by coincidence, distantly related to Fanny Cochrane Smith. In 1996, Sculthorpe composed the piece Port Arthur: In Memoriam for chamber orchestra, which was first performed by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Charles Sandys Packer was an early Tasmanian example of the tradition of Australian classical music, transported for the crime of embezzlement in 1839, and at a similar time Francis Hartwell Henslowe had spent time as a public servant in Tasmania. Amy Sherwin, known as the Tasmanian Nightingale was a successful soprano, and Eileen Joyce, who came from remote Zeehan, became a world-renowned pianist at the time of her peak.
=== Cinema ===
Films set in Tasmania include Young Einstein, The Tale of Ruby Rose, The Hunter, The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce, Arctic Blast, Manganinnie (with music composed by Peter Sculthorpe), Van Diemen's Land, Lion, and The Nightingale. Common within Australian cinema, the Tasmanian landscape is a focal point in most of their feature film productions. The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce and Van Diemen's Land are both set during an episode of Tasmania's convict history. Tasmanian film production goes as far back as the silent era, with the epic For The Term of His Natural Life in 1927 being the most expensive feature film made on Australian shores. The Kettering Incident, filmed in and around Kettering, Tasmania, won the 2016 AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Miniseries. The documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs was partly filmed in Tasmania due to its terrain.
The Tasmanian Film Corporation, which financed Manganinnie, was the successor to the Tasmanian Government Department of Film Production but disappeared after privatisation. Its role is now filled by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Screen Tasmania, and private ventures such as Blue Rocket Productions.
=== Higher education ===
Tasmania is served by the University of Tasmania, a research university established in 1846.
=== Media ===
Tasmania has five broadcast television stations which produce local content including ABC Tasmania, Seven Tasmania, WIN Television Tasmania – an affiliate of the Nine Network, 10 Tasmania – an affiliate of Network 10 (joint owned by WIN and Southern Cross), and SBS.
=== Sport ===
Sport is an important pastime in Tasmania, and the state has produced several famous sportsmen and women and also hosted several major sporting events. The Tasmanian Tigers cricket team represents the state successfully (for example the Sheffield Shield in 2007, 2011 and 2013) and plays its home games at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, which is also the home ground for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. In addition, Bellerive Oval regularly hosts international cricket matches. Famous Tasmanian cricketers include David Boon, former Australian captains Ricky Ponting and Tim Paine.
Australian rules football in Tasmania is the most watched form of football and a Tasmanian team was awarded a license to enter the Australian Football League (AFL) in 2028 to be based out of a new Macquarie Point Stadium. AFL matches have been played since 2001 at Aurora Stadium in Launceston and Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Local leagues include the North West Football League and Tasmanian State League.
Soccer in Tasmania is the most participated football code and there is an active Tasmanian A-League bid. The existing statewide league is the NPL Tasmania.
Rugby Union is also played in Tasmania and is governed by the Tasmanian Rugby Union. Ten clubs take part in the statewide Tasmanian Rugby Competition.
Tasmania hosts the professional Moorilla International tennis tournament as part of the lead up to the Australian Open and is played at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, Hobart.
The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event starting in Sydney, NSW, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. It is widely considered to be one of the most difficult yacht races in the world.
In basketball, Tasmania has previously been represented in the National Basketball League (NBL) by Launceston Casino City (1980–1982), the Devonport Warriors (1983–1984), and the Hobart Devils (1983–1996). Since the 2021–22 NBL season, Tasmania has been represented by the Tasmania JackJumpers, a state-wide franchise which plays its home games in both Hobart and Launceston. The JackJumpers secured their maiden NBL championship in the 2023–24 season, marking Tasmania's first NBL title since Launceston Casino City in 1981.
=== Cuisine ===
Tasmanian Aboriginal people had a diverse diet, including native currants, pigface, and native plums, and a wide range of birds and kangaroos. Seafood has always been a significant part of the Tasmanian diet, including its wide range of shellfish, which are still commercially farmed such as crayfish, orange roughy, salmon and oysters. Seal meat also formed a significant part of the Aboriginal diet.
Tasmania's non-Aboriginal cuisine has a unique history from that of mainland Australia. It has developed through many subsequent waves of immigration. Tasmanian traditional foods include scallop pies – a pie filled with scallops in curry – and curry powder, which was popularised by Keen's Curry in the 19th century. Tasmania also produces and consumes wasabi, saffron, truffles and leatherwood honey.
Tasmania now has a wide range of restaurants, in part due to the arrival of immigrants and changing cultural patterns. Scattered across Tasmania are many vineyards, and Tasmanian beer brands such as Boags and Cascade are known and sold in mainland Australia. King Island off the northwestern coast of Tasmania has a reputation for boutique cheeses and dairy products.
The Central Cookery Book was written in 1930 by A. C. Irvine and is still popular in Australia and even internationally. Tasmanian cuisine is often unique and has won many awards. One example is the Hartshorn Distillery, which has won prizes in the World Vodka Awards for three years in a row since 2017.
=== Events ===
To foster tourism, the state government encourages or supports several annual events in and around the island. The best known of these is the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, starting on Boxing Day in Sydney and usually arriving at Constitution Dock in Hobart around three to four days later, during the Taste of Tasmania, an annual food and wine festival. Other events include the Targa Tasmania rally which attracts rally drivers from around the world and is staged all over the state, over five days. Rural or regional events include Agfest, a three-day agricultural show held at Carrick (just west of Launceston) in early May and NASA supported TastroFest – Tasmania's Astronomy Festival, held early August in Ulverstone (Northwest Tasmania). The Royal Hobart Show and Royal Launceston Show are both held in October annually.
Music events held in Tasmania include the Falls Festival at Marion Bay (a Victorian event now held in both Victoria and Tasmania on New Year's Eve); the Festival of Voices, a national celebration of song held each year in Hobart attracting international and national teachers and choirs in the heart of Winter; and MS Fest, a charity music event held in Launceston to raise money for those with multiple sclerosis. The Cygnet Folk Festival is one of Australia's most iconic folk music festivals and is held in Cygnet in the Huon Valley every year in January. The Tasmanian Lute Festival is an early music event held in different locations in Tasmania every two years. Recent additions to the state arts events calendar include the 10 Days on the Island arts festival, MONA FOMA, run by David Walsh and curated by Brian Ritchie and Dark Mofo also run by David Walsh and curated by Leigh Carmichael.
The Unconformity is a three-day festival held every two years in Queenstown on the West Coast. Each February in Evandale a penny-farthing championships are held.
=== Perception within Australia ===
Tasmania is perceived within Australia and internationally as an island with pristine wildlife, water and air. It is known for its ecotourism for these reasons, and is considered an idyllic location for Australians considering a "tree-" or "sea-change", or are seeking retirement because of Tasmania's temperate environment and friendly locals. In other parts of the world, Tasmania is considered as the opposite side of the planet to most places, and supposedly home to mythically exotic animals, such as the Tasmanian Devil as popularised by Warner Brothers.
==== Stereotypes ====
Tasmania has a reputation within Australia that is often at odds with the reality of the state or may have only been true during colonial times and has only persevered on the Australian mainland as a myth. Because of these stereotypes, Tasmania is often referred to as the primary target (i.e., "butt") of mainland Australian jokes. In more recent times, references to insults against Tasmania are more sarcastic and jovial, but angst against the island still exists. The most commonly cited sarcastic comment is on the supposedly 'two-headed' Tasmanians, which originated due to some colonists developing goitres from the low amount of iodine in the island's soil. But as Tasmania receives higher volumes of inter-state tourists, the perceptions are in the process of changing.
The most prominent example of negative stereotype is of inbreeding due to the relatively small size of Tasmania compared to the rest of Australia (though Tasmania is nearly as large as the Republic of Ireland in area, and more populous than Iceland). This is untrue and if it had once been the case, it would have existed in the rest of colonial Australia as well, though Tasmania's penal establishments were some of the harshest in the entire colony and home to infamous bushrangers. This is a part of the also-receding global stereotype that all Australians are or were derived from criminals, even as most convicts were transported for petty crimes. During this period of European settlement, Tasmania was the second centre of power (and a significant port of the British Empire) on the continent after New South Wales, before being surpassed in the latter half of the 19th century by Victoria and regions sustained by mining booms following the cessation of transportation in 1853.
A mentality developed in certain corners of Australia, and led to a general dislike of Tasmania amongst these people, even if the opinion-holder had never properly visited. It can rise to such an extent as to argue for the secession of Tasmania from the rest of Australia, in an effort to 'recover' Australia's reputation from Tasmania.
== Transport ==
=== Air ===
Tasmania's main air carriers are Jetstar and Virgin Australia; Qantas and QantasLink. These airlines fly direct routes to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Major airports include Hobart Airport and Launceston Airport; the smaller airports, Burnie (Wynyard) and King Island, serviced by Rex Airlines; and Devonport, serviced by QantasLink; have services to Melbourne. Intra-Tasmanian air services are offered by Par Avion. Until 2001 Ansett Australia operated majorly out of Tasmania to 12 destinations nationwide. Tourism-related air travel is also represented in Tasmania, such as in the Par Avion route between Cambridge Aerodrome near Hobart to Melaleuca in Southwest National Park.
=== Antarctica base ===
Tasmania – Hobart in particular – serves as Australia's chief sea link to Antarctica, with the Australian Antarctic Division located in Kingston. Hobart is also the home port of the French ship l'Astrolabe, which makes regular supply runs to the French Southern Territories near and in Antarctica.
=== Road ===
Within the state, the primary form of transport is by road. Since the 1980s, many of the state's highways have undergone regular upgrades. These include the Hobart Southern Outlet, Launceston Southern Outlet, Bass Highway reconstruction, and the Huon Highway. Public transport is provided by Metro Tasmania bus services, regular taxis and Hobart only UBER ride-share services within urban areas, with Kinetic Tasmania, Tassielink Transit, Manions Coaches, Area Connect and Calows Coaches providing bus service between population centres.
=== Rail ===
Rail transport in Tasmania consists of narrow-gauge lines to major population centres and to mining and forestry operations on the west coast and in the northwest. Services are operated by TasRail. Regular passenger train services in the state ceased in 1978; the only scheduled trains are freight, but there are tourist and heritage trains on several closed alignments, for example the West Coast Wilderness Railway between Queenstown and Strahan. There is an ongoing proposal to reinstate commuter trains to Hobart. This idea however lacks political motivation due to ongoing scrutiny about the Macquarie Point Stadium. The centre of TasRail's freight network is the state of the art Brighton Transport Hub in Hobart's northern suburbs. Other major rail hubs are located at Burnie and East Tamar Junction. Rail maintenance and loading facilities are located here. The busiest rail service in the state is TasRail's cement trains running between Devonport and Railton. Mainline heritage rail services ceased in 2004 after Pacific National revoked their permission to run.
=== Shipping ===
There is a substantial amount of commercial and recreational shipping within Hobart's harbour, and the port hosts approximately 120 cruise ships during the warmer half of the year, and there are occasional visits from military vessels.
Burnie and Devonport on the northwest coast host ports and several other coastal towns host either small fishing ports or substantial marinas. The domestic sea route between Tasmania and the mainland is serviced by Bass Strait passenger/vehicle ferries operated by the Tasmanian government-owned Spirit of Tasmania. The state is also home to Incat, a manufacturer of very high-speed aluminium catamarans that regularly broke records when they were first launched.
== Gallery == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andhra_Pradesh | Andhra Pradesh | Andhra Pradesh is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu, one of the classical languages of India, is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official language. Amaravati is the state capital, while the largest city is Visakhapatnam. Amaravati is a greenfield capital city developed near Vijayawada. Geographically both Amaravati and Vijayawada can be seen as Twin cities. Andhra Pradesh shares borders with Odisha to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the west, Tamil Nadu to the south, Telangana to northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the east. It has the longest coastline in India (aerial distance between extreme ends) at about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi).
Archaeological evidence indicates that Andhra Pradesh has been continuously inhabited for over 247,000 years, from early archaic hominins to Neolithic settlements. The earliest reference to the Andhras appears in the Aitareya Brahmana (c. 800 BCE) of the Rigveda. Around 300 BCE, the Andhras living in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas were renowned for their formidable military strength—second only to the Maurya Empire in the subcontinent. The first major Andhra polity was the Satavahana dynasty (2nd century BCE–2nd century CE) which ruled over the entire Deccan Plateau and even distant areas of western and central India. They established trade relations with the Roman Empire, and their capital, Dhanyakataka, was the most prosperous city in India during the 2nd century CE. Subsequent major dynasties included the Vishnukundinas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara Empire, and Qutb Shahis, followed by British rule. After gaining independence, Andhra State was carved out of Madras State in 1953. In 1956, it merged with Telangana, comprising the Telugu-speaking regions of the former Hyderabad State, to form Andhra Pradesh. It reverted to its earlier form in 2014, when the new state of Telangana was bifurcated from it.
The Eastern Ghats separate the coastal plains from the peneplains. Major rivers include the Krishna, Godavari, Tungabhadra and Penna. Andhra Pradesh holds about one-third of India's limestone reserves and significant deposits of baryte and granite. Agriculture and related activities employ 62.17% of the population, with rice being the staple crop. The state contributes 30% to India's fish production and accounts for 35% of the country's seafood exports. The Sriharikota Range, located on Sriharikota island in Tirupati district, serves as India's primary satellite launch centre.
Andhra is the birthplace of the Amaravati school of art, an ancient Indian art style that influenced South Indian, Sri Lankan, and Southeast Asian art. It is also home to Kuchipudi, one of India's classical dance forms, and has produced several renowned Carnatic music composers. The state features prominent pilgrimage centres and natural attractions, including the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala and the Araku Valley. Notable products with geographical indication (GI) registration include Tirupati Laddu, Banganapalle mangoes, Kondapalli toys, Dharmavaram sarees, and Pootharekulu.
== Etymology ==
Andhras were mentioned in Aitareya Brahmana of the Rigveda (c. 800–500 BCE) as descendants of the sage Vishvamitra. Andhras were referred to as non-Aryans living on the fringes of Aryan settlements. The Satavahanas, the earliest kings who ruled this region were mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jateeya, and Andhrabhrtya in the Puranic literature. "Andhra" is both a tribal and a territorial name. The region inhabited by Andhras was called Andhradesa.
According to Iravatham Mahadevan, the term 'āndhra' is derived from the Old Telugu masculine nominative marker 'aṉṟu', possibly used by Indo-Aryan people or Buddhists to refer to Telugu people.
== History ==
=== Pre-history ===
Excavated stone tools from Hanumanthunipadu in Markapuram district were dated to be 2.47 lakh (247,000) years old (Middle Paleolithic). This finding means that these tools were developed by archaic hominins (pre-humans) as such tools were thought to be used by modern man migrating out of Africa about 2.10 lakh (210,000) years ago. In the absence of fossil evidence, it became a riddle to understand what happened to them. The discovery of petroglyphs, pictographs, and dolmens in Chakrala Bodu, near Boyalapalli village in the Yerragondapalem mandal area of Markapuram district indicates the presence of Neolithic-age human settlements in the region.
=== Early and medieval history ===
Megasthenes reported in his Indica (c. 310 BCE) that Andhras were living in the Godavari and Krishna river deltas and were famous for their military strength which was second only to Mauryans in all of India. Archaeological evidence from places such as Bhattiprolu, Amaravathi, and Dharanikota suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan empire. After the death of Emperor Ashoka, Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE and was replaced by several smaller kingdoms in the Andhra region. One of the earliest examples of the Brahmi script, from Bhattiprolu was used on an urn containing the relics of Buddha. This is considered as the rosetta stone for decipherment of Tamil Brahmi. Kadamba script, derived from Bhattiprolu Brahmi later led to the evolution of Telugu and Kannada scripts.
The Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan Plateau from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. It had trade relations with the Roman Empire. The Satavahanas made Dhanyakataka-Amaravathi their capital. According to historian Stanley Wolpert, it might have been the most prosperous city in India in 2nd century CE. Nagarjuna, the philosopher of Mahayana, lived in this region. Mahayana spread to China, Japan, and Korea. It became the largest Buddhist denomination in the world. Amaravati School of Art is regarded as one of the three major styles of ancient Indian art and had a great influence on art in South India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. The Andhra Ikshvakus, with their capital at Vijayapuri, succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna River valley in the latter half of the 2nd century CE. The Salankayanas were an ancient dynasty that ruled the Andhra region between Godavari and Krishna rivers with their capital at Vengi (modern Pedavegi) around 300 CE. Telugu Cholas ruled present-day Kadapa region from the six to the thirteenth centuries intermittently. Kallamalla sasanam (law), engraved in 575 CE during the rule of Dhanamjaya, is the earliest completely Telugu inscription.
The Vishnukundinas was the first dynasty in the fifth and sixth centuries to hold sway over South India. Undavalli Caves is an example of Indian rock-cut architecture of that time. The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, whose dynasty lasted for around five hundred years from the 7th century until 1130 CE, eventually merged with the Chola dynasty. They continued to rule under the protection of the Chola dynasty until 1189 CE. At the request of King Rajaraja Narendra, Nannaya, considered the first Telugu poet, took up the translation of the Mahabharata into Telugu in 1025 CE.
Kakatiyas ruled this region and Telangana for nearly two hundred years between the 12th and 14th centuries. They were defeated by the Delhi Sultanate. Bahamani sultanate took over when Delhi sultanate became weak. Around the same time, Musunuris and Reddi Kingdom ruled parts of this region in the early 14th century. Reddy kings constructed Kondaveedu Fort and Kondapalli Fort. Gajpathis ruled parts of this region, before the entire region became part of the Vijayanagara Empire during the reign of Krishnadevaraya. Pemmasani Nayaks controlled parts of Andhra Pradesh and had large mercenary armies that were the vanguard of the empire in the 16th century. Several tanks and anicuts were built. Some of these include the Cumbum tank, Mopad tank, and Koregal anicut, Vallabhapur anicut across the Tungabhadra River. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form. The Lepakshi group of monuments built during this period have mural paintings of the Vijayanagara kings, Dravidian art, and inscriptions. These are put on the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage committee.
=== Modern history ===
Following the defeat of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Qutb Shahi dynasty held sway over most of present-day general Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Later, this region came under the rule of the Mughal Empire. Chin Qilich Khan who was initially appointed as viceroy of Deccan by the Mughal in 1713, established himself as a semi-independent ruler as Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1765, British Lord Robert Clive obtained from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II a grant of four circars to the British East India Company, that was formalised in 1778 treaty with Nizam Ali, the 5th Nizam of Hyderabad state with addition of another circar. Later, four territories were ceded to the British by Nizam Ali in 1800, which eventually became the Rayalaseema region. Meanwhile, in the present day North Andhra, Raja Viziaram Raz (Vijayaram Raj) established a sovereign kingdom and acquired neighbouring estates with the support of British. Later it fell out with the British and as a result, was attacked and defeated in the battle of Padmanabham in 1794. It was annexed as a tributary estate like other principalities and remained so until it acceded to the Indian Union in 1949. Following the annexation of Carnatic sultanate in 1801, the last major piece of the present day Andhra Pradesh came under British East India Company rule as part of Madras Presidency. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the region became part of British crown till India became independent in 1947.
Anicut at Dowleswaram built in 1850 by Arthur Cotton and several others at Vijayawada, Nellore, Sangam, Sunkesula, and Polampalli are examples of irrigation facilities built during the British raj, that irrigated lacs of acres across coastal districts. Buckingham Canal built during 1806–1878, running parallel to the Coramandal coast from Kakinada to Marakkanam in Tamil Nadu served as a major water transportation route for goods till the 1960s. Telegraph service initiated in 1850 served for over 160 years till it was stopped on 15 July 2013 citing poor patronage due to advances in mobile communications and short message service. Charles Philip Brown did pioneering work in transforming Telugu to the print era and introduced Vemana poems to English readers. Kandukuri Veeresalingam is considered the father of the Telugu renaissance movement, as he encouraged the education of women and lower caste people. He fought against Brahmin marriage customs such as child marriage, the bride price system, and the prohibition of widow remarriage.
To gain an independent state based on linguistic identity and to protect the interests of the Telugu-speaking people of Madras State, Potti Sreeramulu fasted to death in 1952. The Telugu-speaking area of Andhra State was carved out of Madras state on 1 October 1953, with Kurnool as its capital city. On the basis of the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1956, the States reorganisation act created Andhra Pradesh by merging the neighbouring Telugu-speaking areas of the Hyderabad State with Hyderabad as the capital on 1 November 1956.
In the unified state, Indian National Congress (INC) enjoyed a monopoly in ruling the state till 1983. After that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) came to power and became another major party to rule the state. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam commissioned in 1967, Srisailam hydro electric project commissioned in 1982 are few examples of irrigation and electricity projects. The increased presence of women, Dalits, and tribals in the social and political spheres of the state, driven by social movements, led to a rise in violence against these groups. Securing access to resources like land remains an unachieved objective in the effort to expand their economic opportunities in the state. When the union cabinet decided to consider the formation of Telangana state in 2009 heeding to the demand of relaunched Telangana movement, Samaikyandhra Movement opposing it took shape and the state went through a turmoil. Finally, the Andhra Pradesh reorganisation act bill was passed by the parliament of India for the formation of the Telangana state, despite opposition by the state legislature. The new state of Telangana came into existence on 2 June 2014 after approval from the president of India, with the residual state continuing as Andhra Pradesh.
TDP formed the first government of the residual state with Chandrababu Naidu as chief minister. In 2017, the government of Andhra Pradesh began operating from its new greenfield capital, Amaravati, for which 33,000 acres were acquired from farmers through an innovative land pooling scheme. In the 2019 elections, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, leader of the YSR Congress Party, became the chief minister by winning 151 out of 175 seats. He introduced the 'village and ward volunteers' system, and reorganised the state with 26 districts. Introduction of English as the medium of instruction was done in almost all the state schools. The move to three capitals with Amaravati getting reduced to being the legislative capital, Vizag as the executive capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital was stuck down by the High Court. His government appealed to the Supreme Court.
== Geography ==
Andhra Pradesh is the seventh-largest state with an area of 162,970 km2 (62,920 sq mi). Politically, the state shares borders with Orissa to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the southwest, Tamil Nadu to the south, Telangana to northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the east. Yanam district, an enclave of Puducherry, is in the state bordering Kakinada district. It has a coastline of around 974 kilometres (605 mi), which makes it the second-longest coastline in the nation.
The Eastern Ghats are a major dividing line separating coastal plains and peneplains in the state's geography. These are discontinuous, and individual sections have local names. The ghats become more pronounced towards the south and extreme north of the coast. Some of these consist of the Horsley Hills, the Seshachala Hills, the Nallamala Hills, and the Papi Hills. Arma Konda, located in Visakhapatnam district, is the highest peak in the state. Peneplains, part of Rayalaseema, slope towards the east. The Eastern Coastal Plains comprise the area of coastal districts up to the Eastern ghats as their border along the Bay of Bengal, with variable width. These are, for the most part, delta regions formed by the Krishna, Godavari, and Penna rivers. The state has five different soil types with the majority soil types being red lateritic and black soil types. Most of the coastal plains are put to intensive agricultural use. The Kadapa basin, formed by two arching branches of the Eastern ghats, is a mineral-rich area.
The valleys include Araku Valley, which is rich in biodiversity and Gandikota gorge. Gandikota gorge is a canyon formed between the Erramala range of hills, through which the Penna (Pennar) river flows. Borra Caves, created millions of years ago by water activity and the country's second-longest cave system, the Belum Caves are in the state. The state has several beaches in its coastal districts, such as Rushikonda, Mypadu, Suryalanka.
=== Flora and fauna ===
The total forest cover of the state is 29,784.3 square kilometres (11,499.8 sq mi), amounting to 18.28% of the total area. The Eastern ghats region is home to dense tropical forests, while the vegetation becomes sparse as the ghats give way to the peneplains, where shrub vegetation is more common. The vegetation found in the state is largely of dry deciduous types, with a mixture of teak, and genera of Terminalia, Dalbergia, Pterocarpus, etc. The state possesses some rare and endemic plants like Cycas beddomei, Pterocarpus santalinus, Terminalia pallida, Syzygium alternifolium, Shorea tumburgia etc.
The state has 3 national parks and 13 wildlife sanctuaries as of 2019. The diversity of fauna includes tigers, leopards, cheetals, sambars, sea turtles, and several birds and reptiles. The estuaries of the Godavari and Krishna rivers support rich mangrove forests with fishing cats and otters as keystone species. Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is an example of mangrove forests and salt-tolerant forest ecosystems near the sea. The area of these forests is 582 km2 (225 sq mi), accounting for about 9% of the local forest area of the state. Other sanctuaries include Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, Kolleru Bird Sanctuary, and Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary. Neem (Azadirachta indica) is the state tree, jasmine is the state flower, rose ringed parakeet is the state bird, and blackbuck is the state mammal.
=== Mineral resources ===
The state, with its varied geological formations, contains a variety of industrial minerals and building stones. Major minerals found in significant quantities in the state include beach sand, bauxite, limestone, granite, and diamonds. Minor minerals include barytes, calcite, and mica. The largest reserves of uranium are in Tummalapalli village of YSR district. The state also has reserves of oil and natural gas.
=== Climate ===
The climate varies considerably, depending on the geographical region. Summers last from March to June. In the coastal plain, the summer temperatures are generally higher than in the rest of the state, with temperatures exceeding 35 °C (95 °F). The minimum temperature during summer is about 20 °C (68 °F) in the far southwest. July to September is the season for tropical rains from the southwest monsoon. The winter season is from October to February. Low-pressure systems and tropical cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal along with the northeast monsoon during October to December, bringing rains to the southern and coastal regions of the state. The range of winter temperatures is generally 30 to 35 °C (86 to 95 °F) except in the northeast where it could fall below 15 °C (59 °F). Lambasingi in Alluri Sitharama Raju district is nicknamed the "Kashmir of Andhra Pradesh" as its temperature ranges from 0 to 10 °C (32 to 50 °F). The normal rainfall for the state is 966 mm (38.0 in).
== Demographics ==
Based on the 2011 Census of India, the population of Andhra Pradesh is 49,577,103, with a density of 304/km2 (790/sq mi). The rural population accounts for 70.53%, while the urban population accounts for 29.47%. The state has 17.08% scheduled caste (SC) and 5.53% scheduled tribe (ST) population. Children in the age group of 0–6 years number 5,222,384, constituting 10.6% of the total population. The state has a sex ratio of 997 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 926 per 1000. The literacy rate in the state stands at 67.35%. Erstwhile West Godavari district has the highest literacy rate of 74.32%, and erstwhile Vizianagaram district has the lowest with 58.89%.
Human Development Index (HDI) of the state for the year 2022 is 0.673. As of 1 January 2023, there are 39,984,868 voters including 3,924 third-gender voters. Kurnool district has the maximum number of voters at 1,942,233, while Alluri Sitharama Raju district has the minimum at 729,085.
Telugu is the first official language, and Urdu is the second official language of the state. Telugu is the mother tongue of nearly 90% of the population. Tamil, Kannada, and Odia are spoken in the border areas. Lambadi and several other languages are spoken by the scheduled tribes of the state. 19% of the population aged 12+ years can read and understand English, as per the Indian readership survey for Q4 2019.
=== Religion ===
According to the 2011 census, the major religious groups in the state are Hindus (90.89%), Muslims (7.30%), and Christians (1.38%). Some of the popular Hindu religious pilgrim destinations include Tirumala Venkateswara temple at Tirupati, Mallikarjuna temple at Srisailam, Kanaka Durga Temple at Vijayawada, and Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple at Simhachalam. Buddhist sites at Amaravati and Nagarjuna Konda are also popular.
=== Sub categorisaton ===
For the state of Andhra Pradesh, there are 59 entries in the SC category, 34 entries in the ST category, and 104 entries in Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Komati, Brahmin, Kamma, Kapu, Raju, Reddy, and Velama communities constitute the forward castes.
== Culture ==
Andhra Pradesh has 32 museums featuring a varied collection of ancient sculptures, paintings, idols, weapons, cutlery, inscriptions, and religious artefacts. The Amaravathi archaeological museum has a display of art traditions of Amaravathi and images of Buddha. Bapu museum in Vijayawada has historical galleries, stone cut writings, coins, swords, body armour, shields, arms, and ornamentation. Telugu Samskruthika Niketanam in Visakhapatnam displays historical artefacts of the pre-independence era. The Archaeological Survey of India identified 135 centrally protected monuments in the state of Andhra Pradesh. These include the reconstructed monuments at Anupu and Nagarjunakonda. The state has 17 geographical indication (GI) registrations in the categories of agriculture, handicrafts, foodstuffs, and textiles as per the Geographical indications of goods (Registration and protection) act, 1999.
=== Clothing ===
The men's traditional wear consists of Panche, a 4.5 metres (15 ft) long, white rectangular piece of non-stitched cloth often bordered in brightly coloured stripes. Women traditionally wear a sari, a garment that consists of a drape varying from 5 to 9 yards (4.6 to 8.2 m) in length and 2 to 4 feet (0.61 to 1.22 m) in breadth that is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff, as according to Indian philosophy, the navel is considered as the source of life and creativity. Women wear colourful silk saris on special occasions such as marriages. The traditional wear of young girls is a half-saree with blouse. The shift to wearing western clothing of pant and shirt has become common for boys and men, while women also wear salwar kameez in addition to saris. Dharmavaram textiles, Machilipatnam, and Srikalahasti Kalamkari handicrafts are few examples in clothes category with GI status.
=== Cuisine ===
Andhra meals are combinations of spicy, tangy, and sweet flavours. The use of chillies, tamarind, and gongura (leaves of roselle) is common in Andhra food. Curry leaves are used copiously in most preparations of curries and chutneys. Various types of Pappu are made using lentils in combination with tomatoes, spinach, gongura, ridge gourd, etc. Apart from curries, pulusu, a stew made using tamarind juice in combination with vegetables, seafood, chicken, mutton, etc., is popular. Pachchadi, a paste usually made with a combination of groundnuts, fried vegetables, and chillies, is a must in a meal. Pickles made using mangoes, gooseberries, lemons, etc. are enjoyed in combination with Pappu. Buttermilk and yoghurt mixed with rice eaten towards the end of the meal soothe the body, especially after eating spicy food items earlier.
A tamarind-rich dish popularly known as Pulihora is made with a thick sauce of tamarind, chillies, salt and asafoetida. It is tempered with mustard, curry leaves, peanuts and mixed with rice. It is offered even to the gods and then served as a prasadam (divine offering) in the temples to the devotees. Popular vegetarian curries include Dondakaya koora (ivy gourd cooked with coconut and green chilli) and Guttivankaya koora(stuffed brinjal curry). Thalakaya koora (lamb head gravy), Royyala koora (prawns cooked in tamarind), and Natukodi koora (freehold chicken curry with chillies) are popular non-vegetarian dishes across Guntur and surrounding regions. Yeta mamsam kobbari biryani (mutton cooked with coconut), Seema kodi (Rayalaseema-style chicken), Chennuru dum biryani, and Gongura mamsam (mutton cooked in sorrel gravy) are popular non-vegetarian dishes in Rayalaseema. Among fish preparations, Pulasa pulusu, thick aromatic and tangy gravy made from a single fish of the Godavari Pulasa variety is most desired in Konaseema. Ariselu, Burelu, Laddu, and Pootharekulu are some of the sweets made for special festivals and occasions. Pootharekulu, a preparation of sugar and rice flour and Taandri, a mango-flavoured sun-dried fruit jelly are popular sweets originating from Athreyapuram in Konaseema. Kakinada Khaaja layered flour deep fried and dipped in sugar is another popular sweetmeat. Bandar laddu, Tirupati Laddu are some of the food products with GI status.
=== Literature ===
Nannayya, Tikkana, and Yerrapragada form the trinity who translated the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata into Telugu during 11–14 centuries. Nannayya wrote the first treatise on Telugu grammar, called Andhra Shabda Chintamani in Sanskrit. Pothana translated Bhagavatam into Telugu. Vemana was an Indian philosopher who wrote Telugu poems using simple language and native idioms on a variety of subjects including yoga, wisdom, and morality. Potuluri Veerabrahmendhra swami, a clairvoyant and social reformer of 17th century, wrote Kalagnanam, a book of predictions.
Telugu literature after Kandukuri Veeresalingam is termed Adhunika Telugu Sahityam (modern Telugu literature). He was the author of the first Telugu social novel Rajasekhara Charitram, published in 1880. The use of colloquial idiom rather than grandhik (classical) in literature, championed by Gurajada Apparao and Gidugu Ramamurthy Panthulu led to increased literacy. Various forms of literature such as poetry, novel, short story were vibrant as indicated by the responses to national and international developments in various spheres of human life. The modern Telugu poetry, which began around 1900 developed into three forms – Bhava kavitvam (lyrical poetry), Abhyudaya kavitvam (progressive poetry), and new experimental poetry, including Viplava kavitvam (revolutionary poetry). Gurajada Apparao, Rayaprolu Subbarao, Gurram Jashuva, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Devulapalli Krishnasastri, and Sri Sri were some of the modern Telugu poets. Palagummi Padmaraju's short story Galivaana won second prize in World Short Story competition in 1952. Rachakonda Viswanadha Sastry initiated a new trend by focussing on the downtrodden in his novel Raju-Mahishi. Women writers such as Malati Chandur and Ranganayakamma dominated novels in the 1950s and 1960s. However, in the late 1970s, Yandamuri Veerendranath started writing popular novels with a focus on sex, suspense and violence, which were serialised in magazines. Viswanatha Satyanarayana was conferred the first Jnanpith Award for Telugu literature in 1970. Telugu film song as literature took shape in the 1930s. Some of the famous lyric writers include Samudrala Senior, Arudra, Athreya, Daasarathi, and C. Narayana Reddy.
=== Architecture ===
Traditional temple architecture is influenced by Dravidian and Vijayanagara styles. In Dravidian architecture for which Tirumala temple is an example, the temples consisted of porches or mantapas preceding the door leading to the sanctum, gate-pyramids or gopurams in quadrangular enclosures that surround the temple, and pillared halls used for many purposes. Besides these, the temple usually has a tank called the Kalyani or pushkarni. The gopuram is a monumental tower, usually ornate at the entrance of the temple forms a prominent feature. They are topped by the kalasam, a bulbous stone finial. Vimanam are similar structures built over the garbhagriha or inner sanctum of the temple but are usually smaller than the gopurams. In the Vijayanagar style for which Lepakshi Veerabhadra temple is an example, the main temple is laid out in three parts, these are: The assembly hall known as the mukha mantapa; arda mantapa or antarala (ante chamber); and the garbhagriha or the sanctum sanctorum. Sri Venkateswara institute of traditional sculpture and architecture, run by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams offers diploma courses. Civic architecture which mainly featured courtyard structure to support joint family system and simple round houses is giving way to modern apartments.
=== Arts ===
Kondapalli Toys, the soft limestone idol carvings of Durgi and Etikoppaka lacquered wooden toys are few handicrafts with GI status. Kuchipudi, the cultural dance recognised as the official dance form of the state of Andhra Pradesh, originated in the village of Kuchipudi in Krishna district. Several renowned composers of Carnatic music like Annamacharya, Kshetrayya, Tyagaraja, and Bhadrachala Ramadas hailed from the state. Sannai and Dolu are common musical instruments of marriages, household, and temple functions in the state. Harikathaa Kalakshepam (or Harikatha) involves the narration of a story, intermingled with various songs relating to the story. Burra katha is an oral storytelling technique in which the topic is either a Hindu mythological story or a contemporary social issue. Drama is an Indian theatre art form that is still popular. Gurajada Apparao wrote the play Kanyasulkam in spoken dialect for the first time. It was first presented in 1892. It is considered the greatest play in the Telugu language.
The Telugu film industry (known as "Tollywood") is primarily based in Hyderabad, though several films are shot in Vizag, Tirupati, Rajamahendravaram. About 300 films are produced annually, C. Pullaiah is cited as the father of the Telugu cinema. Film producer D. Ramanaidu holds a Guinness record for the most films produced by a person. Music composers and playback singers of the state include Ghantasala, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela, S. Janaki, and P. B. Sreenivas. "Naatu Naatu" from the film RRR became the first song from an Asian film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2023. Efforts are on to make Vizag as the hub of film industry by offering incentives.
=== Festivals ===
Sankranti is the major harvest festival celebrated across the state. It is celebrated for four days in the second week of January. The first day of the Telugu new year Ugadi which occurs during March/April is also a special festival with the preparation and sharing of pickles (pachhadi) made from raw mangoes, neem flowers, pepper powder, jaggery and tamarind. Tasting this pickle which is a mix of different tastes teaches the importance of taking positive/negative life experiences in one's stride. Celebrations end with the recitation of the coming year's astrological predictions called Panchanga sravanam. Vijaya Dasami known commonly as Dussera and Deepavali, the festival of lights are other major Hindu festivals. Shivaratri is celebrated at Kotappakonda, with people from nearby villages preparing 80–100 ft height frames called prabhalu and taking it in a procession to the shine. Eid is celebrated with special prayers. Rottela Panduga is celebrated at Bara Shaheed Dargah in Nellore with participation across religious lines. Christians celebrate their religious festivals Good Friday, Easter and Christmas with processions and prayers.
== Government and administration ==
There are a total of 175 assembly constituencies in the state legislative assembly. The legislative council is the upper house with 58 members. In the Indian parliament, the state has 25 seats in the Lok Sabha and 11 seats in the Rajya Sabha. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head and appoints the chief minister who has the de facto executive authority.
Reddy, Kamma and Kapu communities cornered a share of 66% of seats in the 2019 election results. In the 2024 assembly elections, Reddy, Kamma and Kapu communities among the forward classes got more allocation than OBC in the unreserved category by major political parties or alliances. TDP-led National Democratic Alliance with Janasena Party and Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious defeating the incumbent YSRCP led by Jagan Mohan Reddy. It won 164 seats, while YSRCP got 11, a big drop from 151 it held. N. Chandrababu Naidu became the chief minister of the state for the fourth time. According to an opinion by Ayesha Minhaz in The Hindu daily, several factors including the prevailing anti-incumbency against the previous government and the alliance's promise of "Welfare with wealth generation" contributed to the success of TDP-led alliance.
Andhra Pradesh police are structured in district, subdivision, circle, and police station hierarchy. In 2022, crimes against women and children saw a rise of 43.66% with a case count of 25,503 cases in Andhra Pradesh as per the National crime records bureau (NCRB) data. The state stood fifth in the country with 2,341 cybercrime cases. Andhra Pradesh High Court at Amaravati is headed by Chief justice with 37 judges. District judiciary is organised in a three-tier system with district courts at the top, civil (senior) and assistant sessions courts in the middle and civil (junior) and judicial first-class magistrate courts at the lower level. Apart from these, there are special courts such as family, CBI, ACB, Land reforms appellate tribunals, and industrial tribunals.
Andhra Pradesh comprises two regions, namely Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema from a historical perspective. The northern part of Coastal Andhra is sometimes mentioned separately as North Andhra, to raise voice against underdevelopment.
=== Administrative divisions ===
The state is divided into 28 districts. These are further divided into 81 revenue divisions, and 688 mandals and 13,324 village panchayats as part of the administrative organisation.
Each district is administered by a District Collector, who oversees land revenue administration, law and order, elections, and developmental activities. Revenue divisions are headed by Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs), who may be Sub-Collectors (IAS officers) or Deputy Collectors. Mandals, the key sub-district units, consist of multiple villages and are managed by Mandal Revenue Officers (MROs), serving as the primary link between the district administration and village-level governance.
=== Local government ===
Local government in Andhra Pradesh functions through a three-tier Panchayati Raj system in rural areas and urban local bodies in towns and cities. Rural governance includes Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishads, and Zilla Parishads, while urban areas are managed by Nagar Panchayats, Municipalities and Municipal Corporations. These bodies are responsible for local administration, development works, and delivery of basic services.
There are 17 municipal corporations, 77 municipalities, and 29 Nagar Panchayats for urban governance in Andhra Pradesh. Rural governance is managed by 13,234 Gram Panchayats at the village level, 676 Mandal Parishads at the mandal level, and 26 Zilla Parishads at the district level. Each of these bodies has elected councils and members.
=== Cities and towns ===
There are 123 urban local bodies, comprising 17 municipal corporations, 79 municipalities, and 27 nagar panchayats, in the state. The urban population is 14.9 million (1.49 crores) as per the 2011 census. There are two cities with more than one million inhabitants, namely Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.
=== Government revenue and expenditure ===
For 2021–22, total receipts of the Andhra Pradesh government were ₹2.05 lakh crore (US$24 billion), inclusive of ₹53,284 crore (US$6.3 billion) of loans. States' tax revenue was ₹70,979 crore (US$8.4 billion). The top three sources of tax revenue are statedcrores goods and services tax (GST) (₹23,809 crore), sales tax/value added tax (VAT) (₹20,808 crores), and state excise (₹14,703 crores). The government earned a revenue of ₹7,345 crore from 2.574 million transactions for registration services. Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, and Tirupati are the top contributors to the revenue.
The government's total expenditure was ₹1,91,594 crore, which includes debt repayment of ₹13,920 crore. The fiscal deficit was 2.1% of the GSDP. Outstanding debt was ₹3.89 lakh crore, an increase of almost ₹40,000 crore compared to the previous year. This accounts for 32.4 per cent of the GSDP, which is more than the usual limit of 25% as per the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management Actthe and Budget Management ActActstated crores. The outstanding guarantee estimate was ₹1,38,875 crore, of which power sector accounts for ₹38,473 crore equal to 12% of GDP. Out of the audited total expenditure of ₹1,77,674 crore of the state in 2021–22, social services accounted for 42.65% and capital expenditure 9.21%. When compared to 2020–21, the capital expenditure decreased by 14 per cent. Of the total expenditure, major components of the social services breakdown are as follows. The social welfare category accounted for 16%, education, sport, arts and culture had a share of 15% and health and family welfare had a share of 6.3%. Comptroller and Auditor general in its 2023 report warned that the trend of increasing levels of revenue expenditure coupled with a low level of capital spend will adversely impact infrastructure development, development, aggregate demand, employment generation, and revenue generation in the long run.
== Economy ==
Gross state domestic product (GSDP/GDP) at current prices for the year 2022–23 is estimated at ₹1,317,728 crore (US$160 billion) (advanced estimates). The share of agriculture's contribution to the GSDP is at 36.19%, while industry is at 23.36%, and services are at 40.45%. The state posted a record growth of 7.02% at constant prices (2011–12) against the country's growth of 7%. GDP per capita is estimated at ₹219,518 (US$2,600). The sectoral growth rates at constant 2011–12 prices were for agriculture at 4.54%; industry at 5.66 and services at 10.05%. Poverty rate is reduced to 4.2% in 2023 from 11.77% in 2015–16 as per Niti Ayog report. The methodology, based on the global multidimensional poverty index uses 10 indicators, covering three areas health, education, and standard of living and additionally maternal health and bank accounts. Unemployment rate of people with graduation in Andhra Pradesh is estimated at 24% as per periodic labour force survey of July 2022 to June 2023, the third highest in the country. The number for the whole of India is at 13.4%.
According to the Economic Survey of India 2024–25, Andhra Pradesh was identified as the "leading performer" in the agriculture and allied sectors (excluding forestry and logging), recording a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.80%. It was followed by Madhya Pradesh with 6.30% and Tamil Nadu with 4.80%. Andhra Pradesh also ranked 10th in Gross State Value Added (GSVA) in the services sector.
=== Agriculture ===
The agricultural economy comprises agriculture, livestock, poultry farming, and fisheries. Four important rivers in India, the Godavari, Krishna, Penna, and Tungabhadra, flow through the state and provide irrigation. The population engaged in agriculture and related activities as per 2020–21 fiscal data is 62.17%. Rice is the state's major food crop and staple food. Besides rice, farmers grow jowar, bajra, maize, many varieties of pulses, sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, fruits, and vegetables. The state contributed to 30% of fish production of India and it had a share of 35% in total sea food exports of India in 2022–23. The state has three agricultural export zones: the undivided Chittoor district for mango pulp and vegetables, the undivided Krishna district for mangoes, and the undivided Guntur district for chillies. Banaganapalle mangoes produced in the state were accorded GI status in 2017.
Rythu Seva Kendras (RSK) or farmer facilitation centres are initiated by the government in 2020 to serve as a hassle-free, one-stop solution for the requirements of farmers from seed-to-sale. Banking services through banking correspondent are also integrated. As of 2023, 10,778 RSKs are functioning. AP land titling act 2023 was brought in to change from presumptive land ownership system based on possession, registration or inheritance documents to conclusive land ownership system, with government standing as surety for the ownership. Lands in 6000 villages were surveyed with drones and land title certificates were issued to owners, with georeferencing of their land parcels. The benefits of the act include a reduction in land disputes and easier acquisition of lands for public requirements. The newly formed TDP led NDA alliance government decided to repeal the act citing the scope for misuse of authority and deviation from the centre's draft bill.
The Commission on Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural Development of Andhra Pradesh, chaired by Prof. R. Radhakrishna, estimated the number of tenant farmers at 24.25 lakh in 2014. This consists of 6.29 lakh landless tenants and the rest owning some land. Out of 60.73 lakh hectares under cultivation, 27.15 lakh hectares or 44% was cultivated by tenants. Departmental estimates for 2021 put the number of tenant farmers at about 16 lakh. To identify and serve the needs of tenants, the Crop Cultivator Rights Act (CCRA) of 2019 was brought out. Only 26% of tenants obtained the CCRA or loan eligibility cards as per 2022 data.
=== Industries ===
As per the annual survey of industries 2019–20, the number of factories was 12,582 with 681,224 employees. The top four employment providers are food products (25.48%), non-metallic minerals (11.26%), textiles (9.35%), and pharmaceuticals (8.68%). Gross value added (GVA) contributed by the industrial sector is ₹55,035 crore (US$6.5 billion), of which food products (18.95%), pharmaceuticals (17.01%), and non-metallic minerals (16.25%) are the top three contributors. From a district perspective, the top three districts were Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and undivided Krishna.
Andhra Pradesh hosts over 50 notified SEZs, spanning sectors like IT/ITES, pharmaceuticals, multi-product, biotechnology, and textiles, with a focus on export-oriented growth. Key operational examples include: Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone, Sri City, Andhra Pradesh Special Economic Zone and several others.
The defence administered Hindustan Shipyard Limited built the first ship in India in 1948. The state has 36 big auto players, such as Ashok Leyland, Hero Motors, Isuzu Motors India, and Kia Motors, The mining sector contributed ₹3,390 crore (US$400 million) in revenue to the state during 2021–22. Nearly 225 million barrels of crude oil was produced from Ravva block, in the shallow offshore area of the Krishna Godavari basin during 1994–2011. The state accounted for 0.6% of had and codensate production, and 2.9% of natural gas production of India in 2020–21.
As of 20 June 2023, there are 190 science and technology organisations in Andhra Pradesh, including 12 central labs and research institutions. Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), known as Sriharikota range (SHAR), on the barrier island of Sriharikota in Tirupati district, is the primary satellite launching station operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
=== Services ===
Trade, hotels & restaurants registered the highest growth rate of 16.64%, while public administration, the lowest growth rate of 4.24% for the year 2022–23 at constant 2011–12 prices among the services category. The state is ranked third in domestic tourist footfalls for the year 2021, with 93.2 million domestic tourists, which amounts to 13.8% of all domestic tourists in India. A major share of the tourists visit temples in Tirupati, Vijayawada, and Srisailam. The value of information technology exports from the state in 2021–22 was ₹926 crore (US$110 million), which is 0.14% of the IT exports from India. Exports have remained below 0.2% in the past five years.
== Infrastructure ==
=== Transport ===
==== Roads ====
As of 2023, the state has a total major road network of 47,244.83 km (29,356.58 mi). This comprises 8,163.72 km (5,072.70 mi) of national highways, 12,595.60 km (7,826.54 mi) of state highways, and 26,485.51 km (16,457.33 mi) of major district roads. In the category of national highways, NH 16, with a highway network of around 1,000 km (620 mi) in the state, is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral project. Vehicles on the register consist of 1.828 million transport vehicles and 13.7 million non-transport vehicles. In the transport category, goods carriages constitute 53.61%, auto rickshaws 36.21%, and stage carriages 1.14% constitute the top 3 categories. In the non-transport category, motorcycles constitute 89.5%, four-wheelers 7.29%, and cabs 5.96% occupy the top 3 ranks. The state government-owned Andhra Pradesh state road transport organisation is the public bus transport provider. It is split into 129 depots across four zones. It has a fleet strength of 11,098 buses and a staff count of 49,544. It operates 1.11 billion kilometres and serves 3.68 million passengers daily as per the socio-economic survey of 2023. As of 2023,
==== Railways ====
Renigunta was the first among major stations to appear on the railway map of Andhra Pradesh when Madras Railway connected it to Madras in 1862. Rajahmundry-Vizag and Vijayawada-Kovvur sections were opened in 1893. Vijayawada-Madras section was started in 1899. It was extended to Howrah in 1900. As of 2022, the state has a total broad-gauge route of 3,969 km (2,466 mi) with rail density of 24.36 km (15.14 mi) per 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi). The railway network in Andhra Pradesh is under the South Central railway, East Coast railway, and South Western railway zones. During 2014–2022, 350 km (220 mi) of new lines were constructed at a rate of 44 km (27 mi) per year in Andhra Pradesh under the South Central railway division. The rate of construction was only 2 km (1.2 mi) per year in the preceding five years. The Nadikudi–Srikalahasti line with a length of 308.70 km (191.82 mi), which was sanctioned at a budget of ₹22.89 billion (US$270 million) in 2011–12 as a joint project of the centre and state, is progressing slowly, with only phase one of 46 km (29 mi) between New Piduguralla and Savalyapuram completed by 2021–22. There are three A1 and 23 A-category railway stations in the state, as per the assessment in 2017. Visakhapatnam was declared the cleanest railway station in the country, as per the assessment in 2018. The railway station in Shimiliguda is the second broad gauge railway station at high altitude in the country next to Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir. A new railway zone South Coast railway (SCoR), with headquarters in Visakhapatnam, was announced in 2019, but is yet to be implemented.
==== Airports ====
Tirupati Airport was established in 1976. Visakhapatnam became a part of civil aviation in 1981. Daily flights to Vijayawada were started in 2003. Apart from these three which are international airports, the state has three domestic airports, namely Rajahmundry, Kadapa, and Kurnool. A privately owned airport for emergency flights and chartered flights is at Puttaparthi. Bhogapuram international airport is being constructed with a budget of ₹4,750 crore on an area of 2,300 acres near Visakhapatnam. It is expected to be completed by 2025. Andhra Pradesh saw a 60% increase in domestic air passenger traffic, with 24.74 lakh visitors at its five airports during the 2021–22 fiscal year (up to January 2022), compared to 15.48 lakh in the same period the previous fiscal year.
==== Sea ports ====
The state has one major port at Visakhapatnam under the administrative control of the central government and 15 notified ports, including three captive ports, under the control of the state government. Visakhapatnam port was the earliest port to be commissioned in 1933. Gangavaram port is a deep seaport that can accommodate ocean liners up to 200,000–250,000 DWT. Cargo of 189.21 million tonnes was handled by Gangavaram, Kakinada deepwater, Krishnapatnam, Ravva, Kakinada anchorage, and Visakhapatnam during 2023–34, with a growth of 7.9% over the previous year. New sea ports are under construction at Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam, Mulapeta, and Kakinada.
=== Communication ===
As per socio-economic survey released in January 2023, Andhra Pradesh has 10,605 post offices. Bharat sanchar nigam limited (BSNL) operates 1,310 telephone exchanges with 20.6 million landline connections and also has 5.4 million wireless subscribers. Airtel, Jio, Vodaphone Idea, and BSNL provide mobile services in the state. As of 2023, the number of mobile phone users reached 82 million, while the number of internet subscribers reached 67.1 million in Andhra Pradesh. Mobile network services are available in 15,322 out of 17,328 villages. 5G network connectivity is provided by 16,714 base transfer stations. Several providers including state government owned Andhra Pradesh state fibre net limited operate wireline services supporting internet connectivity, telephony, and Internet Protocol television. The AP statewide area network connects 2,164 offices of state administration at 668 locations down to the level of mandal headquarters. The network supports both data and video communications. BSNL and the National Knowledge Network multi-purposeCricket link district headquarters with state headquarters with a bandwidth of 34 Mbit/s. Mandal headquarters are connected with a bandwidth of 8 Mbit/s.
=== Water ===
The state has 40 major and medium rivers and 40,000 minor irrigation sources. Godavari, Krishna, and Penna are major rivers. The total cultivable area is 19.904 million acres. Major, medium, and minor irrigation projects irrigate 10.172 million acres or 51.1% as of 2015. Several water projects in the state are facing issues. The Polavaram Project is a multi purpose terminal reservoir project located 42 km upstream of Davaleswaram barrage. It is a national project as per the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014. It has a reservoir capacity of 194.6 TMC and is expected to utilise 322.73 TMC of water in a year. The under-construction project suffered setbacks with damage to its diaphragm wall during the 2022 floods. The Veligonda Project, taken up to serve needs of Prakasam, Nellore, and YSR Kadapa districts is progressing slowly. The Annamayya project, washed away in the 2021 floods, is set to be redesigned for 787 crores. Following the bifurcation, disputes with Telangana regarding the allocation of Krishna and Godavari waters continue to dog the state.
=== Power ===
Thermal, hydel and renewable power plants supply power to the state. The installed capacity share of the state in the public sector generating stations was 7,245 MW. The private sector installed capacity was 9,370 MW, which includes an independent power producer capacity of 1,961 MW. The total installed capacity was 16,615 MW. Peak power demand for the state in 2021–22 was 12,032 MW and per capita consumption was 1,285 kilowatt hours. The energy consumed was 68,972 million units. Energy consumption increased from 54,555 MU in 2018–19 to 69,113 MU in 2023–24, at a growth rate of 4.8% which is among the lowest in the country. The per capita electricity consumption of AP. Increased by only 123 kWh in the same period when there was an increase of 146 kWh at the national level. The reasons were because of steep tariff increases and re-imposing power cuts as there was a delay in commissioning of the Polavaram hydro-electric power project (960 MW), Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah thermal power station (Krishnapatnam) stage-II unit-3 (800 MW) and Dr. Narla Tata Rao thermal power station stage-V unit-8 (800 MW) stations.
=== Healthcare ===
The health infrastructure consists of 13 district hospitals, 28 sub-district hospitals, and 6,049 urban and rural health centres as of 2019–20. Doorstep healthcare support services are provided through 42,060 Accredited social health activist(ASHA) workers as of July 2019. The 108 service provides fast emergency management services by shifting patients to a nearby healthcare facility. The 104 service provides health care services at the doorstep of villages through mobile medical units that visit at least once a month. All the poor families are covered by the free state health insurance scheme up to a limit of ₹2,500,000 (US$30,000). The scheme serves 42.5 million people. The services are provided in government and private hospitals under the network. During 2014–2018, though the nominal mean claim amount of beneficiaries went up significantly, it decreased after accounting for inflation. Mortality rates have significantly decreased, which indicates better outcomes are being achieved at a lower cost. Out of 2,700 private hospitals registered under the state health insurance scheme, 540 (20%) are speciality hospitals. The number of patients treated under the state health insurance scheme increased from 1.2 million in 2022–23 to 1.39 million in 2023–24. whereas the budget remained constant at ₹3,350 crore. The National family health survey-5 conducted in 2019–21 data provided an insight into the economic and health status of households. Housing, electricity, clean fuel, access to toilets, mobile phone usage, and bank account access were available for more than 85% of households. Piped water facilities were available for only 22% of households. The state health insurance scheme, the employee health scheme, the Rashtriya swasthya bima yojana, the Employees' state insurance scheme, and the Central government health scheme covered 70% of households with at least one member covered.
=== Banking ===
As of 31 March 2023, there are 33 private sector banks, 12 public sector banks, three rural banks, three small finance banks, three payment banks, one cooperative bank, and one state financial corporation operating in the state. The total number of branches is 7,881. As of September 2022, Banks have deposits amounting to ₹435,183.49 crore (US$51 billion) and extended credit amounting to ₹628,134.9 crore (US$74 billion), with credit deposit ratio of 144% against Reserve Bank of India norm of 60%. Primary sector advances amounted to 60.13% of total bank credit. Till March 2011, the microfinance industry flourished in united Andhra Pradesh with a share of 65% of pan India gross loans. Due to state regulation enacted in 2010, the loan portfolio shrank to 0.8% in Andhra Pradesh as of 31 March 2023. With the court deciding against state regulation, the industry is likely to pick up again.
== Education ==
Primary and secondary school education is imparted by government and private schools, regulated by the school education department of the state. The government decided to stop financial aid to aided schools with history dating to 1870s, forcing them to handover the schools with the aided staff to government or become private in 2021. As per Unified district information system for education plus (UDISE+) report of 2021–22, there were a total of 8,244,647 students enrolled in 61,948 schools. Performance of rural students on reading, arithmetic skills in grades 1–8 declined during 2018–2022 partly attributed to Covid outbreak. As an example, for the reading assessment in Class VIII students, it nosedived 67% in 2022 from over 78% in 2018. However, the student enrolment at government schools improved from 63.2% to 71%. In the March 2024 secondary school certificate (SSC) exam 616,615 students appeared in the regular stream. Parvathipuram-Manyam district achieved the highest pass percentage of 96.37 among districts. The overall pass percentage was 86.69%, an increase of 14.43% over the previous year, with 100% in 2,803 schools.
In intermediate (higher secondary) examinations held in March 2024, 393,757 students appeared. The pass percentage was 78%, which is an increase of 7% over the previous year.
The state initiated education reforms in 2020 by creating six types of schools: satellite foundation schools (pre-primary), foundational schools (pre-primary – class II), foundational school plus (pre-primary – class V), pre-high school (class III – class VII/VIII), high school (class III – class X), and high school plus (class III – class XII). The transition to English-medium education in all government schools was started in the academic year 2020–2021. It is expected to reach completion by 2024–25. Affiliation of 1,000 government schools to the Central Board of Secondary Education in 2022–23 was done as an initial step. The state government went ahead with the English medium based on the parents survey despite protests and court cases. The state initiative is being funded in part by a loan from the World Bank to the tune of $250 million over 2021–2026 through the "Supporting Andhra's learning transformation" project to improve the learning outcomes of children up to class II level.
As of 2023, there are 169 government-aided degree colleges and 55 private-aided degree colleges in the state. National assessment and accreditation council grades were awarded to 66 government colleges and 48 private-aided colleges. There are 85 government-aided and 175 private polytechnic colleges with a sanctioned strength of 75,906 students. In the category of technical education, there are 685 institutions offering diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate Visakhapatnamthe courses, with an intake of 299,608. The AP state council of higher education organises various entrance tests for different streams and conducts counselling for admissions. The AP state skill development corporation is set up to support skill development and placement for the educated. As of 2021, there are a total of 36 universities: three central universities, 23 state public universities, six state private universities, and four deemed universities. Andhra University is the oldest of the universities in the state, established in 1926. The government established Rajiv Gandhi university of knowledge technologies in 2008 to cater to the education needs of the rural youth of the state. NTR University of health sciences oversees medical education in 348 affiliated colleges spanning the entire range from traditional medicine to modern medicine. The public universities, including the legacy universities such as Andhra, Sri Venkateswara, and Nagarjuna, are suffering from a severe fund crunch and staff shortage, managing with only 20% of sanctioned full-time staff. KL University bagged the 50th rank, while Andhra university bagged the 76th rank in the overall category of India rankings for 2023 as per the national institute ranking framework of the union ministry of education in which 2,478 institutions, including 242 institutions from the state, participated. The gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education for the age group 18–23 for the state was at 35.2% for the year 2019–20, which comparing favourably with the GER for all of India at 27.1%. With a female GER of 35.3 and a male GER of 38.2, the Gender Parity Index was 0.84. The corresponding ratio for India was 1.01.
There were 510 industrial training institutes (ITI) in 2020–21 in Andhra Pradesh, with 82 under government management and 417 under private management. The total available seats in 2021 were 93,280, out of which 48.90% were filled. In 2020, 10,053 students completed ITI. The state has 2,510 public libraries, including four regional libraries and 13 district central libraries under government management. Saraswata Niketanam at Vetapalem in Bapatla district, one of the oldest libraries established under private management in 1918, is losing its attraction as the Internet spreads. The government is planning to develop digital libraries at the village panchayat level.
== Media ==
The total number of registered newspapers and periodicals in the state for the years 2020–21 was 5,798. There were 1,645 dailies, 817 weeklies, 2,431 monthlies, and 623 fortnightlies. Telugu dailies number 787 with a circulation of 9,911,005, while English dailies account for 103 with a circulation of 1,646,453. Eenadu, Sakshi, and Andhra Jyothi are the top three Telugu daily newspapers in terms of circulation in India and are also the top three Telugu news sites. BBC Telugu news was launched on 2 October 2017. Several privately owned news media outlets are considered biased towards specific political parties in the state.
There were 23 news channels, 10 general entertainment channels, two health channels, six religious channels, two other channels, and two cable distribution channels, for a total of 45 channels empanelled by the Andhra Pradesh information and public relations department. As of 2019, Akashvani previously known as All India Radio, operates 3 MW, 17 FM transmitters from 14 locations in the state. It reaches 99% of the area and 99.5% of the population. Akashvani's FM coverage alone reaches 36% of the area and 45% of the population. Five private operators run 13 FM stations, with Red FM operating from five locations.
== Sports ==
Traditional games played during childhood include Dagudu Mootalu (Hide and seek), Tokkudu Billa, Yedu Penkulata, Vamanaguntalu, Chadarangam (Chess), Puli Joodam, Ashta Chamma, Vaikuntapali (Snakes and ladders), Nalugu Stambalata, and Nalugu ralla aata. Karra samu (stick fight) is a traditional martial art form of the state. It is a form of self-defence to prevent thefts and robbery in villages. It is a discipline in the national sports, though it is not recognised for the sports quota category of reservations in Andhra Pradesh.
Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh is the governing body that looks after the infrastructure development, coaching, and administration of sports promotion schemes. Sports authority of India (SAI) operates three SAI Training centres in Andhra Pradesh as of 2022. Dr. YSR Sports School, Putlampalli, Kadapa district was selected for upgradation as Khelo India centre of excellence in 2021. Andhra Cricket Visakhapatnam District Association cricket Association (ACA-VDCA) stadium in Visakhapatnam is known for hosting international cricket matches.
Pullela Gopichand is a former Indian badminton player. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second Indian to win after Prakash Padukone. P. V. Sindhu is one of India's most successful athletes, having won medals in major tournaments like the Olympics and the BWF circuit, including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first Indian to become a badminton world champion and only the second to win two consecutive Olympic medals. Karnam Malleswari is the first female Indian to win an Olympic medal. She won bronze medal in 69 kg weightlifting event at 2000 Olympics games. Srikanth Kidambi, a badminton player, is the first Indian to reach the world championships final in 2021 in the men's singles and win a silver medal. The state secured 16 medals at the 36th national games held in 2022. It was ranked 21st in the competition. The state sportpersons won 11 medals in Tennis, Archery, Badminton, Athletics, Chess and Cricket disciplines in the 19th Asian games held in China in 2022. The state was ranked at 13th spot in the sixth edition of Khelo India youth games-2023, by winning 27 medals. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DiMaggio | Joe DiMaggio | Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈpaːolo diˈmaddʒo]; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Born to Italian immigrants in California, he is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time and set the record for the longest hitting streak (56 games from May 15 – July 16, 1941).
DiMaggio was a three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award winner and an All-Star in each of his 13 seasons. During his tenure with the Yankees, the club won ten American League pennants and nine World Series championships. His nine career World Series rings put him second only to his fellow Yankee Yogi Berra, who won 10.
At the time of his retirement after the 1951 season, he ranked fifth in career home runs (361) and sixth in career slugging percentage (.579). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 and was voted the sport's greatest living player in a poll taken during baseball's centennial year of 1969. His brothers Vince (1912–1986) and Dom (1917–2009) also were major league center fielders. DiMaggio is also widely known for his marriage and lifelong devotion to Marilyn Monroe.
== Early life ==
Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio was born on November 25, 1914, in Martinez, California, the eighth of nine children born to Italian immigrants Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio, from Isola delle Femmine (Sicily). His Italian birth name was Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio. Rosalia named her son "Giuseppe" after his father in the hopes he would be her last child; "Paolo" was in honor of Giuseppe's favorite saint, Paul of Tarsus.
Giuseppe was a fisherman, as were generations of DiMaggios before him. DiMaggio's brother Tom told Maury Allen that Rosalia's father wrote to her saying Giuseppe could earn a better living in California. Giuseppe and Rosalia decided that he would go to the United States for one year: if things were better, he would send for her; if not, he would return home. After being processed on Ellis Island, Giuseppe worked his way across the country, eventually settling near Rosalia's father in Pittsburg, California, on the east side of the San Francisco Bay Area. After four years, he had earned enough money to send for Rosalia and their daughter, who was born after he left. When Joe was a toddler, Giuseppe moved his family to the North Beach section of San Francisco. Giuseppe hoped that his five sons would become fishermen.
DiMaggio recalled that he would do anything to get out of cleaning his father's boat, as the smell of dead fish nauseated him. Giuseppe called him "lazy" and "good-for-nothing". At age ten, he took up baseball, playing third base at the North Beach playground near his home. DiMaggio began with the neighborhood team. Within months, a rival team tempted him away for two dollars. Before long, he was bouncing between teams as a hired bat. After attending Hancock Elementary and Francisco Middle School, DiMaggio dropped out of Galileo High School and worked odd jobs.
By 1931, DiMaggio was playing semi-pro ball. Nearing the end of the 1932 season, his brother Vince, playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), talked his manager into letting DiMaggio fill in at shortstop. He made his professional debut on October 1, 1932, playing the last three games. In less than two years, DiMaggio made the jump from the playground to the PCL, one notch below the majors. In his full rookie year, from May 27 to July 25, 1933, he hit safely in 61 consecutive games, a PCL-record, and second-longest in Minor League Baseball history. "Baseball didn't really get into my blood until I knocked off that hitting streak," he said. "Getting a daily hit became more important to me than eating, drinking, or sleeping.”
In 1934, DiMaggio suffered a potentially career-threatening knee injury when he tore ligaments of his right knee while stepping out of a jitney. Convinced the injury would heal, Yankees scout Bill Essick pestered his bosses to give DiMaggio another look. After he passed a physical, the team bought him for $50,000 (equivalent to $1,200,000 in 2025) and five players, with the Seals keeping him for the 1935 season. DiMaggio batted .398 with 154 runs batted in (RBIs) and 34 home runs. The Seals won the 1935 PCL title, and he was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
== Professional career ==
=== New York Yankees (1936–1942, 1946–1951) ===
DiMaggio made his Major League debut on May 3, 1936, batting ahead of Lou Gehrig in the lineup. The Yankees had not been to the World Series since 1932, but they won the next four World Series. Over the course of his 13-year Major League career, DiMaggio led the Yankees to nine World Series championships, where he trails only Yogi Berra (10) in that category.
DiMaggio set a franchise record for rookies in 1936 by hitting 29 home runs. DiMaggio accomplished the feat in 138 games. His record stood for over 80 years until it was shattered by Aaron Judge, who tallied 52 homers in 2017.
In 1937, DiMaggio built upon his rookie season by leading the majors with 46 home runs, 151 runs scored, 167 runs batted in and 418 total bases, all career highs. He also hit safely in 43 of 44 games from June 27 to August 12. He finished second in American League MVP voting in a close race with Charlie Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers.
In 1939, DiMaggio was nicknamed "the Yankee Clipper" by Yankee's play-by-play announcer Arch McDonald, when he likened DiMaggio's speed and range in the outfield to the then-new Pan American airliner. That year in August, DiMaggio recorded 53 RBIs, tying Hack Wilson's 1930 record for most in a single month. He also won his first career batting title and MVP award, as well as leading the Yankees to their fourth consecutive World Series championship.
DiMaggio was pictured with his son on the cover of the inaugural issue of SPORT magazine in September 1946.
In 1947, DiMaggio won his third MVP award and his sixth World Series with the Yankees. That year, Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees GM Larry MacPhail verbally agreed to trade DiMaggio for Ted Williams, but the trade was canceled when MacPhail refused to include Yogi Berra.
In the September 1949 issue of SPORT, Hank Greenberg said that DiMaggio covered so much ground in center field that the only way to get a hit against the Yankees was "to hit 'em where Joe wasn't." DiMaggio also stole home five times in his career.
On February 7, 1949, DiMaggio signed a contract worth $100,000 (equivalent to $1,400,000 in 2025) ($70,000 plus bonuses), and became the first baseball player to break $100,000 in earnings. By 1950, he was ranked the second-best center fielder by the Sporting News, after Larry Doby. After a poor 1951 season, various injuries, and a scouting report by the Brooklyn Dodgers that was turned over to the New York Giants and leaked to the press, DiMaggio announced his retirement at age 37 on December 11, 1951. When remarking on his retirement to the Sporting News on December 19, 1951, he said:
I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates. I had a poor year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been my last year. I was full of aches and pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game, and so, I've played my last game.
Through May 2009, DiMaggio was tied with Mark McGwire for third place all-time in home runs over the first two calendar years in the major leagues (77), behind Phillies Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (83) and Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun (79). Through 2011, he was one of seven major leaguers to have had at least four 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons in their first five years, along with Klein, Ted Williams, Ralph Kiner, Mark Teixeira, Albert Pujols, and Braun. DiMaggio holds the record for most seasons with more home runs than strikeouts (minimum 20 home runs), a feat he accomplished seven times, and five times consecutively from 1937 to 1941. DiMaggio could have possibly exceeded 500 home runs and 2,000 RBIs had he not served in the military during World War II, causing him to miss the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons.
DiMaggio might have had better power-hitting statistics had his home park not been Yankee Stadium. In "The House That Ruth Built", its nearby right field favored the Babe's left-handed power. For right-handed hitters, its deep left and center fields made home runs almost impossible. Mickey Mantle recalled that he and Whitey Ford witnessed many DiMaggio blasts that would have been home runs anywhere other than Yankee Stadium (Ruth himself fell victim to that problem, as he also hit many long flyouts to center). Bill James calculated that DiMaggio lost more home runs due to his home park than any other player in history. Left-center field went as far back as 457 ft [139 m], whereas left-center rarely reaches 380 ft [116 m] in today's ballparks. Al Gionfriddo's famous catch in the 1947 World Series, which was close to the 415-foot mark [126 m] in left-center, just in front of the visitors bullpen, would have been a home run in the Yankees' current ballpark and most other ballparks at that time, except perhaps the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants. DiMaggio hit 148 home runs in 3,360 at-bats at home versus 213 home runs in 3,461 at-bats on the road. His slugging percentage at home was .546, and on the road, it was .610. Statistician Bill Jenkinson commented on these figures:
For example, Joe DiMaggio was acutely handicapped by playing at Yankee Stadium. Every time he batted in his home field during his entire career, he did so knowing that it was physically impossible for him to hit a home run to the half of the field directly in front of him. If you look at a baseball field from foul line to foul line, it has a 90-degree radius. From the power alley in the left-center field (430 in Joe's time) to the fence in the deep right-center field (407 ft), it is 45 degrees. And Joe DiMaggio never hit a single home run over the fences at Yankee Stadium in that 45-degree graveyard. It was just too far. Joe was plenty strong; he routinely hit balls in the 425-foot range. But that just wasn't good enough in the cavernous Yankee Stadium. Like Ruth, he benefited from a few easy homers each season due to the short foul line distances. But he lost many more than he gained by constantly hitting long flyouts toward center field. Whereas most sluggers perform better on their home fields, DiMaggio hit only 41 percent of his career home runs in the Bronx. He hit 148 homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about 225 homers during his home-field career.
DiMaggio became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953 but he was not elected until 1955. The Hall of Fame rules on the post-retirement induction waiting period had been revised in the interim, extending the waiting period from one to five years, but DiMaggio and Ted Lyons were exempted from the rule. DiMaggio told Baseball Digest in 1963 that the Brooklyn Dodgers had offered him their managerial job in 1953, but he turned it down. After being out of baseball since his retirement as an active player, DiMaggio joined the newly relocated Oakland Athletics as a vice president in 1968 and 1969 and a coach in just the first of those two seasons. The appointment allowed him to qualify
for MLB's maximum pension allowance of which he had fallen two years short upon his retirement. During his only campaign as a coach, he helped improve the talents of players such as Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, and Joe Rudi who became part of the team's nucleus which won three consecutive World Series in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
After he resigned from the Athletics, DiMaggio was named the acting manager for the East team in the East-West Major League Baseball Classic which was held in honor of the late Martin Luther King Jr., raising charity money for King's causes.
=== 1941 hitting streak ===
DiMaggio's most famous achievement is his MLB record-breaking 56-game hitting streak in 1941. The streak began on May 15, a couple of weeks before the death of Lou Gehrig—who had been DiMaggio's teammate from 1936 to 1939—when DiMaggio went one-for-four against Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Smith. Major newspapers began to write about DiMaggio's streak early on, but as he approached George Sisler's modern-era record of 41 games, it became a national phenomenon. Initially, DiMaggio showed little interest in breaking Sisler's record, saying: "I'm not thinking a whole lot about it... I'll either break it or I won't." As he approached Sisler's record, DiMaggio showed more interest, saying, "At the start, I didn't think much about it... but naturally I'd like to get the record since I am this close." On June 29, 1941, DiMaggio doubled in the first game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium to tie Sisler's record and then singled in the nightcap to extend his streak to 42.
A Yankee Stadium crowd of 52,832 fans watched DiMaggio tie the all-time hitting streak record (44 games, Wee Willie Keeler in 1897) on July 1. The next day against the Boston Red Sox, he homered into Yankee Stadium's left-field stands to extend his streak to 45, setting a new record. DiMaggio recorded 67 hits in 179 at-bats during the first 45 games of his streak, while Keeler recorded 88 hits in 201 at-bats. DiMaggio continued hitting after breaking Keeler's record, reaching 50 straight games on July 11 against the St. Louis Browns. On July 17 at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, DiMaggio's streak was finally snapped at 56 games, thanks in part to two backhand stops by Indians third baseman Ken Keltner. DiMaggio batted .408 during the streak with 15 home runs and 55 RBI. The day after the streak ended DiMaggio started another streak that lasted 16 games, therefore hitting safely in 72 of 73 games. The closest anyone has come to equaling DiMaggio is Pete Rose, who hit safely in 44 straight games in 1978. During the streak, DiMaggio played in seven doubleheaders. The Yankees' record during the streak was 41–13–2.
Some consider DiMaggio's streak a uniquely outstanding and unbreakable record and a statistical near-impossibility. Nobel Prize-winning physicist and sabermetrician Edward Mills Purcell calculated that, to have the likelihood of a hitting streak of 50 games occurring in the history of baseball up to the late 1980s be greater than 50%, 52 .350 lifetime hitters would have to have existed instead of the actual three (Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Shoeless Joe Jackson). His Harvard colleague Stephen Jay Gould, citing Purcell's work, called DiMaggio's 56-game achievement "the most extraordinary thing that ever happened in American sports". Samuel Arbesman and Steven Strogatz of Cornell University disagree. They conducted 10,000 computer simulations of Major League Baseball from 1871 to 2005, 42% of which produced streaks as long or longer, with record streaks ranging from 39 to 109 games and typical record streaks between 50 and 64 games.
== World War II ==
DiMaggio enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces on February 17, 1943, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was stationed at Santa Ana, California, Hawaii, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a physical education instructor. He was released on a medical discharge in September 1945, due to chronic stomach ulcers. Other than being paid $21 a month, DiMaggio's service was as comfortable as a soldier's life could be. He spent most of his military career playing for baseball teams and in exhibition games against fellow Major Leaguers and minor league players, and superiors gave him special privileges due to his prewar fame. DiMaggio ate so well from an athlete-only diet that he gained 10 pounds, and while in Hawaii he and other players mostly tanned on the beach and drank. Embarrassed by his lifestyle, DiMaggio requested that he be given a combat assignment but was turned down.
=== Parents as "enemy aliens" ===
Giuseppe and Rosalia DiMaggio, both from Isola delle Femmine, were among the thousands of German, Japanese, and Italian immigrants classified as "enemy aliens" by the government after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Each was required to carry photo ID booklets at all times and was not allowed to travel outside a five-mile radius from their home without a permit. Giuseppe was barred from San Francisco Bay, where he had fished for decades, and his boat was seized. Rosalia became an American citizen in 1945, followed by Giuseppe in 1946.
== Marriages ==
=== Dorothy Arnold ===
In January 1937, DiMaggio met actress Dorothy Arnold on the set of Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, in which he had a minor role, and she was an extra. He announced their engagement on April 25, 1939, just before the Yankees were to meet the Philadelphia Athletics. They married at Saints Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco on November 19, 1939, as 20,000 well-wishers jammed the streets. The couple's son, Joseph Paul DiMaggio Jr. (1941–1999), was born at Doctors' Hospital in Staten Island. Their marriage was troubled, as Arnold wanted DiMaggio to settle down and be a father to their son and a nearby husband to her; DiMaggio was more interested in the public eye. The couple divorced in 1944, while DiMaggio was on leave from the Yankees during World War II.
=== Marilyn Monroe ===
According to her autobiography My Story, co-written with Ben Hecht, American actress Marilyn Monroe originally did not want to meet DiMaggio, fearing he was a stereotypical arrogant athlete. However, they did meet in Los Angeles while on a blind date. After dating for two years, they eloped at San Francisco City Hall on January 14, 1954. Although she suffered from endometriosis, Monroe and DiMaggio each expressed to reporters their desire to start a family.
The union was troubled from the start by DiMaggio's jealousy, controlling attitude, and him physically abusing Monroe, as well as her busy life as an actress. A violent fight entailing physical assault between the couple occurred immediately after Monroe filmed the skirt-blowing scene in The Seven Year Itch that was filmed on September 14, 1954, in front of Manhattan's Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theater, as DiMaggio disapproved of the scene. Then 20th Century Fox's East Coast correspondent Bill Kobrin told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that it was director Billy Wilder's idea to turn the shoot into a media circus. Monroe and DiMaggio then had a "yelling battle" in the theater lobby. After returning from New York City to Hollywood in October 1954, Monroe filed for divorce from DiMaggio after only nine months of marriage. However, she was devastated to leave DiMaggio, and throughout the procedures in court, she could be seen weeping openly.
DiMaggio was also devastated, and wrote to Monroe, saying, "I love you and want to be with you…There is nothing I would like better than to restore your confidence in me…My heart split even wider seeing you cry in front of all those people." He also wrote, “[I don't] know what your thoughts are about me, but I can tell you I love you sincerely — way deep in my heart, regardless of anything." After the divorce, DiMaggio underwent therapy, stopped drinking alcohol, and expanded his interests beyond baseball.
On August 1, 1956, an International News wire photo of DiMaggio with Lee Meriwether gave rise to speculation that they were engaged, but DiMaggio biographer Richard Ben Cramer wrote that it was a rumor started by columnist Walter Winchell. Monroe biographer Donald Spoto claimed that DiMaggio was "very close to marrying" 1957 Miss America Marian McKnight, who won the crown with a Marilyn Monroe act, but McKnight denied it. He was also linked to Liz Renay, Cleo Moore, Rita Gam, Marlene Dietrich, and Gloria DeHaven during this period, and years later to Elizabeth Ray and Morgan Fairchild, but he never publicly confirmed any involvement with any woman.
DiMaggio re-entered Monroe's life as her marriage to Arthur Miller was ending. On February 10, 1961, he secured her release from Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in Manhattan. She joined him in Florida where he was a batting coach for the Yankees. Their "just friends" claim did not stop remarriage rumors from flying. Reporters staked out her Manhattan apartment building. Bob Hope "dedicated" Best Song nominee "The Second Time Around" to them at the 33rd Academy Awards. In one of her last interviews, given to Redbook magazine and published in August 1962, Monroe explained : "I've always been able to count on Joe as a friend after that first bitterness of our parting faded. Believe me, there is no spark to be kindled. I just like being with him and we have a better understanding than we've ever had."
On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead in her Brentwood, Los Angeles home after her housekeeper Eunice R. Murray telephoned Monroe's psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson. DiMaggio's son had spoken to Monroe on the phone the night of her death and said she seemed fine. Her death was deemed a probable suicide by "Coroner to the Stars" Thomas Noguchi. It has also been the subject of conspiracy theories.
The funeral service was arranged by DiMaggio, Monroe's half-sister Berniece Baker Miracle, and Monroe's business manager Inez Melson. He barred Hollywood's elite and members of the Kennedy family from attending the funeral, including President John F. Kennedy. He had a half-dozen red roses delivered to her crypt three times a week for 20 years. Oftentimes, he refused to talk about her publicly or otherwise exploit their relationship, and in the rare moments when he did speak to reporters, he was unable to hold back tears. He never married again.
According to DiMaggio's attorney Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's last words were "I'll finally get to see Marilyn." Though DiMaggio's brother Dominic challenged Engelberg's version of Joe's final moments and his motives, Engelberg continuously denied those who questioned DiMaggio's last words, reporting that one night when he and a terminally ill DiMaggio were sitting together, DiMaggio told him, "I don’t feel bad about dying. At least I’ll be with Marilyn again."
== Advertising ==
In the 1970s, DiMaggio became a spokesman for Mr. Coffee, and was the face of the electric drip coffee makers for over 20 years. Vincent Marotta, the CEO of North American Systems, which manufactured Mr. Coffee at the time, recruited DiMaggio for the advertising campaign. DiMaggio's spots were successful with consumers. In a 2007 interview with The Columbus Dispatch, Marotta joked that "millions of kids grew up thinking Joe DiMaggio was a famous appliance salesman." Despite the commercials, DiMaggio rarely drank coffee due to ulcers, and when he did drink coffee, he preferred Sanka instant coffee rather than coffee brewed by Mr. Coffee machines.
In 1972, DiMaggio became a spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank. Except for a five-year hiatus in the 1980s, he regularly made commercials for them until 1992. In 1986, he became a spokesperson for Florida's Cross Keys Village, an active retirement community.
== Television programs ==
Beginning in April 1952, DiMaggio had 10-minute programs on Channel 11 in New York City before and after each Yankees' home game. Episodes included interviews with guests and DiMaggio's comments about baseball. The team owned the program, with DiMaggio under contract to the Yankees. He also did Joe DiMaggio's Dugout on Channel 4 in New York City, a weekly filmed program unrelated to the pre-and post-game shows. It featured instructional sessions and quizzes for young people.
== Death ==
DiMaggio was a heavy smoker for much of his adult life. He was admitted to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, on October 12, 1998, for lung cancer surgery and remained there for 99 days. He returned to his home in Hollywood, Florida, on January 19, 1999, where he died on March 8 at age 84. DiMaggio's attorney, Morris Engelberg reported that his last words were, "I'll finally get to see Marilyn," referring to his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe.
DiMaggio's funeral was held on March 11, 1999, at Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco, and he was interred three months later at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California. His son also died that year, on August 6, at age 57.
== Legacy ==
At his death, The New York Times called DiMaggio's 1941 56-game hitting streak "perhaps the most enduring record in sports."
According to American geneticist Mary-Claire King, in the spring of 1981 DiMaggio babysat her daughter at the San Francisco airport so King could drop her mother off to her flight to Chicago. According to King, if it were not for DiMaggio's kindness, she would have almost certainly missed her own flight that was taking her and her daughter to Washington, D.C., a trip that eventually resulted in King's getting her first major grant from the National Institutes of Health and the discovery of the breast and ovarian cancer-causing gene BRCA1.
On September 17, 1992, the doors were opened at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, for which he raised over $4 million.
On April 13, 1998, DiMaggio was given the Sports Legend Award at the 13th annual American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame Awards Dinner in New York City. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and a longtime fan of DiMaggio, made the presentation to the Yankee great. The event was one of DiMaggio's last public appearances before taking ill.
Yankee Stadium's fifth monument was dedicated to DiMaggio on April 25, 1999, and the West Side Highway was officially renamed The Joe DiMaggio Highway in his honor. The Yankees wore DiMaggio's number 5 on the left sleeves of their uniforms for the 1999 season. He is ranked No. 11 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was elected by fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In addition to his number 5 being retired by the New York Yankees, DiMaggio's number was also retired by the Florida Marlins, who retired it in honor of their first team president, Carl Barger, who died five months before the team took the field for the first time in 1993. DiMaggio had been his favorite player.
In 2000 after some negotiations, the heirs of Joe DiMaggio's estate, two granddaughters and their four children, welcomed the renaming of San Francisco's North Beach playground, the place where Joe DiMaggio first took up baseball as a boy, as the Joe DiMaggio North Beach Playground.
In 2001, Major League Baseball introduced an online daily fantasy game called "Beat the Streak" which required players to pick one or two MLB players to get a hit in a game that day. The goal was to pick correctly 57 times in a row to beat DiMaggio's record streak. The prize money for beating the streak is $5.6 million. Through August 2021, more than 4.5 million players had combined to make over 100 million attempts but none had reached even 52 consecutive hits in the game's history.
In May 2006, the adopted daughters of DiMaggio's son held an auction of DiMaggio's personal items. Highlights included the ball he hit in breaking Wee Willie Keeler's hitting-streak record ($63,250); his 2,000th career hit ball ($29,900); his 1947 Most Valuable Player Award ($281,750); the uniform worn in the 1951 World Series ($195,500); his Hall of Fame ring ($69,000); a photograph Marilyn autographed "I love you Joe" ($80,500); her passport ($115,000); and their marriage certificate ($23,000). Lot 758, DiMaggio's white 1991 Mercedes 420 SEL sedan, which was a gift from the New York Yankees commemorating the 50th anniversary of DiMaggio's 1941 season, sold for $18,000. The event netted a total of $4.1 million (equivalent to $6,500,000 in 2025).
On August 8, 2011, the United States Postal Service announced that an image of DiMaggio would appear on a stamp for the first time. It was issued as part of the "Major League Baseball All-Star Stamp Series," which came out in July 2012.
DiMaggio insisted on being introduced as the "Greatest Living Ballplayer" at events, including Yankee Old-Timers Day, and he once punched Billy Crystal in the stomach for not introducing him as such.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored DiMaggio as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army Air Force during World War II.
The Joe DiMaggio Fields in his hometown of Martinez, California, are named after him.
There is a Joe DiMaggio Street in San Antonio, Texas.
== Career statistics ==
DiMaggio played in 10 World Series, winning 9. His only loss was in the 1942 World Series. He batted .271 (54–199), with 27 runs scored, 8 home runs, and 30 RBI in 51 post-season games.
== In popular culture ==
An American icon, DiMaggio's popularity during his career was such that he was referred to in film, television, literature, art, and music both during his career and decades after he retired.
=== Art ===
Pierre Bellocq: Canvas of Stars mural for Gallagher's Steak House (2006)
Robert Casilla: The Continuity of Greatness
Zenos Frudakis: bronze sculpture of DiMaggio for the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
Red Grooms: Joltin' Joe Takes a Swing installation (1985–1988)
=== Literature ===
"The Ex-Athlete" is based on him in Joyce Carol Oates's 2000 novel Blonde.
In Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is a fan of DiMaggio.
=== Music ===
Betty Bonney and Les Brown: "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio"
Simon & Garfunkel: "Mrs. Robinson" (Paul Simon performed the song on Joe DiMaggio Day in Yankee Stadium, a month after DiMaggio died.)
Billy Joel: "We Didn't Start the Fire"
Madonna: "Vogue"
Vulfpeck: "1 for 1, DiMaggio"
=== Movies ===
Blonde, played by Bobby Cannavale
=== Television ===
DiMaggio is referenced in the Seinfeld episode "The Note" in which Kramer believes to have seen him at a local donut shop.
=== Theatre ===
Bronx Bombers (2013) by Eric Simonson: DiMaggio is a character |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building | Empire State Building | The Empire State Building is a 102-story, supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed in the Art Deco style by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and constructed between 1930 and 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of New York state. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall including its antenna. The Empire State Building was the world's tallest building until the North Tower of the World Trade Center was topped out in 1970; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was once more New York City's tallest building until it was surpassed in 2012 by One World Trade Center. As of 2025, the building is the eighth-tallest building in New York City, the tenth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, and the 59th-tallest completed skyscraper in the world.
The site of the Empire State Building, on the west side of Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets, was developed in 1893 as the Waldorf–Astoria Hotel. In 1929, Empire State Inc. acquired the site and devised plans for a skyscraper there. The design for the Empire State Building was changed fifteen times until it was ensured to be the world's tallest building. Construction started on March 17, 1930, and the building opened thirteen and a half months afterward on May 1, 1931. Despite favorable publicity related to the building's construction, because of the Great Depression and World War II, its owners did not make a profit until the early 1950s.
The building's Art Deco architecture, height, and observation decks have made it a popular attraction. Around four million tourists from around the world annually visit the building's 86th- and 102nd-floor observatories; an additional indoor observatory on the 80th floor opened in 2019. The Empire State Building is an international cultural icon: it has been featured in more than 250 television series and films since the film King Kong was released in 1933. The building's size has been used as a standard of reference to describe the height and length of other structures. A symbol of New York City, the building has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was ranked first on the American Institute of Architects' List of America's Favorite Architecture in 2007. Additionally, the Empire State Building and its ground-floor interior were designated city landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1980, and were added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
== Site ==
The Empire State Building is located on the west side of Fifth Avenue, between 33rd Street to the south and 34th Street to the north, in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Tenants enter the building through the Art Deco lobby located at 350 Fifth Avenue. Visitors to the observatories use an entrance at 20 West 34th Street; prior to August 2018, visitors entered through the Fifth Avenue lobby. Although physically located in South Midtown, a mixed residential and commercial area, the building is so large that it was assigned its own ZIP Code, 10118; as of 2012, it is one of 43 buildings in New York City that have their own ZIP codes.
The areas surrounding the Empire State Building are home to other major points of interest, including Macy's at Herald Square on Sixth Avenue and 34th Street, and Koreatown on 32nd Street between Madison and Sixth avenues. To the east of the Empire State Building is Murray Hill, a neighborhood with a mix of residential, commercial, and entertainment activity. The block directly to the northeast contains the B. Altman and Company Building, which houses the City University of New York's Graduate Center. The nearest New York City Subway stations are 34th Street–Herald Square, one block west, and 33rd Street at Park Avenue, two blocks east; there is also a PATH station at 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue.
== Architecture ==
The Empire State Building was designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon in the Art Deco style. The Empire State Building is 1,250 ft (381 m) tall to its 102nd floor, or 1,453 feet 8+9⁄16 inches (443.092 m) including its 203-foot (61.9 m) pinnacle. It was the first building in the world to be more than 100 stories tall, though only the lowest 86 stories are usable. The first through 85th floors contain 2.158 million square feet (200,500 m2) of commercial and office space, while the 86th floor contains an observatory. The remaining 16 stories are part of the spire, which is capped by an observatory on the 102nd floor; the spire does not contain any intermediate levels and is used mostly for mechanical purposes. Atop the 102nd story is the 203 ft (61.9 m) pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, and surmounted with a lightning rod.
=== Form ===
The Empire State Building has a symmetrical massing because of its large lot and relatively short base. Its articulation consists of three horizontal sections—a base, shaft, and capital—similar to the components of a column. The five-story base occupies the entire lot, while the 81-story shaft above it is set back sharply from the base. The setback above the 5th story is 60 feet (18 m) deep on all sides. There are smaller setbacks on the upper stories, allowing sunlight to illuminate the interiors of the top floors while also positioning these floors away from the noisy streets below. The setbacks are located at the 21st, 25th, 30th, 72nd, 81st, and 85th stories. The setbacks correspond to the tops of elevator shafts, allowing interior spaces to be at most 28 feet (8.5 m) deep (see: § Interior).
The setbacks were mandated by the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which was intended to allow sunlight to reach the streets as well. Normally, a building of the Empire State's dimensions would be permitted to build up to 12 stories on the Fifth Avenue side, and up to 17 stories on the 33rd Street and 34th Street sides, before it would have to utilize setbacks. However, with the largest setback being located above the base, the tower stories could contain a uniform shape. According to architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern, the building's form contrasted with the nearly contemporary, similarly designed 500 Fifth Avenue eight blocks north, which had an asymmetrical massing on a smaller lot.
=== Facade ===
The Empire State Building's Art Deco design is typical of pre–World War II architecture in New York City. The facade is clad in Indiana limestone panels made by the Indiana Limestone Company and sourced from a quarry in south-central Indiana; the panels give the building its signature blonde color. According to official fact sheets, the facade uses 200,000 cubic feet (5,700 m3) of limestone and granite, ten million bricks, and 730 short tons (650 long tons) of aluminum and stainless steel. The building also contains 6,514 windows. The decorative features on the facade are largely geometric, in contrast with earlier buildings, whose decorations often were intended to represent a specific narrative.
The main entrance, composed of three sets of metal doors, is at the center of the facade's Fifth Avenue elevation, flanked by molded piers that are topped with eagles. Above the main entrance is a transom, a triple-height transom window with geometric patterns, and the golden letters "Empire State" above the fifth-floor windows. There are two entrances each on 33rd and 34th streets, with modernistic, stainless steel canopies projecting from the entrances on 33rd and 34th streets there. Above the secondary entrances are triple windows, less elaborate in design than those on Fifth Avenue.
The storefronts on the first floor contain aluminum-framed doors and windows within a black granite cladding. The second through fourth stories consist of windows alternating with wide stone piers and narrower stone mullions. The fifth story contains windows alternating with wide and narrow mullions, and is topped by a horizontal stone sill.
The facade of the tower stories is split into several vertical bays on each side, with windows projecting slightly from the limestone cladding. The bays are arranged into sets of one, two, or three windows on each floor. The bays are separated by alternating narrow and wide piers, the inclusion of which may have been influenced by the design of the contemporary Daily News Building. The windows in each bay are separated by vertical nickel-chrome steel mullions and connected by horizontal aluminum spandrels between each floor. The windows are placed within stainless-steel frames, which saved money by eliminating the need to apply a stone finish around the windows. In addition, the use of aluminum spandrels obviated the need for cross-bonding, which would have been required if stone had been used instead.
==== Lights ====
The building was originally equipped with white searchlights at the top. They were first used in November 1932 when they lit up to signal Roosevelt's victory over Hoover in the presidential election of that year. These were later swapped for four "Freedom Lights" in 1956. In February 1964, flood lights were added on the 72nd floor to illuminate the top of the building at night so that the building could be seen from the World Fair later that year. The lights were shut off from November 1973 to July 1974 because of the energy crisis at the time. In 1976, the businessman Douglas Leigh suggested that Wien and Helmsley install 204 metal-halide lights, which were four times as bright as the 1,000 incandescent lights they were to replace. New red, white, and blue metal-halide lights were installed in time for the country's bicentennial that July. After the bicentennial, Helmsley retained the new lights due to the reduced maintenance cost, about $116 a year.
Since October 12, 1977, the spire has been lit in colors chosen to match seasonal events and holidays. Organizations are allowed to make requests through the building's website. The building is also lit in the colors of New York-based sports teams on nights when they host games: for example, orange, blue, and white for the New York Knicks; red, white, and blue for the New York Rangers. The spire can also be lit to commemorate events including disasters, anniversaries, or deaths, as well as for celebrations such as Pride and Halloween. In 1998, the building was lit in blue after the death of singer Frank Sinatra, who was nicknamed "Ol' Blue Eyes".
The structure was lit in red, white, and blue for several months after the September 11 attacks in 2001. On January 13, 2012, the building was lit in red, orange, and yellow to honor the 60th anniversary of the NBC program The Today Show. After retired basketball player Kobe Bryant's January 2020 death, the building was lit in purple and gold, signifying the colors of his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The evening after iconic actor James Earl Jones died, September 9, 2024, the building was lit up to look like Jones's iconic Darth Vader villain from "Star Wars."
In addition to lightings, the Empire State Building is able to do immersive visual projections on the building's exterior. It partnered with Netflix in May 2022 to celebrate the return of Stranger Things fourth season by projecting the Upside Down onto the Empire State Building.
In 2012, the building's four hundred metal halide lamps and floodlights were replaced with 1,200 LED fixtures, increasing the available colors from nine to over 16 million. The computer-controlled system allows the building to be illuminated in ways that were unable to be done previously with plastic gels. For instance, CNN used the top of the Empire State Building as a scoreboard during the 2012 United States presidential election, using red and blue lights to represent Republican and Democratic electoral votes respectively. Also, on November 26, 2012, the building had its first synchronized light show, using music from recording artist Alicia Keys. Artists such as Eminem and OneRepublic have been featured in later shows, including the building's annual Holiday Music-to-Lights Show. The building's owners adhere to strict standards in using the lights; for instance, they do not use the lights to play advertisements.
=== Interior ===
According to official fact sheets, the Empire State Building weighs 365,000 short tons (331,000 t) and has an internal volume of 37 million cubic feet (1,000,000 m3). The interior required 1,172 miles (1,886 km) of elevator cable and 2 million feet (610,000 m) of electrical wires. It has a total floor area of 2,768,591 ft2 (257,211 m2), and each of the floors in the base cover 2 acres (0.81 ha). This gives the building capacity for 20,000 tenants and 15,000 visitors.
The riveted steel frame of the building was originally designed to handle all of the building's gravitational stresses and wind loads. The amount of material used in the building's construction resulted in a very stiff structure when compared to other skyscrapers, with a structural stiffness of 42 pounds per square foot (2.0 kPa) versus the Willis Tower's 33 pounds per square foot (1.6 kPa) and the John Hancock Center's 26 pounds per square foot (1.2 kPa). A December 1930 feature in Popular Mechanics estimated that a building with the Empire State's dimensions would still stand even if hit with an impact of 50 short tons (45 long tons).
Utilities are grouped in a central shaft. On the 6th through 86th stories, the central shaft is surrounded by a main corridor on all four sides. Per the final specifications of the building, the corridor is surrounded in turn by office space 28 feet (8.5 m) deep, maximizing office space at a time before air conditioning became commonplace. Each of the floors has 210 structural columns that pass through it, which provide structural stability but limits the amount of open space on these floors. The relative dearth of stone in the Empire State Building allows for more space overall, with a 1:200 stone-to-building ratio compared to a 1:50 ratio in similar buildings.
==== Lobby ====
The original main lobby is accessed from Fifth Avenue, on the building's east side, and is the only place in the building where the design contains narrative motifs. It contains an entrance with one set of double doors between a pair of revolving doors. At the top of each doorway is a bronze motif depicting one of three "crafts or industries" used in the building's construction—Electricity, Masonry, and Heating. The three-story-high space runs parallel to 33rd and 34th Streets. The lobby contains two tiers of marble: a wainscoting of darker marble, topped by lighter marble. There is a pattern of zigzagging terrazzo tiles on the lobby floor, which leads from east to west. To the north and south are storefronts, which are flanked by tubes of dark rounded marble and topped by a vertical band of grooves set into the marble. Until the 1960s, there was a Longchamps restaurant next to the lobby, with six oval murals designed by Winold Reiss; these murals were placed in storage when the Longchamps closed.
The western ends of the north and south walls include escalators to a mezzanine level. At the west end of the lobby, behind the security desk, is an aluminum relief of the skyscraper as it was originally built (without the antenna). The relief, which was intended to provide a welcoming effect, contains an embossed outline of the building, with rays radiating from the spire and the sun behind it. In the background is a state map of New York with the building's location marked by a "medallion" in the very southeast portion of the outline. A compass is depicted in the bottom right and a plaque to the building's major developers is on the bottom left. A scale model of the building was also placed south of the security desk.
The plaque at the western end of the lobby is on the eastern interior wall of a one-story-tall rectangular-shaped corridor that surrounds the banks of escalators, with a similar design to the lobby. The rectangular-shaped corridor actually consists of two long hallways on the northern and southern sides of the rectangle, as well as a shorter hallway on the eastern side and another long hallway on the western side. At both ends of the northern and southern corridors, there is a bank of four low-rise elevators in between the corridors. The western side of the rectangular elevator-bank corridor extends north to the 34th Street entrance and south to the 33rd Street entrance. It borders three large storefronts and leads to escalators (originally stairs), which go both to the second floor and to the basement. Going from west to east, there are secondary entrances to 34th and 33rd Streets from the northern and southern corridors, respectively. The side entrances from 33rd and 34th Street lead to two-story-high corridors around the elevator core, crossed by stainless steel-and-glass-enclosed bridges at the mezzanine floor.
Until the 1960s, an Art Deco mural, inspired by both the sky and the Machine Age, was installed in the lobby ceilings. Subsequent damage to these murals, designed by artist Leif Neandross, resulted in reproductions being installed. Renovations to the lobby in 2009, such as replacing the clock over the information desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby with an anemometer and installing two chandeliers intended to be part of the building when it originally opened, revived much of its original grandeur. The north corridor contained eight illuminated panels created in 1963 by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov, in time for the 1964 World's Fair, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World alongside the traditional seven. The building's owners installed a series of paintings by the New York artist Kysa Johnson in the concourse level. Johnson later filed a federal lawsuit, in January 2014, under the Visual Artists Rights Act alleging the negligent destruction of the paintings and damage to her reputation as an artist. As part of the building's 2010 renovation, Denise Amses commissioned a work consisting of 15,000 stars and 5,000 circles, superimposed on a 13-by-5-foot (4.0 by 1.5 m) etched-glass installation, in the lobby.
==== Elevators ====
The Empire State Building has 73 elevators in all, including service elevators. Its original 64 elevators, built by the Otis Elevator Company, in a central core and are of varying heights, with the longest of these elevators reaching from the lobby to the 80th floor. As originally built, there were four "express" elevators that connected the lobby, 80th floor, and several landings in between; the other 60 "local" elevators connected the landings with the floors above these intermediate landings. Of the 64 total elevators, 58 were for passenger use (comprising the four express elevators and 54 local elevators), and eight were for freight deliveries. The elevators were designed to move at 1,200 feet per minute (370 m/min). At the time of the skyscraper's construction, their practical speed was limited to 700 feet per minute (210 m/min) per city law, but this limit was removed shortly after the building opened.
Additional elevators connect the 80th floor to the six floors above it, as the six extra floors were built after the original 80 stories were approved. The elevators were mechanically operated until 2011, when they were replaced with automatic elevators during the $550 million renovation of the building. An additional elevator connects the 86th and 102nd floor observatories, which allows visitors access to the 102nd floor observatory after having their tickets scanned. It also allows employees to access the mechanical floors located between the 87th and 101st floors.
==== Observation decks ====
The 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors contain observatories. The latter two observatories saw a combined average of four million visitors per year in 2010. Since opening, the observatories have been more popular than similar observatories at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Chrysler Building, the first One World Trade Center, or the Woolworth Building, despite being more expensive. There are variable charges to enter the observatories based on demand and time of day. Though most tickets allow visitors to go to the 86th floor, an additional fee is charged for access to the 102nd floor. Other ticket options for visitors include scheduled access to view the sunrise from the observatory, a "premium" guided tour with VIP access, and the "AM/PM" package which allows for two visits in the same day.
The 86th floor observatory contains both an enclosed viewing gallery and an open-air outdoor viewing area, allowing for it to remain open 365 days a year regardless of the weather. The 102nd floor observatory is completely enclosed and much smaller in size. The 102nd floor observatory was closed to the public from the late 1990s to 2005 due to limited viewing capacity and long lines. The observation decks were redesigned in mid-1979. The 102nd floor was again redesigned in a project that was completed in 2019, allowing the windows to be extended from floor to ceiling and widening the space in the observatory overall. An observatory on the 80th floor, opened in 2019, includes various exhibits as well as a mural of the skyline drawn by British artist Stephen Wiltshire. An interactive multimedia museum, with multiple hands-on exhibitions about the building's history, was added during this project. The design of the 10,000 ft2 (930 m2) Observatory Experience was inspired by the plans and designs of the original Empire State Building.
According to a 2010 report by Concierge.com, the five lines to enter the observation decks are "as legendary as the building itself". Concierge.com stated that there were five lines: the sidewalk line, the lobby elevator line, the ticket purchase line, the second elevator line, and the line to get off the elevator and onto the observation deck. In 2016, New York City's official tourism website made note of only three lines: the security check line, the ticket purchase line, and the second elevator line. Following renovations completed in 2019, designed to streamline queuing and reduce wait times, guests enter from a single entrance on 34th Street, where they make their way through 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) exhibits on their way up to the observatories. Guests were offered a variety of ticket packages, including a package that enables them to skip the lines throughout the duration of their stay. The Empire State Building garners significant revenue from ticket sales for its observation decks, making more money from ticket sales than it does from renting office space during some years.
==== New York Skyride ====
In early 1994, a motion simulator attraction was built on the 2nd floor, as a complement to the observation deck. The original cinematic presentation lasted approximately 25 minutes, while the simulation was about eight minutes. The ride had two incarnations. The original version, which ran from 1994 until around 2002, featured James Doohan, Star Trek's Scotty, as the airplane's pilot who humorously tried to keep the flight under control during a storm. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the ride was closed. An updated version debuted in mid-2002, featuring actor Kevin Bacon as the pilot, with the new flight also going haywire. This new version served a more informative goal, as opposed to the old version's main purpose of entertainment, and contained details about the 9/11 attacks. The simulator received mixed reviews, with assessments of the ride ranging from "great" to "satisfactory" to "corny".
=== Spire ===
==== Above the 102nd floor ====
The final stage of the building was the installation of a hollow mast, a 158-foot (48 m) steel shaft fitted with elevators and utilities, above the 86th floor. The spire of the Empire State Building was originally intended to serve as a mooring mast for zeppelins and other airships, although the plan was abandoned when it was determined that high winds would make that impossible. At the top would be a conical roof and the 102nd-floor docking station. Inside, the elevators would ascend 167 feet (51 m) from the 86th-floor ticket offices to a 33-foot-wide (10 m) 101st-floor waiting room. From there, stairs would lead to the 102nd floor, where passengers would enter the airships. The airships would have been moored to the spire at the equivalent of the building's 106th floor.
As constructed, the mast contains four rectangular tiers topped by a cylindrical shaft with a conical pinnacle. On the 102nd (formerly 101st) floor, there is a door with stairs ascending to a 103rd (formerly 102nd) floor. This top level, originally planned to be the airship docking station, now contains electrical equipment and features an exterior balcony. The floor is inaccessible to the public but celebrities and dignitaries may be given permission to take pictures there. A set of stairs and a ladder ascend to the spire and are used by maintenance workers. The mast's 480 windows were all replaced in 2015. The mast serves as the base of the building's broadcasting antenna.
Inflatable objects have sometimes been mounted to the spire for promotional purposes. For example, a King Kong balloon was attached to the spire in 1983 to mark the 50th anniversary of the character's introduction, and an inflatable dragon was placed on the spire in 2024 to promote the TV series House of Dragon.
==== Broadcast stations ====
Broadcasting began at the Empire State Building on December 22, 1931, when NBC and RCA began transmitting experimental television broadcasts from a small antenna erected atop the mast, with two separate transmitters for the visual and audio data. They leased the 85th floor and built a laboratory there. In 1934, RCA was joined by Edwin Howard Armstrong in a cooperative venture to test his FM system from the building's antenna. This setup, which entailed the installation of the world's first FM transmitter, continued only until October of the next year due to disputes between RCA and Armstrong. Specifically, NBC wanted to install more TV equipment in the room where Armstrong's transmitter was located.
After some time, the 85th floor became home to RCA's New York television operations initially as experimental station W2XBS channel 1 then, from 1941, as commercial station WNBT channel 1 (now WNBC channel 4). NBC's FM station, W2XDG, began transmitting from the antenna in 1940. NBC retained exclusive use of the top of the building until 1950 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered the exclusive deal be terminated. The FCC directive was based on consumer complaints that a common location was necessary for the seven extant New York–area television stations to transmit from so that receiving antennas would not have to be constantly adjusted. Other television broadcasters would later join RCA at the building on the 81st through 83rd floors, often along with sister FM stations. Construction of a dedicated broadcast tower began on July 27, 1950, with TV, and FM, transmissions starting in 1951. The 200-foot (60 m) broadcast tower was completed in 1953. From 1951, six broadcasters agreed to pay a combined $600,000 per year for the use of the antenna. In 1965, a separate set of FM antennae was constructed ringing the 103rd floor observation area to act as a master antenna.
The placement of the stations in the Empire State Building became a major issue with the construction of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in the late 1960s, and early 1970s. The greater height of the Twin Towers would reflect radio waves broadcast from the Empire State Building, eventually resulting in some broadcasters relocating to the newer towers instead of suing the developer, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Even though the nine stations who were broadcasting from the Empire State Building were leasing their broadcast space until 1984, most of these stations moved to the World Trade Center as soon as it was completed in 1971. The broadcasters obtained a court order stipulating that the Port Authority had to build a mast and transmission equipment in the North Tower, as well as pay the broadcasters' leases in the Empire State Building until 1984. Only a few broadcasters renewed their leases in the Empire State Building.
The September 11 attacks destroyed the World Trade Center and the broadcast centers atop it, leaving most of the city's stations without a transmitter for ten days until the Armstrong Tower in Alpine, New Jersey, was re-activated temporarily. By October 2001, nearly all of the city's commercial broadcast stations (both television and FM radio) were again transmitting from the top of the Empire State Building. In a report that Congress commissioned about the transition from analog television to digital television, it was stated that the placement of broadcast stations in the Empire State Building was considered "problematic" due to interference from nearby buildings. In comparison, the congressional report stated that the former Twin Towers had very few buildings of comparable height nearby thus signals suffered little interference. In 2003, a few FM stations were relocated to the nearby Condé Nast Building to reduce the number of broadcast stations using the Empire State Building. Eleven television stations and twenty-two FM stations had signed 15-year leases in the building by May 2003. It was expected that a taller broadcast tower in Bayonne, New Jersey, or Governors Island, would be built in the meantime with the Empire State Building being used as a "backup" since signal transmissions from the building were generally of poorer quality. Following the construction of One World Trade Center in the late 2000s and early 2010s, some TV stations began moving their transmitting facilities there.
As of 2021, the Empire State Building is home to the following stations:
Television: WABC-7, WPIX-11, WXTV-41 Paterson, and WFUT-68 Newark
FM: WINS-92.3, WPAT-93.1 Paterson, WNYC-93.9, WPLJ-95.5, WXNY-96.3, WQHT-97.1, WSKQ-97.9, WEPN-98.7, WHTZ-100.3 Newark, WCBS-101.1, WFAN-101.9, WNEW-FM-102.7, WKTU-103.5 Lake Success, WAXQ-104.3, WWPR-105.1, WQXR-105.9 Newark, WLTW-106.7, and WBLS-107.5
NOAA Weather Radio station KWO35 broadcasts at a frequency of 162.550 MHz from the National Weather Service in Upton, New York.
== History ==
The site was previously owned by John Jacob Astor of the prominent Astor family, which had owned the site since the mid-1820s. In 1893, John Jacob Astor Sr.'s grandson William Waldorf Astor opened the Waldorf Hotel on the site. Four years later, his cousin, John Jacob Astor IV, opened the 16-story Astoria Hotel on an adjacent site. The two portions of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel had 1,300 bedrooms, making it the largest hotel in the world at the time. After the death of its founding proprietor, George Boldt, in early 1918, the hotel lease was purchased by Thomas Coleman du Pont. By the 1920s, the old Waldorf–Astoria was becoming dated and the elegant social life of New York had moved much farther north. Additionally, many stores had opened on Fifth Avenue north of 34th Street. The Astor family decided to build a replacement hotel on Park Avenue and sold the hotel to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation in 1928 for $14–16 million. The hotel closed shortly thereafter on May 3, 1929.
=== Planning ===
==== Early plans ====
Bethlehem Engineering Corporation originally intended to build a 25-story office building on the Waldorf–Astoria site. The company's president, Floyd De L. Brown, paid $100,000 of the $1 million down payment required to start construction on the building, with the promise that the difference would be paid later. Brown borrowed $900,000 from a bank but defaulted on the loan.
After Brown was unable to secure additional funding, the land was resold to Empire State Inc., a group of wealthy investors that included Louis G. Kaufman, Ellis P. Earle, John J. Raskob, Coleman du Pont, and Pierre S. du Pont. The name came from the state nickname for New York. Alfred E. Smith, a former Governor of New York and U.S. presidential candidate whose 1928 campaign had been managed by Raskob, was appointed head of the company. The group also purchased nearby land so they would have the 2 acres (0.8 ha) needed for the base, with the combined plot measuring 425 feet (130 m) wide by 200 feet (61 m) long. The Empire State Inc. consortium was announced to the public in August 1929. Concurrently, Smith announced the construction of an 80-story building on the site, to be taller than any other buildings in existence.
Empire State Inc. contracted William F. Lamb, of architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, to create the building design. Lamb produced the initial building design using the firm's earlier designs for the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as the basis. He had also been inspired by Raymond Hood's design for the Daily News Building, which was being constructed at the same time. Concurrently, Lamb's partner Richmond Shreve created "bug diagrams" of the project requirements. The 1916 Zoning Act forced Lamb to design a structure that incorporated setbacks resulting in the lower floors being larger than the upper floors. Consequently, the building was conceived from the top down, giving it a pencil-like shape. The plans were devised within a budget of $50 million and a stipulation that the building be ready for occupancy within 18 months of the start of construction. Design drawings and construction were concurrent. Steel drawings were completed in mid-January 1930, when foundations were underway.
==== Design changes ====
The original plan of the building was 50 stories, but was later increased to 60 and then 80 stories. Height restrictions were placed on nearby buildings to ensure that the top fifty floors of the planned 80-story, 1,000-foot-tall (300 m) building would have unobstructed views of the city. The New York Times lauded the site's proximity to mass transit, with the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit's 34th Street station and the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad's 33rd Street terminal one block away, as well as Penn Station two blocks away and Grand Central Terminal nine blocks away at its closest. It also praised the 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of proposed floor space near "one of the busiest sections in the world". The Empire State Building was to be a typical office building, but Raskob intended to build it "better and in a bigger way", according to architectural writer Donald J. Reynolds.
While plans for the Empire State Building were being finalized, an intense competition in New York for the title of "world's tallest building" was underway. 40 Wall Street (then the Bank of Manhattan Building) and the Chrysler Building in Manhattan both vied for this distinction and were already under construction when work began on the Empire State Building. The "Race into the Sky", as popular media called it at the time, was representative of the country's optimism in the 1920s, fueled by the building boom in major cities. The race was defined by at least five other proposals, although only the Empire State Building would survive the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The 40 Wall Street tower was revised, in April 1929, from 840 feet (260 m) to 925 feet (282 m) making it the world's tallest. The Chrysler Building added its 185-foot (56 m) steel tip to its roof in October 1929, thus bringing it to a height of 1,046 feet (319 m) and greatly exceeding the height of 40 Wall Street. The Chrysler Building's developer, Walter Chrysler, realized that his tower's height would exceed the Empire State Building's as well, having instructed his architect, William Van Alen, to change the Chrysler's original roof from a stubby Romanesque dome to a narrow steel spire. Raskob, wishing to have the Empire State Building be the world's tallest, reviewed the plans and had five floors added as well as a spire; however, the new floors would need to be set back because of projected wind pressure on the extension. On November 18, 1929, Smith acquired a lot at 27–31 West 33rd Street, adding 75 feet (23 m) to the width of the proposed office building's site. Two days later, Smith announced the updated plans for the skyscraper. The plans included an observation deck on the 86th-floor roof at a height of 1,050 feet (320 m), higher than the Chrysler's 71st-floor observation deck.
The 1,050-foot Empire State Building would only be 4 feet (1.2 m) taller than the Chrysler Building, and Raskob was afraid that Chrysler might try to "pull a trick like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute." The plans were revised one last time in December 1929, to include a 16-story, 200-foot (61 m) metal "crown" and an additional 222-foot (68 m) mooring mast intended for dirigibles. The roof height was now 1,250 feet (380 m), making it the tallest building in the world by far, even without the antenna. The addition of the dirigible station meant that another floor, the 86th, would have to be built below the crown; however, unlike the Chrysler's spire, the Empire State's mast would serve a practical purpose. A revised plan was announced to the public in late December 1929, just before the start of construction. The final plan was sketched within two hours, the night before the plan was supposed to be presented to the site's owners in January 1930. The New York Times reported that the spire was facing some "technical problems", but they were "no greater than might be expected under such a novel plan." By this time the blueprints for the building had gone through up to fifteen versions before they were approved. Lamb described the other specifications he was given for the final, approved plan:
The program was short enough—a fixed budget, no space more than 28 feet from window to corridor, as many stories of such space as possible, an exterior of limestone, and completion date of [May 1], 1931, which meant a year and six months from the beginning of sketches.
=== Construction ===
The contractors were Starrett Brothers and Eken, which were composed of Paul and William A. Starrett and Andrew J. Eken. The project was financed primarily by Raskob and Pierre du Pont, while James Farley's General Builders Supply Corporation supplied the building materials. John W. Bowser was the construction superintendent of the project, and the structural engineer of the building was Homer G. Balcom. The tight completion schedule necessitated the commencement of construction even though the design had yet to be finalized.
==== Hotel demolition ====
Demolition of the old Waldorf–Astoria began on October 1, 1929. Stripping the building down was an arduous process, as the hotel had been constructed using more rigid material than earlier buildings had been. Furthermore, the old hotel's granite, wood chips, and "'precious' metals such as lead, brass, and zinc" were not in high demand, resulting in issues with disposal. Most of the wood was deposited into a woodpile on nearby 30th Street or was burned in a swamp elsewhere. Much of the other materials that made up the old hotel, including the granite and bronze, were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean near Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
By the time the hotel's demolition started, Raskob had secured the required funding for the construction of the building. The plan was to start construction later that year but, on October 24, the New York Stock Exchange experienced the major and sudden Wall Street Crash, marking the beginning of the decade-long Great Depression. Despite the economic downturn, Raskob refused to cancel the project because of the progress that had been made up to that point. Neither Raskob, who had ceased speculation in the stock market the previous year, nor Smith, who had no stock investments, suffered financially in the crash. However, most of the investors were affected and as a result, in December 1929, Empire State Inc. obtained a $27.5 million loan from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company so construction could begin. The stock market crash resulted in no demand for new office space; Raskob and Smith nonetheless started construction, as canceling the project would have resulted in greater losses for the investors.
==== Steel structure ====
A structural steel contract was awarded on January 12, 1930, with excavation of the site beginning ten days later on January 22, before the old hotel had been completely demolished. Two twelve-hour shifts, consisting of 300 men each, worked continuously to dig the 55-foot (17 m) deep foundation. Small pier holes were sunk into the ground to house the concrete footings that would support the steelwork. Excavation was nearly complete by early March, and construction on the building itself started on March 17, with the builders placing the first steel columns on the completed footings before the rest of the footings had been finished. Around this time, Lamb held a press conference on the building plans. He described the reflective steel panels parallel to the windows, the large-block Indiana limestone facade that was slightly more expensive than smaller bricks, and the building's vertical lines. Four colossal columns, intended for installation in the center of the building site, were delivered; they would support a combined 10,000,000 pounds (4,500,000 kg) when the building was finished.
The structural steel was pre-ordered and pre-fabricated in anticipation of a revision to the city's building code that would have allowed the Empire State Building's structural steel to carry 18,000 pounds per square inch (120 MPa), up from 16,000 pounds per square inch (110 MPa), thus reducing the amount of steel needed for the building. Although the 18,000-psi regulation had been safely enacted in other cities, Mayor Jimmy Walker did not sign the new codes into law until March 26, 1930, just before construction was due to commence. The first steel framework was installed on April 1, 1930. From there, construction proceeded at a rapid pace; during one stretch of 10 working days, the builders erected fourteen floors. This was made possible through precise coordination of the building's planning, as well as the mass production of common materials such as windows and spandrels. On one occasion, when a supplier could not provide timely delivery of dark Hauteville marble, Starrett switched to using Rose Famosa marble from a German quarry that was purchased specifically to provide the project with sufficient marble.
The scale of the project was massive, with trucks carrying "16,000 partition tiles, 5,000 bags of cement, 450 cubic yards [340 m3] of sand and 300 bags of lime" arriving at the construction site every day. There were also cafes and concession stands on five of the incomplete floors so workers did not have to descend to the ground level to eat lunch. Temporary water taps were installed so workers did not waste time buying water bottles from the ground level. Carts running on a small railway system transported materials from the basement storage to elevators that brought the carts to the desired floors where they would then be distributed throughout that level using another set of tracks. The 57,480 short tons (51,320 long tons) of steel ordered for the project was the largest-ever single order of steel at the time, comprising more steel than was ordered for the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street combined. According to historian John Tauranac, building materials were sourced from numerous, and distant, sources with "limestone from Indiana, steel girders from Pittsburgh, cement and mortar from upper New York State, marble from Italy, France, and England, wood from northern and Pacific Coast forests, [and] hardware from New England." The facade, too, used a variety of material—most prominently Indiana limestone but also architectural terracotta, brick, and black granite from Sweden.
By June 20, the skyscraper's supporting steel structure had risen to the 26th floor, and by July 27, half of the steel structure had been completed. Starrett Bros. and Eken endeavored to build one floor a day in order to speed up construction, achieving a pace of four and a half stories per week; prior to this, the fastest pace of construction for a building of similar height had been three and a half stories per week. While construction progressed, the final designs for the floors were being designed from the ground up (as opposed to the general design, which had been from the roof down). Some of the levels were still undergoing final approval, with several orders placed within an hour of a plan being finalized. On September 10, as steelwork was nearing completion, Smith laid the building's cornerstone during a ceremony attended by thousands. The stone contained a box with contemporary artifacts including the previous day's New York Times, a U.S. currency set containing all denominations of notes and coins minted in 1930, a history of the site and building, and photographs of the people involved in construction. The steel structure was topped out at 1,048 feet (319 m) on September 19, twelve days ahead of schedule and 23 weeks after the start of construction. Workers raised a flag atop the 86th floor to signify this milestone.
==== Completion and scale ====
Work on the building's interior and crowning mast commenced after the topping out. The mooring mast topped out on November 21, two months after the steelwork had been completed. Meanwhile, work on the walls and interior was progressing at a quick pace, with exterior walls built up to the 75th floor by the time steelwork had been built to the 95th floor. The majority of the facade was already finished by the middle of November. Because of the building's height, it was deemed infeasible to have many elevators or large elevator cabins, so the builders contracted with the Otis Elevator Company to make 66 cars that could speed at 1,200 feet per minute (370 m/min), which represented the largest-ever elevator order at the time.
In addition to the time constraint builders had, there were also space limitations because construction materials had to be delivered quickly, and trucks needed to drop off these materials without congesting traffic. This was solved by creating a temporary driveway for the trucks between 33rd and 34th Streets, and then storing the materials in the building's first floor and basements. Concrete mixers, brick hoppers, and stone hoists inside the building ensured that materials would be able to ascend quickly and without endangering or inconveniencing the public. At one point, over 200 trucks made material deliveries at the building site every day. A series of relay and erection derricks, placed on platforms erected near the building, lifted the steel from the trucks below and installed the beams at the appropriate locations. The Empire State Building was structurally completed on April 11, 1931, twelve days ahead of schedule and 410 days after construction commenced. Al Smith shot the final rivet, which was made of solid gold.
The project involved more than 3,500 workers at its peak, including 3,439 on a single day, August 14, 1930. Many of the workers were Irish and Italian immigrants, with a sizable minority of Mohawk ironworkers from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal. According to official accounts, five workers died during the construction, although the New York Daily News gave reports of 14 deaths and a headline in the socialist magazine The New Masses spread unfounded rumors of up to 42 deaths. The Empire State Building cost $40,948,900 to build (equivalent to $678 million in 2024), including demolition of the Waldorf–Astoria. This was lower than the $60 million budgeted for construction.
Lewis Hine captured many photographs of the construction, documenting not only the work itself but also providing insight into the daily life of workers in that era. Hine's images were used extensively by the media to publish daily press releases. According to the writer Jim Rasenberger, Hine "climbed out onto the steel with the ironworkers and dangled from a derrick cable hundreds of feet above the city to capture, as no one ever had before (or has since), the dizzy work of building skyscrapers". In Rasenberger's words, Hine turned what might have been an assignment of "corporate flak" into "exhilarating art". These images were later organized into their own collection. Onlookers were enraptured by the sheer height at which the steelworkers operated. New York magazine wrote of the steelworkers: "Like little spiders they toiled, spinning a fabric of steel against the sky".
=== Opening and early years ===
The Empire State Building officially opened on May 1, 1931, forty-five days ahead of its projected opening date, and eighteen months from the start of construction. The opening was marked with an event featuring United States President Herbert Hoover, who turned on the building's lights with the ceremonial button push from Washington, D.C. Over 350 guests attended the opening ceremony, and following luncheon, at the 86th floor including Jimmy Walker, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Al Smith. An account from that day stated that the view from the luncheon was obscured by a fog, with other landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty being "lost in the mist" enveloping New York City. The Empire State Building officially opened the next day. Advertisements for the building's observatories were placed in local newspapers, while nearby hotels also capitalized on the events by releasing advertisements that lauded their proximity to the newly opened building.
According to The New York Times, builders and real estate speculators predicted that the 1,250-foot-tall (380 m) Empire State Building would be the world's tallest building "for many years", thus ending the great New York City skyscraper rivalry. At the time, most engineers agreed that it would be difficult to build a building taller than 1,200 feet (370 m), even with the hardy Manhattan bedrock as a foundation. Technically, it was believed possible to build a tower of up to 2,000 feet (600 m), but it was deemed uneconomical to do so, especially during the Great Depression. As the tallest building in the world, at that time, and the first one to exceed 100 floors, the Empire State Building became an icon of the city and, ultimately, of the nation.
In 1932, the Fifth Avenue Association gave the building its 1931 "gold medal" for architectural excellence, signifying that the Empire State had been the best-designed building on Fifth Avenue to open in 1931. A year later, on March 2, 1933, the movie King Kong was released. The movie, which depicted a large stop motion ape named Kong climbing the Empire State Building, made the still-new building into a cinematic icon.
==== Tenants and tourism ====
At the beginning of 1931, Fifth Avenue was experiencing high demand for storefront space, with only 12 of 224 stores being unoccupied. The Empire State Building, along with 500 Fifth Avenue and 608 Fifth Avenue, were expected to add a combined 11 stores. The office space was less successful, as the Empire State Building's opening had coincided with the Great Depression in the United States. In the first year, only 23 percent of the available space was rented, as compared to the early 1920s, where the average building would be 52 percent occupied upon opening and 90 percent occupied within five years. The lack of renters led New Yorkers to deride the building as the "Empty State Building" or "Smith's Folly".
The earliest tenants in the Empire State Building were large companies, banks, and garment industries. Jack Brod, one of the building's longest resident tenants, co-established the Empire Diamond Corporation with his father in the building in mid-1931 and rented space in the building until he died in 2008. Brod recalled that there were only about 20 tenants at the time of opening, including him, and that Al Smith was the only real tenant in the space above his seventh-floor offices. Generally, during the early 1930s, it was rare for more than a single office space to be rented in the building, despite Smith's and Raskob's aggressive marketing efforts in the newspapers and to anyone they knew. The building's lights were continuously left on, even in the unrented spaces, to give the impression of occupancy. This was exacerbated by competition from Rockefeller Center as well as from buildings on 42nd Street, which, when combined with the Empire State Building, resulted in surplus of office space in a slow market during the 1930s.
Aggressive marketing efforts served to reinforce the Empire State Building's status as the world's tallest. The observatory was advertised in local newspapers as well as on railroad tickets. The building became a popular tourist attraction, with one million people each paying one dollar to ride elevators to the observation decks in 1931. In its first year of operation, the observation deck made approximately $2 million in revenue, as much as its owners made in rent that year. By 1936, the observation deck was crowded on a daily basis, with food and drink available for purchase at the top, and by 1944 the building had received its five-millionth visitor. In 1931, NBC took up tenancy, leasing space on the 85th floor for radio broadcasts. From the outset the building was in debt, losing $1 million per year by 1935. Real estate developer Seymour Durst recalled that the building was so underused in 1936 that there was no elevator service above the 45th floor, as the building above the 41st floor was empty except for the NBC offices and the Raskob/Du Pont offices on the 81st floor.
==== Other events ====
Per the original plans, the Empire State Building's spire was intended to be an airship docking station. Raskob and Smith had proposed dirigible ticketing offices and passenger waiting rooms on the 86th floor, while the airships themselves would be tied to the spire at the equivalent of the building's 106th floor. An elevator would ferry passengers from the 86th to the 101st floor after they had checked in on the 86th floor, after which passengers would have climbed steep ladders to board the airship. The idea was impractical and dangerous due to powerful updrafts caused by the building itself, the wind currents across Manhattan, and the spires of nearby skyscrapers. Even if the airship could successfully navigate all these obstacles, its crew would have to jettison some ballast by releasing water onto the streets below in order to maintain stability, and then tie the craft's nose to the spire with no mooring lines securing the tail end of the craft. On September 15, 1931, a small commercial United States Navy airship circled 25 times in 45-mile-per-hour (72 km/h) winds. The airship then attempted to dock at the mast, but its ballast spilled and the craft was rocked by unpredictable eddies. The near-disaster scuttled plans to turn the building's spire into an airship terminal, although one blimp did manage to make a single newspaper delivery afterward.
On July 28, 1945, a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 79th and 80th floors. One engine completely penetrated the building and landed in a neighboring block, while the other engine and part of the landing gear plummeted down an elevator shaft. Fourteen people were killed in the incident, but the building escaped severe damage and was reopened two days later.
=== Profitability ===
By the 1940s, the Empire State Building was 98 percent occupied. The structure broke even for the first time in the 1950s. At the time, mass transit options in the building's vicinity were limited compared to the present day. Despite this challenge, the Empire State Building began to attract renters due to its reputation. A 222-foot (68 m) radio antenna was erected on top of the towers starting in 1950, allowing the area's television stations to be broadcast from the building.
Despite the turnaround in the building's fortunes, Raskob listed it for sale in 1951, with a minimum asking price of $50 million. The property was purchased by business partners Roger L. Stevens, Henry Crown, Alfred R. Glancy and Ben Tobin. The sale was brokered by the Charles F. Noyes Company, a prominent real estate firm in upper Manhattan, for $51 million, the highest price paid for a single structure at the time. By this time, the Empire State had been fully leased for several years with a waiting list of parties looking to lease space in the building, according to the Cortland Standard. That same year, six news companies formed a partnership to pay a combined annual fee of $600,000 to use the building's antenna, which was completed in 1953. Crown bought out his partners' ownership stakes in 1954, becoming the sole owner. The following year, the American Society of Civil Engineers named the building one of the "Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders".
In 1961, Lawrence A. Wien signed a contract to purchase the Empire State Building for $65 million, with Harry B. Helmsley acting as partners in the building's operating lease. This became the new highest price for a single structure. Over 3,000 people paid $10,000 for one share each in a company called Empire State Building Associates. The company in turn subleased the building to another company headed by Helmsley and Wien, raising $33 million of the funds needed to pay the purchase price. In a separate transaction, the land underneath the building was sold to Prudential Insurance for $29 million. Helmsley, Wien, and Peter Malkin quickly started a program of minor improvement projects, including the first-ever full-building facade refurbishment and window-washing in 1962, the installation of new flood lights on the 72nd floor in 1964, and replacement of the manually operated elevators with automatic units in 1966. The little-used western end of the second floor was used as a storage space until 1964, at which point it received escalators to the first floor as part of its conversion into a highly sought retail area.
=== Loss of "tallest building" title ===
In 1961, the same year that Helmsley, Wien, and Malkin had purchased the Empire State Building, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey formally backed plans for a new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The plan originally included 66-story twin towers with column-free open spaces. The Empire State's owners and real estate speculators were worried that the twin towers' 7.6 million square feet (710,000 m2) of office space would create a glut of rentable space in Manhattan as well as take away the Empire State Building's profits from lessees. A revision in the World Trade Center's plan brought the twin towers to 1,370 feet (420 m) each or 110 stories, taller than the Empire State. Opponents of the new project included prominent real-estate developer Robert Tishman, as well as Wien's Committee for a Reasonable World Trade Center. In response to Wien's opposition, Port Authority executive director Austin J. Tobin said that Wien was only opposing the project because it would overshadow his Empire State Building as the world's tallest building.
The World Trade Center's twin towers started construction in 1966. The following year, the Ostankino Tower in Moscow succeeded the Empire State Building as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. In 1970, the Empire State surrendered its position as the world's tallest building, when the World Trade Center's still-under-construction North Tower surpassed it, on October 19; the North Tower was topped out on December 23, 1970.
In December 1975, the observation deck was opened on the 110th floor of the Twin Towers, significantly higher than the 86th floor observatory on the Empire State Building. The latter was also losing revenue during this period, particularly as a number of broadcast stations had moved to the World Trade Center in 1971; the Port Authority continued to pay the broadcasting leases for the Empire State until 1984. The Empire State Building was still seen as prestigious, having seen its forty-millionth visitor in March 1971.
=== 1980s and 1990s ===
By 1980, there were nearly two million annual visitors, although a building official had previously estimated between 1.5 million and 1.75 million annual visitors. The building received its own ZIP code in May 1980 in a roll out of 63 new postal codes in Manhattan. At the time, its tenants collectively received 35,000 pieces of mail daily. The Empire State Building celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 1, 1981, with a much-publicized, but poorly received, laser light show, as well as an "Empire State Building Week" that ran through to May 8. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted to designate the building and its lobby as city landmarks on May 19, 1981.
Capital improvements were made to the Empire State Building during the early to mid-1990s at a cost of $55 million. Because all of the building's windows were being replaced at the same time, the LPC mandated a paint-color test for the windows; the test revealed that the Empire State Building's original windows were actually red. The improvements also entailed replacing alarm systems, elevators, windows, and air conditioning; making the observation deck compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); and refurbishing the limestone facade. The observation deck renovation was added after disability rights groups and the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the building in 1992, in what was the first lawsuit filed by an organization under the new law. A settlement was reached in 1994, in which Empire State Building Associates agreed to add ADA-compliant elements, such as new elevators, ramps, and automatic doors, during the renovation.
Prudential sold the property in 1991 for $42 million to a buyer representing hotelier Hideki Yokoi, who was imprisoned at the time in connection with the deadly Hotel New Japan Fire at the Hotel New Japan in Tokyo. In 1994, Donald Trump entered into a joint-venture agreement with Yokoi, with a shared goal of breaking the lease on the land in an effort to gain total ownership of the building so that, if successful, the two could reap the potential profits of merging the ownership of the building with the land beneath it. Having secured a half-ownership of the land, Trump devised plans to take ownership of the building itself so he could renovate it, even though Helmsley and Malkin had already started their refurbishment project. He sued Empire State Building Associates in February 1995, claiming that the latter had caused the building to become a "high-rise slum" and a "second-rate, rodent-infested" office tower. Trump had intended to have Empire State Building Associates evicted for violating the terms of their lease, but was denied. This led to Helmsley's companies countersuing Trump in May. This sparked a series of lawsuits and countersuits that lasted several years, partly arising from Trump's desire to obtain the building's master lease by taking it from Empire State Building Associates. Upon Harry Helmsley's death in 1997, the Malkins sued Helmsley's widow, Leona Helmsley, for control of the building.
=== 21st century ===
==== 2000s ====
Following the destruction of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City, but was only the second-tallest building in the Americas after the Sears (later Willis) Tower in Chicago. As a result of the attacks, transmissions from nearly all of the city's commercial television and FM radio stations were again broadcast from the Empire State Building. The attacks also led to an increase in security due to persistent terror threats against prominent sites in New York City.
In 2002, Trump and Yokoi sold their land claim to the Empire State Building Associates, now headed by Malkin, in a $57.5 million transaction. This action merged the building's title and lease for the first time in half a century. Despite the lingering threat posed by the 9/11 attacks, the Empire State Building remained popular with 3.5 million visitors to the observatories in 2004, compared to about 2.8 million in 2003.
Even though she maintained her ownership stake in the building until the post-consolidation IPO in October 2013, Leona Helmsley handed over day-to-day operations of the building in 2006 to Peter Malkin's company. In 2008, the building was temporarily "stolen" by the New York Daily News to show how easy it was to transfer the deed on a property, since city clerks were not required to validate the submitted information, as well as to help demonstrate how fraudulent deeds could be used to obtain large mortgages and then have individuals disappear with the money. The paperwork submitted to the city included the names of Fay Wray, the famous star of King Kong, and Willie Sutton, a notorious New York bank robber. The newspaper then transferred the deed back over to the legitimate owners, who at that time were Empire State Land Associates.
==== 2010s to present ====
Starting in 2009, the building's public areas received a $550 million renovation, with improvements to the air conditioning and waterproofing, renovations to the observation deck and main lobby, and relocation of the gift shop to the 80th floor. About $120 million was spent on improving the energy efficiency of the building, with the goal of reducing energy emissions by 38% within five years. For example, all of the windows were refurbished onsite into film-coated "superwindows" which block heat but pass light. Air conditioning operating costs on hot days were reduced, saving $17 million of the project's capital cost immediately and partially funding some of the other retrofits. The Empire State Building won the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold for Existing Buildings rating in September 2011, as well as the World Federation of Great Towers' Excellence in Environment Award for 2010. For the LEED Gold certification, the building's energy reduction was considered, as was a large purchase of carbon offsets. Other factors included low-flow bathroom fixtures, green cleaning supplies, and use of recycled paper products.
On April 30, 2012, One World Trade Center topped out, surpassing the Empire State Building as the city's tallest skyscraper. By 2014, the building was owned by the Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT), with Anthony Malkin as chairman, CEO, and president. The ESRT was a public company, having begun trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange the previous year. In August 2016, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) was issued new fully diluted shares equivalent to 9.9% of the trust; this investment gave them partial ownership of the entirety of the ESRT's portfolio, and as a result, partial ownership of the Empire State Building. The trust's president John Kessler called it an "endorsement of the company's irreplaceable assets". The investment has been described by the real-estate magazine The Real Deal as "an unusual move for a sovereign wealth fund", as these funds typically buy direct stakes in buildings rather than real estate companies. Other foreign entities that have a stake in the ESRT include investors from Norway, Japan, and Australia.
A renovation of the Empire State Building was commenced in the 2010s to further improve energy efficiency, public areas, and amenities. In August 2018, to improve the flow of visitor traffic, the main visitor's entrance was shifted to 20 West 34th Street as part of a major renovation of the observatory lobby. The new lobby includes several technological features, including large LED panels, digital ticket kiosks in nine languages, and a two-story architectural model of the building surrounded by two metal staircases. The first phase of the renovation, completed in 2019, features an updated exterior lighting system and digital hosts. The new lobby also features free Wi-Fi provided for those waiting. A 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) exhibit with nine galleries opened in July 2019. The 102nd floor observatory, the third phase of the redesign, reopened to the public on October 12, 2019. That portion of the project included outfitting the space with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a brand-new glass elevator. The final portion of the renovations to be completed was a new observatory on the 80th floor, which opened on December 2, 2019. In total, the renovation cost $160 million or $165 million and took four years to finish.
A comprehensive restoration of the building's mooring and antenna masts also began in June 2019. Antennas on the mooring mast were removed or relocated to the upper mast, while the aluminum panels were cleaned and coated with silver paint. To minimize disruption to the observation decks, the restoration work took place at night. The project was completed by late 2020.
== Height records ==
The world record held by the Empire State Building for the longest was for the tallest skyscraper (to structural height). The building held this distinction for 42 years, being surpassed by the North Tower of the World Trade Center in October 1970. The Empire State Building was also the tallest human-made structure in the world before it was surpassed by the Griffin Television Tower Oklahoma (KWTV Mast) in 1954, and the tallest freestanding structure in the world until the completion of the Ostankino Tower in 1967. An early-1970s proposal to dismantle the spire and replace it with an additional 11 floors, which would have brought the building's height to 1,494 feet (455 m) and made it once again the world's tallest at the time, was considered but ultimately rejected.
With the destruction of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City, and the second-tallest building in the Americas, surpassed only by the Willis Tower in Chicago. The Empire State Building remained the tallest building in New York until the new One World Trade Center reached a greater height in April 2012. As of 2022, it is the seventh-tallest building in New York City and the tenth-tallest in the United States. The Empire State Building is the 49th-tallest in the world as of February 2021. It is also the eleventh-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas behind the tallest U.S. buildings and the CN Tower.
== Notable tenants ==
As of 2013, the building housed around 1,000 businesses. Current tenants include:
Former tenants include:
The National Catholic Welfare Council (now Catholic Relief Services)
The King's College
China National Tourist Office
National Film Board of Canada
Nathaniel Branden Institute
Schenley Industries
YWCA of the USA
== Incidents ==
=== 1945 plane crash ===
At 9:40 am on July 28, 1945, a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber, piloted in thick fog by Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr., crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors (then the offices of the National Catholic Welfare Council). One engine completely penetrated the building, landing on the roof of a nearby building where it started a fire that destroyed a penthouse. The other engine and part of the landing gear plummeted down an elevator shaft, causing a fire that was extinguished in 40 minutes. Fourteen people were killed in the incident. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver fell 75 stories and survived, which still holds the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded.
Despite the damage and loss of life, many floors were open two days later. The crash helped spur the passage of the long-pending Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, as well as the insertion of retroactive provisions into the law, allowing people to sue the government for the incident. Also as a result of the crash, the Civil Aeronautics Administration enacted strict regulations regarding flying over New York City, setting a minimum flying altitude of 2,500 feet (760 m) above sea level regardless of the weather conditions.
A year later, on July 24, 1946, another airplane narrowly missed striking the building. The unidentified twin-engine plane scraped past the observation deck, frightening the tourists there.
=== 2000 elevator plunge ===
On January 24, 2000, an elevator in the building suddenly descended 40 stories after a cable that controlled the cabin's maximum speed was severed. The elevator fell from the 44th floor to the fourth floor, where a narrowed elevator shaft provided a second safety system. Despite the 40-floor fall, both of the passengers in the cabin at the time were only slightly injured. After the fall, building inspectors reviewed all of the building's elevators.
=== Suicide attempts ===
Because of the building's iconic status, it and other Midtown landmarks are common locations for suicide attempts. More than 30 people have attempted suicide over the years by jumping from the upper parts of the building, with most attempts being successful.
The first suicide from the building occurred on April 7, 1931, before it was even completed, when a carpenter who had been laid off went to the 58th floor and jumped. The first suicide after the building's opening occurred from the 86th floor observatory in February 1935, when Irma P. Eberhardt fell 1,029 feet (314 m) onto a marquee sign. On December 16, 1943, William Lloyd Rambo jumped to his death from the 86th floor, landing amidst Christmas shoppers on the street below. In the early morning of September 27, 1946, shell-shocked Marine Douglas W. Brashear Jr. jumped from the 76th-floor window of the Grant Advertising Agency; police found his shoes 50 feet (15 m) from his body.
On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leaped to her death from the 86th-floor observation deck and landed on a limousine parked at the curb. Photography student Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale's oddly intact corpse a few minutes after her death. The police found a suicide note among possessions that she left on the observation deck: "He is much better off without me.... I wouldn't make a good wife for anybody". The photo ran in the May 12, 1947, edition of Life magazine and is often referred to as "The Most Beautiful Suicide". It was later used by visual artist Andy Warhol in one of his prints entitled Suicide (Fallen Body). A 7-foot (2.1 m) mesh fence was put up around the 86th floor terrace in December 1947 after five people tried to jump during three weeks in October and November of that year. By then, sixteen people had died from suicide jumps.
Only one person has jumped from the upper observatory: Frederick Eckert of Astoria, Queens, who ran past a guard in the enclosed 102nd-floor gallery on November 3, 1932. He jumped a gate leading to an outdoor catwalk intended for dirigible passengers, dying when he landed on the 86th-floor deck.
Two people have survived falls by not falling more than a floor. On December 2, 1979, Elvita Adams jumped from the 86th floor, only to be blown back onto a ledge on the 85th floor by a gust of wind and left with a broken hip. On April 25, 2013, a man fell from the 86th floor observation deck, but he landed alive with minor injuries on an 85th-floor ledge where security guards brought him inside and paramedics transferred him to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
=== Shootings ===
Two fatal shootings have occurred in the direct vicinity of the Empire State Building. Abu Kamal, a 69-year-old Palestinian teacher, shot seven people on the 86th floor observation deck during the afternoon of February 23, 1997. He killed one person and wounded six others before committing suicide. Kamal reportedly committed the shooting in response to events happening in Palestine and Israel.
On the morning of August 24, 2012, 58-year-old Jeffrey T. Johnson shot and killed a former co-worker on the building's Fifth Avenue sidewalk. He had been laid off from his job in 2011. Two police officers confronted the gunman, and he aimed his firearm at them. They responded by firing 16 shots, killing him but also wounding nine bystanders. Most of the injured were hit by bullet fragments, although three took direct hits from bullets.
== Impact ==
As the tallest building in the world and the first one to exceed 100 floors, the Empire State Building immediately became an icon of the city and of the nation. In 2013, Time magazine noted that the Empire State Building "seems to completely embody the city it has become synonymous with". The historian John Tauranac called it "'the' twentieth-century New York building", despite the existence of taller and more modernist buildings.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the building and its lobby as city landmarks on May 19, 1981, citing the historic nature of the first and second floors, as well as "the fixtures and interior components" of the upper floors. The New York City Planning Commission endorsed the landmark status. The building became a National Historic Landmark in 1986 in close alignment with the New York City Landmarks report. The Empire State Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places the following year due to its architectural significance.
=== Contemporary reception ===
Early architectural critics also focused on the Empire State Building's exterior ornamentation. Architectural critic Talbot Hamlin wrote in 1931, "That it is the world's tallest building is purely incidental." George Shepard Chappell, writing in The New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", wrote the same year that the Empire State Building had a "palpably enormous" appeal to the general public, and that "its difference and distinction [lay] in the extreme sensitiveness of its entire design". Edmund Wilson of The New Republic wrote that the building's neutral color palette made it "New York's handsomest skyscraper".
Architectural critics also wrote negatively of the mast, especially in light of its failure to become a real air terminal. Chappell called the mast "a silly gesture", and Lewis Mumford called it "a public comfort station for migratory birds". Nevertheless, architecture critic Douglas Haskell said the Empire State Building's appeal came from the fact that it was "caught at the exact moment of transition—caught between metal and stone, between the idea of 'monumental mass' and that of airy volume, between handicraft and machine design, and in the swing from what was essentially handicraft to what will be essentially industrial methods of fabrication."
=== As icon ===
Early in the building's history, travel companies such as Short Line Motor Coach Service and New York Central Railroad used the building as an icon to symbolize the city. In a 1932 survey of 50 American architects, fourteen ranked the Empire State Building as the United States' best building; the Empire State Building received more votes than any building except the Lincoln Memorial. After the construction of the first World Trade Center, architect Paul Goldberger noted that the Empire State Building "is famous for being tall, but it is good enough to be famous for being good."
As an icon of the United States, it is also very popular among Americans. In a 2007 survey, the American Institute of Architects found that the Empire State Building was "America's favorite building". The building was originally a symbol of hope in a country devastated by the Depression, as well as a work of accomplishment by newer immigrants. The writer Benjamin Flowers states that the Empire State was "a building intended to celebrate a new America, built by men (both clients and construction workers) who were themselves new Americans." The architectural critic Jonathan Glancey refers to the building as an "icon of American design". Additionally, in 2007, the Empire State Building was first on the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture.
The Empire State Building has been hailed as an example of a "wonder of the world" due to the massive effort expended during construction. The Washington Star listed it as part of one of the "seven wonders of the modern world" in 1931, while Holiday magazine wrote in 1958 that the Empire State's height would be taller than the combined heights of the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza. The American Society of Civil Engineers also declared the building "A Modern Civil Engineering Wonder of the United States" in 1958 and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World in 1994. Ron Miller, in a 2010 book, also described the Empire State Building as one of the "seven wonders of engineering". It has often been called the Eighth Wonder of the World as well, an appellation that it has held since shortly after opening. The panels installed in the lobby in 1963 reflected this, showing the seven original wonders alongside the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building also became the standard of reference to describe the height and length of other structures globally, both natural and human-made.
The building has also inspired replicas. The New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, contains the "Empire Tower", a 47-story replica of the Empire State Building. A portion of the hotel's interior was also designed to resemble the Empire State Building's interior.
=== In media ===
As an icon of New York City, the Empire State Building has been featured in various films, books, TV shows, and video games. According to the building's official website, more than 250 movies contain depictions of the Empire State Building. In his book about the building, John Tauranac writes that its first documented appearance in popular culture was Swiss Family Manhattan, a 1932 children's story by Christopher Morley. A year later, the film King Kong depicted Kong, a giant stop motion ape that climbs the Empire State Building during the film's climax, bringing the building into the popular imagination. Later movies such as An Affair to Remember (1957), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and Independence Day (1996) also prominently featured the building. The building has also been featured in other works, such as "Daleks in Manhattan", a 2007 episode of the TV series Doctor Who; and Empire, an eight-hour black-and-white silent film by Andy Warhol, which was later added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.
Throughout its history, the Empire State Building has welcomed celebrities, royalty, and dignitaries to visit the observation deck. From celebrities like Taylor Swift and Zendaya to royalty such as Prince William, the Empire State Building hosts notable figures every year.
=== Empire State Building Run-Up ===
The Empire State Building Run-Up, a foot race from ground level to the 86th-floor observation deck, has been held annually since 1978. It is organized by NYCRUNS. Its participants are referred to both as runners and as climbers, and are often tower running enthusiasts. The race covers a vertical distance of 1,050 ft (320 m) and takes in 1,576 steps. The record time is 9 minutes and 33 seconds, achieved by Australian professional cyclist Paul Crake in 2003, at a climbing rate of 6,593 ft (2,010 m) per hour. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Philadelphia ( FIL-ə-DEL-fee-ə), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1.6 million at the 2020 census. The Philadelphia metropolitan area (sometimes called the Delaware Valley) has 6.33 million residents and is the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan area. Philadelphia is known for its culture, cuisine, and history, maintaining contemporary influence in business and technology, sports, and music.
Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker and advocate of religious freedom, and served as the capital of the colonial era Province of Pennsylvania. It then played a vital role during the American Revolution and Revolutionary War. It served as the central meeting place for the nation's Founding Fathers in hosting the First Continental Congress (1774) and the Second Continental Congress, during which the Founders formed the Continental Army, elected George Washington as its commander, and adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. During the Revolutionary War's Philadelphia campaign, the city fell to the British Army, which occupied Philadelphia for nine months from September 1777 to June 1778. Following the end of the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Constitution was ratified at the Philadelphia Convention. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, and it served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions until 1800, when construction of the new national capital in Washington, D.C. was completed.
With 17 four-year universities and colleges in the city, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. The city hosts more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other city in the nation. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, has an area of 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest urban parks and the world's 55th largest. With five professional sports teams and one of the nation's most loyal and passionate fan bases, Philadelphia is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock.
As of 2023, the Philadelphia metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of US$557.6 billion and is home to 13 Fortune 500 corporate headquarters. Metropolitan Philadelphia ranks as one of the nation's Big Five venture capital hubs, facilitated by its proximity to both the financial ecosystems of New York City and the regulatory environment of Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Philadelphia is also a biotechnology hub and has garnered the nickname "Cellicon Valley" for its central role in the development of immunotherapies to treat different cancers. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by Nasdaq since 2008, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation with over 4.1 million passengers in 2023. The city's multimodal transportation and logistics infrastructure includes Philadelphia International Airport, the PhilaPort seaport, and Interstate 95, a primary component of the north–south highway system along the U.S. East Coast.
Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), central bank (1781), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace of or home to many prominent and influential Americans.
== History ==
=== Native peoples ===
Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century, the Lenape, an Indian tribe also known as the Delaware Indians, lived in the village of Shackamaxon in present-day Philadelphia and the surrounding area. The Lenape historically lived along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley. Most Lenape were pushed out of the region during the 18th century as the original Thirteen Colonies expanded, which was further exacerbated by losses from intertribal conflicts. Lenape communities were also weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and conflicts with Europeans. The Iroquois occasionally fought the Lenape. Surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. Following the American Revolutionary War and the subsequent establishment of the United States, the Lenape began moving further west. In the 1860s, the U.S. federal government sent most remaining Lenape in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma and surrounding territories as part of the Indian removal policy.
=== Colonial era ===
Europeans first entered Philadelphia and the surrounding Delaware Valley in the early 17th century. The first settlements were founded by Dutch colonists, who built Fort Nassau on the Delaware River in 1623 in what is now Brooklawn, New Jersey. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony. In 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina, located in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their war against Maryland colonists. In 1648, the Dutch built Fort Beversreede on the west bank of the Delaware, south of the Schuylkill River near the present-day Eastwick section of Philadelphia, to reassert their dominion over the area. The Swedes responded by building Fort Nya Korsholm, or New Korsholm, named after a town in Finland with a Swedish majority.
In 1655, a Dutch military campaign led by New Netherland Director-General Peter Stuyvesant took control of the Swedish colony, ending its claim to independence. The Swedish and Finnish settlers continued to have their own militia, religion, and court, and to enjoy substantial autonomy under the Dutch. An English fleet captured the New Netherland colony in 1664, though the situation did not change substantially until 1682, when the area was included in William Penn's charter for Pennsylvania.
In 1681, in partial repayment of a debt, Charles II of England granted Penn a charter for what would become the Pennsylvania colony. Despite the royal charter, Penn bought the land from the local Lenape in an effort to establish good terms with the Native Americans and ensure peace for the colony. Penn made a treaty of friendship with Lenape chief Tammany under an elm tree at Shackamaxon, in what is now the city's Fishtown neighborhood. Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for 'brotherly love', derived from the Ancient Greek terms φίλος phílos ('beloved, dear') and ἀδελφός adelphós ('brother, brotherly'). There were a number of cities named Philadelphia (Φιλαδέλφεια) in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Greek and Roman periods, including modern Alaşehir, mentioned as the site of an early Christian congregation in the Book of Revelation. As a Quaker, Penn had experienced religious persecution and wanted his colony to be a place where anyone could worship freely. This tolerance, which exceeded that of other colonies, led to better relations with the local native tribes and fostered Philadelphia's rapid growth into America's most important city.
Penn planned a city on the Delaware River to serve as a port and place for government. Hoping that Philadelphia would become more like an English rural town instead of a city, Penn laid out roads on a grid plan to keep houses and businesses spread far apart with areas for gardens and orchards.
The city's inhabitants did not follow Penn's plans, however, and instead crowded the present-day Port of Philadelphia on the Delaware River and subdivided and resold their lots. Before Penn left Philadelphia for the final time, he issued the Charter of 1701 establishing it as a city. Though poor at first, Philadelphia became an important trading center with tolerable living conditions by the 1750s. Benjamin Franklin, a leading citizen, helped improve city services and founded new ones that were among the first in the nation, including a fire company, library, and hospital.
A number of philosophical societies were formed, which were centers of the city's intellectual life, including the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture (1785), the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts (1787), the Academy of Natural Sciences (1812), and the Franklin Institute (1824). These societies developed and financed new industries that attracted skilled and knowledgeable immigrants from Europe.
=== American Revolution ===
Philadelphia's importance and central location in the colonies made it a natural center for America's revolutionaries. By the 1750s, Philadelphia surpassed Boston as the largest city and busiest port in British America, and the second-largest city in the entire British Empire after London. In 1774, as resentment of the British government's policies towards the colonies and support for independence began burgeoning in the colonies, Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress at Carpenters' Hall, and 12 of the original 13 colonies sent delegates to the Congress.
From 1775 to 1781, Philadelphia hosted the Second Continental Congress, whose 56 delegates unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence inside what was then called Pennsylvania State House and was later renamed Independence Hall. Written predominantly by Thomas Jefferson from his second-floor apartment on Market Street within walking distance of Independence Hall, the Declaration has been described by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis as "the most potent and consequential words in American history," and its adoption represented a declaration of war against Great Britain. Since the Declaration's July 4, 1776, adoption, its signing has been cited globally and repeatedly by various peoples of the world seeking independence and liberty. It also has been, since its adoption, the basis for annual celebration by Americans; in 1938, this celebration of the Declaration was formalized as Independence Day, one of only eleven designated U.S. federal holidays.
After George Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in Chadds Ford Township, on September 11, 1777, during the Philadelphia campaign, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and the city prepared for what was perceived to be an inevitable British attack. Because bells could easily be recast into munitions, the Liberty Bell, then known as the Pennsylvania State Bell, and bells from two Philadelphia churches, Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, were hastily taken down and transported by heavily guarded wagon train out of the city. The Liberty Bell was taken to Zion German Reformed Church in Northampton Town, which is present-day Allentown, where it was hidden under the church's floor boards for nine months from September 1777 until departure of British forces from Philadelphia in June 1778. Two Revolutionary War battles, the Siege of Fort Mifflin, fought between September 26 and November 16, 1777, and the Battle of Germantown, fought on October 4, 1777, took place within Philadelphia's city limits.
In Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777. Independence Hall in Philadelphia was the meeting place for the Constitutional Convention, which ratified the Constitution on September 17, 1787, which is now the longest-standing codified national constitution.
Philadelphia served as capital of the United States for most of the colonial and early post-colonial period, including for a decade, from 1790 to 1800, while Washington, D.C. was being constructed and prepared to serve as the new national capital, and on five prior occasions between 1776 and 1790. In 1793, the largest yellow fever epidemic in U.S. history killed approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people in Philadelphia, or about ten percent of the city's population at the time. The capital of the United States was moved to Washington, D.C. in 1800 upon completion of the White House and U.S. Capitol buildings.
The state capital was moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster in 1799, then ultimately to Harrisburg in 1812. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until the late 18th century. It also was the nation's financial and cultural center until ultimately being eclipsed in total population by New York City in 1790. In 1816, the city's free Black community founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black denomination in the country, and the first Black Episcopal Church. The free Black community also established many schools for its children with the help of Quakers. Large-scale construction projects for new roads, canals, and railroads made Philadelphia the first major industrial city in the United States.
=== 19th century ===
Throughout the 19th century, Philadelphia hosted a variety of industries and businesses; the largest was the textile industry. Major corporations in the 19th and early 20th centuries included the Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Established in 1870, the Philadelphia Conveyancers' Association was chartered by the state in 1871. Along with the U.S. Centennial in 1876, the city's industry was celebrated in the Centennial Exposition, the first official World's fair in the U.S.
Immigrants, mostly from Ireland and Germany, settled in Philadelphia and the surrounding districts. These immigrants were largely responsible for the first general strike in North America in 1835, in which workers in the city won the ten-hour workday. The city was a destination for thousands of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in the 1840s; housing for them was developed south of South Street and later occupied by succeeding immigrants. They established a network of Catholic churches and schools and dominated the Catholic clergy for decades. Anti-Irish, anti-Catholic nativist riots erupted in Philadelphia in 1844. The rise in population of the surrounding districts helped lead to the Act of Consolidation of 1854, which extended the city limits from the 2 square miles (5.2 km2) of Center City to the roughly 134 square miles (350 km2) of Philadelphia County.
In the latter half of the 19th century and leading into the 20th century, immigrants from Russia, Eastern Europe, and Italy, and African Americans from the southern U.S. settled in the city.
Philadelphia was represented by the Washington Grays in the American Civil War. The African-American population of Philadelphia increased from 31,699 to 219,559 between 1880 and 1930, largely stemming from the Great Migration from the South.
=== 20th century ===
By the 20th century, Philadelphia had an entrenched Republican political machine and a complacent population. In 1910, a general strike shut down the entire city.
In 1917, following outrage over the election-year murder of a Philadelphia police officer, the City Council shrank from two houses to just one. In July 1919, Philadelphia was one of more than 36 industrial cities nationally to suffer a race riot during Red Summer in post-World War I unrest as recent immigrants competed with Black residents for jobs. In the 1920s, the public flouting of Prohibition laws, organized crime, mob violence, and corrupt police involvement in illegal activities led to the appointment of Brig. Gen. Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps as the city's director of public safety, but political pressure still prevented long-term success in fighting crime and corruption.
In 1940, non-Hispanic whites constituted 86.8% of the city's population. In 1950, the population peaked at more than two million residents, then began to decline with the restructuring of industry that led to the loss of many middle-class union jobs. In addition, suburbanization enticed many affluent residents to depart the city for its outlying railroad commuting towns and newer housing. The resulting reduction in Philadelphia's tax base and the resources of local government caused the city to struggle through a long period of adjustment, and it approached bankruptcy by the late 1980s.
In 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department, utilizing a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter, bombed the Cobbs Creek neighborhood to execute arrest warrants on MOVE members, a Black liberation movement. The incident killed 11 people, destroyed 61 homes, and displaced 250 residents, marking one of the only times a US city intentionally bombed its own civilians.
Revitalization and gentrification of neighborhoods began in the late 1970s and continues into the 21st century with much of the development occurring in the Center City and University City neighborhoods. But this expanded a shortage of affordable housing in the city. After many manufacturers and businesses left Philadelphia or shut down, the city started attracting service businesses and began to market itself more aggressively as a tourist destination. Contemporary glass-and-granite skyscrapers were built in Center City beginning in the 1980s. Historic areas such as Old City and Society Hill were renovated during the reformist mayoral era of the 1950s through the 1980s, making both areas among the most desirable Center City neighborhoods. Immigrants from around the world began to enter the U.S. through Philadelphia as their gateway, leading to a reversal of the city's population decline between 1950 and 2000, during which it lost about 25 percent of its residents.
=== 21st century ===
Philadelphia eventually began experiencing a growth in its population in 2007, which continued with incremental annual increases through the present. A migration pattern has been established from New York City to Philadelphia by residents opting for a large city with relative proximity and a lower cost of living.
== Geography ==
=== Topography ===
Philadelphia's geographic center is about 40° 0′ 34″ north latitude and 75° 8′ 0″ west longitude. The 40th parallel north passes through neighborhoods in Northeast Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, and West Philadelphia including Fairmount Park. The city encompasses 142.71 square miles (369.62 km2), of which 134.18 square miles (347.52 km2) is land and 8.53 square miles (22.09 km2), or 6%, is water. Natural bodies of water include the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, lakes in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, and Cobbs, Wissahickon, and Pennypack creeks. The largest artificial body of water is East Park Reservoir in Fairmount Park.
The lowest point is sea level and the highest point is in Chestnut Hill, about 446 feet (136 m) above sea level on Summit Street near the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike at: 40.07815 N, 75.20747 W. Philadelphia is located on the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line that separates the Atlantic Plain from the Piedmont. The Schuylkill River's rapids at East Falls were inundated by completion of the dam at Fairmount Water Works.
The city is the seat of its own county. The city is bordered by six adjacent counties: Montgomery to the northwest; Bucks to the north and northeast; Burlington County, New Jersey to the east; Camden County, New Jersey to the southeast; Gloucester County, New Jersey to the south; and Delaware County to the southwest.
=== Cityscape ===
==== City planning ====
Philadelphia was created in the 17th century, following the plan by William Penn's surveyor Thomas Holme. Center City is structured with long, straight streets running nearly due east–west and north–south, forming a grid pattern between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers that is aligned with their courses. The original city plan was designed to allow for easy travel and to keep residences separated by open space that would help prevent the spread of fire. In keeping with the idea of a "Greene Countrie Towne", and inspired by the many types of trees that grew in the region, Penn named many of the east–west streets for local trees. Penn planned the creation of five public parks in the city which were renamed in 1824. Centre Square was renamed Penn Square; Northeast Square was renamed Franklin Square; Southeast Square was renamed Washington Square; Southwest Square was renamed Rittenhouse Square; and Northwest Square was renamed Logan Circle/Square. Center City had an estimated 183,240 residents as of 2015, making it the second-most populated downtown area in the United States after Midtown Manhattan in New York City.
Philadelphia's neighborhoods are divided into six large sections that surround Center City: North Philadelphia, Northeast Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, Southwest Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and Northwest Philadelphia. The city's geographic boundaries have been largely unchanged since these neighborhoods were consolidated in 1854. However, each of these large areas contains numerous neighborhoods, some of whose boundaries derive from the boroughs, townships, and other communities that constituted Pennsylvania County before their inclusion within the city.
The City Planning Commission, tasked with guiding growth and development of the city, has divided the city into 18 planning districts as part of the Philadelphia2035 physical development plan. Much of the city's 1980 zoning code was overhauled from 2007 to 2012 as part of a joint effort between former mayors John F. Street and Michael Nutter. The zoning changes were intended to rectify incorrect zoning maps to facilitate future community development, as the city forecasts an additional 100,000 residents and 40,000 jobs will be added by 2035.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is the largest landlord in Pennsylvania. Established in 1937, the PHA is the nation's fourth-largest housing authority, serving about 81,000 people with affordable housing, while employing 1,400 on a budget of $371 million. The Philadelphia Parking Authority is responsible for ensuring adequate parking for city residents, businesses, and visitors.
==== Architecture ====
Philadelphia's architectural history dates back to colonial times and includes a wide range of styles. The earliest structures were constructed with logs, but brick structures were common by 1700. During the 18th century, the cityscape was dominated by Georgian architecture, including Independence Hall and Christ Church.
In the first decades of the 19th century, Federal and Greek Revival architecture were the dominant styles produced by Philadelphia architects such as Benjamin Latrobe, William Strickland, John Haviland, John Notman, Thomas Walter, and Samuel Sloan. Frank Furness is considered Philadelphia's greatest architect of the second half of the 19th century. His contemporaries included John McArthur Jr., Addison Hutton, Wilson Eyre, the Wilson Brothers, and Horace Trumbauer. In 1871, construction began on the Second Empire-style Philadelphia City Hall. The Philadelphia Historical Commission was created in 1955 to preserve the cultural and architectural history of the city. The commission maintains the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, adding historic buildings, structures, sites, objects and districts as it sees fit.
In 1932, Philadelphia became home to the first modern International Style skyscraper in the United States, the PSFS Building, designed by George Howe and William Lescaze. The 548 ft (167 m) City Hall remained the tallest building in the city until 1987 when One Liberty Place was completed. Numerous glass and granite skyscrapers were built in Center City beginning in the late 1980s. In 2007, the Comcast Center surpassed One Liberty Place to become the city's tallest building. The Comcast Technology Center was completed in 2018, reaching a height of 1,121 ft (342 m), as the tallest building in the United States outside of Manhattan and Chicago.
For much of Philadelphia's history, the typical home has been the row house. The row house was introduced to the United States via Philadelphia in the early 19th century and, for a time, row houses built elsewhere in the United States were known as "Philadelphia rows". A variety of row houses are found throughout the city, from Federal-style continuous blocks in Old City and Society Hill to Victorian-style homes in North Philadelphia to twin row houses in West Philadelphia. While newer homes have been built recently, much of the housing dates to the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, which has created problems such as urban decay and vacant lots. Some neighborhoods, including Northern Liberties and Society Hill, have been rehabilitated through gentrification.
==== Parks ====
As of 2014, the city's total park space, including municipal, state, and federal parks in the city, amounts to 11,211 acres (17.5 sq mi). Philadelphia's largest park is Fairmount Park, which includes the Philadelphia Zoo and encompasses 2,052 acres (3.2 sq mi) of the total parkland. Fairmount Park's adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park contains 2,042 acres (3.2 sq mi). Fairmount Park, when combined with Wissahickon Valley Park, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the U.S. The two parks, along with the Colonial Revival, Georgian and Federal-style mansions in them, have been listed as one entity on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.
=== Climate ===
Within the Köppen climate classification, Philadelphia falls under the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), while under the Trewartha climate classification, the city is classified as a maritime climate (Do) bordered to the north by the continental (Dc) zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy. Fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is moderately cold. The plant life hardiness zones are 7a and 7b, reflecting an average annual extreme minimum temperature between 0 and 10 °F (−18 and −12 °C).
Snowfall is highly variable. Some winters have only light snow while others include major snowstorms. The normal seasonal snowfall averages 22.4 in (57 cm), with rare snowfalls in November or April, and rarely any sustained snow cover. Seasonal snowfall accumulation has ranged from trace amounts in 1972–73, to 78.7 inches (200 cm) in the winter of 2009–10. The city's heaviest single-storm snowfall was 30.7 in (78 cm), which occurred in January 1996.
Precipitation is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to eleven wet days per month, at an average annual rate of 44.1 inches (1,120 mm), but historically ranging from 29.31 in (744 mm) in 1922 to 64.33 in (1,634 mm) in 2011. The most rain recorded in one day occurred on July 28, 2013, when 8.02 in (204 mm) fell at Philadelphia International Airport. Philadelphia has a moderately sunny climate with an average of 2,498 hours of sunshine annually. The percentage of sunshine ranges from 47% in December to 61% in June, July, and August.
The January daily average temperature is 33.7 °F (0.9 °C). The temperature frequently rises to 50 °F (10 °C) during thaws. July averages 78.7 °F (25.9 °C). Heat waves accompanied by high humidity and heat indices are frequent, with highs reaching or exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) on 30 days of the year. The average window for freezing temperatures is November 6 to April 2, allowing a growing season of 217 days. Early fall and late winter are generally dry, with February having the lowest average precipitation at 2.75 inches (70 mm). The dewpoint in the summer averages between 59.1 and 64.5 °F (15 and 18 °C).
The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on August 7, 1918. Temperatures at or above 100 °F (38 °C) are not common, with the last occurrence of such a temperature being July 21, 2019. The lowest officially recorded temperature was −11 °F (−24 °C) on February 9, 1934. Temperatures at or below 0 °F (−18 °C) are rare, with the last such occurrence being January 19, 1994. The record low maximum is 5 °F (−15 °C) on February 10, 1899, and December 30, 1880. The record high minimum is 83 °F (28 °C) on July 23, 2011, and July 24, 2010. The record high dew point is 82 °F (28 °C) which occurred on July 15, 1995.
=== Time Series ===
See or edit raw graph data.
==== Air quality ====
Philadelphia County received an ozone grade of F and a 24-hour particle pollution rating of D in the American Lung Association's 2017 State of the Air report, which analyzed data from 2013 to 2015. The city was ranked 22nd for ozone, 20th for short-term particle pollution, and 11th for year-round particle pollution. According to the same report, the city experienced a significant reduction in high ozone days since 2001—from nearly 50 days per year to fewer than 10—along with fewer days of high particle pollution since 2000—from about 19 days per year to about 3—and an approximate 30% reduction in annual levels of particle pollution since 2000.
Five of the ten largest combined statistical areas (CSAs) were ranked higher for ozone: Los Angeles (1st), New York City (9th), Houston (12th), Dallas (13th), and San Jose, California (18th). Many smaller CSAs were also ranked higher for ozone, including Sacramento (8th), Las Vegas (10th), Denver (11th), El Paso (16th), and Salt Lake City (20th). Only two of those same ten CSAs, San Jose and Los Angeles, were ranked higher than Philadelphia for both year-round and short-term particle pollution.
== Demographics ==
As of the 2020 U.S. census, there were 1,603,797 people residing in Philadelphia, representing a 1.2% increase from the 2019 census estimate. The racial composition of the city was 39.3% Black alone (42.0% Black alone or in combination), 36.3% White alone (41.9% White alone or in combination), 8.7% Asian alone, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 8.7% some other race, and 6.9% multiracial. 14.9% of residents were Hispanic or Latino.
34.8% had a bachelor's degree or higher. 23.9% spoke a language other than English at home, the most common of which was Spanish (10.8%). 15.0% of the population is foreign born, roughly half of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens. 3.7% of the population are veterans. The median household income was $52,889 and 22.8% of the population lived in poverty. 49.5% of the population drove alone to work, while 23.2% used public transit, 8.2% carpooled, 7.9% walked, and 7.0% worked from home. The average commute is 31 minutes.
After the 1950 census, when a record high of 2,071,605 was recorded, the city's population began a long decline. The population dropped to a low of 1,488,710 residents in 2006 before beginning to rise again. Between 2006 and 2017, Philadelphia added 92,153 residents. In 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the racial composition of the city was 41.3% Black (non-Hispanic), 34.9% White (non-Hispanic), 14.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.1% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, and 2.8% multiracial.
=== Immigration and cultural diversity ===
In addition to the city's economic growth, the city's population has been fueled by foreign immigration. According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, the city's foreign-born population increased by 69% between 2000 and 2016 to constitute nearly 20% of Philadelphia's workforce, and it doubled between 1990 and 2017 to constitute 13.8% of the city's total population, with the top five countries of origin being China by a significant margin followed by the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, India, and Vietnam.
Irish, Italian, German, Polish, English, Russian, Ukrainian, and French ancestries constitute the largest European ethnic groups in the city. Philadelphia has the second-largest Irish and Italian populations in the United States after New York City. South Philadelphia remains one of the largest Italian neighborhoods in the country and is home to the Italian Market.
The Pennsport neighborhood and Gray's Ferry section of South Philadelphia, home to many Mummer clubs, are well known as Irish neighborhoods. The Kensington, Port Richmond, and Fishtown neighborhoods have historically been heavily Irish and Polish. Port Richmond is a center for the Polish-American community in Philadelphia, and it remains a common destination for Polish immigrants. Northeast Philadelphia, although known for its Irish and Irish-American population, is home to a Jewish and Russian population. Mount Airy in Northwest Philadelphia also contains a Jewish community. Nearby Chestnut Hill is historically known as an Anglo-Saxon Protestant community.
Philadelphia's Black American population is the fourth-largest in the country after New York City, Chicago, and Houston. West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia are largely African-American neighborhoods, but many are leaving those areas in favor of the Northeast and Southwest sections of Philadelphia. A higher proportion of African-American Muslims reside in Philadelphia than most other major U.S. cities. West Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia are home to various Afro-Caribbean and African immigrant communities.
The Puerto Rican population in Philadelphia is the second-largest on the U.S. mainland after New York City, and the second-fastest growing after Orlando. Eastern North Philadelphia, particularly Fairhill and surrounding areas to the north and east, has one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans outside Puerto Rico, with many large swaths of blocks being close to 100% Puerto Rican. Puerto Rican and Dominican populations reside in North Philadelphia and the Northeast, and Mexican and Central American populations exist in South Philadelphia. South American migrants were being transported by bus from Texas to Philadelphia beginning in 2022.
Philadelphia's Asian American population includes those of Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese, South Koreans, Filipinos, Cambodians, and Indonesians. Over 35,000 Chinese Americans lived in the city in 2015, including a Fuzhounese population. Center City hosts a Chinatown that is served by Chinatown bus lines with service to/from Chinatown, Manhattan. Indians make up the second-largest Asian group in the city of Philadelphia, while making up the largest foreign-born population in the Delaware Valley. A Korean community initially settled in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney; however, the primary Koreatown has subsequently shifted further north, straddling the city's border with adjacent Cheltenham in Montgomery County and Cherry Hill in South Jersey. South Philadelphia is home to Vietnamese-Americans in Little Saigon and Cambodian-Americans in Cambodia Town, as well as Thai-American, Indonesian-American, and Chinese-American communities.
Philadelphia's Gay village near Washington Square is home to a concentration of gay and lesbian-friendly businesses, restaurants, and bars.
=== Religion ===
In a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 68% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christian. Approximately 41% of Christians in the city and area professed attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant, while 26% professed Catholic beliefs.
The Protestant Christian community in Philadelphia is dominated by mainline Protestant denominations including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church in the United States, Presbyterian Church (USA) and American Baptist Churches USA. One of the most prominent mainline Protestant jurisdictions is the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Philadelphia. Historically, the city has strong connections to the Quakers, Unitarian Universalism, and the Ethical Culture movement, all of which continue to be represented in the city. The Quaker Friends General Conference is based in Philadelphia. Evangelical Protestants making up less than 15% of the population were also prevalent.
Evangelical Protestant bodies included the Anglican Church in North America, Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, and National Baptist Convention of America. The Catholic community is primarily served by the Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of the United States of America and Canada, though some independent Catholic churches exist throughout Philadelphia and its suburbs. The Latin Church-based jurisdiction is headquartered in the city, and its see is the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The Ukrainian Catholic jurisdiction is headquartered in Philadelphia, and is seated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Less than 1% of Philadelphia's Christians were Mormons. The remainder of the Christian demographic is spread among smaller Protestant denominations and the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox among others. The Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania (Orthodox Church in America) and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (Ecumenical Patriarchate) divide the Eastern Orthodox in Philadelphia. The Russian Orthodox St. Andrew's Cathedral is in the city.
The same study says that other religions collectively compose about 8% of the population, including Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Philadelphia has the fifth-largest Muslim population among U.S. cities. The remaining 24% claimed no religious affiliation.
The Philadelphia metropolitan area's Jewish population was estimated at 206,000 in 2001, which was the sixth-largest in the U.S. at that time. Jewish traders were operating in southeastern Pennsylvania long before William Penn. Jews in Philadelphia took a prominent part in the War of Independence. Although the majority of the early Jewish residents were of Portuguese or Spanish descent, some among them had emigrated from Germany and Poland. About the beginning of the 19th century, a number of Jews from the latter countries, finding the services of the Congregation Mickvé Israel unfamiliar to them, resolved to form a new congregation which would use the ritual to which they had been accustomed.
African diasporic religions are practiced in some Latino and Hispanic and Caribbean communities in North and West Philadelphia.
=== Languages ===
As of 2010, 79.12% (1,112,441) of Philadelphia residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 9.72% (136,688) spoke Spanish, 1.64% (23,075) Chinese, 0.89% (12,499) Vietnamese, 0.77% (10,885) Russian, 0.66% (9,240) French, 0.61% (8,639) other Asian languages, 0.58% (8,217) African languages, 0.56% (7,933) Cambodian (Mon-Khmer), and Italian was spoken as a main language by 0.55% (7,773) of the population over the age of five. In total, 20.88% (293,544) of Philadelphia's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.
=== Poverty ===
Philadelphia is home to many food poverty programs, of which two of the largest are Philabundance which claims to feed 90000 people per week. and Share Food Program which claims to feed 1 million people per month.
== Economy ==
Philadelphia's close geographical and transportation connections to other large metropolitan economies along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States have been cited as offering a significant competitive advantage for business creation and entrepreneurship. The city is the center of economic activity in both Pennsylvania and the four-state Delaware Valley metropolitan region. Five Fortune 500 companies are based in the city. As of 2021, the Philadelphia metropolitan area is estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of US$479 billion, an increase from the $445 billion calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis for 2017, representing the ninth-largest U.S. metropolitan economy.
Philadelphia's economic sectors include financial services, health care, biotechnology, information technology, trade and transportation, manufacturing, oil refining, food processing, and tourism. Metropolitan Philadelphia is one of the top five American venture capital hubs, credited to its proximity to New York City's financial and tech and biotechnology ecosystems. Financial activities account for the largest economic sector of the metropolitan area, which is one of the largest health education and research centers in the United States. The city's two largest employers are the federal and city governments. Philadelphia's largest private employer is the University of Pennsylvania followed by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
=== Finance and corporations ===
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, acquired by Nasdaq in 2007, is a global leader in options trading. The city is home to the headquarters of Comcast, the nation's largest multinational telecommunications corporation; insurance conglomerates Cigna, Colonial Penn, and Independence Blue Cross; as well as food services company Aramark, chemical makers FMC Corporation and Rohm and Haas, pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline, Amicus Therapeutics, Spark Therapeutics, apparel retailers Five Below and Urban Outfitters and its subsidiary Anthropologie, automotive parts retailer Pep Boys, and stainless steel producer Carpenter Technology Corporation.
Other corporate headquarters in the city include Crown Holdings, and Brandywine Realty Trust. The headquarters of Boeing Rotorcraft Systems and its main rotorcraft factory are in the Philadelphia suburb of Ridley Park; The Vanguard Group and the U.S. headquarters of Siemens Healthineers are headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb. Healthcare conglomerate AmerisourceBergen and the North American headquarters of furniture retailer IKEA are located in suburban Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Across the Delaware River in adjacent Camden County, New Jersey, Campbell Soup Company and Subaru USA are both headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, and TD Bank (USA) is headquartered in nearby suburban Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
=== Tech and biotech ===
Philadelphia is a hub for information technology and biotechnology. Philadelphia and Pennsylvania are attracting new life sciences ventures. As of 2024, the Delaware Valley ranks as one of the Big Five U.S. venture capital hubs, enabled by its proximity to both the entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems of New York City and to the federal regulatory environment of Washington, D.C.
=== Tourism ===
Philadelphia's history attracts many tourists, with the Independence National Historical Park, which includes the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and other historic sites, received over 5 million visitors in 2016. The city welcomed 42 million domestic tourists in 2016 who spent $6.8 billion, generating an estimated $11 billion in total economic impact in the city and surrounding four counties of Pennsylvania. The annual Naked Bike Ride attracts participants from around the United States and internationally to Philadelphia.
=== Trade and transportation ===
Philadelphia International Airport, a major Transatlantic gateway and transcontinental hub, has undergone a $900 million infrastructural expansion to increase passenger capacity and augment passenger experience, and the airport continues an ongoing capital expenditure program to upgrade facilities and add further amenities. The Port of Philadelphia, having experienced the highest percentage growth by tonnage loaded in 2017 among major U.S. seaports, has doubled its shipping capacity to accommodate super-sized post-Panamax shipping vessels since 2018. Philadelphia's 30th Street Station is the third-busiest Amtrak rail hub, following Penn Station in Manhattan and Union Station in Washington, D.C., transporting over 4 million inter-city rail passengers annually.
== Culture ==
Philadelphia is home to many national historical sites that relate to the founding of the United States. Independence National Historical Park is the center of these historical landmarks and one of the country's 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the Liberty Bell is housed, are among the city's most popular attractions. Other national historic sites include the homes of Edgar Allan Poe and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, and early government buildings, including the First and the Second Bank of the United States, Fort Mifflin, and the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church. Philadelphia alone has 67 National Historic Landmarks, the third most of any city in the country.
Philadelphia's major science museums include the Franklin Institute, which contains the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Mütter Museum, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. History museums include the National Constitution Center, the Museum of the American Revolution, the Philadelphia History Museum, the National Museum of American Jewish History, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania in the Masonic Temple, and the Eastern State Penitentiary. Philadelphia is home to the United States's first zoo and hospital, as well as Fairmount Park, one of America's oldest and largest urban parks, founded in 1855.
The city is home to important archival repositories, including the Library Company of Philadelphia, established in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin at 1314 Locust Street, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, founded in 1814. The Presbyterian Historical Society is the country's oldest denominational historical society, organized in 1852.
=== Arts ===
The city is home to multiple art museums, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Rodin Museum, which holds the largest collection of work by Auguste Rodin outside France. The city's largest art museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is one of the largest art museums in the world. The long flight of steps to the Art Museum's main entrance became famous after the film Rocky (1976).
Annual events include the Philadelphia Film Festival, held annually each October, the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade, the nation's longest-running continuously held Thanksgiving Day parade, and the Mummers Parade, the nation's longest continuously held folk parade, which is held every New Year's Day predominantly on Broad Street.
Areas such as South Street and the Old City section of the city have a vibrant night life. The Avenue of the Arts in Center City contains many restaurants and theaters, such as the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Academy of Music, home of Opera Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet. The Wilma Theatre and the Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre produce a variety of new plays. Several blocks to the east are the Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephens Episcopal Church; and the Walnut Street Theatre, a National Historic Landmark stated to be the oldest and most subscribed-to theatre in the English-speaking world, founded in 1809. In May 2019, the Walnut Street Theatre announced a major expansion to begin in 2020. New Freedom Theatre, Pennsylvania's oldest African-American theatre, is located on North Broad Street.
Philadelphia has more public art than any other American city. In 1872, the Association for Public Art, formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association, was created as the first private association in the United States dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning. In 1959, lobbying by the Artists Equity Association helped create the Percent for Art ordinance, the first for a U.S. city. The program, which has funded more than 200 pieces of public art, is administered by Creative Philadelphia, the city's office of arts and culture. The city has more murals than any other American city, due to the 1984 creation of the Department of Recreation's Mural Arts Program, which seeks to beautify neighborhoods and provide an outlet for graffiti artists. The program has funded more than 2,800 murals by professional, staff and volunteer artists and educated more than 20,000 youth in underserved neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.
The city is home to a number of art organizations, including the regional art advocacy nonprofit Philadelphia Tri-State Artists Equity, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, one of the country's oldest artists' clubs, and The Plastic Club, started by women excluded from the Sketch Club. Many Old City art galleries stay open late on the First Friday event of each month.
=== Cuisine ===
The city is known for its hoagies, stromboli, roast pork sandwich, scrapple, soft pretzels, water ice, Irish potato candy, tastykakes, and the cheesesteak sandwich, which was developed by Italian immigrants. The Philadelphia area has many establishments that serve cheesesteaks, including restaurants, taverns, delicatessens and pizza parlors. The originator of the thinly sliced steak sandwich in the 1930s, initially without cheese, is Pat's King of Steaks, which faces its rival Geno's Steaks, founded in 1966, across the intersection of 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue in the Italian Market of South Philadelphia.
McGillin's Olde Ale House, opened in 1860 on Drury Street in Center City, is the oldest continuously operated tavern in the city. The City Tavern is a replica of a historic 18th-century building first opened in 1773, demolished in 1854 after a fire, and rebuilt in 1975 on the same site as part of Independence National Historical Park. The tavern offers authentic 18th-century recipes, served in seven period dining rooms, three wine cellar rooms and an outdoor garden.
The Reading Terminal Market is a historic food market founded in 1893 in the Reading Terminal building, a designated National Historic Landmark. The enclosed market is one of the oldest and largest markets in the country, hosting over a hundred merchants offering Pennsylvania Dutch specialties, artisan cheese and meat, locally grown groceries, and specialty and ethnic foods.
=== Dialect ===
The traditional Philadelphia accent is considered by some linguists to be the most distinctive accent in North America. The Philadelphia dialect, which is spread throughout the Delaware Valley and South Jersey, is part of a larger Mid-Atlantic American English family, a designation that also includes the Baltimore accent. Additionally, it shares many similarities with the New York accent. Owing to over a century of linguistic data collected by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania under sociolinguist William Labov, the Philadelphia dialect has been one of the best-studied forms of American English. The accent is especially found within the Irish American and Italian American working-class neighborhoods. Philadelphia also has its own unique collection of neologisms and slang terms.
=== Music ===
The Philadelphia Orchestra is generally considered one of the top five orchestras in the United States. The orchestra performs at the Kimmel Center and has a summer concert series at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Opera Philadelphia performs at the nation's oldest continually operating opera house—the Academy of Music. The Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale has performed its music all over the world. The Philly Pops plays orchestral versions of popular jazz, swing, Broadway, and blues songs at the Kimmel Center and other venues within the mid-Atlantic region. The Curtis Institute of Music is one of the world's premier conservatories and among the most selective institutes of higher education in the nation.
Philadelphia has played a prominent role in the music of the United States. The culture of American popular music has been influenced by significant contributions of Philadelphia area musicians and producers, in both the recording and broadcasting industries. In 1952, the teen dance party program called Bandstand premiered on local television, hosted by Bob Horn. The show was renamed American Bandstand in 1957, when it began national syndication on ABC, hosted by Dick Clark and produced in Philadelphia until 1964 when it moved to Los Angeles. Promoters marketed youthful musical artists known as teen idols to appeal to the young audience. Philadelphia-born singers, including Frankie Avalon, James Darren, Eddie Fisher, Fabian Forte, Bobby Rydell, and South Philly-raised Chubby Checker, topped the music charts, establishing a clean-cut rock and roll image.
Philly soul music of the late 1960s–1970s is a highly produced version of soul music which led to later forms of popular music such as disco and urban contemporary rhythm and blues. On July 13, 1985, John F. Kennedy Stadium was the American venue for the Live Aid concert. The city also hosted the Live 8 concert, which attracted about 700,000 people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on July 2, 2005.
Notable rock and pop musicians from Philadelphia and its suburbs include Bill Haley & His Comets, Nazz, Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates, the Hooters, Cinderella, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Ween, Schoolly D, Pink, the Roots, Beanie Sigel, State Property, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Meek Mill, Lil Uzi Vert, and others.
== Sports ==
Philadelphia has one of the nation's richest histories in professional sports, dating back to the mid-19th century. Its first professional sports team, the Philadelphia Athletics, a professional baseball team, was founded in 1860. The Athletics were initially an amateur league team that turned professional in 1871. In 1876, the Athletics joined with seven other teams in founding the National League, now the longest continuously operating league in world sports.
Philadelphia is one of 12 U.S. cities to have teams in all four major league sports: the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL), the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Phillies, formed in 1883 as the Quakers and renamed in 1884, are the oldest team continuously playing under the same name in the same city in the history of American professional sports.
The Philadelphia metro area is also home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS), plays their home games at Subaru Park, a soccer-specific stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia was the second of eight U.S. cities to win titles in all four major leagues, the MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA. It won a title in soccer in the now-defunct North American Soccer League in 1973. Following the 76ers' victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals, however, the city's professional teams and their fans endured 25 years without a championship in any professional sport until the Phillies won the 2008 World Series, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. This quarter century without a championship for any Philadelphia sports team is sometimes described as the Curse of Billy Penn, a reference to a 1987 decision that permitted One Liberty Place to become the first building in city history to surpass the height of William Penn, a statue installed in 1894 atop City Hall. In 2004, during the city's championship drought, ESPN placed Philadelphia second on its list of "The Fifteen Most Tortured Sports Cities". The city's sports fans are often both praised and sometimes derided. In 2011, for instance, GQ magazine named Eagles and Phillies fans the nation's worst professional sports fans, describing them as the "Meanest Fans in America" in summarizing repeated incidents of their drunken behavior and long history of booing.
After the Phillies won the 2008 World Series, nine years passed without a championship until the Eagles won their first Super Bowl following the 2017 season, defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Seven seasons later, following the 2024 season, the Eagles won their second Super Bowl, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Major professional sports teams that originated in Philadelphia, which later moved to other cities, include the Golden State Warriors basketball team, which played in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1962 and the Oakland Athletics baseball team, which was originally the Philadelphia Athletics and played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954.
Philadelphia is home to professional, semi-professional, and elite amateur teams in multiple other sports, including cricket, rugby league, and rugby union. Major running events in the city include the Penn Relays, the Philadelphia Marathon, and the Broad Street Run. The Collegiate Rugby Championship is played annually each June at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester.
The city also has a rich history in rowing, which has been popular in Philadelphia since the 18th century. On Boathouse Row, a symbol of Philadelphia's rich rowing history, each Big Five member has its own boathouse. Philadelphia hosts numerous local and collegiate rowing clubs and competitions, including the annual Dad Vail Regatta, the largest intercollegiate rowing event in North America with more than 100 participating U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities; the annual Stotesbury Cup Regatta, which is billed as the world's oldest and largest rowing event for high school students; and the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. The regattas are held on the Schuylkill River and organized by Schuylkill Navy, an association of area rowing clubs that has produced numerous Olympic rowers.
The Philadelphia Spinners were a professional ultimate team in Major League Ultimate (MLU) until 2016. The Spinners were one of the original eight teams of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), which was founded in 2012. They played at Franklin Field and won the inaugural AUDL championship and the final MLU championship in 2016. The MLU was suspended indefinitely by its investors in December 2016. As of 2018, the Philadelphia Phoenix continue to play in the AUDL.
Philadelphia is home to the Philadelphia Big 5, a group of five NCAA Division I college basketball programs, including La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Villanova universities. The sixth NCAA Division I school in Philadelphia is Drexel University. La Salle won the 1954 championship of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Villanova won the 1985, 2016, and 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments. Philadelphia will be one of the eleven US host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
== Law and government ==
Philadelphia County is a legal nullity. All county functions were assumed by the city in 1952. The city has been coterminous with the county since 1854.
Philadelphia's 1952 Home Rule Charter was written by the City Charter Commission, which was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in an act of April 1949, and a city ordinance of June 1949. The existing city council received a proposed draft in February 1951, and the electors approved it in an election held in April 1951. The first elections under the new Home Rule Charter were held in November 1951, and the newly elected officials took office in January 1952.
The city uses the strong-mayor version of the mayor–council form of government, which is led by one mayor in whom executive authority is vested. The mayor has the authority to appoint and dismiss members of all boards and commissions without the approval of the city council. Elected at-large, the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms, but can run for the position again after an intervening term.
=== Courts ===
Philadelphia County is coterminous with the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas is the trial court of general jurisdiction for the city, hearing felony-level criminal cases and civil suits above the minimum jurisdictional limit of $10,000. The court has appellate jurisdiction over rulings from the Municipal and Traffic Courts, and some administrative agencies and boards. The trial division has 70 commissioned judges elected by the voters, along with about one thousand other employees. The court has a family division with 25 judges and an orphans' court with three judges.
As of 2018, the city's District Attorney is Larry Krasner, a Democrat. The last Republican to hold the office is Ronald D. Castille, who left in 1991 and later served as the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 2008 to 2014.
The Philadelphia Municipal Court handles traffic cases, misdemeanor and felony criminal cases with maximum incarceration of five years, and civil cases involving $12,000 or less ($15,000 in real estate and school tax cases), and all landlord-tenant disputes. The municipal court has 27 judges elected by the voters.
Pennsylvania's three appellate courts also have sittings in Philadelphia. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the court of last resort in the state, regularly hears arguments in Philadelphia City Hall. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania also sit in Philadelphia several times a year. Judges for these courts are elected at large. The state Supreme Court and Superior Court have deputy prothonotary offices in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is home to the federal United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, both of which are housed in the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse.
=== Politics ===
The current mayor is Cherelle Parker who won the election in November 2023. Parker's predecessor, Jim Kenney, served two terms from 2016 to January 2024. Parker is a member of the Democratic Party. For over seven decades, since 1952, every Philadelphia mayor has been a Democrat.
Philadelphia City Council is the legislative branch which consists of ten council members representing individual districts and seven members elected at-large, all of whom are elected to four-year terms. Democrats are currently the majority and hold 14 seats including nine of the ten districts and five at-large seats. Republicans hold one seat: the Northeast-based Tenth District. The Working Families Party holds two at-large seats making them the council's minority party. The current council president is Kenyatta Johnson.
Philadelphia's political structure consists of a system of wards and divisions. There are 66 wards with 11 to 51 divisions each for a total of 1703 divisions. Each division elects two committee people who are supposed to live within the division boundaries, and committee people select a leader for their ward. Democrats and Republicans elect their own committee people every four years. The committee person's role is to serve as a point of contact between voters and party officials and help get out the vote. Most wards are closed which means the ward leader makes sole endorsement decisions; open wards allow committee people to weigh in on these decisions. There are groups and individuals who are working to elect ward leaders who promote an open ward system.
Philadelphia had historically been a bastion of the Republican Party from the American Civil War until the mid-1930s. In 1856, the first Republican National Convention was held at Musical Fund Hall at 808 Locust Street in Philadelphia.
Democratic registrations increased after the Great Depression; however, the city was not carried by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in his landslide victory of 1932, as Pennsylvania was one of only six states won by Republican Herbert Hoover. Voter turnout surged from 600,000 in 1932 to nearly 900,000 in 1936 and Roosevelt carried Philadelphia with over 60% of the vote. Philadelphia has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1936. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama drew 83% of the city's vote. Obama's win was even larger in 2012, capturing 85% of the vote. In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won 82% of the vote.
As a result of the previously declining population in the city and state, Philadelphia has only three congressional districts of the 18 districts in Pennsylvania, based on the 2010 census apportionment: the 2nd district, represented by Brendan Boyle; the 3rd, represented by Dwight Evans; and the 5th, represented by Mary Gay Scanlon. All three representatives are Democrats, though Republicans still have some support in the city, primarily in the Northeast. Sam Katz ran competitive mayoral races as the Republican nominee in 1999 and 2003, losing to Democrat John Street both times.
Pennsylvania's longest-serving Senator, Arlen Specter, was an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania who opened his first law practice in Philadelphia. Specter served as a Republican from 1981 and as a Democrat from 2009, losing that party's primary in 2010 and leaving office in January 2011. He was assistant counsel on the Warren Commission in 1964 and the city's district attorney from 1966 to 1974.
Philadelphia has hosted various national conventions, including in 1848 (Whig), 1856 (Republican), 1872 (Republican), 1900 (Republican), 1936 (Democratic), 1940 (Republican), 1948 (Republican), 1948 (Progressive), 2000 (Republican), and 2016 (Democratic). Philadelphia has been home to one vice president, George M. Dallas, and one general of the American Civil War, George B. McClellan, who won his party's nomination for president but lost in the general election to Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In May 2019, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden chose Philadelphia to be his 2020 U.S. presidential campaign headquarters.
=== Environmental policy ===
"Green Cities, Clean Water" is an environmental policy initiative based in Philadelphia that has shown promising results in mitigating the effects of climate change. The researchers on the policy have stated that despite such promising plans of green infrastructure building, "the city is forecasted to grow warmer, wetter, and more urbanized over the century, runoff and local temperatures will increase on average throughout the city". Even though landcover predictive models on the effects of the policy initiative have indicated that green infrastructure could be useful at decreasing the amount of runoff in the city over time, the city government would have to expand its current plans and "consider the cobenefit of climate change adaptation when planning new projects" in limiting the scope of city-wide temperature increase.
=== Public safety ===
==== Police and law enforcement ====
In a 2015 report by Pew Charitable Trusts, the police districts with the highest rates of violent crime were Frankford (15th district) and Kensington (24th district) in the Near Northeast, and districts to the North (22nd, 25th, and 35th districts), West (19th district) and Southwest (12th district) of Center City. Each of those seven districts recorded more than a thousand violent crimes in 2014. The lowest rates of violent crime occurred in Center City, South Philadelphia, the Far Northeast, and Roxborough districts, the latter of which includes Manayunk.
Philadelphia had 500, 503 according to some sources, murders in 1990, a rate of 31.5 per 100,000. An average of about 400 murders occurred each year for most of the 1990s. The murder count dropped in 2002 to 288, then rose to 406 by 2006, before dropping slightly to 392 in 2007. A few years later, Philadelphia began to see a rapid decline in homicides and violent crime. In 2013, the city had 246 murders, which is a decrease of nearly 40% since 2006.
In 2014, 248 homicides were committed. The homicide rate rose to 280 in 2015, then fell slightly to 277 in 2016, before rising again to 317 in 2017. Homicides increased dramatically in the late 2010s/early 2020s, reaching 499 homicides in 2020 and surpassing the 1990 "record" in 2021, with 501st murder on November 27 and 510 by the end of the month. Phillie ended the year with 562 murders, an all-time record. It dropped in 2022 to 514, and significantly further again in 2023, to 410.
In 2006, Philadelphia's homicide rate of 27.7 per 100,000 people was the highest of the country's 10 most populous cities. In 2012, Philadelphia had the fourth-highest homicide rate among the country's most populous cities. The rate dropped to 16 homicides per 100,000 residents by 2014 placing Philadelphia as the sixth-highest city in the country.
The number of shootings in the city has declined significantly since the early years of the 21st century. Shooting incidents peaked at 1,857 in 2006 before declining nearly 44 percent to 1,047 shootings in 2014. Major crimes have decreased gradually since a peak in 2006 when 85,498 major crimes were reported. The number of reported major crimes fell 11 percent in three years to 68,815 occurrences in 2014. Violent crimes, which include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery, decreased 14 percent in three years to 15,771 occurrences in 2014.
In 2014, Philadelphia enacted an ordinance decriminalizing the possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish; the ordinance gave police officers the discretion to treat possession of these amounts as a civil infraction punishable by a $25 ticket, rather than a crime. At the time, Philadelphia was at the largest city in the nation to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. From 2013 to 2018, marijuana arrests in the city dropped by more than 85%. The purchase or sale of marijuana remains a criminal offense in Philadelphia.
==== Firefighting ====
The Philadelphia Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services (EMS). The department's official mission is to protect public safety by quick and professional response to emergencies and the promotion of sound emergency prevention measures. This mandate encompasses all traditional firefighting functions, including fire suppression, with 60 engine companies and 30 ladder companies as well as specialty and support units deployed throughout the city; specialized firefighting units for Philadelphia International Airport and the Port of Philadelphia; investigations conducted by the fire marshal's office to determine the origins of fires and develop preventive strategies; prevention programs to educate the public; and support services including research and planning, management of the fire communications center within the city's 911 system, and operation of the Philadelphia Fire Academy.
== Education ==
=== Primary and secondary education ===
Education in Philadelphia is provided by many private and public institutions. The School District of Philadelphia is the local school district, operating public schools, in all of the city. The Philadelphia School District is the eighth-largest school district in the nation with 142,266 students in 218 traditional public schools and 86 charter schools as of 2014.
The city's K-12 enrollment in district–run schools dropped from 156,211 students in 2010 to 130,104 students in 2015. During the same time period, the enrollment in charter schools increased from 33,995 students in 2010 to 62,358 students in 2015. This consistent drop in enrollment led the city to close 24 of its public schools in 2013. During the 2014 school year, the city spent an average of $12,570 per pupil, below the average among comparable urban school districts.
Graduation rates among district-run schools, meanwhile, steadily increased in the ten years from 2005. In 2005, Philadelphia had a district graduation rate of 52%. This number increased to 65% in 2014, still below the national and state averages. Scores on the state's standardized test, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) trended upward from 2005 to 2011 but subsequently decreased. In 2005, the district-run schools scored an average of 37.4% on math and 35.5% on reading. The city's schools reached their peak scores in 2011 with 59.0% on math and 52.3% on reading. In 2014, the scores dropped significantly to 45.2% on math and 42.0% on reading.
Of the city's public high schools, including charter schools, only four performed above the national average on the SAT (1497 out of 2400) in 2014: Masterman, Central, Girard Academic Music Program, and MaST Community Charter School. All other district-run schools were below average.
=== Higher education ===
Medical and research facilities of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Philadelphia has the third-largest student concentration on the East Coast, with more than 120,000 college and university students enrolled within the city and nearly 300,000 in the metropolitan area. More than 80 colleges, universities, trade, and specialty schools are in the Philadelphia region. One of the founding members of the Association of American Universities is in the city, the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution with claims to be the first university in the United States.
The city's largest university by student enrollment is Temple University, followed by Drexel University. The city's nationally ranked research universities comprise the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, and Thomas Jefferson University. Philadelphia is also home to five schools of medicine: Drexel University College of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, and Thomas Jefferson University's Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Hospitals, universities, and higher education research institutions in Philadelphia's four congressional districts received more than $252 million in National Institutes of Health grants in 2015.
Other institutions of higher learning within the city's borders include:
== Media ==
=== Newspapers ===
Philadelphia's two major daily newspapers are The Philadelphia Inquirer, first published in 1829—the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the country—and the Philadelphia Daily News, first published in 1925. The Daily News has been published as an edition of the Inquirer since 2009. Recent owners of the Inquirer and Daily News have included Knight Ridder, The McClatchy Company, and Philadelphia Media Holdings, with the latter organization declaring bankruptcy in 2010. After two years of financial struggle, the newspapers were sold to Interstate General Media in 2012. The two newspapers had a combined daily circulation of 306,831 and a Sunday circulation of 477,313 in 2013, the 18th-largest circulation in the country, and their collective website, Philly.com, was ranked 13th in popularity among online U.S. newspapers by Alexa Internet the same year.
Smaller publications include the Philadelphia Tribune published five days each week for the African-American community; Philadelphia magazine, a monthly regional magazine; Philadelphia Weekly, a weekly alternative newspaper; Philadelphia Gay News, a weekly newspaper for the LGBT community; The Jewish Exponent, a weekly newspaper for the Jewish community; Al Día, a weekly newspaper for the Latino community; and Philadelphia Metro, a free daily newspaper.
Student-run newspapers include the University of Pennsylvania's The Daily Pennsylvanian, Temple University's The Temple News, and Drexel University's The Triangle.
=== Radio ===
The first experimental radio license was issued in Philadelphia in August 1912 to St. Joseph's College. The first commercial AM radio stations began broadcasting in 1922: first WIP, then owned by Gimbels department store, followed by WFIL, then owned by Strawbridge & Clothier department store, and WOO, a defunct station owned by Wanamaker's department store, as well as WCAU and WDAS.
As of 2018, the FCC lists 28 FM and 11 AM stations for Philadelphia. As of December 2017, the ten highest-rated stations in Philadelphia were adult contemporary WBEB-FM (101.1), sports talk WIP-FM (94.1), classic rock WMGK-FM (102.9), urban adult contemporary WDAS-FM (105.3), classic hits WOGL-FM (98.1), album-oriented rock WMMR-FM (93.3), country music WXTU-FM (92.5), all-news KYW-AM (1060), talk radio WHYY-FM (90.9), and urban adult contemporary WRNB-FM (100.3). Philadelphia is served by three non-commercial public radio stations: WHYY-FM (NPR), WRTI-FM (classical and jazz), and WXPN-FM (adult alternative music).
=== Television ===
In the 1930s, W3XE, an experimental station owned by Philco, was the Delaware Valley's first television station. In 1939, the station became the nation's first NBC affiliate, and later became KYW-TV. In 1952, WFIL, later renamed WPVI, premiered the television show Bandstand, which later became the nationally broadcast American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark. In the 1960s, WCAU, WFIL-TV, and WHYY-TV were founded.
Each of the nation's commercial networks has an owned-and operated station in Philadelphia: WDPN-TV 2 (MeTV and its sister networks), KYW-TV 3 (CBS), WPVI-TV 6 (ABC), WCAU 10 (NBC), WPHL-TV 17 (The CW with MyNetworkTV on a second subchannel), WFPA-CD 28 (UniMás), WTXF-TV 29 (Fox), WPSG 57 (a CBS-owned independent station), WPPX-TV 61 (Ion), WWSI 62 (Telemundo), and WUVP-DT 65 (Univision). The region is served also by public broadcasting stations WPPT-TV in Philadelphia, WHYY-TV (licensed to Wilmington, Delaware with facilities in Philadelphia and a repeater station in Seaford, Delaware), WLVT-TV in the Lehigh Valley, and NJ PBS station WNJS, licensed across the Delaware to Camden, New Jersey .
Philadelphia is also the headquarters city for Comcast, the owner of NBC and Telemundo, along with WCAU and WWSI and the area's regional sports network NBC Sports Philadelphia, with those stations and NBCSP based out of the city's tallest building, the Comcast Technology Center, and more Comcast operations in the Comcast Center. Additionally, sister company Comcast Spectacor owns the Xfinity Mobile Arena, Stateside Live! and the Philadelphia Flyers, and will own the replacement arena currently scheduled for a 2031 completion.
As of 2023, the Philadelphia media market is the fifth-largest in North America with over 7.8 million viewers
== Infrastructure ==
=== Transportation ===
Philadelphia is served by SEPTA, which operates buses, trains, rapid transit (as both subways and elevated trains), trolleys, and trackless trolleys (electric buses) throughout Philadelphia, the four Pennsylvania suburban counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery, in addition to service to Mercer County, New Jersey (Trenton) and New Castle County, Delaware (Wilmington and Newark, Delaware). The city's subway system consists of two routes: the subway section of the Market–Frankford Line running east–west under Market Street which opened in 1905 to the west and 1908 to the east of City Hall, and the Broad Street Line running north–south beneath Broad Street which opened in stages from 1928 to 1938.
Beginning in the 1980s, large sections of the SEPTA Regional Rail service to the far suburbs of Philadelphia were discontinued due to a lack of funding for equipment and infrastructure maintenance.
Philadelphia's 30th Street Station is a major railroad station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor with 4.4 million passengers in 2017 making it the third-busiest station in the country after New York City's Pennsylvania Station and Washington's Union Station. 30th Street Station offers access to Amtrak, SEPTA, and NJ Transit lines. Over 12 million SEPTA and NJ Transit rail commuters use the station each year, and more than 100,000 people on an average weekday.
The PATCO Speedline provides rapid transit service to Camden, Collingswood, Westmont, Haddonfield, Woodcrest (Cherry Hill), Ashland (Voorhees), and Lindenwold, New Jersey, from stations on Locust Street between 16th and 15th, 13th and 12th, and 10th and 9th streets, on Market Street at 8th Street, and at 7th and Race at Franklin Square.
==== Airports ====
Philadelphia is served by two airports. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), the larger of the two, is 7 mi (11 km) south-southwest of Center City on the boundary with Delaware County, and provides scheduled domestic and international air service. As of 2023, Philadelphia International Airport is the 21st-busiest airport in the nation with over 13.6 million passengers. It is also among the world's busiest airports measured by traffic movements, including takeoffs and landings. Over 30 million passengers pass through the airport annually on 25 airlines, including all major domestic carriers. The airport has nearly 500 daily departures to over 120 destinations worldwide. SEPTA's Airport Line provides direct service between Center City railroad stations and Philadelphia International Airport.
Philadelphia's second major airport, Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE), is a general aviation relief airport in Northeast Philadelphia, which provides general and corporate aviation.
==== Roads ====
William Penn planned Philadelphia with numbered streets traversing north and south, and streets named for trees, including Chestnut, Walnut, and Mulberry (since renamed Arch) Streets, traversing east and west. The two main streets were named Broad Street, the north–south artery, later designated Pennsylvania Route 611, and High Street, the east–west artery, which was later renamed Market Street, converging at Centre Square which later became the site of City Hall.
Interstate 95, also known as the Delaware Expressway, traverses the southern and eastern edges of the city along the Delaware River as the main north–south controlled-access highway, and connects Philadelphia with Newark, New Jersey and New York City to the north and Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to the south. The city is served by Interstate 76, also known as the Schuylkill Expressway, which runs along the Schuylkill River, intersecting the Pennsylvania Turnpike at King of Prussia and providing access to Harrisburg and points west. Interstate 676, also known as Vine Street Expressway, links I-95 and I-76 through Center City, running below street level between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Vine Street. Entrance and exit ramps for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge are near the eastern end of the expressway just west of the I-95 interchange.
Roosevelt Boulevard and Expressway, also known as U.S. 1, connects Northeast Philadelphia with Center City via I-76 through Fairmount Park. Woodhaven Road, also known as Route 63, and Cottman Avenue, also known as Route 73, serve the neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia, running between I-95 and the Roosevelt Boulevard. Fort Washington Expressway, also known as Route 309, extends north from the city's northern border, serving Montgomery and Bucks Counties. U.S. Route 30, also known as Lancaster Avenue, extends west from West Philadelphia to Lancaster.
Interstate 476, locally called the Blue Route, traverses Delaware County, bypassing the city to the west and serving the city's western suburbs, providing a direct route to Allentown, the Poconos, and points north. Interstate 276, the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Delaware River Extension, is a bypass and commuter route north of the city, which links to the New Jersey Turnpike and New York City.
Delaware River Port Authority operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area, each of which crosses the Delaware River to South Jersey: Walt Whitman Bridge (I-76), the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (I-676 and U.S. 30), Betsy Ross Bridge (New Jersey Route 90), and Commodore Barry Bridge (U.S. 322 in Delaware County, south of the city. The Burlington County Bridge Commission maintains two additional bridges that cross the Delaware River. Tacony–Palmyra Bridge connects PA Route 73 in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia with New Jersey Route 73 in Palmyra in Burlington County. Burlington–Bristol Bridge connects NJ Route 413/U.S. Route 130 in Burlington, New Jersey with PA Route 413/U.S. 13 in Bristol Township, north of Philadelphia.
==== Bus service ====
The Greyhound terminal is at 1001 Filbert Street (at 10th Street) in Center City, southeast of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and south of Chinatown. Several other bus operators provide service at the Greyhound terminal including Fullington Trailways, Martz Trailways, Peter Pan Bus Lines, and NJ Transit buses.
Other intercity bus services include Megabus with stops at 30th Street Station and the visitor center for Independence Hall, BoltBus (operated by Greyhound) at 30th Street Station, OurBus at various stops in the city.
==== Rail ====
Since the early days of rail transportation in the United States, Philadelphia has served as a hub for several major rail companies, particularly the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad first operated Broad Street Station, then 30th Street Station and Suburban Station, and the Reading Railroad operated Reading Terminal, now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The two companies also operated competing commuter rail systems in the area. The two systems now operate as a single system under the control of SEPTA, the regional transit authority. Additionally, the PATCO Speedline subway system and NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line operate successor services to South Jersey.
In 1911, Philadelphia had nearly 4,000 electric trolleys running on 86 lines. In 2005, SEPTA reintroduced trolley service to the Girard Avenue Line, Route 15. SEPTA operates six subway-surface trolleys that run on street-level tracks in West Philadelphia and subway tunnels in Center City, along with two surface trolleys in adjacent suburbs.
Philadelphia is a regional hub of the federally-owned Amtrak system, with 30th Street Station being a primary stop on the Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor and the Keystone Corridor to Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. 30th Street also serves as a major station for services via the Pennsylvania Railroad's former Pennsylvania Main Line to Chicago. As of 2018, 30th Street is Amtrak's third-busiest station in the country, after New York City and Washington.
=== Utilities ===
==== Water purity and availability ====
In 1815, Philadelphia began sourcing its water via the Fairmount Water Works on the Schuylkill River, the nation's first major urban water supply system. In 1909, the Water Works was decommissioned as the city transitioned to modern sand filtration methods. Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) provides drinking water, wastewater collection, and stormwater services for Philadelphia, as well as surrounding counties. PWD draws about 57 percent of its drinking water from the Delaware River and the balance from the Schuylkill River. The city has two filtration plants on the Schuylkill River and one on the Delaware River. The three plants can treat up to 546 million gallons of water per day, while the total storage capacity of the combined plant and distribution system exceeds one billion gallons. The wastewater system consists of three water pollution control plants, 21 pumping stations, and about 3,657 miles (5,885 km) of sewers.
==== Electricity ====
Exelon subsidiary PECO Energy Company, founded as the Brush Electric Light Company of Philadelphia in 1881 and renamed Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) in 1902, provides electricity to about 1.6 million customers and more than 500,000 natural gas customers in the southeastern Pennsylvania area including the city of Philadelphia and most of its suburbs. PECO is the largest electric and natural gas utility in the state with 472 power substations and nearly 23,000 miles (37,000 km) of electric transmission and distribution lines and 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of natural gas transmission, distribution, and service lines.
==== Natural gas ====
Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), overseen by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, is the nation's largest municipally owned natural gas utility. PGW serves over 500,000 homes and businesses in the Philadelphia area. Founded in 1836, the company came under city ownership in 1987 and has been providing the majority of gas distributed within city limits. In 2014, the City Council refused to conduct hearings on a $1.86 billion sale of PGW, part of a two-year effort that was proposed by the mayor. The refusal led to the prospective buyer terminating its offer.
==== Telecommunications ====
Southeastern Pennsylvania was assigned the 215 area code in 1947 when the North American Numbering Plan of the Bell System went into effect. The geographic area covered by the code was split nearly in half in 1994 when area code 610 was created, with the city and its northern suburbs retaining 215. Overlay area code 267 was added to the 215 service area in 1997, and 484 was added to the 610 area in 1999. A plan in 2001 to introduce a third overlay code to both service areas, area code 445 to 215 and area code 835 to 610, was delayed and later rescinded. Area code 445 was implemented as an overlay for area codes 215 and 267 starting on February 3, 2018.
== Notable people ==
== Sister cities ==
Philadelphia also has three partnership cities or regions:
Philadelphia has eight official sister cities as designated by the Citizen Diplomacy International (CDI) of Philadelphia: Philadelphia has dedicated landmarks to its sister cities. The Sister Cities Park, a site of 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) at 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Logan Square, was dedicated in June 1976. The park was built to commemorate Philadelphia's first two sister city relationships, with Tel Aviv and Florence. Toruń Triangle, honoring the sister city relationship with Toruń, Poland, was constructed in 1976, west of the United Way building at 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Sister Cities Park was redesigned and reopened in 2012, featuring an interactive fountain honoring Philadelphia's sister and partnership cities, a café and visitor center, children's play area, outdoor garden, boat pond, and a pavilion built to environmentally friendly standards.
The Chinatown Gate, erected in 1984 and crafted by artisans from Tianjin, stands astride 10th Street, on the north side of its intersection with Arch Street, as a symbol of the sister city relationship. The CDI of Philadelphia has participated in the U.S. Department of State's "Partners for Peace" project with Mosul, Iraq, and in accepting visiting delegations from dozens of other countries. In September 2025, John Moolenaar, chair of the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, requested that Philadelphia review its sister city agreement with Tianjin. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_L%C3%B3pez_V_de_Haro | Diego López V de Haro | Diego López V de Haro, nicknamed el Intruso (c. 1250 – 1310), was a Castilian noble of the House of Haro and held the title of the Lord of Biscay which he took from the pretender to the title, John of Castile.
He further served in the capacity of Mayordomo mayor del rey and the Alférez del rey of Ferdinand IV of Castile. He was a major benefactor of the city of Bilbao, where he expanded the local fishing village and granted it the power to maintain its customs market free of any Portazgo (royal tribute) answerable only to the authority of the Lord of Biscay.
== Family origins ==
Diego López was the son of Diego López III de Haro and his wife, Constanza de Bearne. He eventually inherited the title of Lord of Biscay from his father after his sister and the usurper to the title, John of Castile. His paternal grandparents were Lope Díaz II de Haro, Lord of Biscay, and his wife, Urraca Alfonso de León, the illegitimate daughter of Alfonso IX of León. His maternal grandparents were Guillermo II de Bearne, the Viscount of Bearne, and his wife, Garsenda of Provence.
Amongst his siblings were Lope Díaz III de Haro, Lord of Biscay, Teresa de Haro, wife of Juan Núñez I de Lara, head of the House of Lara, and of Sancha Díaz de Haro. He was the great grandson of the king, Alfonso IX of León.
== Biography ==
=== During the youth of Fernando IV de Castilla (1295–1301) ===
Diego López' exact date of birth is unknown, but it most likely occurred sometime around the year 1250. In 1282, he married the infanta Violant of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso X of Castile.
On 25 April 1295, after the death of King Sancho IV of Castile (who the Haro family had fought to overthrow), Diego López took advantage of the instability in the court of the young King Ferdinand IV of Castile and took power over the Lordship of Biscay which rightfully belonged to his niece, María II Díaz de Haro.
The incessant fighting against the Castilian crown, led primarily by the following infantes; John of Castile, an enemy of the Haro family who claimed the throne as the heir to his brother, Sancho IV of Castile, Infante Henry of Castile, son of Ferdinand III of Castile and uncle of the young king Ferdinand IV, who claimed guardianship over the king. This was exacerbated by the claims of the infantes of Cerda, Ferdinand de la Cerda and Alfonso de la Cerda, who were supported by France, Aragón, and their grandmother, Queen Violant of Aragon, widow of Alfonso X of Castile. Still further, problems also arose with the Kingdom of Aragon, Portugal, and France, who all tried to take advantage of the instability that plagued the contemporary Kingdom of Castile. Finally, internal Castilian players such as Diego López V de Haro, Nuño González de Lara, and Juan Núñez II de Lara, amongst others, sowed confusion and anarchy throughout the kingdom.
During the summer of 1295, after the Cortes of Valladolid of the same year, Diego López was confirmed in his illegitimate possession of the Lordship over Biscay, turned over by the pretender to both Biscay and the Castilian throne, infante John of Castile. During this time, John also temporarily accepted Ferdinand IV as his sovereign and he regained his previous possessions and titles.
On 15 June 1300, Diego López V de Haro converted the fishing village of Bilbao into a town under the authority of the Lords of Biscay.
During the Cortes of Valladolid in 1300, the infante John of Castile officially renounced his pretendership to the throne despite being proclaimed king of León in 1296. He took an oath of fealty ti Ferdinand IV and his successors on 26 June 1300. The same year, María II Díaz de Haro together with her husband (the same infante Juan), as compensation for renouncing her claim over the Lordship of Biscay, received title over Mansilla, Paredes de Nava, Medina de Rioseco, Castronuño, and Cabreros. A short while later, Maria de Molina, and the infantes Henry and John, accompanied by Diego López V de Haro, laid siege to Almazán, but lifted the siege due to opposition from the infante Henry.
=== During the adolescence of Fernando IV de Castilla (1301–1310) ===
In November 1301, Diego López was in the court of the city of Burgos when the papal bull of Pope Boniface VIII made public the marriage of María de Molina (mother of Ferdinand IV) and the dead Sancho IV of Castile. This recognition by the pope, coupled with the coming of age of Ferdinand IV of Castile instantly made the claims to the throne of John of Castile, Henry of Castile, Alfonso de la Cerda, and Ferdinand de la Cerda much less plausible as they had thereby lost one of their principal claims to the throne. Going forward, the crown of Castile and León was much more secure.
The infante Henry, upset over the legitimization of Ferdinand IV by the pope, forged an alliance against the head of the House of Lara, Juan Núñez II de Lara in an effort to alienate Ferdinand IV from his mother, María de Molina. The likewise embittered magnate, John of Castile started his own faction together with Juan Núñez II de Lara in an effort to reclaim the Lordship of Biscay for his wife, María II Díaz de Haro. Later in 1301, the king placated Henry with titles over Atienza and San Esteban de Gormaz as compensation.
In 1302, the rivalry between these two factions became clear with infante Henry, Maria de Molina and Diego Lopez on one side and the infante John of Castile and Juan Núñez II de Lara on the other. The infante Henry threatened the Queen with a declaration of war against her and Ferdinand IV if she did not acquiesce to his demands. This coincided with a fall from grace of Maria de Molina as the contemporary magnates attempted to lessen the grip of power she had maintained over the king. In the final months of 1302, the queen was in Valladolid where she agreed to placate the members of the nobility who threatened her with war against King Ferdinand IV who spent Christmas with John of Castile and Juan Núñez II de Lara in the Kingdom of León.
In 1303, there was a meeting between the King Denis of Portugal and Ferdinand IV where in Ferdinand obtained the return of various territories. The split between the two aforementioned factions continued. In May of that year, celebrations over the success of the meeting (which neither Diego Lopez, Maria de Molina, or Henry of Castile participated in) were held in Badajoz. Further agreement was reached by Ferdinand IV and Denis of Portugal to obtain Portugal's assistance against the opposing faction. Diego Lopez' faction met in Roa with Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, giving the latter orders to travel to the Kingdom of Aragon and to enlist his support against Ferdinand IV. The group agreed to reunite on the Day of John the Baptist in the municipality of Ariza. Henry of Castile later conveyed this message to Maria de Molina who was in Valladolid at the time. Henry's plan was for Alfonso de la Cerda to become King of León, marrying the infanta Isabel de Castilla y de Molina, daughter of Maria de Molina and sister of Ferdinand IV. At the same time, the infante Pedro de Castilla y Molina, brother of Ferdinand IV, was to be named the King of Castile, marrying one of the daughters of James II of Aragon. Henry claimed that his intention was to foster peace in the kingdom and eliminate the influence of the infante John of Castile and that of Juan Núñez II de Lara.
This plan, which proposed the breakup of the Kingdoms of Castile and León and the forced or obliged resignation of Fernando IV, was rejected by the queen Maria de Molina who refused to meet the rebel faction in Ariza. At the same time, the queen was asked by King Ferdinand IV to help foster a peace between him and the rebel faction. The queen traveled to Ariza where instead of supporting the rebel cause, she pleaded with the group to remember their oaths of fealty to the king and to return to his service causing many of the rebels to abandon the cause of infante Henry and Diego Lopez. This move, which weeded out many of the more moderate rebels, served only to cement the hardline base who vowed to wage war against the king, demanding further that the Kingdoms of Murcia and Jaén be turned over to Alfonso de la Cerda. It was during this time that the infante Henry of Castile became deathly ill and retired to his villa at Roa. Fearing that Henry's possessions would revert to Diego Lopez and Juan Manuel upon his death as was his wish, the queen plotted with Henry's confessor to convince him to leave all his possessions to the crown. This move inevitably failed and Diego Lopez, together with Juan Manuel inherited all his possessions when Henry died on 8 August 1303. He was sepulchered at the now destroyed Monasterio de San Francisco de Valladolid.
In November 1303, the king asked the queen for her support in an effort to end the infighting between infante John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos and Diego Lopez for control over the Lordship of Biscay which at this time was under the full control of Diego Lopez. The queen agreed to help her son and the relationship of mother and son was restored when she succeeded in reaching an agreement with the infante John.
In winter of 1304, the king was in the area of Carrión de los Condes when the infante John once again claimed for his wife the lordship of Biscay together with the continued support of Juan Núñez II de Lara. The king attempted to offer her title over Paredes de Nava and Villalón de Campos as compensation, but this was refused by the infante John. The king then drafted a lopsided deal where Diego Lopez V would turn over his titles over Tordehumos, Íscar and Santa Olalla. He would also be made to give up his possessions in Cuéllar, Córdoba, Murcia, Valdetorio, and his title as Señorío de Valdecorneja. In return for this, Diego would be able to keep Lordship of Biscay, Orduña-Urduña, Balmaseda, las Encartaciones, and Durango. Understandably, the infante John accepted these terms and the king called Diego Lopez to Carrión de los Condes to cement the deal. Not surprisingly, Diego Lopez V refused these demands and threatened an all out rebellion against his rule.
The king, who was at the time preparing for the Treaty of Torrellas, from which Diego Lopez was excluded, promised the infante John that he would receive Biscay after all and that Juan Núñez II de Lara would get La Bureba. He further stated that both could divvy up the territories currently belonging to Diego Lopez in La Rioja if the two could resolve the diplomatic crisis that was ongoing with Aragon.
In April 1304, the infante John commenced negotiations with the Kingdom of Aragon to resolve demands made by Alfonso de la Cerda and disputes held by the Aragon. In the meantime, the king confiscated the territories of Diego Lopez V and of Juan Alfonso de Haro, Señor de los Cameros and divided them up amongst his supporters. After this bold move, many of the rebels came back under the fold of the king.
In winter of 1305, Diego Lopez once again refused the kings demands that he hand over Biscay at Guadalajara.
==== Fighting over possession over the Lordship of Biscay (1305–1307) ====
In 1305, Diego Lopez V was called to present himself in the courts of Medina del Campo which took place that year, to respond to the demands of the king.
At the court, María II Díaz de Haro, Diego's niece and wife of the infante John, demanded the return of her rightful property, the title of Lord of Biscay, a title which Diego had taken in the unrest that surrounded King Ferdinand IV of Castile's younger days on the throne. While the infante John and Maria were presenting their case to the court, Diego Lopez, together with three hundred of his knights arrived at the court and Diego Lopez announced his refusal to give up his title, citing a deal struck in the year 1300 where his niece had renounced her claim. Diego Lopez V left the court without waiting for its final decision and began drafting a proposal soliciting aid from the pope.
It was around this time that Diego Lopez forged a new alliance with Juan Núñez II de Lara who had gotten into disputes with the infante John. Seeing himself in a losing position, the infante John signed a two-year truce with Diego Lopez as he assumed the new alliance between Diego Lopez and the House of Lara would not hold. Trouble came quickly to this relationship as Lope Díaz IV de Haro, Diego Lopez' son and heir entered into a dispute with Juan Núñez II de Lara and he attempted to get his father to accept the kings deal. The same year, Ferdinand IV gave Lope Diaz IV the charge of Mayordomo Mayor of the king. The king called for a meeting with Diego Lopez V, to which Diego Lopez brought along Juan Núñez II in an effort to reconcile the latter with the king, while the king maneuvered to split the powerful duo. The king failed in his efforts and the two rebels left without notifying the king. At the same time, ambassadors from France arrived to solicit an alliance with the kingdom through marriage of Ferdinand IV's sister, the infanta Isabella. .
In April 1306, the infante John, against the advice of Maria de Molina, induced the king to declare war officially against Juan Núñez II de Lara in the knowledge that Diego Lopez would support his ally.
The forces of the king laid siege to Aranda de Duero where Juan Nunez was at the time. Juan immediately broke his oath of vassal to the king. After a series of skirmishes, Juan Nunez managed to escape from the siege while pretending to surrender the city. He moved from there to meet with Diego Lopez and his son, Lope Diaz IV where the three promised to wage war against the king in their respective territories. As most of the kings vassals were unsupportive of the war, costs spiraled as they demanded war preparation funds and made little effort to use the money effectively. The king ordered for the infante John to enter into negotiations with Diego Lopez V, something he agreed to without issue as his vassals were equally unsupportive of the war. The two sent the queen, Maria de Molina to negotiate a peace. Negotiations with the rebels were hosted by Alonso Pérez de Guzmán in the town of Pancorbo. Negotiations with Diego Lopez quickly broke down and he again decided to continue to appeal to the pope.
At the beginning of 1307, while the king, Maria de Molina and the infante John were in Valladolid, they heard news that Pope Clement V renounced the validity of the renunciation over Biscay of 1300. The king drafted a new agreement whereby Diego Lopez V would keep Biscay during the course of his life, but it would revert to Maria II of Haro upon his death and would not go to his son, Lope Diaz IV who would instead inherit Orduña-Urduña and Balmaseda, and get Miranda de Ebro and Villalba de Losa from the king. The group convened on the court of Vallalodid to reach a final agreement.
Before the agreement over Biscay was finally reached, Juan Nunez II de Lara left the courts feeling betrayed by the king and his mother. For this reason, the king granted Diego Lopez V the title of Mayordomo Mayor of the king, a move which in turn upset the infante John enough to leave the courts, warning the king that he would no longer be of service to him until the wardens of Diego Lopez' castles paid tribute to his wife (upon Diego Lopez' death according to the agreement). Regardless, the group met again in Lerma where it was agreed that the castles that would go to María II Díaz de Haro would begin to pay her tribute, whilst the castles going to Lope Díaz IV de Haro would do the same for him.
With the reconciliation of Diego Lopez V and of the infante John, the king demanded that Juan Núñez II de Lara leave the Kingdom of Castile and for him to return the castles of Cuenca and Cañete located in the Province of Cuenca that the king had earlier given to him. The king proceeded to Tordehumos in October 1307 where he began to siege the city together with the infante John, his son, Alfonso de Valencia, and the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, Juan Osórez. It was around the same time that the king also received a papal order to take all the possessions of the Knights Templar into his possession. Added to other complications, King Ferdinand IV decided to reach a peace treaty with Juan Núñez II de Lara where Lara agreed to turn all his territories over to the king minus those in La Bureba and La Rioja.
After the siege and the peace agreement, many nobles, sensing an opportunity to grab power, attempted to create new friction between Lara, the infante John and the king. Convinced that the king wanted them both dead, Juan Nunez II and the infante Juan forged a new alliance together without attempting to reach out to Diego Lopez V. Despite assurances from the king to the contrary, this edgy conflict bubbled until 1309 when the king called a conference at the courts of Madrid (the first of its kind actually held in the capital).
Present at this conference were all the major players left alive from the previous infighting. The king announced his intention to wage war against the Kingdom of Granada due to growing pressure to expand from his nobles.
==== The Conquest of Gibraltar and the Siege of Algeciras (1309) ====
Amongst the nobles that took part in the action were a majority of the nobles from the previous civil strife from both sides. These included Diego Lopez V de Haro, the infante John of Castile, Juan Núñez II de Lara, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Fernán Ruiz de Saldaña, Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena and many other magnates from Castile. The Castilian forces were made up of the militias of the towns of Salamanca, Segovia, Seville, and many other cities. King Denis of Portugal also sent 700 knights under Martín Gil de Sousa, Alférez of the king of Portugal. Furthermore, a great deal of knights from the orders of Santiago Calatrava were also present. Pope Clement V granted King Ferdinand IV a tenth of all taxes and rents collected by the church for a period of three years. This edict was passed by papal bull on 28 April 1309 from the city of Avignon.
King Ferdinand IV of Castile set up his headquarters in the city of Seville where emissaries of king James II of Aragon announced their readiness to commence operations against the city of Almería. Ferdinand IV in turn decided to lay siege to the city of Algeciras which had been the main Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula for many years. Diego Lopez, amongst others opposed this plan and advocated unsuccessfully for an attack on Gibraltar. This was possibly due in part to the fact that the city had been unsuccessfully besieged in the past, most notably at the Siege of Algeciras (1278). Nevertheless, the Castilian-Leonese army gathered in the city and was transferred over the Guadalquivir River towards Algeciras.
The vanguard of Ferdinand's army reached the city walls on 27 July 1309, followed three days later by the last of the Christian forces which included the king Ferdinand and his entourage. The other prong of attack led by James II of Aragon began its siege of Almería on 15 August of the same year. With the siege of Algeciras ongoing, Gibraltar fell to the forces of Ferdinand under the control of Juan Núñez II de Lara, Archbishop of Seville, Fernando Gutiérrez Tello and the Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava on 12 September 1309.
In mid October 1309, the infante John of Castile, his son, Alfonso, Juan Manual, and Fernán Ruiz de Saldaña deserted the Castilian encampment at Algeciras together with about fifty other knights. The action, which was due in part because Ferdinand IV owed them a great deal of money, provoked the indignation of the European monarchs and the protest of James II of Aragon who tried to persuade the deserters unsuccessfully to return to Algeciras. Nevertheless, King Ferdinand IV maintained the support of Juan Núñez II de Lara and of Diego Lopez de Haro and continued to try and take the city.
Disease and generally poor conditions became so bad in the Christian camp that Ferdinand IV was forced to pawn the jewels and crowns of his wife, Constance of Portugal to pay his soldiers and knights. A short time later, the troops of Felipe de Castilla y Molina, brother of Ferdinand IV, arrived in the Christian camp accompanied by 400 knights and many footsoldiers under the command of the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela.
Towards the end of 1309, Diego Lopez V became sick as the result of an attack of gout, from which he would later die in Christian camp on the River Andarax. After months of failed attempts to take the city, Ferdinand IV decided to negotiate a peace with the Kingdom of Granada who had sent their emissary to the camp. They reached a deal where Ferdinand would lift the siege in return for 50,000 gold pieces and the towns of Quesada and Bedmar.
== Death and legacy ==
Diego Lopez V de Haro died in winter of 1310 in the camp at Algeciras. His niece, María II Díaz de Haro, wife of the infante John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos, took possession of the Lordship of Biscay. Further, the infante John returned the villas of Paredes de Nava, Cabreros, Medina de Rioseco, Castronuño and Mansilla to the king.
After his death during the siege of Algeciras, his body was taken to the city of Burgos where he was sepulchered at the now destroyed Monasterio de San Francisco de Burgos. It was the same place where his previous wife, the infanta Violante of Castile was also buried.
== Marriage and descendants ==
Diego López V de Haro married the infanta Violant of Castile, together they were the parents of:
Lope Díaz IV de Haro (1285–1322). Señor of Orduña and Balmaseda and Alférez of the king, Ferdinand IV of Castile. Died without descendants.
Fernando Díaz de Haro. Señor of Orduña and Valmaseda after the death of his brother. Married in 1315 with Maria of Portugal, Lady of Meneses and Orduña, daughter of the infante Alfonso de Portugal and his wife, Violante Manuel, sister of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena.
Pedro López de Haro, who died in infancy.
María Díaz de Haro. Lady of Tordehumos. Married Juan Núñez II de Lara, Lord of Lara and Albarracín. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Elizabeth_Butt | Mary Elizabeth Butt | Mary Elizabeth Butt, née Holdsworth (1903–1993) was a prominent Texas philanthropist and wife of former HEB Grocery Company CEO Howard Edward Butt Sr., son of HEB founder, Florence Butt. Her philanthropic efforts were particularly focused on the care of emotionally disturbed children and the development of library services.
== Early life ==
Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt was born on February 4, 1903, near Loma Vista, Texas, the daughter of Rosa (née Ross) and Thomas Holdsworth. She was the fourth of seven children. Her father, the son of an English schoolteacher, emigrated from England to Texas with his parents in 1880. Her mother was a schoolteacher who grew up and worked in Kerrville, Texas. Both her parents were devout, tithing Baptists. In 1924, she married Howard Edward Butt. Howard owned a small grocery store in Kerrville. Over time, her husband's business prospered and expanded, enabling Mary Elizabeth to take an active role in supporting numerous and varied charitable causes. Her husband stated: "I make the money, and Mary spends it (on worthy causes). And I am glad she does." In 1940, they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas.
== Philanthropy ==
In 1929, she moved to Brownsville, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley and thereafter to Harlingen. Mary Elizabeth started the State Crippled Children's Program using her dining room as an office. She also served as chairwoman of the Cameron County Child Welfare Board. In addition, she started the first tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment program in the region; and also purchased the first equipment used to test the hearing and vision of schoolchildren.
In 1934, the Butts formed the H. E. Butt Foundation, one of the first charitable organizations in Texas. The foundation focused on funding public school programs, establishing libraries and constructing recreational facilities.
Mary Butt served as its president.
In 1940, the Butt family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where she organized the local branches of the YWCA; the Nueces County home for the aged; the Nueces County Tuberculosis Hospital; and the local branch of the American Cancer Society. She also established the Mary Bethune Day Nursery which addressed shortfalls in access to day care for African-American children.
In 1949, she along with Dr. Robert Sutherland (director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health founded by Ima Hogg in 1940) and Margaret Scarbrough (wife of Austin retailer Lemuel Scarbrough and founder of the Scarbrough Foundation), organized and hosted the first Conference of Texas Foundations and Trusts which coordinated philanthropic giving so as to avoid duplication and promoted the exchange ideas and strategies. Texas became the first state to have such an organization and the model was duplicated in other states. The Foundation quickly blossomed from 10 mostly family-sponsored organizations at inception to 48 organizations in 1956. The organization (now known as the Conference of Southwest Foundations) presently consists of 200 member organizations in a seven-state area.
In 1953, she helped to establish the Hilltop Hospital which treated tuberculosis patients and eventually serving five years as the chairman of its board. In 1954, the Butts established the H. E. Butt Foundation Camp located on the Frio River As she was particularly dedicated to the care of emotionally disturbed children, she developed a camping program for specifically for their care. As of 2012, the camp continues to serve, without cost, over 20,000 campers annually and is also the site of the Laity Lodge, a prominent center of Christian learning founded by their son, Howard E. Butt Jr.
In 1955, she was appointed by Texas Governor Allan Shivers to the governing board of Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools (later the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation). She served as the only woman member of the board for 18 years being appointed by six different governors.
The Butts contributed to the founding of the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library, which was inaugurated in summer 1967.
== Personal life and death ==
She had four children with her husband:
Howard E. Butt Jr., the president of H. E. Butt Foundation and founder of the Christian learning center, Laity Lodge;
Margaret Eleanor Butt Crook, served as director of Bread for the World. Her husband, William H. Crook, served as director of the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and later as United States Ambassador to Australia;
Charles Clarence Butt, the chairman of H. E. Butt Grocery Company and founder of education leadership organization The Holdsworth Center. Charles named The Holdsworth Center after Mary Elizabeth.
Another child, Mary Beth Butt, who lived for only 10 days (November 17, 1943 - November 27, 1943), is buried beside Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt at the Glen Rest Cemetery in Kerrville, Texas, was the fourth child of Howard Butt, Sr., and Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt.
Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt died in her house in Corpus Christi on October 6, 1993.
== Awards ==
The Texas State Historical Association lists the many awards Butt has received over the years for her philanthropic activities:
In 1954, she was the first woman to be awarded the Mrs. South Texas Award in recognition of her work in the fields of "public health, social service, and education."
In 1968, Howard and Mary Butt were awarded the Texas Library Association Philanthropic Award of the Year in recognition of their service to public libraries.
In 1975, they were awarded the Brotherhood Award from the Corpus Christi Chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in recognition of their charitable activities.
In 1981, Mary received the first Yellow Rose Award by the Parent's Association for the Retarded in Texas.
In 1986, the Texas Alliance for the Mentally Ill made Mary Elizabeth the first recipient of its lifetime award, in honor of her "leadership in improving human services for the people of Texas."
In 1993, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Awards Committee selected her to receive the council's highest award for "Meritorious Service to the Children of America."
On March 23, 1995, the Senate of the State of Texas passed a resolution to "honor the life and memory of Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt and express appreciation for her many gifts to the citizens of our state". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Perry | Katy Perry | Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on pop music and her camp style, she has been dubbed the "Queen of Camp" by Vogue and Rolling Stone.
At 16, Perry released the unsuccessful gospel album Katy Hudson (2001) under Red Hill Records. After moving to Los Angeles at 17, she signed to Capitol Records and rose to fame with the pop rock album One of the Boys (2008). Its lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Perry's disco-influenced pop record Teenage Dream (2010) became the only album by a woman to spawn five U.S. number-one singles: "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". Its reissue, subtitled The Complete Confection (2012), produced the U.S. number-one single "Part of Me". The dance-inspired Prism (2013) yielded two U.S. number-one singles, "Roar" and "Dark Horse". Perry's subsequent albums, Witness (2017), Smile (2020) and 143 (2024), were met with varied critical and commmercial success.
Perry is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 151 million records worldwide. Six of her songs have received Diamond certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The world's highest-paid female musician in 2015 and 2018, she was named by Billboard as one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. Her accolades include 20 Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards (including the Special Achievement Award), a Brit Award, a Juno Award, and seven MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award). Perry was the first artist to have multiple videos reach one billion views on Vevo and YouTube, with nine videos in total. With an estimated net worth of $360 million, she is among the world's wealthiest musicians.
Outside of music, Perry released an autobiographical documentary titled Katy Perry: Part of Me in 2012, voiced Smurfette in The Smurfs film series (2011–2013) and launched her own shoe line Katy Perry Collections in 2017. She served as a judge on American Idol from the sixteenth season in 2018 to the twenty-second season in 2024. In 2025, Perry flew into space aboard Blue Origin NS-31, the first all-female space flight since 1963, which received significant media coverage. She is an advocate for LGBT rights and women's rights, and was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2013. Her philanthropy and activism focus on children's education and HIV/AIDS awareness.
== Life and career ==
=== 1984–1999: Early life and family ===
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson was born on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California, to Pentecostal pastors Mary Christine (née Perry) and Maurice Keith Hudson. Both of her parents turned to religion after a "wild youth". Perry has English, German, Irish, and Portuguese ancestry. Through her mother, she is a niece of film director Frank Perry. She has a younger brother named David, who is also a singer, and an older sister, Angela.
From ages three to 11, Perry frequently moved across the country as her very strict parents set up churches before settling again in Santa Barbara. Growing up, she attended religious schools and camps, including Paradise Valley Christian School in Arizona and Santa Barbara Christian School in California during her elementary years. The family struggled financially, sometimes using food stamps and eating food from the food bank which also fed the congregation at her parents' church.
Growing up, Perry and her siblings were not allowed to eat the cereal Lucky Charms as the word "luck" reminded their mother of Lucifer, and were also required to call deviled eggs "angeled eggs". Perry primarily listened to gospel music, as secular music was generally discouraged in the family's home. She discovered popular music through CDs she smuggled home from her friends. Perry later recalled a story about how a friend of hers played "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, which influenced her songwriting and singing.
While not strictly identifying as religious, she has stated, "I pray all the time – for self-control, for humility." Wanting to be like her sister Angela, Perry began singing by practicing with her sister's cassette tapes. She performed the tracks in front of her parents, who let her take vocal lessons like Angela was doing at the time. She began training at age nine; she was also incorporated into her parents' ministry, singing in church from ages nine to 17. At 13, Perry was given her first guitar for her birthday, and publicly performed songs she wrote.
She tried to "be a bit like the typical Californian girl" while growing up, and started rollerskating, skateboarding, and surfing as a teenager. Her brother David described her as a "tomboy" during her adolescence, which Perry talks about on her song "One of the Boys". She took dancing lessons and learned how to swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug. Perry completed her General Educational Development (GED) requirements early at age 15, during her first year of high school, and left Dos Pueblos High School to pursue a music career.
=== 2000–2006: Career beginnings, Katy Hudson, and Fingerprints ===
Perry briefly had vocal lessons with a woman named Agatha Danoff in facilities rented from the Music Academy of the West. Her singing caught the attention of rock artists Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to improve her writing skills. In Nashville, she started recording demos and learned how to write songs and play guitar. Perry signed with Red Hill Records and recorded her debut album, a contemporary Christian record titled Katy Hudson, which was released on March 6, 2001. She also joined Earthsuit and V*Enna that year to perform as part of Phil Joel's Strangely Normal Tour and embarked on other performances of her own in the United States.
Katy Hudson received mixed reviews from critics and was commercially unsuccessful, selling an estimated 200 copies before the label ceased operations in December. Transitioning from gospel music to secular music, Perry started working with producer Glen Ballard, and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 17. She opted to work with Ballard due to his past work with Alanis Morissette, one of her major inspirations. In 2003, she briefly performed as Katheryn Perry, to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson, and later adopted the stage name "Katy Perry", using her mother's maiden name. In 2010, she recalled that "Thinking of You" was one of the first songs she wrote after moving to Los Angeles. Perry would also perform at the Hotel Café, performing new music while she was between record labels.
In 2004, she signed to Ballard's label, Java Records, which was then affiliated with The Island Def Jam Music Group. Perry began work on a solo record due for release in March 2005, but the record was shelved after Java was dropped. Ballard then introduced her to Tim Devine, an A&R executive at Columbia Records, and she was signed as a solo artist. By November 2006, Perry had finished writing and recording material for her Columbia debut titled Fingerprints (with some of the material from this time appearing on One of the Boys) which was planned for release in 2007. Some of the material from Fingerprints that did not make it on One of the Boys was given to other artists, such as "I Do Not Hook Up" and "Long Shot" to Kelly Clarkson, and "Rock God" to Selena Gomez & the Scene.
Perry worked with songwriters including Desmond Child, Greg Wells, Butch Walker, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, the Matrix, Kara DioGuardi, Max Martin, and Dr. Luke. In addition, after Devine suggested that songwriting team the Matrix become a "real group", she recorded an album, The Matrix, with them. This featured her and Adam Longlands as lead vocalists. The Matrix was planned for release in 2004 but was shelved due to creative differences. Perry was dropped from Columbia in 2006 as Fingerprints neared completion. After the label dropped her, she worked at an independent A&R company, Taxi Music.
Perry had minor success prior to her breakthrough. One of the songs she had recorded for her album with Ballard, "Simple", was featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Perry provided backing vocals on Mick Jagger's song "Old Habits Die Hard", which was included on the soundtrack to the 2004 film Alfie. In September 2004, Blender named her "The Next Big Thing". She recorded background vocals on P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now", was featured at the end of its music video in 2006, and performed it with them on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. That year, Perry also appeared in the music video for "Learn to Fly" by Carbon Leaf, and she played the love interest of her then-boyfriend, Gym Class Heroes lead singer Travie McCoy, in the band's music video for "Cupid's Chokehold".
=== 2007–2009: Breakthrough with One of the Boys ===
After Columbia dropped Perry, Angelica Cob-Baehler, then a publicity executive at the label, brought Perry's demos to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom. Flom was convinced that she could be a breakthrough star and she was signed to Capitol Records in April 2007. The label arranged for her to work with Dr. Luke to add an "undeniable smash" to her existing material. Perry and Dr. Luke co-wrote the songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" for her second album One of the Boys. A campaign was started with the November 2007 release of the video to "Ur So Gay", a song aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP of the same name was also released that month. Madonna helped publicize the song by praising it on the JohnJay & Rich radio show in April 2008, stating "Ur So Gay" was her "favorite song" at the time. In March 2008, Perry made a cameo appearance as a club singer in the Wildfire episode "Life's Too Short" and appeared as herself during a photo shoot that June on The Young and the Restless for the show's magazine Restless Style.
Perry released her first single with Capitol, "I Kissed a Girl", on April 28, 2008, as the lead single from One of the Boys. The first station to pick up the song was WRVW in Nashville, who were inundated with enthusiastic calls the first three days they played it. The track topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on July 5, 2008, and remained number one for seven consecutive weeks. "I Kissed a Girl" created controversy among both religious and LGBT groups. The former criticized its homosexual theme, while the latter accused her of using bi-curiosity to sell records. In response to speculation that her parents opposed her music and career, Perry told MTV News that they had no problems with her success.
One of the Boys, released on June 17, 2008, garnered mixed critical reviews and reached number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album went on to sell seven million copies worldwide. "Hot n Cold" was released the following September and became the album's second successful single, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100, while topping charts in Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Austria. Later singles "Thinking of You" and "Waking Up in Vegas" were released in 2009 and reached the top 30 of the Hot 100.
From June to August 2008, Perry traveled with McCoy on the Warped Tour. As a symbol of their commitment to one another, he gave her a diamond promise ring before the tour, and he wore a ring with "Katy" inscribed on it. That September, a limited-edition Katy Perry doll was produced by Integrity Toys in response to her growing popularity. She hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards in November and won the award for Best New Act. Following their breakup in December 2008, Perry and McCoy reconciled in April 2009 before she ended their relationship again later that year.
The Matrix's self-titled album, which Perry had recorded with the band in 2004, was released on iTunes on January 27, 2009, as a result of her solo success. At the 2009 Brit Awards the next month, she won the award for International Female Solo Artist. Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, from January to November 2009 to support One of the Boys. On August 4, 2009, she performed as opening act for one date of No Doubt's 2009 Summer Tour. Perry also hosted the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards that November, becoming the first person to host two consecutive ceremonies of the European awards.
On July 22, 2009, Perry recorded a live album titled MTV Unplugged, which featured acoustic performances of five tracks from One of the Boys as well as one new song, "Brick by Brick", and a cover of Fountains of Wayne's "Hackensack". It was released on November 17, 2009. Perry also appeared on two singles with other artists; she was featured on a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" in September 2009, and on a duet with Timbaland entitled "If We Ever Meet Again", from his album Shock Value II, three months later. The Guinness World Records recognized her in its 2010 edition as the "Best Start on the U.S. Digital Chart by a Female Artist", for digital single sales of over two million copies.
Perry met her future husband Russell Brand in mid-2009 while filming a cameo appearance for his film Get Him to the Greek. Her scene, in which the two kiss, does not appear in the film. She began dating Brand after meeting him again that September at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The couple became engaged on December 31, 2009, while vacationing in Rajasthan, India.
=== 2010–2012: Teenage Dream and marriage ===
After serving as a guest judge on American Idol, Perry released "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg on May 7, 2010. The song was the lead single from her third studio album, Teenage Dream, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June. She also served as a guest judge on British The X Factor later that month before releasing the album's second single, "Teenage Dream", in July. "Teenage Dream" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in September. Released on August 24, 2010, Teenage Dream debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and received mixed reviews from music critics. It has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide, being her highest-selling album to date. Teenage Dream would go on to win the 2011 Juno Award for International Album of the Year. In October, "Firework" was released as the album's third single. It became the album's third consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 8, 2010.
"E.T." featuring Kanye West was released as the fourth single from Teenage Dream on February 16, 2011. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks, making Teenage Dream the ninth album in history to produce four number one singles on the chart. "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" followed as the fifth single in June, and Perry became the first female artist to achieve five number-one Billboard Hot 100 songs from one album when the single topped that chart on August 17, and the second artist after Michael Jackson with his album Bad. For this record, she received an honorary American Music Award in November 2011 and another Guinness record.
On September 7, she set a new record by becoming the first artist to spend 69 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100. After "The One That Got Away" was released as the album's sixth single in October, Teenage Dream became the third album to spawn six top-five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 after Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson, which is the only album in the Hot 100 singles chart history to have seven songs peak within the top five positions, and Faith by George Michael. The song peaked at number three in the U.S. and number two in Canada.
On January 5, 2012, Perry was named the sixth best-selling digital artist in the United States, with sales of 37.6 million units according to Nielsen SoundScan. That month, she became the first artist to have four songs sell over 5 million digital units when "E.T." reached that mark along with "Firework", "California Gurls", and "Hot n Cold". On February 13, Capitol released the lead single from Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, "Part of Me", which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Perry's seventh single overall to top the chart. Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection was released on March 23, and serves as a reissue of Teenage Dream. "Wide Awake" was released on May 22 as the re-release's second single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in Canada and New Zealand.
Perry embarked on her second tour, the California Dreams Tour, in support of Teenage Dream from February 2011 to January 2012. The tour grossed $59.5 million globally and won her the award for Best Live Act at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards. On September 23, 2011, she performed on the opening day of the 2011 Rock in Rio festival along with Elton John and Rihanna. In September 2010, Perry was scheduled to appear on the 41st-season premiere of Sesame Street. After her scene was uploaded to YouTube, viewers criticized Perry's exposed cleavage. Four days before the scheduled airing, Sesame Workshop announced that the segment would not air on television, but would still be available to watch online. Perry subsequently mocked the controversy on Saturday Night Live, where she was a musical guest and wore an Elmo-themed shirt showing large amounts of cleavage during one skit.
In December 2010, Perry played Moe Szyslak's girlfriend in the live-action segment from a Christmas episode of The Simpsons titled "The Fight Before Christmas". Two months later, she made a guest appearance on the How I Met Your Mother episode "Oh Honey", playing a woman known as Honey. The latter role won her the People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Guest Star in January 2012. She made her film debut in the 3D family motion picture The Smurfs as Smurfette on July 29, 2011. The film was a financial success worldwide, while critics gave mostly negative reviews.
She hosted Saturday Night Live on December 10, 2011, with Robyn as the episode's musical guest. Perry's work on the episode received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised her performance in the episode's digital short featuring her and Andy Samberg. In March 2012, she guest starred as a prison security guard named Rikki on the Raising Hope episode "Single White Female Role Model". On July 5, 2012, Perry's autobiographical documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me was released to theaters through Paramount Pictures. The film received positive reviews and grossed $32.7 million worldwide at the box office.
Perry began to venture into business when she endorsed the fragrance, Purr, in November 2010. Her second endorsed fragrance, Meow!, was released in December 2011. Both perfumes were released through Nordstrom department stores. Electronic Arts recruited her to promote their new expansion pack for The Sims 3: Showtime, before releasing a separate stuff pack featuring Perry-inspired furniture, outfits, and hairstyles, titled The Sims 3: Katy Perry's Sweet Treats, in June 2012. The following month, she became the spokesperson and ambassador for Popchips and made an investment in the company. Billboard dubbed her as their "Woman of the Year" for 2012.
She married Russell Brand on October 23, 2010, in a traditional Hindu ceremony near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan. On December 30, 2011, Brand announced that they were divorcing after 14 months of marriage. Perry later stated that conflicting career schedules and his desire to have children before she was ready led to the end of their marriage and that he never spoke to her again after sending a text message that he was divorcing her, while Brand asserted that he divorced her due to her commercial success and reluctance to engage in activism. She was initially distraught over their divorce and said that she contemplated suicide. Since they married without a prenuptial agreement, he was eligible to claim half of the estimated $44 million she earned during their marriage, but declined. Perry began a relationship with singer John Mayer in August 2012, the year her marriage with Brand had ended.
=== 2013–2015: Prism and Super Bowl XLIX halftime show ===
In November 2012, Perry began work on her fourth album, Prism. She told Billboard, "I know exactly the record I want to make next. I know the artwork, the coloring and the tone" and "I even know what type of tour I'm doing next. I'll be very pleased if the vision I have in my head becomes a reality." After initially telling L'Uomo Vogue in June 2012 that she planned to have "darker elements" in Prism following the end of her marriage, the singer revealed to MTV during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards that she changed the album's direction after periods of self-reflection. Perry commented "I felt very prismatic", which inspired the album's name. "Roar" was released as the lead single from Prism on August 10, 2013. It was promoted at the MTV Video Music Awards and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Unconditionally" followed as the second single from Prism on October 16, 2013, and peaked at number 14 in the United States.
Prism was released on October 18, 2013, and has sold over eight million copies worldwide. It received favorable reviews from critics and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Four days later, Perry performed the songs from the album at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. "Dark Horse" with Juicy J was released as the album's third single in December, and became her ninth U.S. number-one single the following month. In 2014, "Birthday" and "This Is How We Do" respectively followed as the album's fourth and fifth singles, and reached the top 25 on the Hot 100.
Prior to ending her relationship with Mayer in 2014, she recorded and co-wrote a duet with him titled "Who You Love" for his album Paradise Valley. The song was released on August 12, 2013. Perry's third headlining tour, the Prismatic World Tour, began in May 2014 and concluded in October 2015. It sold almost 2 million tickets and grossed $204.3 million worldwide and won Perry the award for "Top Package" at the 2014 Billboard Touring Awards. She also performed at the 2015 Rock in Rio festival on September 27, 2015.
On November 23, 2014, the National Football League (NFL) announced that Perry would perform at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show on February 1, 2015. Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott served as special guests for the show. Her performance was critically acclaimed, and Guinness announced two days after the singer's halftime show that it garnered 118.5 million viewers in the United States, becoming the most watched and highest rated show in Super Bowl history. The viewership was higher than the game itself, which was viewed by an audience of 114.4 million.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) ranked her fifth on the list of Top Global Recording Artists of 2013. On June 26, 2014, she was declared the Top Certified Digital Artist Ever by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for certified sales of 72 million digital singles in the United States. In May 2014, a portrait of Perry by painter Mark Ryden was featured in his exhibition "The Gay 90s", and shown at the Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles. Along with several other artists, she also recorded a cover version of the song "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" on a limited-edition concept album titled The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell to accompany the exhibition. That month, a portrait of Perry by artist Will Cotton was included in the United States National Portrait Gallery.
On June 17, 2014, Perry announced that she had founded her own record label under Capitol Records, titled Metamorphosis Music. Ferras was the first artist to get signed to her label, and Perry served as an executive producer on his self-titled EP. She also recorded a duet with him on the EP, titled "Legends Never Die". The label was later renamed Unsub Records. On November 23, 2015, Perry starred in H&M's holiday advertising campaign, for which she wrote and recorded a song titled "Every Day Is a Holiday".
Outside of her music career, Perry reprised her role as Smurfette in The Smurfs 2, which was released in theaters on July 31, 2013. Like its predecessor, The Smurfs 2 was a financial success that was panned by critics. In March 2014, she made a guest appearance playing herself in the episode "Blisteritos Presents Dad Academy Graduation Congraduritos Red Carpet Viewing Party" of the Kroll Show. Killer Queen was released as her third fragrance in August 2013 through Coty. In January 2014, she became a guest curator of Madonna's Art for Freedom initiative. In March 2015, she appeared in Brand: A Second Coming, a documentary following her ex-husband Russell Brand's transition from comedy work to activism, and released a concert film titled Katy Perry: The Prismatic World Tour through Epix, which took place during her tour of the same name. Perry also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Madonna's song "Bitch I'm Madonna" in June 2015.
The following month, she released another fragrance with Coty, entitled Mad Potion. In September 2015, she appeared in the documentaries Katy Perry: Making of the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, which followed Perry's preparation for her Super Bowl performance, and Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer, which followed the life and career of designer Jeremy Scott. Perry released a mobile app titled Katy Perry Pop in December 2015 through Glu Mobile where her character helps players become famous musicians. She described it as "the most fun, colorful world that helps guide your musical dreams".
=== 2016–2019: Witness and American Idol ===
Perry started writing songs for her new album in June 2016, and recorded an anthem for NBC Sports' coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics titled "Rise", which was released the following month. Perry chose to release it as a standalone track rather than save it for her album "because now more than ever, there is a need for our world to unite". NBC also felt its message spoke "to the spirit of the Olympics and its athletes" for its inspirational themes. The song reached number one in Australia and number eleven in the United States.
In August 2016, Perry stated that she aspired to create material "that connects and relates and inspires" and told Ryan Seacrest that she was "not rushing" her fifth album, adding "I'm just having a lot of fun, but experimenting and trying different producers, and different collaborators, and different styles". On February 10, 2017, Perry released the album's lead single "Chained to the Rhythm" featuring Skip Marley. It reached number one in Hungary and number four in the United States. The track was also streamed over three million times on Spotify within 24 hours, breaking the music streaming service's record at the time for the highest first-day streaming for a single track by a female artist. The album's second single, "Bon Appétit" with Migos, was released that April. Its third single, "Swish Swish", featured Nicki Minaj and followed the next month. They respectively peaked at numbers 59 and 46 in the United States, and made the top 15 in Canada.
The album, titled Witness, was released on June 9, 2017, to mixed reviews, and debuted at number one in the United States. To accompany the album's release, Perry broadcast herself on YouTube for four days with a live-stream titled Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide, concluding with a live concert on June 12. The live-stream generated over 49 million views from 190 countries. She also embarked on Witness: The Tour, which began in September 2017 and ended in August 2018. On June 15, 2017, Calvin Harris released a song titled "Feels" from his album Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, which featured Perry, Big Sean, and Pharrell Williams. The song went on to reach number one in the United Kingdom.
Perry subsequently recorded a cover of the Dear Evan Hansen song "Waving Through a Window" for the deluxe edition of the cast recording, which was released on November 2, 2018. The show's creators Benj Pasek and Justin Paul had requested Perry to cover the song to promote the musical's national tour. Later that month, Perry released "Cozy Little Christmas". She also recorded the song "Immortal Flame" for the game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, and had a playable character modeled after her.
Outside of recording music, Perry appeared as herself in the film Zoolander 2, which was released in February 2016. In February 2017, the singer launched a shoe line titled Katy Perry Collections. Her shoes are available on its namesake website and at retailers such as Dillard's and Walmart. The following August, she hosted the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. Perry was signed for a $25-million salary to serve as a judge on the sixteenth season of American Idol, which premiered in March 2018. Perry began a relationship with actor Orlando Bloom in early 2016 before the couple separated in February 2017. They reconciled in 2018 and got engaged on February 14, 2019.
At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Perry performed "Here You Come Again", alongside Dolly Parton and Kacey Musgraves, as part of a tribute to Parton. Four days later, she released a song called "365", with DJ Zedd. In April, Perry was included on a remix of Daddy Yankee's song "Con Calma", featuring Snow. She followed this with the singles "Never Really Over" on May 31, "Small Talk" on August 9, and "Harleys in Hawaii" on October 16. "Never Really Over" in particular received critical acclaim. In June 2019, Perry appeared in the music video of Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down". In July, a jury in California returned a verdict following a week-long trial that Perry's song "Dark Horse" had copied Flame's 2008 song "Joyful Noise" after he filed a copyright lawsuit alleging that it used his track's beat without permission; the verdict was later overturned. After the initial verdict, the jury ordered her to pay him $550,000.
=== 2020–2023: Smile, motherhood, and Las Vegas residency ===
Following the release of her single "Never Worn White" in March 2020, Perry revealed in the accompanying music video that she was expecting her first child with Bloom. "Daisies", the lead single from her sixth album, was released on May 15, 2020. Its second single "Smile" followed two months later. The album, also titled Smile, was released on August 28, 2020. Two days before its distribution, she gave birth to a daughter named Daisy Dove Bloom. The album received mixed reviews, and debuted at number five in the United States. Perry further promoted the album with four compilation EPs: Camp Katy, Empowered, Scorpio SZN, and Cosmic Energy. These EPs were followed by the single "Not the End of the World" in December 2020, which had a music video in which Zooey Deschanel impersonates Perry. Additionally she collaborated with various artists to create two remixes of Smile album tracks. Tiësto remix of "Resilient" featuring Aitana was released in November 2020, while Bruno Martini remix of "Cry About It Later" featuring Luísa Sonza was released in April 2021.
On January 20, 2021, Perry performed "Firework" at the Celebrating America concert during the inauguration of Joe Biden. Four months later, she released a new single, "Electric", a collaboration with Pokémon as part of its 25th anniversary. That December, Perry followed this with "When I'm Gone", a collaboration with Swedish DJ Alesso that made her the third person to reach number one on Croatia's ARC 100 list across three different decades following Lady Gaga and Coldplay.
Perry began hosting a concert residency named Play at Resorts World Las Vegas on December 29, 2021. The show's inception happened during the COVID-19 lockdowns with Perry being inspired by Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Pee-wee's Playhouse, and Pee-wee's Big Adventure. She described it as "larger than life" and "the kookiest, most camp show I've ever put together." The show has received critical acclaim with Melinda Sheckells of Billboard saying that Play's "sold-out opening night is part fantasy, part hallucination and thoroughly camp. In addition to a sold out opening night, the Santa Barbara Independent reported that Perry's contract deal for the residency was worth $168 million. It concluded on November 4, 2023, and grossed $46.4 million.
In September 2021, Variety paid tribute to and honored Perry in their "Power of Women" issue, where she discussed her career, motherhood, and philanthropy. As a nominee, she attended the Variety 2021 "Power of Women" dinner. On her 37th birthday the next month, Perry guest hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show and starred in a holiday advertisement for Gap Inc. which featured her singing "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles. A full version of her cover was released on streaming platforms the same day. In January 2022, she and Morgan McLachlan established De Soi, a company which produces and sells non-alcoholic apéritifs. Both wanted a beverage that "would mellow the mind, minus the buzz" when creating it.
Along with Thomas Rhett, Perry recorded a country pop duet titled "Where We Started" for his album of the same name that was released on April 1, 2022. The next month, it was announced Perry would create music for the soundtrack to Jeremy Zag's animated musical film Melody and voice its title character. She also became the new face for Just Eat's, SkipTheDishes', Lieferando's, and Menulog's advertisements and created a new remix of their jingle. On June 8, 2022, Perry was awarded with the Key to Las Vegas, the same day it was marked as Katy Perry day.
Perry collaborated with the tech company Apple Inc. starring in advertisements for their GarageBand music software where users could have "Remix Sessions" featuring her song, "Harleys in Hawaii". On the collab, she stated in August 2022: "'Harleys in Hawaii' has lived so many different lives" as well as that there was "so much opportunity to remix this song, and I can't wait to hear all the GarageBand evolutions with this Apple collab." Perry performed at the May 2023 Coronation Concert of Charles III at Windsor Castle. Four months later, she sold her music rights to Litmus Music for an estimated $225 million.
=== 2024–present: 143 and Blue Origin flight ===
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in February 2024, Perry announced her exit from American Idol following the conclusion of the twenty-second season, saying she wanted to "go out and feel that pulse to my own beat" and release new music after being "in the studio for a while". The season premiered later that month, and concluded in May. She released "Woman's World", the first single from her seventh album, on July 11, 2024. Two other singles preceded the record's release: "Lifetimes" and "I'm His, He's Mine" featuring Doechii. The album, titled 143, was released on September 20. She described it as "super high energy, it's super summer, it's very high BPM" and "just full of so much joy, so much love, so much light". The record was panned by critics, and Perry was widely criticized for her decision to work with Dr. Luke on it after singer Kesha's allegations of sexual assault against him.
On September 11, Perry received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. She performed during the 2024 Rock in Rio festival on the day of 143's release. Eight days later, Perry headlined the pre-game entertainment at Australia's 2024 AFL Grand Final. That December, she filmed a performance at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster for a special titled Katy Perry: Night of a Lifetime. Produced by Fremantle, it premiered on ITV in the United Kingdom on December 21. A deluxe edition of 143, titled 1432, was released on December 20, 2024. It contains four additional tracks, and Perry called this "an early holiday gift" for her fans.
On April 14, 2025, she flew into space aboard Blue Origin NS-31, Blue Origin's eleventh crewed flight to space under the New Shepard program, along with Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez. It was the first all-female space flight since 1963.
The flight event was widely criticized for various reasons, including assertions that it was a media ploy or PR stunt for Amazon.
Later that month, Perry embarked on her fifth concert tour, the Lifetimes Tour, which ended in December. The tour grossed more than $134 million from its 91 shows.
In July 2025, she and Bloom confirmed that they had ended their relationship the previous month. Perry began dating former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau later that year. On December 6, the two confirmed their relationship on Instagram. She attended the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, with Trudeau in January 2026.
On November 6, 2025, Perry released a new song titled "Bandaids".
== Artistry ==
=== Influences ===
Perry cites her sister Angela as the woman who has had the most influence on her. During the early stages of her career, Perry's musical style gravitated towards gospel, and she aspired to be as successful as Amy Grant. Growing up, she could not listen to secular music, but at 17 a friend played her a recording of "Killer Queen" by Queen, which had a profound effect on her. She cites the band's frontman, Freddie Mercury, as her biggest influence and expressed how the "combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude" inspired her music. She paid homage to the band by naming her third fragrance Killer Queen.
Perry described the Beach Boys and their album Pet Sounds as having a considerable influence on her music: "Pet Sounds is one of my favorite records and it influenced pretty much all of my songwriting. All of the melody choices that I make are because of Pet Sounds." The singer also holds the Beatles' eponymous album in high esteem, and described these two albums as "the only things I listened to for probably two years straight."
Perry cites Alanis Morissette and her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill as a significant musical inspiration. In 2012, she stated: "Jagged Little Pill was the most perfect female record ever made. There's a song for anyone on that record; I relate to all those songs. They're still so timeless." Additionally, Perry borrows influence from Flaming Red by Patty Griffin and 10 Cent Wings by Jonatha Brooke. Perry's autobiographical documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me was largely influenced by Madonna: Truth or Dare. She admires Madonna's ability to reinvent herself, saying "I want to evolve like Madonna".
Perry names Björk as an influence, particularly admiring her "willingness to always be taking chances". Other artists who Perry has cited as influences include Stevie Nicks, ABBA, the Cardigans, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Ace of Base, 3OH!3, CeCe Peniston, C+C Music Factory, Black Box, Crystal Waters, Mariah Carey, Heart, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Imogen Heap, Rufus Wainwright, Pink, and Gwen Stefani. "Firework" was inspired by a passage in the book On the Road by Jack Kerouac in which the author compares people who are full of life to fireworks that shoot across the sky and make people watch in awe. Her second concert tour, the California Dreams Tour, was reminiscent of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She also credits the 1996 film The Craft for inspiring her song "Dark Horse", and Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now for influencing Prism.
=== Musical style and themes ===
Perry's sound has been described as bubblegum and power pop. Before she began incorporating elements of pop, rock, and disco into music, Katy Hudson contained gospel. Her subsequent releases, One of the Boys and Teenage Dream, involve themes of sex and love. One of the Boys is a pop rock record, while Teenage Dream features disco influences. Perry's fourth album, Prism, is significantly influenced by dance and pop music. Lyrically, the album addresses relationships, self-reflection, and everyday life. Her fifth studio effort Witness is an electropop album that she described as a "360-degree liberation" record, with themes including political liberation, sexual liberation, and liberation from negativity. Many of her songs, particularly on Teenage Dream, reflect on love between teenagers; W magazine described the album's sexual innuendos as "irresistible hook-laden melodies". Self-empowerment is a common theme in Perry's music.
Perry has described herself as a "singer-songwriter masquerading as a pop star" and maintains that honest songwriting is very important to her. She told Marie Claire: "I feel like my secret magic trick that separates me from a lot of my peers is the bravery to be vulnerable and truthful and honest. I think you become more relatable when you're vulnerable." Actress and comedian Kristen Wiig commented that "as easy, breezy, and infectious as Perry's songs can be, beneath the surface lurks a sea of mixed emotions, jumbled motives, and contradictory impulses complicated enough to fill a Carole King record." According to Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, "being taken seriously may be Perry's greatest challenge yet." In 2013, The New York Times labeled her "the most potent pop star of the day – her hits are relatable with just a hint of experimentation". Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times criticized her use of idioms and metaphors in her lyrics and for frequent "clichés". Throughout her career, Perry has also co-written songs recorded by other artists, including Lesley Roy, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie James Decker, Selena Gomez & the Scene, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea, Rita Ora, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana Grande.
=== Voice ===
Perry has a contralto vocal range. Her singing has received both praise and criticism. Betty Clarke of The Guardian commented that her "powerful voice is hard-edged" while Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone described Perry's vocals on Teenage Dream as "processed staccato blips". Darren Harvey of musicOMH compared Perry's vocals on One of the Boys to Alanis Morissette's, both possessing a "perky voice shifting octaves mid-syllable". Alex Miller from NME felt that "Perry's problem is often her voice" on One of the Boys, stating that "somewhere along the line someone convinced her she was like, well, a ballsy rock chick". Conversely, Bernadette McNulty from The Daily Telegraph praised her "rock chick voice" in a review of a concert promoting Prism.
== Public image ==
On social media, Perry surpassed Justin Bieber as the most followed person on Twitter in November 2013. She received a Guinness record for most Twitter followers, and became the first person to gain 100 million followers on the site in June 2017. Keith Caulfield of Billboard stated that Perry is "the rare celebrity who seems to have enormous popularity but genuine ground-level interaction with her adoring KatyCats". As of September 2025, she was the second-most followed woman on the site, with over 104 million Twitter followers, and the sixth most followed musician across social media with a combined total of over 377 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In June 2017, Time magazine listed Perry among its "25 Most Influential People on the Internet" of the year, writing that her live-stream for Witness was "blazing a trail" for being "the closest any major entertainer has come to giving fans the kind of 'real' intimacy that social media purports to provide".
She has been described as a sex symbol; GQ labeled her a "full-on male fantasy", while Elle wrote her body looked "as though sketched by a teenage boy". Vice called her a "'serious' popstar/woman/sex symbol". Perry was placed at number one on the Maxim Hot 100 in 2010 as the "most beautiful woman in the world", with editor Joe Levy describing her as a "triple – no quadruple – kind of hot". Men's Health readers voted her the "sexiest woman of 2013". During November 2010, she mentioned being proud of and satisfied with her figure.
Perry's fashion often incorporates humor, bright colors, and food-related themes such as her characteristic spinning peppermint swirl dress. Vogue described her as "never exactly one to shy away from the outrageous or the extreme in any realm", and called her the "Queen of Camp", while Glamour named her the "queen of quirk". In February 2009, Perry told Seventeen that her fashion style was "a bit of a concoction of different things" and stated she enjoyed humor in her clothing. She has also described herself as having "multipersonality disorder" for fashion. Perry lists Gwen Stefani, Shirley Manson, Chloë Sevigny, Daphne Guinness, Natalie Portman, and the fictional character Lolita as her style icons. In 2022, Elle dubbed her as "the kitsch-loving pop star renowned for her uniquely experimental style", while Vogue described her style as "synonymous with outrageous, eye-catching ensembles that lean towards the theatrical".
During the 2017 launch of her shoe collection, Katy Perry Collections, she said about shoes: "When I first got to L.A., I cultivated my style on a budget, always shopping at thrift stores or vintage stores. ... Once, I found these flats that looked like Dalmatian dogs. They had ears that moved and a tongue that stuck out. They were such a conversation piece. That's what is so great about fashion. ... It's a form of communication. You don't have to start a smoking habit to start talking to someone. You can just wear cool shoes. It's an icebreaker."
=== Sexual misconduct allegations ===
In 2018, while serving as a judge on American Idol, Perry – then aged 33 – gave an unwanted kiss to a 19-year-old contestant, Benjamin Glaze. When Glaze admitted that he had never kissed a girl (a reference to Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl"), she gestured for him to come up to her for a kiss on the cheek but then kissed him on the lips. Her behavior was met with backlash, with some pointing out that if she had been a male judge who kissed a woman the same way, the reaction would have been different. Glaze later admitted that the experience made him feel uncomfortable, as it was his first kiss and he wanted it to be special, although he rejected the notion that he felt sexually harassed by Perry.
In August 2019, Josh Kloss, Perry's co-star in the "Teenage Dream" music video, accused her of sexual misconduct. In an Instagram post, Kloss alleged that, during a party at a skating rink, Perry pulled on his sweatpants and underwear, exposing his penis to her male friends. He also said her management prevented him from speaking about his time with the singer. Johnny Wujek, the creative director of said party defended Perry, saying that she "would never do something like that" and accused Kloss of having an "ongoing obsession" with her. After initially refraining from responding to this, believing it would have detracted from the MeToo movement, Perry has also denied Kloss' claims.
== Legacy ==
Several media outlets such as Billboard and Glamour have referred to her as the "Queen of Pop", while others like Vogue, Rolling Stone, and InStyle have dubbed Perry the "Queen of Camp". Andrew Unterberger of Billboard described Teenage Dream "one of the defining LPs from a new golden age in mega-pop" while Christopher Rosa of Glamour named her as an influence to the pop sound and style of the 2010s, adding that her singles are "some of the most recognizable, iconic, and impactful hits in pop history." Perry was named "one of the last decade's most reliable and successful hitmakers" by the Official Charts Company in 2022.
Additionally, Perry was included in Glamour's "104 Women Who Defined the Decade in Pop Culture" list of the 2010s. It stated Perry "did more than just break chart records. She was one of the driving forces behind the sound of pop radio in the 2010s" for her tracks that were "glossy, booming, sugary-sweet, and undeniably catchy". Variety included Perry in their Variety 500 list of the most influential business leaders, calling her a "global phenomenon" and a "dedicated artist and tireless self-promoter who has leveraged chart-topping hits, sold-out stadium shows, and staggering endorsement deals to become one of the richest and most influential pop stars alive." A 2017 journal published by Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts studying structural patterns in the melodies of earworm songs compiled lists of catchiest tracks from 3,000 participants, in which Perry's "California Gurls" ranked number six. She has been called a "gay icon" by Taylor Henderson of Out, noting how "I Kissed a Girl" helped fans explore their sexuality and how Perry openly embraced the LGBTQ+ community.
Perry's music has been described by Out as having a "lasting legacy", with American singers Fletcher sampling "I Kissed a Girl" and Olivia Rodrigo referencing Teenage Dream on "Brutal". Additionally, other artists such as Halsey and Ariana Grande have praised Perry's work, with the former calling Teenage Dream the "perfect pop album" and Grande saying "The One That Got Away" is "one of the biggest and most perfectly written pop songs ever from one of the best pop albums of all time."
== Other ventures ==
=== Philanthropy ===
Perry has supported various charitable organizations and causes throughout her career. She has contributed to organizations aimed at improving the lives and welfare of children in particular. In April 2013, she joined UNICEF to assist children in Madagascar with education and nutrition. On December 3, 2013, she was officially named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, "with a special focus on engaging young people in the agency's work to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable children and adolescents." She arranged for a portion of the money generated from tickets to her Prismatic World Tour to go to UNICEF. In September 2010, she helped build and design the Boys Hope/Girls Hope foundation shelter for youth in Baltimore, Maryland along with Raven-Symoné, Shaquille O'Neal, and the cast of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In 2010, Perry and Nicki Minaj performed a cover of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" for service members during the 2010 VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert.
She has also supported children's education and well-being. All profits from sales of the album The Gay Nineties Old Tyme Music: Daisy Bell, which includes her rendition of "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)", were donated to the charity Little Kids Rock, which supports musical education in underprivileged elementary schools. In June 2014, she teamed up with Staples Inc. for a project entitled "Make Roar Happen" which donated $1 million to DonorsChoose, an organization that supports teachers and funds classroom resources in public schools. In May 2016, she worked with UNICEF to improve child care quality in Vietnam, hoping to "break the cycle of poverty and drastically improve children's health, education and well-being". The following month, UNICEF announced that Perry would receive the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award "for her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in support of the world's most vulnerable children" at their annual Snowflake Ball in November. All Spotify streams of her 2021 cover of "All You Need Is Love" generated $1 in donations for the charity Baby2Baby.
Perry has supported organizations aimed at aiding people suffering with diseases including cancer and HIV/AIDS. In 2008, she donated a plaster cast of her breasts that had been painted by her then-boyfriend Travie McCoy to raise money for the Keep A Breast Foundation. She hosted and performed at the We Can Survive concert along with Bonnie McKee, Kacey Musgraves, Sara Bareilles, Ellie Goulding, and duo Tegan and Sara at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 23, 2013. The concert's profits were donated to Young Survival Coalition, an organization aiding breast cancer in young women. In June 2009, she designed an item of clothing for H&M's "Fashion Against AIDS" campaign, which raises money for HIV/AIDS awareness projects. On February 26, 2017, she served as a co-chair alongside various celebrities such as Beyoncé, Lea Michele, Jim Carrey, Jared Leto, and Kevin Spacey for the 25th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party, a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS healthcare.
The proceeds from Perry's single "Part of Me" were donated to the charity MusiCares, which helps musicians in times of need. During her California Dreams Tour, she raised over $175,000 for the Tickets-For-Charity fundraiser. The money was divided between three charities: the Children's Health Fund (CHF), Generosity Water, and The Humane Society of the United States. On her 27th birthday, Perry set up a donations page for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Auckland, and set up a similar page benefiting the David Lynch Foundation for her 28th birthday. On March 29, 2014, she helped raise $2.4 million for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles along with other celebrities such as Ryan Seacrest, Pharrell Williams, Tim Allen, Lisa Edelstein, and Riley Keough.
Perry performed at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, among various performers including its organizer Ariana Grande, which was broadcast live on June 4, 2017, on radio and television stations around the world. In March 2018, Perry announced Witness: Coming Home, a benefit concert that was held in her hometown of Santa Barbara on May 19, 2018. The concert benefited those recovering from the aftermath of the 2017 California wildfires and 2018 Southern California mudflows. Perry partnered with the Santa Barbara Foundation, the 93108 Fund and The 805 UndocuFund, organizations which help in assisting members of the community in the Santa Barbara area through grants and various philanthropic efforts.
=== Activism and political views ===
Perry has publicly advocated for LGBT rights and admitted that she wrote "I Kissed a Girl" about her own bisexual experiences with other women. In 2017, she received a Nation Equality Award from Human Rights Campaign for "using her powerful voice and international platform to speak out for LGBTQ equality". During her acceptance speech, she discussed having bisexual experiences, her fluid sexuality, and thanked the LGBTQ+ community. In an Out interview in 2021, she was heralded as a "gay icon" with "I Kissed a Girl" being called a "bonafide queer anthem". Perry continued to thank the LGBTQ+ community in the same interview, saying: "I came from a very sheltered upbringing where it wasn't okay to be friends with anyone from that community. And now that is my community." She also mentioned "I wouldn't have survived without the community and it's amazing how full circle it's come and how much growth has happened since I started." Tomás Mier of Rolling Stone remarked Perry "championed queer folks, especially drag queens, throughout her career".
She dedicated the music video to her song "Firework" to the It Gets Better Project. In June 2012, Perry expressed her hopes for LGBT equality, commenting "hopefully, we will look back at this moment and think like we do now concerning [other] civil rights issues. We'll just shake our heads in disbelief, saying, 'Thank God we've evolved.' That would be my prayer for the future." In December 2012, Perry was awarded the Trevor Hero Award by The Trevor Project for her work and activism on behalf of LGBT youth.
Perry identifies as a feminist, and appeared in April 2013 in a video clip for the "Chime for Change" campaign that aimed to spread female empowerment. She has also said that America's lack of free health care drove her "absolutely crazy". Following the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016, Perry and nearly 200 other artists and executives in music signed an open letter organized by Billboard addressed to United States Congress demanding increased gun control in the United States.
Through Twitter and by performing at rallies, Perry supported President Barack Obama in his run for re-election and praised his support for same-sex marriage and LGBT equality. She performed at three rallies for Obama, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Wisconsin, singing a rendition of "Let's Stay Together" as well as a number of her songs. During her Las Vegas performance she wore a dress made to replicate a voting ballot, with Obama's box filled in. On Twitter, she encouraged her followers to vote for Obama.
In August 2013, prior to a performance in Australia, Perry stated that she did not agree with conservative Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott's stance against same-sex marriage, telling him "I love you as a human being but I can't give you my vote". Abbott had dialed in to a talkback segment on Sydney radio station 2Day FM to ask Perry when she would return to Australia for a full tour. In April 2014, she publicly supported Marianne Williamson in her campaign for California's 33rd congressional district by attending a political press event. She endorsed Kamala Harris in the United States Senate election in California, and organized a fundraiser for Harris at her home in Los Angeles in November 2016. Perry also publicly endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. She performed alongside Elton John at a fundraising concert for Clinton in New York City in March 2016. Perry also spoke and performed at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in support of Clinton.
Four years later, she supported Joe Biden and Kamala Harris during the 2020 United States presidential election, praising the latter as a leader who had "experience we desperately need right now" and believed that the former "choosing her as his running mate is already a testament to his decision making". In 2022, Perry posted a picture of herself voting for conservative candidate Rick Caruso in the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, which Democrats heavily criticized her for. During the 2024 United States presidential election, she endorsed Harris for office, stating "I've always known her to fight for the most vulnerable, to speak up for the voiceless, and to protect our rights as women to make decisions about our own bodies".
=== Attempted purchase of Los Feliz property ===
In 2015, Perry attempted to purchase a former convent in Los Angeles, which sparked a years-long legal battle involving the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, members of the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary, and real estate developer Dana Hollister. Initially, she offered the archdiocese $14.5 million in cash to buy the eight-acre Los Feliz property. However, two elderly nuns, Sister Rita Callanan and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, opposed the sale and attempted to sell the property to Hollister instead at $15.5 million, believing she would preserve the site and open it to the public. The archdiocese sued, asserting the nuns lacked authority to sell the property and that any sale over $7.5 million required Vatican approval.
In 2016, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled the sale to Hollister invalid due to the absence of necessary church approval, clearing the way for Perry's purchase. In 2017, a jury determined Hollister had intentionally interfered with Perry's real estate deal and awarded $5 million in compensatory damages—$3.47 million to the archdiocese and $1.57 million to Perry's company. The judge later imposed an additional $10 million in punitive damages, divided between Perry and the archdiocese. Holzman died in court in 2018.
== Achievements ==
Throughout her career, Perry has won five American Music Awards, 14 People's Choice Awards, 20 Guinness World Records, a Brit Award, and a Juno Award. In September 2012, Billboard dubbed her the "Woman of the Year". From May 2010 to September 2011, the singer spent a record-breaking 69 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Teenage Dream became the first album by a female artist to produce five number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, and the second album overall after Michael Jackson's Bad. In the United States, she has accumulated nine number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, her most recent being "Dark Horse", and holds the record for having 18 consecutive number-one songs on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.
According to Billboard, she is the 15th most successful dance club artist of all time. The magazine additionally ranked her fourth on its "Greatest of All Time Pop Songs Artists" list, fifth on the 2025 "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" list, and 25th on the 2024 "Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century" list, included Teenage Dream and Prism among its "Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums by Women" list, and ranked "Dark Horse" at number 100 on its "Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs" as well as one of its "Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs by Women" along with "E.T.", "Firework", and "California Gurls". In June 2015, her music video for "Dark Horse" became the first video by a female artist to reach one billion views on Vevo. The following month, her music video for "Roar" reached one billion views on Vevo, making her the first artist to have multiple videos with one billion views. During May 2024, it reached four billion views, making it the most viewed music video by a female artist on YouTube at that time.
With more than 151 million records sold worldwide, Perry is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She is 10th among female artists who have sold the most records worldwide and the best-selling female artist of Capitol Records. She was declared the Top Global Female Recording Artist of 2013 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). According to RIAA, Perry is the thirteenth top digital singles artist in the United States, with 121.5 million certified song units in the country including on-demand streams and also has 19 million certified album units, totaling 140.5 million certified units in the United States. In 2017, she became the first artist to have three Diamond-certified songs from the RIAA. Her new certification for "Roar" joined her previously Diamond-certified songs "Dark Horse" and "Firework". Seven years later, "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "E.T.", and Teenage Dream have also been certified Diamond, bringing a total of seven Diamond certifications from the organization. The latter is the first and only album with four Diamond-certified songs on its tracklist. In addition, Perry is the only artist to have three songs selling six million digital downloads, with "Firework" selling 7 million, "Roar" at 6.11 million, and "Dark Horse" at 6.08 million according to Nielsen SoundScan. Elsewhere, "Roar" has become Australia's fourth most certified single of all time (22-times Platinum) according to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). As of 2025, Perry has six more singles that are certified 10-times Platinum or higher by the ARIA. In Canada, Teenage Dream was the eighth best-selling album of the 2010s, and it was certified Diamond by Music Canada, along with seven of her singles. In Brazil, Perry has 15 songs certified Diamond or higher by Pro-Música Brasil (PMB), and in Italy, the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) listed her as the 98th most certified music artist since the certification database became available in 2009. As of November 2025, Perry has garnered over 125 billion cumulative streams from various digital and streaming platforms.
In 2011, Forbes ranked her third on their "Top-Earning Women In Music" list with earnings of $44 million and fifth on their 2012 list with $45 million. She subsequently ranked seventh on the 2013 Forbes list for "Top-Earning Women In Music" with $39 million earned, and fifth on their 2014 list with $40 million. With earnings of $135 million, Forbes also ranked Perry number one on their 2015 "Top-Earning Women In Music" list as well as the "World's Highest-Paid Musicians" and declared her the highest earning female celebrity in 2015, placing her at number 3 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. In 2016, the magazine estimated her net worth was $125 million, and ranked her number six on their list of "Highest-Paid Women in Music" with earnings of $41 million. The following year, she was ranked number nine on the list with $33 million. In 2018, she topped its "Highest-Paid Women in Music" listing and ranked at number four on the "Highest-Paid Female Celebrities" list, with earnings of $83 million. Perry subsequently was placed at number four on the 2019 "Highest-Paid Women in Music" listings, with $57.5 million. Later that year, with earnings of $530 million throughout the 2010s, the magazine also ranked her as the ninth-highest-earning musician of the decade. Perry is among the wealthiest musical artists; during September 2023, Forbes surmised her net worth was $340 million. This increased to $360 million by June 2025, where she was included on the magazine's 2025 list of "America's Richest Women Celebrities".
== Discography ==
Solo studio albums
Katy Hudson (2001)
One of the Boys (2008)
Teenage Dream (2010)
Prism (2013)
Witness (2017)
Smile (2020)
143 (2024)
with The Matrix
The Matrix (2009)
== Filmography ==
The Smurfs (2011)
Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)
The Smurfs 2 (2013)
Brand: A Second Coming (2015)
Katy Perry: The Prismatic World Tour (2015)
Katy Perry: Making of the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show (2015)
Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer (2015)
Zoolander 2 (2016)
== Tours and residency ==
Headlining tours
Hello Katy Tour (2009)
California Dreams Tour (2011–2012)
Prismatic World Tour (2014–2015)
Witness: The Tour (2017–2018)
The Lifetimes Tour (2025)
Co-headlining tours
The Strangely Normal Tour (with Phil Joel, Earthsuit, and V*Enna) (2001)
Residency
Play (2021–2023) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_FIFA_World_Cup | 1982 FIFA World Cup | The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in the final held in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. It was Italy's third World Cup title, but their first since 1938. The defending champions, Argentina, were eliminated in the second round (finishing third and last in their group). Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait and New Zealand made their first appearances in the finals.
The tournament featured the first penalty shootout in World Cup competition. This was the third and last World Cup to feature two rounds of group stages. It was also the third time (after 1934 and 1966) that all four semi-finalists were European.
In the first round of Group 3, Hungary defeated El Salvador 10–1, equalling the largest margin of victory recorded in the finals (Hungary over South Korea 9–0 in 1954, and Yugoslavia over Zaire 9–0 in 1974).
Although successful and filled with compelling and entertaining matches, this tournament also was blighted by violent fouls, some poor officiating, some overcrowded stadiums, very hot weather in some cities and alleged collusion between teams. One particular incident of note was West German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher's foul of French player Patrick Battiston during a semi-final match in Seville, and another was Italian player Claudio Gentile's intense and often violent match-long fouling and marking of Argentine player Diego Maradona. FIFA changed the regulations to somewhat prevent this kind of brutality on the pitch for the subsequent tournament in Mexico.
== Host selection ==
Spain was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London on 6 July 1966. Hosting rights for the 1974 and 1978 tournaments were awarded at the same time. West Germany and Spain were initially competing for a hosting bid, but ultimately agreed a deal whereby Spain would support West Germany for the 1974 tournament and West Germany would allow Spain to bid for the 1982 World Cup unopposed. As a result, West Germany withdrew its bid for the 1982 edition.
The decision to host a World Cup in Spain was controversial: At the time of Spain being selected, the country was still under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco's regime, However, the regime of Francoist Spain had ended by 1975 with the death of Franco. The World Cup had significant effects on Spanish society after the democratic transition because, from the period from 1975 to 1982, Spain was still undergoing a transition from dictatorship to democracy.. When Spain was first awarded the 1982 finals the World Cup Finals was a 16 nation tournament originally Spain was planning for 16 nations but just before kick off in the 1978 World Cup FIFA took the decision to expand the tournament to 24 nations.
== Qualification ==
For the first time, the World Cup finals expanded from 16 to 24 teams. This allowed more countries to participate from Africa and Asia.
Northern Ireland qualified for the first time since 1958. Belgium, Czechoslovakia, El Salvador, England and the Soviet Union were all back in the finals after 12-year absences. England had its first successful World Cup qualifying campaign in 20 years. Yugoslavia and Chile were also back after missing the 1978 tournament.
Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, and New Zealand all participated in the World Cup for the first time.
This was the first time that all six confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) sent representative teams to the tournament.
=== List of qualified teams ===
The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.
== Summary ==
=== Format ===
The first round was a round-robin group stage containing six groups of four teams each. Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw, with goal difference used to separate teams equal on points. The top two teams in each group advanced. In the second round, the twelve remaining teams were split into four groups of three teams each, with the winner of each group progressing to the knockout semi-final stage.
The composition of the groups in the second round was determined before the start of the tournament. Groups A and B were to include one team from each of Groups 1 through 6, and Groups C and D included the remaining six teams. The winners of Groups 1 and 3 were in Group A whilst the runners-up were in Group C. The winners of Groups 2 and 4 were in Group B whilst the runners-up were in Group D. The winner of Group 5 was in Group D whilst the runner-up was in Group B. The winner of Group 6 was in Group C whilst the runner-up was in Group A. Thus, Group A mirrored Group C, and Group B mirrored Group D with the winners and runners-up from the first round being placed into opposite groups in the second round.
The second-round groups that mirrored each other (based on the first-round groupings) faced off against each other in the semi-finals. Thus, the Group A winner played the Group C winner, and the Group B winner played the Group D winner. This meant that if two teams which played in the same first-round group both emerged from the second round, they would meet for the second time of the tournament in a semifinal match. It also guaranteed that the final match would feature two teams that had not previously played each other in the tournament. As it turned out, Italy and Poland who were both in Group 1 in the first round, each won their second-round groups and played each other in a semifinal match.
=== First group stage ===
In Group 1, newcomers Cameroon held both Poland and Italy to draws, and were denied a place in the next round on the basis of having scored fewer goals than Italy (the sides had an equal goal difference). Poland and Italy qualified over Cameroon and Peru. Italian journalists and tifosi criticised their team for their uninspired performances that managed three draws; the squad was reeling from the recent Serie A scandal, where national players were suspended for match fixing and illegal betting.
Group 2 saw one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day with the 2–1 victory of Algeria over reigning European Champions West Germany. In the final match in the group, West Germany met Austria in a match later dubbed as the "Disgrace of Gijón". Algeria had already played their final group game on the previous day, and West Germany and Austria knew that a West German win by 1 or 2 goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans. After 10 minutes of all-out attack, West Germany scored through a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After that solitary goal was scored, the two teams kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of "Fuera, fuera" ("Out, out") were screamed by the Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. This performance was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans. One German fan was so upset by his team's display that he burned his German flag in disgust. Algeria protested to FIFA, who ruled that the result would stand; FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously.
Group 3, where the opening ceremony and first match of the tournament took place, saw Belgium beat defending champions Argentina 1–0. The Camp Nou stadium was the home of Barcelona, and many fans had wanted to see the club's new signing, Argentinian star Diego Maradona, who did not perform to expectations. Both Belgium and Argentina ultimately advanced at the expense of Hungary and El Salvador despite Hungary's 10–1 win over the Central American nation – which, with a total of 11 goals, is the second highest scoreline in a World Cup game (equal with Brazil's 6–5 victory over Poland in the 1938 tournament and Hungary's 8–3 victory over West Germany in the 1954 tournament).
Group 4 opened with England midfielder Bryan Robson's goal against France after only 27 seconds of play. England won 3–1 and qualified along with France over Czechoslovakia and Kuwait, though the tiny Gulf emirate held Czechoslovakia to a 1–1 draw. In the game between Kuwait and France, with France leading 3–1, France midfielder Alain Giresse scored a goal vehemently contested by the Kuwait team, who had stopped play after hearing a piercing whistle from the stands, which they thought had come from Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar. Play had not yet resumed when Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, brother of the then-Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwait Football Association, rushed onto the pitch to remonstrate with the referee. Stupar reversed his initial decision and disallowed the goal to the fury of the French. Maxime Bossis scored another valid goal a few minutes later and France won 4–1.
In Group 5, Honduras held hosts Spain to a 1–1 draw. Northern Ireland won the group outright, eliminating Yugoslavia and beating hosts Spain 1–0; Northern Ireland had to play the majority of the second half with ten men after Mal Donaghy was dismissed. Spain narrowly avoided elimination due to a huge referee error, securing a contentious 2–1 victory over Yugoslavia, largely attributed to a disputed penalty decision. At 17 years and 41 days, Northern Ireland forward Norman Whiteside was the youngest player to appear in a World Cup match.
Brazil were in Group 6. With Zico, Sócrates, Falcão, Éder and others, they boasted an offensive firepower that promised a return to the glory days of 1970. They beat the USSR 2–1 thanks to a 20-metre Éder goal two minutes from time, then Scotland and New Zealand with four goals each. The Soviets took the group's other qualifying berth on goal difference at the expense of the Scots.
=== Second group stage ===
Poland opened Group A with a 3–0 defeat of Belgium thanks to a Zbigniew Boniek hat-trick. The Soviet Union prevailed 1–0 in the next match over Belgium. The Poles edged out the USSR for the semi-final spot on the final day on goal difference thanks to a 0–0 draw in a politically charged match, as Poland's then-Communist government had imposed a martial law a few months earlier to quash internal dissent.
In Group B, a match between England and West Germany ended in a goalless draw. West Germany put the pressure on England in their second match by beating Spain 2–1. The home side drew 0–0 against England, denying Ron Greenwood's team a semi-final place and putting England in the same position as Cameroon, being eliminated without losing a game.
In Group C, with Brazil, Argentina and Italy, in the opener, Italy prevailed 2–1 over Diego Maradona and Mario Kempes's side after a game in which Italian defenders Gaetano Scirea and Claudio Gentile proved themselves equal to the task of stopping the Argentinian attack. Argentina now needed a win over Brazil on the second day, but lost 3–1 – Argentina only scoring in the last minute. Maradona kicked Brazilian player João Batista in the groin and was sent off in the 85th minute.
The match between Brazil and Italy pitted Brazil's attack against Italy's defence, with the majority of the game played around the Italian area, and with the Italian midfielders and defenders returning the repeated set volleys of Brazilian shooters such as Zico, Sócrates and Falcão. Italian centre back Gentile was assigned to mark Brazilian striker Zico, earning a yellow card and a suspension for the semi-final. Paolo Rossi opened the scoring when he headed in Antonio Cabrini's cross with just five minutes played. Sócrates equalised for Brazil seven minutes later. In the twenty-fifth minute Rossi stepped past Júnior, intercepted a pass from Cerezo across the Brazilians' goal, and drilled the shot home. The Brazilians threw everything in search of another equaliser, while Italy defended bravely. On 68 minutes, Falcão collected a pass from Júnior and as Cerezo's dummy run distracted three defenders, fired home from 20 yards out. Now Italy had gained the lead twice thanks to Rossi's goals, and Brazil had come back twice; at 2–2, Brazil would have been through on goal difference, but in the 74th minute, a poor clearance from an Italian corner kick went back to the Brazilian six-yard line where Rossi and Francesco Graziani were waiting. Both aimed at the same shot, Rossi connecting to get a hat trick and sending Italy into the lead for good. In the 86th minute Giancarlo Antognoni scored an apparent fourth goal for Italy, but it was wrongly disallowed for offside. In the dying moments Dino Zoff made a miraculous save to deny Oscar a goal, ensuring that Italy advanced to the semi-final.
In the last group, Group D, France dispatched Austria 1–0 with a free kick goal by Bernard Genghini, and then defeated Northern Ireland 4–1 to reach their first semi-final since 1958.
=== Semi-finals, match for third place and final ===
In a re-match of the encounter in the first round, Italy beat Poland in the first semi-final through two goals from Paolo Rossi. In the game between France and West Germany, the Germans opened the scoring through a Pierre Littbarski strike in the 17th minute, and the French equalised nine minutes later with a Michel Platini penalty. In the second half a long through ball sent French defender Patrick Battiston racing clear towards the German goal. With both Battiston and the lone German defender trying to be the first to reach the ball, Battiston flicked it past German keeper Harald Schumacher from the edge of the German penalty area and Schumacher reacted by jumping up to block. Schumacher did not seem to go for the ball, however, and clattered straight into the oncoming Battiston – which left the French player unconscious and knocked two of his teeth out. Schumacher's action has been described as "one of history's most shocking fouls". The ball went just wide of the post and Dutch referee Charles Corver deemed Schumacher's tackle on Battiston not to be a foul and awarded a goal kick. Play was interrupted for several minutes while Battiston, still unconscious and with a broken jaw, was carried off the field on a stretcher.
After French defender Manuel Amoros had sent a 25-metre drive crashing onto the West German crossbar in the final minute, the match went into extra time. On 92 minutes, France's sweeper Marius Trésor fired a swerving volley under Schumacher's crossbar from ten metres out to make it 2–1. Six minutes later, an unmarked Alain Giresse drove in an 18-metre shot off the inside of the right post to finish off a counter-attack and put France up 3–1. But West Germany would not give up. In the 102nd minute a counter-attack culminated in a cross that recent substitute Karl-Heinz Rummenigge turned in at the near post from a difficult angle with the outside of his foot, reducing France's lead to 3–2. Then in the 108th minute Germany took a short corner and after France failed to clear, the ball was played by Germany to Littbarski whose cross to Horst Hrubesch was headed back to the centre towards Klaus Fischer, who was unmarked but with his back to goal. Fischer in turn volleyed the ball past French keeper Jean-Luc Ettori with a bicycle kick, levelling the scores at 3–3.
The resulting penalty shootout was the first at a World Cup finals. Giresse, Manfred Kaltz, Manuel Amoros, Paul Breitner and Dominique Rocheteau all converted penalties until Uli Stielike was stopped by Ettori, giving France the advantage. But then Schumacher stepped forward, lifted the tearful Stielike from the ground, and saved Didier Six's shot. With Germany handed the lifeline they needed Littbarski converted his penalty, followed by Platini for France, and then Rummenigge for Germany as the tension mounted. France defender Maxime Bossis then had his kick parried by Schumacher who anticipated it, and Hrubesch stepped up to score and send Germany to the World Cup final yet again with a victory on penalties, 5–4.
In the match for third place, Poland edged the French side 3–2 which matched Poland's best performance at a World Cup previously achieved in 1974. France would go on to win the European Championship two years later.
In the final, Antonio Cabrini fired a penalty wide of goal in the first half. In the second half, Paolo Rossi scored first for the third straight game by heading home Gentile's bouncing cross at close range. Exploiting the situation, Italy scored twice more on quick counter-strikes, all the while capitalising on their defence to hold the Germans. With Gentile and Gaetano Scirea holding the centre, the Italian strikers were free to counter-punch the weakened German defence. Marco Tardelli's shot from the edge of the area beat Schumacher first, and Alessandro Altobelli, the substitute for injured striker Francesco Graziani, made it 3–0 at the end of a solo sprint down the right side by the stand-out winger Bruno Conti. Italy's lead appeared secure, encouraging Italian president Sandro Pertini to wag his finger at the cameras in a playful "not going to catch us now" gesture. In the 83rd minute, Paul Breitner scored for West Germany, but it was only a consolation goal as Italy won 3–1 to claim their first World Cup title in 44 years, and their third in total.
== Records ==
Italy became the first team to advance from the first round without winning a game, drawing all three (while Cameroon were eliminated in the same way by virtue of having only one goal scored against Italy's two), and also the first of two World Cup winners to draw or lose three matches at the Finals (Argentina matched this by drawing two games and losing one in 2022). By winning, Italy equalled Brazil's record of winning the World Cup three times. Italy's total of twelve goals scored in seven matches set a new low for average goals scored per game by a World Cup winning side (subsequently exceeded by Spain in 2010), while Italy's aggregate goal difference of +6 for the tournament remains a record low for a champion, equalled by Spain. England became the first and only side in European history to not select a player from that season's European Cup winning team, Aston Villa, in any match.
Italy's 40-year-old captain-goalkeeper Dino Zoff became the oldest player to win the World Cup. This was the first World Cup in which teams from all six continental confederations participated in the finals, something that did not happen again until 2006.
== Venues ==
Seventeen stadiums in fourteen cities hosted the tournament, a record that stood until the 2002 tournament, which was played in twenty stadiums in two countries. The most used venue was FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, which hosted five matches, including a semi-final; it was the largest stadium used for this tournament. With Sarrià Stadium also hosting three matches, Barcelona was the Spanish city with the most matches in España 1982 with eight; Madrid, the nation's capital, followed with seven. The only new stadium built for this tournament was the Jose Zorilla stadium in Valladolid.
This particular World Cup was organised in such a way that all of the matches of each of the six groups were assigned stadiums in cities near to each other, in order to reduce the stress of travel on the players and fans. For example, Group 1 matches were played in Vigo and A Coruña, Group 2 in Gijón and Oviedo, Group 3 in Elche and Alicante (except for the first match, which was the opening match of the tournament, which was played at the Camp Nou), Group 4 in Bilbao and Valladolid, Group 5 (which included hosts Spain) in Valencia and Zaragoza, and Group 6 in Seville and Malaga (of the three first-round matches in Seville, the first match between Brazil and the Soviet Union was played in the Pizjuán Stadium, and the other two were played in the Villamarín Stadium). Group stage matches in the milder northern cities like Bilbao or Gijón would start at 17:00, while the matches in the southern cities like Seville or Valencia would start at 21:00, in an attempt to avoid the intense southern Spanish summer heat.
When the tournament went into the round-robin second round matches, all the aforementioned cities excluding Barcelona, Alicante and Seville did not host any more matches in España 1982. Both the Santiago Bernabéu and Vicente Calderón stadiums in Madrid and the Sarrià Stadium in Barcelona were used for the first time for this tournament for the second round matches. Madrid and Barcelona hosted the four second round group matches; Barcelona hosted Groups A and C (Camp Nou hosted all three of Group A's matches, and Sarrià did the same with Group C's matches) and Madrid hosted Groups B and D (Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium hosted all three of Group B's matches, and Atlético Madrid's Calderon Stadium did the same with the Group D matches)
The two semi final matches were held at Camp Nou and the Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, the third largest stadium used for the tournament (one of only two España 1982 matches it hosted), the match for third place was held in Alicante and the final was held at the Bernabeu, the second largest stadium used for this tournament.
== Match officials ==
== Squads ==
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1982 FIFA World Cup squads.
== Groups ==
=== Seeding ===
The 24 qualifiers were divided into four groupings which formed the basis of the draw for the group stage. FIFA announced the six seeded teams on the day of the draw and allocated them in advance to the six groups; as had become standard, the host nation and the reigning champions were among the seeds. The seeded teams would play all their group matches at the same venue (with the exception of World Cup holders Argentina who would play in the opening game scheduled for the Camp Nou, the largest of the venues). The remaining 18 teams were split into three pots based on FIFA's assessment of the team's strength, but also taking in account geographic considerations. The seedings and group venues for those teams were tentatively agreed at an informal meeting in December 1981 but not officially confirmed until the day of the draw. FIFA executive Hermann Neuberger told the press that the seeding of England had been challenged by other nations but they were to be seeded as "the Spanish want England to play in Bilbao for security reasons"*. As well as security the footballing grounds that they were winners in 1966 and reached the quarter-final as holders in 1970, as the 1970 in Mexico and 1974 in West Germany tournaments were taken into consideration for seeding with West Germany seeded for their 1980 European Championship win (due to the Netherlands failing to qualify) having won in 1974. However, due to England's seeding for security reasons, if the Netherlands had qualified, West Germany would not have been seeded as West Germany were eliminated in the second group stage in 1978, while the Netherlands were runners up.
=== Final draw ===
On 16 January 1982, the draw was conducted at the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid, where the teams were drawn out from the three pots to be placed with the seeded teams in their predetermined groups. Firstly a draw was made to decide the order in which the three drums containing pots A, B and C would be emptied; this resulted in the order being pot B, C and A. The teams were then drawn one-by-one out of the respective pot and entered in the groups in that order. A number was then drawn to determine the team's "position" in the group and hence the fixtures.
The only stipulation of the draw was that no group could feature two South American teams. As a result, Pot B – which contained two South American teams – was initially drawn with only the four Europeans in the pot. These first two European teams drawn from pot B were then to be immediately allocated to Groups 3 and 6 which contained the two South American seeds Argentina and Brazil. Once these two groups had been filled with the entrants from Pot B, Chile and Peru would be added to the pot and the draw would continue as normal. In the event, FIFA executives Sepp Blatter and Hermann Neuberger conducting the draw initially forgot this stipulation and therefore immediately placed the first team drawn from this pot (Belgium) into Group 1, rather than Group 3 as planned, before then placing the second team drawn out (Scotland) into Group 3; they then had to correct this by moving Belgium to Group 3 and Scotland into Group 6. The ceremony suffered further embarrassment when one of the revolving drums containing the teams broke down.
== Results ==
All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
== First group stage ==
The group winners and runners-up advanced to the second round.
Teams were ranked on the following criteria:
Greater number of points in all group matches
Goal difference in all group matches
Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
Drawing of lots
=== Group 1 ===
=== Group 2 ===
=== Group 3 ===
=== Group 4 ===
=== Group 5 ===
=== Group 6 ===
== Second group stage ==
The second round of the tournament consisted of four groups of three teams, each played at one stadium in one of Spain's two largest cities: two in Madrid and two in Barcelona. The winners of each group progressed to the semi-finals.
Teams were ranked on the following criteria:
Greater number of points in all group matches
Goal difference in all group matches
Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
Whether the team finished first or second in their first round group
Drawing of lots
Although the fixtures were provisionally determined in advance, the teams competing in each fixture depended on the result of the opening match in each group: Should a team lose their opening game of the group, that team would then have to play in the second fixture against the third team in the group and the winner would, by contrast, be rewarded by not needing to play again until the final fixture of the group and therefore gained extra recovery time. If the opening game was a draw, the predetermined order of games would proceed as planned. These regulations helped ensure that the final group games were of importance as no team could already have progressed to the semi-finals by the end of the second fixtures.
The 43,000-capacity Sarria Stadium in Barcelona, used for the Group C round-robin matches between Italy, Argentina and Brazil was, unlike any of the other matches (except 1) in the other groups, severely overcrowded for all three matches. The venue was then heavily criticised for its lack of space and inability to handle such rampant crowds; although no one had foreseen such crowds at all; the Group A matches held at the nearby and much larger 121,401-capacity Camp Nou stadium never went past 65,000 and hosted all European teams; it was anticipated there would be larger crowds for the Camp Nou-hosted second round matches between Belgium, the Soviet Union and Poland.
=== Group A ===
=== Group B ===
=== Group C ===
=== Group D ===
== Knockout stage ==
=== Semi-finals ===
=== Match for third place ===
=== Final ===
== Statistics ==
=== Goalscorers ===
Paolo Rossi received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals. In total, 146 goals were scored by 100 players, with only one of them credited as own goal.
6 goals
Paolo Rossi
5 goals
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
4 goals
Zico
Zbigniew Boniek
3 goals
Falcão
Alain Giresse
László Kiss
Gerry Armstrong
2 goals
1 goal
Own goals
Jozef Barmoš (against England)
=== Red cards ===
Five players received a red card during the tournament:
Américo Gallego
Diego Maradona
Ladislav Vízek
Gilberto Yearwood
Mal Donaghy
=== Awards ===
Source:
=== Final standings ===
In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1982 tournament were as follows:
== Marketing ==
=== Sponsorship ===
The sponsors of the 1982 FIFA World Cup consisted out of 34 FIFA World Cup Sponsors.
== Symbols ==
=== Mascot ===
The official mascot of this World Cup was Naranjito, a male anthropomorphised orange, a typical fruit in Spain, wearing the kit of the host's national team. It was designed by José María Martín and María Dolores Salto from the marketing agency Publicidad Bellido. Its name comes from naranja, the Spanish word for orange, and the diminutive suffix "-ito".
=== Match ball ===
The match ball for 1982 World Cup, manufactured by Adidas, was the Tango España.
=== Television series ===
Football in Action (Spanish: Fútbol en acción) is an educational animated television series about football produced by BRB Internacional and Televisión Española (TVE). The main character is a twelve-year-old Naranjito, who is accompanied on his adventures by his friends: Clementina (a mandarin orange), Citronio (a lemon), and Imarchi (a robot). The series talks about the rules of football and the history of the World Cup. Its 26 episodes of 25 minutes each were first aired in 1981–82 on TVE 1.
=== Poster ===
The official poster was designed by Joan Miró.
== Controversies ==
There was some consideration given as to whether England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland would withdraw from the tournament because of the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom. A directive issued by the British sports minister Neil Macfarlane in April, at the start of the conflict, suggested that there should be no contact between British representative teams and Argentina. This directive was not rescinded until August, following the end of the tournament and of the hostilities. Macfarlane reported to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that some players and officials were uneasy about participating because of the casualties suffered by British forces, and the strong diplomatic ties between Argentina and Spain. FIFA later advised the British Government that there was no prospect that Argentina (the defending champions) would be asked to withdraw, and it also became apparent that no other countries would withdraw from the tournament. It was decided by Cabinet Secretary Robert Armstrong to allow the British national teams to participate so that Argentina could not use their absence for propaganda purposes, reversing the intended effect of applying political pressure onto Argentina. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_people_of_New_Guinea | Indigenous people of New Guinea | The Indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea and of Western New Guinea in Indonesia, commonly called Papuans, are Melanesians. There is genetic evidence for two major historical lineages in New Guinea and neighboring islands: a first wave from the Malay Archipelago perhaps 50,000 years ago when New Guinea and Australia were a single landmass called Sahul and, much later, a wave of Austronesian people from the north who introduced Austronesian languages and pigs about 3,500 years ago. They also left a small but significant genetic trace in many coastal Papuan peoples.
Linguistically, Papuans speak languages from the many families of non-Austronesian languages that are found only on New Guinea and neighboring islands, as well as Austronesian languages along parts of the coast, and recently developed creoles such as Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Unserdeutsch, and Papuan Malay.
The term "Papuan" is used in a wider sense in linguistics and anthropology. In linguistics, "Papuan languages" is a cover term for the diverse, mutually unrelated, non-Austronesian language families spoken in Melanesia, the Torres Strait Islands, and parts of Wallacea. In anthropology, "Papuan" is often used to denote the highly diverse aboriginal populations of Melanesia and Wallacea prior to the arrival of Austronesian-speakers, and the dominant genetic traces of these populations in the current ethnic groups of these areas.
== Languages ==
Ethnologue's 14th edition lists 826 languages of Papua New Guinea and 257 languages of Western New Guinea, a total of 1083 languages, with 12 languages overlapping. If we adopt the figure proposed by Glottolog for Papua New Guinea, namely 928 languages, the total is even higher. This corresponds to 15% of the world's 7700 languages.
In terms of linguistic families, the indigenous languages of New Guinea can be divided into two groups: 283 languages belong to the Austronesian family, and the other 858 are non-Austronesian—a grouping commonly described as "Papuan languages" for convenience.
The term Papuan languages refers to an areal grouping, rather than a linguistic one. So-called "Papuan" languages are distributed into as many as eighty unrelated linguistic phyla, including 43 families and 37 isolates.
== Origin and genetics ==
The origin of Papuans is generally associated with the first settlement of Australasia by a lineage dubbed 'Australasians' or 'Australo-Papuans' during the Initial Upper Paleolithic, which is "ascribed to a population movement with uniform genetic features and material culture" (Ancient East Eurasians), and sharing deep ancestry with modern East Asian peoples and other Asia-Pacific groups. It is estimated that people reached Sahul (the geological continent consisting of Australia and New Guinea) between 50,000 and 37,000 years ago. Rising sea levels separated New Guinea from Australia about 10,000 years ago. However, Aboriginal Australians and Papuans had diverged genetically much earlier, around 40,000 years BP. Papuans are more closely related to Melanesians than to Aboriginal Australians.
=== Haplogroups ===
The majority of Papuan Y-DNA Haplogroups belong to subclades of Haplogroup MS, and Haplogroup C1b2a. The frequency of each haplogroup varies along geographic clines.
=== Autosomal DNA ===
The genetic makeup of Papuans is primarily derived from Ancient East Eurasians, which relates them to other mainland Asian groups such as the "AASI", Andamanese, as well as East/Southeast Asians, although although there is possible gene flow from an earlier Out-of-Africa group (xOoA), around 2%, next to additional archaic Denisovan admixture in the Sahul region. Papuans may harbor varying degrees of deep admixture from "a lineage basal to West and East-Eurasians which occurred sometimes between 45 and 38kya", although they are generally regarded "as a simple sister group of Tianyuan" ("Basal East Asians"). They are also closely related to Andamanese Onge and East Asians and mainly differ due to their Denisovan admixture. According to a 2025 study, Papuans are a sister group to East Asians with no genetic input from earlier Out-of-African populations. They diverged from Europeans and East Asians about 51.2 and 46.2 thousand years ago respectively and mixed with Denisovans about 31.2 thousand years ago, contributing to about 3.23% of their genetic makeup. Compared to Europeans and East Asians, Papuans also experienced severe bottlenecking.Papuans display pronounced genetic diversity, explained through isolation and drift between different subgroups after the settlement of New Guinea. The most notable differentiation was found to be between Highlanders and Lowlanders. Papuan Highlanders fall into three clusters, but form a single clade compared against Lowlanders. The Highlanders underwent a population bottleneck around 10,000 years ago, associated with the adoption of Neolithic lifestyles. Papuan Lowlanders display increased diversity and can be broadly differentiated into a Southern Lowlander cluster and a Northern Lowlander cluster. The genetic differentiation among Papuans is suggested to date back at least 20kya, while the sub-structure among Highlanders dates back around 10kya, with higher diversity among western Highlanders than Eastern ones. The genetic diversity is paralleled by linguistic and cultural diversity.
East Asian-related admixture is also observed in modern Papuans, especially coastal Papuan groups.
Based on a reevaluation of mitogenomes, Gandini et al. 2025 proposed a "long chronology", which suggested an earlier settlement of Sahul by two migration routes about ~60 ka. One route came from northern Sunda via the Philippine archipelago whilst the other came from southern Sunda via Mainland Southeast Asia, with both routes ultimately tracing back to South Asia. The settlers that undertook these routes were ancestral to populations indigenous to Australia, New Guinea and Oceania, and related to other East Eurasians instead of belonging to a separate wave.
=== Archaic introgression ===
Based on his genetic studies of the Denisova hominin, an ancient human species discovered in 2010, Svante Pääbo claims that ancient human ancestors of the Papuans interbred in Asia with these humans. He has found that people of New Guinea share 4%–7% of their genome with the Denisovans, indicating this exchange. Denisovan introgressions may have influenced the immune system of present-day Papuans and potentially favoured "variants to immune-related phenotypes" and "adaptation to the local environment".
=== ASPM gene ===
In a 2005 study of ASPM gene variants, Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the Papuan people have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM Haplogroup D, at 59.4% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele. While it is not yet known exactly what selective advantage is provided by this gene variant, the haplogroup D allele is thought to be positively selected in populations and to confer some substantial advantage that has caused its frequency to rapidly increase.
== Papuan ethnic groups ==
The following indigenous peoples live within the modern borders of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Austronesian-speaking (AN) groups are given in italics.
=== Indonesia ===
==== West Papua ====
Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of West Papua include: Arfak (Hatam, Meyah, Moile, dan Sougb), Borai, Numfor-Doreri, Irarutu, Koiwai, Kuri, Madewana, Mairasi, Maniwak, Mbaham-Matta, Miere, Moru, Moskona, Napiti, Oburauw, Roon, Roswar, Sebyar (Damban-Kimbaran) , Soviar, Sumuri, Wamesa, Warumba, Waruri, Wondama.
==== Southwest Papua ====
Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua include Abun, Ambel, Batanta, Biak (Betew, Kafdaron, Karon, Usba, Wardo), Biga, Butlih, Domu, Duriankere, Gebe (Gag), Fiawat, Imekko (Inanwatan-Bira, Matemani-Iwaro, Kais, Awe, Kokoda-Emeyode), Irires, Ma'ya (Kawe, Laganyan, Wawiyai), Matbat-Matlow, Maybrat (Ayamaru, Mare, Karon Dori-Miyah, Aifat, Aitinyo, Wayer), Moi-Ma'ya, Moi, Mpur, Nerigo, Tehit, Tepin, Yahadian, Yaben-Konda.
==== Papua ====
Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Papua include:
==== Highland Papua ====
Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Highland Papua include:
==== Central Papua ====
Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of Central Papua include:
=== South Papua ===
Papuan ethnic groups/tribes in the Indonesian province of South Papua include:
== Languages ==
According to the official Indonesian national linguistic data, there are at least 428 living Papuan languages (and 37 Papua-based isolate languages) natively spoken by the Papuans in Indonesia alone belonging to either Papuan or Austronesian language families, making it the most linguistically diverse community in Indonesia. Papuan languages are also spoken outside of New Guinea such as the Timor–Alor–Pantar speakers in Timor, Alor, and Pantar, as well as North Halmahera in Maluku Islands.
As part of the Indonesian nationals, the Papuans also speak Indonesian, it is an official and national language of Indonesia, and its regional dialects such as Papuan Malay and Serui Malay, which also spoken by their fellow Papuans in Papua New Guinea, especially in the border areas.
== Cultures and traditions ==
=== Carving ===
Carving (especially wood carving) in Indonesian Papuan culture is not merely decorative—it embodies a deep connection to the spirit world, tradition, and community identity. It is a significant artistic and cultural tradition among many Indigenous Papuan communities in Indonesia, especially in regions like Asmat, Kamoro, and Sentani. These carvings are deeply symbolic and often tied to spiritual beliefs, ancestral worship, and daily life.
Among the Asmat Papuans, for example, wood carving is highly developed and serves ritual purposes. They create bis poles, tall carved wooden poles made to honor ancestors and used in funerary ceremonies. The carvings typically depict human figures, animals, and mythological symbols representing strength, protection, and spiritual connection. Meanwhile, Sentani artists are famous for carving motifs into wooden bark paintings and household items, often featuring spiral patterns and stylized figures.
=== Mummification ===
In some highland communities, such as the Dani tribespeople in the Baliem Valley, mummification called akonipuk is a traditional practice used to honor and preserve the bodies of important tribal leaders or warriors. The process involves smoking the corpse over a fire for weeks to dry and preserve it, often in a sitting position. These mummies are then kept in special huts and are considered sacred, symbolizing ancestral strength and leadership. This tradition is now rare and mostly preserved as cultural heritage. Similar mummification traditions are practiced by the Mee, the Moni, the Lani, the Eipo, among others.
=== Noken ===
Noken, the traditional knitted or woven bag, an invention of the Indonesian Papuan people, is internationally inscribed as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2012.
It is also inspired the Noken system, a unique electoral method used in Indonesia. Instead of individual voting, community leaders (Papuan tribal chiefs) vote on behalf of their people, often through consensus or traditional customs. This system respects local indigenous Papuan traditions and emphasizes communal decision-making rather than individual ballots. This system also known colloquially as 'Papuan hanging bag system' (named after the hanging Noken).
== In popular culture ==
Indonesian Papuans have gained increasing recognition in popular culture (nationwide in Indonesia and internationally), particularly in the movie and music industries. In Indonesian cinema, Papuan actors have been cast in leading roles, portraying authentic stories from their communities and highlighting the region's unique cultural identity. In the music scene, Papuan artists have also emerged in mainstream competitions and platforms, showcasing powerful vocals and distinct musical styles rooted in their heritage. This growing representation reflects a broader movement toward inclusion and appreciation of Papua's contributions to Indonesia's cultural diversity.
=== Movies ===
Denias, Senandung di Atas Awan (2006) (lit. 'Denias, the Hum Above the Clouds')
Tanah Mama (2015) (lit. 'the Land of Mother')
Si Tikam Polisi Noken (2022) (lit. 'Si Tikam, the Noken Policeman')
Zabur (Bukan) Nabi (2023) (lit. 'Psalm (Not) the Prophet')
== Notable people == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Blow_and_the_Rainy_Night_(song) | Cold Blow and the Rainy Night (song) | "Cold Blow and a Rainy Night" (also known as "Cold Haily Windy Night", Let Me In This Ae Nicht", or "The Laird o’ Windy Wa's") is an English folk song which has been recorded by numerous musicians and musical groups, including James Bowie (Blind Jimmie), Jeannie Robertson, Steeleye Span, Martin Carthy, Planxty, and the Exiles.
It is a typical "night-visiting song".
The song has been documented through EFDSS and Mainly Norfolk. The song has been recorded by Jon Boden and Oli Steadman for inclusion in their respective lists of daily folk songs "A Folk Song A Day" and "365 Days Of Folk". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami#Nuclear_power_plants | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami#Nuclear power plants | On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 JST (05:46:24 UTC), a Mw 9.0–9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approximately six minutes and caused a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the "Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster" (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai), among other names. The disaster is often referred to by its numerical date, 3.11 (read San ten Ichi-ichi in Japanese).
It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture, and which, in the Sendai area, traveled at 700 km/h (435 mph) and up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. Residents of Sendai had only eight to ten minutes of warning, and more than a hundred evacuation sites were washed away. The snowfall which accompanied the tsunami and the freezing temperature hindered rescue works; for instance, in Ishinomaki, the city with the most deaths, the temperature was 0 °C (32 °F) as the tsunami hit. The official figures released in 2021 reported 19,759 deaths, 6,242 injured, 284 firefighters dead from attempts to close preventative fire gates, and 2,553 people missing,. A report in 2015 found that 228,863 people were still living away from their home either temporarily or permanently.
The tsunami caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, primarily the meltdowns of three of its reactors, the discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima and the associated evacuation zones affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. Many electrical generators ran out of fuel. The loss of electrical power halted cooling systems, causing heat to build up. The heat build-up caused the generation of hydrogen gas. Without ventilation, gas accumulated within the upper refueling hall and eventually exploded, causing the refueling hall's blast panels to be forcefully ejected from the structure. Residents within a 20 km (12 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6.2 mi) radius of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated.
Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion. The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking system on 14 March 2011 in an effort to normalize market conditions. The estimated economic damage amounted to over $300 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in history. According to a 2020 study, "the earthquake and its aftermaths resulted in a 0.47 percentage point decline in Japan's real GDP growth in the year following the disaster."
== Earthquake ==
The magnitude 9.1 (Mw) undersea megathrust earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011 at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) in the north-western Pacific Ocean at a relatively shallow depth of 32 km (20 mi), with its epicenter approximately 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, Japan, lasting approximately six minutes. The earthquake was initially reported as 7.9 Mw by the USGS before it was quickly upgraded to 8.8 Mw, then to 8.9 Mw, and then finally to 9.0 Mw. On 11 July 2016, the USGS further upgraded the earthquake to 9.1. Sendai was the nearest major city to the earthquake, 130 km (81 mi) from the epicenter; the earthquake occurred 373 km (232 mi) northeast of Tokyo.
The main earthquake was preceded by a number of large foreshocks, with hundreds of aftershocks reported. One of the first major foreshocks was a 7.2 Mw event on 9 March, approximately 40 km (25 mi) from the epicenter of the 11 March earthquake, with another three on the same day in excess of 6.0 Mw. Following the main earthquake on 11 March, a 7.4 Mw aftershock was reported at 15:08 JST (6:06 UTC), succeeded by a 7.9 Mw at 15:15 JST (6:16 UTC) and a 7.7 Mw at 15:26 JST (6:26 UTC). Over 800 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 Mw or greater occurred after the initial quake. Aftershocks followed Omori's law, which states that the rate of aftershocks declines with the reciprocal of the time since the main quake. The aftershocks thus tapered off over time, but continued for years after the initial quake, including one on 26 October 2013 (local time) of magnitude 7.1 Mw.
The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in) east, shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 and 25 cm (4 and 10 in), increased Earth's rotational speed by 1.8 μs per day, and generated infrasound waves detected in perturbations of the low-orbiting Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite.
Initially, the earthquake caused part of Honshu's Pacific coast to sink by roughly a meter, but after about three years, the coast rose back and then kept on rising to exceed its original height.
=== Geology ===
This megathrust earthquake was a recurrence of the mechanism of the earlier 869 Sanriku earthquake, which has been estimated as having a magnitude of at least 8.4 Mw, which also created a large tsunami that inundated the Sendai plain. Three tsunami deposits have been identified within the Holocene sequence of the plain, all formed within the last 3,000 years, suggesting an 800 to 1,100 year recurrence interval for large tsunamigenic earthquakes. In 2001 it was reckoned that there was a high likelihood of a large tsunami hitting the Sendai plain as more than 1,100 years had then elapsed. In 2007, the probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 8.1–8.3 was estimated as 99% within the following 30 years.
This earthquake occurred where the Pacific plate is subducting under the plate beneath northern Honshu. The Pacific plate, which moves at a rate of 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) per year, dips under Honshu's underlying plate, building large amounts of elastic energy. This motion pushes the upper plate down until the accumulated stress causes a seismic slip-rupture event. The break caused the sea floor to rise by several meters. The magnitude of this earthquake was a surprise to some seismologists. A quake of this magnitude usually has a rupture length of at least 500 km (310 mi) and generally requires a long, relatively straight fault surface. Because the plate boundary and subduction zone in the area of the Honshu rupture is not very straight, it is unusual for the magnitude of its earthquake to exceed 8.5 Mw. The hypocentral region of this earthquake extended from offshore Iwate Prefecture to offshore Ibaraki Prefecture. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that the earthquake may have ruptured the fault zone from Iwate to Ibaraki with a length of 500 km (310 mi) and a width of 200 km (120 mi). Analysis showed that this earthquake consisted of a set of three events. Other major earthquakes with tsunamis struck the Sanriku Coast region in 1896 and in 1933.
The source area of this earthquake has a relatively high coupling coefficient surrounded by areas of relatively low coupling coefficients in the west, north, and south. From the averaged coupling coefficient of 0.5–0.8 in the source area and the seismic moment, it was estimated that the slip deficit of this earthquake was accumulated over a period of 260–880 years, which is consistent with the recurrence interval of such great earthquakes estimated from the tsunami deposit data. The seismic moment of this earthquake accounts for about 93% of the estimated cumulative moment from 1926 to March 2011. Hence, earthquakes in this area with magnitudes of about 7 since 1926 had only released part of the accumulated energy. In the area near the trench, the coupling coefficient is high, which could act as the source of the large tsunami.
Most of the foreshocks are interplate earthquakes with thrust-type focal mechanisms. Both interplate and intraplate earthquakes appeared in the aftershocks offshore Sanriku coast with considerable proportions.
=== Energy ===
The surface energy of the seismic waves from the earthquake was calculated to be 1.9×1017 joules, which is nearly double that of the 9.1 Mw 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed 230,000 people. If harnessed, the seismic energy from this earthquake would power a city the size of Los Angeles for an entire year. The seismic moment (M0), which represents a physical size for the event, was calculated by the USGS at 3.9×1022 joules, slightly less than the 2004 Indian Ocean quake.
=== Ground motion ===
The strong ground motion registered at the maximum of Shindo 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture. Three other prefectures—Fukushima, Ibaraki and Tochigi—recorded a 6 upper on the JMA scale. Seismic stations in Iwate, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba Prefectures measured a 6 lower, while Tokyo and five other prefectures recorded 5 upper.
Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) calculated a peak ground acceleration of 2.99 g (29.33 m/s2). A USGS seismic installation at Kurihara recorded 2.751 g in ground acceleration (pga) and 98.21 cm/s (38.67 in/s) in ground velocity (pgv); the station data corresponded to a Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) of IX (Violent), which was also recorded at five other installations at Ōsaki, Onagawa and Iwanuma, Miyagi, Haga, Tochigi, and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; tremors exceeding MMI VI (Strong) or higher were felt in the Greater Tokyo Area, with a seismic station in Kōtō recording a pga of 0.2552 g and a pgv of 43.96 cm/s (17.31 in/s), corresponding to MMI VIII (Severe) shaking. Tremors from the earthquake were also felt in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
=== Geophysical effects ===
Portions of northeastern Japan shifted by as much as 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in) closer to North America, making some sections of Japan's landmass wider than before. Those areas of Japan closest to the epicenter experienced the largest shifts. A 400-kilometer (250 mi) stretch of coastline dropped vertically by 0.6 meters (2 ft 0 in), allowing the tsunami to travel farther and faster onto land. One early estimate suggested that the Pacific plate may have moved westward by up to 20 meters (66 ft), and another early estimate put the amount of slippage at as much as 40 m (130 ft). On 6 April, the Japanese coast guard said that the quake shifted the seabed near the epicenter 24 meters (79 ft) and elevated the seabed off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture by 3 meters (9.8 ft). A report by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, published in Science on 2 December 2011, concluded that the seabed in the area between the epicenter and the Japan Trench moved 50 meters (160 ft) east-southeast and rose about 7 meters (23 ft) as a result of the quake. The report also stated that the quake had caused several major landslides on the seabed in the affected area.
The Earth's axis shifted by estimates of between 10 and 25 cm (4 and 10 in). This deviation led to a number of small planetary changes, including the length of a day, the tilt of the Earth, and the Chandler wobble. The speed of the Earth's rotation increased, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds due to the redistribution of Earth's mass. The axial shift was caused by the redistribution of mass on the Earth's surface, which changed the planet's moment of inertia. Because of conservation of angular momentum, such changes of inertia result in small changes to the Earth's rate of rotation. These are expected changes for an earthquake of this magnitude. The earthquake also generated infrasound waves detected by perturbations in the orbit of the GOCE satellite, which thus serendipitously became the first seismograph in orbit.
Following the earthquake, cracks were observed to have formed in the roof of Mount Fuji's magma chamber.
Seiches observed in Sognefjorden, Norway, were attributed to distant S waves and Love waves generated by the earthquake. These seiches began to occur roughly half an hour after the main shock hit Japan, and continued to occur for 3 hours, during which waves of up to 1.5 meters high were observed.
Soil liquefaction was evident in areas of reclaimed land around Tokyo, particularly in Urayasu, Chiba City, Funabashi, Narashino (all in Chiba Prefecture) and in the Koto, Edogawa, Minato, Chūō, and Ōta wards of Tokyo. Approximately 30 homes or buildings were destroyed and 1,046 other buildings were damaged to varying degrees. Nearby Haneda Airport, built mostly on reclaimed land, was not damaged. Odaiba also experienced liquefaction, but damage was minimal.
Shinmoedake, a volcano in Kyushu, erupted three days after the earthquake. The volcano had previously erupted in January 2011; it is not known if the later eruption was linked to the earthquake. In Antarctica, the seismic waves from the earthquake were reported to have caused the Whillans Ice Stream to slip by about 0.5 meters (1 ft 8 in).
The first sign international researchers had that the earthquake caused such a dramatic change in the Earth's rotation came from the United States Geological Survey which monitors Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) stations across the world. The Survey team had several GPS monitors located near the scene of the earthquake. The GPS station located nearest the epicenter moved almost 4 m (13 ft). This motivated government researchers to look into other ways the earthquake may have had large scale effects on the planet. Calculations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory determined that the Earth's rotation was changed by the earthquake to the point where the days are now 1.8 microseconds shorter.
=== Aftershocks ===
Japan experienced over 1,000 aftershocks since the earthquake, with 80 registering over magnitude 6.0 Mw and several of which have been over magnitude 7.0 Mw.
A magnitude 7.4 Mw at 15:08 (JST), 7.9 Mw at 15:15 and a 7.7 Mw quake at 15:26 all occurred on 11 March.
A month later, a major aftershock struck offshore on 7 April with a magnitude of 7.1 Mw. Its epicenter was underwater, 66 km (41 mi) off the coast of Sendai. The Japan Meteorological Agency assigned a magnitude of 7.4 MJMA, while the United States Geological Survey lowered it to 7.1 Mw. At least four people were killed, and electricity was cut off across much of northern Japan including the loss of external power to Higashidōri Nuclear Power Plant and Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant.
Four days later on 11 April, another magnitude 7.1 Mw aftershock struck Fukushima, causing additional damage and killing a total of three people.
On 7 December 2012 a large aftershock of magnitude 7.3 Mw caused a minor tsunami, and again on 26 October 2013 a small tsunami was recorded after a 7.1 Mw aftershock.
As of 16 March 2012 aftershocks continued, totaling 1887 events over magnitude 4.0; a regularly updated map showing all shocks of magnitude 4.5 and above near or off the east coast of Honshu in the last seven days showed over 20 events.
As of 11 March 2016 there had been 869 aftershocks of 5.0 Mw or greater, 118 of 6.0 Mw or greater, and 9 over 7.0 Mw as reported by the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The number of aftershocks was associated with decreased health across Japan.
On 13 February 2021, a magnitude 7.1–7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Sendai. It caused some damage in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. One person was killed, and 185 were injured.
=== Land subsidence ===
The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan reported land subsidence based on the height of triangulation stations in the area measured by GPS as compared to their previous values from 14 April 2011.
Miyako, Iwate – 0.50 meters (1 ft 8 in)
Yamada, Iwate – 0.53 meters (1 ft 9 in)
Ōtsuchi, Iwate – 0.35 meters (1 ft 2 in)
Kamaishi, Iwate – 0.66 meters (2 ft 2 in)
Ōfunato, Iwate – 0.73 meters (2 ft 5 in)
Rikuzentakata, Iwate – 0.84 meters (2 ft 9 in)
Kesennuma, Miyagi – 0.74 meters (2 ft 5 in)
Minamisanriku, Miyagi – 0.69 meters (2 ft 3 in)
Oshika Peninsula, Miyagi – 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in)
Ishinomaki, Miyagi – 0.78 meters (2 ft 7 in)
Higashimatsushima, Miyagi – 0.43 meters (1 ft 5 in)
Iwanuma, Miyagi – 0.47 meters (1 ft 7 in)
Sōma, Fukushima – 0.29 meters (11 in)
Scientists say that the subsidence is permanent. As a result, the communities in question are now more susceptible to flooding during high tides.
=== Earthquake early warning system ===
One minute before the earthquake was felt in Tokyo, the Earthquake Early Warning system, which includes more than 1,000 seismometers in Japan, sent out warnings of impending strong shaking to millions. It is believed that the early warning by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) saved many lives. The warning for the general public was delivered about eight seconds after the first P wave was detected, or about 31 seconds after the earthquake occurred. However, the estimated intensities were smaller than the actual ones in some places, especially in Kanto, Koshinetsu, and Northern Tōhoku regions where the populace warning did not trigger. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, reasons for the underestimation include a saturated magnitude scale when using maximum amplitude as input, failure to fully take into account the area of the hypocenter, and the initial amplitude of the earthquake being less than that which would be predicted by an empirical relationship.
There were also cases where large differences between estimated intensities by the Earthquake Early Warning system and the actual intensities occurred in the aftershocks and triggered earthquakes. Such discrepancies in the warning were attributed by the JMA to the system's inability to distinguish between two different earthquakes that happened at around same time, as well as to the reduced number of reporting seismometers due to power outages and connection failures. The system's software was subsequently modified to handle this kind of situation.
== Tsunami ==
An upthrust of 6 to 8 meters (20 to 26 ft) along a 180-kilometer (110 mi)-wide seabed at 60 kilometers (37 mi) offshore from the east coast of Tōhoku resulted in a major tsunami that brought destruction along the Pacific coastline of Japan's northern islands. Thousands of people died and entire towns were devastated. The tsunami propagated throughout the Pacific Ocean region reaching the entire Pacific coast of North and South America from Alaska to Chile. Warnings were issued and evacuations were carried out in many countries bordering the Pacific. Although the tsunami affected many of these places, the heights of the waves were minor. Chile's Pacific coast, one of the farthest from Japan at about 17,000 kilometers (11,000 mi) away, was struck by waves 2 meters (6.6 ft) high, compared with an estimated wave height of 38.9 meters (128 ft) at Omoe peninsula, Miyako city, Japan.
=== Japan ===
The tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency was the most serious on its warning scale; it was rated as a "major tsunami", being at least 3 meters (9.8 ft) high. The actual height prediction varied, the greatest being for Miyagi at 6 meters (20 ft) high. The tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 561 square kilometers (217 sq mi) in Japan.
The earthquake took place at 14:46 JST (UTC 05:46) around 67 kilometers (42 mi) from the nearest point on Japan's coastline, and initial estimates indicated the tsunami would have taken 10 to 30 minutes to reach the areas first affected, and then areas farther north and south based on the geography of the coastline. At 15:55 JST, a tsunami was observed flooding Sendai Airport, which is located near the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, with waves sweeping away cars and planes and flooding various buildings as they traveled inland. The impact of the tsunami in and around Sendai Airport was filmed by an NHK News helicopter, showing a number of vehicles on local roads trying to escape the approaching wave and being engulfed by it. A 4-meter-high (13 ft) tsunami hit Iwate Prefecture. Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai was also particularly hard hit. At least 101 designated tsunami evacuation sites were hit by the wave.
Like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the damage by surging water, though much more localized, was far more deadly and destructive than the actual quake. Entire towns were destroyed in tsunami-hit areas in Japan, including 9,500 missing in Minamisanriku; one thousand bodies had been recovered in the town by 14 March 2011.
Among the factors in the high death toll was the unexpectedly large water surge. The sea walls in several cities had been built to protect against tsunamis of much lower heights. Also, many people caught in the tsunami thought they were on high enough ground to be safe. According to a special committee on disaster prevention designated by the Japanese government, the tsunami protection policy had been intended to deal with only tsunamis that had been scientifically proved to occur repeatedly. The committee advised that future policy should be to protect against the highest possible tsunami. Because tsunami walls had been overtopped, the committee also suggested, besides building taller tsunami walls, also teaching citizens how to evacuate if a large-scale tsunami should strike.
Large parts of Kuji and the southern section of Ōfunato including the port area were almost entirely destroyed. Also largely destroyed was Rikuzentakata, where the tsunami was three stories high. Other cities destroyed or heavily damaged by the tsunami include Kamaishi, Miyako, Ōtsuchi, and Yamada (in Iwate Prefecture), Namie, Sōma, and Minamisōma (in Fukushima Prefecture) and Shichigahama, Higashimatsushima, Onagawa, Natori, Ishinomaki, and Kesennuma (in Miyagi Prefecture). The most severe effects of the tsunami were felt along a 670-kilometer-long (420 mi) stretch of coastline from Erimo, Hokkaido, in the north to Ōarai, Ibaraki, in the south, with most of the destruction in that area occurring in the hour following the earthquake. Near Ōarai, people captured images of a huge whirlpool that had been generated by the tsunami. The tsunami washed away the sole bridge to Miyatojima, Miyagi, isolating the island's 900 residents. A 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) high tsunami hit Chiba Prefecture about 2+1⁄2 hours after the quake, causing heavy damage to cities such as Asahi.
On 13 March 2011, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) published details of tsunami observations recorded around the coastline of Japan following the earthquake. These observations included tsunami maximum readings of over 3 meters (9.8 ft) at the following locations and times on 11 March 2011, following the earthquake at 14:46 JST:
15:12 JST – off Kamaishi – 6.8 meters (22 ft)
15:15 JST – Ōfunato – 3.2 meters (10 ft) or higher
15:20 JST – Ishinomaki-shi Ayukawa – 3.3 meters (11 ft) or higher
15:21 JST – Miyako – 4 meters (13 ft) or higher
15:21 JST – Kamaishi – 4.1 meters (13 ft) or higher
15:44 JST – Erimo-cho Shoya – 3.5 meters (11 ft)
15:50 JST – Sōma – 7.3 meters (24 ft) or higher
16:52 JST – Ōarai – 4.2 meters (14 ft)
Many areas were also affected by waves of 1 to 3 meters (3 ft 3 in to 9 ft 10 in) in height, and the JMA bulletin also included the caveat that "At some parts of the coasts, tsunamis may be higher than those observed at the observation sites." The timing of the earliest recorded tsunami maximum readings ranged from 15:12 to 15:21, between 26 and 35 minutes after the earthquake had struck. The bulletin also included initial tsunami observation details, as well as more detailed maps for the coastlines affected by the tsunami waves.
JMA also reported offshore tsunami height recorded by telemetry from moored GPS wave-height meter buoys as follows:
offshore of central Iwate (Miyako) – 6.3 meters (21 ft)
offshore of northern Iwate (Kuji) – 6 meters (20 ft)
offshore of northern Miyagi (Kesennuma) – 6 meters (20 ft)
On 25 March 2011, Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI) reported tsunami height by visiting the port sites as follows:
Port of Hachinohe – 5–6 meters (16–20 ft)
Port of Hachinohe area – 8–9 meters (26–30 ft)
Port of Kuji – 8–9 meters (26–30 ft)
Port of Kamaishi – 7–9 meters (23–30 ft)
Port of Ōfunato – 9.5 meters (31 ft)
Run up height, port of Ōfunato area – 24 meters (79 ft)
Fishery port of Onagawa – 15 meters (49 ft)
Port of Ishinomaki – 5 meters (16 ft)
Shiogama section of Shiogama-Sendai port – 4 meters (13 ft)
Sendai section of Shiogama-Sendai port – 8 meters (26 ft)
Sendai Airport area – 12 meters (39 ft)
The tsunami at Ryōri Bay (綾里湾), Ōfunato reached a height of 40.1 meters (132 ft) (run-up elevation). Fishing equipment was scattered on the high cliff above the bay. At Tarō, Iwate, the tsunami reached a height of 37.9 meters (124 ft) up the slope of a mountain some 200 meters (660 ft) away from the coastline. Also, at the slope of a nearby mountain from 400 meters (1,300 ft) away at Aneyoshi fishery port (姉吉漁港) of Omoe peninsula (重茂半島) in Miyako, Iwate, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology found estimated tsunami run up height of 38.9 meters (128 ft). This height is deemed the record in Japan historically, as of reporting date, that exceeds 38.2 meters (125 ft) from the 1896 Sanriku earthquake. It was also estimated that the tsunami reached heights of up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture. The inundated areas closely matched those of the 869 Sanriku tsunami.
Inundation heights were observed along 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) of the coast from Hokkaido to Kyushu in a 2012 study. Maximum run-up heights greater than 10 meters (33 ft) were distributed along 530 kilometers (330 mi) of coast, and maximum run-up heights greater than 20 meters (66 ft) were distributed along 200 kilometers (120 mi) of the coast, measured directly. The tsunami resulted in significant erosion of the Rikuzen-Takata coastline, mainly caused by backwash. A 2016 study indicated that the coast has not naturally recovered at a desirable rate since the tsunami.
A Japanese government study found that 58% of people in coastal areas in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures heeded tsunami warnings immediately after the quake and headed for higher ground. Of those who attempted to evacuate after hearing the warning, only five percent were caught in the tsunami. Of those who did not heed the warning, 49% were hit by the water.
Delayed evacuations in response to the warnings had a number of causes. The tsunami height that had been initially predicted by the tsunami warning system was lower than the actual tsunami height; this error contributed to the delayed escape of some residents. The discrepancy arose as follows: in order to produce a quick prediction of a tsunami's height and thus to provide a timely warning, the initial earthquake and tsunami warning that was issued for the event was based on a calculation that requires only about three minutes. This calculation is, in turn, based on the maximum amplitude of the seismic wave. The amplitude of the seismic wave is measured using the JMA magnitude scale, which is similar to Richter scale. However, these scales "saturate" for earthquakes that are above a certain magnitude (magnitude 8 on the JMA scale); that is, in the case of very large earthquakes, the scales' values change little despite large differences in the earthquakes' energy. This resulted in an underestimation of the tsunami's height in initial reports. Problems in issuing updates also contributed to delays in evacuations. The warning system was supposed to be updated about 15 minutes after the earthquake occurred, by which time the calculation for the moment magnitude scale would normally be completed. However, the strong quake had exceeded the measurement limit of all of the teleseismometers within Japan, and thus it was impossible to calculate the moment magnitude based on data from those seismometers. Another cause of delayed evacuations was the release of the second update on the tsunami warning long after the earthquake (28 minutes, according to observations); by that time, power failures and similar circumstances reportedly prevented the update from reaching some residents. Also, observed data from tidal meters that were located off the coast were not fully reflected in the second warning. Furthermore, shortly after the earthquake, some wave meters reported a fluctuation of "20 centimeters (7.9 in)", and this value was broadcast throughout the mass media and the warning system, which caused some residents to underestimate the danger of their situation and even delayed or suspended their evacuation.
In response to the aforementioned shortcomings in the tsunami warning system, JMA began an investigation in 2011 and updated their system in 2013. In the updated system, for a powerful earthquake that is capable of causing the JMA magnitude scale to saturate, no quantitative prediction will be released in the initial warning; instead, there will be words that describe the situation's emergency. There are plans to install new teleseismometers with the ability to measure larger earthquakes, which would allow the calculation of a quake's moment magnitude scale in a timely manner. JMA also implemented a simpler empirical method to integrate, into a tsunami warning, data from GPS tidal meters as well as from undersea water pressure meters, and there are plans to install more of these meters and to develop further technology to utilize data observed by them. To prevent under-reporting of tsunami heights, early quantitative observation data that are smaller than the expected amplitude will be overridden and the public will instead be told that the situation is under observation. About 90 seconds after an earthquake, an additional report on the possibility of a tsunami will also be included in observation reports, in order to warn people before the JMA magnitude can be calculated.
=== Elsewhere across the Pacific ===
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii issued tsunami watches and announcements for locations in the Pacific. At 07:30 UTC, PTWC issued a widespread tsunami warning covering the entire Pacific Ocean. Russia evacuated 11,000 residents from coastal areas of the Kuril Islands. The United States National Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the coastal areas in most of California, all of Oregon, and the western part of Alaska, and a tsunami advisory covering the Pacific coastlines of most of Alaska, and all of Washington and British Columbia, Canada. In California and Oregon, up to 2.4 m-high (7.9 ft) tsunami waves hit some areas, damaging docks and harbors and causing over US$10 million in damage. In Curry County, Oregon, US$7 million in damage occurred including the destruction of 1,100 m (3,600 ft) of docks at the Brookings harbor; the county received over US$1 million in FEMA emergency grants from the US Federal Government. Surges of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) hit Vancouver Island in Canada prompting some evacuations, and causing boats to be banned from the waters surrounding the island for 12 hours following the wave strike, leaving many island residents in the area without means of getting to work.
In the Philippines, waves up to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) high hit the eastern seaboard of the country. Some houses along the coast in Jayapura, Indonesia were destroyed. Authorities in Wewak, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea evacuated 100 patients from the city's Boram Hospital before it was hit by waves, causing an estimated US$4 million in damage. Hawaii estimated damage to public infrastructure alone at US$3 million, with damage to private properties, including resort hotels such as Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, estimated at tens of millions of dollars. It was reported that a 1.5 m-high (4.9 ft) wave completely submerged Midway Atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Some other South Pacific countries, including Tonga and New Zealand, and US territories American Samoa and Guam, experienced larger-than-normal waves, but did not report any major damage. However, in Guam some roads were closed off and people were evacuated from low-lying areas.
Along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and South America, tsunami surges were reported, but in most places caused little or no damage. Peru reported a wave of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and more than 300 homes damaged. The surge in Chile was large enough to damage more than 200 houses, with waves of up to 3 m (9.8 ft). In the Galápagos Islands, 260 families received assistance following a 3 m (9.8 ft) surge which arrived 20 hours after the earthquake, after the tsunami warning had been lifted. There was a great deal of damage to buildings on the islands and one man was injured but there were no reported fatalities.
After a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high surge hit Chile, it was reported that the reflection from those surges traveled back across the Pacific, causing a 30–60 cm (12–24 in) surge in Japan, 47–48 hours after the earthquake, according to observation from multiple tide gauges, including in Onahama, Owase, and Kushimoto.
The tsunami broke icebergs off the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica, 13,000 km (8,100 mi) away. The main iceberg measured 9.5 km × 6.5 km (5.9 mi × 4.0 mi) (approximately the area of Manhattan Island) and about 80 m (260 ft) thick. A total of 125 km2 (48 sq mi; 31,000 acres) of ice broke away.
As of April 2012, wreckage from the tsunami spread around the world, including a soccer ball which was found in Alaska's Middleton Island and a Japanese motorcycle found in British Columbia, Canada.
=== Norway ===
On the day of the earthquake, the waters of several fjords across Norway appeared to seethe as if boiling, and formed waves that rolled onto shores, most prominently in Sognefjorden, where the phenomenon was caught on film. After two years of research into the incidents in Norway, scientists concluded that the seismic energy of the earthquake generated seiche waves thousands of kilometers away.
== Casualties ==
=== Japan ===
==== Key statistics ====
The official figures released in 2021 reported 19,759 deaths, 6,242 injured, and 2,553 people missing. There were 10,567 deaths in Miyagi, 5,145 in Iwate, 3,920 in Fukushima, 66 in Ibaraki, 22 in Chiba, eight in Tokyo, six in Kanagawa, four in Tochigi, three each in Aomori and Yamagata, and one each in Gunma, Saitama and Hokkaido. The leading causes of death were drowning (90.64% or 14,308 bodies), burning (0.9% or 145 bodies) and others (4.2% or 667 bodies, mostly crushed by heavy objects). Injuries related to nuclear exposure or the discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima are difficult to trace as 60% of the 20,000 workers on-site declined to participate in state-sponsored free health checks.
Elderly aged over 60 account for 65.8% of all deaths, as shown on the table to the right.
For the purpose of relief fund, an "earthquake-related death" was defined to include "Physical and mental fatigue caused by life in temporary shelter", "Physical and mental fatigue caused by evacuation", "Delayed treatment due to an inoperative hospital", "Physical and mental fatigue caused by stress from the earthquake and tsunami". A few cases of suicide are also included. Most of these deaths occurred during the first six months after the earthquake and the number dropped thereafter, but as time has passed, the number has continued to increase. Most of these deaths occurred in Fukushima Prefecture, where the prefectural government has suggested that they could be due to evacuations caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Within Fukushima Prefecture, these indirect casualties have already resulted in more deaths than the number of people killed directly by earthquake and tsunami.
==== Others ====
Save the Children reports that as many as 100,000 children were uprooted from their homes, some of whom were separated from their families because the earthquake occurred during the school day. 236 children were orphaned in the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima by the disaster; 1,580 children lost either one or both parents, 846 in Miyagi, 572 in Iwate, and 162 in Fukushima. The quake and tsunami killed 378 elementary, middle-school, and high school students and left 158 others missing. One elementary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Okawa Elementary School, lost 74 of 108 students and 10 of 13 teachers in the tsunami due to poor decision making in evacuation.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed the deaths of nineteen foreigners. Among them were two English teachers from the United States affiliated with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program; a Canadian missionary in Shiogama; and citizens of China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan and the Philippines.
By 9:30 UTC on 11 March 2011, Google Person Finder, which was previously used in the Haitian, Chilean, and Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes, was collecting information about survivors and their locations.
Japanese funerals are normally elaborate Buddhist ceremonies that entail cremation. The thousands of bodies, however, exceeded the capacity of available crematoriums and morgues, many of them damaged, and there were shortages of both kerosene—each cremation requires 50 litres—and dry ice for preservation. The single crematorium in Higashimatsushima, for example, could only handle four bodies a day, although hundreds were found there. Governments and the military were forced to bury many bodies in hastily dug mass graves with rudimentary or no rites, although relatives of the deceased were promised that they would be cremated later.
As of 27 May 2011, three Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members had died while conducting relief operations in Tōhoku. As of March 2012, the Japanese government had recognized 1,331 deaths as indirectly related to the earthquake, such as caused by harsh living conditions after the disaster. As of 30 April 2012, 18 people had died and 420 had been injured while participating in disaster recovery or clean-up efforts.
=== Overseas ===
The tsunami was reported to have caused several deaths outside Japan. One man was killed in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia after being swept out to sea. A man who is said to have been attempting to photograph the oncoming tsunami at the mouth of the Klamath River, south of Crescent City, California, was swept out to sea. His body was found on 2 April 2011 along Ocean Beach in Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon, 530 km (330 mi) to the north.
== Damage and effects ==
The degree and extent of damage caused by the earthquake and resulting tsunami were enormous, with most of the damage being caused by the tsunami. Video footage of the towns that were worst affected shows little more than piles of rubble, with almost no parts of any structures left standing. Estimates of the cost of the damage range well into the tens of billions of US dollars; before-and-after satellite photographs of devastated regions show immense damage. Although Japan has invested the equivalent of billions of dollars on anti-tsunami seawalls which line at least 40% of its 34,751 km (21,593 mi) coastline and stand up to 12 m (39 ft) high, the tsunami simply washed over the top of some seawalls, collapsing some in the process.
Japan's National Police Agency said on 3 April 2011, that 45,700 buildings were destroyed and 144,300 were damaged by the quake and tsunami. The damaged buildings included 29,500 structures in Miyagi Prefecture, 12,500 in Iwate Prefecture and 2,400 in Fukushima Prefecture. Three hundred hospitals with 20 beds or more in Tōhoku were damaged by the disaster, with 11 being completely destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami created an estimated 24–25 million tons of rubble and debris in Japan.
A report by the National Police Agency of Japan on 10 September 2018 listed 121,778 buildings as "total collapsed", with a further 280,926 buildings "half collapsed", and another 699,180 buildings "partially damaged". The earthquake and tsunami also caused extensive and severe structural damage in north-eastern Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, "In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan." Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.
An estimated 230,000 automobiles and trucks were damaged or destroyed in the disaster. As of the end of May 2011, residents of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures had requested the deregistration of 15,000 vehicles, meaning that the owners of those vehicles were writing them off as unrepairable or unsalvageable.
=== Weather conditions ===
Low temperature and snowfall were major concerns after the earthquake. Snow arrived minutes before or after the tsunami, depending on locations. In Ishinomaki, the city which suffered the most deaths, a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F) was measured, and it began to snow within a couple of hours of the earthquake. Major snow fell again on 16 March, and intermittently in the coming weeks. 18 March was the coldest of that month, recording −4 to 6 °C (25 to 43 °F) in Sendai. Photos of city ruins covered with snow were featured in various photo albums in international media, including NASA.
=== Waste ===
The tsunami produced huge amounts of debris: estimates of 5 million tonnes of waste were reported by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. Some of this waste, mostly plastic and styrofoam, washed up on the coasts of Canada and the United States in late 2011. Along the west coast of the United States, this increased the amount of litter by a factor of ten and may have transported alien species.
=== Ports ===
All of Japan's ports were briefly shut down after the earthquake, though the ones in Tokyo and southwards soon re-opened. Fifteen ports were located in the disaster zone. The north eastern ports of Hachinohe, Sendai, Ishinomaki and Onahama were destroyed, while the Port of Chiba (which serves the hydrocarbon industry) and Japan's ninth-largest container port at Kashima were also affected, though less severely. The ports at Hitachinaka, Hitachi, Soma, Shiogama, Kesennuma, Ofunato, Kamashi and Miyako were also damaged and closed to ships. All 15 ports reopened to limited ship traffic by 29 March 2011. A total of 319 fishing ports, about 10% of Japan's fishing ports, were damaged in the disaster. Most were restored to operating condition by 18 April 2012.
The Port of Tokyo suffered slight damage; the effects of the quake included visible smoke rising from a building in the port with parts of the port areas being flooded, including soil liquefaction in Tokyo Disneyland's parking lot.
=== Dams and water problems ===
The Fujinuma irrigation dam in Sukagawa ruptured, causing flooding and the washing away of five homes. Eight people were missing and four bodies were discovered by the morning. Reportedly, some locals had attempted to repair leaks in the dam before it completely failed. On 12 March 252 dams were inspected and it was discovered that six embankment dams had shallow cracks on their crests. The reservoir at one concrete gravity dam suffered a small non-serious slope failure. All damaged dams are functioning with no problems. Four dams within the quake area were unreachable.
In the immediate aftermath of the calamity, at least 1.5 million households were reported to have lost access to water supplies. By 21 March 2011, this number fell to 1.04 million.
=== Electricity ===
According to the Japanese trade ministry, around 4.4 million households served by Tōhoku Electric Power (TEP) in northeastern Japan were left without electricity. Several nuclear and conventional power plants went offline, reducing the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) total capacity by 21 GW. Rolling blackouts began on 14 March due to power shortages caused by the earthquake. TEPCO, which normally provides approximately 40 GW of electricity, announced that it could only provide about 30 GW, because 40% of the electricity used in the greater Tokyo area was supplied by reactors in the Niigata and Fukushima prefectures. The reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Dai-ni plants were automatically taken offline when the first earthquake occurred and sustained major damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Rolling blackouts of approximately three hours were experienced throughout April and May while TEPCO scrambled to find a temporary power solution. The blackouts affected Tokyo, Kanagawa, Eastern Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tochigi, and Gunma prefectures. Voluntary reductions in electricity use by consumers in the Kanto area helped reduce the predicted frequency and duration of the blackouts. By 21 March 2011, the number of households in the north without electricity fell to 242,927.
Tōhoku Electric Power was not able to provide the Kanto region with additional power because TEP's power plants were also damaged in the earthquake. Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco) could not share electricity, because its system operated at 60 hertz, whereas TEPCO and TEP operate their systems at 50 hertz; the disparity is due to early industrial and infrastructure development in the 1880s that left Japan without a unified national power grid. Two substations, one in Shizuoka Prefecture and one in Nagano Prefecture, were able to convert between frequencies and transfer electricity from Kansai to Kanto and Tōhoku, but their capacity was limited to 1 GW. With damage to so many power plants, it was feared it might be years before a long-term solution could be found.
To help alleviate the shortage, three steel manufacturers in the Kanto region contributed electricity produced by their in-house conventional power stations to TEPCO for distribution to the general public. Sumitomo Metal Industries could produce up to 500 MW, JFE Steel 400 MW, and Nippon Steel 500 MW of electric power. Auto and auto parts makers in Kanto and Tōhoku agreed in May 2011 to operate their factories on Saturdays and Sundays and close on Thursdays and Fridays to help alleviate electricity shortages during the summer of 2011. The public and other companies were also encouraged to conserve electricity in the 2011 summer months (Setsuden).
The expected electricity crisis in 2011 summer was successfully prevented thanks to all the setsuden measures. Peak electricity consumption recorded by TEPCO during the period was 49.22GW, which is 10.77GW (18%) lower than the peak consumption in the previous year. Overall electricity consumption during July and August was also 14% less than in the previous year. The peak electricity consumption within TEP's area was 12.46GW during the 2011 summer, 3.11GW (20%) less than the peak consumption in the previous year, and the overall consumption have been reduced by 11% in July with 17% in August compared to previous year. The Japanese government continued to ask the public to conserve electricity until 2016, when it is predicted that the supply will be sufficient to meet demand, thanks to the deepening of the mindset to conserve electricity among corporate and general public, addition of new electricity providers due to the electricity liberalization policy, increased output from renewable energy as well as fossil fuel power stations, as well as sharing of electricity between different electricity companies.
=== Oil, gas and coal ===
A 220,000-barrel-per-day (35,000 m3) oil refinery of Cosmo Oil Company was set on fire by the quake at Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, to the east of Tokyo. It was extinguished after ten days, injuring six people, and destroying storage tanks. Other refineries halted production due to safety checks and power loss.
In Sendai, a 145,000-barrel-per-day (23,100 m3) refinery owned by the largest refiner in Japan, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, was also set ablaze by the quake. Workers were evacuated, but tsunami warnings hindered efforts to extinguish the fire until 14 March, when officials planned to do so.
An analyst estimated that consumption of various types of oil could have increased by as much as 300,000 barrels (48,000 m3) per day (as well as LNG), as back-up power plants burning fossil fuels attempted to compensate for the loss of 11 GW of Japan's nuclear power capacity.
The city-owned plant for importing liquefied natural gas in Sendai was severely damaged, and supplies were halted for at least a month.
In addition to refining and storage, several power plants were damaged. These include Sendai #4, New-Sendai #1 and #2, Haranomachi #1 and #2, Hirono #2 and #4 and Hitachinaka #1.
=== Nuclear power plants ===
The Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Daini, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant and Tōkai nuclear power stations, consisting of a total eleven reactors, were automatically shut down following the earthquake. Higashidōri, also on the northeast coast, was already shut down for a periodic inspection. Cooling is needed to remove decay heat after a Generation II reactor has been shut down, and to maintain spent fuel pools. The backup cooling process is powered by emergency diesel generators at the plants and at Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant. At Fukushima Daiichi and Daini, tsunami waves overtopped seawalls and destroyed diesel backup power systems, leading to severe problems at Fukushima Daiichi, including three large explosions and radioactive leakage. Subsequent analysis found that many Japanese nuclear plants, including Fukushima Daiichi, were not adequately protected against tsunamis. Over 200,000 people were evacuated.
The discharge of radioactive water in Fukushima was confirmed in later analysis at the three reactors at Fukushima I (Units 1, 2, and 3), which suffered meltdowns and continued to leak coolant water.
The aftershock on 7 April caused the loss of external power to Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant and Higashidori Nuclear Power Plant but backup generators were functional. Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant lost three of its four external power lines and temporarily lost cooling function in its spent fuel pools for "20 to 80 minutes". A spill of "up to 3.8 litres [1.0 US gal]" of radioactive water also occurred at Onagawa following the aftershock. A report by the IAEA in 2012 found that the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant had remained largely undamaged.
In 2013, only two nuclear reactors in Japan had been restarted since the 2011 shutdowns. In February 2019, there were 42 operable reactors in Japan. Of these, only nine reactors in five power plants were operating after having been restarted post-2011.
==== Fukushima meltdowns ====
Japan declared a state of emergency following the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in the evacuation of nearby residents. Officials from the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported that radiation levels inside the plant were up to 1,000 times normal levels, and that radiation levels outside the plant were up to eight times normal levels. Later, a state of emergency was also declared at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant about 11 km (6.8 mi) south. Experts described the Fukushima disaster was not as bad as the Chernobyl disaster, but worse than the Three Mile Island accident.
The discharge of radioactive water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was later detected in tap water. Radioactive iodine was detected in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma, Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Niigata, and radioactive caesium in the tap water in Fukushima, Tochigi and Gunma. Radioactive caesium, iodine, and strontium were also detected in the soil in some places in Fukushima. There may be a need to replace the contaminated soil. Many radioactive hotspots were found outside the evacuation zone, including Tokyo. Radioactive contamination of food products were detected in several places in Japan. In 2021, the Japanese cabinet finally approved the dumping of radioactive water in Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean over a course of 30 years, with full support of IAEA.
==== Incidents elsewhere ====
A fire occurred in the turbine section of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant following the earthquake. The blaze was in a building housing the turbine, which is sited separately from the plant's reactor, and was soon extinguished. The plant was shut down as a precaution.
On 13 March the lowest-level state of emergency was declared regarding the Onagawa plant as radioactivity readings temporarily exceeded allowed levels in the area of the plant. Tōhoku Electric Power Co. stated this may have been due to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accidents but was not from the Onagawa plant itself.
As a result of the 7 April aftershock, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant lost three of four external power lines and lost cooling function for as much as 80 minutes. A spill of a couple of litres of radioactive water occurred at Onagawa.
The number 2 reactor at Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant was shut down automatically. On 14 March it was reported that a cooling system pump for this reactor had stopped working; however, the Japan Atomic Power Company stated that there was a second operational pump sustaining the cooling systems, but that two of three diesel generators used to power the cooling system were out of order.
=== Transport ===
Japan's transport network suffered severe disruptions. Many sections of Tōhoku Expressway serving northern Japan were damaged. The expressway did not reopen to general public use until 24 March 2011. All railway services were suspended in Tokyo, with an estimated 20,000 people stranded at major stations across the city. In the hours after the earthquake, some train services were resumed. Most Tokyo area train lines resumed full service by the next day—12 March. Twenty thousand stranded visitors spent the night of 11–12 March inside Tokyo Disneyland.
A tsunami flooded Sendai Airport at 15:55 JST, about one hour after the initial quake, causing severe damage. Narita and Haneda Airport both briefly suspended operations after the quake, but suffered little damage and reopened within 24 hours. Eleven airliners bound for Narita were diverted to nearby Yokota Air Base.
Various train services around Japan were also canceled, with JR East suspending all services for the rest of the day. Four trains on coastal lines were reported as being out of contact with operators; one, a four-car train on the Senseki Line, was found to have derailed, and its occupants were rescued shortly after 8 am the next morning. Minami-Kesennuma Station on the Kesennuma Line was obliterated save for its platform; 62 of 70 (31 of 35) JR East train lines suffered damage to some degree; in the worst-hit areas, 23 stations on 7 lines were washed away, with damage or loss of track in 680 locations and the 30-km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant unable to be assessed.
There were no derailments of Shinkansen bullet train services in and out of Tokyo, but their services were also suspended. The Tokaido Shinkansen resumed limited service late in the day and was back to its normal schedule by the next day, while the Jōetsu and Nagano Shinkansen resumed services late on 12 March. Services on Yamagata Shinkansen resumed with limited numbers of trains on 31 March.
Derailments were minimized because of an early warning system that detected the earthquake before it struck. The system automatically stopped all high-speed trains, which minimized the damage.
The Tōhoku Shinkansen line was worst hit, with JR East estimating that 1,100 sections of the line, varying from collapsed station roofs to bent power pylons, would need repairs. Services on the Tōhoku Shinkansen partially resumed only in Kantō area on 15 March, with one round-trip service per hour between Tokyo and Nasu-Shiobara, and Tōhoku area service partially resumed on 22 March between Morioka and Shin-Aomori. Services on Akita Shinkansen resumed with limited numbers of trains on 18 March. Service between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori was restored by May, but at lower speeds due to ongoing restoration work; the pre-earthquake timetable was not reinstated until late September.
The rolling blackouts brought on by the crises at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima had a profound effect on the rail networks around Tokyo starting on 14 March. Major railways began running trains at 10–20 minute intervals, rather than the usual 3–5 minute intervals, operating some lines only at rush hour and completely shutting down others; notably, the Tōkaidō Main Line, Yokosuka Line, Sōbu Main Line and Chūō-Sōbu Line were all stopped for the day. This led to near-paralysis within the capital, with long lines at train stations and many people unable to come to work or get home. Railway operators gradually increased capacity over the next few days, until running at approximately 80% capacity by 17 March and relieving the worst of the passenger congestion.
=== Telecommunications ===
Cellular and landline phone service suffered major disruptions in the affected area. Immediately after the earthquake cellular communication was jammed across much of Japan due to a surge of network activity. On the day of the quake itself American broadcaster NPR was unable to reach anyone in Sendai with a working phone or access to the Internet. Internet services were largely unaffected in areas where basic infrastructure remained, despite the earthquake having damaged portions of several undersea cable systems landing in the affected regions; these systems were able to reroute around affected segments onto redundant links. Within Japan, only a few websites were initially unreachable. Several Wi-Fi hotspot providers reacted to the quake by providing free access to their networks, and some American telecommunications and VoIP companies such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and VoIP companies such as netTALK and Vonage have offered free calls to (and in some cases, from) Japan for a limited time, as did Germany's Deutsche Telekom.
=== Defense ===
Matsushima Air Field of the Japan Self-Defense Force in Miyagi Prefecture received a tsunami warning, and the airbase public address 'Tanoy' was used to give the warning: 'A tsunami is coming evacuate to the third floor.' Shortly after the warning the airbase was struck by the tsunami, flooding the base. There was no loss of life, although the tsunami resulted in damage to all 18 Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jets of the 21st Fighter Training Squadron. Twelve of the aircraft were scrapped, while the remaining six were slated for repair at a cost of 80 billion yen ($1 billion), exceeding the original cost of the aircraft. After the tsunami, elements of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force put to sea without orders and started rescuing those who had been washed out to sea. Tsunami plans were for the Japan Self-Defense Forces assets to be led, directed, and coordinated by local civic governments. However, the earthquake destroyed town halls (the seat of local municipal government), police, and fire services in many places, so the military not only had to respond to but also command rescues.
=== Cultural properties ===
754 cultural properties were damaged across nineteen prefectures, including five National Treasures (at Zuigan-ji, Ōsaki Hachiman-gū, Shiramizu Amidadō, and Seihaku-ji); 160 Important Cultural Properties (including at Sendai Tōshō-gū, the Kōdōkan, and Entsū-in, with its Western decorative motifs); 144 Monuments of Japan (including Matsushima, Takata-matsubara, Yūbikan, and the Site of Tagajō); six Groups of Traditional Buildings; and four Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties. Stone monuments at the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Shrines and Temples of Nikkō were toppled. In Tokyo, there was damage to Koishikawa Kōrakuen, Rikugien, Hamarikyū Onshi Teien, and the walls of Edo Castle. Information on the condition of collections held by museums, libraries and archives is still incomplete. There was no damage to the Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, and the recommendation for their inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in June was seized upon as a symbol of international recognition and recovery.
== Aftermath ==
The aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami included a humanitarian crisis and a major economic impact. The tsunami resulted in over 340,000 displaced people in the Tōhoku region, and shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine, and fuel for survivors. In response, the Japanese government mobilized the Self-Defense Forces (under Joint Task Force – Tōhoku, led by Lieutenant General Eiji Kimizuka), while many countries sent search and rescue teams to help search for survivors. Aid organizations in Japan and worldwide responded, with the Japanese Red Cross reporting $1 billion in donations. The economic impact included immediate problems, with industrial production suspended in many factories, and the longer term issue of the cost of rebuilding, which has been estimated at ¥10 trillion ($122 billion). In comparison to the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, the East Japan earthquake brought serious damage to an extremely wide range.
The aftermath of the twin disasters left Japan's coastal cities and towns with nearly 25 million tons of debris. In Ishinomaki alone, there were 17 trash collection sites 180 meters (590 ft) long and at least 4.5 meters (15 ft) high. An official in the city's government trash disposal department estimated that it would take three years to empty these sites.
In April 2015, authorities off the coast of Oregon discovered debris that was thought to be from a boat destroyed during the tsunami. The cargo contained yellowtail amberjack, a species of fish that lives off the coast of Japan, still alive. KGW estimates that more than 1 million tons of debris still remain in the Pacific Ocean.
In February 2016, a memorial was inaugurated by two architects for the victims of the disaster, consisting of a 6.5-square-metre (70 sq ft) structure on a hillside between a temple and a cherry tree in Ishinomaki.
The reconstruction of the Tohoku coast was funded and piloted by the Japanese government. Structural adaptation to tsunamis was largely based on building higher seawalls, although seawalls proved largely ineffective in 2011, and the new seawalls would also not have been high enough.
== Scientific and research response ==
Seismologists anticipated a very large quake would strike in the same place as the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake—in the Sagami Trough, southwest of Tokyo. The Japanese government had tracked plate movements since 1976 in preparation for the so-called Tokai earthquake, predicted to take place in that region. However, occurring as it did 373 km (232 mi) north east of Tokyo, the Tōhoku earthquake came as a surprise to seismologists. While the Japan Trench was known for creating large quakes, it had not been expected to generate quakes above an 8.0 magnitude. The Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion set up by the Japanese government then reassessed the long-term risk of trench-type earthquakes around Japan, and it was announced in November 2011 that research on the 869 Sanriku earthquake indicated that a similar earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 8.4–9.0 would take place off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan, on average, every 600 years. Also, a tsunami-earthquake with a tsunami magnitude scales (Mt) between 8.6 and 9.0 (Similar to the 1896 Sanriku earthquake, the Mt for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake was 9.1–9.4) had a 30% chance to occur within 30 years.
The quake gave scientists the opportunity to collect a large amount of data to model the seismic events that took place in great detail. This data is expected to be used in a variety of ways, providing unprecedented information about how buildings respond to shaking, and other effects. Gravimetric data from the quake have been used to create a model for increased warning time compared to seismic models, as gravity fields travel faster than seismic waves.
Researchers have also analysed the economic effects of this earthquake and have developed models of the nationwide propagation via interfirm supply networks of the shock that originated in the Tōhoku region.
After the full extent of the disaster was known, researchers soon launched a project to gather all digital material relating to the disaster into an online searchable archive to form the basis of future research into the events during and after the disaster. The Japan Disasters Digital Archive is presented in English and Japanese and is hosted at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some of the first research to come from the archive was a 2014 paper from the Digital Methods Initiative in Amsterdam about patterns of Twitter usage around the time of the disaster.
After the 2011 disaster, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction held its World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Tohoku in March 2015, which produced the Sendai Framework document to guide efforts by international development agencies to act before disasters instead of reacting to them after the fact. At this time Japan's Disaster Management Office (Naikakufu Bosai Keikaku) published a bi-lingual guide in Japanese and English, Disaster Management in Japan, to outline the several varieties of natural disaster and the preparations being made for the eventuality of each. In the fall of 2016, Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED; Japanese abbreviation, Bosai Kaken; full name Bousai Kagaku Gijutsu Kenkyusho) launched the online interactive "Disaster Chronology Map for Japan, 416–2013" (map labels in Japanese) to display in visual form the location, disaster time, and date across the islands.
The Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project, a scientific expedition conducted in 2012–2013, drilled ocean-floor boreholes through the fault zone of the earthquake and gathered important data about the rupture mechanism and physical properties of the fault that caused the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
=== Ecological research ===
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami had a great environmental impact on Japan's eastern coast. The rarity and magnitude of the earthquake-tsunami prompted researchers Jotaro Urabe, Takao Suzuki, Tatsuki Nishita, and Wataru Makino to study their immediate ecological impacts on intertidal flat communities at Sendai Bay and the Sanriku Ria coast. Pre- and post-event surveys show a reduction in animal taxon richness and change in taxon composition mainly attributed to the tsunami and its physical impacts. In particular, sessile epibenthic animals and endobenthic animals both decreased in taxon richness. Mobile epibenthic animals, such as hermit crabs, were not as affected. Post-surveys also recorded taxa that were not previously recorded before, suggesting that tsunamis have the potential to introduce species and change taxon composition and local community structure. The long term ecological impacts at Sendai Bay and the greater east coast of Japan require further study. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_A%26M_University | Florida A&M University | Florida A&M University (FAMU), is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Founded in 1887, it is the third-largest historically black university in the US by enrollment and the only public historically black university in Florida. It is a member of the State University System of Florida and is accredited to award baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Florida A&M sports teams are known as the Rattlers, and compete in Division I of the NCAA. They are a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
== History ==
Black abolitionist Jonathan C. Gibbs first introduced legislation to create the State Normal College for Colored Students in 1885, one year after being elected to the Florida Legislature. The date also reflects the new Florida Constitution of 1885, which prohibited racial integration in schools. The college was located in Tallahassee because Leon County and adjacent counties led the state in African-American population, reflecting Tallahassee's former status as the center of Florida's slave trade. (See Tallahassee's black history.) The site of the university is the 375-acre slave plantation of Florida governor William Pope Duval, whose mansion, today the site of the Carnegie Library, burned in 1905.
On October 3, 1887, the State Normal College for Colored Students began classes, and became a land-grant college four years later when it received $7,500 under the Second Morrill Act, and its name was changed to State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students. However, it was not an official institution of higher learning until the 1905 Buckman Act, which transferred control from the Department of Education to the Board of Control, creating what was the foundation for the modern Florida A&M University. This same act is responsible for the creation of the University of Florida and Florida State University from their previous institutions. In 1909, the name of the college was once again changed, to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes, and in 1953 the name was finally changed to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Florida A&M is the only surviving publicly funded historically black college or university in the state of Florida. (Twelve publicly funded junior colleges serving primarily the African-American population of Florida existed for different periods between 1949 and 1966.)
In 1923, there was a student strike that led to the destruction of multiple campus buildings. The strike was a response to Governor Cary A. Hardee's attempts to eliminate the liberal arts program at the university and convert it to a purely vocational school. Hardee believed that a more educated black populace would be more likely to leave the state, which would negatively impact Florida's economy, and thus believed it was necessary to prevent African-American Floridians from being able to access non-vocational education. The conflict led to the resignation of university president Nathan B. Young, which in turn sparked a student protest that burned down multiple campus buildings. Ultimately, the liberal arts program was restored after the end of Hardee's term and the appointment of J. R. E. Lee as the fourth president of the university.
In 1951, the university started a pharmacy and nursing program. In order to give these students hands-on experience, the university built a hospital. Until 1971 Florida A&M Hospital was the only one within 150 miles (240 km) of Tallahassee to serve African Americans. It closed in 1971, after then-Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, under federal pressure, started serving African Americans.
In 1992, 1995, and 1997, Florida A&M successfully recruited more National Achievement Scholars than Harvard. FAMU tied with Harvard in 2000, recruiting 62 new National Achievement Scholars, although by 2006 that number had declined to one. The National Achievement Scholarship Corporation discontinued naming scholars in 2015.
In the fall of 1997, Florida A&M was selected as the Time-Princeton Review "College of the Year" and was cited in 1999 by Black Issues in Higher Education for awarding more baccalaureate degrees to African-Americans than any institution in the nation.
In 2011 Robert Champion, a band member, was beaten to death in a hazing incident. Two faculty members resigned in connection with a hazing investigation and thirteen people were charged with felony or misdemeanor hazing crimes; one student, a band member, was convicted of manslaughter and hazing charges and sentenced to six years in prison. The scandal resulted in the resignation of Florida A&M's president and played a role in the university's regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, placing Florida A&M on probation for one year.
In 2019, Florida A&M and other HBCUs developed a partnership with Adtalem Global Education and its for-profit Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados.
In May 2024, Florida A&M administrators announced during a commencement ceremony that it had received a $237 million donation, the largest single personal donation to Florida A&M in its 136-year history and the largest gift ever to a HBCU, from Gregory Gerami, CEO of Batterson Farms Corporation. The gift quickly came under scrutiny due to questions about its legitimacy. The donation was stock from Gerami's private company and its value could not be determined. In response to the public skepticism, Florida A&M paused the acceptance of the gift and initiated an external investigation to determine the soundness of the Gerami donation. The following month, university president Larry Robinson resigned. His resignation followed the May 2024 resignation of Shawnta Friday-Stroud, Florida A&M 's former vice president for university advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation, who played a key role in negotiating the Gerami donation.
In August 2024, Florida A&M released a final report prepared by Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney that concluded that the Gerami donation was of no real cash value. The report suggested that the proposed donor may have knowingly misrepresented his financial holdings and outlined how much the failed gift cost the university in actual travel and entertainment expenses as well as negative impact on the university's reputation.
=== Florida A&M student activism during the Civil Rights Era ===
Demonstrations such as the Tallahassee bus boycotts and CORE-led sit-in protests were influenced by the efforts of Florida A&M students to challenge racial segregation during the Civil Rights Movement. These protests brought national recognition to issues involving interracial dynamics and called attention to the importance of reform in the Tallahassee area.
On May 26, 1956, Wilhemina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, two Florida A&M University students, were arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department for "placing themselves in a position to incite a riot." Both Jakes and Pattersin were let out on bonds, but later returned home to crosses burning on their yards that had been placed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. After this incident FAMU students agreed to boycott the Tallahassee bus system and encouraged other African Americans in the Leon County area to do the same. These student-led protests started what is now known as the Tallahassee bus boycotts, which sought to end racial segregation in the employment and seating arrangements of city buses.
Thanks to the leadership of FAMU students and sisters Priscilla and Patricia Stephens Due, Florida A&M's CORE chapter played an active role in several protests across Tallahassee from 1959 to 1964. In November 1959, CORE members conducted their first of many "tests" that attempted to challenge the parctices of racial segregation in the Tallahassee area, with their focus being on whether the city's bus system continued to operate under segregated lines out of "cultural habit" or an "officially imposed pattern." Similar tests were carried out at dime stores around the city, which attempted to measure "discrimination on an empirical level" rather than act as an early version of what would eventually be the student's sit-in protests. Further testing of the bus system took place around the same time as the dime store tests, where students attempted to but inter-state bus tickets from "whites-only" terminals.
In February 1960, news spread to Tallahassee's CORE chapter about the Greensboro sit-ins and the group was encouraged to participate in their own as an act of solidarity. Eight Florida A&M students and two local high schoolers volunteered to participate in the group's first sit in at their local Woolworth lunch counter. After being refused service, students remained at the counter for two hours and did not leave until law enforcement arrived. The CORE chapter later agreed to return to Woolworth the following week with a larger, more well-trained group of students. Rather than letting protestors disperse like before, Tallahassee police arrested 11 out of the 17 protestors present on the grounds of "disturbing the peace." Among those arrested were the Due sisters along with 6 other Florida A&M students. Throughout February and March 1960 numerous other planned sit-ins occurred in the Tallahassee area, with among the most notable taking place March 11 at both the McCrory and Woolworth lunch counters. After the arrest of sit-in protestors from both locations, Patricia Stephens Due along with other CORE members gathered a group of 1,000 FAMU students to lead a protest in downtown Tallahassee, where police officers armed with tear gas awaited their arrival and arrested several more students.
On March 17 the 11 original protestors arrested were found guilty on counts of "disturbing the peace" and "unlawful assembly," leading for them to either paying a $300 fine or serve a 60-day jail sentence for their crimes. Rather than pay the fines, the protestors decided to serve out their full sentence, making the 8 Florida A&M students some of the first sit-in protestors to accept a jail sentence over bail.
In 1963, Florida A&M students demonstrated against segregation in the city. Throughout September 14–16, mass protests led to around 350 arrests, many of which were FAMU students. Major arrests occurred on September 14 following a protest on the segregated State Theater led by Patricia Stephens Due, with over 248 student arrests in one day on the ground of "willful trespass." Around 250 more student protestors arrived to the jail under the guidance of Reverend's C.K. Steele, E.G. Evans, and David Brooks to protest the arrest of their peers the night before along with the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that occurred the same day, leading for the arrest of 100 more students. An overflow of the prison ensued, leading for parts of the Leon County Fairgrounds to be turned into temporary detainment facilities.
=== University presidents ===
== Academics ==
The university offers 54 bachelor's degree programs, 29 master's degree programs, one professional degree, and 12 doctoral degree programs. It has 14 schools and colleges. Florida A&M also has an honors program for high-achieving undergraduate students who meet the high performance criteria. Florida A&M is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.
Florida A&M has nine fully funded, endowed, eminent-scholars chairs, including two in the School of Journalism and Graphic Communications, four in the School of Business & Industry, one in the College of Education, one in Arts and Sciences, and one in its School of Pharmacy.
Florida A&M's law school is one of five in the United States where twice as many women enroll as men.
=== Colleges and schools ===
FAMU offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through the following colleges and schools:
=== Undergraduate admissions ===
The fall 2022 incoming freshmen class had an average high school GPA of 3.8 and an average SAT score of 1019 and ACT score of 22. The 2022 undergraduate admission rate was 31.9%
=== Demographics ===
Florida A&M University student enrollment population consists primarily of undergraduates. 83% of the school's enrolled students are African-American. The next largest demographic group is White (non-Hispanic) students at 7%, followed by Hispanic students at 6%. Multiracial, Asian, Native American, and international students round out the remaining 4%.
=== Accreditation ===
Florida A&M University has been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) since 1935.
=== Graduation rate ===
In 2020, FAMU's four-year graduation rate was 21%, while its six-year graduation rate was 55%.
=== Rankings ===
The 2024 edition of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings placed Florida A&M 170th among national universities, 91st among public universities, third among HBCUs, and first among public HBCUs. Florida A&M was also named 21st in the Top Performers in Social Mobility category.
It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
For 2017, the National Science Foundation ranked Florida A&M 216th nationally and 2nd among HBCUs for total research and development expenditures.
=== Research ===
Florida A&M's annual research funding is $44.5 million. The university has access to research funding from many Federal agencies. FAMU's two largest research areas are agriculture and health sciences. The Pharmacy College's research funding is $20.2 million ($20.2 million in federal, $300k in state support, and from $300k in private industry support) with $29,281,352 committed.
== Campus ==
Florida A&M's main campus is in Tallahassee, Florida, just south of the State Capitol and the campus of Florida State University. It also has a law school campus in Orlando, Florida, and the Research and Development Center in Quincy, Florida. The College of Pharmacy has extension campuses in Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa and Crestview, Florida.
=== Residential facilities ===
Florida A&M requires all first-year students to live on campus, if their families are over 35 miles (56 km) from the FAMU campus. Exceptions to this rule include married students, students with dependents, and students who are of age 21 by the start of classes.
Florida A&M's residential living community consists of eleven on-campus residence halls housing over 3,400 students. The university offers a diverse number of living options including traditional dorms, suite-style halls, and on-campus apartments. In 2020, FAMU opened the FAMU Towers, a residence hall offering co-ed floors and 700 double rooms, in close proximity to campus eatery, The Hub. In 2025, FAMU opened the 700-bed Venom Landing.
=== National historic district ===
The Florida A&M Tallahassee Campus consists of 132 buildings spread across 420 acres (1.7 km2). Part of the campus is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College Historic District. It received that designation on May 9, 1996. The district is centered along the section of Martin Luther King Boulevard that goes through the campus. According to the National Register, it covers 370 acres (1.5 km2), and contains 14 historic buildings and 1 object. One campus building, the old Carnegie Library, is listed separately on the National Register. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed Lee Hall at Florida A&M on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.
=== Research centers and institutes ===
The Division of Research houses 17 different research centers and institutes:
Center for Biological Control
Center for Disability Access and Resources
Center for Environmental Equity and Justice
Environmental Cooperative Sciences Center (ECSC)
Center for Intelligent Systems, Control, and Robotics (CISCOR)
Center for International Agricultural Trade, Developmentg Research and Training
Center for International Law and Justice
Center for Plasma Science and Technology
Center for Viticulture Science and Small Fruit Research
Center for Water and Air Quality
Center for Secure Computing and Information Assistance
Meek-Eaton Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum
Small Business Development Center
Institute for Building Sciences
Juvenile Justice Research Institute
Institute for Research in Music and Entertainment Industry Studies
Institute of Public Health
=== Libraries ===
The Samuel H. Coleman Memorial Library is the university's main library, named for the man who served as the university's general alumni president for 14 years. After the university's main building containing administrative offices, cafeteria, and library were destroyed by fire, Andrew Carnegie donated a $10,000 gift for the construction of a new library facility. The construction of Coleman Library began during the post-World War II era. The new library was officially dedicated during FAMU's 1949 annual Founders Day celebration in honor of civil leader Samuel H. Coleman. The library was built in 1948, renovated in 1972, expanded in 1990 and again in 2004. The 88,964 square feet (8,265.0 m2) facility includes study rooms, a student study lounge and cafe, graduate and faculty study carrels, teleconference rooms, and a state-of-the-art information literacy classroom.
The libraries hold nearly 2 million volumes, over 155,000 e-books and e-journals, and 256,126 microforms.
=== Carnegie Library ===
The library of what was then the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students was located in the grandest building on the campus, Duval Hall, the former mansion of Florida governor William Pope Duval, which also held the university's administrative offices and cafeteria. It was destroyed by fire in 1905. Andrew Carnegie donated a $10,000 gift for the construction of a new library facility.
In 1907, when the city of Tallahassee turned down philanthropist Andrew Carnegie's offer of a library building, because by his rules it would have had to serve black patrons, Carnegie funded instead the Carnegie Library at FAMU. It no longer serves as a library, but instead houses the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum.
== Athletics ==
Florida A&M University is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I-FCS. FAMU's sports teams are called the Rattlers. FAMU offers men's sports in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis and track and field. It offers women's sports in basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball.
From 1938 to 1961, the football team won the Black College National Championship eight times, including six times under head coach Jake Gaither, in 1950, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1959 and 1961. When Gaither retired after 25 years of coaching in 1969, his FAMU teams had a 203-36-4 (wins-losses-ties) record, for a .844 winning percentage. Thirty-six players from Gaither's teams were All-Americans, and 42 went on to play in the National Football League. During his 25 years as head coach, FAMU won 22 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships. Gaither was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975. FAMU went on to win the first NCAA D1-AA National Championship in 1978 after defeating the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The men's basketball team has qualified for the opening round game of the NCAA men's basketball tournament three times (1999, 2004 and 2007).
== Student life ==
FAMU is one of the largest HBCUs in the nation with a student body of nearly 10,000 students hailing from all regions of the United States and several foreign countries. Individuals part of the FAMU community are affectionately referred to as "FAMUly" or members of "Rattler Nation". FAMU has over 100 student organizations on campus.
=== Notable student organizations ===
==== Student Government Association ====
The Student Government Association (SGA) is the official voice of the student body and is divided into three branches: Executive, Judicial, and Legislative.
==== FAMU Royal Court ====
Miss FAMU, Mister FAMU, and other students represent the university in its royal court. Miss FAMU, Mister FAMU, and female students known as "attendants", are elected by the student body; there are one each of freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate attendants and a queen of "orange and green". The male "escorts" of the attendants are appointed by Mister FAMU through an application process. The only male escort that wears a crown besides Mister FAMU is the king of "orange and green". The attendants and escorts are undergraduate students, except for one attendant and one escort who are graduate students.
==== Gospel Choir ====
The FAMU Gospel Choir was established in 1957.
==== Reserve Officers Training Corps ====
FAMU is home to both Army ROTC and Naval ROTC units, permitting students to pursue careers as commissioned officers in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps, upon graduation. For those FAMU students desiring to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Air Force, a cross-campus arrangement permits their taking Air Force ROTC training with the AFROTC detachment at nearby Florida State University (FSU). Likewise, Florida State students desiring to become Navy and Marine Corps officers may also enroll with FAMU's NROTC unit under a similar arrangement.
==== Marching band ====
The FAMU marching band, the Marching 100, received national recognition in January 1993 when it performed in the 42nd presidential inauguration parade by invitation of Bill Clinton. The band has also performed in the Super Bowl and in the 44th presidential inauguration parade for Barack Obama. In 2019, the marching band performed in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day.
==== Student media ====
The FAMUAN – The student newspaper
Journey Magazine – The student magazine
FAMU 20 TV – The FAMU TV news broadcast network
WANM 90.5 FM – The university owned and operated radio station.
== Notable alumni ==
E. Lilyan Spencer (1906–1957), tennis player, basketball coach and principal. Winner of the 1937 women's doubles national ATA tennis championship.
Sylvia Lyons Render (1913–1986), English professor and manuscript curator at the Library of Congress; first African American to receive a doctoral degree from the Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development
Cannonball Adderley (born 1928) music educator and one of the most pre-eminent prestigious jazz saxophonists in jazz history, performed on the pivotal album Kind of Blue with Miles Davis
Frederick S. Humphries (born 1935), eighth president of Florida A&M University from June 1, 1985, to December 31, 2001. Under the Humphries administration, FAMU was selected as "College of the Year" by the TIME/Princeton Review in 1997 and recognized in the State University System as a Comprehensive/Doctoral University in 1999.
Sybil C. Mobley (born 1925), founding dean of Florida A&M University'sSchool of Business and Industry. Mobley served on the boards of directors of Anheuser-Busch Company, Champion International Corporation, Hershey Foods Corporation, Sears Roebuck & Company, Southwestern Bell Corporation, Dean Witter, and Discover.
Althea Gibson (born 1927), first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships). In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title.
Bob Hayes (born 1942), only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. He was once considered the "world's fastest human" by virtue of his multiple world records in the 60-yard, 100-yard, 220-yard, and Olympic 100-meter dashes.
Bernard Kinsey (born 1943), Los Angeles philanthropist and entrepreneur with a passion for African-American history and art of the 19th and 20h centuries
David Scott (Georgia politician) (born 1945), politician and businessman who has served as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 13th congressional district since 2003
Shirley Kinsey (born 1946), Los Angeles-based philanthropist, art collector, and former school teacher known, along with husband Bernard and son Khalil, as the owner of Kinsey Collection, one of the largest private collections of African-American history and art in the world.
Al Green (Born 1947) politician who serves as the U.S. representative from Texas' 9th congressional district since 2005.
Al Lawson (born 1948), politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 5th congressional district, serving from 2017 to 2023
John W. Thompson (born 1949), technology executive who was the chair of Microsoft from 2014 until June 2021
Andre Dawson (born 1954), 8-time National League All-Star, NL MVP, and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee
Pam Oliver (born 1960/1961), sportscaster known for her work on the sidelines for various National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) games
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (born 1962), actress and singer
Winsome Sinclair (1965–2024), casting director and film producer
Kimberly Godwin, former professor at Florida A&M University. In April 2021, Godwin was named president of ABC News. She is the first Black woman to lead a major American network's broadcast news division
Sidney August Anthony Miller Jr., publisher of Black Radio Exclusive magazine, BRE Radio Conference
Keisha Lance Bottoms (born 1970), attorney and politician who served as the 60th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2018 to 2022
Common (rapper) (born 1972), known by his stage name Common (also known as Common Sense), is rapper and actor
Anika Noni Rose (born 1972), actress and singer. She is best known for voicing Tiana, Disney's first African-American princess, as seen in The Princess and the Frog (2009). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011
Will Packer (born 1974), film producer often known for hit big-screen comedies including Think Like a Man (2012), Ride Along (2014), Think Like a Man Too (2014), The Wedding Ringer (2015), Girls Trip (2017), Night School (2018), and What Men Want (2019)
Janelle Bynum (born 1975), politician, electrical engineer, and businesswoman who serves as the representative from Oregon's 5th congressional district in the U.S. Congress.
Byron Donalds (born 1978), politician and financial analyst who serves as the representative from Florida's 19th congressional district in the U.S. Congress.
Roy Wood Jr. (born 1978), comedian, actor, Daily Show correspondent
Andrew Gillum (born 1979), nominee for governor of Florida from the Democratic Party and 126th mayor of Tallahassee, Florida
Karamo Brown (born 1980), host of Queer Eye
K. Michelle (born 1982), R&B singer, songwriter, and television personality
Ibram X Kendi (born 1982), author, professor, anti-racist activist, and historian of race and discriminatory policy in America
Amin Stevens (born 1990), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Stacey Finley, American science professor
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, American writer and educator
Brian Tyms, Football player in the NFL and CFL, Attorney, Super Bowl Champion XLIX, 2017 Grey Cup Champion
== Notable faculty ==
D. Antoinette Handy, flautist and music scholar |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_and_Sixpence | The Moon and Sixpence | The Moon and Sixpence is a novel by Somerset Maugham, first published on 15 April 1919. It is told in episodic form by a first-person narrator providing a series of glimpses into the mind and soul of the central character, Charles Strickland, a middle-aged English stockbroker, who abandons his wife and children abruptly to pursue his desire to become an artist. The story is, in part, based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin.
== Plot summary ==
The book is written largely from the point of view of the narrator, a young, aspiring writer and playwright in London. Certain chapters entirely comprise accounts of other characters' activities, which the narrator recalls from memory, selectively editing or elaborating on things that were said, particularly by Strickland, because Strickland, according to the narrator, has a poor ability to express himself. The narrator first becomes acquainted with Strickland's wife at literary parties and later meets Strickland himself, who appears to be an unremarkable businessman with no interest in his wife's literary or artistic tastes.
Strickland is a well-off, middle-class stockbroker in London, in the late 19th or early 20th century. Early in the novel, he leaves his wife and children and goes to Paris. The narrator enters directly into the story at that point, when he is asked by Mrs. Strickland to go to Paris and talk with her husband. Strickland lives a destitute but defiantly contented life there as a painter, lodging in run-down hotels and falling prey to both illness and hunger. In his drive to express through his art what appears to continually possess and compel him on the inside, he cares nothing for physical comfort and is indifferent to his surroundings. He is helped and supported by a commercially successful but hackneyed Dutch painter, Dirk Stroeve, coincidentally, also an old friend of the narrator, who recognises Strickland's genius as a painter. After helping Strickland recover from a life-threatening illness, Stroeve is repaid by having his wife, Blanche, abandon him for Strickland. Strickland later discards the wife, because all he really wanted from Blanche was for her to be a model to paint, not a serious companion. It is hinted in the novel that he indicated that to her, but she took the risk anyway. Blanche then dies by suicide. She is another human casualty in Strickland's single-minded pursuit of art and beauty, the first casualties being his own established life, and those of his wife and children.
After the Paris episode, the story continues in Tahiti. Strickland has already died, and the narrator attempts to piece together his life there from recollections of others. He finds that Strickland had taken up with a native woman, had two children by her (one of whom died), and started painting prolifically. We learn that Strickland had settled for a short while in the French port of Marseille before traveling to Tahiti, where he lived for a few years before dying of leprosy. Strickland left behind numerous paintings, but his magnum opus, which he painted on the walls of his hut before losing his sight to leprosy, was burnt by his wife after his death, as per his dying orders.
== Inspiration ==
The Moon and Sixpence is not, of course, a life of Paul Gauguin in the form of fiction. It is founded on what I had heard about him, but I used only the main facts of his story and for the rest trusted to such gifts of invention as I was fortunate enough to possess.
The life of the French artist Paul Gauguin is the inspiration for the story, but the character of Strickland as a solitary, sociopathic, and destructive genius is more related to a mythological version of Gauguin's life, which the artist himself developed and promoted, than the actual course of his life. The real Gauguin was a participant in the artistic developments in France in the 1880s, exhibiting his work regularly with the Impressionists, and being a friend and collaborator with many artists. Gauguin did work as a stockbroker, did leave his wife and family to devote his life to art, and did leave Europe for Tahiti to pursue his career. However, none of that happened in the brutal way of the novel's character. Maugham took inspiration from the published writings about Gauguin available at the time, as well as personal experience living among the artistic community in Paris in 1904, and a visit to Tahiti in 1914.
Strickland is created as an extreme version of the "modern artist as 'genius'", who is indifferent and frequently hostile to the people around him.
Writing in 1953, Maugham described the idea for the book as arising during a year that he spent living in Paris in 1904: "...I met men who had known him and worked with him at Pont-Aven. I heard much about him. It occurred to me that there was in what I was told the subject of a novel." The idea remained in his mind for ten years, until a visit to Tahiti in 1914, where Maugham was able to meet people who had known Gauguin, inspired him to start writing.
The critic Amy Dickson examines the relationship between Gauguin and Strickland. She contrasts the novel's description of Strickland, which is that "his faults are accepted as the necessary complement of his merits ... but one thing can never be doubtful, and that is that he had genius", with Gauguin's description of himself: "I am an artist and you are right, you're not mad, I am a great artist and I know it. It's because I know it that I have endured such sufferings. To have done otherwise I would consider myself a brigand—which is what many people think I am." Dickson sums up the novel as follows: "Maugham was fascinated by the impact of the arrival of modernism from Europe on an insular British consciousness and the emergence of the cult of the modernist artist-genius—The Moon and Sixpence is at once a satire of Edwardian mores and a Gauguin biography."
== Title ==
According to some sources, the title, the meaning of which is not explicitly revealed in the book, was taken from a review in The Times Literary Supplement of Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage, in which the novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as being "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet." According to a 1956 letter from Maugham, "If you look on the ground in search of a sixpence, you don't look up, and so miss the moon." Maugham's title echoes the description of Gauguin by his contemporary biographer, Meier-Graefe (1908): "He [Gauguin] may be charged with having always wanted something else."
== Adaptations ==
The book was made into a stage play in 1925 at the New Theatre, with Henry Ainley as Strickland and Eileen Sharp as Ata. A film of the same name directed and written by Albert Lewin, was released in 1942, starring George Sanders as Charles Strickland.
The novel served as the basis for a 1957 opera, also titled The Moon and Sixpence, by John Gardner to a libretto by Patrick Terry which premiered at Sadlers Wells.
S Lee Pogostin adapted it for American TV in 1959. That production, The Moon and Sixpence (1959), starred Laurence Olivier, with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in supporting roles. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ONS_built-up_areas_in_England_by_population | List of ONS built-up areas in England by population | This list of built-up areas for England was compiled by the Office for National Statistics after the 2021 UK Census. Built-up area boundaries are defined and named by the ONS and do not necessarily coincide with other definitions that use the same names. (In ONS reports of the 2011 and 2021 censuses, many of these areas were called "built-up sub-areas" of larger urban areas; as of January 2026, the ONS has not defined a new nomenclature for each of the urban areas or released any data for them: for its reports on the 2021 Census, the ONS uses the term "Amalgamated Built-up Area" for urban areas but gives them a number rather than a name. )
== Classifications ==
== Major ==
The ONS has classified all built-up areas with a population of at least 200,000 as "major". Most are cities, with three large towns (Luton, Northampton and Reading) included. (Conversely, there are many settlements that have city status but do not reach the threshold.)
== Large ==
The ONS classified all built-up areas between 199,999 and 75,000 as large-sized, most include large towns or smaller cities.
== Medium ==
The ONS classified all built-up areas between 75,000 and 20,000 as medium-sized, most are moderate towns with some exceptional cities or villages.
=== 49,700 to 74,999 ===
Hereford, Canterbury, Lancaster and Durham have city status, all others are towns and Rochester formerly had city status.
=== 30,000 to 49,699 ===
"Citypopulation.de" does not record areas with a population lower than Thundersley and South Benfleet.
Winchester, Lichfield and Chichester have city status between 30,000 and 49,700.
=== 20,000 to 29,999 ===
Truro officially has city status. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Bowl_(stadium) | Cotton Bowl (stadium) | The Cotton Bowl is an outdoor stadium in Dallas, Texas, United States. Opened in 1930 as Fair Park Stadium, it is on the site of the State Fair of Texas, known as Fair Park.
The Cotton Bowl was the longtime home of the annual college football post-season bowl game known as the Cotton Bowl Classic, after which the stadium is named. Starting on New Year's Day 1937, it hosted the first 73 editions of the game, through January 2009; the game was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington in January 2010. The stadium hosts the Red River Rivalry, the annual college football game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns, and formerly, the First Responder Bowl.
The stadium has been home to many football teams over the years, including: SMU Mustangs (NCAA), Dallas Cowboys (NFL; 1960–1971), Dallas Texans (NFL) (1952), Dallas Texans (AFL; 1960–1962), and soccer teams, the Dallas Tornado (NASL; 1967–1968), FC Dallas (MLS; as the Dallas Burn 1996–2004, as FC Dallas 2005), and Dallas Trinity FC (USLS; 2024-). It was also one of the nine venues used for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Prior to Dallas Trinity's inaugural season, it was the largest stadium by capacity in the United States without a professional or college team as a regular tenant.
It became known as "The House That Doak Built", due to the large crowds that SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s.
Artificial turf was installed in 1970 and removed in 1993 in preparation for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The elevation of the playing field is approximately 450 feet (140 m) above sea level.
== History ==
Construction of Fair Park Stadium began in 1930 on the same site as a wooden football stadium that had also been known by the same name. Completed that year, the first game in the stadium was between Dallas-area high schools in October 1930. The original stadium–the lower half of the current facility–was built for a cost of $328,000 and seated 45,507 spectators. The stadium hosted the 1934 Dixie Classic bowl game. The name of the stadium was officially changed to the Cotton Bowl in 1936.
In 1948, a second deck was added to the west side, increasing capacity to 67,000. The east side was double-decked the following year, increasing capacity to 75,504. These decks were added to respond to the demand for fans to watch SMU halfback Doak Walker, leading the Cotton Bowl to be known as "the house that Doak built." The superstructure was also built at this time, creating the distinctive facade for the stadium. In 1968, chair-backs were installed, reducing capacity to 72,032. In 1970, the Cotton Bowl installed an AstroTurf surface, which remained until 1993.
In 1950, as a way to break the Texas League record for opening-day attendance, Richard Burnett got permission to play in the Cotton Bowl, which at the time could hold as many as 75,000. In order to draw a big crowd, he wanted a lineup of former stars to don Dallas Eagles uniforms and face one Tulsa hitter in the top of the first inning. Most of the retired stars were cool to the idea, except for then-current Dallas Eagles manager Charlie Grimm. When the legendary Ty Cobb agreed to come to Dallas, the others followed his lead. Preceding the game was a parade through downtown Dallas. "It was the pre-game show that got 'em", bellowed Dizzy Dean by way of self-congratulation. "Cobb, Cochrane, Home Run Baker, Speaker, and Ol' Diz in Dallas duds". The 54,151 who attended saw Ty Cobb hit several balls into the stands, just to show he could still handle the bat. The Kilgore College Rangerettes drill team performed on the field prior to the game. Texas governor Allan Shivers threw out the first pitch. Defensively, the old-timer lineup of the Eagles were: Duffy Lewis in left field, Cobb in center field, Texas native Tris Speaker in right field, Frank "Home Run" Baker at third base, Travis Jackson at shortstop, Charlie Gehringer at second base, manager Grimm at first base, Mickey Cochrane at catcher, and former Houston Buffaloes star pitcher Dizzy Dean on the mound. Dean walked the leadoff batter for Tulsa, Harry Donabedian, on a 3–2 count, and then the regular Dallas players took the field. Dean got into an orchestrated rhubarb and was tossed from the game. The attendance figure still stands as the largest in Texas League history and second largest in the history of the minor leagues.
In their seventh season, the Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the NFL championship at the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 1967. The college bowl game that year included SMU and was played the day before, New Year's Eve, which required a quick turnaround to transform the field. The two games were filled to its 75,504 capacity, but both home teams lost to the visitors.
The Cotton Bowl hosted six matches of the 1994 World Cup. To meet FIFA requirements for these games the stadium field was widened, the press box was enlarged and natural grass was re-installed. The playing surface has remained natural grass ever since. Capacity was decreased to 71,615 in 1994 and to 68,252 in 1996. The Stadium also hosted the Gold Cup Soccer Matches in 1993.
In the 2000s (decade), the renewed dominance of both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns created a new interest in their rivalry, and the stadium. Temporary stands were erected in each end zone to increase seating for these games from just over 68,000 to 90,000.
In November 2006, the city of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas finally agreed on funding for a long-planned $50 million renovation, with $30 million of this amount from a city bond. Thus, in April 2007, the schools signed a contract to play at the Cotton Bowl through 2015, coupled with a $57 million fund for upgrades and improvements to the aging stadium. The 2008 Red River Showdown was held on October 11.
The 2008 renovations include the expansion of the seating capacity of the stadium from 68,252 to 92,100, mostly through the complete encircling of the second deck, new media and VIP facilities, a new scoreboard and video screen, updated restrooms and concession areas, lighting, utility and sound upgrades and the replacement of all the stadium's seats. A new record for attendance was set when 96,009 fans attended the 2009 Texas vs. Oklahoma football game.
The renovation was also intended to increase the chances of the Cotton Bowl Classic becoming a part of the Bowl Championship Series. However, the renovation was not enough to prevent the Cotton Bowl Classic from moving out of its namesake stadium after the 2009 game. Dallas' occasionally cold January weather had been a longstanding concern for the game, and was believed to have precluded any prospect of adding it to the BCS even after the expansion. (The Cotton Bowl Classic would eventually be added to the "New Year's Six" College Football Playoff bowls after the game moved to what is now AT&T Stadium.)
On January 1, 2020, the NHL Winter Classic was held at the Cotton Bowl. Over 85,000 attended the match between the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators.
On December 6, 2023, it was announced the Red River Rivalry would stay in the Cotton Bowl through 2036. It was also announced with the single largest investment into the stadium from the city of Dallas with an estimated $140 million two-year renovation.
== Stadium usage ==
The Cotton Bowl has been used by a number of teams in several sports throughout its history, and has hosted three collegiate bowl games. The Cotton Bowl has also hosted large music concerts, including the inaugural Texxas Jam and other similar events.
=== American football ===
==== Cotton Bowl Classic ====
From 1937 to 2009, the Cotton Bowl hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic, an annual NCAA Division I bowl game. Beginning in 2010, the bowl game has been played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. From 1941 to 1994, the Southwest Conference champion would play in the bowl game; since 1997, the first postseason of the Big 12 Conference, its second-place team has competed against an SEC team in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
==== Dallas Texans (NFL) ====
The first professional football team in Texas was the Dallas Texans of the National Football League in 1952. Plagued by financial hardship and poor play, the Texans lasted only one season. The team played four games in the Cotton Bowl before going bankrupt, being taken over by the league, and finishing the season as a traveling team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
==== Dallas Cowboys ====
The Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 12 seasons, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971. The 1966 NFL Championship Game between the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers was played in the Cotton Bowl. After playing their first two home games in 1971 at the Cotton Bowl, the Cowboys opened Texas Stadium in Irving on October 24.
==== Dallas Texans (AFL) ====
The Dallas Texans of the American Football League used the stadium all three of their seasons in Dallas (1960–1962), sharing it with the NFL Cowboys. Following the Texans' 1962 AFL Championship season, owner Lamar Hunt moved the franchise to Kansas City, Missouri and renamed it the Chiefs.
==== First Responder Bowl ====
From January 2011 until 2018, the Cotton Bowl was the home of the First Responder Bowl, an annual college football bowl game. The game was tentatively named the "Dallas Football Classic" prior to TicketCity being announced as the bowl game's first title sponsor. The game was called the "TicketCity Bowl" for the first two match ups. On October 4, 2012, the name changed again to the "Heart of Dallas Bowl" for eight seasons before changing to the "First Responder Bowl" for the 2018 season. In 2019 the game was relocated to Gerald J. Ford Stadium at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, to accommodate the 2020 NHL Winter Classic. While originally a temporary measure, the game has remained at Ford Stadium in succeeding years.
The game has had bowl tie-ins with the Big 12 Conference in 2011, Conference USA in 2012, and the Big Ten Conference in both 2011 and 2012. The inaugural game saw the Texas Tech Red Raiders defeat the Northwestern Wildcats, 45–38.
==== Red River Rivalry ====
The annual college football game between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma Sooners, also known before 2005 as the Red River Shootout, is played at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas, instead of on either school's campus. Ticket sales are equally divided between the two schools, and the fans are split on the 50-yard line. Following the 2024 game, the Longhorns have a record of 64–51–5 against the Sooners.
==== SMU Mustangs ====
The Cotton Bowl served as the home for the SMU Mustangs football team for two periods in the program's history. SMU played at least a few games at the Cotton Bowl from 1932 onward. They gradually moved more of their home games there during the 1930s and 1940s, as it was double the size of their on-campus stadium, Ownby Stadium. The Mustangs moved there permanently in 1948 due to Doak Walker's popularity. The Mustangs played at the Cotton Bowl until 1978, when they moved to Texas Stadium.
The Cotton Bowl also served as home to SMU in the 1990s, after the team served the NCAA death penalty due to numerous recruiting violations, and spent the first six years after their return at Ownby Stadium. Games moved back to campus in 2000 with the completion of Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
==== State Fair Classic ====
In addition to the Red River Rivalry, the Grambling State University Tigers and the Prairie View A&M University Panthers play each other at the Cotton Bowl in the State Fair Classic. This game often occurs the weekend before the Texas-OU Red River Rivalry game. It is a neutral site for both teams; Grambling State is located in northern Louisiana and Prairie View A&M is located about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Houston. The halftime show, the "Battle of the Bands", is arguably more eagerly anticipated than the game itself. The State Fair Classic is heavily marketed in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex, with local hip hop stations encouraging a large turnout among the region's African-American community. The State Fair Classic is currently the largest FCS football game in Texas.
==== Texas State Fair Classic Showdown ====
In 2016, the Texas State Fair in conjunction with the City of Dallas announced an expansion of games played during the state fair for 2018 and 2019. Following the Red River Rivalry weekend, the Texas Southern University Tigers played against the Southern University Jaguars. The game was on a neutral site for both teams, Texas Southern University is centrally located in Houston and Southern University is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (South Louisiana). The two schools are long-time SWAC rivals and have nationally recognized marching bands.
==== Texas high school football ====
The Cotton Bowl has a long history of hosting Texas high school football games. From the early days of the stadium, it was used for playoff and championship games. In 1945 and 1967, the stadium hosted two of the largest audiences to ever see a Texas high school football game. In 2011 and 2012, it played host to the North Texas Football Classic to kick off those seasons.
==== Powderpuff football ====
Blondes vs. Brunettes powderpuff football games are played in cities across the United States. Proceeds from the event are donated to The Alzheimer's Association. The annual contests were started by Sara Allen Abbott whose father, Texas State Representative Joseph Hugh Allen, died of Alzheimer's disease in 2008. Looking for a way to raise funds for The Alzheimer's Association, Abbott organized a powderpuff football game in tribute to her father, a lifelong football fan. The games are currently played in over 20 cities throughout the United States. The increasing popularity of the game in the Dallas area resulted in moving the 2012 game to the Cotton Bowl where it could accommodate a larger crowd.
=== Association football ===
==== 1994 FIFA World Cup ====
==== 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup ====
On July 29, 2014, the Cotton Bowl hosted a soccer match between Real Madrid and A.S. Roma which was part of the 2014 International Champions Cup and AS Roma won the match 1–0. It also hosted 6 matches of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
==== Other international matches ====
==== Dallas Tornado ====
Early in their existence, the Dallas Tornado played two seasons of professional soccer in the Cotton Bowl. They spent their inaugural year, 1967, as a franchise of the United Soccer Association and 1968 as members of the North American Soccer League in the Cotton Bowl. For the Tornado, a wider field was installed that required several storm drains to be moved. The team moved to P.C. Cobb Stadium for the 1969 season and played at four more venues in the Dallas area before they folded after the 1981 season.
==== Dallas Burn ====
The Dallas Burn, a founding member of Major League Soccer (MLS), played at the Cotton Bowl for their first seven seasons between 1996 and 2002. Their first match, played in front of 27,779 spectators on April 14, 1996, was a 1–0 win against the San Jose Clash. The Burn paid $15,000 per match at the Cotton Bowl and lacked control over scheduling and concession sales; the team drew an average attendance of roughly 12,000 to 15,000 until they moved in 2003 to Dragon Stadium in Southlake, Texas.
The Burn (later renamed FC Dallas) returned to the Cotton Bowl for the 2004 and 2005 seasons while preparing to open their own stadium in Frisco. Their final regular season match at the Cotton Bowl was a 2–2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on July 3, 2005. FC Dallas later returned to the Cotton Bowl for a doubleheader with a Mexico–Colombia international friendly on September 30, 2009. The event drew 51,012 spectators to the stadium. FC Dallas would not return to the Cotton Bowl until 2024 when they played a preseason friendly against Inter Miami CF, whose popularity had surged following the signing of Lionel Messi.
==== Dallas Trinity FC ====
Dallas Trinity FC, a women's professional soccer team and founding member of the USL Super League, currently plays at the Cotton Bowl. Their first home game was an exhibition match against FC Barcelona Femení on August 30, 2024, followed by their home season opener against DC Power FC on September 7, 2024.
==== Atlético Dallas ====
Atlético Dallas, an men's expansion club set to join the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer system, in 2027. The club will start a three-year lease in the stadium once they begin play, which would be set to expire in 2029.
=== Ice hockey ===
==== NHL Winter Classic ====
The 2020 NHL Winter Classic was held at the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 2020. The game was hosted by the Dallas Stars against the Nashville Predators; the Dallas Stars won. It was the first Winter Classic appearance for both teams. It also marked the first outdoor NHL game to be hosted in a southern state. The Stars defeated the Predators in a 4–2 comeback victory. Recorded attendance was 85,630, the second highest ever for an NHL game.
=== Concerts ===
==== Music ====
The stadium has also been a venue for a number of historic concerts, most notably that which featured then 21-year-old Elvis Presley, which took place on October 11, 1956, and attracted what was then the largest audience in Texas history for an outdoor concert, in excess of 27,000.
Many consecutive summers of huge concerts, featuring several artists, began in July 1978, with the 1st annual Texxas Jam, which sold out with over 80,000 attendees. For crowd control purposes, ticket sales for any future Cotton Bowl General Admission floor seating was limited, and Jams following the 1978 Jam, never reached 80,000 for that reason. Each Texxas Jam had a unique lineup of major artists chosen by the promoter. Over the years, the Texxas Jam featured some of the top-billed headliner artists of the day, including Aerosmith, Heart, Deep Purple, Boston, Journey, Ted Nugent, Scorpions, Loverboy, Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Blue Öyster Cult, Sammy Hagar, Nazareth, Styx, Foghat, Santana, The Eagles & Triumph, among others.
The annual events came to an end in the summer of 1988, when Van Halen headlined the "Monsters Of Rock" Tour.
U2 played here during the first leg of the Popmart Tour
Since then, the stadium has continued to be used as a major concert venue; Eric Clapton held his first three-day Crossroads Guitar Festival there in 2004.
South Korean boy band BTS was set to perform at the stadium on May 9–10, 2020 as part of their Map of the Soul Tour; however, the shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rolling Stones have played 7 shows at the Cotton Bowl July 6, 1975, October 31, 1981, November 1, 1981, November 10, 1989, November 11, 1989, November 18, 1994, and November 2, 2021.
==== Drum Corps ====
The Cotton Bowl hosted both the 1971 VFW National Championships and the 1991 Drum Corps International World Championships.
== In popular culture ==
Football game scenes from the 1977 film Semi-Tough were filmed in the Cotton Bowl.
The stadium was featured in a 1981 episode of Dallas where J. R. Ewing meets Dusty Farlow.
In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, two young men are on their way to the Cotton Bowl when they are killed.
The Cotton Bowl is featured in the 1983 Marvel promotional comic book Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas.
The rock band Journey recorded two videos in the 1980s in the Cotton Bowl.
The daytime scenes from the video "I Won't Forget You" by the rock band Poison were recorded during the 1987 Texxas Jam on June 20, 1987, in front of over 80,000 people.
The rock band Rush played their first concert in the Cotton Bowl in 1979 at Texxas Jam, and again in 1984.
The 2009 television reality series 4th and Long filmed the majority of its material at the Cotton Bowl.
In the 1984 Emmy Award-winning made-for-TV film The Jesse Owens Story, made by Paramount Pictures, the Cotton Bowl was used as the Berlin Olympic Stadium for the 1936 Olympics. A local flag maker had to make large Nazi flags and banners to cover up Cotton Bowl emblems and other Texas State Fair items to give the impression that the film took place in Berlin, Germany in 1936.
In 2010, a commercial for McDonald's was filmed at the Cotton Bowl. The commercial featured Donald Driver, wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers.
A 2010 episode of The Good Guys, entitled "Dan on the Run," culminated at the Cotton Bowl.
The WCCW Cotton Bowl Extravaganza was an annual professional wrestling supercard promoted by Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling / World Class Wrestling Association. It was held in October every year from 1984 through 1988.
The stadium was the location of the Texas High School State Championship game with the East Dillon Lions in the series finale of Friday Night Lights.
== Sources ==
"Baseball in the Lone Star State: Texas League's Greatest Hits", Tom Kayser and David King, Trinity University Press 2005
"Storied Stadiums: Baseball History Through Its Ballparks", Curt Smith, c.2001 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donahoe,_Texas | Donahoe, Texas | Donahoe is a ghost town in Bell County, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located within the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan area.
== Geography ==
Donahoe was located on Donahoe Creek, 16 mi (26 km) southeast of Belton in the southeastern corner of Bell County.
== Education ==
Today, Donahoe is located within the Bartlett Independent School District. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Andrea_Bonelli | Franco Andrea Bonelli | Franco Andrea Bonelli (10 November 1784 – 18 November 1830) was an Italian ornithologist, entomologist and collector. He worked at the University of Turin and was involved in organising the collections of the natural history museum. Bonelli's warbler (now split into two species) and Bonelli's eagle are named after him.
== Life ==
Very little is known about the early life of Bonelli: he was born in Cuneo in a wealthy family. He went to study in Fossano and Turin. He was interested from an early age in the fauna which surrounded him, making collecting trips, preparing specimens and noting his observations. He corresponded with Michele Spirito Giorna at the University of Turin, the Genoan entomologist Maximilian Spinola, and the French naturalists Latreille and Cuvier.
He became a member of the Reale Società Agraria di Torino in 1807 when he presented his first studies relating to the Coleoptera of Piedmont. The high quality of these studies attracted the interest of the naturalists of his time.
In April 1810, George Vat was sent to Turin by the French government to reorganise the University of Turin and begin its fusion with the Impériale University founded by Napoleon. The zoology position became vacant with the death of Michele Spirito Giorna. Vat was very impressed by Bonelli's knowledge. Vat encouraged him to further his knowledge by coming to follow courses at the Natural History Museum in Paris.
Bonelli took this advice so as to obtain a professor's chair in the new university. In September 1810, he arrived in Paris.
In 1811, Bonelli was finally named professor of zoology at the University of Turin and keeper of the Natural History Museum of Zoology. During his time at the university, he formed one of the largest ornithological collections in Europe.
In 1811, Bonelli wrote a Catalogue of the Birds of Piedmont, in which he described 262 species. In 1815, he discovered the bird Bonelli's warbler (Phylloscopus bonelli), named by Louis Vieillot in 1819. In the same year, he discovered Bonelli's eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus), which was likewise named by Vieillot in 1822.
The successor of Bonelli at the Turin Museum was Carlo Giuseppe Gené. His son was Cesare Bonelli Italian Minister of War from 1878-1880.
== Achievements ==
Bonelli is most notable for his work on birds and on the beetle family Carabidae. Since he was an early worker on Coleoptera, many of his genera later became Families, sub families and tribes. Also, many of his genera survive.
Instances are:
Omophroninae; Pseudomorphinae; Brachininae; Trechinae; Harpalinae; Pseudomorphinae; Siagoninae; Pterostichinae and Scaritinae - Subfamilies
Dromiidae 1810 Family
Pterostichini Tribe
== Works ==
Catalogue des Oiseaux du Piemont (1811).
Observations Entomologique. Première partie. Mém. Acad. Sci. Turin 18: 21–78, Tabula Synoptica (1810).
Observations entomologiques. Deuxieme partie. Mém. Acad. Sci. Turin 20: 433-484 (1813)
The last two are founding works of entomology, introducing many new taxa. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_%26_Casualty_Tower | Life & Casualty Tower | The Life & Casualty Tower (also known as the L & C Tower) is a skyscraper in Nashville, Tennessee located at 401 Church Street. It stands 152.5 meters (409 ft) and has 30 floors. It was designed by Edwin A. Keeble, with structural engineering done by Ross Bryan Associates, and was finished in 1957. It was Nashville's first true skyscraper and the tallest in Tennessee until 1965, when 100 North Main Street in Memphis surpassed it.
Exterior materials are limestone, granite, and bright green glass windows. Intersecting curves and angles at the building's base focus attention on the entrance, which angles out to the corner of Church Street and 4th Avenue.
In the building's early days, the L&C sign at its apex functioned as a weather beacon, changing color to indicate the weather forecast. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold | Gold | Gold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second lowest in the reactivity series, with only platinum ranked as less reactive. Gold is solid under standard conditions.
Gold often occurs as the free element (native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals such as copper, platinum, and palladium, as well as mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides).
Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), forming a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid alone, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property long used to refine gold and confirm the presence of gold in metallic substances, giving rise to the term "acid test". Gold dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold also dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, and as the gold acts simply as a solute, this is not a chemical reaction.
A relatively rare element when compared to silver (though thirty times more common than platinum), gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other works of art throughout recorded history. In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy. Most gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971.
In 2023, the world's largest gold producer was China, followed by Russia and Australia. As of 2020, a total of around 201,296 tonnes of gold exist above ground. If all of this gold were put together into a cube shape, each of its sides would measure 21.7 meters (71 ft). The world's consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. Gold's high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, as well as conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices (its chief industrial use). Gold is also used in infrared shielding, the production of colored glass, gold leafing, and tooth restoration. Auranofin is a gold-containing drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
== Etymology ==
Gold is cognate with similar words in many Germanic languages, deriving via Proto-Germanic *gulþą from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- 'to shine, to gleam; to be yellow or green'.
The symbol Au is from the Latin aurum 'gold'. The Proto-Indo-European ancestor of aurum was *h₂é-h₂us-o-, meaning 'glow'. This word is derived from the same root (Proto-Indo-European *h₂u̯es- 'to dawn') as *h₂éu̯sōs, the ancestor of the Latin word aurora 'dawn'. This etymological relationship is presumably behind the frequent claim in scientific publications that aurum meant 'shining dawn'.
== Characteristics ==
Gold is the most malleable metal. It can be drawn into a wire of single-atom width, and then stretched considerably before it breaks. Such nanowires distort via the formation, reorientation, and migration of dislocations and crystal twins without noticeable hardening. A single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter (11 sq ft), and an avoirdupois ounce into 28 square meters (300 sq ft). Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become semi-transparent. Light transmitted through gold appears greenish-blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red. Such semi-transparent sheets also strongly reflect infrared light, making them useful as infrared (radiant heat) shields in the visors of heat-resistant suits and in sun visors for spacesuits. Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity.
Gold has a density of 19.3 g/cm3, almost identical to that of tungsten at 19.25 g/cm3; as such, tungsten has been used in the counterfeiting of gold bars, such as by plating a tungsten bar with gold. By comparison, the density of lead is 11.34 g/cm3, and that of the densest element, osmium, is 22.588±0.015 g/cm3.
=== Color ===
Whereas most metals are gray or silvery white, gold is slightly reddish-yellow. This color is a well-known example of relativistic quantum chemistry. The 5d-6s band gap is greatly reduced when relativity is included in theoretical calculations, and this is thought to account for the yellow color, although a full comparison of the absorption spectrum between the relativistic and non-relativistic cases has not been performed as of 2004. Similar effects impart a golden hue to metallic caesium.
Common colored gold alloys include the distinctive eighteen-karat rose gold created by the addition of copper. Alloys containing palladium or nickel are also important in commercial jewelry as these produce white gold alloys. Fourteen-karat gold-copper alloy is nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police and other badges. Fourteen- and eighteen-karat gold alloys with silver alone appear greenish-yellow and are referred to as green gold. Blue gold can be made by alloying with iron, and purple gold can be made by alloying with aluminium. Less commonly, addition of manganese, indium, and other elements can produce more unusual colors of gold for various applications.
Colloidal gold, used by electron-microscopists, is red if the particles are small; larger particles of colloidal gold are blue.
=== Isotopes ===
Gold has only one stable isotope, 197Au, which is also its only naturally occurring isotope, so gold is both a mononuclidic and monoisotopic element. Thirty-six radioisotopes have been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 169 to 205. The most stable of these is 195Au with a half-life of 186.1 days. The least stable is 171Au, which decays by proton emission with a half-life of 30 μs. Most of gold's radioisotopes with atomic masses below 197 decay by some combination of proton emission, α decay, and β+ decay. The exceptions are 195Au, which decays by electron capture, and 196Au, which decays most often by electron capture (93%) with a minor β− decay path (7%). All of gold's radioisotopes with atomic masses above 197 decay by β− decay.
At least 32 nuclear isomers have also been characterized, ranging in atomic mass from 170 to 200. Within that range, only 178Au, 180Au, 181Au, 182Au, and 188Au do not have isomers. Gold's most stable isomer is 198m2Au with a half-life of 2.27 days. Gold's least stable isomer is 177m2Au with a half-life of only 7 ns. 184m1Au has three decay paths: β+ decay, isomeric transition, and alpha decay. No other isomer or isotope of gold has three decay paths.
==== Synthesis ====
The possible production of gold from a more common element, such as lead, has long been a subject of human inquiry, and the ancient and medieval discipline of alchemy often focused on it; however, the transmutation of the chemical elements did not become possible until the understanding of nuclear physics in the 20th century. The first synthesis of gold was conducted by Japanese physicist Hantaro Nagaoka, who synthesized gold from mercury in 1924 by neutron bombardment. An American team, working without knowledge of Nagaoka's prior study, conducted the same experiment in 1941, achieving the same result and showing that the isotopes of gold produced by it were all radioactive. In 1980, Glenn Seaborg transmuted several thousand atoms of bismuth into gold at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Gold can be manufactured in a nuclear reactor, but doing so is highly impractical and would cost far more than the value of the gold that is produced.
== Chemistry ==
Although gold is the most noble of the noble metals, it still forms many diverse compounds. The oxidation state of gold in its compounds ranges from −1 to +5, but Au(I) and Au(III) dominate its chemistry. Au(I), referred to as the aurous ion, is the most common oxidation state with soft ligands such as thioethers, thiolates, and organophosphines. Au(I) compounds are typically linear. A good example is Au(CN)−2, which is the soluble form of gold encountered in mining. The binary gold halides, such as AuCl, form zigzag polymeric chains, again featuring linear coordination at Au. Most drugs based on gold are Au(I) derivatives.
Au(III) (referred to as auric) is a common oxidation state, and is illustrated by gold(III) chloride, Au2Cl6. The gold atom centers in Au(III) complexes, like other d8 compounds, are typically square planar, with chemical bonds that have both covalent and ionic character. Gold(I,III) chloride is also known, an example of a mixed-valence complex.
Gold does not react with oxygen at any temperature and, up to 100 °C, is resistant to attack from ozone:
Au
+
O
2
⟶
(
no reaction
)
{\displaystyle {\ce {Au + O2 ->}}({\text{no reaction}})}
Au
+
O
3
→
t
<
100
∘
C
(
no reaction
)
{\displaystyle {\ce {Au{}+O3->[{\mathit {t}}<100^{\circ }{\text{C}}]}}({\text{no reaction}})}
Some free halogens react to form the corresponding gold halides. Gold is strongly attacked by fluorine at dull-red heat to form gold(III) fluoride AuF3. Powdered gold reacts with chlorine at 180 °C to form gold(III) chloride AuCl3. Gold reacts with bromine at 140 °C to form a combination of gold(III) bromide AuBr3 and gold(I) bromide AuBr, but reacts very slowly with iodine to form gold(I) iodide AuI:
2
Au
+
3
F
2
→
Δ
2
AuF
3
{\displaystyle {\ce {2 Au{}+ 3 F2 ->[\Delta] 2 AuF3}}}
2
Au
+
3
Cl
2
→
Δ
2
AuCl
3
{\displaystyle {\ce {2 Au{}+ 3 Cl2 ->[\Delta] 2 AuCl3}}}
2
Au
+
2
Br
2
→
Δ
AuBr
3
+
AuBr
{\displaystyle {\ce {2 Au{}+ 2 Br2 ->[\Delta] AuBr3{}+ AuBr}}}
2
Au
+
I
2
→
Δ
2
AuI
{\displaystyle {\ce {2 Au{}+ I2 ->[\Delta] 2 AuI}}}
Gold does not react with sulfur directly, but gold(III) sulfide can be made by passing hydrogen sulfide through a dilute solution of gold(III) chloride or chlorauric acid.
Unlike sulfur, phosphorus reacts directly with gold at elevated temperatures to produce gold phosphide (Au2P3).
Gold readily dissolves in mercury at room temperature to form an amalgam, and forms alloys with many other metals at higher temperatures. These alloys can be produced to modify the hardness and other metallurgical properties, to control melting point or to create exotic colors.
Gold is unaffected by most acids. It does not react with hydrofluoric, hydrochloric, hydrobromic, hydriodic, sulfuric, or nitric acid. It does react with selenic acid, and is dissolved by aqua regia, a 1:3 mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. Nitric acid oxidizes the metal to +3 ions, but only in minute amounts, typically undetectable in the pure acid because of the chemical equilibrium of the reaction. However, the ions are removed from the equilibrium by hydrochloric acid, forming AuCl−4 ions, or chloroauric acid, thereby enabling further oxidation:
2
Au
+
6
H
2
SeO
4
→
200
∘
C
Au
2
(
SeO
4
)
3
+
3
H
2
SeO
3
+
3
H
2
O
{\displaystyle {\ce {2Au{}+6H2SeO4->[200^{\circ }{\text{C}}]Au2(SeO4)3{}+3H2SeO3{}+3H2O}}}
Au
+
4
HCl
+
HNO
3
⟶
HAuCl
4
+
NO
↑
+
2
H
2
O
{\displaystyle {\ce {Au{}+4HCl{}+HNO3->HAuCl4{}+NO\uparrow +2H2O}}}
Gold is similarly unaffected by most bases. It does not react with aqueous, solid, or molten sodium or potassium hydroxide. It does, however, react with sodium or potassium cyanide under alkaline conditions when oxygen is present to form soluble complexes.
Common oxidation states of gold include +1 (gold(I) or aurous compounds) and +3 (gold(III) or auric compounds). Gold ions in solution are readily reduced and precipitated as metal by adding any other metal as the reducing agent. The added metal is oxidized and dissolves, allowing the gold to be displaced from solution and be recovered as a solid precipitate.
=== Rare oxidation states ===
Less common oxidation states of gold include −1, +2, and +5.
The −1 oxidation state occurs in aurides, compounds containing the Au− anion. Caesium auride (CsAu), for example, crystallizes in the caesium chloride motif; rubidium, potassium, and tetramethylammonium aurides are also known. Gold has the highest electron affinity of any metal, at 222.8 kJ/mol, making Au− a stable species, analogous to the halides.
Gold also has a –1 oxidation state in covalent complexes with the group 4 transition metals, such as in titanium tetraauride and the analogous zirconium and hafnium compounds. These chemicals are expected to form gold-bridged dimers in a manner similar to titanium(IV) hydride.
Gold(II) compounds are usually diamagnetic with Au–Au bonds such as [Au(CH2)2P(C6H5)2]2Cl2. The evaporation of a solution of Au(OH)3 in concentrated H2SO4 produces red crystals of gold(II) sulfate, Au2(SO4)2. Originally thought to be a mixed-valence compound, it has been shown to contain Au4+2 cations, analogous to the better-known mercury(I) ion, Hg2+2. A gold(II) complex, the tetraxenonogold(II) cation, which contains xenon as a ligand, occurs in [AuXe4](Sb2F11)2. In September 2023, a novel type of metal-halide perovskite material consisting of Au3+ and Au2+ cations in its crystal structure has been found. It has been shown to be unexpectedly stable at normal conditions.
Gold pentafluoride, along with its derivative anion, AuF−6, and its difluorine complex, gold heptafluoride, is the sole example of gold(V), the highest verified oxidation state.
Some gold compounds exhibit aurophilic bonding, which describes the tendency of gold ions to interact at distances that are too long to be a conventional Au–Au bond but shorter than van der Waals bonding. The interaction is estimated to be comparable in strength to that of a hydrogen bond.
Well-defined cluster compounds are numerous. In some cases, gold has a fractional oxidation state. A representative example is the octahedral species {Au(P(C6H5)3)}2+6.
== Origin ==
=== Gold and platinum production in the universe ===
Gold and platinum are produced in the universe through several cosmic processes and were present in the dust from which the Solar System formed. Scientists have identified three main cosmic sources for the formation of these metals: supernova nucleosynthesis, neutron star collisions, and magnetar flares.
All three sources involve a process called the r-process (rapid neutron capture), which forms elements heavier than iron. For decades, scientists believed supernova nucleosynthesis was the primary mechanism for gold and platinum formation. More recently, research has shown that neutron star collisions produce significant quantities of gold and platinum through the r-process.
In August 2017, the spectroscopic signatures of heavy elements, including gold and platinum, were directly observed by electromagnetic observatories during the GW170817 neutron star merger event. This confirmed neutron star mergers as a source for gold and platinum after years of only indirect detection. This single event generated between 3 and 13 Earth masses of gold, suggesting that neutron star mergers might produce enough gold to account for most of this element in the universe.
However, neutron star mergers alone cannot explain all cosmic gold and platinum, particularly in older stars, because these mergers occur relatively late in galactic history and are infrequent (approximately once every 100,000 years). This created a timing paradox in explaining the presence of gold and platinum in stars formed early in the universe.
In 2025, researchers resolved this paradox by confirming that giant flares from magnetars (highly magnetic neutron stars) are also a significant source of gold and platinum formation. Analysis of a 2004 magnetar flare showed these events produce heavy elements through the same r-process as neutron star mergers. The amount of heavy elements created in a single magnetar flare can exceed the mass of Mars. Since magnetars existed earlier in cosmic history and flare more frequently than neutron star mergers occur, they help explain gold and platinum's presence in older stars. Scientists estimate magnetar flares may contribute approximately 1–10% of all elements heavier than iron in our galaxy, including gold and platinum.
=== Asteroid origin theories ===
Because the Earth was molten when it was formed, almost all of the gold and platinum present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core. Therefore, as hypothesized in one model, most of the gold in the Earth's crust and mantle is thought to have been delivered to Earth by asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment, about 4 billion years ago.
Gold which is reachable by humans has, in one case, been associated with a particular asteroid impact. The asteroid that formed Vredefort impact structure 2.020 billion years ago is often credited with seeding the Witwatersrand basin in South Africa with the richest gold deposits on earth. However, this scenario is now questioned. The gold-bearing Witwatersrand rocks were laid down between 700 and 950 million years before the Vredefort impact. These gold-bearing rocks had furthermore been covered by a thick layer of Ventersdorp lavas and the Transvaal Supergroup of rocks before the meteor struck, and thus the gold did not actually arrive in the asteroid/meteorite. What the Vredefort impact achieved, however, was to distort the Witwatersrand basin in such a way that the gold-bearing rocks were brought to the present erosion surface in Johannesburg, on the Witwatersrand, just inside the rim of the original 300 km (190 mi) diameter crater caused by the meteor strike. The discovery of the deposit in 1886 launched the Witwatersrand Gold Rush. Some 22% of all the gold that is ascertained to exist today on Earth has been extracted from these Witwatersrand rocks.
=== Mantle return theories ===
Much of the rest of the gold on Earth is thought to have been incorporated into the planet since its very beginning, as planetesimals formed the mantle. In 2017, an international group of scientists established that gold "came to the Earth's surface from the deepest regions of our planet", the mantle, as evidenced by their findings at Deseado Massif in the Argentinian Patagonia.
== Occurrence ==
On Earth, gold is found in ores in rock formed from the Precambrian time onward. It most often occurs as a native metal, typically in a metal solid solution with silver (i.e. as a gold/silver alloy). Such alloys usually have a silver content of 8–10%. Electrum is elemental gold with more than 20% silver, and is commonly known as white gold. Electrum's color runs from golden-silvery to silvery, dependent upon the silver content. The more silver, the lower the specific gravity.
Native gold occurs as very small to microscopic particles embedded in rock, often together with quartz or sulfide minerals such as "fool's gold", which is a pyrite. These are called lode deposits. The metal in a native state is also found in the form of free flakes, grains or larger nuggets that have been eroded from rocks and end up in alluvial deposits called placer deposits. Such free gold is always richer at the exposed surface of gold-bearing veins, owing to the oxidation of accompanying minerals followed by weathering; and by washing of the dust into streams and rivers, where it collects and can be welded by water action to form nuggets.
Gold sometimes occurs combined with tellurium as the minerals calaverite, krennerite, nagyagite, petzite and sylvanite (see telluride minerals), and as the rare bismuthide maldonite (Au2Bi) and antimonide aurostibite (AuSb2). Gold also occurs in rare alloys with copper, lead, and mercury: the minerals auricupride (Cu3Au), novodneprite (AuPb3) and weishanite ((Au,Ag)3Hg2).
A 2004 research paper suggests that microbes can sometimes play an important role in forming gold deposits, transporting and precipitating gold to form grains and nuggets that collect in alluvial deposits.
A 2013 study has claimed water in faults vaporizes during an earthquake, depositing gold. When an earthquake strikes, it moves along a fault. Water often lubricates faults, filling in fractures and jogs. About 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) below the surface, under very high temperatures and pressures, the water carries high concentrations of carbon dioxide, silica, and gold. During an earthquake, the fault jog suddenly opens wider. The water inside the void instantly vaporizes, flashing to steam and forcing silica, which forms the mineral quartz, and gold out of the fluids and onto nearby surfaces.
=== Seawater ===
The world's oceans contain gold. Measured concentrations of gold in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific are 50–150 femtomol/L or 10–30 parts per quadrillion (about 10–30 g/km3). In general, gold concentrations for south Atlantic and central Pacific samples are the same (~50 femtomol/L) but less certain. Mediterranean deep waters contain slightly higher concentrations of gold (100–150 femtomol/L), which is attributed to wind-blown dust or rivers. At 10 parts per quadrillion, the Earth's oceans would hold 15,000 tonnes of gold. These figures are three orders of magnitude less than reported in the literature prior to 1988, indicating contamination problems with the earlier data.
A number of people have claimed to be able to economically recover gold from sea water, but they were either mistaken or acted in an intentional deception. Prescott Jernegan ran a gold-from-seawater swindle in the United States in the 1890s, as did an English fraudster in the early 1900s. Fritz Haber did research on the extraction of gold from sea water in an effort to help pay Germany's reparations following World War I. Based on the published values of 2 to 64 ppb of gold in seawater, a commercially successful extraction seemed possible. After analysis of 4,000 water samples yielding an average of 0.004 ppb, it became clear that extraction would not be possible, and he ended the project.
== History ==
The earliest recorded metal employed by humans appears to be gold. Small amounts of natural gold have been found in Spanish caves used during the late Paleolithic period, c. 40,000 BC.
The oldest gold artifacts in the world are from Bulgaria and are dating back to the 5th millennium BC, such as those found in the Varna Necropolis near Lake Varna and the Black Sea coast, thought to be the earliest "well-dated" finding of gold artifacts in history.
Gold artifacts probably made their appearance in Ancient Egypt at the beginning of the pre-dynastic period, at the end of the fifth millennium BC and the start of the fourth, and smelting was developed during the course of the 4th millennium; gold artifacts appear in the archeology of Lower Mesopotamia during the early 4th millennium. As of 1990, gold artifacts found at the Wadi Qana cave cemetery of the 4th millennium BC in West Bank were the earliest from the Levant. Gold artifacts such as the golden hats and the Nebra disk appeared in Central Europe from the 2nd millennium BC Bronze Age.
Exploitation of gold in the south-east corner of the Black Sea is said to date from the time of Midas, and this gold was important in the establishment of what is probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia around 610 BC.
During Mansa Musa's (ruler of the Mali Empire from 1312 to 1337) hajj to Mecca in 1324, he passed through Cairo in July 1324, and was reportedly accompanied by a camel train that included thousands of people and nearly a hundred camels where he gave away so much gold that it depressed the price in Egypt for over a decade, causing high inflation.
The European exploration of the Americas was fueled in no small part by reports of the gold ornaments displayed in great profusion by Native American peoples, especially in Mesoamerica, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The Aztecs regarded gold as the product of the gods, calling it literally "god excrement" (teocuitlatl in Nahuatl), and after Moctezuma II was killed, most of this gold was shipped to Spain. However, for the indigenous peoples of North America gold was considered useless and they saw much greater value in other minerals which were directly related to their utility, such as obsidian, flint, and slate.
Beginning in the early modern period, European exploration and colonization of West Africa was driven in large part by reports of gold deposits in the region, which was eventually referred to by Europeans as the "Gold Coast". From the late 15th to early 19th centuries, European trade in the region was primarily focused in gold, along with ivory and slaves. The gold trade in West Africa was dominated by the Ashanti Empire, who initially traded with the Portuguese before branching out and trading with British, French, Spanish and Danish merchants. British desires to secure control of West African gold deposits played a role in the Anglo-Ashanti wars of the late 19th century, which saw the Ashanti Empire annexed by Britain.
One main goal of the alchemists was to produce gold from other substances, such as lead — presumably by the interaction with a mythical substance called the philosopher's stone. Trying to produce gold led the alchemists to systematically find out what can be done with substances, and this laid the foundation for today's chemistry, which can produce gold (albeit uneconomically) by using nuclear transmutation.
== Production ==
According to the United States Geological Survey in 2016, about 5,726,000,000 troy ounces (178,100 t) of gold has been accounted for, of which 85% remains in active use.
=== Mining and prospecting ===
Since the 1880s, South Africa has been the source of a large proportion of the world's gold supply, and about 22% of the gold presently accounted is from South Africa. Production in 1970 accounted for 79% of the world supply, about 1,480 tonnes. In 2007 China (with 276 tonnes) overtook South Africa as the world's largest gold producer, the first time since 1905 that South Africa had not been the largest.
In 2023, China was the world's leading gold-mining country, followed in order by Russia, Australia, Canada, the United States and Ghana.
In South America, the controversial project Pascua Lama aims at exploitation of rich fields in the high mountains of Atacama Desert, at the border between Chile and Argentina.
It has been estimated that up to one-quarter of the yearly global gold production originates from artisanal or small scale mining.
The city of Johannesburg located in South Africa was founded as a result of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush which resulted in the discovery of some of the largest natural gold deposits in recorded history. The gold fields are confined to the northern and north-western edges of the Witwatersrand basin, which is a 5–7 km (3.1–4.3 mi) thick layer of archean rocks located, in most places, deep under the Free State, Gauteng and surrounding provinces. These Witwatersrand rocks are exposed at the surface on the Witwatersrand, in and around Johannesburg, but also in isolated patches to the south-east and south-west of Johannesburg, as well as in an arc around the Vredefort Dome which lies close to the center of the Witwatersrand basin. From these surface exposures the basin dips extensively, requiring some of the mining to occur at depths of nearly 4,000 m (13,000 ft), making them, especially the Savuka and TauTona mines to the south-west of Johannesburg, the deepest mines on Earth. The gold is found only in six areas where archean rivers from the north and north-west formed extensive pebbly Braided river deltas before draining into the "Witwatersrand sea" where the rest of the Witwatersrand sediments were deposited.
The Second Boer War of 1899–1901 between the British Empire and the Afrikaner Boers was at least partly over the rights of miners and possession of the gold wealth in South Africa.
During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were discovered. The first documented discovery of gold in the United States was at the Reed Gold Mine near Georgeville, North Carolina in 1803. The first major gold strike in the United States occurred in a small north Georgia town called Dahlonega. Further gold rushes occurred in California, Colorado, the Black Hills, Otago in New Zealand, a number of locations across Australia, Witwatersrand in South Africa, and the Klondike in Canada.
Grasberg mine located in Papua, Indonesia is the largest gold mine in the world.
=== Extraction and refining ===
Gold extraction is most economical in large, easily mined deposits. Ore grades as little as 0.5 parts per million (ppm) can be economical. Typical ore grades in open-pit mines are 1–5 ppm; ore grades in underground or hard rock mines are usually at least 3 ppm. Because ore grades of 30 ppm are usually needed before gold is visible to the naked eye, in most gold mines the gold is invisible.
The average gold mining and extraction costs were about $317 per troy ounce in 2007 (equivalent to $492 in 2025), but these can vary widely depending on mining type and ore quality; global mine production amounted to 2,471.1 tonnes.
After initial production, gold is often subsequently refined industrially by the Wohlwill process which is based on electrolysis or by the Miller process, that is chlorination in the melt. The Wohlwill process results in higher purity, but is more complex and is only applied in small-scale installations. Other methods of assaying and purifying smaller amounts of gold include parting and inquartation as well as cupellation, or refining methods based on the dissolution of gold in aqua regia.
=== Recycling ===
In 1997, recycled gold accounted for approximately 20% of the 2700 tons of gold supplied to the market. Jewelry companies such as Generation Collection and computer companies including Dell conduct recycling.
As of 2020, the amount of carbon dioxide CO2 produced in mining a kilogram of gold is 16 tonnes, while recycling a kilogram of gold produces 53 kilograms of CO2 equivalent. Approximately 30 percent of the global gold supply is recycled and not mined as of 2020.
=== Pollution ===
Gold production is associated with contribution to hazardous pollution.
Low-grade gold ore may contain less than one ppm gold metal; such ore is ground and mixed with sodium cyanide to dissolve the gold. Cyanide is a highly poisonous chemical, which can kill living creatures when exposed in minute quantities. Many cyanide spills from gold mines have occurred in both developed and developing countries which killed aquatic life in long stretches of affected rivers. Environmentalists consider these events major environmental disasters. Up to thirty tons of used ore can be dumped as waste for producing one troy ounce of gold. Gold ore dumps are the source of many heavy elements such as cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, arsenic, selenium and mercury. When sulfide-bearing minerals in these ore dumps are exposed to air and water, the sulfide transforms into sulfuric acid which in turn dissolves these heavy metals facilitating their passage into surface water and ground water. This process is called acid mine drainage. These gold ore dumps contain long-term, highly hazardous waste.
It was once common to use mercury to recover gold from ore, but today the use of mercury is largely limited to small-scale individual miners. Minute quantities of mercury compounds can reach water bodies, causing heavy metal contamination. Mercury can then enter into the human food chain in the form of methylmercury. Mercury poisoning in humans can cause severe brain damage.
Gold extraction is also a highly energy-intensive industry — extracting ore from deep mines and grinding the large quantity of ore for further chemical extraction requires nearly 25 kWh of electricity per gram of gold produced.
== Monetary use ==
Gold has been widely used throughout the world as money, for efficient indirect exchange (versus barter), and to store wealth in hoards. For exchange purposes, mints produce standardized gold bullion coins, bars and other units of fixed weight and purity.
The first known coins containing gold were struck in Lydia, Asia Minor, around 600 BC. The talent coin of gold in use during the periods of Grecian history both before and during the time of the life of Homer weighed between 8.42 and 8.75 grams. From an earlier preference in using silver, European economies re-established the minting of gold as coinage during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Bills (that mature into gold coin) and gold certificates (convertible into gold coin at the issuing bank) added to the circulating stock of gold standard money in most 19th century industrial economies. In preparation for World War I the warring nations moved to fractional gold standards, inflating their currencies to finance the war effort. Post-war, the victorious countries, most notably Britain, gradually restored gold-convertibility, but international flows of gold via bills of exchange remained embargoed; international shipments were made exclusively for bilateral trades or to pay war reparations.
After World War II gold was replaced by a system of nominally convertible currencies related by fixed exchange rates following the Bretton Woods system. Gold standards and the direct convertibility of currencies to gold have been abandoned by world governments, led in 1971 by the United States' refusal to redeem its dollars in gold. Fiat currency now fills most monetary roles. Switzerland was the last country to tie its currency to gold; this was ended by a referendum in 1999.
Central banks continue to keep a portion of their liquid reserves as gold in some form, and metals exchanges such as the London Bullion Market Association still clear transactions denominated in gold, including future delivery contracts. Today, gold mining output is declining. With the sharp growth of economies in the 20th century, and increasing foreign exchange, the world's gold reserves and their trading market have become a small fraction of all markets and fixed exchange rates of currencies to gold have been replaced by floating prices for gold and gold future contract. Though the gold stock grows by only 1% or 2% per year, very little metal is irretrievably consumed. Inventory above ground would satisfy many decades of industrial and even artisan uses at current prices.
The gold proportion (fineness) of alloys is measured by karat (k). Pure gold (commercially termed fine gold) is designated as 24 karat, abbreviated 24k. English gold coins intended for circulation from 1526 into the 1930s were typically a standard 22k alloy called crown gold, for hardness (American gold coins for circulation after 1837 contain an alloy of 0.900 fine gold, or 21.6 kt).
Often the prices of various platinum group metals can be much higher than gold, although gold has been used as a standard for currencies to a greater degree than the platinum group metals. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that combine these properties. Gold as a sign of wealth and prestige was ridiculed by Thomas More in his treatise Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold is so abundant that it is used to make chains for slaves, tableware, and lavatory seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold jewels and badges, the Utopians mistake them for menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly dressed of their party.
The ISO 4217 currency code of gold is XAU. Many holders of gold store it in form of bullion coins or bars as a hedge against inflation or other economic disruptions. A paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that gold may be reliable as an inflation hedge over long timescales (centuries) but not over practical timescales. Modern bullion coins for investment or collector purposes do not require good mechanical wear properties; they are typically fine gold at 24k, although the American Gold Eagle and the British gold sovereign continue to be minted in 22k (0.92) metal in historical tradition, and the South African Krugerrand, first released in 1967, is also 22k (0.92).
The special issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin contains the highest purity gold of any bullion coin, at 99.999% or 0.99999, while the popular issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin has a purity of 99.99%. In 2006, the United States Mint began producing the American Buffalo gold bullion coin with a purity of 99.99%. The Australian Gold Kangaroos were first coined in 1986 as the Australian Gold Nugget but changed the reverse design in 1989. Other modern coins include the Austrian Vienna Philharmonic bullion coin and the Chinese Gold Panda.
=== Price ===
Like other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. The proportion of gold in the alloy is measured by karat (k), with 24 karat (24k) being pure gold (100%), and lower karat numbers proportionally less (18k = 75%). The purity of a gold bar or coin can also be expressed as a decimal figure ranging from 0 to 1, known as the millesimal fineness, such as 0.995 being nearly pure.
The price of gold is determined through trading in the gold and derivatives markets, but a procedure known as the Gold Fixing in London, originating in September 1919, provides a daily benchmark price to the industry. The afternoon fixing was introduced in 1968 to provide a price when US markets are open.
== Other applications ==
=== Jewelry ===
Pure (24k) gold is often alloyed with other metals for use in jewelry, altering its hardness and ductility, melting point, color and other properties. Alloys with lower karat rating, typically 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k, contain higher percentages of copper, silver, or other base metals in the alloy. Nickel is toxic, and its release from nickel white gold is controlled by legislation in Europe. Palladium-gold alloys are more expensive than those using nickel. High-karat white gold alloys are more resistant to corrosion than are either pure silver or sterling silver, though not as corrosion-proof as platinum jewelry. The Japanese craft of Mokume-gane exploits the color contrasts between laminated colored gold alloys to produce decorative wood-grain effects.
Gold solder is used for joining the components of gold jewelry by high-temperature hard soldering or brazing. If the work is to be of hallmarking quality, the gold solder alloy must match the fineness of the work, and alloy formulas are manufactured to color-match yellow and white gold. Gold solder is usually made in at least three melting-point ranges referred to as Easy, Medium and Hard. By using the hard, high-melting point solder first, followed by solders with progressively lower melting points, goldsmiths can assemble complex items with several separate soldered joints. Gold can also be made into thread and used in embroidery.
=== Electronics ===
Only 10% of the world consumption of new gold produced goes to industry, but by far the most important industrial use for new gold is in fabrication of corrosion-free electrical connectors in computers and other electrical devices. For example, according to the World Gold Council, a typical cell phone may contain 50 mg of gold, worth about three dollars. But since nearly one billion cell phones are produced each year, a gold value of US$2.82 (equivalent to $3 in 2025) in each phone adds to US$2.82 billion in gold from just this application (equivalent to $3,102,513,077 in 2025).
Though gold is attacked by free chlorine, its good conductivity and general resistance to oxidation and corrosion in other environments (including resistance to non-chlorinated acids) has led to its widespread industrial use in the electronic era as a thin-layer coating on electrical connectors, thereby ensuring good connection. For example, gold is used in the connectors of the more expensive electronics cables, such as audio, video and USB cables. The benefit of using gold over other connector metals such as tin in these applications has been debated; gold connectors are often criticized by audio-visual experts as unnecessary for most consumers and seen as simply a marketing ploy. However, the use of gold in other applications in electronic sliding contacts in highly humid or corrosive atmospheres, and in use for contacts with a very high failure cost (certain computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, jet aircraft engines) remains very common.
Besides sliding electrical contacts, gold is also used in electrical contacts because of its resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, ductility and lack of toxicity. Switch contacts are generally subjected to more intense corrosion stress than are sliding contacts. Fine gold wires are used to connect semiconductor devices to their packages through a process known as wire bonding.
The concentration of free electrons in gold metal is 5.91×1022 cm−3. Gold is highly conductive to electricity and has been used for electrical wiring in some high-energy applications (only silver and copper are more conductive per volume, but gold is the only of these three with zero corrosion). For example, gold electrical wires were used during some of the Manhattan Project's atomic experiments, but large high-current silver wires were used in the calutron isotope separator magnets in the project.
It is estimated that 16% of the world's presently-accounted-for gold and 22% of the world's silver is contained in electronic technology in Japan.
=== Medicine ===
There are only two gold compounds currently employed as pharmaceuticals in modern medicine (sodium aurothiomalate and auranofin), used in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions in the US due to their anti-inflammatory properties. These drugs have been explored as a means to help to reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis, and also (historically) against tuberculosis and some parasites.
Historically, metallic and gold compounds have long been used for medicinal purposes. Gold, usually as the metal, is perhaps the most anciently administered medicine (apparently by shamanic practitioners) and known to Dioscorides. In medieval times, gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something so rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy.
In the 19th century gold had a reputation as an anxiolytic, a therapy for nervous disorders. Depression, epilepsy, migraine, and glandular problems such as amenorrhea and impotence were treated, and most notably alcoholism (Keeley, 1897).
The apparent paradox of the actual toxicology of the substance suggests the possibility of serious gaps in the understanding of the action of gold in physiology. Only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, since elemental (metallic) gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body (e.g., ingested gold cannot be attacked by stomach acid).
Gold alloys are used in restorative dentistry, especially in tooth restorations, such as crowns and permanent bridges. The gold alloys' slight malleability facilitates the creation of a superior molar mating surface with other teeth and produces results that are generally more satisfactory than those produced by the creation of porcelain crowns. The use of gold crowns in more prominent teeth such as incisors is favored in some cultures and discouraged in others.
Colloidal gold preparations (suspensions of gold nanoparticles) in water are intensely red-colored, and can be made with tightly controlled particle sizes up to a few tens of nanometers across by reduction of gold chloride with citrate or ascorbate ions. Colloidal gold is used in research applications in medicine, biology and materials science. The technique of immunogold labeling exploits the ability of the gold particles to adsorb protein molecules onto their surfaces. Colloidal gold particles coated with specific antibodies can be used as probes for the presence and position of antigens on the surfaces of cells. In ultrathin sections of tissues viewed by electron microscopy, the immunogold labels appear as extremely dense round spots at the position of the antigen.
Gold, or alloys of gold and palladium, are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a scanning electron microscope. The coating, which is usually applied by sputtering with an argon plasma, has a triple role in this application. Gold's very high electrical conductivity drains electrical charge to earth, and its very high density provides stopping power for electrons in the electron beam, helping to limit the depth to which the electron beam penetrates the specimen. This improves definition of the position and topography of the specimen surface and increases the spatial resolution of the image. Gold also produces a high output of secondary electrons when irradiated by an electron beam, and these low-energy electrons are the most commonly used signal source used in the scanning electron microscope.
The isotope gold-198 (half-life 2.7 days) is used in nuclear medicine, in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases.
=== Cuisine ===
Gold can be used in food and has the E number 175. In 2016, the European Food Safety Authority published an opinion on the re-evaluation of gold as a food additive. Concerns included the possible presence of minute amounts of gold nanoparticles in the food additive, and that gold nanoparticles have been shown to be genotoxic in mammalian cells in vitro.
Gold leaf, flake or dust is used on and in some gourmet foods, notably sweets and drinks as decorative ingredient. Gold flake was used by the nobility in medieval Europe as a decoration in food and drinks.
Danziger Goldwasser (German: Gold water of Danzig) or Goldwasser (English: Goldwater) is a traditional German herbal liqueur produced in what is today Gdańsk, Poland, and Schwabach, Germany, and contains flakes of gold leaf. There are also some expensive (~ $1,000, equivalent to $1,501 in 2025) cocktails which contain flakes of gold leaf. Since metallic gold is inert to all body chemistry, it has no taste, it provides no nutrition, and it leaves the body unaltered.
Vark is a foil composed of a pure metal that is sometimes gold, and is used for garnishing sweets in South Asian cuisine.
=== Miscellanea ===
Gold produces a deep, intense red color when used as a coloring agent in cranberry glass.
In photography, gold toners are used to shift the color of silver bromide black-and-white prints towards brown or blue tones, or to increase their stability. Used on sepia-toned prints, gold toners produce red tones. Kodak published formulas for several types of gold toners, which use gold as the chloride.
Gold is a good reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared and visible light, as well as radio waves. It is used for the protective coatings on many artificial satellites, in infrared protective faceplates in thermal-protection suits and astronauts' helmets, and in electronic warfare planes such as the EA-6B Prowler.
Gold is used as the reflective layer on some high-end CDs.
Automobiles may use gold for heat shielding. McLaren uses gold foil in the engine compartment of its F1 model.
Gold can be manufactured so thin that it appears semi-transparent. It is used in some aircraft cockpit windows for de-icing or anti-icing by passing electricity through it. The heat produced by the resistance of the gold is enough to prevent ice from forming.
Gold is attacked by and dissolves in alkaline solutions of potassium or sodium cyanide, to form the salt gold cyanide—a technique that has been used in extracting metallic gold from ores in the cyanide process. Gold cyanide is the electrolyte used in commercial electroplating of gold onto base metals and electroforming.
Gold chloride (chloroauric acid) solutions are used to make colloidal gold by reduction with citrate or ascorbate ions. Gold chloride and gold oxide are used to make cranberry or red-colored glass, which, like colloidal gold suspensions, contains evenly sized spherical gold nanoparticles.
Gold, when dispersed in nanoparticles, can act as a heterogeneous catalyst of chemical reactions.
In recent years, gold has been used as a symbol of pride by the autism rights movement, as its symbol Au could be seen as similar to the word "autism".
== Toxicity ==
Pure metallic (elemental) gold is non-toxic and non-irritating when ingested and is sometimes used as a food decoration in the form of gold leaf. Metallic gold is also a component of the alcoholic drinks Goldschläger, Gold Strike, and Goldwasser. Metallic gold is approved as a food additive in the EU (E175 in the Codex Alimentarius). Although the gold ion is toxic, the acceptance of metallic gold as a food additive is due to its relative chemical inertness, and resistance to being corroded or transformed into soluble salts (gold compounds) by any known chemical process which would be encountered in the human body.
Soluble compounds (gold salts) such as gold chloride are toxic to the liver and kidneys. Common cyanide salts of gold such as potassium gold cyanide, used in gold electroplating, are toxic by virtue of both their cyanide and gold content. There are rare cases of lethal gold poisoning from potassium gold cyanide. Gold toxicity can be ameliorated with chelation therapy with an agent such as dimercaprol.
Gold metal was voted Allergen of the Year in 2001 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society; gold contact allergies affect mostly women. Despite this, gold is a relatively non-potent contact allergen, in comparison with metals like nickel.
A sample of the fungus Aspergillus niger was found growing from gold mining solution; and was found to contain cyano metal complexes, such as gold, silver, copper, iron and zinc. The fungus also plays a role in the solubilization of heavy metal sulfides. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_Field | Chase Field | Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998, the year the Diamondbacks debuted as an expansion team. Chase Field was the first stadium built in the United States with a retractable roof over a natural grass playing surface, although it has used artificial turf since 2019.
== History ==
The park was built during a wave of new, baseball-only parks in the 1990s. Although nearly all of those parks were open-air, it was taken for granted that a domed stadium was a must for a major-league team to be viable in the Phoenix area. Phoenix is by far the hottest major city in North America; the average high temperature during baseball's regular season is 99.1 °F (37.3 °C), and game-time temperatures well above 100 °F (38 °C) are common during the summer.
=== Stadium funding ===
In the spring of 1994, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a 0.25 percentage point increase in the county sales tax to pay for their portion of the stadium funding. That happened during a huge county budget deficit and lack of funding for other services. The sales tax was very unpopular with local citizens, who were not permitted to vote on funding a baseball stadium with general sales tax revenue (use of public subsidies for stadium projects was prohibited by a 1989 referendum). The issue was so controversial and divisive that, in August 1997, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot and injured while leaving a county board meeting by Larry Naman, a homeless man, who attempted to argue in court that her support for the tax justified his attack. In May 1998, Naman was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.
The cost of the stadium was estimated at $279 million in 1995, but cost overruns, in part because of rising prices for steel and other materials, pushed the cost to $364 million. As part of the stadium deal, the Diamondbacks were responsible for all construction costs over $253 million. The extra expenses, combined with the Diamondbacks and the other expansion franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, not being allowed to share in national MLB revenue for their first five years of operations, left the Diamondbacks in a less-than-desirable financial situation, which came back to haunt team founder and managing partner Jerry Colangelo and his group.
=== Since 1996 ===
Construction on the park began in 1996, and was finished just before the Diamondbacks' first season, in 1998. It was the third MLB stadium to have a retractable roof and the first in the United States (at the time, only Toronto's SkyDome (Rogers Centre) and Montreal's Olympic Stadium had them; others since are Daikin Park in Houston, American Family Field in Milwaukee, Globe Life Field in Arlington, T-Mobile Park in Seattle, and LoanDepot Park in Miami). It was also the first ballpark to feature natural grass in a retractable roof stadium.
The stadium hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the 2001 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees. The Diamondbacks won all four home games, winning the title in seven games, and thus denying the Yankees a fourth consecutive championship. It was only the third time that the home team won all games of a World Series, with the other two instances occurring in 1987 and 1991, both by the Minnesota Twins.
In March 2006, Chase Field played host to three first-round games of the World Baseball Classic.
Chase Field hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2011.
Chase Field hosted the 2017 National League Wild Card Game between the Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. This was the D-Backs' first appearance in the postseason as a Wild Card team. The D-Backs won 11–8 and advanced to the 2017 NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers but were swept in three games. Game 3 was held at Chase Field, when the D-Backs lost 3–1.
Chase Field has a swimming pool located in right-center field, which is rented to patrons as a suite holding 35 guests for $3,500 per game during the 2011 season. Mark Grace was the first player to hit a home run into the pool. Besides baseball, the pool has been used by Monster Jam's Jim Koehler to continue his tradition of swimming after Freestyle. The pool which opened with the stadium in 1998, was redesigned in the offseason leading up to the 2005 season.
The ballpark featured a dirt strip between home plate and the pitcher's mound until 2019. This dirt strip, sometimes known as the "keyhole", was very common in old-time ballparks up to 1938. The dirt strip was removed when synthetic turf was installed. Comerica Park was the only other park to have one until 2025.
The park's foul territory is somewhat larger than that for most ballparks built in the 1990s. With 80% of the seats in foul territory, the upper deck is one of the highest in the majors. The park's suites are tucked far under the third deck, which keeps the upper deck closer to the action, with the exception of the Dugout Suites which sit next to the home and visitor's dugouts.
Before the 2008 season began, an HD scoreboard was installed beyond center field, replacing the original. The new scoreboard is 46 ft (14 m) high and 136 ft (41 m) wide and cost $14 million. At the time, it was the fifth-largest HD screen in Major League Baseball, behind Kauffman Stadium. The screen at Kauffman is larger in area and is square, but Chase Field's screen is wider and rectangular.
Premium seating includes 4,400 club seats, 57 suites, 6 party suites, Executive suite, batters box suite, two dugout suites, and a swimming pool.
The Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals game on September 24, 2019, was the longest game in Chase Field's history. It lasted six hours and 53 minutes, involving 19 innings.
On October 12, 2018, the Diamondbacks announced that they would replace their natural grass surface with a synthetic surface from Shaw Sports Turf for the 2019 season. In 2019, leaked images of a potential new stadium by architectural firm MEIS Architects were briefly online before being removed by the firm.
The stadium hosted the third, fourth and fifth games of the 2023 World Series between the Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers.
In September 2025, Arizona House Bill 2704 was formally signed into law which would allow sales tax dollars to fund renovations of the stadium.
=== Naming rights ===
The stadium was called Bank One Ballpark when Bank One of Chicago, Illinois (who had acquired locally based Valley National Bank of Arizona in 1992), purchased naming rights for $100 million over 30 years. After Bank One merged with New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2005, Chase assumed the naming rights and the stadium's name was changed to Chase Field.
== Other events ==
The stadium hosts occasional concerts and international soccer games. For football and soccer, the field is set up with the end lines perpendicular to the third-base line and temporary bleachers added on the east side.
=== International baseball tournaments ===
Chase Field has hosted first-round games in the 2006 and 2013 World Baseball Classic tournaments, and hosted first round games in the 2023 tournament, from March 11, 2023, to March 15, 2023, which was postponed from 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
=== College sports ===
The organizers of the Insight.com Bowl moved the game from Arizona Stadium in Tucson to Phoenix beginning in December 2000, and Chase Field became the game's host. After hosting six editions of the game, the bowl game moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which had moved to State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The bowl, which has undergone several naming changes, remained in Tempe for nine playings, then returned to Chase Field starting with the January 2016 edition. In October 2024, the game was renamed as the Rate Bowl due to a rebranding of the corporate sponsor.
Chase Field has staged nine women's college basketball games. The second game, played on December 18, 2006, was shortened by rain with four minutes and 18 seconds remaining and Arizona State leading Texas Tech 61–45. Venue staff closed the roof in an effort to finish the game, but officials deemed the court unsafe. In 2000, ASU played the Tennessee Volunteers at the same facility.
In 2006, Chase Field was the site of an annual "Challenge at Chase", a college baseball game between Arizona State and University of Arizona that lasted two years. The Arizona Wildcats won both contests in 2006 and 2007.
=== Concerts ===
=== Bull riding ===
In February 2006, the Professional Bull Riders hosted a Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event at this venue. Chris Shivers won this event with a total score of 181.5 points (out of a possible 200) on two bulls, including an impressive 93.75 (out of 100) points on Taylor Made bucking bull, Smokeless Wardance, in the short-go round. During the long-go round, the roof was closed, but during the short-go, the roof was opened.
=== Supercross ===
The stadium has hosted Monster Energy Supercross rounds from 1999 to 2015. Monster Jam came to Chase Field every year in late January about two weeks after Monster Energy Supercross. Both events moved to the University of Phoenix Stadium in 2016.
=== Wrestling ===
WWE hosted the Royal Rumble at Chase Field on January 27, 2019, marking nearly 16 years that a WWE event was held at a baseball stadium since WrestleMania XIX at Safeco Field in Seattle and the first Royal Rumble to be held outdoors.
=== International women's soccer ===
== Roof and cooling system ==
Chase Field's roof is opened or closed depending on the game-time temperature. Even with the roof closed, the park's windows allow enough sunlight to play in daylight without overheating the stadium. The roof takes about 4½ minutes to open or close at a cost of $2–$3.
While the ballpark had a grass surface, the roof would be kept open to expose the turf to sunlight. When necessary, it would be closed three hours before game time using two 200-horsepower motors triggered from a control room in the upper deck above left-center field. A massive HVAC system then dropped the temperature inside the park to about 78 °F (25.5 °C) by the time the gates opened. The chilled-water system, which has cooling power sufficient for 2,500 homes of 2,000 square feet (190 m2), also serves more than 30 buildings in downtown Phoenix. The cooling plant, located in a separate building next to the ballpark, freezes water overnight to reduce daytime electricity demand. Originally, the HVAC system did not cool above row 25 of the upper level, exposing fans in the higher rows to the brunt of Phoenix' oppressive summer heat. Subsequent improvements kept virtually all of the facility in air-conditioned comfort.
Following the introduction of a synthetic playing surface, the roof is kept mostly closed and is opened only on game days when weather permits, greatly reducing the facility's demand on the HVAC system.
== Transportation ==
Chase Field is served by the A Line at 3rd Street/Jefferson and 3rd Street/Washington station of the Valley Metro Rail system.
== Climate == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt | Hannah Arendt | Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century.
Her works cover a broad range of topics, but she is best known for those dealing with the nature of wealth, power, fame, and evil, as well as politics, direct democracy, authority, tradition, and totalitarianism. She is also remembered for the controversy surrounding the trial of Adolf Eichmann, for her attempt to explain how ordinary people become actors in totalitarian systems, which was considered by some an apologia, and for the phrase "the banality of evil". Her name appears in the names of journals, schools, scholarly prizes, humanitarian prizes, think-tanks, and streets; appears on stamps and monuments; and is attached to other cultural and institutional markers that commemorate her thought.
Hannah Arendt was born to a Jewish family in Linden in 1906. Her father died when she was seven. Arendt was raised in a politically progressive, secular family, her mother being an ardent Social Democrat. After completing secondary education in Berlin, Arendt studied at the University of Marburg under Martin Heidegger, with whom she engaged in a romantic affair that began while she was his student. She obtained her doctorate in philosophy at the University of Heidelberg in 1929. Her dissertation was entitled Love and Saint Augustine, and her supervisor was the existentialist philosopher Karl Jaspers.
In 1933, Arendt was briefly imprisoned by the Gestapo for performing illegal research into antisemitism. On release, she fled Germany, settling in Paris. There she worked for Youth Aliyah, assisting young Jews to emigrate to the British Mandate of Palestine. When Germany invaded France she was detained as an alien by the French government. She escaped and made her way to the United States in 1941. She became a writer and editor and worked for the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, becoming an American citizen in 1950. With the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951, her reputation as a thinker and writer was established, and a series of works followed. These included the books The Human Condition in 1958, as well as Eichmann in Jerusalem and On Revolution in 1963. She taught at many American universities while declining tenure-track appointments. She died suddenly of a heart attack in 1975, leaving her last work, The Life of the Mind, unfinished.
== Early life and education (1906–1929) ==
=== Family ===
Hannah Arendt was born Johanna Arendt in 1906, in the Wilhelmine period. Her secular, educated, and well-established Jewish family lived comfortably in Linden, Prussia. They were merchants of Russian extraction from Königsberg. Her grandparents were members of the Reform Jewish community. Her paternal grandfather, Max Arendt, was a prominent businessman, local politician, and leader of the Königsberg Jewish community, a member of the Central Organization for German Citizens of Jewish Faith (Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens). Like other members of the Centralverein he primarily saw himself as German, disapproving of Zionists and Zionist activities, including Kurt Blumenfeld, a frequent visitor and later one of Hannah's mentors. Her lifelong best-friend, Anne Mendelssohn, was likewise connected to a dynasty of philosophers and musicians. Of Max Arendt's children, Paul Arendt was an engineer and Henriette Arendt a policewoman and social worker.
Hannah was the only child of Paul and Martha Arendt (née Cohn), who were married on 11 April 1902. She was named after her paternal grandmother. The Cohns had originally come to Königsberg from nearby Russian territory of Lithuania in 1852, as refugees from antisemitism, and made their living as tea importers, J. N. Cohn & Company being the largest business in the city. The Arendts reached Germany from Russia a century earlier. Hannah's extended family contained many more women, who shared the loss of husbands and children. Hannah's parents were more educated and politically more to the left than her grandparents. The young couple were Social Democrats, rather than the German Democrats that most of their contemporaries supported. Paul Arendt was educated at the Albertina (University of Königsberg). Though he worked as an engineer, he prided himself on his love of Classics, with a large library that Hannah immersed herself in. Martha Cohn, a musician, had studied for three years in Paris.
In the first four years of their marriage, the Arendts lived in Berlin, and were supporters of the socialist journal Socialist Monthly Bulletins (Sozialistische Monatshefte). At the time of Hannah's birth, Paul Arendt was employed by an electrical engineering firm in Linden, and they lived in a frame house on the market square (Marktplatz). They moved back to Königsberg in 1909 because of Paul's deteriorating health. He suffered from chronic syphilis and was institutionalized in the Königsberg psychiatric hospital in 1911. For years afterward, Hannah had to have annual WR tests for congenital syphilis. He died on 30 October 1913, when Hannah was seven, leaving her mother to raise her. They lived in a house on Tiergartenstraße 51, a leafy residential street adjacent to the Königsberg Tiergarten, in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Hufen. Although Hannah's parents were non-religious, they were happy to allow Max Arendt to take Hannah to the Reform synagogue. She also received religious instruction from the rabbi, Hermann Vogelstein, who would come to her school for that purpose. Her family moved in circles that included many intellectuals and professionals. It was a social circle of high standards and ideals. As she recalled it:
My early intellectual formation occurred in an atmosphere where nobody paid much attention to moral questions; we were brought up under the assumption: Das Moralische versteht sich von selbst, moral conduct is a matter of course.
This time was a particularly favorable period for the Jewish community in Königsberg, an important center of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). Arendt's family was thoroughly assimilated ("Germanized") and she later remembered: "With us from Germany, the word 'assimilation' received a 'deep' philosophical meaning. You can hardly realize how serious we were about it." Despite these conditions, the Jewish population lacked full citizenship rights, and although antisemitism was not overt, it was not absent. Arendt came to define her Jewish identity negatively after encountering overt antisemitism as an adult. She came to greatly identify with Rahel Varnhagen, the Prussian socialite who desperately wanted to assimilate into German culture, only to be rejected because she was born Jewish. Arendt later said of Varnhagen that she was "my very closest woman friend, unfortunately dead a hundred years now."
In the last two years of the First World War, Hannah's mother organized social democratic discussion groups and became a follower of Rosa Luxemburg as socialist uprisings broke out across Germany. Luxemburg's writings would later influence Hannah's political thinking. In 1920, Martha Cohn married Martin Beerwald, an ironmonger and widower of four years, and they moved to his home, two blocks away, at Busoldstrasse 6, providing Hannah with improved social and financial security. Hannah was 14 at the time and acquired two older stepsisters, Clara and Eva.
=== Education ===
==== Early education ====
Hannah Arendt's mother, who considered herself progressive, brought her daughter up on strict Goethean lines. Among other things this involved the reading of Goethe's complete works, summed up as Was aber ist deine Pflicht? Die Forderung des Tages (And just what is your duty? The demands of the day). Goethe was then considered the essential mentor of Bildung (education), the conscious formation of mind, body and spirit. The key elements were considered to be self-discipline, constructive channeling of passion, renunciation and responsibility for others. Hannah's developmental progress (Entwicklung) was carefully documented by her mother in a book, she called Unser Kind (Our Child), measuring her against the benchmark of what was then considered normale Entwicklung ("normal development").
Arendt attended kindergarten from 1910 where her precocity impressed her teachers and enrolled in the Szittnich School, Königsberg (Hufen-Oberlyzeum), on Bahnstraße in August 1913, but her studies there were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, forcing the family to temporarily flee to Berlin on 23 August 1914, in the face of the advancing Russian army. There they stayed with her mother's younger sister, Margarethe Fürst, and her three children, while Hannah attended a girl's Lyzeum school in Berlin-Charlottenburg. After ten weeks, when Königsberg appeared to be no longer threatened, the Arendts were able to return, where they spent the remaining war years at her grandfather's house. Arendt's precocity continued, learning ancient Greek as a child, writing poetry in her teenage years, and starting both a Graecae (reading group for studying classical literature) and philosophy club at her school. She was fiercely independent in her schooling and a voracious reader, absorbing French and German literature and poetry (committing large amounts to memory) and philosophy. By the age of 14, she had read Kierkegaard, Jaspers' Psychologie der Weltanschauungen and Kant's Kritik der reinen Vernunft (Critique of Pure Reason). Kant, whose hometown was also Königsberg, was an important influence on her thinking, and it was Kant who had written about Königsberg that "such a town is the right place for gaining knowledge concerning men and the world even without travelling".
Arendt attended the Königin-Luise-Schule for her secondary education, a girls' Gymnasium on Landhofmeisterstraße. Most of her friends, while at school, were gifted children of Jewish professional families, generally older than she was, and who went on to university education. Among them was Ernst Grumach, who introduced her to his girlfriend, Anne Mendelssohn, who would become a lifelong friend. When Anne moved away, Ernst became Arendt's first romantic relationship.
==== Higher education (1922–1929) ====
===== Berlin (1922–1924) =====
Arendt was expelled from the Luise-Schule in 1922, at the age of 15, for leading a boycott of a teacher who insulted her. Her mother sent her to Berlin to Social Democrat family friends. She lived in a student residence and audited courses at the University of Berlin (1922–1923), including classics and Christian theology under Romano Guardini. She successfully sat for the entrance examination (Abitur) for the University of Marburg, where Ernst Grumach had studied with Martin Heidegger (appointed as a professor in 1923). Her mother had engaged a private tutor, and her aunt Frieda Arendt, a teacher, also helped, while Frieda's husband Ernst Aron provided financial tuition assistance.
===== Marburg (1924–1926) =====
In Berlin, Guardini had introduced her to Kierkegaard, and she resolved to make theology her major field. At Marburg (1924–1926) she studied classical languages, German literature, Protestant theology with Rudolf Bultmann and philosophy with Nicolai Hartmann and Heidegger. She arrived in the fall in the middle of an intellectual revolution led by the young Heidegger, of whom she was in awe, describing him as "the hidden king [who] reigned in the realm of thinking".
Heidegger had broken away from the intellectual movement started by Edmund Husserl, whose assistant he had been at University of Freiburg before coming to Marburg. This was a period when Heidegger was preparing his lectures on Kant, which he would develop in the second part of his Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) in 1927 and Kant und das Problem der Metaphysik (1929). In his classes, he and his students struggled with the meaning of "Being" as they studied Aristotle's and Plato's Sophist concept of truth, to which Heidegger opposed the pre-Socratic term ἀλήθεια. Many years later Arendt would describe these classes, how people came to Marburg to hear him, and how, above all he imparted the idea of Denken ("thinking") as activity, which she qualified as "passionate thinking".
Arendt was restless, finding her studies neither emotionally nor intellectually satisfying. She was ready for passion, finishing her poem Trost (Consolation, 1923) with the lines:
Die Stunden verrinnen,Die Tage vergehen,Es bleibt ein GewinnenDas bloße Bestehen.
(The hours run down.The days pass on.One achievement remains:merely existing.)
Her encounter with Heidegger represented a dramatic departure from the past. He was handsome, a genius, romantic, and taught that thinking and "aliveness" were but one. The 18-year-old Arendt then began a long romantic relationship with the 35-year-old Heidegger, who was married with two young sons. Arendt later faced criticism for this because of Heidegger's support for the Nazi Party after his election as rector at Freiburg University in 1933. Nevertheless, he remained one of the most profound influences on her thinking, and he would later relate that she had been the inspiration for his work on passionate thinking in those days. They agreed to keep the details of the relationship a secret while preserving their letters. The relationship was unknown until Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's biography of Arendt appeared in 1982. At the time of publishing, Arendt and Heidegger were deceased but Heidegger's wife, Elfride, was still alive. The affair was not well known until 1995, when Elzbieta Ettinger gained access to the sealed correspondence and published a controversial account that was used by Arendt's detractors to cast doubt on her integrity. That account, which caused a scandal, was subsequently refuted.
At Marburg, Arendt lived at Lutherstraße 4. Among her friends was Hans Jonas, a Jewish classmate. Another fellow student of Heidegger's was Jonas' friend, the Jewish philosopher Günther Siegmund Stern, who would later become her first husband. Stern had completed his doctoral dissertation with Edmund Husserl at Freiburg, and was now working on his Habilitation thesis with Heidegger, but Arendt, involved with Heidegger, took little notice of him at the time.
====== Die Schatten (1925) ======
In the summer of 1925, while home at Königsberg, Arendt composed her sole autobiographical piece, Die Schatten (The Shadows), a "description of herself" addressed to Heidegger. In this essay, full of anguish and Heideggerian language, she reveals her feelings toward her femininity and Jewishness, writing abstractly in the third person. She describes a state of "Fremdheit" (alienation), on the one hand an abrupt loss of youth and innocence, on the other an "Absonderlichkeit" (strangeness), the finding of the remarkable in the banal. In her detailing of the pain of her childhood and longing for protection she shows her vulnerabilities and how her love for Heidegger had released her and once again filled her world with color and mystery. She refers to her relationship with Heidegger as "Eine starre Hingegebenheit an ein Einziges" ("an unbending devotion to a unique man"). This period of intense introspection was also one of the most productive of her poetic output, such as In sich versunken (Lost in Self-Contemplation).
===== Freiburg and Heidelberg (1926–1929) =====
After a year at Marburg, Arendt spent a semester at Freiburg, attending the lectures of Husserl. In 1926 she moved to the University of Heidelberg, completing her dissertation in 1928 under Karl Jaspers. She received her Ph.D. summa cum laude that year. Jaspers, a friend of Heidegger, was the other leading figure of the then-new and revolutionary Existenzphilosophie. Her thesis was entitled Der Liebesbegriff bei Augustin: Versuch einer philosophischen Interpretation (On the concept of love in the thought of Saint Augustine: Attempt at a philosophical interpretation). She remained a lifelong friend of Jaspers and his wife, Gertrud Mayer, developing a deep intellectual relationship with him. At Heidelberg, her circle of friends included Hans Jonas, who had also moved from Marburg to study Augustine, working on his Augustin und das paulinische Freiheitsproblem. Ein philosophischer Beitrag zur Genesis der christlich-abendländischen Freiheitsidee (1930), and also a group of three young philosophers: Karl Frankenstein, Erich Neumann and Erwin Loewenson. Other friends and students of Jaspers were the linguists Benno von Wiese and Hugo Friedrich (seen with Hannah, below), with whom she attended lectures by Friedrich Gundolf at Jaspers' suggestion and who kindled in her an interest in German Romanticism. She also became reacquainted, at a lecture, with Kurt Blumenfeld, who introduced her to Jewish politics. At Heidelberg, she lived in the old town (Altstadt) near the castle, at Schlossberg 16. The house was demolished in the 1960s, but the one remaining wall bears a plaque commemorating her time there. At Heidelberg, Arendt met a number of Japanese students including Kitayama Junyu who translated her into Japanese in 1930.
On completing her dissertation, Arendt turned to her Habilitationsschrift, initially on German Romanticism, and thereafter an academic teaching career. However 1929 was also the year of the Depression and the end of the golden years (Goldene Zwanziger) of the Weimar Republic, which was to become increasingly unstable over its remaining four years. Arendt, as a Jew, had little if any chance of obtaining an academic appointment in Germany. Nevertheless, she completed most of the work before she was forced to leave Germany.
== Career ==
=== Germany (1929–1933) ===
==== Berlin-Potsdam (1929) ====
In 1929, Arendt met Günther Stern again, this time in Berlin at a New Year's masked ball, and began a relationship with him. Within a month she had moved in with him in a one-room studio, shared with a dancing school in Berlin-Halensee. Then they moved to Merkurstraße 3, Nowawes, in Potsdam and were married there on 26 September. They had much in common and the marriage was welcomed by both sets of parents. In the summer, Hannah Arendt successfully applied to the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft for a grant to support her Habilitation, which was supported by Heidegger and Jaspers among others, and in the meantime, with Günther's help was working on revisions to get her dissertation published.
==== Wanderjahre (1929–1931) ====
After Arendt and Stern were married, they began two years of what Christian Dries refers to as the Wanderjahre (years of wandering) with the ultimately fruitless aim of having Stern accepted for an academic appointment. They lived for a while in Drewitz, a southern neighborhood of Potsdam, before moving to Heidelberg, where they lived with the Jaspers. After Heidelberg, where Stern completed the first draft of his Habilitation thesis, the two then moved to Frankfurt where Stern hoped to finish his writing. There, Arendt participated in the university's intellectual life, attending lectures by Karl Mannheim and Paul Tillich, among others. The couple collaborated intellectually, writing an article together on Rilke's Duino Elegies (1923) and both reviewing Mannheim's Ideologie und Utopie (1929). The latter was Arendt's sole contribution to sociology. In both her treatment of Mannheim and Rilke, Arendt found love to be a transcendent principle "Because there is no true transcendence in this ordered world, one also cannot exceed the world, but only succeed to higher ranks". In Rilke she saw a latter day secular Augustine, describing the Elegies as the letzten literarischen Form religiösen Dokumentes (ultimate form of religious document). Later, she would discover the limitations of transcendent love in explaining the historical events that pushed her into political action. Another theme from Rilke that she would develop was the despair of not being heard. Reflecting on Rilke's opening lines, which she placed as an epigram at the beginning of their essay
Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?
(Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angelic orders?)
Arendt and Stern begin by stating:
The paradoxical, ambiguous, and desperate situation from which standpoint the Duino Elegies may alone be understood has two characteristics: the absence of an echo and the knowledge of futility. The conscious renunciation of the demand to be heard, the despair at not being able to be heard, and finally the need to speak even without an answer–these are the real reasons for the darkness, asperity, and tension of the style in which poetry indicates its own possibilities and its will to form
Arendt also published an article on Augustine (354–430) in the Frankfurter Zeitung to mark the 1500th anniversary of his death. She saw this article as forming a bridge between her treatment of Augustine in her dissertation and her subsequent work on Romanticism. When it became evident Stern would not succeed in obtaining an appointment, the Sterns returned to Berlin in 1931.
==== Return to Berlin (1931–1933) ====
In Berlin, where the couple initially lived in the predominantly Jewish area of Bayerisches Viertel (Bavarian Quarter or "Jewish Switzerland") in Schöneberg, Stern obtained a position as a staff-writer for the cultural supplement of the Berliner Börsen-Courier, edited by Herbert Ihering, with the help of Bertold Brecht. There he started writing using the pen name Günther Anders, i.e. "Günther Other". Arendt assisted Günther with his work, but the shadow of Heidegger hung over their relationship. While Günther was working on his Habilitationsschrift, Arendt had abandoned the original subject of German Romanticism for her thesis in 1930, and turned instead to Rahel Varnhagen and the question of assimilation. Anne Mendelssohn had accidentally acquired a copy of Varnhagen's correspondence and excitedly introduced her to Arendt, donating her collection to her. A little later, Arendt's work on Romanticism led her to a study of Jewish salons and eventually to those of Varnhagen. In Rahel, she found qualities she felt reflected her own, particularly those of sensibility and vulnerability. Rahel, like Hannah, found her destiny in her Jewishness. Hannah Arendt would come to call Rahel Varnhagen's discovery of living with her destiny as being a "conscious pariah". This was a personal trait that Arendt had recognized in herself, although she did not embrace the term until later.
Back in Berlin, Arendt found herself becoming more involved in politics and started studying political theory, and reading Marx and Trotsky, while developing contacts at the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik. Despite the political leanings of her mother and husband she never saw herself as a political leftist, justifying her activism as being through her Jewishness. Her increasing interest in Jewish politics and her examination of assimilation in her study of Varnhagen led her to publish her first article on Judaism, Aufklärung und Judenfrage ("The Enlightenment and the Jewish Question", 1932). Blumenfeld had introduced her to the "Jewish question", which would be his lifelong concern. Meanwhile, her views on German Romanticism were evolving. She wrote a review of Hans Weil's Die Entstehung des deutschen Bildungsprinzips (The Origin of German Educational Principle, 1930), which dealt with the emergence of Bildungselite (educational elite) in the time of Rahel Varnhagen. At the same time she began to be occupied by Max Weber's description of the status of Jewish people within a state as Pariavolk (pariah people) in his Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (1922), while borrowing Bernard Lazare's term paria conscient (conscious pariah) with which she identified. In both these articles she advanced the views of Johann Herder. Another interest of hers at the time was the status of women, resulting in her 1932 review of Alice Rühle-Gerstel's book Das Frauenproblem in der Gegenwart. Eine psychologische Bilanz (Contemporary Women's Issues: A psychological balance sheet). Although not a supporter of the women's movement, the review was sympathetic. At least in terms of the status of women at that time, she was skeptical of the movement's ability to achieve political change. She was also critical of the movement, because it was a women's movement, rather than contributing with men to a political movement, and abstract rather than striving for concrete goals. In this manner she echoed Rosa Luxemburg. Like Luxemburg, she would later criticize Jewish movements for the same reason. Arendt consistently prioritized political over social questions.
By 1932, faced with a deteriorating political situation, Arendt was deeply troubled by reports that Heidegger was speaking at National Socialist meetings. She wrote, asking him to deny that he was attracted to National Socialism. Heidegger replied that he did not seek to deny the rumors (which were true), and merely assured her that his feelings for her were unchanged. As a Jew in Nazi Germany, Arendt was prevented from making a living and discriminated against and confided to Anne Mendelssohn that emigration was probably inevitable. Jaspers had tried to persuade her to consider herself as a German first, a position she distanced herself from, pointing out that she was a Jew and that "Für mich ist Deutschland die Muttersprache, die Philosophie und die Dichtung" (For me, Germany is the mother tongue, philosophy and poetry), rather than her identity.
By 1933, life for the Jewish population in Germany was becoming precarious. Adolf Hitler became Reichskanzler (Chancellor) in January, and the Reichstag was burned down (Reichstagsbrand) the following month. This led to the suspension of civil liberties, with attacks on the left, and, in particular, members of the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (German Communist Party: KPD). Stern, who had communist associations, fled to Paris, but Arendt stayed on to become an activist. Knowing her time was limited, she used the apartment at Opitzstraße 6 in Berlin-Steglitz that she had occupied with Stern since 1932 as an underground railway way-station for fugitives. Her rescue operation there is now recognized with a plaque on the wall.
Arendt had already positioned herself as a critic of the rising Nazi Party in 1932 by publishing "Adam-Müller-Renaissance?" a critique of the appropriation of the life of Adam Müller to support right wing ideology. The beginnings of anti-Jewish laws and boycott came in the spring of 1933. Confronted with systemic antisemitism, Arendt adopted the motiv "If one is attacked as a Jew one must defend oneself as a Jew. Not as a German, not as a world citizen, not as an upholder of the Rights of Man." This was Arendt's introduction of the concept of Jew as Pariah that would occupy her for the rest of her life in her Jewish writings. She took a public position by publishing part of her largely completed biography of Rahel Varnhagen as "Originale Assimilation: Ein Nachwort zu Rahel Varnhagen 100 Todestag" ("Original Assimilation: An Epilogue to the One Hundredth Anniversary of Rahel Varnhagen's Death") in the Kölnische Zeitung on 7 March 1933 and a little later also in Jüdische Rundschau. In the article she argues that the age of assimilation that began with Varnhagen's generation had come to an end with an official state policy of antisemitism. She opened with the declaration:
Today in Germany it seems Jewish assimilation must declare its bankruptcy. The general social antisemitism and its official legitimation affects in the first instance assimilated Jews, who can no longer protect themselves through baptism or by emphasizing their differences from Eastern Judaism.
As a Jew, Arendt was anxious to inform the world of what was happening to her people in 1930–1933. She surrounded herself with Zionist activists, including Kurt Blumenfeld, Martin Buber and Salman Schocken, and started to research antisemitism. Arendt had access to the Prussian State Library for her work on Varnhagen. Blumenfeld's Zionistische Vereinigung für Deutschland (Zionist Federation of Germany) persuaded her to use this access to obtain evidence of the extent of antisemitism, for a planned speech to the Zionist Congress in Prague. This research was illegal at the time. Her actions led to her being denounced by a librarian for anti-state propaganda, resulting in the arrest of both Arendt and her mother by the Gestapo. They served eight days in prison but her notebooks were in code and could not be deciphered, and she was released by a young, sympathetic arresting officer to await trial. This incident is the subject of the play Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, by Jenny Lyn Bader, which premiered in 2019 in West Orange, New Jersey.
=== Exile: France (1933–1941) ===
==== Paris (1933–1940) ====
On their release, realizing the danger she was now in, Arendt and her mother fled Germany following the established escape route over the Ore Mountains by night into Czechoslovakia and on to Prague and then by train to Geneva. In Geneva, she made a conscious decision to commit herself to "the Jewish cause". She obtained work with a friend of her mother's at the League of Nations' Jewish Agency for Palestine, distributing visas and writing speeches.
From Geneva the Arendts traveled to Paris in the autumn, where she was reunited with Stern, joining a stream of refugees. While Arendt had left Germany without papers, her mother had travel documents and returned to Königsberg and her husband. In Paris, she befriended Stern's cousin, the Marxist literary critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin and also the Jewish French philosopher Raymond Aron.
Arendt was now an émigrée, an exile, stateless, without papers, and had turned her back on the Germany and Germans of the Nazizeit. Her legal status was precarious and she was coping with a foreign language and culture, all of which took its toll on her mentally and physically. In 1934 she started working for the Zionist-funded outreach program Agriculture et Artisanat, giving lectures and organizing clothing, documents, medications and education for Jewish youth seeking to emigrate to the British Mandate of Palestine, mainly as agricultural workers. Initially she was employed as a secretary, and then office manager. To improve her skills she studied French, Hebrew, and Yiddish. In this way she was able to support herself and her husband. When the organization closed in 1935, her work for Blumenfeld and the Zionists in Germany brought her into contact with the wealthy philanthropist Baroness Germaine Alice de Rothschild (born Halphen, 1884–1975), wife of Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, becoming her assistant. In this position she oversaw the baroness' contributions to Jewish charities through the Paris Consistoire, although she had little time for the family as a whole.
Later in 1935, Arendt joined Youth Aliyah (Youth immigration), an organization similar to Agriculture et Artisanat that was founded in Berlin on the day Hitler seized power. It was affiliated with Hadassah, which later saved many from the Holocaust, and there Arendt eventually became Secretary-General (1935–1939). Her work with Youth Aliyah also involved finding food, clothing, social workers, and lawyers, but above all, fund raising. She made her first visit to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1935, accompanying one of these groups and meeting with her cousin Ernst Fürst there. With the Nazi annexation of Austria and invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Paris was flooded with refugees, and she became the special agent for the rescue of the children from those countries. In 1938, Arendt completed her biography of Rahel Varnhagen, although this was not published until 1957. In April 1939, following the devastating Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938, Martha Beerwald realized her daughter would not return and made the decision to leave her husband and join Arendt in Paris. One stepdaughter had died and the other had moved to England, Martin Beerwald would not leave and she no longer had any close ties to Königsberg.
===== Heinrich Blücher =====
In 1936, Arendt met the self-educated Berlin poet and Marxist philosopher Heinrich Blücher in Paris. Blücher had been a Spartacist and then a founding member of the KPD, but had been expelled due to his work in the Versöhnler (Conciliator faction). Although Arendt had rejoined Stern in 1933, their marriage existed in name only, with their having separated in Berlin. She fulfilled her social obligations and used the name Hannah Stern, but the relationship effectively ended when Stern, perhaps recognizing the danger better than she, emigrated to America with his parents in 1936. In 1937, Arendt was stripped of her German citizenship and she and Stern divorced. She had begun seeing more of Blücher, and eventually they began living together. It was Blücher's long political activism that began to move Arendt's thinking toward political action. Arendt and Blücher married on 16 January 1940, shortly after their divorces were finalized.
==== Internment and escape (1940–1941) ====
On 5 May 1940, in anticipation of the German invasion of France and the Low Countries that month, the military governor of Paris issued a proclamation ordering all "enemy aliens" between 17 and 55 who had come from Germany (predominantly Jews) to report separately for internment. The women were gathered together in the Vélodrome d'Hiver on 15 May, so Hannah Arendt's mother, being older than 55, was allowed to stay in Paris. Arendt described the process of making refugees as "the new type of human being created by contemporary history ... put into concentration camps by their foes and into internment camps by their friends". The men, including Blücher, were sent to Camp Vernet in southern France, close to the Spanish border. Arendt and the other women were sent to Camp Gurs, to the west of Gurs, a week later. The camp had earlier been set up to accommodate refugees from Spain. On 22 June, France capitulated and signed the Compiègne armistice, dividing the country. Gurs was in the southern Vichy controlled section. Arendt describes how, "in the resulting chaos we succeeded in getting hold of liberation papers with which we were able to leave the camp", which she did with approximately 200 of the 7,000 women held there, about four weeks later. There was no Résistance then, but she managed to walk and hitchhike north to Montauban, near Toulouse where she knew she would find help.
Montauban had become an unofficial capital for former detainees, and Arendt's friend Lotta Sempell Klembort was staying there. Blücher's camp had been evacuated in the wake of the German advance, and he managed to escape from a forced march, making his way to Montauban, where the two of them led a fugitive life. Soon they were joined by Anne Mendelssohn and Arendt's mother. Escape from France was extremely difficult without official papers; their friend Walter Benjamin had taken his own life, fearing that he would be apprehended trying to escape to Spain. One of the best-known illegal routes operated out of Marseille, where Varian Fry, an American journalist, worked to raise funds, forge papers, and bribe officials with Hiram Bingham, the American vice-consul there.
Fry and Bingham secured exit papers and American visas for thousands, and with help from Günther Stern, Arendt, her husband, and her mother managed to secure the requisite permits to travel by train in January 1941 through Spain to Lisbon, Portugal, where they rented a flat at Rua da Sociedade Farmacêutica, 6b. They eventually secured passage to New York in May on the Companhia Colonial de Navegação's S/S Guiné II. A few months later, Fry's operations were shut down and the borders sealed.
=== New York (1941–1975) ===
==== World War II (1941–1945) ====
Upon arriving in New York City on 22 May 1941 with very little, Hannah's family received assistance from the Zionist Organization of America and the local German immigrant population, including Paul Tillich and neighbors from Königsberg. They rented rooms at 317 West 95th Street and Martha Arendt joined them there in June. There was an urgent need to acquire English, and it was decided that Hannah Arendt should spend two months with an American family in Winchester, Massachusetts, through Self-Help for Refugees, in July. She found the experience difficult but formulated her early appraisal of American life, Der Grundwiderspruch des Landes ist politische Freiheit bei gesellschaftlicher Knechtschaft (The fundamental contradiction of the country is political freedom coupled with social slavery).
On returning to New York, Arendt was anxious to resume writing and became active in the German-Jewish community, publishing her first article, "From the Dreyfus Affair to France Today" (in translation from her German) in July 1941. While she was working on this article, she was looking for employment and in November 1941 was hired by the New York German-language Jewish newspaper Aufbau and from 1941 to 1945, she wrote a political column for it, covering antisemitism, refugees and the need for a Jewish army. She also contributed to the Menorah Journal, a Jewish-American magazine, and other German émigré publications.
Arendt's first full-time salaried job came in 1944, when she became the director of research and executive director for the newly emerging Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, a project of the Conference on Jewish Relations. She was recruited "because of her great interest in the Commission's activities, her previous experience as an administrator, and her connections with Germany". There she compiled lists of Jewish cultural assets in Germany and Nazi occupied Europe, to aid in their recovery after the war. Together with her husband, she lived at 370 Riverside Drive in New York City and at Kingston, New York, where Blücher taught at nearby Bard College for many years.
==== Post-war (1945–1975) ====
In July 1946, Arendt left her position at the Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction to become an editor at Schocken Books, which later published some of her works. In 1948, she became engaged with the campaign of Judah Magnes for a solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She famously opposed the establishment of a Jewish nation-state in Palestine and initially also opposed the establishment of a binational Arab-Jewish state. Instead, she advocated for the inclusion of Palestine into a multi-ethnic federation. Only in 1948 in an effort to forestall partition did she support a binational one-state solution. She returned to the Commission in August 1949. In her capacity as executive secretary, she traveled to Europe, where she worked in Germany, Britain, and France (December 1949 to March 1950) to negotiate the return of archival material from German institutions, an experience she found frustrating, but provided regular field reports. In January 1952, she became secretary to the Board, although the work of the organization was winding down and she was simultaneously pursuing her own intellectual activities; she retained this position until her death. Arendt's work on cultural restitution provided further material for her study of totalitarianism.
In the 1950s Arendt published The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) and The Human Condition (1958), followed by On Revolution (1963). Arendt became a naturalized citizen of the United States on December 10, 1951. Arendt had begun corresponding with the American author Mary McCarthy, six years her junior, in 1950 and they soon became lifelong friends. She had started seeing Martin Heidegger again, and had what the American writer Adam Kirsch called a "quasi-romance", lasting for two years, with the man who had previously been her mentor, teacher, and lover. During this time, Arendt defended him against critics who noted his enthusiastic membership in the Nazi Party. She portrayed Heidegger as a naïve man swept up by forces beyond his control, and pointed out that Heidegger's philosophy had nothing to do with National Socialism. She suspected that loyal followers of Horkheimer and Adorno in Frankfurt were plotting against Heidegger. For Adorno she had a real aversion: "Half a Jew and one of the most repugnant men I know". According to Arendt, the Frankfurt School was willing, and quite capable of doing so, to destroy Heidegger: "For years they have branded anti-Semitism on anyone in Germany who opposes them, or have threatened to raise such an accusation".
In 1961 she traveled to Jerusalem to report on Eichmann's trial for The New Yorker. This report strongly influenced her popular recognition, and raised much controversy (see below). Her work was recognized by many awards, including the Danish Sonning Prize in 1975 for Contributions to European Civilization.
A few years later she spoke in New York City on the legitimacy of violence as a political act: "Generally speaking, violence always rises out of impotence. It is the hope of those who have no power to find a substitute for it and this hope, I think, is in vain. Violence can destroy power, but it can never replace it."
===== Teaching =====
Arendt taught at many institutions of higher learning from 1951 onward, but, preserving her independence, consistently refused tenure-track positions. She was a visiting scholar at Princeton University (where she was the first woman to be appointed a full professor in 1959), University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and Cornell University. She also taught at the University of Chicago from 1963 to 1967, where she was a member of the Committee on Social Thought; Yale University, where she was a fellow; and the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University (1961–62, 1962–63). From 1967, she was a professor at The New School for Social Research in Manhattan, New York City.
She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1962 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1964. In 1974, Arendt was instrumental in the creation of Structured Liberal Education (SLE) at Stanford University. She wrote a letter to the president of Stanford to persuade the university to enact Stanford history professor Mark Mancall's vision of a residentially-based humanities program. At the time of her death, she was University Professor of Political Philosophy at The New School.
== Relationships ==
In addition to her affair with Heidegger, and her two marriages, Arendt had close friendships. Since her death, her correspondence with many of them has been published, revealing much information about her thinking. To her friends she was both loyal and generous, dedicating several of her works to them. Freundschaft (friendship) she described as being one of the "tätigen Modi des Lebendigseins" (the active modes of being alive), and, to her, friendship was central both to her life and to the concept of politics. Hans Jonas described her as having a "genius for friendship", and, in her own words, "der Eros der Freundschaft" (love of friendship).
Her philosophy-based friendships were male and European, while her later American friendships were more diverse, literary, and political. Although she became an American citizen in 1950, her cultural roots remained European, and her language remained her German "Muttersprache" (mother tongue). She surrounded herself with German-speaking émigrés, sometimes referred to as "The Tribe". To her, wirkliche Menschen (real people) were "pariahs", not in the sense of outcasts, but in the sense of outsiders, unassimilated, with the virtue of "social nonconformism ... the sine qua non of intellectual achievement", a sentiment she shared with Jaspers.
Arendt always had a beste Freundin (best friend [female]). In her teens she had formed a lifelong relationship with her Jugendfreundin, Anne Mendelssohn Weil ("Ännchen"). After she emigrated to America, Hilde Fränkel, Paul Tillich's secretary and mistress, filled that role until the latter died in 1950. After the war, Arendt was able to return to Germany and renew her relationship with Weil, who made several visits to New York, especially after Blücher's death in 1970. Their last meeting was in Tegna, Switzerland in 1975, shortly before Arendt's death. With Fränkel's death, Mary McCarthy became Arendt's closest friend and confidante.
== Final illness and death ==
Heinrich Blücher had survived a cerebral aneurysm in 1961 and remained unwell after 1963. On 31 October 1970, he died of a heart attack. A devastated Arendt had previously told Mary McCarthy, "Life without him would be unthinkable". Arendt was a heavy smoker and was frequently depicted with a cigarette in her hand. She sustained a near-fatal heart attack while lecturing in Scotland in May 1974, and although she recovered, she remained in poor health and continued to smoke. On the evening of 4 December 1975, shortly after her 69th birthday, she had a heart attack in her apartment while entertaining friends, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her ashes were buried alongside those of Blücher at Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in May 1976.
After Arendt's death the title page of the final part of The Life of the Mind ("Judging") was found in her typewriter, which she had just started, consisting of the title and two epigraphs. This has subsequently been reproduced in the edited version of her Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy.(see image).
== Work ==
Arendt wrote works on intellectual history as a political theorist, using events and actions to develop insights into contemporary totalitarian movements and the threat to human freedom presented by scientific abstraction and bourgeois morality. Intellectually, she was an independent thinker, a loner, not a "joiner", separating herself from schools of thought or ideology. In addition to her major texts she published anthologies, including Between Past and Future (1961), Men in Dark Times (1968), and Crises of the Republic (1972). She also contributed to many publications, including The New York Review of Books, Commonweal, Dissent and The New Yorker. She is perhaps best known for her accounts of Adolf Eichmann and his trial, because of the intense controversy that it generated.
=== Political theory and philosophical system ===
While Arendt never developed a systematic political theory and her writing does not easily lend itself to categorization, the tradition of thought most closely identified with Arendt is that of civic republicanism, from Aristotle to Tocqueville. Her political concept is centered around active citizenship that emphasizes civic engagement and collective deliberation. She believed that no matter how bad, government could never succeed in extinguishing human freedom, despite holding that modern societies frequently retreat from democratic freedom with its inherent disorder for the relative comfort of administrative bureaucracy. Some have claimed her political legacy is her strong defence of freedom in the face of an increasingly less than free world. She does not adhere to a single systematic philosophy, but rather spans a range of subjects covering totalitarianism, revolution, the nature of freedom, and the faculties of thought and judgment.
While she is best known for her work on "dark times", the nature of totalitarianism and evil, she imbued this with a spark of hope and confidence in the nature of Mankind:
That even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination, and that such illumination might well come less from theories and concepts than from the uncertain, flickering, and often weak light that some men and women, in their lives and their works, will kindle under almost all circumstances and shed over the time span that was given to them. Men in Dark Times (1968)
=== Love and Saint Augustine (1929) ===
Arendt's doctoral thesis, Der Liebesbegriff bei Augustin. Versuch einer philosophischen Interpretation (Love and Saint Augustine. Towards a philosophical interpretation), was published in 1929 and attracted critical interest, although an English translation did not appear until 1996. In this work she combined approaches of both Heidegger and Jaspers. Arendt's interpretation of love in the work of Augustine deals with three concepts, love as craving or desire (Amor qua appetitus), love in the relationship between man (creatura) and creator (Creator – Creatura), and neighborly love (Dilectio proximi). Love as craving anticipates the future, while love for the Creator deals with the remembered past. Of the three, dilectio proximi or caritas is perceived as the most fundamental, to which the first two are oriented, which she treats as vita socialis (social life) – the second of the Great Commandments (or Golden Rule) "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" uniting and transcending the former. Augustine's influence (and Jaspers' views on his work) persisted in Arendt's writings for the rest of her life.
Some of the leitmotifs of her canon were apparent, introducing the concept of Natalität (Natality) as a key condition of human existence and its role in the development of the individual, developing this further in The Human Condition (1958). She explained that the construct of natality was implied in her discussion of new beginnings and Man's elation to the Creator as nova creatura. The centrality of the theme of birth and renewal is apparent in the constant reference to Augustinian thought, and specifically the innovative nature of birth, from this, her first work, to her last, The Life of the Mind.
Love is another connecting theme. In addition to the Augustinian loves expostulated in her dissertation, the phrase amor mundi (love of the world) is one often associated with Arendt and both permeates her work and was an absorbing passion throughout her work. She took the phrase from Augustine's homily on the first epistle of St John, "If love of the world dwell in us". Amor mundi was her original title for The Human Condition (1958), the subtitle of Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's biography (1982), the title of a collection of writing on faith in her work and is the newsletter of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College.
=== The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) ===
Arendt's first major book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, (1951), examined the roots of Stalinism and Nazism, structured as three essays, "Antisemitism", "Imperialism", and "Totalitarianism".
This work includes, but is not limited to what may be considered the first attempt to treat the Holocaust (an event for which there was no established nomenclature at the time) as a discrete epiphenomenal catastrophe, as opposed to referring to the genocide as a vaguely defined halo of atrocities occurring during the war.
Arendt's Origins appears before Reitlinger's Final Solution and a full decade prior to Hilberg's Destruction of the European Jews. Many testimonies, of course, preceded this book; as did the Nuremberg Trials. The word genocide had been invented as a special legal term for what happened. All these aspects of the record are rudiments of active discussion prior to Arendt's Origins. But the testimonies largely record individual perspectives on specific camps, memorials of the destruction of a particular village by the survivors from that village etc., and the Nuremberg Trial documents were not archived in a form that made them accessible to the public. Nevertheless her main theme is totalitarianism and its evolution though, as she argues, concentration camps are an essential aspect of totalitarianism politics.
Arendt argues that totalitarianism was a "novel form of government", that "differs essentially from other forms of political oppression known to us such as despotism, tyranny and dictatorship" in that it applied terror to subjugate mass populations rather than just political adversaries. Arendt also maintained that Jewry was not the operative factor in the Holocaust, but merely a convenient proxy because Nazism was about terror and consistency, not merely eradicating Jews. Arendt explained the tyranny using Kant's phrase "radical evil", by which their victims became "superfluous people". In later editions she enlarged the text to include her work on "Ideology and Terror: A novel form of government" and the Hungarian Revolution, but then published the latter separately.
Criticism of Origins has often focused on its portrayal of the two movements, Hitlerism and Stalinism, as equally tyrannical.
=== Rahel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewess (1957) ===
Arendt's Habilitationsschrift on Rahel Varnhagen was completed while she was living in exile in Paris in 1938, but not published till 1957, in the United Kingdom by East and West Library, part of the Leo Baeck Institute. This biography of a nineteenth-century Jewish socialite formed an important step in her analysis of Jewish history and the subjects of assimilation and emancipation, and introduced her treatment of the Jewish diaspora as either pariah or parvenu. In addition it represents an early version of her concept of history. The book is dedicated to Anne Mendelssohn, who first drew her attention to Varnhagen. Arendt's relation to Varnhagen permeates her subsequent work. Her account of Varnhagen's life was perceived during a time of the destruction of German-Jewish culture. It partially reflects Arendt's own view of herself as a German-Jewish woman driven out of her own culture into a stateless existence, leading to the description "biography as autobiography".
=== The Human Condition (1958) ===
In what is arguably her most influential work, The Human Condition (1958), Arendt differentiates political and social concepts, labor and work, and various forms of actions; she then explores the implications of those distinctions. Her theory of political action, corresponding to the existence of a public realm, is extensively developed in this work. Arendt argues that, while human life always evolves within societies, the social part of human nature, political life, has been intentionally realized in only a few societies as a space for individuals to achieve freedom. Conceptual categories, which attempt to bridge the gap between ontological and sociological structures, are sharply delineated. While Arendt relegates labor and work to the realm of the social, she favors the human condition of action as that which is both existential and aesthetic. Of human actions, Arendt identifies two that she considers essential. These are forgiving past wrong (or unfixing the fixed past) and promising future benefit (or fixing the unfixed future).
Arendt had first introduced the concept of "natality" in her Love and Saint Augustine (1929) and in The Human Condition starts to develop this further. In this, she departs from Heidegger's emphasis on mortality. Arendt's positive message is one of the "miracle of beginning", the continual arrival of the new to create action, that is to alter the state of affairs brought about by previous actions. "Men", she wrote "though they must die, are not born in order to die but in order to begin". She defined her use of "natality" as:
The miracle that saves the world, the realm of human affairs, from its normal, "natural" ruin is ultimately the fact of natality, in which the faculty of action is ontologically rooted. It is, in other words, the birth of new men and the new beginning, the action they are capable of by virtue of being born.
Natality would go on to become a central concept of her political theory, and also what Karin Fry considers its most optimistic one.
=== Between Past and Future (1954...1968) ===
Between Past and Future is an anthology of eight essays written between 1954 and 1968, dealing with a variety of different but connected philosophical subjects. These essays share the central idea that humans live between the past and the uncertain future. Man must permanently think to exist, but must learn thinking. Humans have resorted to tradition, but are abandoning respect for this tradition and culture. Arendt tries to find solutions to help humans think again, since modern philosophy has not succeeded in helping humans to live correctly.
=== On Revolution (1963) ===
Arendt's book On Revolution presents a comparison of two of the main revolutions of the 18th century, the American and French Revolutions. She goes against a common impression of both Marxist and leftist views when she argues that France, while well-studied and often emulated, was a disaster and that the largely ignored American Revolution was a success. The turning point in the French Revolution occurred when the leaders rejected their goals of freedom to focus on compassion for the masses. In the United States, the founders never betray the goal of Constitutio Libertatis. Arendt believes the revolutionary spirit of those men had been lost, however, and advocates a "council system" as an appropriate institution to regain that spirit.
=== Men in Dark Times (1968) ===
The anthology of essays Men in Dark Times presents intellectual biographies of some creative and moral figures of the 20th century, such as Walter Benjamin, Karl Jaspers, Rosa Luxemburg, Hermann Broch, Pope John XXIII, and Isak Dinesen.
=== Crises of the Republic (1972) ===
Crises of the Republic was the third of Arendt's anthologies, consisting of four essays. These related essays deal with contemporary American politics and the crises it faced in the 1960s and 1970s. "Lying in Politics" looks for an explanation behind the administration's deception regarding the Vietnam War, as revealed in the Pentagon Papers. "Civil Disobedience" examines the opposition movements, while the final "Thoughts on Politics and Revolution" is a commentary, in the form of an interview on the third essay, "On Violence". In "On Violence" Arendt substantiates that violence presupposes power which she understands as a property of groups. Thus, she breaks with the predominant conception of power as derived from violence.
=== The Life of the Mind (1978) ===
Arendt's last major work, The Life of the Mind remained incomplete at the time of her death in 1975, but marked a return to moral philosophy. The outline of the book was based on her graduate level political philosophy class, Philosophy of the Mind, and her Gifford Lectures in Scotland. She conceived of the work as a trilogy based on the mental activities of thinking, willing, and judging. Her most recent work had focused on the first two, but went beyond this in terms of vita activa. Her discussion of thinking was based on Socrates and his notion of thinking as a solitary dialogue between oneself, leading her to novel concepts of conscience.
Arendt died suddenly five days after completing the second part, with the first page of Judging still in her typewriter, and McCarthy then edited the first two parts and provided some indication of the direction of the third. Arendt's exact intentions for the third part are unknown but she left several manuscripts (such as Thinking and Moral Considerations, Some Questions on Moral Philosophy and Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy) relating to her thoughts on the mental faculty of Judging. These have since been published separately.
=== Collected works ===
After Arendt died in 1975, her essays and notes have continued to be collected, edited and published posthumously by friends and colleagues, mainly under the editorship of Jerome Kohn, including those that give some insight into the unfinished third part of The Life of the Mind. Some dealt with her Jewish identity. The Jew as Pariah: Jewish Identity and Politics in the Modern Age (1978), is a collection of 15 essays and letters from the period 1943–1966 on the situation of Jews in modern times, to try and throw some light on her views on the Jewish world, following the backlash to Eichmann, but proved to be equally polarizing. A further collection of her writings on being Jewish was published as The Jewish Writings (2007). Her work on moral philosophy appeared as Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy (1982) and Responsibility and Judgment (2003), and her literary works as Reflections on Literature and Culture (2007).
Other work includes the collection of forty, largely fugitive, essays, addresses, and reviews covering the period 1930–1954, entitled Essays in Understanding 1930–1954: Formation, Exile, and Totalitarianism (1994). These presaged her monumental The Origins of Totalitarianism, in particular On the Nature of Totalitarianism (1953) and The Concern with Politics in Contemporary European Philosophical Thought (1954). However these attracted little attention. However after a new version of Origins of Totalitarianism appeared in 2004 followed by The Promise of Politics in 2005 there appeared a new interest in Arendtiana. This led to a second series of her remaining essays, Thinking Without a Banister: Essays in Understanding, 1953–1975, published in 2018. Her notebooks which form a series of memoirs, were published as Denktagebuch in 2002.
=== Poetry ===
Arendt began writing poetry in her adolescence, but it was intensely personal and few knew of the existence of her poems until her archives at the Library of Congress were made accessible by McCarthy in 1988. She began collecting them in 1923 and they were one of the few things she took with her on her flight from Berlin and escape to the United States. They remained unpublished in her lifetime, although she had typed, edited and bound them after she arrived in New York and they were rediscovered at the library by Samantha Rose Hill in 2011. The early poems that she brought with her were deposited with her papers in the library. Other later poems were found in notebooks in the German Literature Archive, Marbach, Germany, where she had placed them just before her death in 1975. Some further poems were found in her correspondence with Heidegger, Blücher and Broch.
It was not until 2025 that her seventy-one collected poems were first published in a bilingual German-English edition.
=== Correspondence ===
Some further insight into her thinking is provided in the continuing posthumous publication of her correspondence with many of the important figures in her life, including Karl Jaspers (1992), Mary McCarthy (1995), Heinrich Blücher (1996), Martin Heidegger (2004), Alfred Kazin (2005), Walter Benjamin (2006), Gershom Scholem (2011) and Günther Stern (2016). Other correspondences that have been published include those with women friends such as Hilde Fränkel and Anne Mendelssohn Weil (see Relationships).
=== Arendt and the Eichmann trial (1961–1963) ===
In 1960, on hearing of Adolf Eichmann's capture and plans for his trial, Hannah Arendt contacted The New Yorker and offered to travel to Israel to cover it when it opened on 11 April 1961. Arendt was anxious to test her theories, developed in The Origins of Totalitarianism, and see how justice would be administered to the sort of man she had written about. Also she had witnessed "little of the Nazi regime directly" and this was an opportunity to witness an agent of totalitarianism first hand. The offer was accepted and she attended six weeks of the five-month trial with her young Israeli cousin, Edna Brocke. On arrival she was treated as a celebrity, meeting with the trial chief judge, Moshe Landau, and the foreign minister, Golda Meir. In her subsequent 1963 report, based on her observations and transcripts, and which evolved into the book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Arendt coined the phrase "the banality of evil" to describe the Eichmann phenomenon. She, like others, was struck by his very ordinariness and the demeanor he exhibited of a small, slightly balding, bland bureaucrat, in contrast to the horrific crimes he stood accused of. He was, she wrote, "terribly and terrifyingly normal." She examined the question of whether evil is radical or simply a function of thoughtlessness, a tendency of ordinary people to obey orders and conform to mass opinion without a critical evaluation of the consequences of their actions. Arendt's argument was that Eichmann was not a monster, contrasting the immensity of his actions with the very ordinariness of the man himself. Eichmann, she stated, not only called himself a Zionist, having initially opposed the Jewish persecution, but also expected his captors to understand him. She pointed out that his actions were not driven by malice, but rather blind dedication to the regime and his need to belong, to be a "joiner".
On this, Arendt would later state "Going along with the rest and wanting to say 'we' were quite enough to make the greatest of all crimes possible". What Arendt observed during the trial was a bourgeois sales clerk who found a meaningful role for himself and a sense of importance in the Nazi movement. She noted that his addiction to clichés and use of bureaucratic morality clouded his ability to question his actions, "to think". This led her to set out her most debated dictum: "the lesson that this long course in human wickedness had taught us – the lesson of the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil." By stating that Eichmann did not think, she did not imply lack of conscious awareness of his actions, but by "thinking" she implied reflective rationality, that was lacking.
Arendt was critical of the way the trial was conducted by the Israelis as a "show trial" with ulterior motives other than simply trying evidence and administering justice. Arendt was also critical of the way Israel depicted Eichmann's crimes as crimes against a nation-state, rather than against humanity itself. She objected to the idea that a strong Israel was necessary to protect world Jewry being again placed where "they'll let themselves be slaughtered like sheep," recalling the biblical phrase. She portrayed the prosecutor, Attorney General Gideon Hausner, as employing hyperbolic rhetoric in the pursuit of Prime Minister Ben-Gurion's political agenda. Arendt, who believed she could maintain her focus on moral principles in the face of outrage, became increasingly frustrated with Hausner, describing his parade of survivors as having "no apparent bearing on the case". She was particularly concerned that Hausner repeatedly asked "why did you not rebel?" rather than question the role of the Jewish leaders. On this point, Arendt argued that during the Holocaust some of them cooperated with Eichmann "almost without exception" in the destruction of their own people. These leaders, notably M. C. Rumkowski, constituted the Jewish Councils (Judenräte). She had expressed concerns on this point prior to the trial. She described this as a moral catastrophe. While her argument was not to allocate blame, rather she mourned what she considered a moral failure of compromising the imperative that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. She describes the cooperation of the Jewish leaders in terms of a disintegration of Jewish morality: "This role of the Jewish leaders in the destruction of their own people is undoubtedly the darkest chapter in the whole dark story". Widely misunderstood, this caused an even greater controversy and particularly animosity toward her in the Jewish community and in Israel. For Arendt, the Eichmann trial marked a turning point in her thinking in the final decade of her life, becoming increasingly preoccupied with moral philosophy.
==== Reception ====
Arendt's five-part series "Eichmann in Jerusalem" appeared in The New Yorker in February 1963 some nine months after Eichmann was hanged on 31 May 1962. By this time his trial was largely forgotten in the popular mind, superseded by intervening world events. However, no other account of either Eichmann or National Socialism has aroused so much controversy. Before its publication, Arendt was considered a brilliant humanistic original political thinker. Her mentor, Karl Jaspers, however, had warned her about a possible adverse outcome, "The Eichmann trial will be no pleasure for you. I'm afraid it cannot go well". On publication, three controversies immediately occupied public attention: the concept of Eichmann as banal, her criticism of the role of Israel and her description of the role played by the Jewish people themselves.
Arendt was profoundly shocked by the response, writing to Karl Jaspers "People are resorting to any means to destroy my reputation ... They have spent weeks trying to find something in my past that they can hang on me". Now she was being called arrogant, heartless and ill-informed. She was accused of being duped by Eichmann, of being a "self-hating Jewess", and even an enemy of Israel. Her critics included the Anti-Defamation League and many other Jewish groups, editors of publications she was a contributor to, faculty at the universities she taught at, and friends from all parts of her life. Her friend Gershom Scholem, a major scholar of Jewish mysticism, broke off relations with her, publishing their correspondence without her permission. Arendt was criticized by many Jewish public figures, who charged her with coldness and lack of sympathy for the victims of the Holocaust. Because of this lingering criticism, neither this book nor any of her other works were translated into Hebrew until 1999. Arendt responded to the controversies in the book's postscript.
Although Arendt complained that she was being criticized for telling the truth – "what a risky business to tell the truth on a factual level without theoretical and scholarly embroidery" – the criticism was largely directed to her theorizing on the nature of mankind and evil and that ordinary people were driven to commit the inexplicable not so much by hatred and ideology as ambition, and inability to empathize. Equally problematic was the suggestion that the victims deceived themselves and complied in their own destruction. Prior to Arendt's depiction of Eichmann, his popular image had been, as The New York Times put it "the most evil monster of humanity" and as a representative of "an atrocious crime, unparalleled in history", "the extermination of European Jews". As it turned out Arendt and others were correct in pointing out that Eichmann's characterization by the prosecution as the architect and chief technician of the Holocaust was not entirely credible.
While much has been made of Arendt's treatment of Eichmann, Ada Ushpiz, in her 2015 documentary Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt, placed it in a much broader context of the use of rationality to explain seemingly irrational historical events.
==== Kein Mensch hat das Recht zu gehorchen ====
In an interview with Joachim Fest in 1964, Arendt was asked about Eichmann's defense that he had made Kant's principle of the duty of obedience his guiding principle all his life. Arendt replied that that was outrageous and that Eichmann was misusing Kant, by not considering the element of judgement required in assessing one's own actions – "Kein Mensch hat bei Kant das Recht zu gehorchen" (No man has, according to Kant, the right to obey), she stated, paraphrasing Kant. The reference was to Kant's Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft (Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason 1793) in which he states:
Der Satz 'man muß Gott mehr gehorchen, als den Menschen' bedeutet nur, daß, wenn die letzten etwas gebieten, was an sich böse (dem Sittengesetz unmittelbar zuwider) ist, ihnen nicht gehorcht werden darf und soll (The saying, "We must hearken to God, rather than to man," signifies no more than this, viz. that should any earthly legislation enjoin something immediately contradictory of the moral law, obedience is not to be rendered)
Kant clearly defines a higher moral duty than rendering merely unto Caesar. Arendt herself had written in her book "This was outrageous, on the face of it, and also incomprehensible, since Kant's moral philosophy is so closely bound up with man's faculty of judgment, which rules out blind obedience." Arendt's reply to Fest has since been widely quoted as Niemand hat das Recht zu gehorchen (No one has the right to obey), changing Kein Mensch (No person) to the more generic Niemand (No one) and omitting the attribution bei Kant (according to Kant), although it does encapsulate an aspect of her moral philosophy.
The phrase Niemand hat das Recht zu gehorchen has become one of her iconic images, appearing on the wall of the house in which she was born (see Commemorations), among other places. A fascist bas-relief on the Palazzo degli Uffici Finanziari (1942), in the Piazza del Tribunale, Bolzano, Italy celebrating Mussolini, reads Credere, Obbedire, Combattere (Believe, Obey, Combat). In 2017, its 'Obey' meaning was altered using Arendt's original phrasing, less the attribution, projected upon it in the three official languages of the region.
The phrase has also appeared in other artistic works featuring anti-authoritarian political messages, such as the 2015 installation by Wilfried Gerstel, which has evoked the concept of resistance to dictatorship.
=== List of selected publications ===
== Views ==
In 1961, while covering the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, Arendt wrote a letter to Karl Jaspers that Adam Kirsch described as reflecting "pure racism" toward Sephardic Jews from the Middle East and Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe. She wrote:
Fortunately, Eichmann's three judges were of German origin, indeed the best of German Jewry. [Attorney General Gideon] Hausner is a typical Galician Jew, still European, very unsympathetic... boring... constantly making mistakes. Probably one of those people who don't know any language. Everything is organized by a police force which gives me the creeps, speaks only Hebrew, and looks Arabic. Some downright brutal types among them. They would obey any order. And outside the doors, the oriental mob, as if one were in Istanbul or some other half-Asiatic country.
Although Arendt remained a Zionist both during and after World War II, she made it clear that she favored the creation of a Jewish-Arab federated state in the British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel and the Palestinian territories), rather than a purely Jewish state. She believed that this was a way to address Jewish statelessness and to avoid the pitfalls of nationalism. However, Hannah Arendt distanced herself from official Zionism in her article 'Der Zionismus aus heutiger Sicht' (Zionism reconsidered) where she criticized the drift of the Zionist movement after their Atlantic City Conference in November 1944, asserting that this was the triumph of the sectarian ideology of the most extreme Zionists.
=== Racism ===
It was not just Arendt's analysis of the Eichmann trial that drew accusations of racism. In her 1958 essay entitled Reflections on Little Rock she expressed opposition to desegregation following the 1957 Little Rock Integration Crisis in Arkansas. As she explains in the preface, for a long time the magazine was reluctant to print her contribution, so far did it appear to differ from the publication's liberal values. Eventually it was printed alongside critical responses. Later The New Yorker would express similar hesitancy over the Eichmann papers. So vehement was the response that Arendt felt obliged to defend herself in a sequel. The debate over this essay has continued since. William Simmons devotes a whole section of his 2011 text on human rights (Human Rights Law and the Marginalized Other) to a critique of Arendt's position and in particular on Little Rock. While many critics feel she was fundamentally racist, many of those who have defended Arendt's position have pointed out that her concerns were for the welfare of the children, a position she maintained throughout her life. She felt that white children were being thrown into a racially disharmonious "jungle" to serve a broader political strategy of forcible integration.
While over time Arendt conceded some ground to her critics, namely that she argued as an outsider, she remained committed to her central critique that children should not be thrust into the front-lines of political conflicts. In Reflections on Little Rock, she wrote: To force parents to send their children to an integrated school against their will means to deprive them of rights which clearly belong to them in all free societies-the private right over their children and the social right to free association. As for the children, forced integration means a very serious conflict between home and school, between their private and their social life, and while such conflicts are common in adult life, children cannot be expected to handle them and therefore should not be exposed to them. She also believed desegregation was an overreach of government authority, stating "The conflict between a segregated home and a desegregated school, between family prejudice and school demands, abolishes at one stroke both the teachers' and the parents' authority, replacing it with the rule of public opinion among children who have neither the ability nor the right to establish a public opinion of their own."
=== Feminism ===
Embraced by feminists as a pioneer in a world dominated by men, Arendt did not consider herself a feminist, remaining opposed to the social dimensions of Women's Liberation, urging independence, but always keeping in mind Vive la petite différence! On becoming the first woman to be appointed a professor at Princeton in 1953, the media were much engaged in this exceptional achievement, but she never wanted to be seen as an exception, either as a woman (an "exception woman") or a Jew, stating emphatically "I am not disturbed at all about being a woman professor, because I am quite used to being a woman". In 1972, discussing women's liberation, she observed "the real question to ask is, what will we lose if we win?". She rather enjoyed what she saw as the privileges of being feminine as opposed to feminist, "intensely feminine and therefore no feminist", stated Hans Jonas. Arendt considered some professions and positions unsuitable for women, particularly those involving leadership, telling Günter Gaus "It just doesn't look good when a woman gives orders". Despite these views, and having been labelled "anti-feminist", much space has been devoted to examining Arendt's place in relation to feminism. In the last years of her life, Virginia Held noted that Arendt's views evolved with the emergence of a new feminism in America in the 1970s to recognize the importance of the women's movement.
=== Critique of human rights ===
In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt devotes a lengthy chapter (The Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man) to a critical analysis of human rights, in what has been described as "the most widely read essay on refugees ever published". Arendt is not skeptical of the notion of political rights in general, but instead defends a national or civil conception of rights. Human rights, or the Rights of Man as they were commonly called, are universal, inalienable, and possessed simply by virtue of being human. In contrast, civil rights are possessed by virtue of belonging to a political community, most commonly by being a citizen. Arendt's primary criticism of human rights is that they are ineffectual and illusory because their enforcement is in tension with national sovereignty. She argued that since there is no political authority above that of sovereign nations, state governments have little incentive to respect human rights when such policies conflict with national interests. This can be seen most clearly by examining the treatment of refugees and other stateless people. Since the refugee has no state to secure their civil rights, the only rights they have to fall back on are human rights. In this way Arendt uses the refugee as a test case for examining human rights in isolation from civil rights.
Arendt's analysis draws on the refugee upheavals in the first half of the 20th century along with her own experience as a refugee fleeing Nazi Germany. She argued that as state governments began to emphasize national identity as a prerequisite for full legal status, the number of minority resident aliens increased along with the number of stateless persons whom no state was willing to recognize legally. The two potential solutions to the refugee problem, repatriation and naturalization, both proved incapable of solving the crisis. Arendt argued that repatriation failed to solve the refugee crisis because no government was willing to take them in and claim them as their own. When refugees were forcibly deported to neighboring countries, such immigration was deemed illegal by the receiving country, and so failed to change the fundamental status of the migrants as stateless. Attempts at naturalizing and assimilating refugees also had little success. This failure was primarily the result of resistance from both state governments and the majority of citizens, since both tended to see the refugees as undesirables who threatened their national identity. Resistance to naturalization also came from the refugees themselves who resisted assimilation and attempted to maintain their own ethnic and national identities. Arendt contends that neither naturalization nor the tradition of asylum was capable of handling the sheer number of refugees. Instead of accepting some refugees with legal status, the state often responded by denaturalizing minorities who shared national or ethnic ties with stateless refugees.
Arendt argues that the consistent mistreatment of refugees, most of whom were placed in internment camps, is evidence against the existence of human rights. If the notion of human rights as universal and inalienable is to be taken seriously, the rights must be realizable given the features of the modern liberal state. She concluded "The Rights of Man, supposedly inalienable, proved to be unenforceable–even in countries whose constitutions were based upon them–whenever people appeared who were no longer citizens of any sovereign state". Arendt contends that they are not realizable because they are in tension with at least one feature of the liberal state—national sovereignty. One of the primary ways in which a nation exercises sovereignty is through control over national borders. State governments consistently grant their citizens free movement to traverse national borders. In contrast, the movement of refugees is often restricted in the name of national interests. This restriction presents a dilemma for liberalism because liberal theorists typically are committed to both human rights and the existence of sovereign nations.
In one of her most quoted passages, she puts forward the concept that human rights are little more than an abstraction:
The conception of human rights based upon the assumed existence of a human being as such broke down at the very moment when those who professed to believe in it were for the first time confronted with people who had indeed lost all other qualities and specific relationships – except that they were still human. The world found nothing sacred in the abstract nakedness of being human.
=== Lying in politics ===
Arendt explored the effects of systemic lying on society. In her 1972 essay "Lying in Politics...", she discussed how organized falsehood can lead to a situation where the distinction between truth and falsehood blurs, resulting in a populace that becomes skeptical of everything. Systemic lying is not aimed at making people believe a lie so much as making it hard to believe anything. People who can no longer distinguish between truth and lies on their own, cannot distinguish between right and wrong on their own.
"The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lies will now be accepted as truth, and the truth be defamed as lies, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world... is being destroyed."
Also in The Origins of Totalitarianism, Arendt wrote about lying in politics, "The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that (if found to be lies, many) would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness."
== In popular culture ==
Several authors have written biographies that focus on the relationship between Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger. In 1999, the French feminist philosopher Catherine Clément wrote a novel, Martin and Hannah, speculating on the triangular relationship between Heidegger and the two women in his life, Arendt and Heidegger's wife Elfriede Petri. In addition to the relationships, the novel is a serious exploration of philosophical ideas, that centers on Arendt's last meeting with Heidegger in Freiburg in 1975. The scene is based on Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's description in Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World (1982), but reaches back to their childhoods, and Heidegger's role in encouraging the relationship between the two women. The novel explores Heidegger's embrace of Nazism as a proxy for that of Germany and, as in Arendt's treatment of Eichmann, the difficult relationship between collective guilt and personal responsibility.
In 2012 the German film, Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta was released. The film, with Barbara Sukowa in the title role, depicted the controversy over Arendt's coverage of the Eichmann trial in The New Yorker and her subsequent book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, in which she was widely misunderstood as defending Eichmann and blaming Jewish leaders for the Holocaust. In 2015, the filmmaker Ada Ushpiz produced a documentary on Hannah Arendt, Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt. In the 2023 TV series Transatlantic, Arendt is portrayed by Alexa Karolinski. In the 2025 documentary Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny, she is portrayed by Nina Hoss. Arendt is a major character in Madeliene Thien's 2025 novel Book of Records.
== Legacy ==
Hannah Arendt is considered one of the most influential political philosophers of the 20th century. In 1998 Walter Laqueur stated "No twentieth-century philosopher and political thinker has at the present time as wide an echo", as philosopher, historian, sociologist and also journalist. Arendt's legacy has been described as a cult. In a 2016 review of a documentary about Arendt, the journalist A. O. Scott describes Hannah Arendt as "of unmatched range and rigor" as a thinker, although she is primarily known for the series of articles known as Eichmann in Jerusalem that she wrote for The New Yorker, and in particular for the one phrase "the banality of evil".
She shunned publicity, never expecting, as she explained to Karl Jaspers in 1951, to see herself as a "cover girl" on the newsstands. In Germany, there are tours available of sites associated with her life.
The study of the life and work of Arendt, and of her political and philosophical theory is described as Arendtian. In her will she established the Hannah Arendt Bluecher Literary Trust as the custodian of her writings and photographs. Her personal library was deposited at Bard College at the Stevenson Library in 1976, and includes approximately 4,000 books, ephemera, and pamphlets from Arendt's last apartment as well as her desk (in McCarthy House). Most of her papers were deposited at the Library of Congress and her correspondence with her German friends and mentors, such as Heidegger, Blumenfeld and Jaspers, at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach. The Library of Congress listed more than 50 books written about her in 1998, and that number has continued to grow, as have the number of scholarly articles, estimated as 1000 at that time.
Her life and work is recognized by the institutions most closely associated with her teaching, by the creation of Hannah Arendt Centers at both Bard (Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities) and The New School, both in New York State. In Germany, her contributions to understanding authoritarianism is recognised by the Hannah-Arendt-Institut für Totalitarismusforschung (Hannah Arendt Institute for the Research on Totalitarianism) in Dresden. There are Hannah Arendt Associations (Hannah Arendt Verein) such as the Hannah Arendt Verein für politisches Denken in Bremen that awards the annual Hannah-Arendt-Preis für politisches Denken (Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thinking) established in 1995. In Oldenburg, the Hannah Arendt Center at Carl von Ossietzky University was established in 1999, and holds a large collection of her work (Hannah Arendt Archiv), and administers the internet portal HannahArendt.net (A Journal for Political Thinking) as well as a monograph series, the Hannah Arendt-Studien. In Italy, the Hannah Arendt Center for Political Studies is situated at the University of Verona.
In 2017 a journal, Arendt Studies, was launched to publish articles related to the study of her life, work, and legacy. Many places associated with her, have memorabilia of her on display, such as her student card at the University of Heidelberg. 2006, the centennial of her birth, saw commemorations of her work in conferences and celebrations around the world. There is also a Hannah Arendt Day (Hannah Arendt Tag) in her birthplace.
Of the many photographic portraits of Arendt, that taken in 1944 by Fred Stein (see image), whose work she greatly admired, has become iconic, and has been described as better known than the photographer himself, having appeared on a German postage stamp. Among organizations that have recognized Arendt's contributions to civilization and human rights, is the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
=== Continuing interest ===
The rise of nativism, such as the election of Donald Trump in the United States, and concerns regarding an increasingly authoritarian style of governance has led to a surge of interest in Arendt and her writings, including radio broadcasts and writers, including Jeremy Adelman and Zoe Williams, to revisit Arendt's ideas to seek the extent to which they inform our understanding of such movements, which are being described as "Dark Times". At the same time Amazon reported that it had sold out of copies of The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). Michiko Kakutani, in her 2018 book The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump, argues that the rise of totalitarianism has been founded on the violation of truth. She begins her book with an extensive quote from The Origins of Totalitarianism:
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.
Kakutani and others believed that Arendt's words speak not just events of a previous century but apply equally to the contemporary cultural landscape populated with fake news and lies. She also draws on Arendt's essay "Lying in Politics" from Crises in the Republic pointing to the lines:
The historian knows how vulnerable is the whole texture of facts in which we spend our daily life; it is always in danger of being perforated by single lies or torn to shreds by the organized lying of groups, nations, or classes, or denied and distorted, often carefully covered up by reams of falsehoods or simply allowed to fall into oblivion. Facts need testimony to be remembered and trustworthy witnesses to be established in order to find a secure dwelling place in the domain of human affairs
Arendt drew attention to the critical role that propaganda plays in gaslighting populations, Kakutani observes, citing the passage:
In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true . ... The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness
Arendt took a broader perspective on history than merely totalitarianism in the early 20th century, stating "the deliberate falsehood and the outright lie have been used as legitimate means to achieve political ends since the beginning of recorded history." Contemporary relevance is also reflected in the increasing use of the phrase, attributed to her, "No one has the right to obey" to reflect that actions result from choices, and hence judgement, and that we cannot disclaim responsibility for that which we have the power to act upon. In addition those centers established to promote Arendtian studies continue to seek solutions to a wide range of contemporary issues in her writing.
Arendt's teachings on obedience have also been linked to the controversial psychology experiments by Stanley Milgram, that implied that ordinary people can easily be induced to commit atrocities. Milgram himself drew attention to this in 1974, stating that he was testing the theory that Eichmann like others would merely follow orders, but unlike Milgram she argued that actions involve responsibility.
Arendt's theories on the political consequences of how nations deal with refugees have remained relevant and compelling. Arendt had observed first hand the displacement of large stateless and rightless populations, treated not so much as people in need than as problems to solve, and in many cases, resist. She wrote about this in her 1943 essay "We refugees". Another Arendtian theme that finds an echo in contemporary society is her observation, inspired by Rilke, of the despair of not being heard, the futility of tragedy that finds no listener that can bring comfort, assurance and intervention – a notable example being gun violence in America and the political inaction regarding it.
In Search of the Last Agora, an illustrated documentary film by Lebanese director Rayyan Dabbous about Arendt's 1958 work The Human Condition, was released in 2018 to mark the book's 50th anniversary. The experimental film is described as finding "new meaning in the political theorist's conceptions of politics, technology and society in the 1950s". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurentian_Library#Architecture | Laurentian Library#Architecture | The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze under the patronage of the Medici pope Clement VII, the library was built to emphasize that the Medici were no longer just merchants but members of intelligent and ecclesiastical society. It contains the manuscripts and books belonging to the private library of the Medici family. The library building is renowned for its architecture that was designed by Michelangelo and is an example of Mannerism.
All of the book-bound manuscripts in the library are identified in its Codex Laurentianus. The library conserves the Littera Florentina, the Vergilius Mediceus, the Nahuatl Florentine Codex, the Rabula Gospels, the Codex Amiatinus, the Squarcialupi Codex, and the fragmentary Erinna papyrus that contains part of her Distaff.
== Architecture ==
The Laurentian Library was commissioned in 1523 and construction began in 1525; however, when Michelangelo left Florence in 1534, only the walls of the reading room were complete. It was then continued by Tribolo, Vasari, and Ammannati based on plans and verbal instructions from Michelangelo. The library opened by 1571. In this way, the library integrates parts executed by Michelangelo with others built much later in an interpretation of his instructions. The Laurentian Library is one of Michelangelo's most important architectural achievements. Even Michelangelo's contemporaries realized that the innovations and use of space in the Laurentian Library were revolutionary.
The admirable distribution of the windows, the construction of the ceiling, and the fine entrance of the Vestibule can never be sufficiently extolled. Boldness and grace are equally conspicuous in the work as a whole, and in every part; in the cornices, corbels, the niches for statues, the commodious staircase, and its fanciful division, in all the building, as a word, which is so unlike the common fashion of treatment, that every one stands amazed at the sight thereof. – Giorgio Vasari.
The two-story quattrocento cloister remained unchanged by the addition of the library. Because of this, certain features of Michelangelo's plan, such as length and width, were already determined. Therefore, new walls were built on pre-existing walls and cloisters. Because the walls were built on pre-existing walls, recessing the columns into the walls was a structural necessity. This led to a unique style and pattern that Michelangelo took advantage of.
=== Vestibule ===
The vestibule, also known as the ricetto, is 10.50 m long, 10.50 m wide, and 14.6 m tall (34.5 by 34.5 by 48 feet). It was built above existing monastic quarters on the east range of the cloister, with an entrance from the upper level of the cloisters. Originally, Michelangelo planned for a skylight, but Clement VII believed that it would cause the roof to leak, so clerestory windows were incorporated into the west wall. Blank tapering windows—framed in pietra serena, surmounted by either triangular or segmental pediments, and separated by paired columns set into the wall—circumscribe the interior of the vestibule.
Lit by windows in bays that are articulated by pilasters corresponding to the beams of the ceiling, with a tall constricted vestibule (executed to Michelangelo's design in 1559 by Bartolomeo Ammannati) that is filled with a stair that flows up to (and down from) the entrance to the reading room, the library is often mentioned as a prototype of Mannerism in architecture.
=== Staircase ===
The plan of the stairs changed dramatically in the design phase. Originally in the first design in 1524, two flights of stairs were placed against the side walls and formed a bridge in front of the reading room door. A year later, the stairway was moved to the middle of the vestibule. Tribolo attempted to carry out this plan in 1550, but nothing was built. Ammannati took on the challenge of interpreting Michelangelo's ideas to the best of his abilities using a small clay model, scanty material, and Michelangelo's instructions.
The staircase leads up to the reading room and takes up half of the floor of the vestibule. The treads of the centre flights are convex and vary in width, while the outer flights are straight. The three lowest steps of the central flight are wider and higher than the others, almost like concentric oval slabs. As the stairway descends, it divides into three flights.
=== Reading room ===
The reading room is 46.20 m. long, 10.50 m. wide, and 8.4 m. high (152 by 35 by 28 feet). There are two blocks of seats separated by a centre aisle with the backs of each seat serving as desks for the benches behind them. The desks are lit by the evenly spaced windows along the wall. The windows are framed by pilasters, forming a system of bays that articulate the layout of the ceiling and floor.
Because the reading room was built upon an existing story, Michelangelo had to reduce the weight of the reading-room walls. The system of frames and layers in the wall articulation reduced the volume and weight of the bays between the pilasters.
Beneath the current wooden floor of the library in the Reading Room is a series of 15 rectangular red and white terra cotta floor panels. These panels, measuring 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) on a side, when viewed in sequence demonstrate basic principles of geometry. It is believed that these tiles were arranged so as to be visible under the furniture originally planned; but this furniture was later changed to increase the number of reading desks in the room.
=== Interpretation ===
In the ricetto, critics have noted that the recessed columns in the vestibule make the walls resemble taut skin stretched between vertical supports. This caused the room to appear as if it mimics the human body, which at the time of the Italian Renaissance was believed to be the ideal form. The columns of the building also appear to be supported on corbels so that the weight seems to be carried on weak elements. Because of the seeming instability of the structure, the viewer cannot discern whether the roof is supported by the columns or the walls. This sense of ambiguity is heightened by the unorthodox forms of the windows and, especially, by the compressed quality of all architectural elements, which creates a sense of tension and constrained energy.
The use of the classical orders in the space is particularly significant. The recessed columns superficially appear to be of the austere and undecorated Doric order, typically considered to have a more masculine character. The Doric order would be placed at the base in a hierarchy of orders, as found in Roman buildings such as the Colosseum, with the Ionic, Composite, and Corinthian being progressively lighter and more decorative and feminine. However, closer examination establishes that the Composite order is used, but with the characteristic decorative acanthus leaves and diagonal volutes of the capitals stripped off, leaving the top of the column denuded. In architectural terms, the removal is an act of violence that is unprecedented in mannerism, and a sophistication that would not have escaped contemporary observers.
The dynamic sculpture of the staircase appears to pour forth like lava from the upper level and reduces the floor space of the vestibule in a highly unusual way. In the central flight, the convex treads vary in width, which makes the entire arrangement disquieting.
In sharp contrast to the vestibule and staircase, the reading room's evenly spaced windows set between pilasters in the side walls let in copious amounts of natural light and create a serene, quiet, and restful appearance.
== Contemporary culture ==
Mark Rothko stated that the vestibule and the walls in the staircase of the library influenced his 1959 Seagram murals.
== Collection ==
In 1571, Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, opened the still-incomplete library to scholars. Notable additions to the collection were made by its most famous librarian, Angelo Maria Bandini, who was appointed in 1757 and oversaw its printed catalogues.
The Laurentian Library houses approximately 11,000 manuscripts, 2,500 papyri, 43 ostraca, 566 incunabula, 1,681 sixteenth-century prints, and 126,527 prints of the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. The core collection consists of approximately 3,000 manuscripts, indexed by Giovanni Rondinelli and Baccio Valori in 1589, which were placed on parapets (plutei) at the library's opening in 1571. These manuscripts have the signature Pluteus or Pluteo (Plut.). These manuscripts include the library the Medici collected during the fifteenth century, which were re-acquired by Giovanni di Medici (Pope Leo X) in 1508 and moved to Florence in the 1520s by Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (Pope Clement VII). The Medici library was enlarged by collections assembled by Francesco Sassetti and Francesco Filelfo, manuscripts acquired by Leo X, and by the library of the Dominican convent of San Marco.
The library conserves the Nahuatl Florentine Codex, the major source of pre-conquest information about Aztec life in the western hemisphere. Among other well-known manuscripts in the Laurentian Library are the sixth-century Syriac Rabula Gospels; the Codex Amiatinus that contains the earliest surviving manuscript of the Latin Vulgate Bible; the Squarcialupi Codex that is an important early musical manuscript; and a papyrus which preserves part of the ancient Greek poet Erinna's long poem, the Distaff. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Six | Birmingham Six | The Birmingham Six were six men from Northern Ireland who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Court of Appeal on 14 March 1991. The six men were later awarded financial compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.
== Birmingham pub bombings ==
The Birmingham pub bombings took place on 21 November 1974 and were attributed to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Improvised explosive devices were placed in two central Birmingham pubs: the Mulberry Bush at the foot of the Rotunda, and the Tavern in the Town – a basement pub in New Street. The resulting explosions, at 20:25 and 20:27, collectively were the deadliest attacks in the UK since World War II (until surpassed by the Denmark Place fire in 1980); 21 people were killed (ten at the Mulberry Bush and eleven at the Tavern in the Town) and 182 people were injured.
=== Arrests and questioning ===
Six men were arrested: Hugh Callaghan (1930–2023), Patrick Joseph Hill (1944–2024), Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny (1933–2006), William Power and John Walker. Five were Belfast-born, while John Walker was born in Derry. All six had lived in Birmingham since the 1960s. All the men except for Callaghan had left the city early on the evening of 21 November from New Street Station, shortly before the explosions. They were travelling to Belfast to attend the funeral of James McDade, an IRA member whom they all knew. McDade had accidentally killed himself on 14 November when his bomb detonated prematurely while he was planting it at a telephone exchange in Coventry.
When they reached Heysham, Lancashire, they and others were subject to a Special Branch stop and search. The men did not tell the police of the true purpose of their visit to Belfast, a fact that was later held against them. While the search was in progress the police were informed of the Birmingham bombings. The men agreed to be taken to Morecambe, Lancashire, police station for forensic tests. On the morning of 22 November, after the forensic tests and questioning by the Morecambe police, the men were transferred to the custody of West Midlands Serious Crime Squad police unit. Callaghan was taken into custody on the evening of 22 November.
While the men were in the custody of the West Midlands Police they were allegedly deprived of food and sleep and were sometimes interrogated for as much as 12 hours without a break. Threats were made against them and they suffered abuse: punches, dogs being let loose within a foot of them, and a mock execution. William Power said that officers from Birmingham police Criminal Investigation Department assaulted him. Richard McIlkenny's daughter said, "When they (the family) saw him the next day, he had been so badly beaten he was unrecognisable".
Power confessed while in Morecambe while Callaghan, Walker and McIlkenny confessed at Queens Road in Aston, Birmingham.
=== Trial ===
On 12 May 1975, the six men were charged with murder. Three other men, James Kelly, Mick Murray and Michael Sheehan, were charged with conspiracy.
The trial began on 9 June 1975 at the Crown Court sitting at Lancaster Castle, before Mr Justice Bridge and a jury. After legal arguments the statements made in November were deemed admissible as evidence. The unreliability of these statements was later established. Thomas Watt provided circumstantial evidence about John Walker's association with Provisional IRA members.
Forensic scientist Frank Skuse used positive Griess test results to claim that Hill and Power had handled explosives. Callaghan, Hunter, McIlkenny and Walker all had tested negative. GCMS tests at a later date were negative for Power and contradicted the initial results for Hill. Skuse's claim that he was 99% certain that Power and Hill had explosives traces on their hands was opposed by defence expert Hugh Kenneth Black of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the former HM Chief Inspector of Explosives, Home Office. Skuse's evidence was clearly preferred by Bridge. The jury found the six men guilty of murder. On 15 August 1975, they were each sentenced to 21 life sentences.
=== Criminal charges against prison officers and civil actions against police ===
On 28 November 1975, the men appeared in court for the second time after they had been remanded into custody at HM Prison Winson Green. All showed bruising and other signs of ill-treatment. Fourteen prison officers were charged with assault in June 1975, but were all acquitted at a trial presided over by Mr Justice Swanwick. The Six brought a civil claim for damages against the West Midlands Police in 1977, which was struck out on 17 January 1980 by the Court of Appeal (Civil Division), constituted by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning, Lord Justice Goff, and Sir George Baker, under the principle of estoppel. Denning remarked that he was disallowing the appeal in part because the allegations against the police were so serious that he could not believe them:
Just consider the course of events if this action is allowed to proceed to trial. If the six men fail, it will mean that much time and money will have been expended by many people for no good purpose. If the six men win, it will mean that the police were guilty of perjury, that they were guilty of violence and threats, that the confessions were involuntary and were improperly admitted in evidence and that the convictions were erroneous. That would mean that the Home Secretary would either have to recommend they be pardoned or he would have to remit the case to the Court of Appeal. This is such an appalling vista that every sensible person in the land would say: It cannot be right that these actions should go any further.
=== Appeals ===
In March 1976 their first application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, presided over by Lord Widgery CJ. Journalist Chris Mullin investigated the case for Granada TV's World in Action series. In 1985, the first of several World in Action programmes casting doubt on the men's convictions was broadcast. In 1986, Mullin's book, Error of Judgment: The Truth About the Birmingham Pub Bombings, set out a detailed case supporting the men's claims that they were innocent. It included his claim to have met the four men who were actually responsible for the bombings.
The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. In January 1988, after a six-week hearing (at that time the longest criminal appeal hearing ever held), the convictions were ruled to be safe and satisfactory. The Court of Appeal, presided over by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane, dismissed the appeals. Over the next three years, newspaper articles, television documentaries and books brought forward new evidence to question the safety of the convictions. Irish Taoiseach Charles Haughey requested the case be reopened with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher in a December 1989 meeting to no avail.
Their second full appeal, in 1991, was allowed. Hunter was represented by Lord Gifford QC, the others by Michael Mansfield QC. The Crown decided not to resist the appeals on the basis of new evidence of police fabrication and suppression of evidence, the successful attacks on both the confessions, and the 1975 forensic evidence. The Court of Appeal, constituted by Lord Justices Lloyd, Mustill and Farquharson, stated that "in the light of the fresh scientific evidence, which at least throws grave doubt on Skuse's evidence, if it does not destroy it altogether, these convictions are both unsafe and unsatisfactory." On 14 March 1991 the six walked free.
In 2001, a decade after their release, the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.
=== Later lives and deaths ===
Richard McIlkenny died of cancer on 21 May 2006, aged 73. He had returned to Ireland shortly after he was freed from prison and died in hospital with his family at his bedside. He was buried on 24 May in Celbridge, County Kildare. The other members of the Birmingham Six were present at his wake and funeral.
Hugh Callaghan died on 27 May 2023, aged 93.
Patrick Hill died in his home in Ayrshire, on 30 December 2024, aged 80.
As of 2011, of the three surviving members of the Birmingham Six, Gerard Hunter resided in Portugal, John Walker in Donegal and William Power in London.
=== Consequences ===
The success of the appeals and other miscarriages of justice caused the Home Secretary to set up a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice in 1991. The commission reported in 1993 and led to the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 which established the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997. Superintendent George Reade and two other police officers were charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but were never prosecuted. During the inquest into the bombings in 2016, Hill stated that he knew the identities of three of the bombers who were still "free men" in Ireland.
== Granada Television productions ==
On 28 March 1990, ITV broadcast the Granada Television docudrama, Who Bombed Birmingham?, which re-enacted the bombings and subsequent key events in Chris Mullin's campaign. Written by Rob Ritchie and directed by Mike Beckham, it starred John Hurt as Mullin, Martin Shaw as World in Action producer Ian McBride, Ciarán Hinds as Richard McIlkenny, one of the Six, and Patrick Malahide as Michael Mansfield QC. It was repackaged for export as The Investigation – Inside a Terrorist Bombing, and first shown on American television on 22 April 1990. Granada's BAFTA-nominated follow-up documentary after the release of the six men, World in Action Special: The Birmingham Six – Their Own Story, was telecast on 18 March 1991. It was released on DVD in 2007 in Network's first volume of World in Action productions.
In 1994, Frank Skuse brought libel proceedings against Granada, contending that World in Action had falsely portrayed him as negligent. His counsel asserted in the High Court that scientific tests performed in 1992, after the Crown's substantive concession of the accused men's third appeal, showed that traces of nitroglycerine were detected on swabs taken after the bombings from the hands of Hunter and Hill, and on rail tickets handled by McIlkenny and Power. Granada maintained there were never any traces of explosives on the six men. Skuse abandoned the action later that year.
== Freedom of speech ==
In December 1987, the Court of Appeal granted an injunction which prevented Channel 4 from re-enacting portions of a hearing in the litigation, as it was "likely to undermine public confidence in the administration of justice" if shown during the appeal, in violation of the Contempt of Court Act 1981. In their book The Three Pillars of Liberty (1996) Keir Starmer, Francesca Klug, and Stuart Weir said the decision had had a "chilling effect" on other news and current affairs programmes.
In January 1988 after their first appeal failed, The Sun published an article with the headline "Loony MP Backs Bomb Gang" (a reference to Mullin, who had won a seat in 1987) and an editorial said, "If The Sun had its way, we would have been tempted to string 'em up years ago".
In 1993 and 1994, the Birmingham Six received an undisclosed amount from both The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun in an action for libel for the newspapers' reporting of police statements. The New York Times reported in 1997 that the Six had brought libel actions against publications for reporting slurs against them, and that a libel law that usually favours plaintiffs was sending a chill through the British press. They sued the Conservative MP David Evans in March 1997 for saying that they were guilty of killing hundreds of people before they were caught. Evans apologised 16 months later. He paid both damages and costs and promised never to repeat the allegation.
=== Attempt to force journalist to reveal sources ===
During his investigation, which proved crucial in establishing the innocence of the Six, Mullin located one of the actual bombers and persuaded him to provide information which helped the men falsely convicted. Mullin promised that he would never reveal his source. At the time the police were not interested, as they believed that they had already arrested the culprits.
However, in 2018 the West Midlands police reopened the investigation. In 2019 a witness at the inquest testified that the real bombers were Mick Murray, James Francis Gavin, Seamus McLoughlin and Michael Hayes. Mullin confirmed that Murray, Gavin and Hayes were three of the four bombers he had revealed in his book, but he refused to identify the fourth bomber who he called the "young Planter" who was still alive. Mullin cooperated with the investigation as far as he felt was possible, for example providing notes of interviews with Murray and a redacted copy of notes of other interviews. But Mullin refused to name other people interviewed. The West Midlands police applied for an order under the Terrorism Act 2000 to compel Mullin to reveal his sources; he refused, later saying that source protection is a cornerstone of the free press in a democracy.
In March 2022 Judge Lucraft ruled that it was not in the public interest to oblige Mullin to identify the living perpetrator. Mullin's legal team later said, hailing the ruling, that the right of a journalist to protect their sources was fundamental to a free press in a democracy. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erling_Haaland | Erling Haaland | Erling Braut Haaland (né Håland; Urban East Norwegian: [ˈhòːlɑn]; born 21 July 2000) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Norway national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, and the greatest Norwegian player ever, he is known for his speed, strength, positioning, and finishing inside the box.
Haaland began his senior career with Bryne and Molde before signing with Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, where he won the Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup. He joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in 2020, where he won the DFB-Pokal in 2021. In 2022, Haaland transferred to Manchester City for a fee of €60 million (£51.2 million) and won the continental treble in his debut campaign: he set the record for most goals scored by a player in a Premier League season (36) and most goals by a Premier League player in all competitions in one season (52), winning the Premier League Golden Boot, European Golden Shoe and the Gerd Müller Trophy. He was named UEFA Men's Player of the Year, IFFHS World's Best Player, and finished runner-up in the Ballon d'Or. Haaland ranks as Manchester City's fourth-highest all-time top goalscorer.
Haaland has won several individual awards and holds numerous records: he is the only player to win Premier League Young Player and Player of the Season in one season. He won the 2020 Golden Boy, was named Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2021, and was included in the FIFA FIFPro World11 for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. He has scored the most goals in a Premier League season and is the quickest player to score eight hat-tricks.
Haaland represented Norway at youth level, winning the Golden Boot at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he scored a record nine goals in a single match. He made his senior international debut for Norway in 2019, and has since scored 55 goals in 48 appearances, making him Norway's all-time top goalscorer. Haaland is the fastest player to reach 50 international goals, doing so in just 46 games.
== Early life ==
Erling Braut Haaland was born Erling Braut Håland on 21 July 2000 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, as his father Alfie Haaland was playing for Leeds United in the Premier League at the time. As a result, Haaland stated that he grew up as a supporter of Leeds United. In 2004, at the age of three, he moved to Bryne, his parents' hometown in Norway.
Along with playing football from an early age, Haaland took part in various other sports as a child, including handball, golf, and track and field. He also reportedly achieved a world record in his age category for the standing long jump when he was five, with a recorded distance of 1.63 metres in 2006.
== Club career ==
=== Bryne ===
Haaland started in the academy of his hometown club Bryne at the age of five.
During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Haaland played for Bryne 2 (Bryne's reserve team) in the Norwegian fourth tier and impressed, scoring 18 goals in 14 matches. He debuted for Bryne 2 on 5 October 2015 in the Group 6 of the 2015 fourth division in a 1–0 home loss against Start reserves and five days later he scored his first goal on senior level against Hei in a 2–1 defeat away to Heistad. The following season he appeared more often in the Bryne 2 squad and he scored his first career hat-trick on 19 September 2016, aged 16 and 2 months, in an away 5–3 win over Vard Haugesund 2 in the Group 6 of the Norwegian fourth tier.
In May 2016, Gaute Larsen was sacked as Bryne manager, and youth coach Berntsen was promoted to caretaker manager. Having worked closely with Haaland in other youth teams, the interim manager handed the teenager his first start, three months before his 16th birthday. His first game with Bryne FK was a second-tier 1. divisjon match against Ranheim on 12 May.
After having initially being deployed as a winger, Berntsen put Haaland in his favoured central role as a striker after a few matches. Although he failed to score in his breakthrough season at Bryne, Haaland was offered a trial by German club TSG Hoffenheim before eventually moving to Molde to play under Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Haaland made 16 total senior appearances for Bryne.
=== Molde ===
On 1 February 2017, Molde announced the signing of 16-year-old Haaland. He made his debut for the club on 26 April in a Norwegian Cup match against Volda TI, scoring on his debut in a 3–2 win. Haaland's debut in the Eliteserien came on 4 June, being brought on as a 71st-minute substitute against Sarpsborg 08 and receiving a yellow card in just over a minute of play on the pitch. On 6 August 2017, Haaland scored the winner for Molde in the 77th minute against Tromsø IL, his first goal in the league. His second strike of the season came on 17 September, as he bagged the decisive goal against Viking FK in a 3–2 victory. In the aftermath of the game, Haaland received criticism from teammate Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson for celebrating his goal towards Viking supporters. Haaland finished his first season at Molde with four goals in 20 appearances.
On 1 July 2018, Haaland scored four goals in the opening 21 minutes against Brann, securing his team a 4–0 victory over the unbeaten league leaders at the time. After the match, Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær compared Haaland's style of play to Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku, and said the club had rejected several bids for the striker from different clubs. In the following match a week later, Haaland continued his scoring run with a brace against Vålerenga in a 5–1 win. He scored his first goal in UEFA competition on 26 July, converting a penalty in Molde's 3–0 Europa League qualifying victory against KF Laçi. Due to a sprained ankle, Haaland did not participate in Molde's last three league matches of the season. For his performances in the 2018 Eliteserien, Haaland received the Eliteserien Breakthrough of the Year award. He finished the 2018 season as Molde's top goalscorer, scoring 16 goals in 30 matches across all competitions.
=== Red Bull Salzburg ===
On 19 August 2018, Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg announced that Haaland would join the club on 1 January 2019, signing a five-year contract. The Athletic's Phil Hay would later reveal that prior to his move to Salzburg, Haaland was also subject of an offer from his father's former club Leeds United. He made his debut for the club on 17 February, the 2018–19 Austrian Cup quarter-finals against Wiener Neustädter, and scored his first goal on 12 May in the Austrian Bundesliga 2–1 win over LASK.
On 19 July, he scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 7–1 Austrian Cup win against SC-ESV Parndorf, and followed this up with his first hat-trick in the league on 10 August, scoring three in a 5–2 victory against Wolfsberger AC. He got a third hat-trick for Salzburg on 14 September in a 7–2 victory over TSV Hartberg; this was the sixth consecutive league game Haaland had scored in, with 11 total goals. Three days later, Haaland made his debut in the UEFA Champions League against Genk, where he scored three goals in the first half of an eventual 6–2 victory, his fourth overall hat-trick for Salzburg, becoming the only player to score a first-half hat-trick on competition debut.
In his next two matches of the Champions League season, Haaland recorded a goal against Liverpool at Anfield and a further two against Napoli, becoming only the second teenager after Karim Benzema in the history of the competition to score in each of his first three appearances. His six goals were also the most scored by any player in their first three Champions League matches. After converting a penalty in Salzburg's reverse fixture against Napoli, Haaland became the first teenager to score in his first four matches in the competition, and only the fourth player of any age to achieve this feat, following Zé Carlos, Alessandro Del Piero and Diego Costa. He then scored all three goals in Salzburg's 3–0 victory at Wolfsberger AC on 10 November, recording his fifth hat-trick of the season and his second against the club.
On 27 November, Haaland came off the bench to score another goal against Genk, joining Del Piero, Serhiy Rebrov, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski as the only players to score in the first five matches of a Champions League group stage, and becoming the first teenager to score in five consecutive matches in the competition. However, he would fail to find the net in Salzburg's final group match against Liverpool, as his team lost 2–0 and were eliminated from the competition. This would prove to be Haaland's final game for the club; he departed Salzburg having recorded 29 goals, with 28 of these coming in only 22 appearances made during the 2019–20 season.
=== Borussia Dortmund ===
==== 2019–20: Debut season ====
Despite being a reported target of Manchester United and Juventus, Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund confirmed the signing of Haaland on 29 December 2019, three days before the winter transfer window opened, for a fee reported to be in the region of €20 million, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.
Haaland made his debut for Dortmund away to FC Augsburg on 18 January 2020, coming on as a second-half substitute and scoring a hat-trick within 23 minutes in a 5–3 win. This made him only the second player in Dortmund history after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score three goals on their Bundesliga debut. Six days later, Haaland once again came off the bench, making his second club appearance in Dortmund's match against FC Köln. He scored after 12 minutes and netted a second goal 10 minutes later, contributing to a 5–1 victory. Haaland became the first Bundesliga player to score five goals in his opening two matches, as well as the fastest player to reach that tally (56 minutes played). Despite being on the pitch in the league for only an hour, he won January's Bundesliga Player of the Month award. Haaland got a brace against Union Berlin on 1 February, becoming the first player in history to score seven goals in their first three Bundesliga matches.
On 18 February, Haaland scored both Dortmund goals in their 2–1 first leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16. This brought his total to 10 Champions League goals for the 2019–20 campaign in only his eighth overall appearance in the competition, adding to the eight he had scored for Salzburg in the group stage. Dortmund would lose 2–0 in the return leg on 11 March, however, as Haaland saw elimination from the competition for a second time in the same season. Following the Bundesliga's return on 16 May in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Haaland scored Dortmund's opener of their 4–0 Revierderby win over Schalke 04, his tenth goal of the Bundesliga season. On 20 June, he scored both goals in a 2–0 win against RB Leipzig to secure second place for Dortmund, which would lead to Champions League football in the following season. Haaland concluded his 2019–20 campaign with 44 goals in 40 club appearances across all competitions played for both Salzburg and Dortmund.
==== 2020–21: UCL top scorer and DFB-Pokal title ====
On 19 September 2020, in Dortmund's first match of the new season, Haaland scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. He scored his team's equaliser in their 2–3 Der Klassiker defeat to Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup on 30 September, and again found the net against Bayern when the sides met in the league on 7 November, with Dortmund losing 2–3 once more. On 21 November, Haaland scored four goals in 32 minutes of a 5–2 away victory against Hertha BSC. These five goals in November saw him crowned the Bundesliga Player of the Month for a second time.
Haaland continued his goalscoring feats in the Champions League, scoring six times in the first four matches of the 2020–21 group stage, with his brace in a 3–0 win over Club Brugge on 24 November making him the fastest player to record 15 Champions League goals; he had reached this benchmark in 12 matches. Hours before Dortmund's fifth group match against Lazio on 2 December, however, the club announced that Haaland had suffered a hamstring injury, which kept him out of action until after the new year.
Haaland made his return against VfL Wolfsburg on 3 January 2021. He scored a brace away against RB Leipzig in a 3–1 win on 9 January, and another two in a 4–2 defeat to Mönchengladbach on 22 January. On 17 February, he scored two goals in Dortmund's 3–2 away victory against Sevilla in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. In Dortmund's reverse league fixture against Bayern at the Allianz Arena on 6 March, Haaland scored twice within the opening 10 minutes to give his team a 2–0 lead. However, he was substituted off in the second half after picking up a knock, as Bayern rallied to win the match 4–2. Haaland's second goal was the 100th of his senior career, reaching this milestone in 146 appearances.
Haaland scored another brace against Sevilla in the second leg on 9 March in a 2–2 draw, advancing to the quarter-finals 5–4 on aggregate. With only 14 matches played, this made him both the fastest and youngest player to reach 20 goals in the competition, also becoming the first player to score multiple times in four consecutive Champions League appearances. After missing two matches due to deep bruising, Haaland returned to Dortmund's starting line-up on 13 May for the 2021 DFB-Pokal final; he scored a brace in his team's 4–1 win over Leipzig, securing his first title with the club. He ended the season with 41 goals in all competitions, including 27 in the league, which won him the fan-voted Bundesliga Player of the Season award, and finished the season as the top scorer of the Champions League with 10 goals, later being awarded the competition's best forward.
==== 2021–22: Injury struggles and departure ====
Haaland started off the 2021–22 season with a hat-trick versus Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on 7 August 2021. A week later, on matchday one of the Bundesliga, he scored a brace and assisted two goals as Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5–2. During the first months of the season, Haaland was sidelined with a hamstring injury, returning on 16 October and scoring a brace against Mainz in a 3–1 victory. Shortly after, Haaland suffered a hip flexor injury, which sidelined him for two months. He made his return on 27 November, scoring his 50th Bundesliga goal in a 3–1 victory over Wolfsburg, setting a new record for the fewest appearances and also became the youngest player to score 50 league goals.
On 10 May, Dortmund announced that Haaland would be leaving at the end of the season to sign for Premier League club Manchester City. Four days later, he bid farewell to the club at the Westfalenstadion prior to Dortmund's final match against Hertha BSC, and scored Dortmund's first goal in a 2–1 win.
=== Manchester City ===
==== 2022–23: Record-breaking debut season and continental treble ====
On 10 May 2022, Premier League club Manchester City announced they had reached a deal to sign Haaland after activating his €60 million (£51.2 million) release clause. The deal was formalised on 13 June, with City confirming that Haaland would be joining the club on 1 July on a five-year contract. He made his competitive debut on 30 July, playing 90 minutes of a 3–1 defeat to Liverpool in the 2022 FA Community Shield.
Haaland scored twice on his league debut against West Ham United on 7 August 2022, the only goals of a 2–0 away victory. On 27 August, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick in a 4–2 win against Crystal Palace, and recorded his second, a perfect hat-trick, four days later in a 6–0 win against Nottingham Forest. This made Haaland the fastest individual in Premier League history to score two hat-tricks, beating the previous record by 14 matches; he was later voted Premier League Player of the Month for August, his first month playing in the league.
On 6 September, Haaland made his Champions League debut for the club, getting a brace against Sevilla and becoming the first player to score 25 goals in their first 20 Champions League appearances. He became the first player to score more than one goal on competition debut for three different clubs. In City's second group stage match a week later against his former club Borussia Dortmund, Haaland scored an acrobatic effort late in the contest to secure his side a 2–1 comeback victory. His winner was subsequently voted Champions League Goal of the Week by fans, and would later go on to be selected as the competition's Goal of the Season by UEFA's Technical Observer panel.
On 2 October, Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in three successive home matches during City's 6–3 derby win against Manchester United, additionally earning two assists. He also became the quickest player in Premier League history to score three hat-tricks, doing so in eight league matches and surpassing the previous record of 48 set by Michael Owen in 1998, as well as halving Alan Shearer's record of scoring three hat-tricks in a ten-match spell set during the 1994–95 season. Haaland's brace in City's 3–1 away win over Leeds United on 28 December took his tally to 20 goals in 14 league matches, becoming the fastest player in history to reach 20 Premier League goals and beating Sunderland's Kevin Phillips' previous record by seven matches. On 22 January 2023, he scored a fourth hat-trick of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers, giving him a total of 25 Premier League goals after just 19 matches; this surpassed the top scorers of the previous season, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min, who both scored 23 league goals across the entire campaign.
On 14 March, Haaland scored five goals in a 7–0 round of 16 victory against RB Leipzig, tying Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano for the most goals scored in a single Champions League match. He also set the new record for fastest time to score five goals in a Champions League match. In doing so, he reached 39 goals across all competitions, breaking Tommy Johnson's club record of 38 goals scored in a single season for City set in 1928–29. During City's FA Cup quarter-final match against Burnley four days later, Haaland scored his sixth hat-trick of the season, passing the 40-goal mark across all competitions.
On 11 April, Haaland scored the third goal of City's 3–0 Champions League win against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, his 45th goal of the season overall. This broke the previous record of 44 goals across all competitions in a season by a Premier League player held by Salah and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Haaland registered two assists and a goal in his side's 4–1 home victory against league leaders Arsenal on 26 April, closing the gap between them and City in the table to just two points while the latter still had two matches in hand. He would then score his 50th goal of the campaign across all competitions on 30 April against Fulham. His six goals and two assists during April saw him win the league's Player of the Month for a second time.
On 3 May, in City's return fixture against West Ham, Haaland scored his 35th league goal of the campaign, surpassing Shearer and Andy Cole's joint record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season. A week later, he was named FWA Footballer of the Year. He won by a record margin, earning 82% of the vote ahead of Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard and becoming only the fourth player to claim the award in their debut season. He would also go on to be voted PFA Players' Player of the Year by his colleagues in August. Haaland won his first trophy with Manchester City after they clinched the 2022–23 Premier League title on 20 May. By assisting Phil Foden's goal in a draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 24 May, he reached 44 combined league goals and assists, thereby equalling Thierry Henry's record for most total goal contributions in a 38-game Premier League season. Haaland's debut season in England earned him the Premier League Golden Boot, after finishing as the league's top goalscorer, and the European Golden Shoe, given to the top domestic scorer in Europe. With 36 goals in 35 appearances, he set the new record for highest number of goals scored in a Premier League season. With 52 goals in 53 appearances, Haaland also set the record for most goals by a Premier League player in all competitions in one season.
Haaland played the entirety of City's FA Cup final victory over Manchester United on 3 June, securing his second title with the club. He then played another 90 minutes in the following week's Champions League final against Inter Milan. Despite Haaland struggling to have a large impact on the match, City would win 1–0 to earn a maiden Champions League title and achieve only the second-ever continental treble by an English side. With 12 goals, Haaland finished as the top scorer of the Champions League season for a second time, joining Messi as the only players to accomplish this feat twice before turning 23. Haaland would be subsequently named the UEFA Men's Player of the Year in August, ahead of Messi and Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne.
==== 2023–24: Second consecutive Premier League Golden Boot ====
Manchester City began their 2023–24 Premier League season on 11 August 2023, with Haaland scoring a brace in a 3–0 away win against newly promoted team Burnley. Just days later, Haaland would win his first trophy of the season following City's victory over Europa League winners Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup; although not scoring during the match, he did convert the first penalty in the shoot-out following the end of regulation. On 29 August, Haaland was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year, having earlier been included in the PFA Team of the Year for the Premier League.
With his first three goals of the season, Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 league goals in Europe's top 5 leagues, accomplishing the feat in just 103 appearances, surpassing the previous record of 100 goals in 133 appearances set by Ronaldo.
After registering a seventh club hat-trick plus an assist against Fulham on 2 September, Haaland became the fastest ever player to achieve 50 Premier League goal involvements (goals plus assists); with just 39 appearances in the competition, he eclipsed Andy Cole's previous record by four matches. On 25 October, Haaland scored his first two Champions League goals of the season in a 3–1 win at Young Boys. On 29 October, he recorded two goals and one assist in a 3–0 derby win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. The following day, he was presented with the Gerd Müller Trophy at the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony, given to the player with the most goals scored for club and country across a single season. On 25 November, Haaland became the fastest player to score 50 Premier League goals in a 1–1 draw with Liverpool; with just 48 appearances, he comfortably beat the previous record of 65 matches by Andy Cole. After suffering a bone stress injury in his foot in early December, Haaland would miss nearly two months of action, including City's success at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, and would not return to the pitch until the end of January 2024.
On 20 February 2024, Haaland scored the sole goal of a home win over Brentford, joining Harry Kane as the only players to have scored against every Premier League team they had faced. A week later, he netted five goals in a 6–2 victory against Luton Town in the FA Cup, marking the second time he achieved such a feat for the club and becoming the first player to do so twice. Additionally, he matched his club's record for most goals by an individual in an FA Cup match, a record previously held by Frank Roberts in 1926 and Bobby Marshall in 1930. Furthermore, Haaland's accomplishment marked the first instance of a player scoring five goals in the competition since George Best in 1970. On 4 May, Haaland scored four goals in a 5–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, his first league hat-trick of the year and third of the season in all competitions.
Haaland scored both goals in City's 2–0 vital win away to Tottenham Hotspur on 14 May, bringing his side back to the top of the Premier League table with one match remaining. Five days later, City would successfully defend their title following a 3–1 victory against West Ham. Haaland also secured a second consecutive Premier League Golden Boot, with 27 goals in 31 matches. However, he would be unable to retain the FA Cup, failing to score in City's 2–1 final rematch defeat to Manchester United on 25 May.
==== 2024–25: Further goalscoring records ====
After failing to score in City's opening 2024 Community Shield victory over Manchester United, but having successfully converted his penalty in the shoot-out, Haaland scored the club's first goal of the league season in a 2–0 victory at Chelsea on 18 August 2024, in what was his 100th appearance for City. On 25 August, Haaland netted his first hat-trick of the season with the help of a penalty in a 4–1 victory against newly promoted Ipswich Town, his seventh Premier League hat-trick. In the following match on 31 August against West Ham United, he recorded another hat-trick in a 3–1 away victory, tying Harry Kane as the active player with the most Premier League hat-tricks, with eight. Haaland's hat-trick against the Hammers also allowed Manchester City to surpass Liverpool as the club with the most hat-tricks in the Premier League. Haaland's seven goals after three matches broke the record of six set by former City player Edin Džeko, for the most goals in the first three Premier League matches of a season; he also became the first player to score two hat-tricks in a team's first three league matches since Paul Jewell of Bradford City in the 1994–95 season. On 14 September, Haaland scored another two goals in a 2–1 victory over Brentford, eclipsing Wayne Rooney's record tally of eight goals in the first four matches of a Premier League season achieved with Manchester United in the 2011–12 season, after only deciding to play the day before following the death of a close family friend. On 22 September, Haaland matched Cristiano Ronaldo's record of reaching 100 goals across all competitions for one club in 105 appearances in Europe's top five leagues, when he scored the opener in a 2–2 draw against Arsenal.
On 17 January 2025, Haaland signed to extend his contract with the club until 2034, while his previous deal was due to expire in 2027. The deal is the longest in Premier League history, with Haaland reportedly earning £500,000 per week with this new agreement. Following former club captain Kyle Walker's loan departure, Haaland was nominated to take up the captaincy by manager Pep Guardiola. He debuted as captain on 15 February, in a 4–0 win over Newcastle United. After scoring against Brighton & Hove Albion on 15 March, Haaland overtook Alan Shearer to become the fastest player to reach 100 goal involvements in the Premier League, doing so in 94 matches. During City's FA Cup quarter-final match against Bournemouth, Haaland battled for the ball with Lewis Cook, and ended up colliding into the electronic advertising boards. This resulted in him injuring his ankle and missing a number of matches, making his return on 10 May in a goalless draw against already relegated Southampton. On 17 May, in the FA Cup final against Crystal Place, Haaland turned down the opportunity to take a penalty, instead handing the ball to Omar Marmoush, whose effort was saved by Dean Henderson. At the time, City were losing 1–0, and Palace would see the game out in the second half to win the first ever trophy in their history. Haaland finished the Premier League season with 22 goals, behind Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak, scoring on the final day in a 2–0 win over Fulham.
On 26 June, Haaland scored his 300th career goal in a 5–2 win over Juventus in a FIFA Club World Cup group stage match, becoming, at the age of 24 years and 340 days, the second-youngest player in the 21st century to reach the landmark, only behind Kylian Mbappé. In the following match on 30 June, he scored again in a 4–3 loss to Al Hilal in the round of 16, matching Lionel Messi's record for most goals in official international club competitions before the age of 25 (both at 56).
==== 2025–26: 100th Premier League goal ====
On 16 August 2025, Haaland scored a brace in City's first match of the 2025–26 Premier League, helping his team to a 4–0 away victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 31 August, Haaland scored against Brighton & Hove Albion, and became the player with the most goals (88) in his first 100 matches in the Premier League, surpassing Alan Shearer's record of 79 goals. On 14 September, he scored a brace in City's 3–0 home win in the Manchester derby. Four days later, he scored the first goal in City's opening match in the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League, a 2–0 home victory against Napoli, becoming the fastest player to reach 50 goals in the competition, having done so in only 49 matches. On 2 December, Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 goals in the Premier League, scoring in a 5–4 away win over Fulham. He achieved the milestone in just 111 appearances, surpassing Alan Shearer's 1995 record set after 124 matches. On 8 February 2026, he converted a stoppage-time penalty in a 2–1 away victory over Liverpool, securing his club's first league double over them since the 1936–37 season.
== International career ==
=== 2015–2018: Youth level ===
Haaland plays for Norway, and has represented them at various age groups. On 27 March 2018, while with the Norway under-19 side, Haaland scored a hat-trick against Scotland in a 5–4 victory, helping his country secure qualification to the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. On 22 July 2018, Haaland scored a penalty against Italy in a 1–1 draw during the tournament finals. On 30 May 2019, Haaland scored nine goals in the Norway under-20 team's 12–0 win against Honduras at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Lublin, Poland. This was Norway's biggest ever win at U-20 level, as well as Honduras' heaviest ever defeat. Haaland also set a new U-20 World Cup record for most goals scored by a single player in a match, with the result additionally being the biggest win by any team in the history of the tournament. Despite the Norwegians being eliminated in the group stage, and Haaland not scoring in any other matches at the tournament, he still won the Golden Boot as the competition's top scorer.
=== 2019–2021: Senior debut and first major tournament ===
Born in Leeds, Haaland was eligible to play for England, but only wished to play for Norway according to coach Gareth Southgate.
On 28 August 2019, Haaland was named by manager Lars Lagerbäck to the Norway senior team squad to face Malta and Sweden in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches, debuting on 5 September 2019 against the former opponent. On 4 September 2020, Haaland scored his first senior international goal for Norway in a 1–2 loss against Austria in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B. Three days later, he scored a brace in a 5–1 victory against Northern Ireland.
On 11 October, Haaland scored his first international hat-trick in Norway's 4–0 victory over Romania in a Nations League B match, bringing his tally for the senior team to six goals in six matches played.
=== 2021–2024: Consecutive Nations League top scorer and all-time Norway top scorer ===
During the September 2021 international break, Haaland scored five goals in three World Cup qualification matches, including a second hat-trick for Norway in a 5–1 victory against Gibraltar. With six goals in League B between June and September 2022, he finished as the joint-top scorer of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League.
Haaland's brace in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus on 12 October 2023 brought his international tally to 27 goals in 27 appearances, surpassing Einar Gundersen as Norway's second-highest all-time top scorer. On 5 June 2024, Haaland scored a third hat-trick for his country in a 3–0 friendly win against Kosovo, bringing him within three goals of Norwegian top scorer Jørgen Juve.
On 10 October 2024, Haaland scored a brace in a 3–0 Nations League win over Slovenia, reaching 34 international goals to become Norway's all-time top scorer at the age of just 24, and overtaking Juve's record that had stood since 1937. On 17 November, he recorded a fourth international hat-trick in a 5–0 win against Kazakhstan, helping Norway clinch promotion to League A of the Nations League for the first time.
=== 2025–present: First World Cup ===
On 6 June 2025, Haaland scored Norway's final goal in their 3–0 World Cup qualifying win against Italy, securing the nation's first victory over the Italians in 25 years. On 9 September, he scored five goals and assisted a further two in an 11–1 win over Moldova, becoming the first male European player to record five goals in a World Cup qualifier since Hans Krankl in 1977. A month later, on 11 October, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Israel, becoming the fastest player to reach 50 international goals, breaking Harry Kane's record by achieving the milestone in just 46 matches compared to Kane's 71. On 16 November, he scored twice in a 4–1 away win over Italy, securing his nation's place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with eight victories, marking their first World Cup appearance since 1998. Haaland finished the World Cup qualifying campaign with 16 goals, scoring in all eight of Norway's matches, and equalling Robert Lewandowski's record tally from the qualifiers for 2018. He also matched Abdul Ghani Minhat's feat of scoring in 11 consecutive international appearances, achieved back in 1962.
== Player profile ==
=== Style of play ===
A prolific goalscorer who has been regarded as one of the leading players of his generation, Haaland is often described as a complete centre forward. He uses his sizeable frame to hold play up effectively and involve others. He has the pace and clever movement to run in behind, he can dribble and create, and he can finish with both feet and his head. He usually comes deep to collect the ball to help his team build play, often looking to spread the ball wide for a teammate, before turning and sprinting towards goal. He sometimes comes too deep for the defenders to follow him; as such he has the awareness to turn on the ball and create from a forward-facing position. In the penalty area he makes small, sharp movements to spot an opportunity for a teammate to attempt to find him in space, and can change the line on which he is running and accelerate into that space, making him extremely difficult for defenders to read.
Haaland uses his body well when playing with his back to goal, protecting the ball effectively as he tries to bring it under control. He uses his strength to secure possession when under pressure and is also effective in providing his team's defenders with some respite following a clearance. His creativity is most apparent when he drifts into the left inside channel. His primary aim is always to get a shot off, but he also has the vision and skill to pick out a delayed run from midfield in the centre. His ability to carry the ball at pace also helps create for others, especially on the counter-attack. Even though he is less involved in possession than a typical striker, his calmness, patience, timing, and off-the-ball movement have a huge impact in build-up plays.
Haaland idolises Zlatan Ibrahimović and Cristiano Ronaldo, but also cites Michu, Jamie Vardy, Sergio Agüero and Robin van Persie as inspirations, and credits Virgil van Dijk and Sergio Ramos as two of the toughest defenders he has played against.
After scoring a goal, Haaland is known to perform a "meditation" celebration, in which he assumes the lotus position; the celebration has been featured in the FIFA series of video games.
=== Reception ===
After his record breaking first season in England, Gary Neville proclaimed that Haaland is "truly unique" and that he has the skill and strength of Wayne Rooney and the talent and finishing of Harry Kane and Ronaldo. His manager at City, Pep Guardiola, opined that Haaland has the potential to get even better. In 2022, Jürgen Klopp labelled Haaland as the "best striker in the world" and stated that "physically he sets new standards, the combination of being really physical and technical and sensational awareness, his orientation on the pitch is exceptional, he knows always where the decisive gaps are, barely offside". In 2024, FIFPRO declared him to be "the deadliest striker in football today". For his achievements, he has also been hailed as the greatest Norwegian player of all time.
== Personal life ==
Haaland is the son of the Norwegian former footballer Alfie Haaland and former women's heptathlon athlete Gry Marita Braut. In a 2017 interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Haaland said that "The dream is to win the Premier League with Leeds". His cousins Jonatan Braut Brunes and Albert Tjåland are also professional footballers.
Haaland is a practitioner of meditation.
In 2016, Haaland and his Norway under-17 teammates Erik Botheim and Erik Tobias Sandberg, under the group name Flow Kingz, released a single entitled "Kygo jo", which has over 14 million views on YouTube.
In October 2024, Haaland announced via social media that he was expecting a first child with girlfriend Isabel Haugseng Johansen. His son was born in December.
In February 2026, Erling Haaland was listed on The Sunday Times tax list with an estimated £16.9 Million.
== Career statistics ==
=== Club ===
As of match played 22 March 2026
=== International ===
As of match played 16 November 2025
== Honours ==
Red Bull Salzburg
Austrian Bundesliga: 2018–19
Austrian Cup: 2018–19
Borussia Dortmund
DFB-Pokal: 2020–21
Manchester City
Premier League: 2022–23, 2023–24
FA Cup: 2022–23
EFL Cup: 2025–26
FA Community Shield: 2024
UEFA Champions League: 2022–23
UEFA Super Cup: 2023
Individual
FIFA Men's World 11: 2024
European Golden Shoe: 2022–23
Eliteserien Breakthrough of the Year: 2018
ESPN Striker of the Year: 2022–23
Austrian Footballer of the Year: 2019
Austrian Breakthrough of the year: 2019–20
Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2019–20
FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot: 2019
UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2019
Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2020–21
Bundesliga Player of the Month: January 2020, November 2020, April 2021, August 2021
Bundesliga Rookie of the Month: January 2020, February 2020
Bundesliga Goal of the Month: September 2021
Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2020–21, 2021–22
VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2022–23
Premier League Player of the Season: 2022–23
Premier League Young Player of the Season: 2022–23
Premier League Golden Boot: 2022–23, 2023–24
Premier League Player of the Month: August 2022, April 2023, August 2024, September 2025
PFA Premier League Fans' Player of the Month: August 2022, September 2022, December 2022
ESM Team of the Year: 2019–20 2022–23
IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2020
Golden Boy: 2020
Golden Player Man Award: 2023
Gullballen: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Kniksen's honour award: 2020
Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year: 2020, 2025
UEFA Champions League Squad/Team of the Season: 2020–21, 2022–23
UEFA Champions League Forward of the Season: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League top scorer: 2020–21, 2022–23
UEFA Men's Player of the Year: 2022–23
UEFA Nations League top scorer: 2020–21, 2022–23
FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
IFFHS Men's World Team: 2022, 2023
IFFHS Men's UEFA Team: 2024
Manchester City Player of the Season: 2022–23
PFA Team of the Year: 2022–23 Premier League, 2023–24 Premier League
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2022–23
Gerd Müller Trophy: 2023
Globe Soccer Best Player of the Year: 2023
The Guardian Best Footballer in the World: 2023
World Soccer Player of the Year: 2023
FourFourTwo Player of the Year: 2022, 2023
BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year: 2023
IFFHS World's Best Player: 2023
Onze d'Or: 2022–23
Idrettsgallaen Name of the year: 2023 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digimon_Adventure_(1999_TV_series) | Digimon Adventure (1999 TV series) | Digimon Adventure (Japanese: デジモンアドベンチャー, Hepburn: Dejimon Adobenchā), also known as Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 1 in English-speaking territories, is a 1999 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation in cooperation with WiZ, Bandai and Fuji Television. It is the first anime series in the Digimon media franchise, based on the Digital Monster virtual pet released in 1997.
Digimon Adventure began production 1.5 months after the film of the same name was being produced, and it began broadcast in Japan a day after the film's theatrical release on March 7, 1999, airing until its conclusion on March 26, 2000. It was then followed up with the 2000 film Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!. Both films were adapted and released in North America as Digimon: The Movie on October 6, 2000.
With the success of Digimon Adventure, a sequel television series, Digimon Adventure 02, was broadcast from 2000 to 2001. For the series' 15th anniversary, a six-part film series titled Digimon Adventure tri. was released between 2015 and 2018, and a final film titled Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was released in 2020. In 2020, the series was rebooted and released under the title Digimon Adventure.
== Plot ==
On August 1, 1999, seven children from Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan, are transported into the Digital World by Digivices that appeared before them at summer camp, where they befriend several Digimon (Digital Monsters). The children's Digivices allow their partner Digimon to Digivolve into stronger forms and combat enemies. As the children explore to find a way home, they learn that they are "DigiDestined", children chosen to save the Digital World. During their adventure, the DigiDestined are hunted by Devimon, who uses black gears to corrupt various Digimon into attacking the group. After defeating Devimon, the DigiDestined are contacted by Gennai and instructed to reach the Server Continent to retrieve artifacts called Crests, allowing their Digimon partners to Digivolve into their Ultimate forms. During this time, they are targeted by Etemon.
After Etemon is defeated, the DigiDestined learn from Gennai that there is an eighth DigiDestined child, who Myotismon is entering the real world to kill. The DigiDestined follow after Myotismon to the real world. After discovering that the eighth child is Tai's younger sister, Kari, and that Myotismon’s lieutenant Gatomon is her Digimon partner, the DigiDestined are able to defeat Myotismon. However, the boundaries between the real world and Digital World are intersecting, forcing them to return to the Digital World.
The DigiDestined face the Dark Masters, a quartet of mega-level Digimon who each took control of a part of the Digital World in their absence. In the midst of their battles, they learn that they were chosen to save the real and Digital Worlds from intersecting four years ago. Tension leads to infighting within the group and causes them to temporarily separate. After reflecting, the DigiDestined reunite to defeat the last Dark Master, and confront Apocalymon who attempts to destroy both worlds. Apocalymon destroys their Crests, but the DigiDestined realize the power of their Crests was inside them all along and manage to defeat him. With the Digital World restored, Tai and his friends leave their Digimon partners behind and return to their normal lives.
== Development ==
In 1999, a short film based on the virtual pets called Digimon Adventure was released. However, shortly after the film's storyboard was completed in 1998, producers at Toei Animation were requested to turn it into a television series.
The DigiDestined's character designs were created by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. The character names are based on kanji related to luck.
== Media ==
=== Anime ===
Digimon Adventure was produced by Toei Animation and ran for 54 episodes on Fuji TV between March 7, 1999, and March 26, 2000. The main opening theme for all episodes aired in Japan is "Butter-Fly" by Kōji Wada, which peaked at #47 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. "I Wish" by AiM, Mimi's voice actress, is used as the ending theme from episodes 1–26, while "Keep On", AiM's fifth single, served as the ending theme from episodes 27–54. The series also uses three insert songs: "Brave Heart" by Ayumi Miyazaki as the Digivolution theme, "Seven" by Kōji Wada, and "Yūki o Tsubasa ni Shite" (勇気を翼にして) by Toshiko Fujita, Tai's voice actress, as Tai's theme song. On August 1, 2014, during the series' 15th anniversary, a Blu-ray Disc box of the original series was announced and set for release in Japan on March 15, 2015.
Saban Entertainment licensed the series in North America and produced an English-language version under the title Digimon: Digital Monsters. It premiered on Fox Kids Network on August 14, 1999. The series was also broadcast in Canada on YTV. The English version featured an original soundtrack and made changes to character names, as well as edits pertaining to certain aspects such as violence to make the series more suitable for younger audiences. Wendee Lee, Michael Sorich and David Walsh became the voice directors. The original soundtrack of the show was replaced by music composed by Udi Harpaz and Shuki Levy, which recycled several music soundtracks from Starcom: The U.S. Space Force, Masked Rider and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The opening theme for all episodes is "Digimon Theme" by Paul Gordon. "Hey Digimon" by Gordon, an insert song featured in the show, and was released on the original soundtrack of Digimon: The Movie along with "Digimon Theme".
The English dub series was released on DVD by Twentieth Century Fox (Saban's parent company) in 2000 and by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 2002. A complete DVD boxset of the English dub was released by New Video Group on October 9, 2012 in the U.S and was released by Madman Entertainment on June 18, 2014 in Australia. On March 14, 2022, Discotek Media announced a Blu-ray collection. The English dub version, Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 1, was released on December 27, 2022, while the original Japanese version, Digimon Adventure, was released on July 25, 2023.
=== Films ===
Several short films based on the series were released in theaters in Japan. Digimon Adventure was originally released on March 6, 1999. The story focuses on Tai and Kari finding a Digi-egg from their computer, which hatches and quickly Digivolves, culminating in a battle. The film grossed ¥650 million.
Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! was originally released on March 4, 2000. In the film, the DigiDestined find a virus Digimon who Digivolves into who infects the Internet. The film introduces DNA Digivolution. The film grossed ¥2.166 billion. Our War Game! later served as the inspiration for director Mamoru Hosoda's film Summer Wars.
The two short films were combined with Digimon Adventure 02: Part 1: Digimon Hurricane Landing!! / Part 2: Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals and was released as Digimon: The Movie in North America on October 6, 2000. Digimon: The Movie was altered from the original script to remove "culturally awkward" Japanese elements and introduced jokes suitable for a North American audience. Originally, scriptwriter Jeff Nimoy wanted to combine Digimon Adventure and Our War Game! while releasing Digimon Hurricane Landing / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals as a direct-to-television movie, but the idea was overruled. In order to connect the film's stories, the script was rewritten.
Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix! (デジモンアドベンチャー3D デジモングランプリ!, Dejimon Adobenchā: Dejimon Guran Puri), a stereoscopic 3D short film, was shown at Toei Animation Festival on October 3, 2009 and was later included on a set of DVD works released on February 21, 2010.
=== Video games ===
Characters and Digimon from Adventure appear throughout many video games based on the franchise, such as Digimon Rumble Arena.
An RPG based on the original storyline of Adventure developed by Prope and published by Namco Bandai Games, also title Digimon Adventure, was released for the PlayStation Portable on January 17, 2013, part of the line-up of video games of the 15th-anniversary celebration of the franchise. The game covers the entire series as well as the second Japanese film, Bokura no War Game, and sees the return of all the main voice actors. The game also features original story elements and an unlockable dungeon mode featuring sequel protagonists in the franchise.
=== Other media ===
Other media adaptions include a manhua released in 2000, drawn by Yu Yuen-wong, and its sequel. The manhua was originally published in Hong Kong, by Rightman. In total it was published in five volumes. Tokyopop published the series in English in the United States, while Chuang Yi did so in Singapore.
There is a second manhua, titled 數碼寶貝, written by Lu Shui-shi (呂水世), published by Ching Win.
A North American 12 issue adaption of the first arc of the show was published by Dark Horse Comics. A novelization was written by the Digimon Adventure screenwriter, Hiro Masaki and series director Hiroyuki Kakudō. The light novels were separated into three parts. Four Drama CDs were also released between 1999 and 2003.
== Episodes ==
== Reception ==
On its initial release, the series found a rather large success in the United States. When it was first released in North America, the series was seen as an attempt to imitate the success of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise. Entertainment Weekly magazine named Digimon as the "Worst Pokémon/Net Crossbreeding Attempt" in 2000. However, praise was later directed towards the realistic interactions and development of its child characters compared to those of the contemporary Pokémon anime, as well as the improved English dubbing and complex science fiction and social themes introduced in later seasons.
Despite the criticism, it placed first at the start of the May 2000 Nielsen ratings sweeps, surpassing Pokémon: Adventures on the Orange Islands among viewers aged 2–11 and 6–11. Retailers and businesses such as snack food company Jel Sert and toy store chain Toys "R" Us capitalized on the popularity of the series by licensing it for promotion with their own products. Web search engine Lycos listed Digimon as the number five fad of 2000, and it ranked 35th on the list of the year's top searches.
In TV Asahi's poll of the Top 100 Anime, Digimon came in 54th. On Anime News Network, Luke Carroll gave the Digimon: Digital Monsters - Collection 2 DVD an overall grade of D+. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemusuk | Kemusuk | Kemusuk is a hamlet (dukuh) in the Argomulyo village, Sedayu subdistrict, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The area, around 10 km to the west of Yogyakarta towards the town of Wates, is known as the birthplace of the second president of Indonesia, Suharto.
== Significance with Suharto's life and family ==
Suharto was born to a 'poor but not unimportant farmer's family' in the village. His father, Kertosudiro, was a local irrigation official in charge of overseeing the allocation of water to different farmers in Kemusuk. His mother, Sukirah, was a village woman from a nearby hamlet.
The Suharto family have returned to the village on various occasions in recent years. Suharto himself, accompanied by members of his family, made a trip to Kemusuk in 2002 to pay respects to his father's grave. At the time Suharto's younger step-brother, Notosuwito, had a house in the village near the graveyard in the Kepoh area. More recently, in March 2013 several of Suharto's children, along with his half-brother Probosutedjo, visited Kemusuk Lor (North Kemusuk) to attend the unveiling of a statue of their father installed near a series of exhibits (photos and some dioramas) about Suharto's life at a hall in the village. The statue of Soeharto, which is 3.5 meters tall, presents him in full military uniform as the commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, or TNI) carrying a baton under his left arm. The sculptor of the statue was the well-known Indonesian sculptor Edhi Sunarso. Edhi Sunarso has created various other well-known statues and monuments in Indonesia including the landmark Selamat Datang Monument (Welcome Monument) in Jakarta.
In June 2013 additional facilities as part of a memorial to Suharto were opened in a ceremony in Kemusuk by Suharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Tutut) and his brother Probosutedjo. The memorial included refurbished houses which various members of Suharto's family had lived in as well as a museum. The ceremony was attended by several senior ministers of the Indonesian government including the Coordinating People's Welfare Minister Agung Laksono and Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.
At the time of Suharto's death in January 2008, residents of Kemusuk joined in the mourning for the former president. Flags were lowered in the village and Suharto's nephew, Aryo Notosuwito spoke in memory of Suharto. As is the practice in Indonesia, members of the local community gathered together at the house of Suharto's relatives to remember the former resident of their village.
Later, in March 2018, when Suharto's brother Probosutedjo died in Jakarta, his body was flown back to Yogyakarta and transferred to Kemusuk to be buried in the local Somenggalan cemetery. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Denver_Broncos_season | 1998 Denver Broncos season | The 1998 season was the Denver Broncos' 29th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 39th overall. The Broncos entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champions and looked to become only the fifth team in league history to win consecutive Super Bowls.
Finishing with a record of 12–4 the previous year, the Broncos improved on that mark by two wins and tied the Atlanta Falcons for second best record at 14–2. They won their first thirteen games, the best start since the unbeaten 1972 Dolphins.
After 16 seasons, John Elway retired following the Super Bowl. He finished his Broncos career with 51,475 yards passing and 300 touchdowns. Until Peyton Manning won in Super Bowl 50, Elway stood as the only Broncos quarterback to win a Super Bowl. However, Elway even played a large role in that victory as the general manager and president of football operations for the Broncos.
Running back Terrell Davis set a team single season rushing mark. His final total was 2,008 yards, making him only the fourth player to rush for over 2,000 yards in single season.
A multi-year investigation from 2001 to 2005 revealed that between 1996 and 1998, the team had circumvented the salary cap by deferring other money to Elway and Davis outside of the team’s salary. Denver claimed it gave them no competitive advantage. The NFL did not issue any official statements but the team was subsequently fined nearly $2 million and were forced to give up two third-round picks in the 2002 and 2005 drafts.
In 2007, the 1998 Broncos were ranked as the 12th greatest Super Bowl champions on the NFL Network's documentary series America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions. They ranked #14 on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary.
== Offseason ==
=== NFL draft ===
== Staff ==
== Roster ==
== Season summary ==
The Broncos won their first 13 games of the season. There was much speculation that they might finish 19–0 and the Broncos were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. However, they were upset by the New York Giants (who would end another attempt at a 19–0 season nine seasons later) in week 15 by a score of 20–16. They finished the regular season 14–2 after losing to the Dolphins in their first encounter with that team since 1985.
They finished first in the AFC West and won their divisional playoff game against the Miami Dolphins 38–3 for their first win over the Dolphins since 1968. They then won the AFC Championship over the Bill Parcells coached New York Jets 23–10 after coming back from a 10–0 deficit. Many had expected Denver to play the Minnesota Vikings, the team with the number one record that year at 15–1, in the Super Bowl. However, the Vikings lost the NFC Championship Game to the Atlanta Falcons in overtime.
The Broncos defeated the Falcons 34–19 in Super Bowl XXXIII. Elway was the Super Bowl MVP and Davis rushed for over 100 yards. It was Elway's last game, and Denver would not reach the Super Bowl again until the 2013 season.
== Preseason ==
== Regular season ==
=== Schedule ===
=== Standings ===
== Playoffs ==
=== AFC Divisional Game vs. Miami Dolphins ===
=== AFC Championship game vs. New York Jets ===
Despite a subpar performance from quarterback John Elway, the Broncos came from a ten-point deficit to score twenty three unanswered points, thanks in large part to the Jets turning the ball over an astonishing six times. Broncos go to Super Bowl XXXIII and win to the Falcons 34–19.
=== Super Bowl XXXIII: vs. Atlanta Falcons ===
The Denver Broncos become the third team in the last 9 years to repeat as Super Bowl champions, along with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. John Elway was voted Super Bowl MVP.
== Statistics ==
=== Team stats ===
The Broncos had 3,808 yards passing, sixth in the league. They had 2,468 yards rushing, second in the league and 26 rushing touchdowns, first in the league. They had 6,276 total yards, third best.
They gave up 3,983 passing yards, a low 28 out of 30 in the NFL, but were third in rushing yards given up with 1,287. They gave up 5,270 yards, 12th in the NFL. They scored 501 points, second in the league and gave up 309, eighth fewest in the league.
The Broncos’ 14–2 record remains their best regular season record (most wins and equal fewest losses) in franchise history.
=== Player stats ===
For the season Elway threw for 2,806 yards, 22 touchdowns and ten interceptions. Davis rushed for 2,008 yards and 21 touchdowns. Rod Smith had 86 receptions for 1,222 yards and six touchdowns. Ed McCaffrey had 64 receptions for 1,053 yards. Shannon Sharpe had 64 receptions for 768 yards. Jason Elam kicked 23 out of 27 field goals and 58 out of 58 extra points including a 63-yard field goal to tie Tom Dempsey with the longest field goal in NFL history at that time. This record has since been eclipsed by another Denver Bronco in Matt Prater, and once again by Justin Tucker.
Steve Atwater, Davis, Elway, Tony Jones, Mark Schlereth, McCaffrey, Tom Nalen, Bill Romanowski, and Sharpe made the Pro Bowl.
== Awards and records ==
Terrell Davis, NFL MVP
Terrell Davis, Franchise Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Season, 2,008 Yards
Terrell Davis, Franchise Record, Most Touchdowns in One Season, 23 Touchdowns
John Elway, Super Bowl MVP
Jason Elam, tied longest field goal (63 yards)
=== Milestones ===
Terrell Davis, 1st 2,000-yard rushing season, 2,008 Yards |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities_throughout_history | List of largest cities throughout history | This article lists the largest human settlements in the world (by population) over time, as estimated by historians, from 7000 BC when the largest human settlement was a proto-city in the ancient Near East with a population of about 1,000–2,000 people, to the year 2000 when the largest human settlement was Tokyo with 26 million.
Rome, Chang'an or Baghdad may have been the first city to have 1,000,000 people, as early as the 1st century or as late as the 8th century. Later cities that might have reached 1 million include Luoyang, Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, and Edo. There is wide agreement that London was the first city to reach 2 million and New York was the first to reach 10 million.
The Greater Tokyo Area was the most populous metropolitan area in the world from 1955 to 2025, with more than 37.393 million residents as of 2020. Jakarta overtook Tokyo in 2025, partly due to Tokyo's shrinking population.
As disagreements between the sources show, any of the pre-19th century figures are uncertain, especially in ancient times. Estimating population sizes before censuses were conducted is a difficult task.
== List of the most populous human settlements over time ==
The following table lists the most populous human settlements by estimated population at specified points in history according to three sources: Ian Morris, George Modelski and Tertius Chandler. City names are in bold where all three sources agree. It shows the evolution of the largest settlement from proto-city to city to urban area to metropolitan area. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadisvara_Temple | Brihadisvara Temple | Brihadisvara Temple, called Rajarajesvaram (lit. 'Lord of Rajaraja') by its builder, and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil (lit. 'Thanjavur Big Temple') and Peruvudaiyar Kovil (lit. 'Temple of the great lord'), is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in a Chola architectural style located on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplar of Tamil architecture. It is also called Dakshina Meru (Meru of the South). Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along with the Chola-era Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple, which are about 70 kilometres (43 mi) and 40 kilometres (25 mi) to its northeast respectively.
The original monuments of this 11th-century temple were built around a moat. It included gopura, the main temple, its massive tower, inscriptions, frescoes, and sculptures predominantly related to Shaivism, but also of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. The temple was damaged in its history and some artwork is now missing. Additional mandapam and monuments were added in the centuries that followed. The temple now stands amidst fortified walls that were added after the 16th century.
Built using granite, the vimana tower above the shrine is one of the tallest in South India. The temple has a massive colonnaded prakara (corridor) and one of the largest Shiva lingas in India. It is also famed for the quality of its sculpture, as well as being the location that commissioned the brass Nataraja, Shiva as the lord of dance, in the 11th century. The complex includes shrines for Nandi, Parvati, Murugan, Ganesha, Sabhapati, Dakshinamurti, Chandeshvara, Varahi, Thiyagarajar of Thiruvarur, Siddhar Karuvoorar and others. The temple is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu.
== Nomenclature ==
Rajaraja Chola, who commissioned the temple, called it Rajarajeshvaram (Rajarājeśvaram), literally "the temple of the god of Rajaraja". A later inscription in the Brihannayaki shrine calls the temple's deity Periya Udaiya Nayanar, which appears to be the source of the modern names Brihadisvara and Peruvudaiyar Kovil.
== Location ==
The Peruvudaiyar Temple is located in the city of Thanjavur, about 350 kilometres (220 mi) southwest of Chennai. The city is connected daily to other major cities by the network of Indian Railways, Tamil Nadu bus services and the National Highways 67, 45C, 226 and 226 Extn. The nearest airport with regular services is Tiruchirappalli International Airport (IATA: TRZ), about 55 kilometres (34 mi) away.
The city and the temple though inland, are at the start of the Kaveri River delta, thus with access to the Bay of Bengal and through it to the Indian Ocean. Along with the temples, the Tamil people completed the first major irrigation network in the 11th century for agriculture, for movement of goods and to control the water flow through the urban center.
== History ==
A spectrum of tamil temple styles continued to develop from the fifth to the ninth century over the Chalukya era rule as evidenced in Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, and then with the Pallava era as witnessed at Mamallapuram and other monuments. Thereafter, between 850 and 1280, Cholas emerged as the dominant dynasty. The early Chola period saw a greater emphasis on securing their geopolitical boundaries and less emphasis on architecture. In the tenth century, within the Chola empire emerged features such as the multifaceted columns with projecting square capitals. This, states George Michell, signaled the start of the new Chola style. This South Indian style is most fully realized both in scale and detail in the Brihadeshwara temple built between 1003 and 1010 by the Chola king Rajaraja I.
=== Additions, renovations and repairs ===
The main temple along with its gopurams is from the early 11th century. The temple also saw additions, renovations, and repairs over the next 1,000 years. The raids and wars, particularly between Muslim Sultans who controlled Madurai and Hindu kings who controlled Thanjavur caused damage. These were repaired by Hindu dynasties that regained control. In some cases, the rulers attempted to renovate the temple with faded paintings, by ordering new murals on top of the older ones. In other cases, they sponsored the addition of shrines. The significant shrines of Kartikeya (Murugan), Parvati (Amman) and Nandi are from the 16th and 17th-century Nayaka era. Similarly the Dakshinamurti shrine was built later.
It was well maintained by Marathas of Thanjavur.
== Description ==
=== Architecture ===
The Peruvudaiyar temple's plan and development utilizes the axial and symmetrical geometry rules. It is classified as Perunkoil (also called Madakkoil), a big temple built on a higher platform of a natural or man-made mounds. The temple complex is a rectangle that is almost two stacked squares, covering 240.79 metres (790.0 ft) east to west, and 121.92 metres (400.0 ft) north to south. In this space are five main sections: the sanctum with the towering superstructure (sri vimana), the Nandi hall in front (Nandi-mandapam) and in between these the main community hall (mukhamandapam), the great gathering hall (mahamandapam) and the pavilion that connects the great hall with the sanctum (Antrala).
The temple complex integrates a large pillared and covered veranda (prakara) in its spacious courtyard, with a perimeter of about 450 metres (1,480 ft) for circumambulation. Outside this pillared veranda there are two walls of enclosure, the outer one being defensive and added in 1777 by the French colonial forces with gun-holes with the temple serving as an arsenal. They made the outer wall high, isolating the temple complex area. On its east end is the original main gopuram or gateway that is barrel vaulted. It is less than half the size of the main temple's vimana. Additional structures were added to the original temple after the 11th century, such as a mandapa in its northeast corner and additional gopurams (gateways) on its perimeters to allow people to enter and leave from multiple locations. Some of the shrines and structures were added during the Pandya, Nayaka, Vijayanagara and Maratha era, before the colonial era started, and these builders respected the original plans and symmetry rules. Inside the original temple courtyard, along with the main sanctum and Nandi-mandapam are two major shrines, one for Kartikeya and for Parvati. The complex has additional smaller shrines.
The Peruvudaiyar temple continued the Hindu temple traditions of South India by adopting architectural and decorative elements, but its scale significantly exceeded the temples constructed before the 11th century. The Chola era architects and artisans innovated the expertise to scale up and build, particularly with heavy stone and to accomplish the 63.4 metres (208 ft) high towering vimana.
The temple faces east, and once had a water moat around it. This has been filled up. The fortified wall now runs around this moat. The two walls have ornate gateways called the gopurams. These are made from stone and display entablature. The main gateways are on the east side. The first one is called the Keralantakan tiruvasal, which means the "sacred gate of the Keralantakan". The word Keralantakan was the surname of king Rajaraja who built it. About a 100 metres (330 ft) ahead is the inner courtyard gopuram called the Rajarajan tiruvasal. This is more decorated than the Keralantakan tiruvasal, such as with its adhishthanam relief work narrating scenes from the Puranas and other Hindu texts. The inner eastern gopuram leads to a vast courtyard, in which the shrines are all signed to east–west and north-west cardinal directions. The complex can be entered either on one axis through a five-story gopuram or with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle through a smaller free-standing gopuram. The gopuram of the main entrance is 30 m high, smaller than the vimana. The main temple-related monuments and the great tower is in the middle of this courtyard. Around the main temple that is dedicated to Shiva, are smaller shrines, most of which are aligned axially. These are dedicated to his consort Parvati, his sons Murugan and Ganesha, Nandi, Varahi, Karuvur deva (the guru of Rajaraja Chola), Chandeshvara and Nataraja. The Nandi mandapam has a monolithic seated bull facing the sanctum. In between them are stairs leading to a columned porch and community gathering hall, then an inner mandapa connecting to the pradakshina patha, or circumambulation path. The Nandi (bull) facing the mukh-mandapam weighs about 25 tonnes. It is made of a single stone and is about 2 m in height, 6 m in length and 2.5 m in width. The image of Nandi is a monolithic one and is one of the largest in the country.
=== Preservation & Restoration ===
As a world heritage monument, the temple and the premises comes under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which falls under the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India, to ensure safety, preservation and restoration. The surrounding facilities have been upgraded to create an ambience worthy of the grandeur of this ancient marvel with lighting, signage and facilities for devotees and visitors. The lighting of the monument is designed to enhance the natural color of the stone along with the sculptural forms adorning all corners of the temple. The restoration has been undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India that commissioned Sheila Sri Prakash Indian architect and designer to lead the design.
=== Sanctum and the Sri-vimana ===
The sanctum is at the center of the western square. It is surrounded by massive walls that are divided into levels by sharply cut sculptures and pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. Each side of the sanctuary has a bay with iconography. The interior of the sanctum sanctorum hosts an image of the primary deity, Shiva, in the form of a huge stone linga. It is called Karuvarai, a Tamil word that means "womb chamber". This space is called garbha griha in other parts of India. Only priests are allowed to enter this inner-most chamber.
In the Dravidian style, the sanctum takes the form of a miniature vimana. It has the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a path around the sanctum for circumambulation (pradakshina). The entrance is highly decorated. The inside chamber is the sanctum sanctorum, which houses the brihad linga.
The main Vimana (Shikhara) is a massive 16 storeys tower of which 13 are tapering squares. It dominates the main quadrangle. It sits above a 30.18 metres (99.0 ft) sided square. The tower is elaborately articulated with Pilaster, piers (a raised structure), and attached columns which are placed rhythmically covering every surface of the vimana.
==== Deities and Natya Sastra dance mudras ====
The temple is dedicated to Shiva in the form of a huge linga, his abstract aniconic representation. It is 29 feet (8.7 m) high, occupying two storeys of the sanctum. It is one of the largest monolithic linga sculptures in India.
The Shaivism temple celebrates all major Hindu traditions by including the primary deities of the Vaishnavism and Shaktism tradition in the great mandapa of the main temple. The distribution of the deities is generally symmetric, except for the east entrance side which provide for the door and walkway. In addition to the main deities, each side provides for dvarapalas (guardians), and various other sculptures. The vestibule has three stone sculptures that is intricately carved, and mural paintings. The ground floor level sanctum walls have the following sculptures:
East wall: Lingodbhava, standing Shiva, Pashupata-murti, plus two dvarapalas flanking the pathway from ardha-mandapam
South wall: Bhikshatana, Virabhadra, Dakshinamurti, Kalantaka, Nataraja plus two dvarapalas
West wall: Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu), Lingodbhava, Chandrashekhara without prabhavali, Chandrashekhara with prabhavali, plus two dvarapalas
North wall: Ardhanarishvara (half Shiva, half Parvati), Gangadhara without Parvati, Pashupata-murti, Shiva-alingana-murti, plus two dvarapalas
On the second floor, Shiva's Tripurantaka form in different postures is depicted corresponding to these sculptures. Above these floors, the sri-vimana towers above in thirteen storeys (talas). Above these storeys is a single square block of granite weight 80 tons, and 7.77 metres (25.5 ft) side. On top of this block, at its corners are Nandi pairs each about 1.98 metres (6 ft 6 in) by 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in) in dimension. Above the center of this granite block rises the griva, the sikhara and the finial (stupi) of Tamil Hindu temple architecture. This stupi is 3.81 metres (12.5 ft) in height, and was originally covered with gold (no longer). The sikhara at the top is cupola-shaped and weighs 25 tons. Each storey of this tower is decorated with kutas and salas. The shrinking squares tower architecture of this temple differs from the tower at the Chola temple at Gangaikondasolisvaram, because this is straight in contrast to the latter which is curvilinear. The temple's sri-vimana magnitude has made it a towering landmark for the city.
The upper storey corridor wall of the aditala is carved with 81 of the 108 dance karanas – postures of Natya Sastra. This text is the basis of the Bharathanatyam, the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. The 27 unrepresented karanas are blank blocks of stone, and it is unclear why these were not carved. The 81 postures carved suggest the significance of this classical Indian dance form by early 11th century.
The garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth. This is moulded and 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) thick. It consists of upapitham and adhishthanam, respectively 140 cm and 360 cm thick.
=== Mandapa ===
The two mandapa, namely maha-mandapa and mukha-mandapa, are square plan structures axially aligned between the sanctum and the Nandi mandapa. The maha-mandapa has six pillars on each side. This too has artwork. The Vitankar and Rajaraja I bronze statues are here, but these were added much later. The maha-mandapa is flanked by two giant stone dvarapalas. It is linked to the mukha-mandapa by stairs. The entrance of the mukha-mandapa also has dvarapalas. Within the mandapa are eight small shrines for dikpalas, or guardian deities of each direction such as Agni, Indra, Varuna, Kubera and others. These were installed during the rule of Chola king Rajendra I.
Inscriptions indicate that this area also had other iconography from major Hindu traditions during the Chola era, but these are now missing. The original eight shrines included those for Surya (the sun god), Saptamatrikas (seven mothers), Ganesha, Murugan,
Jyeshtha, Chandra (the moon god), Chandeshvara and Bhairava. Similarly, in the western wall cella was a massive granite Ganesha built during Rajaraja I era, but who is now found in the tiruch-churru-maligai (southern veranda). Of the Shaktism tradition's seven mothers, only Varahi survives in a broken form. Her remnants are now found in a small modern era brick "Varahi shrine" in the southern side of the courtyard. The original version of the others along with their original Chola shrines are missing.
=== Murals ===
The temple has an underneath layer of Chola frescoes on the sanctum walls along the circumambulatory pathway. These frescoes which cover floor to ceiling, were discovered in 1931 by S. K. Govindasami of the Annamalai University. The painters used natural pigments and infused it into the wet limestone layer as it was setting in. The Chola frescoes were largely of Shaivism themes. These were restored in the 2000s. The total Chola fresco area is about 670 square metres (7,200 sq ft), of which about 112 square metres (1,210 sq ft) had been uncovered as of 2010 in a method that preserves both paintings, a technique developed by Archaeological Survey of India. The frescoes narrate Hindu mythology. According to Balasubrahmanyam, most frescoes are related to Shiva, but the 11th century Chola frescoes also show Vishnu, Durga and others, as well as scenes of Chola royalty, courtly and common life.
The later constructions, additions and modifications to the temple curtailed the amount of natural light inside the temple. The frescoes were thus photographed in a limited way and interpreted. According to Sriraman, a complete imaging with better photographic equipment suggests that these historic interpretations were incorrect. For example, a fresco that was previously interpreted as Dakshinamurti Shiva is actually a secular scene of a royal guru meditating under a banyan tree. On the tree are shown peacocks, birds, monkeys, squirrels and owls, plus a cobra. The animals and birds are shown as worried of the cobra, the ones closer to the snake are shown to be more worried. Other parts of the panel similarly show a court listening to a saint. Other show women in different dresses in different dance mudra.
Some of the paintings in the sanctum sanctorum and the walls in the passage had been damaged because of the soot that had deposited on them once upon a time. Owing to the continuous exposure to smoke and soot from the lamps and burning of camphor in the sanctum sanctorum over a period of centuries certain parts of the Chola paintings on the circumambulatory passage walls had been badly damaged. The Archaeological Survey of India, for the first time in the world, used its unique de-stucco process to restore 16 Nayak paintings, which were superimposed on 1000-year-old Chola frescoes. These 400-year-old paintings have been mounted on fibre glass boards, displayed at a separate pavilion.
=== Inscriptions ===
The temple walls have numerous inscriptions in Tamil and Grantha scripts. Many of these begin with customary Sanskrit and Tamil language historical introduction to the king who authorized it, and predominant number of them discuss gifts to the temple or temple personnel, in some cases residents of the city. The temple complex has sixty four inscriptions of Rajaraja Chola I, twenty nine inscriptions of Rajendra Chola I, one each of Vikrama Chola, Kulottunga I and Rajamahendra (Rajendra II), three of a probable Pandyan king, two of Nayaka rulers namely, Achyutappa Nayaka and Mallapa Nayaka.
=== Temple personnel ===
An inscription on the north wall of enclosure, dated 1011 CE, gives a detailed accounts of people employed and supported by the temple. The inscription gives their wages, roles and names. It includes over 600 names including those of priests, lamp lighters, washermen, tailors, jewelers, potters, carpenters, sacred parasol bearers, dance gurus, dancing girls, singers, male and female musicians, superintendents of performance artists, accountants among others. Their wages was in parcels of land, so their temple employment was likely part-time.
The temple employed devadasis who were dancers and singers of devotional hymns. Among its numerous inscriptions are frequent gifts that state, "to provide for worship, for food to assembly of sannyasis (monks or ascetics) and for repairs". According to George Michell, the Thanjavur temple was a major charity institution in its history. It provides free meal for pilgrims, devotees and wayfarers on a daily basis. On the days of Hindu festivals, these meals were elaborate and when brahmins were particularly invited and fed.
== Millennium commemoration ==
Built in the year 1010 CE by Chola emperor Rajaraja I in Thanjavur, the temple is popularly known as the Big Temple. It turned 1,000 years old in September 2010. To celebrate the 1000th year of the grand structure, the state government and the town held many cultural events. It was to recall the 275th day of his 25th regal year (1010 CE) when Rajaraja I (985–1014 CE) handed over a gold-plated kalasam (copper pot or finial) for the final consecration to crown the vimana, the 59.82-metre tall tower above the sanctum.
=== Bharatanatyam Yajna ===
To mark the occasion, the state government organised a Bharatanatyam Yajna, classical dance show under noted dancer Padma Subramaniam. It was jointly organised by the Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India (ABHAI) and the Brhan Natyanjali Trust, Thanjavur. To mark the 1000th anniversary of the building, 1,000 dancers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Singapore, Malaysia and the US danced in concert to the recorded 11 verses of divine music Thiruvisaippa (ninth volume of Thirumurai) composed by Karuvur deva (the guru of Rajaraja). The small town turned into a cultural hub for two days beginning 26 September 2010 as street performers and dancers performed throughout the town.
=== Commemorative stamps and coins ===
On 26 September 2010 (Big Temple's fifth day of millennium celebrations), as a recognition of Big Temple's contribution to the country's cultural, architectural, epigraphical history, a special ₹ 5 postage stamp featuring the 66 metres (216 ft) tall giant Raja Gopuram was released by India Post.
The Reserve Bank of India commemorated the event by releasing a ₹ 5 coin with the model of temple embossed on it. A Raja, Cabinet Minister of Communications and Information Technology released the esteemed Brihadisvara temple special stamp, the first of which was received by G K Vasan, Cabinet Minister of Shipping.
Mumbai Mint issued Rs 1,000 Commemorative Coin with the same picture as on the Rs 5 coin. It was the first 1,000 Rupees coin to be released in the Republic of India coinage. This coin was a Non Circulative Legal Tender (NCLT).
On 1 April 1954, the Reserve Bank of India released a ₹ 1,000 currency note featuring a panoramic view of the Brihadeeswar temple marking its cultural heritage and significance. In 1975, the then government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi demonetised all ₹ 1,000 currency notes in an effort to curtail black money. These notes are now popular among collectors.
In 2010, the then Tamil Nadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi renamed Semmai Rice, a type of high productivity paddy variant, as Raja Rajan-1,000 to mark the millennial year of the constructor of the temple, Rajaraja Chola.
== Reception ==
The temple "testifies the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting". The temple finds mention in many of the contemporary works of the period like Muvar Ula and Kalingathuparani. According to Chatterjee, the Tamil architecture attained its supreme form of expression in the temple and it successor, the Brihadisvara Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram. The temple has been declared as a heritage monument by the Government of India and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India as a protected monument. The temple is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu.
The temple was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with the Brihadeeswara Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram and Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram that are referred as the Great Living Chola Temples. These three temples have similarities, but each has unique design and sculptural elements. All of the three temples were built by the Cholas between the 10th and 12th centuries CE and they have continued to be supported and used by Hindus. The temples are classified as "Great Living" as the temples are active in cultural, pilgrimage and worship practises in modern times.
=== Cultural events ===
The Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur is the site of annual dance festivals around February, around the Mahashivratri. Major classical Indian dance form artists, as well as regional teams, perform their repertoire at this Brahan Natyanjali festival over 10 days.
=== Car festival ===
The Temple car was rolled out on its trial run from opposite to Sri Ramar temple on 20 April 2015 witnessed by a large number of people. Nine days later, the maiden procession of the temple car was held. This was the first such procession in this temple held in the past hundred years, according to news reports.
=== Novels ===
Kalki Krishnamurthy, a renowned Tamil novelist, has written a historical novel named Ponniyin Selvan, based on the life of Rajaraja. Balakumaran, another Tamil author has written a novel named Udaiyar themed on the life of Rajaraja I and the construction of the temple.
== Administration ==
The temple is currently administered and managed by Babaji Bhonsle, the head of the Thanjavur Maratha royal family. He serves as the hereditary trustee of the palace Devasthanam which continues to manage 88 temples in the ertswhile Tanjore region including the Brihadeeswara temple. Some Tamil nationalists groups have been unsuccessfully petitioning the Tamil Nadu government to revoke these rights as he is not of Chola or Tamil lineage. According to one of the protesters, who also happens to be the coordinator of the Big Temple Rights Retrieval Committee, Babaji Bhonsle is also not the legal heir of the Maratha kings of Thanjavur.
== Gallery ==
The temple features many sculptures, reliefs and murals: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Rossum#Awards_and_nominations | Emmy Rossum#Awards and nominations | Emmanuelle Grey Rossum (born September 12, 1986) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. The accolades she’s received include a Saturn Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award, an Independent Spirit Award, and two Critics' Choice Television Awards.
Born and raised in New York City, Rossum began professionally performing as a child with the Metropolitan Opera. Early on-screen roles included Genius (1999), Songcatcher (2000), Passionada (2002), and Nola (2003). At sixteen, she was cast in her breakthrough role in Mystic River (2003). Rossum starred in the 2004 sci-fi film The Day After Tomorrow, and she received critical acclaim for her performance in the leading role of Christine Daaé in the film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (2004). She acted in the films Poseidon (2006), Dragonball: Evolution (2009), Inside (2011), Beautiful Creatures (2013), Comet (2014), You're Not You (2014), and Cold Pursuit (2019).
In television, Rossum is best known for her portrayal of Fiona Gallagher in the television series Shameless (2011–2019). Since the mid-2010s, she has directed and produced television, including the 2022 Peacock series Angelyne in which she also stars.
In 2007, Rossum released her debut album, Inside Out. She released a Christmas EP the same year, titled Carol of the Bells. In 2013, she released a follow-up album called Sentimental Journey.
== Early life ==
Emmanuelle Grey Rossum was born on September 12, 1986, in New York City. She is the only child of Cheryl Rossum, a single mother who worked as a corporate photographer. Her parents separated while her mother was pregnant, and as of 2007, she had met her father only twice.
Rossum's mother is of Russian Jewish descent, and her father is Protestant of English and Dutch ancestry. Rossum identifies as Jewish and has stated that her mother instilled in her the "Jewish code of ethics and morals". She was named for her maternal great-grandfather, whose first name was Emanuel, using the feminine spelling.
Upon singing "Happy Birthday" in all 12 keys, Rossum was welcomed to join the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus by chorus director Elena Doria at age seven. Over the course of five years she sang onstage with the chorus and had the chance to perform with singers such as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. For anywhere from $5 to $10 a night, Rossum sang in six languages in 20 operas, including La bohème, Turandot, a Carnegie Hall presentation of La damnation de Faust, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She also worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen.
An increasing interest in pursuing acting led to taking classes with Flo Salant Greenberg of The New Actors Workshop in New York City. She has also worked with acting coach Terry Knickerbocker.
Rossum attended the Spence School, a private school in Manhattan, before dropping out to pursue career opportunities. She received her high school diploma at 15 years old via online-extension courses offered by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). She then enrolled at Columbia University, studying French, art history and philosophy.
== Career ==
=== Acting ===
Rossum's television debut was in August 1997, as the original Abigail Williams in the daytime soap opera As the World Turns. She also had a guest role as Caroline Beels in Snoops. Rossum was nominated for a Young Artist Award in 1999 for Best Performance in a TV movie for her work in the Disney Channel Original Movie Genius. She then portrayed a young Audrey Hepburn in the ABC television film The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000).
Rossum made her film debut at 13, in 2000's Songcatcher, as Deladis Slocumb, an Appalachian orphan. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, the film won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. For her role, Rossum received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance and also had the opportunity to sing a duet with Dolly Parton on the Songcatcher soundtrack. Variety magazine named Rossum as "One of the Ten to Watch" in 2000.
In Nola (2003), Rossum played the title character, an aspiring songwriter. In her first major studio film, Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), Rossum starred as Katie Markum, the ill-fated daughter of small-business owner Jimmy Markum, played by Sean Penn.
Rossum had a breakthrough role as Laura Chapman in the sci-fi-disaster film The Day After Tomorrow (2004). She later returned to New York, where she was the last to audition, in full costume and make-up, for the role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera (2004), the onscreen adaptation of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name. After having nearly missed the audition due to a family engagement, Rossum was asked to audition in person for Lloyd Webber at his home in New York. For her performance, Rossum received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy. She also received a Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actress, along with a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
In 2006, Rossum appeared in Poseidon, Wolfgang Petersen's remake of the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. She played Jennifer Ramsey, the daughter of Kurt Russell's character. Rossum described the character as being proactive and strong in all situations, rather than a damsel in distress. Rossum also appeared as Juliet Capulet in a 2006 Williamstown Theatre Festival production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In early 2009, Rossum appeared in the poorly received Dragonball Evolution. Her next big screen venture was the indie Dare, which was an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. In November 2009, Rossum appeared in Broadway's 24 Hour Plays in which actors, writers, and directors collaborate to produce, and perform six one-act plays within 24 hours to benefit the Urban Arts Partnership. Rossum appeared in Warren Leight's "Daily Bread", directed by Lucie Tiberghien.
In December 2009, Rossum joined the cast of the Showtime dramedy series Shameless, based on the British series of the same title. The series co-stars William H. Macy. Rossum plays the oldest sister of a large, motherless family, functioning as a guardian/surrogate mother to her five younger siblings. The series has received consistent acclaim, with Rossum's performance being universally praised. She made her directorial debut with episode four of season seven, "I Am a Storm." In December 2016, Rossum was in a contract dispute with the show's producers over her desire for a salary equal to that of co-star Macy and back pay for the differential over seven seasons, which was resolved later that month. Following this news, Shameless was renewed for its eighth season beginning production in 2017. In August 2018, Rossum announced her departure from Shameless after nine seasons.
In mid-2011, Rossum starred in D. J. Caruso's social film, Inside; the online film aired in several segments, incorporating multiple social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The following year, Rossum played Ridley, a siren Caster in Beautiful Creatures (2013), based on the young adult fantasy novel of the same name. Although the film was released to mixed reviews, Rossum's performance was praised by critics and fans. She also starred in the drama You're Not You as Bec, an inexperienced caregiver who looks after and befriends Kate (Hilary Swank), who suffers from the degenerative disease ALS. By June 2013, Rossum was cast as the female lead opposite Justin Long in the independent romantic comedy Comet, which was directed by Sam Esmail, to whom she later became engaged. Afterward she appeared in the film Before I Disappear (2014), based on the Academy Award-winning short film Curfew.
In 2019, it was announced that Rossum would star in Angelyne, a drama series co-produced by her husband and longtime collaborator Sam Esmail, for Peacock, the new streaming service by NBC. The limited series was her first lead role after Shameless and was based on The Hollywood Reporter senior writer Gary Baum's investigative feature on the LA billboard model Angelyne.
In 2024, Rossum starred alongside Zoë Winters in an Off-Broadway staging of Amy Berryman's play Walden, directed by Whitney White. The play was the final production by Second Stage Theater in the Tony Kiser Theater.
=== Music ===
After her role in The Phantom of the Opera, Rossum was offered several deals to record Classical music albums, but refused, opting to create an album of contemporary, more mainstream music. She explained it by feeling frustrated because of the lack of "emotional honesty" in music played in radios. Regarding the sound and style of her music, she said, "It's pop music, but not Britney Spears bubblegum pop. I want it to have a David Gray or Annie Lennox feel. I've been spending up to 12 hours a day in the studio." Rossum cites Sarah McLachlan, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Faith Hill as some of her influences.
Rossum's album Inside Out was produced by Stuart Brawley. It was released on October 23, 2007, and peaked at 199 in the U.S. Billboard charts. For the promotion of the record, Geffen Records featured the song, "Slow Me Down," as part of the second volume of Hollywood Records' Girl Next compilation album, which was released on July 10, 2007. Later that year, she was chosen as Yahoo's "Who's Next" artist of the month and a "One to Watch" by MSN. In December 2007, Rossum released three Christmas songs on the EP Carol of the Bells. It was also this year that Rossum sang the national anthem at the Save Mart 350 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway and performed at the first ever Perez Hilton Presents event at the El Rey Theatre in Hollywood. On October 27, 2007, Rossum again sang the national anthem at the New Jersey Devils's first home game of the 2007–08 NHL season, which was also the first game the team played in the newly constructed Prudential Center. She also performed at the Hollywood Christmas Celebration at the Grove in Los Angeles and the Lighting of the Great Tree in Atlanta, Georgia.
She joined Counting Crows, Augustana, and Michael Franti & Spearhead as a "special guest" for select performances of the "Traveling Circus and Medicine Show" tour in early 2009.
In 2010, Rossum sang a song called "Cruel One" on singer Alex Band's debut solo album We've All Been There. On the track she sings with Band, and Chantal Kreviazuk.
Rossum released the Warner Bros. Records album Sentimental Journey on January 29, 2013. Unlike Inside Out on which Rossum wrote the songs herself, the album is a collection of covers of songs from the 1920s to 1960s. Sentimental Journey peaked at 92 on the U.S. Billboard charts, and number one in Jazz Albums.
Rossum describes herself as a lyric soprano, while saying her voice is still developing. She continues to train vocally at ZajacStudio, a studio run by soprano Joann C. Zajac.
== Charity work and advocacy ==
Rossum was a YouthAIDS ambassador. In 2008, she was signed as the spokesperson for Pinkitude, an apparel line inspired by the Pink Panther character, to help raise breast cancer awareness. In 2010, she appeared in public service announcements for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund. She also works with Global Green USA to raise money for environmental protection and awareness of ecological issues. In 2015, Rossum campaigned with the Best Friends Animal Society to encourage animal adoption.
On May 26, 2009, Rossum attended a march in West Hollywood California protesting the California Supreme Court's ruling to uphold Proposition 8.
In February 2024, Rossum was one of 400 celebrities who signed an open letter by Creative Community for Peace denouncing attempts to remove Israel from Eurovision 2024 amid the Gaza war.
== Personal life ==
Rossum married Justin Siegel in February 2008, although they publicly presented themselves as in an unmarried relationship. 19 months later, in September 2009, he filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized on December 28, 2010.
Rossum dated Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz from 2009 to 2010.
In 2013, Rossum began dating writer/director Sam Esmail. They got engaged two years later, in August 2015. They married on May 29, 2017, at the Central Synagogue in New York City. The couple has two children: a daughter, born May 2021, and a son, born April 2023.
Rossum has celiac disease and predominantly hyperactive ADHD and has been on medication for the latter since childhood.
The designer Vera Wang was married to Rossum's cousin, investor and real-estate developer Arthur P. Becker from 1989 to 2012.
Rossum has described herself as "a spiritual person, but not especially religious."
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
== Awards and nominations ==
== Discography ==
=== Albums / EPs ===
=== Singles ===
=== Soundtrack appearances ===
=== Music videos === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Schrute | Dwight Schrute | Dwight Kurt Schrute III () is a character on the American television series The Office and is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Dwight is a salesman and assistant to Michael Scott, at the fictional paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin, before his promotions in later seasons of the show. He also runs a bed and breakfast at Schrute Farms, is a beet plantation owner, and in Season 7, becomes the owner of the business park in which Dunder Mifflin is located.
Throughout the series, Dwight repeatedly attempts to become regional manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin by serving dutifully under the regional manager character Michael Scott.
The character is based on Gareth Keenan from the original British version of the show, who was played by actor Mackenzie Crook. Notably, Dwight is the only character who has both appeared and had dialogue in every episode of the series.
Actor Rainn Wilson received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of the character.
== Casting ==
Dwight Schrute is portrayed by American actor Rainn Wilson. Other actors that auditioned for the part were Seth Rogen, Matt Besser, Judah Friedlander and Patton Oswalt.
All original series characters from the UK version of The Office were adapted for the US version of the show. Wilson watched every episode of the original British series, and was a fan before he auditioned for the U.S. version. Wilson had originally auditioned for Michael Scott, a performance he described as a "terrible Gervais impersonation". However, the casting directors liked his audition as Dwight much better and hired him for the role. Wilson based Dwight's hairstyle on the style he himself had when at the age of sixteen. In an interview, he said that he went to a barber to get "the worst haircut possible".
== Character information ==
When the series begins, Dwight Schrute is a competent salesman at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. Dwight formally holds the title of "Assistant to the Regional Manager" but constantly refers to himself as "Assistant Regional Manager", attempting to elevate himself to second-in-command to branch manager Michael Scott. Dwight craves authority over his co-workers and relishes any minor task that Michael or anyone else will give him.
Although Dwight acts superior to many individuals and is often good in crisis, he is shown to actually be quite gullible, ignorant, and naive. For this reason, he is easily tricked and pranked by his coworker Jim Halpert.
Dwight often speaks in a halting, intense manner, even in casual conversations. At the office, his most recurring business wear is a mustard-colored, short-sleeved shirt with a dark necktie and a brown suit jacket. He often uses one-upmanship to better himself over his peers, such as boasting about how he trains specific parts of his body. Dwight will sometimes engage in jokes and games in attempts to please Michael, but often fails to do so because of Michael's perception of himself as the jokester of the workplace.
Dwight is a former volunteer sheriff deputy, but had had to step down after breaking his pledge to help his boss, Michael, illegally pass a drug test by giving him his urine in the episode "Drug Testing." He is also a notary public; this creates difficulties when Angela desires to send him a notarized letter regarding their break-up. He lives on his family's beet farm alongside his cousin, Mose (played by producer/writer Michael Schur). Dwight has affinities for paintball, ping pong, survivalism, Gōjū-ryū karate and weapons.
Dwight also shows affinity for various science fiction and fantasy works; notably Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
In an episode commentary on the season 1 DVD, Wilson refers to Dwight as a "fascist nerd." In a feature on the season 3 DVD, Wilson describes Dwight as "someone who does not hate the system but has a deep and abiding love for it".
=== Family and childhood ===
In "Lecture Circuit", Dwight claims to remember his own birth, and his father delivering him from the womb, and his mother biting off her umbilical cord. In "Grief Counseling", Dwight states that he was born a twin, but he "resorbed" his twin while still in his mother's womb (this occurrence is called twin embolization syndrome), causing him to believe that he now has "the strength of a grown man and a little baby". He also claims to have been born weighing 13 lb 5 oz (6.0 kg), rendering his mother incapable of walking for three months and two days, and in "Baby Shower", he claims to have performed his own circumcision.
Little is known about Dwight's parents, except that his father used to take him hunting, cheated in games, made his siblings and him biscuits for breakfast every morning, and that he battled obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. It is known that his father is named Dwight Schrute II and his mother is named Hedda Schrute.
In regards to aspects of his upbringing, Dwight mentions that he was not introduced to the concept of monotheism until he began a relationship with Angela, he believed that his mother was his father for the first five years of his life (he thought his wet nurse was his mother), and that in the Schrute family "the youngest child raises the others".
Dwight lives in a nine-bedroom, one-bathroom farmhouse (with the single bathroom located under the porch), as revealed in "Office Olympics" on his family's 60-acre (24 ha) beet farm with his cousin Mose. The cousins sell beets to local stores, restaurants, and roadside beet stands. Dwight uses part of his farm to grow hemp. Dwight and Mose have also turned Schrute Farms into a ramshackle bed and breakfast.
Dwight is established as being Pennsylvania Dutch along with having more recent German heritage and family (meaning Dwight has German relatives who were not Pennsylvania Dutch, a North American ethnic group that mainly descend from German settlers), such as a German uncle named Gunther. According to one of Dwight's web logs on NBC.com's "Schrute-Space", Gunther, a goat farmer, who fled the Allied invasion of Germany and married a Finnish woman, with whom he had 17 children. He also had an Uncle Girt, who revealed that the Schrute family has an ongoing hatred of Harry S. Truman, because they were staunch supporters of Thomas Dewey.
In another blog post, he mentions a cousin named Heindl, who has received numerous injuries and infections from an attack by a small dog.
In a series of running gags, both sides of Dwight's family have been stated to be connected to the Nazi Party and other Nazi-adjacent groups. One of his grandfathers, "Grandpa Manheim", is stated by Dwight in a floating head interview to have been a former member of the Nazi Party who moved to Argentina after World War II. In the talking head, Dwight states this grandfather is 103 years old and mentions that when he attempted to visit his grandfather in Argentina, his travelling visa was protested by the Shoah Foundation, hinting at Grandpa Manheim's involvement in the Holocaust. Dwight's other grandfather is explained by Dwight to have been a member of the German American Bund in the Season 9 episode "Andy's Ancestry", where Dwight and the rest of Dunder Mifflin are pranked by Nellie about their ancestry.
Dwight has two younger siblings named Jeb and Fannie and a nephew named Cameron, who is Fannie's son. Dwight has also mentioned having 65 (likely first) cousins. Aside from Mose, the only other one of Dwight's cousins to physically appear in the show is Zeke, who is Mose's brother.
== Interests ==
Dwight is trained in the art of surveillance and served as a volunteer [sheriff]'s deputy in Lackawanna County. He has a black belt in Gōjū-ryū karate, and is the senpai at his dojo. Dwight is a pop culture and sci-fi enthusiast. In the episode "The Fire", he mentioned the movie The Crow as being his favorite film. He hints at belief in fictional creatures such as androids, zombies and vampires. He enjoys playing table tennis, and states that many of his heroes are table tennis players. His musical tastes vary, but heavy metal seems to be recurring.
He plays guitar and recorder, and sings. He is fascinated with cars; he usually checks a car's suspension, especially muscle cars. His technological talents are limited, but he shows a passion for the online role-playing game Second Life. He also shows an interest in trains. In "Todd Packer", it is revealed that Dwight does not know who Justin Bieber is, asking Jim "Who is Justice Beaver?", leaving Jim to answer "A crime-fighting beaver."
Dwight owns an impressive array of weaponry. In addition to Laser Tag and paintball equipment, he has a crossbow range at his farm ("Office Olympics") and, when he was named official Security Supervisor of the Scranton branch, hinted that he might bring a bo staff to work. He maintained a hidden arsenal of weapons around the office, including pepper spray, nunchucks, throwing stars, a stun gun, a boomerang, handcuffs, a nightstick, a pair of brass knuckles and a Chinese sword, all of which were confiscated by Toby.
Dwight is vocal about his views on justice, which is reflected in his television viewing habits, as he enjoys watching and has great admiration for Judge Judy, as well as Vic Mackey on The Shield. In "The Negotiation", Roy Anderson attacks Jim, because he kissed Roy's fiancee, Pam, but Dwight intercepts the attack with pepper spray. Throughout the episode, Jim attempts to show his appreciation, but Dwight refuses to accept his gifts, simply stating "Citizens do not accept prizes for being citizens". In "Drug Testing", Dwight finds half of a joint in the parking lot, which incites him to carry out a severe, and thorough, investigation. When he discovers that Michael might have been exposed to illegal drugs at a concert, he substitutes his own urine during the mandatory drug test. Dwight then resigns from his volunteer position at the Sheriff's Department, because he feels that he is no longer worthy of working there. In "Frame Toby", Dwight states that he is skilled at framing people, as well as animals, revealing that he once framed a raccoon for opening a Christmas gift, and a bear for eating out of the garbage, although he had made it obvious to the police that he wanted Toby to be imprisoned. In the episode "Women's Appreciation", he is quoted as saying "Better a thousand innocent men are locked up than one guilty man roam free."
In "Conflict Resolution", Dwight states that he does not like to smile, as showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates, and that whenever someone smiles at him, "all [he] sees is a chimpanzee begging for its life." Dwight owns many exotic pets including piranhas, frogs, an arctic wolf, a raccoon, a porcupine named Henrietta, and an opossum, although the wolf escaped due to poor restraints and he flushed his piranhas down the toilet. He also has an interest in bears, and is ready to debate the habits and characteristics of different species of bears. He also has expressed a surprisingly large affection towards baby otters, as shown in the cold opening of "Whistleblower".
In "Costume Contest", Dwight claims to be able to sit on a fence, and that he is even able to sleep on one, stating that "The trick is to do it face down, with the post in your mouth".
It is revealed in the "Suit Warehouse" episode that as a child Dwight collected cat feces.
== Relationships ==
In "Drug Testing", Dwight states that he likes his co-workers, "with four exceptions", leaving it up to the audience to make educated guesses about whom these four exceptions are.
=== Angela Martin ===
Towards the middle of season 2, Dwight develops a secret relationship with Angela Martin. Pam begins to suspect a relationship between the two, in "E-mail Surveillance", by observing their interactions, suspicions that are strengthened in "The Injury" and "Conflict Resolution", and confirmed by "Traveling Salesmen", during which Angela confides in Pam about her relationship, using code names. In "Michael's Birthday", Ryan discovers the relationship between the two when he overhears a coded conversation between them in the kitchen, while in "The Negotiation" Jim discovers the relationship while coming out of the office bathroom after quitting time, to find Dwight and Angela kissing (he then tells the documentary crew that, with his silence, the debt he feels to Dwight is repaid).
In the episode "Fun Run", Angela asks Dwight to care for her sick cat, Sprinkles. Instead of caring for the feline, Dwight feels he should kill it as a waste of resources, and then tells Angela Sprinkles was dead when he arrived. When he lets the truth slip out shortly after, Angela terminates their relationship. Jim, on a visit to Dwight's beet farm, finds Dwight sitting alone at night, contemplating Angela's cherub figurine and moaning in anguish.
In the fourth season finale "Goodbye, Toby", Dwight is obviously hurt when Angela's boyfriend, Andy, proposes to her. However, in the final scene of the episode, Phyllis catches Dwight having sex with Angela in the office.
In the fifth season premiere, "Weight Loss", Dwight and Angela have resumed a covert relationship, using a storage room in the warehouse to have sex. In "Crime Aid", Andy and Angela set a date for their wedding. After some advice from Phyllis, Dwight gives Angela an ultimatum: call off the engagement, or he will no longer be with her. She chooses to marry Andy. When Andy learns about Angela's affair with Dwight, a duel between Dwight and Andy takes place, but both realize that Angela has been lying to them and break up with her. For quite some time afterwards, Dwight and Angela avoid each other.
In the season 6 episode "The Delivery", Dwight, witnessing Jim and Pam talk to customers about their unborn child, decides that he wants a child, and asks Angela to be the mother. They sign an elaborate contract, including eating guidelines for Angela to follow when she is pregnant, and how the baby will be raised. While Angela is excited by the reconciliation, Dwight doesn't share her romantic feelings. When Dwight develops an interest in Pam's friend Isabel, he tells Angela to forget about the contract; this infuriates Angela, and she sues him in small-claims court. When an arbitrator tells them that the contract is valid and would involve a $30,000 settlement (because it would be illegal to force Dwight and Angela to procreate), Dwight cuts a deal with Angela for five sessions of sex. He then proceeds to abuse his genitals in an effort to sterilize himself and fends off Angela's efforts to be romantic.
In season 7, after Angela meets a state senator whom she finds much more personable than Dwight, she voids the pact in "WUPHF.com".
In "Jury Duty", it is revealed that, a month before her wedding to the state senator, Robert Lipton, Dwight and Angela had sex, as Robert was not fulfilling Angela's sexual needs, so Dwight believes that he is the baby's biological father. In "New Guys", it is revealed that he is not the father.
In season 9, they become close again first when Dwight finds out that Robert is cheating on Angela with Oscar, and later in "Moving On" when Angela helps him take care of his elderly aunt. They share a kiss, but afterwards both say that she should remain faithful to her husband. After inheriting his aunt's beet farm, Dwight starts a relationship with neighboring Brussels sprout farmer Esther Bruegger (Nora Kirkpatrick). When Dwight seems to be getting serious with Esther and the Senator has publicly dumped Angela, Angela breaks down and admits to Oscar Martinez that she still loves Dwight. On the day that he intends to ask Esther to marry him, Dwight instead proposes to Angela. She says yes, finally admitting that he is the father of her son Phillip ("A.A.R.M.").
=== Michael Scott ===
Dwight holds a high level of respect for Michael, viewing him as a model for success, and often participating with Michael's ill-conceived schemes. However, he betrays Michael numerous times, such as when he goes over Michael's head to vie for the manager's job in "The Coup". Despite this, Michael frequently dismisses Dwight and often appears embarrassed by his antics; for much of the series, he also refuses to promote Dwight from "Assistant to the Regional Manager" to "Assistant Regional Manager". In later seasons, Dwight was shown to return the favor, such as Dwight telling Michael that he would have a better career if he'd taken a job at Home Depot. Several times throughout the series, however, it is revealed that Michael does care about Dwight's feelings, and the two sometimes share bonding moments. In "Training Day", Dwight is unhappy when the open branch manager position goes to Deangelo Vickers, and when he learns that Michael did not recommend him for the job, as he led him to believe, he snubs Michael and goes to a meeting Vickers has called, leaving Michael standing outside, by himself. In "Goodbye, Michael", Dwight is still frustrated with Michael, but his hostility turns into heartfelt appreciation as Michael hands him the recommendation letter. At first, the letter does not seem to impress him, but, as he reads through, he realizes that Michael really does respect him. They are later seen engaging in a friendly paintball fight, and Dwight's loyalty to Michael is once again restored. After Michael left, Dwight did not have the same respect for Deangelo and Andy that Dwight previously had for Michael, implying that Dwight truly respects and values Michael. In a deleted scene from "Finale", Dwight stated that Michael sent him his "World's Best Boss" mug when he became Regional Manager.
In the episode "Finale", as Jim explains that the "Bestest [sic] Mensch" (best man) in Dwight's wedding must be older than him, Dwight is disappointed. The camera then pans over to reveal that Michael returned, much to Dwight's surprise and delight, and Jim has arranged for him to fill in as best man. Michael watches as his "family" is sitting together and is last seen dancing with Dwight.
=== Jim Halpert ===
Dwight is frequently the victim of practical jokes by co-workers Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly, including putting his desk supplies in the snack machine, putting his stapler into Jello, moving his desk into the men's restroom, and replacing Dwight's desk with a breakway giftwrap replica, although it appears that he remains oblivious to Pam's involvement; these pranks tend to exploit his stubborn and gullible nature. Dwight's frustration with Jim's pranks reaches a crisis point in "Conflict Resolution", when Dwight threatens to quit unless Jim is transferred. Dwight occasionally pulls successful pranks on Jim in turn, most prominently in "Classy Christmas" where he subjects Jim to a barrage of pranks revolving around snowballs. Professionally, Dwight wins the 2005 Salesman of the Year Award, although, this is likely due to, at least in part, his theft of Jim's largest client.
During "Initiation", Dwight tells Ryan he regrets that he and Jim never got along. In "Traveling Salesmen", Dwight quits and hugs Jim as a farewell which surprises Jim as he does not know that Dwight quit. Later, Jim is irritated when Andy replaces Dwight and even says that he misses Dwight. Earlier in the same episode, Jim and Dwight make an incredibly efficient sales team, functioning well as a duo and thinking similarly in their tactics. The two were paired together when they began as traveling salesmen at the company. In "Company Picnic" the two embrace in celebration after Dwight sets Jim up to score the final point in volleyball. Dwight plans to demote Jim from the Assistant Regional Manager spot, and make him miserable, during "The Job".
Dwight's relationship with Jim mellows somewhat in later seasons, and they, at times, cooperate effectively on sales calls or running the office in Michael's absence, sometimes even socializing together. Jim often supports Dwight when he is genuinely hurt or in danger (such as in "Money" and "Last Day in Florida") and occasionally compliments his successes (such as in "Dwight K. Schrute, (Acting) Manager"). In "The Negotiation", Dwight saves Jim from Roy Anderson who was attempting to punch Jim by pepper spraying Roy. However, continually refuses Jim's gestures of appreciation, stating that he only acted in the line of duty. However, when Jim is promoted to co-manager, Dwight's enmity returns to full force, and he conducts an ongoing campaign to depose Jim, who eventually resumes his old job as sales representative in "Manager and Salesman".
In the final episode of the series, "Finale", Dwight asks Jim to be the best man at his wedding. Jim throws Dwight a commendable bachelor party rife with surprises (which Jim refers to as "guten pranken"). Before the wedding Jim informs Dwight that, under Schrute tradition, he is not allowed to be best man as he is younger than him. Jim surprises him with the arrival of Michael Scott. The wedding proceeds in Schrute tradition with Michael as Dwight's new best man. Later in the episode Jim and Pam tell Dwight they are quitting so Jim can rejoin his sports marketing firm now based in Austin, but Dwight fires them instead so he can give them hefty severance packages.
=== Pam Beesly ===
Although she is often involved in Jim's pranks on Dwight, Dwight has, at certain times, displayed a curious sense of protectiveness towards her. In "Back from Vacation" and "Diwali", he comforts a tearful Pam, and in "China", he secretly allows Pam to save face when she feels vulnerable about her job abilities. In "The Job", Dwight offers Pam the position of "Secret Assistant to the Regional Manager", and following Jim's advice concerning any offers from Dwight to be involved in something secret, she accepts. Though Jim presumably meant this as the opening move of a prank, Pam instead uses it as a bonding opportunity between her and Dwight.
The two briefly become best friends while he suffers a concussion in the season 2 episode "The Injury". In the season 6 episode "The Delivery", Dwight shows more signs of his begrudging friendship with Jim and Pam during Pam's pregnancy. In the episode, he is sent to the Halperts' house to retrieve Pam's iPod, while they are at the hospital. Instead of finding the iPod and bringing it back to her, Dwight completely rebuilds and repaints their kitchen, after discovering mold. He also advises Pam on how to keep her daughter, Cece, from crying, during "Viewing Party", by relating his child rearing experiences. Dwight's odd friendship with Pam is explored again in "Doomsday". At this point, Pam is the only one in the office who is able to understand Dwight's inner feelings, as she successfully convinces him to deactivate his doomsday machine. It is implied at the end of the episode that Dwight, despite his outward contempt for his co-workers, feels a sense of responsibility (and possibly even affection) towards them.
In a talking-head interview, in the episode "Tallahassee", Dwight talks about how first impressions last forever. He recalls that, when he first met Pam, she said something to him that "slightly rubbed [him] the wrong way", and while he has since loved working with her, even stating that she is wonderful, due to that first impression, he hates her. In the episode "The Whale", Dwight openly tells Pam that he considers her his friend. In the final episode of the series, Dwight refers to Pam as his "best friend", and he ensures that she and Jim get a large severance as they leave Dunder Mifflin.
=== Andy Bernard ===
As a result of the Scranton-Stamford merger, Dwight loses his number two position to Jim and engages in an ongoing battle with new salesman Andy Bernard, to gain Michael's favor for "third-in-command". The struggle comes to a climax in "Traveling Salesmen". In Season 4, Andy and Dwight are shown to work well together as a sales team, but Andy's successful pursuit of Angela, after she broke up with Dwight, was irritating to him. When Andy gets engaged to Angela, Dwight is greatly upset by this, and embarks on an affair with her. This affair culminates in a short-lived fight between Andy and Dwight, when they discover Angela has lied to both of them, about not having had sex with the other. However, by the end of the fifth season, Andy and Dwight become friends, and discover they both share a mutual interest in music and hunting.
=== Ryan Howard ===
In the beginning of the series, Dwight feels threatened by Ryan Howard, to whom Michael often assigns personal tasks. He continues to resent Ryan, throughout the second season, often addressing him as "Temp", even after Ryan takes over Jim's position. In the beginning of season 2, Dwight's friendship with Michael was slightly torn during "The Fire", when Michael seems to be viewing Ryan more favorably than Dwight, and in "Performance Review", in which Michael must evaluate Ryan. In "Initiation", Dwight decides to assist Ryan, during his first sales call, although the two get off to a rough start when Dwight hazes him in a series of bizarre initiation rituals. Soon afterwards, Dwight takes Ryan on his first meeting, which ends in disaster. Ryan then eggs the potential customer's building out of spite, and Dwight develops some respect for him.
During season 4, Dwight, along with Michael, comes to Ryan's rescue when they visit him in New York City, when he gets into a scuffle.
Ryan and Dwight later team up again in season 6, when Dwight plans to sabotage Jim's occupation, as branch co-manager.
=== Romantic relationships ===
A subtle running joke throughout the series is Dwight's surprising success with attractive women, with Michael often failing to "hook up" at the same time. Despite Dwight's unusual appearance and mannerisms, he manages to attract women, who usually develop stronger feelings for him than vice versa. Michael has even pointed out how socially weird Dwight is acting, only for the woman to brush it off. In "Dinner Party", he arrives with a date to Michael’s house, the date being his former babysitter. In "Night Out", Dwight hooks up with a female basketball player, while Michael fails in his attempts with other women. As Michael and Dwight leave the club, the woman calls out for Dwight to call her, which he says to Michael that he will not do. In "Niagara", Michael and Dwight compete for the attention of Pam's best friend, Isabel. When Dwight starts talking about his farm, Michael tries to explain that no one can connect with his experiences as farmer, only for Isabel to become interested in Dwight's horses. Dwight ultimately manages to have sex with her, and she begins to develop deeper feelings for him which he does not return, although it is finally hinted in "The Delivery" that Dwight might have more intimate feelings for her than he originally let on. They meet again at the bar in "Happy Hour", and bond further, kissing at the end of the episode. In season 9, he begins to date an attractive neighboring farmer named Esther (Nora Kirkpatrick). He ultimately ends his relationship with her in "A.A.R.M.". In the final episode, Dwight marries Angela Martin.
== Character reception ==
The Dwight Schrute character has had a very positive reception, and is often cited as one of the most popular characters on the show. According to Entertainment Weekly, he is one of the "greatest sidekicks". In TV Guide's list of the top 100 characters in television history, Dwight was ranked 85th. In an ABC News interview with Rainn Wilson, the interviewer commented that "Words barely describe Dwight Schrute, the suck-up salesman and assistant to the regional manager of the Scranton branch for the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company..." and "Dwight, as played by the 41-year-old Wilson, has become one of the breakout characters in television comedy. Dwight is a survivalist geek, a student of karate who likes to shoot a crossbow and watch "Battlestar Galactica" on television. And he takes himself very, very seriously..." E! News commented that Rainn Wilson should be nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance of Dwight, commenting: "...Who's laughing now? Who's laughing now, Dwight Schrute? Oh, only the ten million-plus people who watched as you pepper sprayed the living daylights out of Roy for trying to pop Jim in the face last night. My God, have I missed you, man. Mr. Schrute, you are the reason I love my job, my friend. It is the selflessly heroic actions of a man such as you that make television a nice place to be on a Thursday night. You may just be an everyday citizen who does not accept prizes for being a citizen, but you'd best be accepting a supporting actor Emmy nod this year, because, hot damn if you don't deserve it."
Another positive review of the character was given by PopMatters, an online entertainment news site. The review stated: "One of the show's ironies is that Michael and Dwight, hapless though they might be within the office or in most social settings, are actually top salesmen". Dwight approaches sales with the same militaristic fervor as everything else in his life, and it pays off for him (maybe that's one of the reasons why, when Jim gives Dwight one of Benito Mussolini's speeches to deliver when he accepts a sales award in Season Two, Dwight delivers it so enthusiastically that he gets a standing ovation)". Metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada named a song "Assistant to the Regional Manager," alluding to Dwight's position. In addition, the band created a T-shirt design that indirectly associates itself with Dwight by strongly resembling him. It is named "Guy Wearing Tie."
== Outside of The Office ==
=== Bobblehead doll ===
In the episode "Valentine's Day", Dwight is given a bobblehead doll as a Valentine's gift, from Angela. Following the episode, fans of the show petitioned NBC to make the bobblehead doll available for purchase on their online store. NBC responded by creating an initial run of 4,000 bobblehead dolls, which sold out almost immediately. The creator of the show, Greg Daniels, joked about the bobbleheads, saying "Yes, they are fun, but they also serve a business purpose. People who want to manage by consensus can buy six and keep them nodding all the time to whatever they say." In 2010 Hallmark released a smaller talking version of the doll as part of their 2010 Christmas Keepsake Ornament selection.
=== Résumé ===
In "Halloween", Jim and Pam uploaded Dwight's resume to "Monster.com, Craigslist, and Google." A producer actually did create a Monster account for Dwight and uploaded his résumé a month before the episode aired. It can be found by employers with resume database access who search for salesmen in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The résumé stated that he was willing to relocate to another state, wanted a salary close to $30,000 (USD), desired the job title of "Regional Manager", was currently "Assistant to the Regional Manager", and had a bachelor's degree. The posted résumé also stated: "My time spent at Dunder Mifflin was very enjoying. I had the opportunity to learn from an experienced and talented boss. My branch consistently was one of the top sellers of the company..."
=== Schrute Farms ===
In the episode titled "Money", Pam refers to a TripAdvisor page for Dwight's bed and breakfast. This can be found by searching for Schrute Farms. Jim and Pam discover that Dwight is running the Schrute Farm as an "agritourism" bed and breakfast. They spend the night there, taking part in table-making demonstrations, beet wine-making, and distributing manure. That night, however, Jim hears an unnerving moaning sound throughout the night, later shown to be Dwight in his room crying over his breakup with Angela. The TripAdvisor page said:
"Schrute Farms is the number one beet-related agritourism destination in Northeastern Pennsylvania. We offer the finest accommodations for the casual traveller and/or radish enthusiast. Come join us and experience majestic Schrute Farms."
Jim and Pam ("JandP2") also posted a review, which can be seen on the reviews page. It read: "The architecture reminds one of a quaint Tuscan beet farm, and the natural aroma of the beets drifts into the bedrooms and makes you dream of simpler times. You will never want to leave your room. The informative lecture will satisfy all your beet curiosity, and the dawn goose walk will tug at your heart strings. Table making never seemed so possible. Great story to tell your friends. Plenty of parking! The staff's attention to detail and devotion to cleanliness was limitless. From their enthusiastic welcome to the last wave good-bye, Schrute Farms delivers."
An angry Angela also put a review up, and mentioned the death of her cat as a main cause for the review. It said: "I have to warn people about the proprietor of Schrute Farms—he may portray himself as a gentleman farmer, but he is not what he seems! He killed my cat, Sprinkles! Who knows what he might do to you or your loved ones..."
According to Dwight, during the Civil War, while the Battle of Gettysburg was known for having the most deaths, the battle of Schrute Farms was known for having the highest DPA (deaths per acre). He also claimed it was the northernmost battle during the Civil War. However, in reality, it was actually a safe haven for men who wanted relief from the war to focus on artistic lifestyles. It is insinuated that this was a camp for homosexual soldiers. Melvin Fifer Garris is the only known soldier to write home from Schrute Farms during the Civil War.
In a deleted scene from the Season 3 DVD set, it is shown that Dwight won his farm in a game of Blackjack.
=== Vice presidential bid joke ===
On the May 7, 2008, episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, US Senator and Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain joked that Dwight Schrute would be his vice presidential candidate choice. Rainn Wilson appeared on The Tonight Show on May 14, 2008, and read to Jay Leno a list of demands from Dwight in exchange for being vice president. Included in this list was being able to pilot Air Force One at any time, and only to be addressed as "Iceman" while piloting. He also demanded that Jack Bauer be immediately promoted to United States Secretary of Defense, his bunker to include a foosball table and be zombie-proof, and that the Secret Service members be armed with nunchakus, throwing stars, and flamethrowers. Finally, he demanded a flamethrower, an Iron Man suit, and that Michael Scott be an "ambassador to Hawaii."
=== In academic research ===
Researchers at Brigham Young University, Stanford and Northwestern University demonstrated that social outsiders, similar to Dwight's character, lead to better group decision making. Media accounts of their published study reported that having a Dwight Schrute around is good for business. Dwight was included in articles about the research by Time magazine, The Globe and Mail, The Salt Lake Tribune and Brigham Young University.
=== Possible spin-off series and departure from The Office ===
On January 25, 2012, news broke that NBC was planning a spin-off series, starring Wilson as Dwight, that would be set at Schrute Farms, Dwight's bed-and-breakfast and beet farm. The spin-off was to have been created by Wilson and executive producer Paul Lieberstein, but Office developer Greg Daniels would not have been involved. The series was in the works for a premiere in early 2013, and would have caused Wilson to leave The Office during the ninth season. The spin-off was scheduled to have been introduced as a backdoor pilot in a later episode of the ninth season. Despite the news report, Wilson tweeted "Don't believe everything you read in the press, OK?" In October 2012, NBC announced that it was not accepting the spin-off series. A re-edited and partially reshot version of the pilot episode was still aired during the ninth season of The Office, however, as episode 17, "The Farm". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mitchell_(director) | Mike Mitchell (director) | Mike Mitchell is an American filmmaker, actor and animator. He is known for directing Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), Sky High (2005), Shrek Forever After (2010), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), Trolls (2016), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024).
== Early life and education ==
Mike Mitchell was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
He graduated from Putnam City North High School in 1988, then subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend the California Institute of the Arts.
== Career ==
He started his career as director for Matt O'Callaghan's The Itsy Bitsy Spider. He first gained critical attention when he co-wrote, produced and directed the short film Herd, which won several film festival awards, including the Spirit of Slamdance Award at the 1999 Slamdance Festival. The same year, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, starring Rob Schneider. He worked for various companies including Disney, DreamWorks, MTV, Nickelodeon, Universal, and Sony.
He directed the films Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Surviving Christmas and Sky High. The first two received negative reviews, while the third has received positive reviews. In 2006, he joined DreamWorks Animation, and was a story artist for Shrek the Third and Creative Consultant for Kung Fu Panda. He later directed the movie Shrek Forever After and voiced the character Butterpants.
Mitchell's short film Frannie's Christmas was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
He also voiced Advisor Wedgie (known as "Nerd" for most of the film) in Monsters vs. Aliens, and Andy "Jack" Beanstalk in Puss in Boots. He also directed live action sequences on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. He not only works on movies but in television as well. He directed and wrote several episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants. Mitchell will also direct Nightcrawlers, a supernatural action comedy, a sequel to Sky High, a live-action-animated adaptation of the book We're Not From Here, and a live-action/animated adaptation of the song Puff, the Magic Dragon.
On April 26, 2023, it was announced that Mitchell was set to direct the fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, which was released on March 8, 2024.
== Awards ==
Sundance Film Festival: "Frannie's Christmas" (1993).
Aspen Shortsfest: 1999: Won special recognition for "Herd" (1999)
Atlanta Film Festival: 1999: Won Honorable Mention for Best Narrative Short: "Herd" (1999)
Movieguide Award: 2020: Won Best Movie for Families for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) (with Trisha Gum)
== Filmography ==
=== Director ===
=== Story artist ===
=== Voice roles ===
=== Other credits ===
Actor
Creative consultant
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Executive producer
Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)
=== Television ===
The Itsy Bitsy Spider (1993)
Cartoon Sushi (1998)
Greg the Bunny (2002)
SpongeBob SquarePants (2005–2007) (live action director, storyboard director and writer)
The Loop (2007)
Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (2018–2019) (based on characters created by)
The Barbarian and the Troll (2021) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lindsay | John Lindsay | John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular guest host of Good Morning America. Lindsay served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1959 to December 1965 and as mayor of New York from January 1966 to December 1973.
In 1971, during his second term as mayor, Lindsay switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party. That same year, he launched a brief and unsuccessful bid for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination. He made an unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic candidate in the 1980 U.S. Senate election in New York.
== Early life and career ==
Lindsay was born in New York City on West End Avenue to George Nelson Lindsay and the former Florence Eleanor Vliet. He grew up in an upper-middle-class family of English and Dutch descent. Lindsay's paternal grandfather migrated to the United States in the 1880s from the Isle of Wight, and his mother was from an upper-middle-class family that had been in New York since the 1660s. Lindsay's father was a successful lawyer and investment banker. Lindsay attended the Buckley School, St. Paul's School, and Yale, where he was admitted to the class of 1944 and joined Scroll and Key.
With the outbreak of World War II, Lindsay completed his studies early and in 1943 joined the United States Navy as a gunnery officer. He obtained the rank of lieutenant, earning five battle stars through action in the invasion of Sicily and a series of landings in the Asiatic-Pacific theater. After the war, he spent a few months as a ski bum, and a couple of months training as a bank clerk, before returning to New Haven, where he received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1948, ahead of schedule. In 1949, he began his legal career at the law firm of Webster, Sheffield, Fleischmann, Hitchcock & Chrystie.
Lindsay met his future wife, Mary Anne Harrison (1926–2004), at the 1946 wedding of Nancy Walker Bush (daughter of Connecticut's Senator Prescott Bush and sister of future President George H. W. Bush), where he was an usher and Harrison a bridesmaid. She was a graduate of Vassar College, and a distant relative of William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. They married in 1949. That same year Lindsay was admitted to the bar, and rose to become a partner in his law firm four years later. They had three daughters and a son.
== U.S. Representative ==
Lindsay began gravitating toward politics as one of the founders of the Youth for Eisenhower club in 1951 and as president of the New York Young Republican Club in 1952. He went on to join the U.S. Department of Justice in 1955 as executive assistant to Attorney General Herbert Brownell. There he worked on civil liberties cases as well as the 1957 Civil Rights Act. In 1958, with the backing of Brownell as well as Bruce Barton, John Aspinwall Roosevelt, and Edith Willkie, Lindsay won the Republican primary and went on to be elected to Congress as the representative of the "Silk Stocking" 17th district, exemplified by Manhattan's Upper East Side but also encompassing the diverse Lower East Side and historically bohemian Greenwich Village.
While in Congress, Lindsay established a liberal voting record increasingly at odds with his own party. He was an early supporter of federal aid to education and Medicare, and advocated the establishment of a federal United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and a National Foundation for the Arts and Humanities. He was called a maverick, casting the lone dissenting vote for a Republican-sponsored bill extending the power of the Postmaster General to impound obscene mail, and one of only two dissenting votes for a bill allowing federal interception of mail from Communist countries. Also known for his wit, when asked by his party leaders why he opposed legislation to combat Communism and pornography, he replied that the two were the major industries of his district and if they were suppressed then "the 17th district would be a depressed area". Lindsay voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and 1964, the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
== Mayor of New York City ==
In the 1965 New York City mayoral election, Lindsay was elected mayor of New York City as a Republican with the support of the Liberal Party of New York in a three-way race. He defeated Democratic mayoral candidate Abraham D. Beame, then City Comptroller, as well as conservative thinker and National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr., who ran on the Conservative Party line. The unofficial motto of the campaign, taken from a Murray Kempton column, was "He is fresh and everyone else is tired".
=== Labor issues ===
On his first day as mayor, January 1, 1966, the Transport Workers Union of America, led by Mike Quill, shut down the city with a complete halt of subway and bus service. As New Yorkers endured the transit strike, Lindsay remarked, "I still think it's a fun city", and walked four miles (6 km) from his hotel room to City Hall in a gesture to show it. Dick Schaap, then a columnist for the New York Herald Tribune, popularized the term in an article titled "Fun City". In the article, Schaap sardonically pointed out that it was not.
In 1966, the settlement terms of the transit strike, combined with increased welfare costs and general economic decline, forced Lindsay to lobby the New York State legislature for a new municipal income tax and higher water rates for city residents, plus a new commuter tax for people who worked in the city but resided elsewhere. The transit strike was the first of many labor struggles. In 1968, in an attempt to decentralize the city's school system, Lindsay granted three local school boards in the city complete control over their schools, in an effort to allow communities to have more of a say in their schools. The city's teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers, saw the breakup as a way of union busting, since a decentralized school system would force the union to negotiate with 33 separate school boards rather than with one centralized body. In May 1968, several teachers working in schools located in the neighborhood of Ocean Hill-Brownsville, one of the neighborhoods where the decentralization was being tested, were fired from their jobs by the community-run school board. The UFT demanded the reinstatement of the dismissed teachers, citing that the teachers had been fired without due process. When their demands were ignored, the UFT called the first of three strikes, leading ultimately to a protracted citywide teachers' strike that stretched over a seven-month period between May and November.
The strike was tinged with racial and anti-Semitic overtones, pitting Black and Puerto Rican parents against Jewish teachers and supervisors. Many thought the mayor had made a bad situation worse by taking sides against the teachers. The episode left a legacy of tensions between African-Americans and Jews that went on for years, and Lindsay called it his greatest regret. 1968 also saw a three-day Broadway strike and a nine-day sanitation strike. Quality of life in the city reached a nadir during the sanitation strike as mounds of garbage caught fire and strong winds blew the filth through the streets. In June 1968, the New York City Police Department deployed snipers to protect Lindsay during a public ceremony, shortly after they detained a knife-wielding man who had demanded to meet the mayor. With the schools shut down, police engaged in a slowdown, firefighters threatening job actions, the city awash in garbage, and racial and religious tensions breaking to the surface, Lindsay later called the last six months of 1968 "the worst of my public life."
The summer of 1971 ushered in another devastating strike as over 8,000 workers belonging to AFSCME District Council 37 walked off their jobs for two days. The strikers included the operators of the city's drawbridges and sewage treatment plants. Drawbridges over the Harlem River were locked in the "up" position, barring automobile travel into Manhattan, and hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage flowed into local waterways.
=== Racial and civil unrest ===
Lindsay served on the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission, and was its vice chairman. This body was appointed in 1967 by President Johnson after riots in urban centers of the US, including Newark and Detroit. Lindsay maximized publicity and coverage of his activities on the commission, and while other commissioners made inconspicuous visits to riot-damaged sites, Lindsay would alert the press before his fact-finding missions. Nonetheless, he was especially influential in producing the Kerner Report; its dramatic language of the nation "moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal" was consistent with his rhetoric.
President Johnson ignored the report and rejected the Kerner Commission's recommendations. In April 1968, one month after the release of the Kerner report, rioting broke out in more than 100 cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. However, in New York City, Lindsay traveled directly into Harlem, telling Black residents that he regretted King's death and was working against poverty. He is credited with averting riots in the city with this direct response, even as other major cities burned. David Garth, who accompanied Lindsay that night, recalled: "There was a wall of people coming across 125th Street, going from west to east ... I thought we were dead. John raised his hands, said he was sorry. It was very quiet. My feeling was, his appearance there was very reassuring to people because it wasn't the first time they had seen him. He had gone there on a regular basis. That gave him credibility when it hit the fan."
Lindsay showed his support for New York's African American community through his administration's sponsorship of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which is documented in the 2021 music film Summer of Soul. The host of the festival, Tony Lawrence, introduces the mayor to the Harlem crowd as "our blue-eyed soul brother".
=== Blizzard of 1969 ===
On February 10, 1969, New York City was pummeled with 15 inches (38 cm) of snow. On the first day alone, 14 people died and 68 were injured. Within a day, the mayor was criticized for giving favored treatment to Manhattan at the expense of the other boroughs. Charges were made that a city worker solicited a bribe to clean streets in Queens.
Over a week later, streets in eastern Queens still remained unplowed by the city, enraging the borough's residents, many who felt that the city's other boroughs always took a back seat to Manhattan. Lindsay traveled to Queens, but his visit was not well received. His car could not make its way through Rego Park, and even in a four-wheel-drive truck, he had trouble getting around. In Kew Gardens Hills, the mayor was booed; one woman screamed, "You should be ashamed of yourself." In Fresh Meadows, a woman told the mayor: "Get away, you bum." Later during his walk through Fresh Meadows, another woman called him "a wonderful man," prompting the mayor to respond: "And you're a wonderful woman, not like those fat Jewish broads up there," pointing to women in a nearby building who had criticized him.
The blizzard, dubbed the "Lindsay Snowstorm", prompted a political crisis that became "legendary in the annals of municipal politics", as the scenes conveyed a message that the mayor of New York City was indifferent to the middle class and poor citizens of the city.
=== Reelection ===
In 1969, a backlash against Lindsay caused him to lose the Republican mayoral primary to state Senator John Marchi, who was enthusiastically supported by William F. Buckley and the rest of the party's conservative wing. In the Democratic primary, the most conservative candidate, City Comptroller Mario Procaccino, defeated several more liberal contenders and won the nomination with only a plurality of the votes. He quipped, "The more the Mario." Procaccino, who ran to Lindsay's right, went on to coin the term "limousine liberal" to describe Lindsay and his wealthy Manhattan backers. Despite losing the Republican nomination, Lindsay remained on the ballot as the candidate of the New York Liberal Party. In his campaign he said "mistakes were made" and called being mayor of New York City "the second toughest job in America."
Two television advertisements described his position: In one he looked directly into the camera and said, "I guessed wrong on the weather before the city's biggest snowfall last winter. And that was a mistake. But I put 6,000 more cops on the streets. And that was no mistake. The school strike went on too long and we all made some mistakes. But I brought 225,000 more jobs to this town. And that was no mistake... And we did not have a Detroit, a Watts or Newark. And those were no mistakes. The things that go wrong are what make this the second toughest job in America. But the things that go right are those things that make me want it." The second opened with a drive through the Holland Tunnel from lower Manhattan toward New Jersey and suggested, "Every New Yorker should take this trip at least once before election day", followed by video of Newark, New Jersey which had been devastated by race riots.
While narrowly losing Brooklyn and the Bronx due to Procaccino's ongoing support among ethnic, working class whites (with Marchi winning his native Staten Island), Lindsay won the election with support from three distinct groups. First were the city's minorities, mostly African Americans and Puerto Ricans, who were concentrated in Harlem, the South Bronx and various Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville. Second were the white and economically secure residents of certain areas of Manhattan. Third were the whites in the boroughs outside Manhattan who had a similar educational background and "cosmopolitan" attitude, namely residents of solidly middle-class neighborhoods, including Forest Hills and Kew Gardens in Queens and Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn. This third category included many traditionally Democratic Jewish Americans who disagreed with Procaccino's conservatism. This created a plurality coalition (42%) in Lindsay's second three-way race. His margin of victory rose from just over 100,000 more votes than his Democratic opponent in 1965 to over 180,000 votes over Procaccino in 1969, despite appearing on just one third party ballot line (see New York City Mayoral Elections).
=== Hard Hat Riot ===
On May 8, 1970, near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street and at New York City Hall, a riot started when about 200 construction workers mobilized by the New York State AFL–CIO labor federation attacked about 1,000 high school and college students and others protesting the Kent State shootings, the Cambodian Campaign, and the Vietnam War. Some attorneys, bankers, and investment analysts from nearby Wall Street investment firms tried to protect many of the students but were themselves attacked, and some onlookers reported that the police stood by and did nothing. Although more than 70 people were injured, including four policemen, only six people were arrested. The following day, Lindsay severely criticized the police for their lack of action.
Police Department labor leaders later accused Lindsay of "undermining the confidence of the public in its Police Department" by his statements, and blamed the inaction on inadequate preparations and "inconsistent directives" in the past from the mayor's office. Several thousand construction workers, longshoremen and white-collar workers protested against the mayor on May 11 and again on May 16. Protesters called Lindsay "the red mayor", "traitor", "Commie rat", and "bum". The mayor described the mood of the city as "taut".
=== Police corruption ===
In 1970, The New York Times printed New York City Police Department Patrolman Frank Serpico's claims of widespread police corruption. As a result, the Knapp Commission was eventually formed that April by Lindsay, with investigations beginning in June, although public hearings did not start until October 18, 1971. Its preliminary report was not issued until August 1972, and final recommendations only released on December 27, 1972. Because of his forming of the Knapp Commission, many NYPD officers disliked him and did not want him to attend their funerals in case they died on duty and heckled, hissed, jeered and booed him when he did appear. The wife of Rocco Laurie stated that she did not want Lindsay to attend her husband's funeral that year. Laurie was one of two city police officers who were murdered by then-domestic terrorist group Black Liberation Army in 1972.
== Party switch and presidential campaign ==
Lindsay was mentioned as a Republican vice presidential possibility in 1968, but was found to be unacceptable by Southern conservatives, and Spiro Agnew was nominated instead. Lindsay’s original break with the Republican Party began immediately after he failed to win the 1969 Republican mayoral primary, and his subsequent association with the New York Liberal Party for that election. In 1971, Lindsay and his wife cut ties with the Republican Party by registering with the Democratic Party. Lindsay said, "In a sense, this step recognizes the failure of 20 years in progressive Republican politics. In another sense, it represents the renewed decision to fight for new national leadership."
Lindsay then launched a brief and unsuccessful bid for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination. He attracted positive media attention and was a successful fundraiser. Lindsay did well in the early Arizona caucus, coming in second place behind Edmund Muskie of Maine and ahead of eventual nominee George McGovern of South Dakota. Then in the March 14 Florida primary, he placed a weak fifth place, behind George Wallace of Alabama, Muskie, Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, and Scoop Jackson of Washington (though he did edge out McGovern). Among his difficulties was New York City's worsening problems, which Lindsay was accused of neglecting; a band of protesters from Forest Hills, Queens, who were opposed to his support for a low income housing project in their neighborhood, followed Lindsay around his aborted campaign itinerary to jeer and heckle him.
His poor showing in Florida effectively doomed his candidacy, which ended after a poor showing in the April 5 Wisconsin primary prompted Lindsay to formally abandon the race. Shortly after his poor showing in Florida, influential Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman Meade Esposito called for Lindsay to end his campaign by stating, "I think the handwriting is on the wall; Little Sheba better come home."
== Later life and death ==
After leaving office, Lindsay returned to the law, but remained in the public eye as a commentator and regular guest host for ABC's Good Morning America. In 1975, Lindsay made a surprise appearance on The Tony Awards telecast in which he, along with a troupe of celebrity male suitors in tuxedos, sang "Mame" to Angela Lansbury. He presented the award for Best Director Of A Play to John Dexter for the play Equus. Lindsay also tried his hand at acting, appearing in Otto Preminger's Rosebud; the following year his novel, The Edge, was published (Lindsay had earlier authored two non-fiction memoirs): The New York Times, in its contemporary review of the novel, said it was "as dead-serious as a $100-a-plate dinner of gray meat and frozen candidates' smiles."
Attempting a political comeback in 1980, Lindsay made a long-shot bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from New York, and finished third. He was also active in New York City charities, serving on the board of the Association for a Better New York, and as chairman of the Lincoln Center Theater. On his death, The New York Times credited Lindsay with a significant role in the rejuvenation of the theatre.
Medical bills from his Parkinson's disease, heart attacks, and stroke depleted Lindsay's finances, as did the collapse of two law firms where he worked, and he found himself without health insurance. Lindsay's eight years of service as mayor left him seven years short of qualifying for a city pension. In 1996, with support from City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani appointed Lindsay to two largely ceremonial posts to make him eligible for municipal health insurance coverage. He and his wife, Mary, moved to a retirement community in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, in November 1999, where he died on December 19, 2000, at the age of 79 of complications from pneumonia and Parkinson's disease.
In 2000, Yale Law School created a fellowship program named in Lindsay's honor. In 1998, a park in Brooklyn, Lindsay Triangle, was named in his honor, and in 2001, the East River Park was renamed in his memory. In December 2013, South Loop Drive in Manhattan's Central Park was renamed after Lindsay, to commemorate his support for a car-free Central Park.
== Legacy ==
Mario Cuomo, Carl McCall, and Carter F. Bales were among the many people who started their careers in public service in the Lindsay administration. Al Sharpton said that he still remembered Lindsay having walked the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Harlem when these neighborhoods were doing poorly economically. Lindsay also fought to transform the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board from an internal police-run department, into a public-minded agency with a citizen majority board.
In a 1972 Gallup poll, 60% of New Yorkers felt Lindsay's administration was working poorly, nine percent rated it good, and not one person thought its performance excellent. By 1978, The New York Times called Lindsay "an exile in his own city". A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago ranked Lindsay as the sixteenth-worst American big-city mayor to have served between the years 1820 and 1993.
Lindsay's record remained controversial after he left politics. Conservative historian Fred Siegel, calling Lindsay the worst New York City mayor of the 20th century, said, "Lindsay wasn't incompetent or foolish or corrupt, but he was actively destructive." Journalist Steven Weisman observed that "Lindsay's congressional career had taught him little of the need for subtle bureaucratic maneuvering, for understanding an opponent's self-interest, or for the great patience required in a sprawling government."
Lindsay's budget aide Peter C. Goldmark, Jr. told historian Vincent Cannato that the administration "failed to come to grips with what a neighborhood is. We never realized that crime is something that happens to, and in, a community." Assistant Nancy Seifer said, "There was a whole world out there that nobody in City Hall knew anything about ... If you didn't live on Central Park West, you were some kind of lesser being." Many experts traced the city's mid-1970s fiscal crisis to the Lindsay years. An alternate assessment was made by journalist Robert McFadden who said, "By 1973, his last year in office, Mr. Lindsay had become a more seasoned, pragmatic mayor." McFadden also credited him for reducing racial tensions, leading to the prevention of riots that plagued Detroit, Los Angeles, Newark and other cities. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales | New South Wales | New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. The Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory are enclaves within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, which is also Australia's most populous city. As of September 2025, the population of New South Wales was over 8.6 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Almost two-thirds of the state's population live in the Greater Sydney area.
The Colony of New South Wales was founded as a British penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825. The colony then also included the island territories of Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became the various states and territories of Australia. The Swan River Colony (later called the Colony of Western Australia) was never administered as part of New South Wales.
Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island became a federal territory, as have the areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory.
== History ==
=== Aboriginal Australians ===
The original inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal people who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement, an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people inhabited the region.
=== 1788: British settlement ===
In 1825, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) became a separate colony and the western border of New South Wales was extended to the 129th meridian east (now the West Australian border).
In 1770, James Cook charted the unmapped eastern coast of the continent of New Holland, now Australia, and claimed the entire coastline that he had just explored as British territory. Contrary to his instructions, Cook did not gain the consent of the Aboriginal inhabitants. Cook originally named the land New Wales, but on his return voyage to Britain, he settled on the name New South Wales.
In January 1788, Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay with the First Fleet of 11 vessels, which carried over a thousand settlers, including 736 convicts. A few days after arrival at Botany Bay, the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson, where Phillip established a settlement at the place he named Sydney Cove (in honour of the secretary of state, Lord Sydney) on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day. He formally proclaimed the colony on 7 February 1788 at Sydney. Phillip, as governor of New South Wales, exercised nominal authority over all of Australia east of the 135th meridian east between the latitudes of 10°37'S and 43°39'S, and "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean". The area included modern New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania. He remained as governor until 1792.
The settlement was initially planned to be a self-sufficient penal colony based on subsistence agriculture. Trade and shipbuilding were banned to keep the convicts isolated. After the departure of Phillip, though, the colony's military officers began acquiring land and importing consumer goods obtained from visiting ships. Former convicts also farmed land granted to them and engaged in trade. Farms spread to the more fertile lands surrounding Parramatta, Windsor, and Camden, and by 1803, the colony was self-sufficient in grain. Boat building was developed to make travel easier and exploit the marine resources of the coastal settlements. Sealing and whaling became important industries.
In March 1804, Irish convicts led around 300 rebels in the Castle Hill rebellion, an attempt to march on Sydney, commandeer a ship, and sail to freedom. Poorly armed and with their leader Philip Cunningham captured, the main body of insurgents was routed by about 100 troops and volunteers at Rouse Hill. At least 39 convicts were killed in the uprising and subsequent executions.
Lachlan Macquarie (governor 1810–1821) commissioned the construction of roads, wharves, churches, and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney, and employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney. A road across the Blue Mountains was completed in 1815, opening the way for large-scale farming and grazing in the lightly wooded pastures west of the Great Dividing Range.
New South Wales established a military outpost on King George Sound in Western Australia in 1826, which was later transferred to the Swan River colony.
In 1839, the UK decided to formally annex at least part of New Zealand to New South Wales. It was administered as a dependency until becoming the separate Colony of New Zealand on 3 May 1841.
From the 1820s, squatters increasingly established unauthorised cattle and sheep runs beyond the official limits of the settled colony. In 1836, an annual licence was introduced in an attempt to control the pastoral industry, but booming wool prices and the high cost of land in the settled areas encouraged further squatting. The expansion of the pastoral industry led to violent episodes of conflict between settlers and traditional Aboriginal landowners, such as the Myall Creek massacre of 1838. By 1844, wool accounted for half of the colony's exports, and by 1850, most of the eastern third of New South Wales was controlled by fewer than 2,000 pastoralists.
The transportation of convicts to New South Wales ended in 1840, and in 1842, a legislative council was introduced, with two-thirds of its members elected and one-third appointed by the governor. Former convicts were granted the vote, but a property qualification meant that only one in five adult males was enfranchised.
By 1850, the settler population of New South Wales had grown to 180,000, not including the 70,000 living in the area that became the separate colony of Victoria in 1851.
=== 1850s to 1890s ===
In 1856, New South Wales achieved responsible government with the introduction of a bicameral parliament comprising a directly elected Legislative Assembly and a nominated Legislative Council. William Charles Wentworth was instrumental in this process, but his proposal for a hereditary upper house was widely ridiculed and subsequently dropped.
The property qualification for voters had been reduced in 1851, and by 1856, 95 per cent of adult males in Sydney, and 55 per cent in the colony as a whole, were eligible to vote. Full adult male suffrage was introduced in 1858. In 1859, Queensland became a separate colony.
In 1861, the NSW parliament legislated land reforms intended to encourage family farms and mixed farming and grazing ventures. The amount of land under cultivation subsequently increased from 246,000 acres in 1861 to 800,000 acres in the 1880s. Wool production also continued to grow, and by the 1880s, New South Wales produced almost half of Australia's wool. Coal had been discovered in the early years of settlement and gold in 1851, and by the 1890s wool, gold and coal were the main exports of the colony.
The NSW economy also became more diversified. From the 1860s, New South Wales had more people employed in manufacturing than any other Australian colony. The NSW government also invested strongly in infrastructure such as railways, telegraph, roads, ports, water and sewerage. By 1889, it was possible to travel by train from Brisbane to Adelaide via Sydney and Melbourne. The extension of the rail network inland also encouraged regional industries and the development of the wheat belt.
In the 1880s, trade unions grew and were extended to lower-skilled workers. In 1890, a strike in the shipping industry spread to wharves, railways, mines, and shearing sheds. The defeat of the strike was one of the factors leading the Trades and Labor Council to form a political party. The Labor Electoral League won a quarter of seats in the NSW elections of 1891 and held the balance of power between the Free Trade Party and the Protectionist Party.
The suffragette movement was developing at this time. The Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales was founded in 1891.
=== 1901: Federation of Australia ===
A Federal Council of Australasia was formed in 1885, but New South Wales declined to join. A major obstacle to the federation of the Australian colonies was the protectionist policies of Victoria which conflicted with the free trade policies dominant in New South Wales. Nevertheless, the NSW premier, Henry Parkes, was a strong advocate of federation and his Tenterfield Oration in 1889 was pivotal in gathering support for the cause. Parkes also struck a deal with Edmund Barton, leader of the NSW Protectionist Party, whereby they would work together for federation and leave the question of a protective tariff for a future Australian government to decide.
In early 1893, the first Citizens' Federation League was established in the Riverina region of New South Wales and many other leagues were soon formed in the colony. The leagues organised a conference in Corowa in July 1893, which developed a plan for federation. The new NSW premier, George Reid, endorsed the "Corowa plan" and in 1895 convinced the majority of other premiers to adopt it. A constitutional convention held sessions in 1897 and 1898, which resulted in a proposed constitution for a Commonwealth of federated states. However, a referendum on the constitution failed to gain the required majority in New South Wales after that colony's Labor party campaigned against it and Premier Reid gave it such qualified support that he earned the nickname "yes-no Reid".
The premiers of the other colonies agreed to some concessions to New South Wales (particularly that the future Commonwealth capital would be located in NSW), and in 1899, further referendums were held in all the colonies except Western Australia. All resulted in yes votes, with the yes vote in New South Wales meeting the required majority. The Imperial Parliament passed the necessary enabling legislation in 1900, and Western Australia subsequently voted to join the new federation. The Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated on 1 January 1901, and Barton was sworn in as Australia's first prime minister.
=== 1901 to 1945 ===
The first post-federation NSW governments were Progressive or Liberal Reform and implemented a range of social reforms with Labor support. Women won the right to vote in NSW elections in 1902, but were ineligible to stand for parliament until 1918. Labor increased its parliamentary representation in every election from 1904 before coming to power in 1910 with a majority of one seat.
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw more NSW volunteers for service than the federal authorities could handle, leading to unrest in camps as recruits waited for transfer overseas. In 1916, the premier, William Holman, and a number of his supporters were expelled from the Labor Party over their support for military conscription. Holman subsequently formed a Nationalist government which remained in power until 1920. Despite a huge victory for Holman's pro-conscription Nationalists in the elections of March 1917, a second conscription referendum held in December that year was defeated in New South Wales and nationally.
Following the war, NSW governments embarked on large public works programs including road building, the extension and electrification of the rail network and the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The works were largely funded by loans from London, leading to a debt crisis after the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. New South Wales was hit harder by the depression than other states, and by 1932, one-third of union members in the state were unemployed, compared with 20 per cent nationally.
Labor won the November 1930 NSW elections and Jack Lang became premier for the second time. In 1931, Lang proposed a plan to deal with the depression which included a suspension of interest payments to British creditors, diverting the money to unemployment relief. The Commonwealth and state premiers rejected the plan and later that year Lang's supporters in the Commonwealth parliament brought down James Scullin's federal Labor government. The NSW Lang government subsequently defaulted on overseas interest payments and was dismissed from office in May 1932 by the governor, Sir Phillip Game.
The following elections were won comfortably by the United Australia Party in coalition with the Country Party. Bertram Stevens became premier, remaining in office until 1939, when he was replaced by Alexander Mair.
A contemporary study by sociologist A. P. Elkin found that the population of New South Wales responded to the outbreak of war in 1939 with pessimism and apathy. This changed with the threat of invasion by Japan, which entered the war in December 1941. In May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour and sank a naval ship, killing 29 men aboard. The following month, Sydney and Newcastle were shelled by Japanese warships. American troops began arriving in the state in large numbers. Manufacturing, steelmaking, shipbuilding and rail transport all grew with the war effort and unemployment virtually disappeared.
A Labor government led by William McKell was elected in May 1941. The McKell government benefited from full employment, budget surpluses, and a co-operative relationship with John Curtin's federal Labor government. McKell became the first Labor leader to serve a full term and to be re-elected for a second term. The Labor Party was to govern New South Wales until 1965.
=== Post-war period ===
The Labor government introduced two weeks of annual paid leave for most NSW workers in 1944, and the 40-hour working week was implemented by 1947. The post-war economic boom brought near-full employment and rising living standards, and the government engaged in large spending programs on housing, dams, electricity generation and other infrastructure. In 1954, the government announced a plan for the construction of an opera house on Bennelong Point. The design competition was won by Jørn Utzon. Controversy over the cost of the Sydney Opera House and construction delays became a political issue and was a factor in the eventual defeat of Labor in 1965 by the conservative Liberal Party and Country Party coalition led by Robert Askin.
The Askin government promoted private development, law and order issues and greater state support for non-government schools. However, Askin, a former bookmaker, became increasingly associated with illegal bookmaking, gambling and police corruption.
In the late 1960s, a secessionist movement in the New England region of the state led to a 1967 referendum on the issue which was narrowly defeated. The new state would have consisted of much of northern NSW including Newcastle.
Askin's resignation in 1975 was followed by several short-lived premierships by Liberal Party leaders. When a general election came in 1976, the ALP under Neville Wran came to power. Wran was able to transform this narrow one seat victory into landslide wins (known as Wranslides) in 1978 and 1981.
After winning a comfortable though reduced majority in 1984, Wran resigned as premier and left parliament. His replacement Barrie Unsworth struggled to emerge from Wran's shadow and lost a 1988 election against a resurgent Liberal Party led by Nick Greiner. The Greiner government embarked on an efficiency program involving public sector cost-cutting, the corporatisation of government agencies and the privatisation of some government services. An Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was created. Greiner called a snap election in 1991 which the Liberals were expected to win. However, the ALP polled extremely well and the Liberals lost their majority and needed the support of independents to retain power.
In 1992, Greiner was investigated by ICAC for possible corruption over the offer of a public service position to a former Liberal MP. Greiner resigned but was later cleared of corruption. His replacement as Liberal leader and premier was John Fahey, whose government narrowly lost the 1995 election to the ALP under Bob Carr, who was to become the longest-serving premier of the state.
The Carr government (1995–2005) largely continued its predecessors' focus on the efficient delivery of government services such as health, education, transport and electricity. There was an increasing emphasis on public-private partnerships to deliver infrastructure such as freeways, tunnels and rail links. The Carr government gained popularity for its successful organisation of international events, especially the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but Carr himself was critical of the federal government over its high immigration intake, arguing that a disproportionate number of new migrants were settling in Sydney, putting undue pressure on state infrastructure.
Carr unexpectedly resigned from office in 2005 and was replaced by Morris Iemma, who remained premier after being re-elected in the March 2007 state election, until he was replaced by Nathan Rees in September 2008. Rees was subsequently replaced by Kristina Keneally in December 2009, who became the first female premier of New South Wales. Keneally's government was defeated at the 2011 state election and Barry O'Farrell became premier on 28 March. On 17 April 2014, O'Farrell stood down as premier after misleading an ICAC investigation concerning a gift of a bottle of wine. The Liberal Party then elected Treasurer Mike Baird as party leader and premier. Baird resigned as premier on 23 January 2017, and was replaced by Gladys Berejiklian.
On 23 March 2019, Berejiklian led the Coalition to a third term in office. She maintained high personal approval ratings for her management of a bushfire crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Berejiklian resigned as premier on 5 October 2021, following the opening of an ICAC investigation into her actions between 2012 and 2018. She was replaced by Dominic Perrottet.
== Geography ==
New South Wales is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, on the south by Victoria and the east by the Coral and Tasman Seas. The Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory form a separately administered entity that is bordered entirely by New South Wales. The state can be divided geographically into four areas. New South Wales's three largest cities, Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, lie near the centre of a narrow coastal strip extending from cool temperate areas on the far south coast to subtropical areas near the Queensland border. Gulaga National Park in the South Coast features the southernmost subtropical rainforest in the state.
The Illawarra region is centred on the city of Wollongong, with the Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla, and the Sapphire Coast to the south. The Central Coast lies between Sydney and Newcastle, with the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions reaching northwards to the Queensland border. Tourism is important to the economies of coastal towns such as Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Nowra and Port Macquarie, but the region also produces seafood, beef, dairy, fruit, sugar cane and timber.
The Great Dividing Range extends from Victoria in the south through New South Wales to Queensland, parallel to the narrow coastal plain. This area includes the Snowy Mountains, the Northern, Central and Southern Tablelands, the Southern Highlands and the South West Slopes. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks of the range rise above 1,000 metres (3,281 ft), with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2,228 m (7,310 ft). Skiing in Australia began in this region at Kiandra around 1861. The relatively short ski season underwrites the tourist industry in the Snowy Mountains. Agriculture, particularly the wool industry, is important throughout the highlands. Major centres include Armidale, Bathurst, Bowral, Goulburn, Inverell, Orange, Queanbeyan and Tamworth.
There are numerous forests in New South Wales, with such tree species as Red Gum Eucalyptus and Crow Ash (Flindersia australis), being represented. Forest floors have a diverse set of understory shrubs and fungi. One of the widespread fungi is Witch's Butter (Tremella mesenterica).
The western slopes and plains fill a significant portion of the state's area and have a much sparser population than areas nearer the coast. Agriculture is central to the economy of the western slopes, particularly the Riverina region and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in the state's south-west. Regional cities such as Albury, Dubbo, Griffith and Wagga Wagga and towns such as Deniliquin, Leeton and Parkes exist primarily to service these agricultural regions. The western slopes descend slowly to the western plains that comprise almost two-thirds of the state and are largely arid or semi-arid. The mining town of Broken Hill is the largest centre in this area.
One possible definition of the centre for New South Wales is located 33 kilometres (21 mi) west-north-west of Tottenham.
=== Climate ===
A little more than half of the state has an arid to semi-arid climate, where the rainfall averages from 150 to 500 millimetres (5.9 to 19.7 in) a year throughout most of this climate zone. Summer temperatures can be very hot, while winter nights can be quite cold in this region. Rainfall varies throughout the state. The far north-west receives the least, less than 180 mm (7 in) annually, while the east receives between 700 and 1,400 mm (28 and 55 in) of rain.
The climate along the flat, coastal plain east of the range varies from oceanic in the south to humid subtropical in the northern half of the state, right above Wollongong. Rainfall is highest in this area; however, it still varies from around 800 millimetres (31 in) to as high as 3,000 millimetres (120 in) in the wettest areas, for example Dorrigo. In the state's south, on the westward side of the Great Dividing Range, rainfall is heaviest in winter due to cold fronts which move across southern Australia, while in the north, around Lismore, rain is heaviest in summer from tropical systems and occasionally even cyclones. During late winter, the coastal plain is relatively dry due to foehn winds that originate from the Great Dividing Range; the mountain range block the moist, westerly cold fronts that arrive from the Southern Ocean, whereby providing generally clear conditions on the leeward side.
The climate in the southern half of the state is generally warm to hot in summer and cool in the winter. The seasons are more defined in the southern half of the state, especially as one moves inland towards South West Slopes, Central West and the Riverina region. The climate in the northeast region of the state, or the North Coast, bordering Queensland, is hot and humid in the summer and mild in winter. The Northern Tablelands, which are also on the North coast, have relatively mild summers and cold winters, due to their high elevation on the Great Dividing Range.
Peaks along the Great Dividing Range vary from 500 metres (1,640 ft) to over 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) above sea level. Temperatures can be cool to cold in winter with frequent frosts and snowfall, and are rarely hot in summer due to the elevation. Lithgow has a climate typical of the range, as do the regional cities of Orange, Cooma, Oberon and Armidale. Such places fall within the subtropical highland (Cwb) variety. Rainfall is moderate in this area, ranging from 600 to 800 mm (24 to 31 in).
Snowfall is common in the higher parts of the range, sometimes occurring as far north as the Queensland border. On the highest peaks of the Snowy Mountains, the climate can be subpolar oceanic and even alpine on the higher peaks with very cold temperatures and heavy snow. The Blue Mountains, Southern Tablelands and Central Tablelands, which are situated on the Great Dividing Range, have mild to warm summers and cold winters, although not as severe as those in the Snowy Mountains.
The highest maximum temperature recorded was 49.7 °C (121 °F) at Menindee in the west of the state on 10 January 1939. The lowest minimum temperature was −23 °C (−9 °F) at Charlotte Pass in the Snowy Mountains on 29 June 1994. This is also the lowest temperature recorded in the whole of Australia excluding the Antarctic Territory.
== Demographics ==
As of September 2025, the estimated population of New South Wales was 8,600,500 people, representing approximately 30% of the nationwide population. Sydney was home to almost two-thirds of the NSW population.
=== Cities and towns ===
=== Ancestry and immigration ===
At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:
At the 2021 census, 2,794,666 people were living in New South Wales who were born overseas, accounting for 34.6% of the population. Only 43.7% of the population had both parents born in Australia.
3.4% of the population, or 278,043 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2021.
=== Language ===
According to the 2021 census, 29.5% of people in New South Wales speak a language other than English at home with Mandarin (3.4%), Arabic (2.8%), Cantonese (1.8%), Vietnamese (1.5%) and Hindi (1.0%) being the most popular.
=== Religion ===
In the 2021 census, Christianity was the primary religious affiliation in New South Wales (NSW), comprising 47.6% of the population, mostly Roman Catholicism (22.4%) and Anglicanism (11.9%). This percentage has declined over time, while the number of people identifying with no religious affiliation has risen. In 2016, the Christian affiliation rate was 55.2%, and in 1971 it was 88.4%. About 33.2% of people in NSW reported having no religious affiliation in 2021.
About 12.1% of the population in 2021 identified with a non-Christian religion, with Islam (4.3%), Hinduism (3.4%), and Buddhism (2.8%) being the most common.
== Government ==
Executive power is formally exercised by the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. The current governor is Margaret Beazley. The governor commissions as premier the leader of the parliamentary political party that can command a simple majority of votes in the Legislative Assembly. The premier then recommends the appointment of other members of the two Houses to the Ministry, under the principle of responsible or Westminster government. As in other Westminster systems, there is no constitutional requirement in New South Wales for the government to be formed from the parliament, merely a convention. As of early July 2023, the premier is Chris Minns of the Labor Party.
=== Constitution ===
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, dating from 1856 and currently the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW). Since 1901 New South Wales has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.
In 2006, the Constitution Amendment Pledge of Loyalty Act 2006 No 6, was enacted to amend the NSW Constitution Act 1902 to require Members of the New South Wales Parliament and its Ministers to take a pledge of loyalty to Australia and to the people of New South Wales instead of swearing allegiance to Elizabeth II her heirs and successors, and to revise the oaths taken by Executive Councillors. The Pledge of Loyalty Act was officially assented to by the Queen on 3 April 2006. The option to swear allegiance to the Queen was restored as an alternative option in June 2012.
Under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained independence in all other areas. The New South Wales Constitution says: "The Legislature shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever".
=== Parliament ===
The first responsible self-government of New South Wales was formed on 6 June 1856 with Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson appointed by Governor Sir William Denison as its first Colonial Secretary which in those days accounted also as the premier. The Parliament of New South Wales is composed of the Sovereign and two houses: the Legislative Assembly (lower house), and the Legislative Council (upper house). Elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday of March, the most recent being on 25 March 2023. At each election one member is elected to the Legislative Assembly from each of 93 electoral districts and half of the 42 members of the Legislative Council are elected by a statewide electorate.
=== Local government ===
New South Wales is divided into 128 local government areas. There is also the Unincorporated Far West Region which is not part of any local government area, in the sparsely inhabited Far West, and Lord Howe Island, which is also unincorporated but self-governed by the Lord Howe Island Board.
=== Emergency services ===
New South Wales is policed by the New South Wales Police Force, a statutory authority. Established in 1862, the New South Wales Police Force investigates Summary and Indictable offences throughout the State of New South Wales. The state has two fire services: the volunteer-based New South Wales Rural Fire Service, which is responsible for the majority of the state, and the Fire and Rescue NSW, a government agency responsible for protecting urban areas. There is some overlap due to suburbanisation. Ambulance services are provided through the New South Wales Ambulance. Rescue services (i.e., vertical, road crash, confinement) are a joint effort by all emergency services, with Ambulance Rescue, Police Rescue Squad and Fire Rescue Units contributing. Volunteer rescue organisations include Marine Rescue New South Wales, State Emergency Service (SES), Surf Life Saving NSW and Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA).
== Education ==
=== Primary and secondary ===
The NSW school system comprises a kindergarten to year 12 system with primary schooling up to year 6 and secondary schooling between years 7 and 12. Schooling is compulsory from before 6 years old until the age of 17 (unless Year 10 is completed earlier). Between 1943 and 2009, schooling was only compulsory in NSW until age 15.
Primary and secondary schools include government and non-government schools. Government schools are further classified as comprehensive and selective schools. Non-government schools include Catholic schools, other denominational schools, and non-denominational independent schools.
Typically, a primary school provides education from kindergarten level to year 6. A secondary school, usually called a "high school", provides education from years 7 to 12.
The NSW Education Standards Authority classifies the 13 years of primary and secondary schooling into six stages, beginning with Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten) and ending with Stage 6 (years 11 and 12).
==== Record of School Achievement ====
A Record of School Achievement (RoSA) is awarded by the NSW Education Standards Authority to students who have completed at least Year 10 but leave school without completing the Higher School Certificate. The RoSA was introduced in 2012 to replace the former School Certificate.
==== Higher School Certificate ====
The Higher School Certificate (HSC) is the usual Year 12 leaving certificate in NSW. The HSC is the most popular high school credential in Australia with 75,493 students studying one or more HSC courses in 2022. Most students complete the HSC before entering the workforce or going on to study at university or TAFE (although the HSC itself can be completed at TAFE). The HSC must be completed for a student to get an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (formerly Universities Admission Index), which determines the student's rank against fellow students who completed the Higher School Certificate.
=== Tertiary ===
Eleven universities primarily operate in New South Wales. Sydney is home to Australia's first university, the University of Sydney founded in 1850. Other universities include the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, University of Technology, Sydney and Western Sydney University. The Australian Catholic University has three of its seven campuses in Sydney, and the private University of Notre Dame Australia also operates a secondary campus in the city.
Outside Sydney, the leading universities are the University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong. Armidale is home to the University of New England, and Charles Sturt University. Southern Cross University has campuses spread across cities in the state's north coast.
The public universities are state government agencies; however, they are largely regulated by the federal government, which also administers their public funding. Admission to NSW universities is arranged together with universities in the Australian Capital Territory by another organisation, the Universities Admission Centre.
Primarily, vocational training up to the level of advanced diplomas is provided by the state government's ten Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. These institutes run courses on 138 campuses throughout the state.
== Economy ==
NSW is the largest state economy in Australia, with service industries contributing almost 80% of the state's economic activity and 90% of its employment. Business services, which include financial services, professional, scientific and technical services, property services, information media, and telecommunications, account for nearly a third of the state economy. Major merchandise exports include coal, copper, beef and aluminium. In recent years, there has been strong growth in exports of education, tourism, and financial and business services.
Construction accounted for 8% of the NSW economy in 2020–21, while manufacturing contributed 6%, mining 2%, and agriculture, forestry and fishing just under 2%.
Coal and related products are the state's biggest merchandise export. Its value to the state's economy is over A$5 billion, accounting for about 19% of all merchandise exports from NSW. Tourism is worth over $18.1 billion to the New South Wales economy and employs 3.1% of the workforce.
=== Agriculture ===
Agriculture accounts for just under 2% of the NSW economy. NSW has the second-highest value of agricultural production of the Australian states. Wheat is the most extensive crop in the state by hectare amounting to 39% of the continent's harvest. The most important wheat-growing areas are the Central West, Orana, New England, North-West and Riverina.
Barley, cotton and canola are also important broadacre crops. Most cotton production is in the New England, Orana, North West, and Far West regions. However, the southern regions of the state now produce almost one-third of the state's crop by value.NSW produces about 20% of Australia's fruit and nuts, and about 12% of its vegetables by value. The major regions for fruit and nut production are the Riverina, Coffs Harbour-Grafton and the Murray. About 40,200 hectares (99,000 acres) of vineyards lie across the eastern region of the state, with the Hunter Valley and the Riverina being major wine producing regions.
Cattle, sheep and pigs are the predominant livestock of NSW. The state has over one-third of the country's sheep, and one-fifth of its cattle and pigs. Australia's largest and most valuable Thoroughbred horse breeding area is centred on Scone in the Hunter Valley.
== Transport ==
Passage through New South Wales is vital for cross-continent transport. Rail and road traffic from Brisbane (Queensland) to Perth (Western Australia), or to Melbourne (Victoria) must pass through New South Wales.
=== Railways ===
The majority of railways in New South Wales are currently operated by the state government. Some lines began as branch lines of railways starting in other states. For instance, Balranald near the Victorian border was connected by a rail line coming up from Victoria and into New South Wales. Another line beginning in Adelaide crossed over the border and stopped at Broken Hill.
Railways management are conducted by Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink which maintain rolling stock. Sydney Trains operates trains within Sydney while NSW TrainLink operates outside Sydney, intercity, country and interstate services.
Both Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink have their main terminus at Sydney's Central station. NSW TrainLink regional and long-distance services consist of XPT services to Grafton, Casino, Brisbane, Melbourne and Dubbo, as well as Xplorer services to Canberra, Griffith, Broken Hill, Armidale and Moree. NSW TrainLink intercity trains operate on the Blue Mountains Line, Central Coast & Newcastle Line, South Coast Line, Southern Highlands Line and Hunter Line.
=== Roads ===
Major roads are the concern of both federal and state governments. The latter maintains these through the Transport for NSW agency.
The main roads in New South Wales are
Hume Highway linking Sydney to Melbourne, Victoria
Princes Highway linking Sydney to Melbourne via the Tasman Sea coast
Pacific Highway linking Sydney to Brisbane, Queensland via the Pacific coast
New England Highway running from the Pacific Highway, at Newcastle to Brisbane by an inland route
Federal Highway running from the Hume Highway south of Goulburn to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Sturt Highway running from the Hume Highway near Gundagai to Adelaide, South Australia
Newell Highway linking rural Victoria with Queensland, passing through the centre of New South Wales
Great Western Highway linking Sydney with Bathurst, as Route 32 it continues west as the Mitchell Highway then as the Barrier Highway to Adelaide via Broken Hill
Other roads are usually the concern of the TfNSW or the local government authority.
=== Air ===
Sydney Airport located in the Sydney suburb of Mascot is the principal airport for not just the state but the whole nation. It is a hub for Australia's national airline Qantas.
Other airlines serving regional New South Wales include: NSW Rural and Regional Air Transport Operators
FlyPelican
Jetstar
Rex Airlines
Virgin Australia
Corporate Air
=== Ferries ===
Transdev Sydney Ferries operates Sydney Ferries services within Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River, while Newcastle Transport has a ferry service within Newcastle. All other ferry services are privately operated.
Spirit of Tasmania ran a commercial ferry service between Sydney and Devonport, Tasmania. This service was terminated in 2006.
Private boat services operated between South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales along the Murray and Darling Rivers but these only exist now as the occasional tourist paddle-wheeler service.
== National parks ==
New South Wales has more than 780 national parks and reserves covering more than 8% of the state. These parks range from rainforests, waterfalls, rugged bush to marine wonderlands and outback deserts, including World Heritage sites.
The Royal National Park on the southern outskirts of Sydney became Australia's first national park when proclaimed on 26 April 1879. Originally named simply 'National Park' until 1955, this park was the second national park to be established in the world after Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. Kosciuszko National Park is the largest park in state encompassing New South Wales' alpine region.
The National Parks Association was formed in 1957 to create a system of national parks all over New South Wales which led to the formation of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967. This government agency is responsible for developing and maintaining the parks and reserve system, and conserving natural and cultural heritage, in the state of New South Wales. These parks preserve special habitats, plants and wildlife, such as the Wollemi National Park where the Wollemi Pine grows and areas sacred to Australian Aboriginals such as Mutawintji National Park in western New South Wales.
== Sport ==
The most popular sports by participation in the state are soccer and tennis. The National Rugby League, which is based in Sydney, is the dominant professional spectator sport. In rugby league, the state is represented by the New South Wales Blues in the State of Origin series. The state hosts 10 of the 17 NRL teams: the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Newcastle Knights, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers, St George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Sydney Roosters, and Wests Tigers. Other rugby league competitions in the state include the NSW Cup, the Sydney A-Grade, and regional competitions administered by the NSWRL's Country Rugby League division.
The main summer sport is cricket, and the Sydney Cricket Ground hosts the 'New Year' cricket Test match in January each year. The NSW Blues play in the One-Day Cup and Sheffield Shield competitions. Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder both play in the Big Bash League.
The state is represented in the Australian Football League by the Sydney Swans, and the Greater Western Sydney Giants who entered the competition in 2012.
The state is represented by five teams in soccer's A-League: Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers (2014 Asian champions), Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets and Macarthur FC.
Other teams in major national competitions include the Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks in the National Basketball League, Sydney Uni Flames in the Women's National Basketball League, New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby and New South Wales Swifts in Super Netball.
Sydney was the host of the 1938 British Empire Games and 2000 Summer Olympics. The Stadium Australia hosts major events including the NRL Grand Final, State of Origin, rugby union and soccer internationals.
The annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race begins in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day. Bathurst hosts the annual Bathurst 1000 as part of the Supercars Championship at Mount Panorama Circuit.
The equine sports of campdrafting and polocrosse were developed in New South Wales and competitions are now held across Australia. Polocrosse is now played in many overseas countries.
Other professional teams include:
Baseball: Sydney Blue Sox
Ice hockey: Newcastle Northstars, Sydney Bears, Sydney Ice Dogs
Motor racing: Brad Jones Racing, Team Sydney
== Culture ==
As Australia's most populous state, New South Wales is home to several cultural institutions of importance to the nation. In music, New South Wales is home to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australia's busiest and largest orchestra. Australia's largest opera company, Opera Australia, is headquartered in Sydney. Both of these organisations perform a subscription series at the Sydney Opera House. Other major musical bodies include the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Sydney is host to the Australian Ballet for its Sydney season (the ballet is headquartered in Melbourne). Apart from the Sydney Opera House, major musical performance venues include the City Recital Hall and the Sydney Town Hall.
New South Wales is home to several major museums and art galleries, including the Australian Museum, the Powerhouse Museum, the Museum of Sydney, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Sydney is home to five Arts teaching organisations, which have all produced world-famous students: The National Art School, The College of Fine Arts, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), the Australian Film, Television & Radio School and the Conservatorium of Music (now part of the University of Sydney).
New South Wales is the setting and shooting location of many Australian films, including Mad Max 2, which was shot near the mining town of Broken Hill. The state has also attracted international productions, both as a setting, such as in Mission: Impossible 2, and as a stand-in for other locations, as seen in The Matrix franchise, The Great Gatsby and Unbroken. 20th Century Fox operates Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. Screen NSW, which controls the state film industry, generates approximately $100 million into the New South Wales economy each year.
== Sister states ==
New South Wales in recent history has pursued bilateral partnerships with other federated states/provinces and metropolises through establishing a network of sister state relationships.
The state currently has 7 sister states:
Guangdong, China (since 1979)
Tokyo, Japan (since 1984)
Ehime, Japan (since 1999)
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (since 1989)
Seoul, South Korea (since 1991)
Jakarta, Indonesia (since 1994)
California, United States (since 1997) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hetfield | James Hetfield | James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his raspy voice and intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos both live and in studio. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler. Metallica has won 10 Grammy Awards and released 11 studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays, and 24 singles. Hetfield is often regarded as one of the greatest rhythm guitar players of all time.
In 2009, Hetfield was ranked at No. 8 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists and No. 24 by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time. In Guitar World's poll, Hetfield was placed as the 19th greatest guitarist of all time, as well as being placed second (along with Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett) in The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists poll of the same magazine. Rolling Stone placed him along with bandmate Kirk Hammett as the 23rd greatest guitarist of all time.
== Early life ==
Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963, in Downey, California, the son of Cynthia Bassett (née Nourse), a light opera singer, and Virgil Lee Hetfield, a truck driver. He is of English, German, Irish, and Scottish descent. He has two older half-brothers from his mother's first marriage and one younger sister. His parents divorced in 1976 when Hetfield was 13. They were strict Christian Scientists, and in accordance with their beliefs, they strongly disapproved of medicine or any other medical treatment and remained loyal to their faith, even as Cynthia was dying from cancer. This upbringing became the inspiration for many of Hetfield's lyrics during his career with Metallica, most notably in the songs "Dyers Eve" and "The God That Failed" from ...And Justice for All and Metallica, respectively. Cynthia died of cancer in February 1980, when Hetfield was 16 years old. After the death of his mother, Hetfield went to live with his older half-brother David. Virgil died in early 1996, before the release of Metallica's Load. Hetfield attended Downey High School for his freshman and sophomore years and graduated from Brea Olinda High School in 1981.
Hetfield was nine years old when he first began piano lessons, after which he took on his half-brother David's drums and finally, at the age of 14, he began to play guitar with Robert Okner. He was also in a few bands as a teenager – one being Leather Charm, and another, Obsession. Hetfield identifies Aerosmith as having been his main musical influence as a child, and has said they were the reason he wanted to play guitar.
== Career ==
In the early days of the band, Metallica experimented with a few different vocal and guitar combinations, essentially creating a setup similar to that of British metal band Diamond Head, another major influence on Hetfield. Some of the options considered included adding another guitar player, having John Roads play lead guitar, as well as asking John Bush from Armored Saint (who later joined Anthrax) to sing for the band. The finalized lineup of the band became Hetfield (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Dave Mustaine (lead guitar), and Ron McGovney (bass), who was soon replaced by Cliff Burton. Hetfield referred to their early sound as power metal. The term "thrash metal" was first used when Kerrang journalist Malcolm Dome described the Anthrax song "Metal Thrashing Mad" in an issue of Kerrang in February 1984.
From 1982 to 1983, Mustaine's aggressive behavior and drinking problems led to mounting tensions between himself and Hetfield. Mustaine once poured beer onto McGovney's bass. On April 1, 1983, the band recruited lead guitarist Kirk Hammett from the band Exodus, and 10 days later, Hetfield and Ulrich officially fired Mustaine from the band due to his erratic indifference. Mustaine was sent home on a four-day bus journey from New York to Los Angeles, and went on to form the heavy metal band Megadeth.
Since the recording of Load, Hammett has been recording rhythm guitars as well. Hetfield occasionally plays guitar solos on songs such as "Nothing Else Matters", "My Friend of Misery", "Just a Bullet Away", the outro solo on "The Outlaw Torn", the second solo on "To Live Is to Die", the first solo on "Suicide and Redemption", the first solo on "Master of Puppets", and the harmonized solo on "Orion". He also writes the majority of the guitar harmonies, as well as writing the lyrics, vocal melodies, and co-arranging the songs with Ulrich.
Hetfield was involved in an on-stage accident at Olympic Stadium in Montreal during the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992. During the song "Fade to Black", a pyrotechnic charge reacted. Hetfield's guitar protected him from the full force of the blast, but it struck his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair. He suffered second and third-degree burns, but was back on stage 17 days later, although his guitar duties were delegated to former guitar tech and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall for four weeks while he made a full recovery.
Hetfield also suffered a broken arm a number of times while skateboarding, which prevented him from playing guitar on stage, and subsequently caused Hetfield's management company, Q Prime, to put a clause in Hetfield's contract forbidding him to ride a skateboard while Metallica was touring. During a live performance on tour for Metallica, Hetfield experienced complications with his vocals after performing a cover of the Anti-Nowhere League song "So What?", forcing him to take vocal lessons for the first time. He did basic warm-up exercises to piano keys with his vocal coach, who also gave him a cassette tape of the piano warm-up for future use. Hetfield still uses the same cassette he was given in the early 1990s to this day before any live performance or any recording Metallica does. Hetfield talks about his vocal training endeavors in the Metallica documentary film, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, produced and directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.
During the recording of the band's eighth studio album St. Anger in 2001, Hetfield went into rehab to address his alcohol usage. He rejoined the band after seven months in rehab and four months recovering with his family. His health problems are featured in Some Kind of Monster. Some Kind of Monster also shows the making of the St. Anger album, and documents the various conflicts and issues the band were facing at the time including the departure of Jason Newsted, alcoholism, family commitments, and the future of the band.
Hetfield and Metallica recruited Ozzy Osbourne bassist Robert Trujillo. Osbourne replaced him with Jason Newsted shortly after Trujillo's transfer. The new lineup has continued to make music and tour worldwide. Metallica's ninth studio album, Death Magnetic, was released on September 12, 2008. Like St. Anger and every album of original material released by Metallica since 1991's Metallica, Death Magnetic went to #1 on the Billboard charts in over 30 countries during its first week of release.
On April 4, 2009, Hetfield, along with remaining Metallica members Ulrich, Hammett, Trujillo, as well as former bassist Newsted, and the deceased Cliff Burton (who was represented by his father), were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In an interview after their nomination, Hetfield commented that everyone who had appeared on an album with the band would be inducted. This excluded original guitarist Dave Mustaine and original bassist Ron McGovney, as both had appeared only on the band's early demo tapes. Hetfield and the rest of Metallica, including Newsted, performed "Master of Puppets" and "Enter Sandman" to end the ceremony.
== Playing style ==
Hetfield has been called "The King of Downpicking" for his right-hand picking speed by Annihilator guitarist Jeff Waters. He has explained he holds the pick with his thumb, index and middle fingers, rather than just the thumb and index, citing additional stability he gains by it.
== Personal life ==
Hetfield married Francesca Tomasi on August 17, 1997, and together they have three children. He currently resides in Vail, Colorado, citing a "multitude of reasons" for moving there, including it being his ex-wife's childhood hometown, the natural beauty, and the quiet environment. During an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Hetfield stated that his ex-wife had helped him to mature and learn to deal with his anger issues more constructively, explaining that after they met, his destructive tendencies embarrassed both of them. Hetfield filed for divorce in 2022 citing irreconcilable differences. He is currently engaged to Adriana Gillett.
Hetfield's son Castor is also a musician, playing for the Savannah, Georgia-based band Bastardane as their drummer.
Hetfield has struggled with substance abuse and addiction at various points throughout his life. In 2001, he entered a rehab program (documented in the film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster), and by early 2002, he began maintaining total abstinence from alcohol. In a 2010 interview with So What!, the official magazine of Metallica's fan club, Hetfield stated that he is a "reborn straight edge". However, in 2019, Hetfield once again entered rehab, forcing Metallica to cancel their Australia/New Zealand leg of the WorldWired Tour. Hetfield made his first public appearance since leaving rehab at the Petersen Automotive Museum reception on January 30, 2020.
Hetfield enjoys a variety of activities, most notably hunting; farming and beekeeping; customizing cars and motorcycles in his garage; watching the Las Vegas Raiders, the San Francisco Giants, and the San Jose Sharks; and attending hot rod shows. He put his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro up for sale on eBay, with the proceeds going to a Music for Schools program. The car was used in the video for "I Disappear" and was given to him as a gift upon the video's completion. "Slowburn", his 1936 Auburn boat tail speedster, won the 2010 Goodguys West Coast Custom of the Year.
Hetfield has a number of tattoos, including one which shows flames encasing four playing cards – ace (1), 9, 6, and 3 – representing the year of his birth, and the words "Carpe Diem" ("seize the day"). The flames on the tattoo are in reference to the pyrotechnic accident which he suffered in 1992 during a concert in Montreal. He has tattooed an "M" and "81" on his right hand for "Metallica" and the year Metallica was founded, 1981, and an "F" on his left hand for "Francesca", which has since been turned into "Forgiven". He also has some Christian tattoos, including crosses and one of Jesus on his right arm. He has a tattoo of two razors forming the straight edge X symbol on his left wrist.
The first single Hetfield ever bought was "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was featured in a documentary called Absent, directed by Justin Hunt, which takes a look at the effects of absent fathers on their children and the "father wound" that they leave behind.
Hetfield has expressed his disdain for politics and celebrities who "soapbox their opinions", stating that "for us, people are people – you should all have your own opinion". In 2007, Metallica performed at London's Live Earth concert. When Hetfield was asked for his thoughts on climate change, he responded by saying:
I really avoided the press around the Live Earth day. I didn't quite agree with what was going on there. Politics drive me crazy, and I don't like talking politics. Politics get in the way of things; they get in the way of getting things done, and getting our music across is what we wanna do – we don't wanna cloud it with Democrat, Republican, whatever. Our philosophy is 'think for yourself' at the end of the day – do what you think feels right. I really believe that humans will survive. I have a lot of faith in mankind that we will overcome and adapt – whatever it is; whether it's man-made or God-made, or Earth/Mother Nature – we have a lot of smart people on this planet that will make something good out of bad.
In 2008, responding to the use of Metallica's music to torture Iraqi prisoners, Hetfield was unoffended and replied, "If the Iraqis aren't used to freedom, then I'm glad to be part of their exposure." British band Chumbawamba subsequently released a song called "Torturing James Hetfield" in response. In a 2017 interview, Hetfield reaffirmed his previous stance, saying, "I'm honored my country is using something to help us stay safe, if they are. But then again, once the music is out, I don't have control over that. Just like how someone's giving it away online. They're using it to do what they do."
== Equipment ==
=== Guitars ===
Hetfield has been a major endorser of ESP Guitars since the 1980s, and is best known for playing custom-made Explorer-style guitars with an EMG 81/EMG 60 set for pickups and since then he has his own signature EMG JH pickups. Hetfield's main guitar from the early days was a Flying V copy made in Japan by Electra, which was modified with a Seymour Duncan Invader (SH-8) pickup and used almost exclusively until 1984 when he switched to the Gibson Explorer model.
During the mid-1990s, ESP produced the first of his signature model guitars. To date, Hetfield has had six signature guitars with the company. However, Hetfield often uses guitars from Gibson and other companies instead of ESP despite his endorsement.
Some of Hetfield's guitars over the years have included:
=== Amplifiers and cabinets ===
Throughout Metallica's career, Hetfield has used a wide range of amplifiers. For the first two albums, he used Marshall heads and cabinets, with occasional effects. The specific Marshall that he used for Kill 'Em All was stolen after a concert prior to the recording of Ride the Lightning; Hetfield was upset by the theft, as his mother had helped him purchase the amplifier before her death. In 1985, for the recording of Master of Puppets, he and Kirk Hammett each bought a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ amplifier (the preamp sections of which were connected to Marshall power amplifiers), and since then he has mostly used Mesa/Boogies, including the Triaxis and Rectifier models. Around the time of St. Anger, Hetfield began using the Diezel VH4 head. The majority of his clean tones come from a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier, although many different amplifiers have been used over the years.
In December 2011, it was announced by Fortin Amps that they would team up with Randall Amplifiers to start a new line of tube amplifiers based on the Fortin Meathead amplifier. Kirk Hammett currently has two prototypes, and Hetfield will eventually be receiving one.
The amplifiers currently used on tour by Hetfield are:
Mesa/Boogie TriAxis preamp (x4)
Mesa/Boogie Simul-Class 2:90 power amp (x2)
Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier heads
Diezel VH4 heads
Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabinets with Celestion V30 speakers in isolation cabinets
Roland JC-120 combo amplifiers
=== Effects ===
To avoid problems with pedals being damaged during live performances, Hetfield keeps his effect pedals in a rack along with his amplifiers and his guitar technician controls them through a pedalboard sidestage. The pedal controller allows him to change between different effect pedals and amplifiers.
Hetfield's live rig in 2008 included:
In 2010, a Line 6 effects unit was added to the list, along with the TC Electronic unit, perhaps indicating that this had replaced his stompboxes.
=== Accessories ===
In addition, Hetfield uses Shure Super 55 microphones for vocals.
== Discography ==
=== Metallica ===
Kill 'Em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
...And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica (1991)
Load (1996)
Reload (1997)
St. Anger (2003)
Death Magnetic (2008)
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016)
72 Seasons (2023)
== Filmography ==
== Guest appearances ==
=== On stage ===
Hetfield sang "Baby Hold On" at the Eddie Money Tribute Concert on February 23, 2020, in Beverly Hills.
Hetfield sang "Stone Cold Crazy" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, accompanied by the remaining members of Queen and Tony Iommi on rhythm guitar.
Hetfield performed at the Outlaws Concert in 2004, alongside Hank Williams Jr., Cowboy Troy, Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Kid Rock. Hetfield played one of close friend Waylon Jennings's songs, "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand", the very same he recorded on the tribute album to Jennings, I've Always Been Crazy. At this same event, he performed Metallica's "Mama Said" with Jennings' widow Jessi Colter, though this was cut from the television broadcast.
Hetfield appeared onstage with Alice in Chains on June 2, 2006, at Rock am Ring, singing deceased vocalist Layne Staley's parts on the song "Would?". He again appeared with Alice in Chains to perform "Would?" when they played at The Warfield in San Francisco on November 26, 2006.
On November 17, 2000, Hetfield was at a Misfits concert accompanied by his body guard at Maritime Hall in San Francisco, where he eventually got up on the stage and sang "Last Caress", then "Die, Die My Darling" whilst being accompanied by the band.
=== Musical collaborations ===
Hetfield provided backing vocals on "Man or Ash" on the Corrosion of Conformity album Wiseblood.
Hetfield sang backing vocals on "Twist of Cain" and "Possession" on Danzig's debut album Danzig.
Hetfield played guitar on "Eclectic Electric" from the Primus album Antipop.
Hetfield performed guest vocals on "Drivin' Rain" on the Gov't Mule album The Deep End, Volume 2 and on the soundtrack NASCAR on Fox: Crank It Up (2002).
Hetfield performed guest vocals on the Heart song "Beautiful Broken" from their album of the same name which was released on July 8, 2016.
=== Film ===
Though previously believed to have been sung by Trey Parker, the song "Hell Isn't Good" from the film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was actually sung by Hetfield. He admitted to doing so in 2000, confirming what many Hetfield fans had already recognized as his trademark growling style.
=== Television ===
Hetfield appears in the Celebrity Deathmatch episode "The Battle of the Heavy Metal Maniacs", in which he fights Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst.
In 2017, Hetfield narrated the documentary Addicted to Porn.
=== Music videos ===
A photo of Hetfield appears in Rammstein's music video "Haifisch".
=== Video games ===
James Hetfield appears as a playable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD.
James Hetfield appears as a cosmetic outfit in Fortnite. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Mission | Apollo 11#Mission | Apollo 11 (July 16–24 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon, and the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The mission was crewed by Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, all of whom were on their second and final spaceflight.
Launched atop a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, the Apollo spacecraft consisted of three parts: the command module (CM), which housed the three astronauts and was the only part to return to Earth; the service module (SM), which provided propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water to the command module; and the Lunar Module (LM), which had two stages—a descent stage with a large engine and fuel tanks for landing on the Moon, and a lighter ascent stage containing a cabin for two astronauts and a small engine to return them to lunar orbit. After a three-day transit, Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the surface aboard the LM Eagle, landing in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20 at 20:17 UTC while Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the CM Columbia. Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon approximately six hours after landing, followed by Aldrin nineteen minutes later. Together they spent around two and a half hours walking on the surface, planting an American flag, speaking by telephone with President Richard Nixon, deploying scientific instruments, and collecting 21.5 kg (47.5 lb) of lunar material. After more than 21 hours on the surface, they rejoined Collins in lunar orbit, and the crew returned safely to Earth on July 24, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Apollo 11 was the culmination of the Space Race, a geopolitical competition between the United States and the Soviet Union rooted in Cold War rivalry. It fulfilled a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy in May 1961, who had challenged the United States to land a man on the Moon and return him safely before the end of the decade. The programme overcame a severe setback with the fatal Apollo 1 launchpad fire in January 1967 and drew on technologies developed through the preceding Mercury and Gemini programmes. The Soviet Union, despite early leads in spaceflight, was unable to match the Saturn V rocket, and its uncrewed lunar probe Luna 15 crashed on the Moon on July 21, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were still on the lunar surface.
Armstrong's moonwalk was broadcast live to an estimated 600 million viewers, roughly one-fifth of the world's population, making it among the most-watched television events in history. Stepping onto the lunar surface, Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." lunar samples returned by the mission led to the identification of three previously unrecognized minerals, and scientific instruments deployed on the surface continued returning data for years afterwards. The crew were honoured with ticker-tape parades, a world goodwill tour, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The command module Columbia is preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., while the descent stage of Eagle remains on the lunar surface.
== Background ==
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United States was engaged in the Cold War, a geopolitical rivalry with the Soviet Union. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, surprising the world and fueling fears about Soviet technological and military capabilities. Its success demonstrated that the USSR could potentially deliver nuclear weapons over intercontinental distances, challenging American claims of military, economic, and technological superiority. This incident sparked the Sputnik crisis and ignited the Space Race, as both superpowers sought to demonstrate superiority in spaceflight. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to the challenge posed by Sputnik by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and initiating Project Mercury, which aimed to place a man into Earth orbit. The Soviets took the lead on April 12, 1961, when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space and the first to orbit the Earth. Nearly a month later, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space; his 15-minute flight was suborbital, not a full orbit.
Because the Soviet Union had launch vehicles with higher lift capacity, President John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower's successor, chose a challenge that exceeded the capabilities of the existing generation of rockets, so that both countries would be starting from an equal position. A crewed mission to the Moon would serve this purpose.
On May 25, 1961, Kennedy addressed the United States Congress on "Urgent National Needs" and declared:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade [1960s] is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations—explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the Moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.
On September 12, 1962, Kennedy delivered another speech before a crowd of about 40,000 people in the Rice University football stadium in Houston, Texas. A widely quoted refrain from the middle portion of the speech reads as follows:
There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon ... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.
In spite of that, the proposed program faced widespread opposition and was dubbed a "moondoggle" by Norbert Wiener, a mathematician at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The effort to land a man on the Moon already had a name: Project Apollo. When Kennedy met with Nikita Khrushchev, the Premier of the Soviet Union in June 1961, he proposed making the Moon landing a joint project, but Khrushchev declined the offer. Kennedy again proposed a joint expedition to the Moon in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 1963. The idea of a joint Moon mission was ultimately abandoned after Kennedy's death.
An early and crucial decision was choosing lunar orbit rendezvous over both direct ascent and Earth orbit rendezvous. A space rendezvous is an orbital maneuver in which two spacecraft navigate through space and meet up. In July 1962, NASA head James Webb announced that lunar orbit rendezvous would be used and that the Apollo spacecraft would have three major parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages—a descent stage for landing on the Moon, and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit. This design meant the spacecraft could be launched by a single Saturn V rocket that was then under development.
Technologies and techniques required for Apollo were developed by Project Gemini. The Apollo project was enabled by NASA's adoption of new advances in semiconductor device, including metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP) and silicon integrated circuit (IC) chips in the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC).
Project Apollo was abruptly halted by the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, in which astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee died, and the subsequent investigation. In October 1968, Apollo 7 evaluated the command module in Earth orbit, and in December Apollo 8 tested it in lunar orbit. In March 1969, Apollo 9 put the lunar module through its paces in Earth orbit, and in May Apollo 10 conducted a "dress rehearsal" in lunar orbit. By July 1969, all was in readiness for Apollo 11 to take the final step onto the Moon.
The Soviet Union appeared to be winning the Space Race, but its early lead was overtaken by the US Gemini program and Soviet failure to develop the N1 launcher, which would have been comparable to the Saturn V. Seeing these failures, the Soviets then attempted to beat the US to return lunar material to the Earth by means of uncrewed probes. On July 13, three days before Apollo 11's launch, the Soviet Union launched Luna 15, which reached lunar orbit before Apollo 11. During descent, a malfunction caused Luna 15 to crash in Mare Crisium about two hours before Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the Moon's surface to return to earth. The Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories radio telescope in England recorded transmissions from Luna 15 during its descent, and these were released in July 2009 for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11.
== Personnel ==
=== Prime crew ===
The initial crew assignment of Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot (CMP) Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Buzz Aldrin on the backup crew for Apollo 9 was officially announced on November 20, 1967. Lovell and Aldrin had previously flown together as the crew of Gemini 12. Due to design and manufacturing delays in the LM, Apollo 8 and Apollo 9 swapped prime and backup crews, and Armstrong's crew became the backup for Apollo 8. Based on the normal crew rotation scheme, Armstrong was then expected to command Apollo 11.
There would be one change. Michael Collins, the CMP on the Apollo 8 crew, began experiencing trouble with his legs. Doctors diagnosed a bony growth between his fifth and sixth vertebrae, requiring surgery. Lovell took his place on the Apollo 8 crew, and when Collins recovered he joined Armstrong's crew as CMP. In the meantime, Fred Haise filled in as backup LMP, and Aldrin as backup CMP for Apollo 8. Apollo 11 was the second American mission where all the crew members had prior spaceflight experience, the first being Apollo 10. The next was STS-26 in 1988.
Deke Slayton gave Armstrong the option to replace Aldrin with Lovell, since some thought Aldrin was difficult to work with. Armstrong had no issues working with Aldrin but thought it over for a day before declining. He thought Lovell deserved to command his own mission (eventually Apollo 13).
The Apollo 11 prime crew had none of the close cheerful camaraderie characterized by that of Apollo 12. Instead, they forged an amiable working relationship. Armstrong in particular was notoriously aloof, but Collins, who considered himself a loner, confessed to rebuffing Aldrin's attempts to create a more personal relationship. Aldrin and Collins described the crew as "amiable strangers". Armstrong did not agree with the assessment, and said "all the crews I was on worked very well together."
=== Backup crew ===
The backup crew consisted of Lovell as Commander, William Anders as CMP, and Haise as LMP. Anders had flown with Lovell on Apollo 8. In early 1969, Anders accepted a job with the National Aeronautics and Space Council effective August 1969, and announced he would retire as an astronaut at that time. Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup CMP in case Apollo 11 was delayed past its intended July launch date, at which point Anders would be unavailable.
Under the normal Apollo crew rotation, Lovell, Mattingly, and Haise would have been assigned to Apollo 14. However, because Alan Shepard had only recently returned to flight status and needed additional training, NASA reassigned his crew to Apollo 14 and moved Lovell's crew up to fly Apollo 13 instead. Shortly before launch, Mattingly was replaced by Jack Swigert due to concerns over possible measles exposure.
=== Support crew ===
During Projects Mercury and Gemini, each mission had a prime and a backup crew. For Apollo, NASA added a third group, the support crew. Their job was to maintain the flight plan, checklists, and mission rules, and to keep the prime and backup crews updated on any changes. They also developed procedures—especially for emergencies, so that by the time the prime and backup crews entered the simulators, they could focus on practicing and mastering them. The support crew for Apollo 11 was Mattingly, Ronald Evans, and Bill Pogue.
=== Capsule communicators ===
The capsule communicator (CAPCOM) was an astronaut stationed at the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, and was typically the only person permitted to communicate directly with the flight crew. This practice ensured that messages came from someone best able to understand the situation in the spacecraft and to relay guidance from flight controllers as clearly as possible. For Apollo 11, the CAPCOMs were backup and support crew members Anders, Evans, Haise, Lovell, and Mattingly, along with Charles Duke, Owen Garriott, Don L. Lind, Bruce McCandless II, and Harrison Schmitt.
=== Flight directors ===
The flight directors for this mission were:
=== Other key personnel ===
Other key personnel who played important roles in the Apollo 11 mission include the following.
== Preparations ==
=== Insignia ===
The Apollo 11 mission emblem was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the United States". At Lovell's suggestion, he chose the bald eagle, the national bird of the United States, as the symbol. Tom Wilson, a simulator instructor, suggested an olive branch in its beak to represent their peaceful mission. Collins added a lunar background with the Earth in the distance. The sunlight in the image was coming from the wrong direction; the shadow should have been in the lower part of the Earth instead of the left. Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins decided the Eagle and the Moon would be in their natural colors, and decided on a blue and gold border. Armstrong was concerned that "eleven" would not be understood by non-English speakers, so they went with "Apollo 11", and they decided not to put their names on the patch, so it would "be representative of everyone who had worked toward a lunar landing".
An illustrator at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) did the artwork, which was then sent off to NASA officials for approval. The design was rejected. Bob Gilruth, the director of the MSC felt the talons of the eagle looked "too warlike". After some discussion, the olive branch was moved to the talons. When the Eisenhower dollar coin was released in 1971, the patch design provided the eagle for its reverse side. The design was also used for the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar unveiled in 1979.
=== Call signs ===
After the crew of Apollo 10 named their spacecraft Charlie Brown and Snoopy, assistant manager for public affairs Julian Scheer wrote to George Low, the Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at the MSC, to suggest the Apollo 11 crew be less flippant in naming their craft. The name Snowcone was used for the CM and Haystack was used for the LM in both internal and external communications during early mission planning.
The LM was named Eagle after the motif which was featured prominently on the mission insignia. At Scheer's suggestion, the CM was named Columbia after Columbiad, the giant cannon that launched a spacecraft (also from Florida) in Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. It also referred to Columbia, a historical name of the United States. In Collins' 1976 book, he said Columbia was in reference to Christopher Columbus.
=== Mementos ===
The astronauts had personal preference kits (PPKs), small bags containing personal items of significance they wanted to take with them on the mission. Five 0.5-pound (0.23 kg) PPKs were carried on Apollo 11: three (one for each astronaut) were stowed on Columbia before launch, and two on Eagle.
Neil Armstrong's LM PPK contained a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer's left propeller and a piece of fabric from its wing, along with a diamond-studded astronaut pin originally given to Slayton by the widows of the Apollo 1 crew. This pin had been intended to be flown on that mission and given to Slayton afterwards, but following the disastrous launch pad fire and subsequent funerals, the widows gave the pin to Slayton. Armstrong took it with him on Apollo 11.
=== Site selection ===
NASA's Apollo Site Selection Board announced five potential landing sites on February 8, 1968. These were the result of two years' worth of studies based on high-resolution photography of the lunar surface by the five uncrewed probes of the Lunar Orbiter program and information about surface conditions provided by the Surveyor program. The best Earth-bound telescopes could not resolve features with the resolution Project Apollo required. The landing site had to be close to the lunar equator to minimize the amount of propellant required, clear of obstacles to minimize maneuvering, and flat to simplify the task of the landing radar. Scientific value was not a consideration.
Areas that appeared promising on photographs taken on Earth were often found to be totally unacceptable. The original requirement that the site be free of craters had to be relaxed, as no such site was found. Five sites were considered: Sites 1 and 2 were in the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis); Site 3 was in the Central Bay (Sinus Medii); and Sites 4 and 5 were in the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum).
The final site selection was based on seven criteria:
The site needed to be smooth, with relatively few craters;
with approach paths free of large hills, tall cliffs or deep craters that might confuse the landing radar and cause it to issue incorrect readings;
reachable with a minimum amount of propellant;
allowing for delays in the launch countdown;
providing the Apollo spacecraft with a free-return trajectory, one that would allow it to coast around the Moon and safely return to Earth without requiring any engine firings should a problem arise on the way to the Moon;
with good visibility during the landing approach, meaning the Sun would be between 7 and 20 degrees behind the LM; and
a general slope of less than two degrees in the landing area.
The requirement for the Sun angle was particularly restrictive, limiting the launch date to one day per month. A landing just after dawn was chosen to limit the temperature extremes the astronauts would experience. The Apollo Site Selection Board selected Site 2, with Sites 3 and 5 as backups in the event of the launch being delayed. In May 1969, Apollo 10's lunar module flew to within 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) of Site 2, and reported it was acceptable.
=== First-step decision ===
During the first press conference after the Apollo 11 crew was announced, the first question was, "Which one of you gentlemen will be the first man to step onto the lunar surface?" Slayton told the reporter it had not been decided, and Armstrong added that it was "not based on individual desire".
One of the first versions of the egress checklist had the lunar module pilot exit the spacecraft before the commander, which matched what had been done on Gemini missions, where the commander had never performed the spacewalk. Reporters wrote in early 1969 that Aldrin would be the first man to walk on the Moon, and Associate Administrator George Mueller told reporters he would be first as well. Aldrin heard that Armstrong would be the first because Armstrong was a civilian, which made Aldrin livid. Aldrin attempted to persuade other Lunar Module pilots he should be first, but they responded cynically about what they perceived as a lobbying campaign. Attempting to stem interdepartmental conflict, Slayton told Aldrin that Armstrong would be first since he was the commander. The decision was announced in a press conference on April 14, 1969.
For decades, Aldrin believed the final decision was largely driven by the Lunar Module's hatch location. Because the astronauts had their spacesuits on and the spacecraft was so small, maneuvering to exit the spacecraft was difficult. The crew tried a simulation in which Aldrin left the spacecraft first, but he damaged the simulator while attempting to egress. While this was enough for mission planners to make their decision, Aldrin and Armstrong were left in the dark on the decision until late spring. Slayton told Armstrong the plan was to have him leave the spacecraft first, if he agreed. Armstrong said, "Yes, that's the way to do it."
The media accused Armstrong of exercising his commander's prerogative to exit the spacecraft first. Chris Kraft revealed in his 2001 autobiography that a meeting occurred between Gilruth, Slayton, Low, and himself to make sure Aldrin would not be the first to walk on the Moon. They argued that the first person to walk on the Moon should be like Charles Lindbergh, a calm and quiet person. They made the decision to change the flight plan so the commander was the first to egress from the spacecraft.
=== Pre-launch ===
The ascent stage of LM-5 Eagle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on January 8, 1969, followed by the descent stage four days later, and CSM-107 Columbia on January 23. There were several differences between Eagle and Apollo 10's LM-4 Snoopy; Eagle had a VHF radio antenna to facilitate communication with the astronauts during their EVA on the lunar surface; a lighter ascent engine; more thermal protection on the landing gear; and a package of scientific experiments known as the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP). The only change in the configuration of the command module was the removal of some insulation from the forward hatch. The CSM was mated on January 29, and moved from the Operations and Checkout Building to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 14.
The S-IVB third stage of Saturn V AS-506 had arrived on January 18, followed by the S-II second stage on February 6, S-IC first stage on February 20, and the Saturn V Instrument Unit on February 27. At 12:30 on May 20, the 5,443-tonne (5,357-long-ton; 6,000-short-ton) assembly departed the Vehicle Assembly Building atop the crawler-transporter, bound for Launch Pad 39A, part of Launch Complex 39, while Apollo 10 was still on its way to the Moon. A countdown test commenced on June 26, and concluded on July 2. The launch complex was floodlit on the night of July 15, when the crawler-transporter carried the mobile service structure back to its parking area. In the early hours of the morning, the fuel tanks of the S-II and S-IVB stages were filled with liquid hydrogen. Fueling was completed by three hours before launch. Launch operations were partly automated, with 43 programs written in the ATOLL programming language.
Slayton roused the crew shortly after 04:00, and they showered, shaved, and had the traditional pre-flight breakfast of steak and eggs with Slayton and the backup crew. They then donned their space suits and began breathing pure oxygen. At 06:30, they headed out to Launch Complex 39. Haise entered Columbia about three hours and ten minutes before launch time. Along with a technician, he helped Armstrong into the left-hand couch at 06:54. Five minutes later, Collins joined him, taking up his position on the right-hand couch. Finally, Aldrin entered, taking the center couch. Haise left around two hours and ten minutes before launch. The closeout crew sealed the hatch, and the cabin was purged and pressurized. The closeout crew then left the launch complex about an hour before launch time. The countdown became automated at three minutes and twenty seconds before launch time. Over 450 personnel were at the consoles in the firing room.
== Mission ==
=== Launch and flight to lunar orbit ===
An estimated one million spectators watched the launch of Apollo 11 from the highways and beaches in the vicinity of the launch site. Dignitaries included the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General William Westmoreland, four cabinet members, 19 state governors, 40 mayors, 60 ambassadors and 200 congressmen. Vice President Spiro Agnew viewed the launch with former president Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson. Around 3,500 media representatives were present. About two-thirds were from the United States; the rest came from 55 other countries. The launch was televised live in 33 countries, with an estimated 25 million viewers in the United States alone. Millions more around the world listened to radio broadcasts. President Richard Nixon viewed the launch from his office in the White House with his NASA liaison officer, Apollo astronaut Frank Borman. Lodging near Cape Canaveral was reported as being booked months ahead in advance for the launch by a Florida newspaper.
Saturn V AS-506 launched Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 EDT). At 13.2 seconds into the flight, the launch vehicle began to roll into its flight azimuth of 72.058°. Full shutdown of the first-stage engines occurred about 2 minutes and 42 seconds into the mission, followed by separation of the S-IC and ignition of the S-II engines. The second stage engines then cut off and separated at about 9 minutes and 8 seconds, allowing the first ignition of the S-IVB engine a few seconds later.
Apollo 11 entered a near-circular Earth orbit at an altitude of 100.4 nautical miles (185.9 km) by 98.9 nautical miles (183.2 km), twelve minutes into its flight. After one and a half orbits, a second ignition of the S-IVB engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later, with Collins in the left seat and at the controls, the transposition, docking, and extraction maneuver was performed. This involved separating Columbia from the spent S-IVB stage, turning around, and docking with Eagle still attached to the stage. After the LM was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the rocket stage flew on a trajectory past the Moon. This was done to avoid the third stage colliding with the spacecraft, the Earth, or the Moon. A slingshot effect from passing around the Moon threw it into an orbit around the Sun.
On July 19 at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits that followed, the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquility about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the crater Sabine D. The site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers and the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft, and because it was unlikely to present major landing or EVA challenges. It lay about 25 kilometers (16 mi) southeast of the Surveyor 5 landing site, and 68 kilometers (42 mi) southwest of Ranger 8's crash site.
=== Lunar descent ===
At 12:52:00 UTC on July 20, Aldrin and Armstrong entered Eagle, and began the final preparations for lunar descent. At 17:44:00 Eagle separated from Columbia. Collins, alone aboard Columbia, inspected Eagle as it pirouetted before him to ensure the craft was not damaged, and that the landing gear was correctly deployed. Armstrong exclaimed: "The Eagle has wings!"
As the descent began, Armstrong and Aldrin found themselves passing landmarks on the surface two or three seconds early, and reported that they were "long"; they would land miles west of their target point. Eagle was traveling too fast. The problem could have been mascons—concentrations of high mass in a region or regions of the Moon's crust that contains a gravitational anomaly, potentially altering Eagle's trajectory. Flight Director Gene Kranz speculated that it could have resulted from extra air pressure in the docking tunnel, or a result of Eagle's pirouette maneuver.
Five minutes into the descent burn, and 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surface of the Moon, the LM guidance computer (LGC) distracted the crew with the first of several unexpected 1201 and 1202 program alarms. Inside Mission Control Center, computer engineer Jack Garman told Guidance Officer Steve Bales it was safe to continue the descent, and this was relayed to the crew. The program alarms indicated "executive overflows", meaning the guidance computer could not complete all its tasks in real-time and had to postpone some of them. Margaret Hamilton, the Director of Apollo Flight Computer Programming at the MIT Charles Stark Draper Laboratory later recalled:
To blame the computer for the Apollo 11 problems is like blaming the person who spots a fire and calls the fire department. Actually, the computer was programmed to do more than recognize error conditions. A complete set of recovery programs was incorporated into the software. The software's action, in this case, was to eliminate lower priority tasks and re-establish the more important ones. The computer, rather than almost forcing an abort, prevented an abort. If the computer hadn't recognized this problem and taken recovery action, I doubt if Apollo 11 would have been the successful Moon landing it was.
During the mission, the cause was diagnosed as the rendezvous radar switch being in the wrong position, causing the computer to process data from both the rendezvous and landing radars at the same time. Software engineer Don Eyles concluded in a 2005 Guidance and Control Conference paper that the problem was due to a hardware design bug previously seen during testing of the first uncrewed LM in Apollo 5. Having the rendezvous radar on (so it was warmed up in case of an emergency landing abort) should have been irrelevant to the computer, but an electrical phasing mismatch between two parts of the rendezvous radar system could cause the stationary antenna to appear to the computer as dithering back and forth between two positions, depending upon how the hardware randomly powered up. The extra spurious cycle stealing, as the rendezvous radar updated an involuntary counter, caused the computer alarms.
=== Landing ===
When Armstrong again looked outside, he saw that the computer's landing system was targeting a boulder-strewn area just north and east of a 300-foot-diameter (91 m) crater (later determined to be West crater), so he took semi-automatic control. Armstrong considered landing short of the boulder field so they could collect geological samples from it, but could not since their horizontal velocity was too high. Throughout the descent, Aldrin called out navigation data to Armstrong, who was busy piloting Eagle. Now 107 feet (33 m) above the surface, Armstrong knew their propellant supply was dwindling and was determined to land at the first possible landing site.
Armstrong found a clear patch of ground and maneuvered the spacecraft towards it. As he got closer, now 250 feet (76 m) above the surface, he discovered his new landing site had a crater in it. He cleared the crater and found another patch of level ground. They were now 100 feet (30 m) from the surface, with only 90 seconds of propellant remaining. Lunar dust kicked up by the LM's engine began to impair his ability to determine the spacecraft's motion. Some large rocks jutted out of the dust cloud, and Armstrong focused on them during his descent so he could determine the spacecraft's speed.
A light informed Aldrin that at least one of the 67-inch (170 cm) probes hanging from Eagle's footpads had touched the surface a few moments before the landing and he said: "Contact light!" Armstrong was supposed to immediately shut the engine down, as the engineers suspected the pressure caused by the engine's own exhaust reflecting off the lunar surface could make it explode, but he forgot. Three seconds later, Eagle landed and Armstrong shut the engine down. Aldrin immediately said "Okay, engine stop. ACA—out of detent." Armstrong acknowledged: "Out of detent. Auto." Aldrin continued: "Mode control—both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm—off. 413 is in."
ACA was the Attitude Control Assembly—the LM's control stick. Output went to the LGC to command the reaction control system (RCS) jets to fire. "Out of Detent" meant the stick had moved away from its centered position; it was spring-centered like the turn indicator in a car. Address 413 of the Abort Guidance System (AGS) contained the variable that indicated the LM had landed.
Eagle landed at 20:17:40 UTC on Sunday July 20 with 216 pounds (98 kg) of usable fuel remaining. Information available to the crew and mission controllers during the landing showed the LM had enough fuel for another 25 seconds of powered flight before an abort without touchdown would have become unsafe, but post-mission analysis showed that the real figure was probably closer to 50 seconds. Apollo 11 landed with less fuel than most subsequent missions, and the astronauts encountered a premature low fuel warning. This was later found to be the result of the propellant sloshing more than expected, uncovering a fuel sensor. On subsequent missions, extra anti-slosh baffles were added to the tanks to prevent this.
Armstrong acknowledged Aldrin's completion of the post-landing checklist with "Engine arm is off", before responding to the CAPCOM, Charles Duke, with the words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Armstrong's unrehearsed change of call sign from "Eagle" to "Tranquility Base" emphasized to listeners that landing was complete and successful. Duke expressed the relief at Mission Control: "Roger, Twan—Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."
Two and a half hours after landing, before preparations began for the EVA, Aldrin radioed to Earth:
This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.
He then took communion privately. At this time NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair (who had objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis) demanding that their astronauts refrain from broadcasting religious activities while in space. For this reason, Aldrin chose to refrain from directly mentioning taking communion on the Moon. Aldrin was an elder at the Webster Presbyterian Church, and his communion kit was prepared by the pastor of the church, Dean Woodruff. Webster Presbyterian possesses the chalice used on the Moon and commemorates the event each year on the Sunday closest to July 20. The schedule for the mission called for the astronauts to follow the landing with a five-hour sleep period, but they chose to begin preparations for the EVA early, thinking they would be unable to sleep.
=== Lunar surface operations ===
Preparations for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to walk on the Moon began at 23:43 UTC. These took longer than expected; three and a half hours instead of two. During training on Earth, everything required had been neatly laid out in advance, but on the Moon the cabin contained a large number of other items as well, such as checklists, food packets, and tools. Six hours and thirty-nine minutes after landing, Armstrong and Aldrin were ready to go outside, and Eagle was depressurized.
Eagle's hatch was opened at 02:39:33. Armstrong initially had some difficulties squeezing through the hatch with his portable life support system (PLSS). Some of the highest heart rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred during LM egress and ingress. At 02:51 Armstrong began his descent to the lunar surface. The remote-control unit on his chest kept him from seeing his feet. Climbing down the nine-rung ladder, Armstrong pulled a D-ring to deploy the modular equipment stowage assembly (MESA) folded against Eagle's side and activate the TV camera.
Apollo 11 used slow-scan television (TV) incompatible with broadcast TV, so it was displayed on a special monitor and a conventional TV camera viewed this monitor (thus, a broadcast of a broadcast), significantly reducing the quality of the picture. The signal was received at Goldstone in the United States, but with better fidelity by Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station near Canberra in Australia. Minutes later the feed was switched to the more sensitive Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Despite some technical and weather difficulties, black and white images of the first lunar EVA were received and broadcast to at least 600 million people on Earth. Copies of this video in broadcast format were saved and are widely available, but recordings of the original slow scan source transmission from the lunar surface were likely destroyed during routine magnetic tape re-use at NASA.
After describing the surface dust as "very fine-grained" and "almost like a powder", at 02:56:15, six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong stepped off Eagle's landing pad and declared: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."
Armstrong intended to say "That's one small step for a man", but the word "a" is not audible in the transmission, and thus was not initially reported by most observers of the live broadcast. When later asked about his quote, Armstrong said he believed he said "for a man", and subsequent printed versions of the quote included the "a" in square brackets. One explanation for the absence may be that his accent caused him to slur the words "for a" together; another is the intermittent nature of the audio and video links to Earth, partly because of storms near Parkes Observatory. A more recent digital analysis of the tape claims to reveal the "a" may have been spoken but obscured by static. Other analysis points to the claims of static and slurring as "face-saving fabrication", and that Armstrong himself later admitted to misspeaking the line.
About seven minutes after stepping onto the Moon's surface, Armstrong collected a contingency soil sample using a sample bag on a stick. He then folded the bag and tucked it into a pocket on his right thigh. This was to guarantee there would be some lunar soil brought back in case an emergency required the astronauts to abandon the EVA and return to the LM. Twelve minutes after the sample was collected, he removed the TV camera from the MESA and made a panoramic sweep, then mounted it on a tripod. The TV camera cable remained partly coiled and presented a tripping hazard throughout the EVA. Still photography was accomplished with a Hasselblad camera that could be operated hand-held or mounted on Armstrong's Apollo space suit. Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface. He described the view with the simple phrase: "Magnificent desolation."
Armstrong said moving in the lunar gravity, one-sixth of Earth's, was "even perhaps easier than the simulations ... It's absolutely no trouble to walk around." Aldrin joined him on the surface and tested methods for moving around, including two-footed kangaroo hops. The PLSS backpack created a tendency to tip backward, but neither astronaut had serious problems maintaining balance. Loping became the preferred method of movement. The astronauts reported that they needed to plan their movements six or seven steps ahead. The fine soil was quite slippery. Aldrin remarked that moving from sunlight into Eagle's shadow produced no temperature change inside the suit, but the helmet was warmer in sunlight, so he felt cooler in shadow. The MESA failed to provide a stable work platform and was in shadow, slowing work somewhat. As they worked, the moonwalkers kicked up gray dust, which soiled the outer part of their suits.
The astronauts planted the Lunar Flag Assembly containing a flag of the United States on the lunar surface, in clear view of the TV camera. Aldrin remembered, "Of all the jobs I had to do on the Moon the one I wanted to go the smoothest was the flag raising." But the astronauts struggled with the telescoping rod and could only insert the pole about 2 inches (5 cm) into the hard lunar surface. Aldrin was afraid it might topple in front of TV viewers, but gave "a crisp West Point salute". Before Aldrin could take a photo of Armstrong with the flag, President Richard Nixon spoke to them through a telephone-radio transmission, which Nixon called "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House." Nixon originally had a long speech prepared to read during the phone call, but Frank Borman, who was at the White House as a NASA liaison during Apollo 11, convinced Nixon to keep his words brief.
Nixon: Hello, Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you have done. For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure that they too join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one: one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth.
Armstrong: Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here, representing not only the United States, but men of peace of all nations, and with interest and a curiosity, and men with a vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today.
Nixon: Thank you very much, and I look forward, all of us look forward, to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday.
They deployed the EASEP, which included a Passive Seismic Experiment Package used to measure moonquakes and a retroreflector array used for the lunar laser ranging experiment. Then Armstrong walked 196 feet (60 m) from the LM to take photographs at the rim of Little West Crater while Aldrin collected two core samples. He used the geologist's hammer to pound in the tubes—the only time the hammer was used on Apollo 11—but was unable to penetrate more than 6 inches (15 cm) deep. The astronauts then collected rock samples using scoops and tongs on extension handles. Many of the surface activities took longer than expected, so they had to stop documenting sample collection halfway through the allotted 34 minutes. Aldrin shoveled 6 kilograms (13 lb) of soil into the box of rocks to pack them in tightly. Two types of rocks were found in the geological samples: basalt and breccia. Three new minerals were discovered in the rock samples collected by the astronauts: armalcolite, tranquillityite, and pyroxferroite. Armalcolite was named after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. All have subsequently been found on Earth.
While on the surface, Armstrong uncovered a plaque mounted on the LM ladder, bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and President Nixon. The inscription read:
Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A. D. We came in peace for all mankind.
At the behest of the Nixon administration to add a reference to God, NASA included the vague date as a reason to include A.D., which stands for Anno Domini ("in the year of our Lord").
Mission Control used a coded phrase to warn Armstrong his metabolic rates were high, and that he should slow down. He was moving rapidly from task to task as time ran out. As metabolic rates remained generally lower than expected for both astronauts throughout the walk, Mission Control granted the astronauts a 15-minute extension. In a 2010 interview, Armstrong explained that NASA limited the first moonwalk's time and distance because there was no empirical proof of how much cooling water the astronauts' PLSS backpacks would consume to handle their body heat generation while working on the Moon.
=== Lunar ascent ===
Aldrin entered Eagle first. With some difficulty the astronauts lifted film and two sample boxes containing 21.55 kilograms (47.5 lb) of lunar surface material to the LM hatch using a flat cable pulley device called the Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC). This proved to be an inefficient tool, and later missions preferred to carry equipment and samples up to the LM by hand. Armstrong reminded Aldrin of a bag of memorial items in his sleeve pocket, and Aldrin tossed the bag down. Armstrong then jumped onto the ladder's third rung, and climbed into the LM. After transferring to LM life support, the explorers lightened the ascent stage for the return to lunar orbit by tossing out their PLSS backpacks, lunar overshoes, an empty Hasselblad camera, and other equipment. The hatch was closed again at 05:11:13. They then pressurized the LM and settled down to sleep.
Presidential speech writer William Safire had prepared an In Event of Moon Disaster announcement for Nixon to read in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon. The remarks were in a memo from Safire to Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such a disaster. According to the plan, Mission Control would "close down communications" with the LM, and a clergyman would "commend their souls to the deepest of the deep" in a public ritual likened to burial at sea. The last line of the prepared text contained an allusion to Rupert Brooke's World War I poem "The Soldier". The script for the speech does not make reference to Collins; as he remained onboard Columbia in orbit around the Moon, it was expected that he would be able to return the module to Earth in the event of a mission failure.
While moving inside the cabin, Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the main engine for liftoff from the Moon. There was a concern this would prevent firing the engine, stranding them on the Moon. The nonconductive tip of a Duro felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.
After more than 21+1⁄2 hours on the lunar surface, in addition to the scientific instruments, the astronauts left behind: an Apollo 1 mission patch in memory of astronauts Roger Chaffee, Gus Grissom, and Edward White, who died when their command module caught fire during a test in January 1967; two memorial medals of Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin, who died in 1967 and 1968 respectively; a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace; and a silicon message disk carrying the goodwill statements by presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon along with messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world. The disk also carries a listing of the leadership of the US Congress, a listing of members of the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for the NASA legislation, and the names of NASA's past and then-current top management.
After about seven hours of rest, the crew was awakened by Houston to prepare for the return flight.
At that time, unknown to them, some hundred kilometers away from them the Soviet probe Luna 15 was about to descend and impact. Despite having been known to be orbiting the Moon at the same time, through a ground-breaking precautious goodwill exchange of data, the mission control of Luna 15 unexpectedly hastened its robotic sample-return mission, initiating descent, in an attempt to return before Apollo 11. Just two hours before Apollo 11's launch Luna 15 crashed at 15:50 UTC, with British astronomers monitoring Luna 15 and recording the situation one commented: "I say, this has really been drama of the highest order", bringing the Space Race to a culmination.
Roughly two hours later, at 17:54:00 UTC, the Apollo 11 crew on the surface safely lifted off in Eagle's ascent stage to rejoin Collins aboard Columbia in lunar orbit. Film taken from the LM ascent stage upon liftoff from the Moon reveals the American flag, planted some 25 feet (8 m) from the descent stage, whipping violently in the exhaust of the ascent stage engine. Aldrin looked up in time to witness the flag topple: "The ascent stage of the LM separated ... I was concentrating on the computers, and Neil was studying the attitude indicator, but I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over." Subsequent Apollo missions planted their flags farther from the LM.
=== Columbia in lunar orbit ===
During his day flying solo around the Moon, Collins never felt lonely. Although it has been said "not since Adam has any human known such solitude", Collins felt very much a part of the mission. In his autobiography he wrote: "this venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two". In the 48 minutes of each orbit when he was out of radio contact with the Earth while Columbia passed round the far side of the Moon, the feeling he reported was not fear or loneliness, but rather "awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exultation".
One of Collins' first tasks was to identify the Lunar Module on the ground. To give Collins an idea where to look, Mission Control radioed that they believed the Lunar Module landed about 4 miles (6.4 km) off target. Each time he passed over the suspected lunar landing site, he tried in vain to find the module. On his first orbits on the back side of the Moon, Collins performed maintenance activities such as dumping excess water produced by the fuel cells and preparing the cabin for Armstrong and Aldrin to return.
Just before he reached the dark side on the third orbit, Mission Control informed Collins there was a problem with the temperature of the coolant. If it became too cold, parts of Columbia might freeze. Mission Control advised him to assume manual control and implement Environmental Control System Malfunction Procedure 17. Instead, Collins flicked the switch on the system from automatic to manual and back to automatic again, and carried on with normal housekeeping chores, while keeping an eye on the temperature. When Columbia came back around to the near side of the Moon again, he was able to report that the problem had been resolved. For the next couple of orbits, he described his time on the back side of the Moon as "relaxing". After Aldrin and Armstrong completed their EVA, Collins slept so he could be rested for the rendezvous. While the flight plan called for Eagle to meet up with Columbia, Collins was prepared for a contingency in which he would fly Columbia down to meet Eagle.
=== Return ===
Eagle rendezvoused with Columbia at 21:24 UTC on July 21, and the two docked at 21:35. Eagle's ascent stage was jettisoned into lunar orbit at 23:41. Just before the Apollo 12 flight, it was noted that Eagle was still likely to be orbiting the Moon. Later NASA reports mentioned that Eagle's orbit had decayed, resulting in it impacting in an "uncertain location" on the lunar surface. In 2021, however, some calculations show that the lander may still be in orbit.
On July 23, the last night before splashdown, the three astronauts made a television broadcast in which Collins commented: "All this is possible only through the blood, sweat, and tears of a number of people ... All you see is the three of us, but beneath the surface are thousands and thousands of others, and to all of those, I would like to say, 'Thank you very much'." Aldrin added: "This has been far more than three men on a mission to the Moon; more, still, than the efforts of a government and industry team; more, even, than the efforts of one nation. We feel that this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown ..."
Armstrong concluded:
The responsibility for this flight lies first with history and with the giants of science who have preceded this effort; next with the American people, who have, through their will, indicated their desire; next with four administrations and their Congresses, for implementing that will; and then, with the agency and industry teams that built our spacecraft, the Saturn, the Columbia, the Eagle, and the little EMU, the spacesuit and backpack that was our small spacecraft out on the lunar surface. We would like to give special thanks to all those Americans who built the spacecraft; who did the construction, design, the tests, and put their hearts and all their abilities into those craft. To those people tonight, we give a special thank you, and to all the other people that are listening and watching tonight, God bless you. Good night from Apollo 11.
On the return to Earth, a bearing at the Guam tracking station failed, potentially preventing communication on the last segment of the Earth return. A regular repair was not possible in the available time but the station director, Charles Force, had his ten-year-old son Greg use his small hands to reach into the housing and pack it with grease. Greg was later thanked by Armstrong.
=== Splashdown and quarantine ===
The aircraft carrier USS Hornet, under the command of Captain Carl J. Seiberlich, was selected as the primary recovery ship (PRS) for Apollo 11 on June 5, replacing her sister ship, the LPH USS Princeton, which had recovered Apollo 10 on May 26. Hornet was then at her home port of Long Beach, California. On reaching Pearl Harbor on July 5, Hornet embarked the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters of HS-4, a unit which specialized in recovery of Apollo spacecraft, specialized divers of UDT Detachment Apollo, a 35-man NASA recovery team, and about 120 media representatives. To make room, most of Hornet's air wing was left behind in Long Beach. Special recovery equipment was also loaded, including a boilerplate command module used for training.
On July 12, with Apollo 11 still on the launch pad, Hornet departed Pearl Harbor for the recovery area in the central Pacific, in the vicinity of 10°36′N 172°24′E. A presidential party consisting of Nixon, Borman, Secretary of State William P. Rogers and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger flew to Johnston Atoll on Air Force One, then to the command ship USS Arlington in Marine One. After a night on board, they would fly to Hornet in Marine One for a few hours of ceremonies. On arrival aboard Hornet, the party was greeted by the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC), Admiral John S. McCain Jr., and NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine, who flew to Hornet from Pago Pago in one of Hornet's carrier onboard delivery aircraft.
Weather satellites were not yet common, but US Air Force Captain Hank Brandli had access to top-secret spy satellite images. He realized that a storm front was headed for the Apollo recovery area. Poor visibility which could make locating the capsule difficult, and strong upper-level winds which "would have ripped their parachutes to shreds" according to Brandli, posed a serious threat to the safety of the mission. Brandli alerted Navy Captain Willard S. Houston Jr., the commander of the Fleet Weather Center at Pearl Harbor, who had the required security clearance. On their recommendation, Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, commander of Manned Spaceflight Recovery Forces, Pacific, advised NASA to change the recovery area, each man risking his career. A new location was selected 215 nautical miles (398 km) northeast.
This altered the flight plan. A different sequence of computer programs was used, one never before attempted. In a conventional entry, trajectory event P64 was followed by P67. For a skip-out re-entry, P65 and P66 were employed to handle the exit and entry parts of the skip. In this case, because they were extending the re-entry but not actually skipping out, P66 was not invoked and instead, P65 led directly to P67. The crew were also warned they would not be in a full-lift (heads-down) attitude when they entered P67. The first program's acceleration subjected the astronauts to 6.5 standard gravities (64 m/s2); the second, to 6.0 standard gravities (59 m/s2).
Before dawn on July 24, Hornet launched four Sea King helicopters and three Grumman E-1 Tracers. Two of the E-1s were designated as "air boss" while the third acted as a communications relay aircraft. Two of the Sea Kings carried divers and recovery equipment. The third carried photographic equipment, and the fourth carried the decontamination swimmer and the flight surgeon. At 16:44 UTC (05:44 local time) Columbia's drogue parachutes were deployed. This was observed by the helicopters. Seven minutes later Columbia struck the water forcefully 2,660 km (1,440 nmi) east of Wake Island, 380 km (210 nmi) south of Johnston Atoll, and 24 km (13 nmi) from Hornet, at 13°19′N 169°9′W. 82 °F (28 °C) with 6 feet (1.8 m) seas and winds at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) from the east were reported under broken clouds at 1,500 feet (460 m) with visibility of 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) at the recovery site. Reconnaissance aircraft flying to the original splashdown location reported the conditions Brandli and Houston had predicted.
During splashdown, Columbia landed upside down but was righted within ten minutes by flotation bags activated by the astronauts. A diver from the Navy helicopter hovering above attached a sea anchor to prevent it from drifting. More divers attached flotation collars to stabilize the module and positioned rafts for astronaut extraction.
The divers then passed biological isolation garments (BIGs) to the astronauts, and assisted them into the life raft. The possibility of bringing back pathogens from the lunar surface was considered remote, but NASA took precautions at the recovery site. The astronauts were rubbed down with a sodium hypochlorite solution and Columbia wiped with povidone-iodine to remove any lunar dust that might be present. The astronauts were winched on board the recovery helicopter. BIGs were worn until they reached isolation facilities on board Hornet. The raft containing decontamination materials was intentionally sunk.
After touchdown on Hornet at 17:53 UTC, the helicopter was lowered by the elevator into the hangar bay, where the astronauts walked the 30 feet (9.1 m) to the mobile quarantine facility (MQF), where they would begin the Earth-based portion of their 21 days of quarantine. This practice would continue for two more Apollo missions, Apollo 12 and Apollo 14, before the Moon was proven to be barren of life, and the quarantine process dropped. Nixon welcomed the astronauts back to Earth. He told them: "[A]s a result of what you've done, the world has never been closer together before."
After Nixon departed, Hornet was brought alongside the 5-short-ton (4.5 t) Columbia, which was lifted aboard by the ship's crane, placed on a dolly and moved next to the MQF. It was then attached to the MQF with a flexible tunnel, allowing the lunar samples, film, data tapes and other items to be removed. Hornet returned to Pearl Harbor, where the MQF was loaded onto a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and airlifted to the Manned Spacecraft Center. The astronauts arrived at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at 10:00 UTC on July 28. Columbia was taken to Ford Island for deactivation, and its pyrotechnics made safe. It was then taken to Hickham Air Force Base, from whence it was flown to Houston in a Douglas C-133 Cargomaster, reaching the Lunar Receiving Laboratory on July 30.
In accordance with the Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law, a set of regulations promulgated by NASA on July 16 to codify its quarantine protocol, the astronauts continued in quarantine. After three weeks in confinement (first in the Apollo spacecraft, then in their trailer on Hornet, and finally in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory), the astronauts were given a clean bill of health. On August 10, 1969, the Interagency Committee on Back Contamination met in Atlanta and lifted the quarantine on the astronauts, on those who had joined them in quarantine (NASA physician William Carpentier and MQF project engineer John Hirasaki), and on Columbia itself. Loose equipment from the spacecraft remained in isolation until the lunar samples were released for study.
== Celebrations ==
Following their return to Earth, the Apollo 11 crew received widespread international acclaim. On August 13, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were honored with ticker-tape parades in New York City and Chicago, with an estimated six million people lining the streets. That evening, a state dinner was held in Los Angeles at the Century Plaza Hotel to commemorate the historic achievement. The event was attended by members of Congress, 44 state governors, Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger and his predecessor Earl Warren, as well as ambassadors from 83 nations. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew awarded each astronaut the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
On September 16, the astronauts addressed a joint session of Congress, where they presented two American flags—one to the House of Representatives and one to the Senate—that had traveled to the lunar surface aboard Eagle.
One of the mission flags carried aboard the flight—the Flag of American Samoa—was later displayed at the Jean P. Haydon Museum in Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, recognizing the territory's support role as a recovery staging area.
The celebrations continued with a 38-day world goodwill tour titled "Giant Leap", which began on September 29 and concluded on November 5, 1969. The astronauts visited 22 countries and met with numerous heads of state, prime ministers, royalty, and civic leaders. The tour, intended to thank the international community for their support of the space program, began in Mexico City and ended in Tokyo. Notable stops included Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Rome, Belgrade, Tehran, Mumbai, Bangkok, Sydney, Guam, and Honolulu. Crowds in the tens or hundreds of thousands gathered to greet the astronauts in each city.
Numerous countries and organizations honored the Moon landing by issuing special commemorative items. These included postage stamps, coins, medals, plaques, and magazine features. TIME, National Geographic, LIFE, and dozens of international publications featured the astronauts on their covers. Many of these commemoratives are now held in public and private collections, and some were placed aboard later Apollo missions in symbolic tribute.
Additionally, the success of Apollo 11 contributed to a brief spike in interest in science and technology education, often referred to as the “Apollo effect,” influencing a generation of engineers and scientists.
== Legacy ==
=== Cultural significance ===
Humans walking on the Moon and returning safely to Earth accomplished Kennedy's goal set eight years earlier. In Mission Control during the Apollo 11 landing, Kennedy's speech flashed on the screen, followed by the words "TASK ACCOMPLISHED, July 1969". The success of Apollo 11 demonstrated the United States' technological superiority; and with the success of Apollo 11, America had won the Space Race.
New phrases permeated into the English language. "If they can send a man to the Moon, why can't they ...?" became a common saying following Apollo 11. Armstrong's words on the lunar surface also spun off various parodies.
While most people celebrated the accomplishment, disenfranchised Americans saw it as a symbol of the divide in America, evidenced by protesters led by Ralph Abernathy outside of Kennedy Space Center the day before Apollo 11 launched. NASA Administrator Thomas Paine met with Abernathy at the occasion, both hoping that the space program can spur progress also in other regards, such as poverty in the US. Paine was then asked, and agreed, to host protesters as spectators at the launch, and Abernathy, awestruck by the spectacle, prayed for the astronauts. Jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron wrote a poem called "Whitey on the Moon" (1970) expressing his view that the mission was emblematic of racial inequality in the United States. The poem starts with:
Twenty percent of the world's population watched humans walk on the Moon for the first time. While Apollo 11 sparked the interest of the world, the follow-on Apollo missions did not hold the interest of the nation. One possible explanation was the shift in complexity. Landing someone on the Moon was an easy goal to understand; lunar geology was too abstract for the average person. Another is that Kennedy's goal of landing humans on the Moon had already been accomplished. A well-defined objective helped Project Apollo accomplish its goal, but after it was completed it was hard to justify continuing the lunar missions.
While most Americans were proud of their nation's achievements in space exploration, only once during the late 1960s did the Gallup Poll indicate that a majority of Americans favored "doing more" in space as opposed to "doing less". By 1973, 59 percent of those polled favored cutting spending on space exploration. The Space Race had been won, and Cold War tensions were easing as the US and Soviet Union entered the era of détente. This was also a time when inflation was rising, which put pressure on the government to reduce spending. The space program was saved due to the perception that it was one of the few government programs that had achieved something great. Drastic cuts, warned Caspar Weinberger, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, might send a signal that "our best years are behind us".
After the Apollo 11 mission, officials from the Soviet Union said landing humans on the Moon was dangerous and unnecessary. At the time the Soviet Union was attempting to retrieve lunar samples robotically. The Soviets publicly denied there was a race to the Moon, and indicated they were not making an attempt. Mstislav Keldysh said in July 1969, "We are concentrating wholly on the creation of large satellite systems." It was revealed in 1989 that the Soviets had tried to send people to the Moon, but were unable due to technological difficulties. The public's reaction in the Soviet Union was mixed. The Soviet government limited the release of information about the lunar landing, which affected the reaction. A portion of the populace did not give it any attention, and another portion was angered by it.
=== Spacecraft ===
The command module Columbia went on a tour of the United States, visiting 49 state capitals, the District of Columbia, and Anchorage, Alaska. In 1971, it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, and was displayed at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, DC. It was in the central Milestones of Flight exhibition hall in front of the Jefferson Drive entrance, sharing the main hall with other pioneering flight vehicles such as the Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, Bell X-1, North American X-15 and Friendship 7.
Columbia was moved in 2017 to the NASM Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, to be readied for a four-city tour titled Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission. This included Space Center Houston from October 14, 2017, to March 18, 2018, the Saint Louis Science Center from April 14 to September 3, 2018, the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh from September 29, 2018, to February 18, 2019, and its last location at Museum of Flight in Seattle from March 16 to September 2, 2019. Continued renovations at the Smithsonian allowed time for an additional stop for the capsule, and it was moved to the Cincinnati Museum Center. The ribbon cutting ceremony was on September 29, 2019.
For 40 years Armstrong's and Aldrin's space suits were displayed in the museum's Apollo to the Moon exhibit, until it permanently closed on December 3, 2018, to be replaced by a new gallery which was scheduled to open in 2022. A special display of Armstrong's suit was unveiled for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 in July 2019. The quarantine trailer, the flotation collar and the flotation bags are in the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex near Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, where they are on display along with a test lunar module.
The descent stage of the LM Eagle remains on the Moon. In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the various Apollo landing sites on the surface of the Moon, for the first time with sufficient resolution to see the descent stages of the lunar modules, scientific instruments, and foot trails made by the astronauts.
The remains of the ascent stage are assumed to lie at an unknown location on the lunar surface. The ascent stage, Eagle, was not tracked after it was jettisoned. The lunar gravity field is sufficiently non-uniform to make low Moon orbits unstable after a short time, leading the orbiting object to impact the surface. However, using a program developed by NASA, and high-resolution lunar gravity data, a paper was published, in 2021, indicating that Eagle might still be in orbit as late as 2020. Using the orbital elements published by NASA, a Monte Carlo method was used to generate parameter sets that bracket the uncertainties in these elements. All simulations, of the orbit, predicted that Eagle would never impact the lunar surface.
In March 2012 a team of specialists financed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos located the F-1 engines from the S-IC stage that launched Apollo 11 into space. They were found on the Atlantic seabed using advanced sonar scanning. His team brought parts of two of the five engines to the surface. In July 2013, a conservator discovered a serial number under the rust on one of the engines raised from the Atlantic, which NASA confirmed was from Apollo 11. The S-IVB third stage which performed Apollo 11's trans-lunar injection remains in a solar orbit near to that of Earth.
=== Moon rocks ===
The main repository for the Apollo Moon rocks is the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. For safekeeping, there is also a smaller collection stored at White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Most of the rocks are stored in nitrogen to keep them free of moisture. They are handled only indirectly, using special tools. Over 100 research laboratories worldwide conduct studies of the samples; approximately 500 samples are prepared and sent to investigators every year.
In November 1969, Nixon asked NASA to make up about 250 presentation Apollo 11 lunar sample displays for 135 nations, the fifty states of the United States and its possessions, and the United Nations. Each display included Moon dust from Apollo 11 and flags, including one of the Soviet Union, taken along by Apollo 11. The rice-sized particles were four small pieces of Moon soil weighing about 50 mg and were enveloped in a clear acrylic button about as big as a United States half-dollar coin. This acrylic button magnified the grains of lunar dust. Nixon gave the Apollo 11 lunar sample displays as goodwill gifts in 1970.
=== Experiment results ===
The Passive Seismic Experiment ran until the command uplink failed on August 25, 1969. The downlink failed on December 14, 1969. As of 2018, the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment remains operational.
=== Moonwalk camera ===
The Hasselblad camera used during the moonwalk was thought to be lost or left on the Moon's surface.
=== Lunar Module Eagle memorabilia ===
In 2015, after Armstrong died in 2012, his widow contacted the National Air and Space Museum to inform them she had found a white cloth bag in one of Armstrong's closets. The bag contained various items, which should have been left behind in the Lunar Module Eagle, including the 16mm Data Acquisition Camera that had been used to capture images of the first Moon landing. The camera is currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
=== Anniversary events ===
==== 40th anniversary ====
On July 15, 2009, Life.com released a photo gallery of previously unpublished photos of the astronauts taken by Life photographer Ralph Morse prior to the Apollo 11 launch. From July 16 to 24, 2009, NASA streamed the original mission audio on its website in real time 40 years to the minute after the events occurred. It is in the process of restoring the video footage and has released a preview of key moments. In July 2010, air-to-ground voice recordings and film footage shot in Mission Control during the Apollo 11 powered descent and landing was re-synchronized and released for the first time. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum set up an Adobe Flash website that rebroadcasts the transmissions of Apollo 11 from launch to landing on the Moon.
On July 20, 2009, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins met with President Barack Obama at the White House. "We expect that there is, as we speak, another generation of kids out there who are looking up at the sky and are going to be the next Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin", Obama said. "We want to make sure that NASA is going to be there for them when they want to take their journey." On August 7, 2009, an act of Congress awarded the three astronauts a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States. The bill was sponsored by Florida Senator Bill Nelson and Florida Representative Alan Grayson.
A group of British scientists interviewed as part of the anniversary events reflected on the significance of the Moon landing:
It was carried out in a technically brilliant way with risks taken ... that would be inconceivable in the risk-averse world of today ... The Apollo programme is arguably the greatest technical achievement of mankind to date ... nothing since Apollo has come close [to] the excitement that was generated by those astronauts—Armstrong, Aldrin and the 10 others who followed them.
==== 50th anniversary ====
On June 10, 2015, Congressman Bill Posey introduced resolution H.R. 2726 to the 114th session of the United States House of Representatives directing the United States Mint to design and sell commemorative coins in gold, silver and clad for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. On January 24, 2019, the Mint released the Apollo 11 Fiftieth Anniversary commemorative coins to the public on its website.
A documentary film, Apollo 11, with restored footage of the 1969 event, premiered in IMAX on March 1, 2019, and broadly in theaters on March 8.
The Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum and NASA sponsored the "Apollo 50 Festival" on the National Mall in Washington DC. The three-day (July 18 to 20, 2019) outdoor festival featured hands-on exhibits and activities, live performances, and speakers such as Adam Savage and NASA scientists.
As part of the festival, a projection of the 363-foot (111 m) tall Saturn V rocket was displayed on the east face of the 555-foot (169 m) tall Washington Monument from July 16 through the 20th from 9:30 pm until 11:30 pm (EDT). The program also included a 17-minute show that combined full-motion video projected on the Washington Monument to recreate the assembly and launch of the Saturn V rocket. The projection was joined by a 40-foot (12 m) wide recreation of the Kennedy Space Center countdown clock and two large video screens showing archival footage to recreate the time leading up to the moon landing. There were three shows per night on July 19–20, with the last show on Saturday, delayed slightly so the portion where Armstrong first set foot on the Moon would happen exactly 50 years to the second after the actual event.
On July 19, 2019, the Google Doodle paid tribute to the Apollo 11 Moon landing, complete with a link to an animated YouTube video with voiceover by astronaut Michael Collins.
Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong's sons were hosted by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
== Films and documentaries ==
Footprints on the Moon, a 1969 documentary film by Bill Gibson and Barry Coe
Moonwalk One, a 1971 documentary film by Theo Kamecke
Apollo 11: As It Happened, a 1994 six-hour documentary on ABC News' coverage of the event
First Man, 2018 film by Damien Chazelle based on the 2005 James R. Hansen book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.
Apollo 11, a 2019 documentary film by Todd Douglas Miller with restored footage of the 1969 event
Chasing the Moon, a July 2019 PBS three-night six-hour documentary, directed by Robert Stone, examined the events leading up to the mission. An accompanying book of the same name was also released.
8 Days: To the Moon and Back, a PBS and BBC Studios 2019 documentary film by Anthony Philipson re-enacting major portions of the mission using mission audio recordings, new studio footage, NASA and news archives, and computer-generated imagery. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Song_of_the_Year#2000s | Grammy Award for Song of the Year#2000s | The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. The Song of the Year award is one of the four most prestigious categories at the awards (alongside Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Album of the Year), presented annually since the 1st Grammy Awards in 1959. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is presented: to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position.
If a winning song contains samples or interpolations of existing material, the publisher and songwriter(s) of the original song(s) can apply for a Winners Certificate.
Song of the Year is related to but is conceptually different from Record of the Year or Album of the Year:
Song of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the songwriter who actually wrote the lyrics and/or melodies to the song. "Song" in this context means the song as composed, not its recording.
Record of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the performing artist, the producer, recording engineer and/or mixer for that song. In this sense, "record" means a particular recorded song, not its composition or an album of songs.
Album of the Year is awarded for a whole album, and the award is presented to the artist, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and mastering engineer for that album. In this context, "album" means a recorded collection of songs (a multi-track LP, CD, or download package), not the individual songs or their compositions.
== History and description ==
The Song of the Year awards have been awarded since 1959. It is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards. Despite both the Record of the Year award and Song of the Year being awarded for a single or for one track from an album, this award goes only to the composer(s) of the song whereas the Record of the Year award goes to the performer(s) and production team for a particular recording of the song. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is given to the songwriter(s) of a song that "must contain melody and lyrics and must be either a new song or a song first achieving prominence during the eligibility year. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible".
The award has not always been restricted to new or newly prominent songs; for instance, in 1992, when the winner was Natalie Cole's cover of "Unforgettable" (a song that had first been recorded by Nat King Cole and achieved prominence in the 1950s), the rule was merely that the song had to have been recorded during the eligibility year and not previously nominated for the award.
Since the late 1960s other songwriter's awards have been presented for genre-specific categories, including Grammy Award for Best Country Song (since 1965), Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (since 1969), Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media (since 1988), Grammy Award for Best Rock Song (since 1992), and most recently Grammy Award for Best Rap Song (since 2004), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song (from 2006 to 2014), Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (from 2012 to 2014), Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song (since 2014), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song (since 2015), and Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (since 2015).
The category was expanded to include eight nominees in 2019 and 10 nominees in 2022. The number of nominees was reverted to eight starting with the 2024 ceremony.
As of 2023, a distinct category to honor songwriters was established: Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.
== Achievements ==
In many cases, the winning songwriters were also the performers (Domenico Modugno, Henry Mancini, John Lennon & Paul McCartney, Joe South, Paul Simon, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Sting, Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Seal, Shawn Colvin, Rob Thomas, U2, Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, John Mayer, Dixie Chicks, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Lady Antebellum, Adele, Fun, Lorde, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Anderson .Paak, Bonnie Raitt and Kendrick Lamar).
Siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell are the songwriters with the most wins of this category, with three each for "Bad Guy" in 2020, "What Was I Made For?" in 2024, and "Wildflower" in 2026.
Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II is the only songwriter to win Song of the Year in two consecutive years: in 2021 ("I Can't Breathe") and 2022 ("Leave the Door Open"). Other multiple winners in this category include Henry Mancini ("Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses"); Johnny Mercer ("Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses"); James Horner ("Somewhere Out There" and "My Heart Will Go On"); Will Jennings ("Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On"); U2 ("Beautiful Day" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"); Adele ("Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello"); Christopher Brody Brown ("That's What I Like" and "Leave the Door Open"); Bruno Mars ("That's What I Like" and "Leave the Door Open"), winning two times each. However, songs written for Andy Williams, Roberta Flack, Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler have received this award twice.
Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff are the most nominated songwriters in this category with eight nominations each, with Antonoff winning in 2013 for “We Are Young”; while Swift has never won the award. Bruno Mars follows with seven nominations, and Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’ Connell have six nominations each.
Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Webb, Bobby Russell, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Kris Kristofferson, Michael McDonald, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Tim Rice, Brandi Carlile, Dernst Emile II, Jack Antonoff, Amy Allen and Henry Walter are the only songwriters with multiple nominations in the same year, with Antonoff achieving it in three consecutive years; while Carlile and Emile in 2022, and Allen, Antonoff and Walter in 2026 achieved it in the same ceremony.
The first woman to win the award was Carole King in 1972, for "You've Got a Friend". Adele was the first female songwriter to win the award twice, winning for "Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello". Doja Cat and Doechii are the only female rappers to be nominated for the award with “Kiss Me More” in 2022 and "Anxiety" in 2026.
Lorde is the youngest songwriter to win in the category, winning for "Royals" in 2014 at the age of 17; while Irving Gordon is the oldest songwriter to win the award, winning for "Unforgettable" in 1992 at age 77.
Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish are the only artists to receive the Grammys for Song of the Year as well as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist in a single ceremony. Adele was the first artist to win the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist on separate occasions. Only six artists have won the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year: Christopher Cross ("Sailing" in 1981), Alicia Keys ("Fallin'" in 2002), Amy Winehouse ("Rehab" in 2008), Fun ("We Are Young" in 2013), Sam Smith ("Stay with Me (Darkchild Version)" in 2015) and Billie Eilish ("Bad Guy" in 2020); Marvin Hamlisch is the only composer to win the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year in 1975, for "The Way We Were".
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Diane Warren, Max Martin, Billie Eilish, H.E.R, Finneas O'Connell, Taylor Swift, and Jack Antonoff are the only songwriters to receive nominations for Song of the Year in three consecutive years, with Eilish and O’Connell achieving it twice.
The song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)", winner in 1959, written by Domenico Modugno and performed in Italian, is the only foreign-language song to win this award, although the 1967 winner "Michelle" penned by Lennon–McCartney for The Beatles to perform, has a critical part of its lyrics in French. “Despacito” and “DTMF” are the only primarily spanish language songs to be nominated.
The Ernest Gold song "Theme of Exodus", which won in 1961, is the only instrumental song to ever receive this award. "Lose Yourself" by Eminem was the first rap song to be nominated while "This is America" by Childish Gambino and "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar are the only ones to ever win the award. “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, “Break My Soul” by Beyoncé and “Abracadabra” by Gaga are the only dance songs to be nominated. “A&W” by Lana Del Rey was the first alternative song to be nominated.
The first and only tie in this category in Grammy history took place in 1978, when both Barbra Streisand's & Paul Williams' "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" and Joe Brooks' "You Light Up My Life" won the award.
The first time in Grammy history that two different songs with the same title have been nominated in this category happened with "Hello" written by Lionel Richie in 1985 and "Hello" by Adele & Greg Kurstin in 2017.
The song with the most writers to win this award is "That's What I Like", which won in 2018 with eight writers. The song with the most writers nominated in this category is "Peaches", which had 11 co-writers nominated for the 2022 ceremony.
Thirty-two of the winning songs have also won the award for Record of the Year. 27 of the winning songs were written by solo songwriters. 9 of the winning songs also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
== Process ==
From 1995 to 2018, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated their choices for song of the year. A list of the top twenty records was given to the Nominations Review Committee, a specially selected group of anonymous members, who then selected the top five records to gain a nomination in the category in a special ballot. The rest of the members then vote a winner from the five nominees. In 2018, it was announced the number of nominated tracks would be increased to eight. In 2021, it was announced that the Nomination Review Committees would be disbanded, and the final nominees for song of the year would be decided by votes from members. Starting in 2022, the number of nominees in the category increased to 10. However, the decision to expand the number of nominees in this category was made 24 hours before the nominees were announced after an early version of the nominations list had already been circulated. This allowed "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat featuring SZA and "Right on Time" by Brandi Carlile to be nominated as they were the songs that received the most votes besides the other eight nominees. As of the 2024 ceremony, the number of nominees has been reduced back to eight.
== Recipients ==
An asterisk (*) indicates this recording also won Record of the Year.
=== 1960s ===
=== 1970s ===
=== 1980s ===
=== 1990s ===
=== 2000s ===
=== 2010s ===
=== 2020s ===
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^[II] The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.
== Songwriters with multiple awards ==
Three awards
Billie Eilish
Finneas O'Connell
Two awards
Adele
Bono
Brody Brown
Adam Clayton
D'Mile (consecutive)
The Edge
James Horner
Will Jennings
Henry Mancini
Bruno Mars
Johnny Mercer
Larry Mullen Jr.
== Songwriters with multiple nominations ==
2 nominations |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fraser_(explorer) | Simon Fraser (explorer) | Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 – 18 August 1862) was a Canadian explorer and fur trader who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. He also built the first European settlement in British Columbia.
Employed by the Montreal-based North West Company, he had been by 1805 put in charge of all of the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains. He was responsible for building that area's first trading posts, and in 1808, he explored what is now known as the Fraser River, which bears his name. Fraser's exploratory efforts were partly responsible for Canada's boundary later being established at the 49th parallel (after the War of 1812) since he, as a British subject, was the first European to establish permanent settlements in the area. According to the historian Alexander Begg, Fraser "was offered a knighthood but declined the title due to his limited wealth."
== Early life ==
Fraser was born on 20 May 1776 in the village of Mapletown, Hoosick, New York. He was the eighth and youngest child of Captain Simon Fraser (d.1779), of the 84th Highland Regiment, and Isabella Grant, daughter of the Laird of Daldregan. Captain Simon Fraser grew up at his family's seat, Guisachan (Scottish Gaelic: 'Giùthsachan'), as the second son of William Fraser (d.1755), 8th Laird of Guisachan and 3rd Laird of Culbokie, by his wife, Catherine, daughter of John McDonell, 4th Laird of Ardnabie. The Frasers of Guisachan and Culbokie were descended from a younger brother of the 10th Chief of the Frasers of Lovat.
Simon's father came with his regiment to North America in 1773 and died in prison after being captured during the Battle of Bennington (1777). After the war ended, Simon's mother was assisted by her brother-in-law, Captain John Fraser, who had been appointed Chief Justice of the Montreal district.
== Fur trade ==
In 1789 at the age of 14, Fraser moved to Montreal for additional schooling, where two of his uncles were active in the fur trade, in which his kinsman, Simon McTavish, was the undisputed leading figure. In 1790, he was apprenticed to the North West Company.
== Exploration west of the Rockies ==
In 1789, the North West Company had commissioned Alexander Mackenzie to find a navigable river route to the Pacific Ocean. The route he discovered in 1793 — ascending the West Road River and descending the Bella Coola River — opened up new sources of fur but proved to be too difficult to be practicable as a trading route to the Pacific. Fraser was given responsibility for extending operations to the country west of the Rockies in 1805. Mackenzie’s expeditions had been primarily reconnaissance trips, while Fraser’s assignment, by contrast, reflected a definite decision to build trading posts and take possession of the country, as well as to explore travel routes.
=== Ascending the Peace River and establishing posts ===
In the autumn of 1805, Fraser began ascending the Peace River, establishing the trading post of Rocky Mountain Portage House (present-day Hudson's Hope) just east of the Peace River Canyon of the Rocky Mountains. That winter Fraser and his crew pushed through the mountains and ascended the Parsnip and Pack Rivers, establishing Trout Lake Fort (later renamed Fort McLeod) at present-day McLeod Lake. This was the first permanent European settlement west of the Rockies in present-day Canada. The name given by Fraser to this territory was New Caledonia in honor of his ancestral homeland of Scotland. Further explorations by Fraser's assistant James McDougall resulted in the discovery of Carrier Lake, now known as Stuart Lake. In the heart of territory inhabited by the aboriginal Carrier or Dakelh nation, this area proved to be a lucrative locale for fur trading and so a post, Fort St. James, was built on its shore in 1806. From here, Fraser sent another assistant, John Stuart, west to Fraser Lake. Later, the two men would build another post there which is now known as Fort Fraser. Fraser later sent the expedition's logbook keeper, Jules-Maurice Quesnel, up the river at the forks to see what was there and ended up naming the Quesnel River and the Quesnel Lake after him.
=== Delays and the founding of Fort George (Prince George) ===
Fraser had found out from the Indigenous people that the Fraser River, the route by which Mackenzie had ascended the West Road River, could be reached by descending the Stuart River, which drained Stuart Lake, and then descending the Nechako River to its confluence with the Fraser. It had been Fraser's plan to navigate the length of the river which now bears his name. Fraser and others believed that it was, in fact, the Columbia River, the mouth of which had been explored in 1792 by Robert Gray.
Unfortunately, Fraser's plan to begin the journey in 1806 had to be abandoned because of a lack of men and supplies, as well as the occurrence of local famine. Fraser would not be resupplied until the autumn of 1807 and so his journey could not be undertaken until the following spring. In the interval, Fraser contented himself with a journey to the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers. There he established a new post named Fort George (now known as Prince George), which would become the starting point for his trip downstream.
=== Descending the Fraser River ===
From the outset, the aboriginal inhabitants warned Fraser that the river below was nearly impassable. A party of twenty-four left Fort George in four canoes on May 28, 1808. They passed the West Road River where Mackenzie had turned west and on the first of June ran the rapids of the Cottonwood Canyon where a canoe became stranded and had to be pulled out of the canyon with a rope. They procured horses from the Indigenous peoples to help with the portages, but the carrying-places were scarcely safer than the rapids. They passed the mouth of the Chilcotin River on the 5th and entered a rapid couvert where the river was completely enclosed by cliffs. The next day the river was found to be completely impassable. The canoes and superfluous goods were cached and on the 11th the party set out on foot, each man carrying about 80 pounds. On the 14th they reached a large village, possibly near Lillooet where they were able to trade for two canoes. On the 19th, they reached a village at the mouth of the Thompson River, where they obtained canoes for the rest of the party. After more rapids and portages and losing one canoe but no men, they reached North Bend where they again had to abandon their canoes. In places, they used an aboriginal path that had been made by poles set on the side of the gorge (probably somewhere near Hells Gate). On the 28th, they left the Fraser Canyon near Yale where the river becomes navigable. Escorted by friendly Indigenous people and well-fed on salmon, they reached the sea on the second of July. Fraser took the latitude as 49°. Since he knew that the mouth of the Columbia was at 46°, the river that he was following was clearly not the Columbia.
Fraser proved adept at establishing friendly relations with the tribes he met and was careful to have them send word to tribes downstream of his impending arrival and good intentions. For the most part, this tactic was effective, but Fraser encountered a hostile reception by the Musqueam people as he approached the lower reaches of the river at present-day Vancouver. Their hostile pursuit of Fraser and his men prevented him from getting more than a glimpse of the Strait of Georgia on July 2, 1808. A dispute with the neighboring Kwantlen people led to a pursuit of Fraser and his men that was not broken off until near present-day Hope.
Returning to Fort George proved to be an even more perilous exercise, as the hostility that Fraser and his crew encountered from the aboriginal communities near the mouth of the river spread upstream. The ongoing hostility and threats to the lives of the Europeans resulted in a near mutiny by Fraser's crew, who wanted to escape overland. Quelling the revolt, Fraser and his men continued north upstream from present-day Yale, arriving in Fort George on August 6, 1808. The journey upstream took thirty-seven days. In total it took Fraser and his crew 2+1⁄2 months to travel from Fort George to Musqueam and back.
== Fraser and the Battle of Seven Oaks ==
Fraser was just thirty-two years old when he completed the establishment of a permanent European settlement in New Caledonia through the epic journey to the mouth of the river that would one day bear his name. He would go on to spend another eleven years actively engaged in the North West Company's fur trade, and was reassigned to the Athabasca Department, where he remained until 1814. For much of this time, he was in charge of the Mackenzie River District. After this, he was assigned to the Red River Valley area, where he was caught up in the conflict between the North West Company and Thomas Douglas, Lord Selkirk, a controlling shareholder of the Hudson's Bay Company who had established the Red River Colony. The conflict culminated in the Battle of Seven Oaks in June 1816, resulting in the death of the colony's governor, Robert Semple, and nineteen others. Though not involved in the attack, Fraser
was one of the partners arrested by Lord Selkirk at Fort William. He was taken in September to Montreal, where he was promptly released on bail. Fraser was back at Fort William in 1817 when the North West Company regained possession of the post, but that was evidently his last appearance in the fur trade. The following year, Fraser and five other partners were acquitted of all charges related to the incident in the dead colony.
== Later life ==
Fraser settled on land near present-day Cornwall, Ontario, and married Catherine McDonnell on June 2, 1820. He spent the remainder of his life pursuing various enterprises, none with much success. He served as captain of the 1st Regiment of the Stormont Militia during the Rebellions of 1837. According to historian Alexander Begg, Fraser "was offered a knighthood but declined the title due to his limited wealth."
He had nine children altogether; one died in infancy. Fraser was one of the last surviving partners of the North West Company when he died on August 18, 1862. His wife died the next day, and they were buried in a single grave in the Roman Catholic cemetery at St. Andrew's West. Begg quotes Sandford Fleming in an address to the Royal Society of Canada in 1889 as saying that Fraser died poor.
An account of Fraser's explorations can be found in his published journals: W. Kaye Lamb, The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser, 1806-1808. Toronto, The MacMillan Company of Canada Limited, 1960.
== List of British Columbia communities founded by Fraser ==
Hudson's Hope – (1805)
McLeod Lake – (1805)
Fort St. James – (1806)
Fort Fraser – (1806)
Prince George – (1807)
== List of place names, institutions and other named for Fraser ==
The Fraser River, named for him by the explorer David Thompson.
Fraser Lake, a lake in north-central British Columbia.
Fort Fraser, just east of Fraser Lake.
Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, British Columbia
Simon Fraser Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia
Simon Fraser School in Calgary, Alberta
The Simon Fraser Bridge in Prince George over the Fraser River
The Simon Fraser Rose, (explorer series) developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named in his honor.
Fraser Squadron, Royal Military College of Canada
CCGS Simon Fraser, a former Canadian Coast Guard vessel |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four | Nineteen Eighty-Four | Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a dystopian speculative fiction novel by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically, it centres on totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours. Nineteen Eighty-Four has been often regarded as a classic and has been acknowledged for its impact on twentieth-century literature.
The story takes place in a fictional future. The year is believed to be 1984, but this is uncertain. Much of the world is in perpetual war. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, has become a province of the totalitarian superstate Oceania, which is led by Big Brother, a dictatorial leader supported by an intense cult of personality manufactured by the Party's Thought Police. The Party engages in omnipresent government surveillance and, through the Ministry of Truth, historical negationism and constant propaganda to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Orwell described his book as a "satire", and a display of the "perversions to which a centralised economy is liable", while also stating he believed "that something resembling it could arrive". The novel examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated. Parallels have been drawn between the novel and real-world totalitarianism, mass surveillance and violations of freedom of expression, among other themes.
Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a classic literary example of dystopian and political fiction. It popularised "Orwellian" as an adjective, and many terms used in it have entered common usage, including "Big Brother", "doublethink", "Thought Police", "thoughtcrime", and "Newspeak", as well as the expression "2 + 2 = 5". Time magazine included it on its list of the 100 best English-language novels published from 1923 to 2005, and it was placed on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list, reaching number 13 on the editors' list and number 6 on the readers' list. In 2003 it was listed at number 8 on The Big Read survey by the BBC. It has been adapted across media, most famously as a film in 1984 starring John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton and Richard Burton.
== Plot summary ==
As the narrative opens on "April 4th, 1984", a date whose validity is questioned by the protagonist, Winston Smith, the world has been ravaged for decades by global war, civil conflict and revolution. What was formerly known as the island of Great Britain is "Airstrip One", a province of Oceania, one of the three totalitarian super-states that rule the world. It is ruled by "The Party" under the ideology of "Ingsoc": a Newspeak shortening of "English Socialism". Also present is the mysterious leader Big Brother, who has an intense cult of personality. The Party brutally purges anyone who does not fully conform to their regime, using the Thought Police and constant surveillance through telescreens (two-way televisions), cameras and hidden microphones. Those who fall out of favour with the Party become "unpersons", disappearing per damnatio memoriae with all evidence of their existence destroyed.
In London, the protagonist is a member of the Outer Party, working at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the state's ever-changing version of history. Winston revises past editions of The Times, while the original documents are destroyed after being dropped into ducts known as memory holes, which lead to an immense furnace. He secretly opposes the Party's rule and dreams of rebellion, despite knowing that he is already a "thought-criminal" and is likely to be caught one day.
While in a prole neighbourhood, he meets Mr. Charrington, the owner of an antiques shop, and buys a diary where he writes criticisms of the Party and Big Brother. To his dismay, when he visits a prole quarter, he discovers they have no political consciousness. As he works in the Ministry of Truth, he observes Julia, a young woman maintaining the novel-writing machines at the ministry, whom Winston suspects of being a spy, and develops an intense hatred of her. He vaguely suspects that O'Brien, a member of the Inner Party and a superior of his, is part of an enigmatic underground resistance movement known as the Brotherhood, formed by Big Brother's reviled political rival, Emmanuel Goldstein.
One day, Julia discreetly hands Winston a love note, and the two begin a secret affair. Julia explains that she also loathes the Party, but Winston observes that she is politically apathetic and uninterested in overthrowing the regime. Initially meeting in the country, they later meet in a rented room above Mr. Charrington's shop. During the affair, Winston remembers the disappearance of his family during the civil war of the 1950s and his tense relationship with his estranged wife Katharine. Weeks later, O'Brien invites Winston to his flat, where he introduces himself as a member of the Brotherhood and sends Winston a copy of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Goldstein.
Meanwhile, during the nation's Hate Week, Oceania's enemy suddenly changes from Eurasia to Eastasia, which goes mostly unnoticed. Winston is recalled to the Ministry to assist in making the necessary revisions to the records. Winston and Julia read parts of Goldstein's book, which explains how the Party maintains power, the true meanings of its slogans, and the concept of perpetual war. It argues that the Party can be overthrown if the proles rise against it. However, Winston never gets the opportunity to read the chapter that explains why the Party took power and is motivated to maintain it.
Winston and Julia are captured when Mr. Charrington is revealed to be an undercover Thought Police agent, and they are separated and imprisoned at the Ministry of Love. O'Brien also shows himself to be a member of the Thought Police and a participant in a false flag operation that targets political dissidents within the Party. Over several months, Winston is starved and relentlessly tortured to bring his beliefs in line with the Party. O'Brien tells Winston that he will never know whether the Brotherhood actually exists and that Goldstein's book was written collaboratively by him and other Party members; furthermore, O'Brien reveals to Winston that the Party sees power not as a means but as an end, and the ultimate purpose of the Party is to seek power entirely for its own sake. For the final stage of re-education, O'Brien takes Winston to Room 101, which contains each prisoner's worst fear. When confronted with rat torture, Winston begs for the method to be used on Julia instead of him.
Winston is released into public life and continues to frequent the Chestnut Tree café. He encounters Julia, and both reveal that they have betrayed each other and are no longer in love. Back in the café, a news alert celebrates Oceania's supposed massive victory over Eurasian armies in Africa. Winston finally accepts that he loves Big Brother.
=== Epilogue ===
The novel includes an epilogue, an appendix of around 1,000 words, titled Principles of Newspeak, and written in the voice of the (or possibly a second) narrator, using counterfactual past-subjunctive tense. It is referred to in a footnote to the book's seventh paragraph. Some critics read it as implying the failure of Newspeak to become dominant and the collapse of The Party some years after the events of the novel, describing it as a "happy ending".
Orwell wrote to his literary agent in 1949, urging that the appendix be retained for the American edition.
== Characters ==
=== Main characters ===
Winston Smith: the 39-year-old protagonist who is a phlegmatic everyman harbouring thoughts of rebellion and is curious about the Party's power and the past before the Revolution.
Julia: Winston's lover, who publicly espouses Party doctrine as a member of the fanatical Junior Anti-Sex League. Julia enjoys her small acts of rebellion and has no interest in giving up her lifestyle.
O'Brien: an Inner Party official who is secretly a member of the Thought Police. He poses as a member of the Brotherhood, the counter-revolutionary resistance, to catch Winston.
Big Brother and Emmanuel Goldstein never physically appear, but are important to the plot and have a significant role in the worldbuilding.
Big Brother: the leader and figurehead of the Party that rules Oceania. A deep cult of personality is formed around him. It is not revealed whether he really exists.
Emmanuel Goldstein: ostensibly a former leading figure in the Party who became the counter-revolutionary leader of the Brotherhood, and author of the book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. Goldstein is the symbolic enemy of the state—the national nemesis who ideologically unites the people of Oceania with the Party, especially during the Two Minutes Hate and other forms of fear-mongering. However, O'Brien claims that the book was actually written by the Party.
=== Secondary characters ===
Aaronson, Jones and Rutherford: former members of the Inner Party whom Winston vaguely remembers as among the original leaders of the Revolution, long before he had heard of Big Brother. They confessed to treasonable conspiracies with foreign powers and were then executed in the political purges of the 1960s. In between their confessions and executions, Winston saw them drinking in the Chestnut Tree Café—with broken noses, suggesting that their confessions had been obtained by torture. Later, in the course of his editorial work, Winston sees newspaper evidence contradicting their confessions, but drops it into a memory hole. Eleven years later, he is confronted with the same photograph during his interrogation.
Ampleforth: Winston's one-time Records Department colleague who was imprisoned for leaving the word "God" in a poem by Rudyard Kipling as he could not find another rhyme for "rod"; Winston encounters him at the Ministry of Love. Ampleforth is a dreamer and intellectual who takes pleasure in his work, and respects poetry and language, traits which cause him disfavour with the Party.
Mr Charrington: an undercover officer of the Thought Police masquerading as a kind and sympathetic antiques dealer among the proles.
Katharine Smith: the emotionally indifferent wife whom Winston "can't get rid of". Despite disliking sexual intercourse, Katharine married Winston because it was their "duty to the Party". Although she was a "goodthinkful" ideologue, they separated because the couple could not conceive children. Divorce is not permitted, but couples who cannot have children may live separately. For much of the story Winston lives in vague hope that Katharine may die or could be "got rid of" so that he may marry Julia. He regrets not having killed her by pushing her over the edge of a quarry when he had the chance many years previously.
The Parsons family:
Tom Parsons: Winston's naïve neighbour, and an ideal member of the Outer Party: an uneducated, suggestible man who is utterly loyal to the Party, and fully believes in its perfect image. He is socially active and participates in the Party activities for his social class. He is friendly towards Smith, and despite his political conformity punishes his bullying son for firing a catapult at Winston. Later, as a prisoner, Winston sees Parsons imprisoned in the Ministry of Love, after his young daughter reported him to the Thought Police for speaking against Big Brother in his sleep. Even this does not dampen Parsons's belief in the Party—he says he could do "good work" in the hard labour camps.
Mrs Parsons: Parsons's wife is a wan and hapless woman who is intimidated by her own children.
The Parsons children: a nine-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter. Both are members of the Spies, a youth organisation that focuses on indoctrinating children with Party ideals and training them to report any suspected incidents of unorthodoxy. They represent the new generation of Oceanian citizens, the model society envisioned by the Inner Party without memory of life before Big Brother, and without family ties or emotional sentiment.
Syme: Winston's colleague at the Ministry of Truth, a lexicographer involved in compiling a new edition of the Newspeak dictionary. Although he is enthusiastic about his work and support for the Party, Winston notes, "He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly." Winston predicts, correctly, that Syme will become an unperson.
== Writing and publication ==
=== Conception ===
The Orwell Archive at University College London contains undated notes about ideas that evolved into Nineteen Eighty-Four. The notebooks have been deemed "unlikely to have been completed later than January 1944", and "there is a strong suspicion that some of the material in them dates back to the early part of the war".
In one letter from 1948 Orwell claims to have "first thought of [the book] in 1943", while in another he says he thought of it in 1944 and cites the Tehran Conference in 1943 as inspiration: "What it is really meant to do is to discuss the implications of dividing the world up into 'Zones of Influence' (I thought of it in 1944 as a result of the Tehran Conference), and in addition to indicate by parodying them the intellectual implications of totalitarianism". Orwell had toured Austria in May 1945 and observed manoeuvring he thought would probably lead to separate Soviet and Allied Zones of Occupation.
In January 1944 the Russian literary historian Gleb Struve introduced Orwell to Yevgeny Zamyatin's 1924 dystopian novel, We. In his response Orwell expressed an interest in the genre, and informed Struve that he had begun writing ideas for one of his own, "that may get written sooner or later". In 1946 Orwell wrote about the 1931 dystopian novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley in his article "Freedom and Happiness" for the Tribune, and noted similarities to We. By this time Orwell had scored a critical and commercial hit with his 1945 political satire, Animal Farm, which raised his profile. For a follow-up he decided to produce a dystopian work of his own.
=== Writing ===
In a June 1944 meeting with Fredric Warburg, co-founder of his British publisher Secker & Warburg, shortly before the release of Animal Farm, Orwell announced that he had written the first 12 pages of his new novel. As he could then only earn a living from journalism, he predicted the book would not see a release before 1947. Progress was slow; by the end of September 1945 Orwell had written some 50 pages. Orwell became disenchanted with the restrictions and pressures involved with journalism and grew to detest city life in London. He suffered from bronchiectasis and a lesion in one lung; the harsh winter worsened his health.
In May 1946 Orwell arrived on the Scottish island of Jura. He had wanted to retreat to a Hebridean island for several years; David Astor recommended he should stay at Barnhill, a remote farmhouse on the island that his family owned, with no electricity or hot water. Here Orwell intermittently drafted and finished Nineteen Eighty-Four. His first stay lasted till October 1946, and during it he made little progress on the few already completed pages, and for a period of three months he did not work on it at all. After spending the winter in London, Orwell returned to Jura; in May 1947 he reported to Warburg that despite progress being slow and difficult, he was roughly a third of the way through. He sent his "ghastly mess" of a first-draft manuscript to London, where Miranda Christen volunteered to type a clean version. Orwell's health worsened further in September, and he was confined to his bed with inflammation of the lungs. He lost almost two stone (28 pounds or 12.7 kg) in weight and had recurring night sweats, but he decided not to see a doctor and continued writing. On 7 November 1947 he completed the first draft in bed, and subsequently travelled to East Kilbride near Glasgow for medical treatment at Hairmyres Hospital, where a specialist confirmed a chronic and infectious case of tuberculosis.
Orwell was discharged in the summer of 1948, after which he returned to Jura and produced a full second draft of Nineteen Eighty-Four, which he finished in November. He asked Warburg to have someone come to Barnhill and retype the manuscript, which was so untidy that the task was only considered possible if Orwell were present, as only he could understand it. The previous volunteer had left the country and no other could be found at short notice, so an impatient Orwell retyped it himself at a rate of roughly 4,000 words a day during bouts of fever and bloody coughing fits. On 4 December 1948 Orwell sent the finished manuscript to Secker & Warburg and left Barnhill for good in January 1949. He recovered at a sanitarium in the Cotswolds.
=== Title ===
Shortly before completion of the second draft, Orwell vacillated between two titles: The Last Man in Europe, an early title, and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Warburg suggested the latter, which he took to be a more commercially viable choice. There has been a theory – doubted by Dorian Lynskey (author of a 2019 book about Nineteen Eighty-Four) – that 1984 was chosen simply as an inversion of the year 1948, the year in which it was being completed. Lynskey says the idea was "first suggested by Orwell's US publisher", and it was also mentioned by Christopher Hitchens in his introduction to the 2003 edition of Animal Farm and 1984, which also notes that the date was meant to give "an immediacy and urgency to the menace of totalitarian rule". However, Lynskey does not believe the inversion theory:
This idea ... seems far too cute for such a serious book. ... Scholars have raised other possibilities. [His wife] Eileen wrote a poem for her old school's centenary called 'End of the Century: 1984.' G. K. Chesterton's 1904 political satire The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which mocks the art of prophecy, opens in 1984. The year is also a significant date in The Iron Heel. But all of these connections are exposed as no more than coincidences by the early drafts of the novel ... First he wrote 1980, then 1982, and only later 1984. The most fateful date in literature was a late amendment.
=== Publication ===
In the run up to publication Orwell called the novel "a beastly book" and expressed some disappointment towards it, thinking it would have been improved had he not been so ill. This was typical of Orwell, who had talked down his other books shortly before their release. Nevertheless, it was enthusiastically received by Secker & Warburg, who acted quickly; before Orwell had left Jura he rejected their proposed blurb that portrayed it as "a thriller mixed up with a love story". He also refused a proposal from the American Book of the Month Club to release an edition without the appendix and chapter on Goldstein's book, a decision which Warburg claimed cut off about £40,000 in sales.
Nineteen Eighty-Four was published on 8 June 1949 in Britain; Orwell predicted earnings of around £500. A first print of 25,575 copies was followed by a further 5,000 copies in March and August 1950. It had the most immediate impact in the United States, following its release there on 13 June 1949 by Harcourt Brace, & Co. An initial print of 20,000 copies was quickly followed by another 10,000 on 1 July, and again on 7 September. By 1970, over 8 million copies had been sold in the US, and in 1984, it topped the country's all-time best seller list.
In June 1952 Orwell's widow, Sonia Brownell, sold the sole remaining manuscript at a charity auction for £50. The draft remains the only surviving literary manuscript from Orwell, and is held at the John Hay Library at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, US.
=== Variant English-language editions ===
In the original published UK and US editions of Nineteen Eighty-Four numerous small variations in the text exist, the US edition altering Orwell's agreed edit of the text as was typical of publishing practices of the time in regard to spelling and punctuation, as well as some small edits and phrasings. While Orwell rejected a proposed book club edition which would see substantial sections of the book removed, these minor changes passed somewhat under the radar. Other more significant revisions and variant texts also exist, however.
In 1984, Peter Davison edited Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Facsimile of the Extant Manuscript, published by Secker and Warburg in Britain and Harcourt-Brace-Jovanovich in the United States. This reproduced, page-for-page, Brownell's copy of the original manuscript in facsimiles, as well as a complete typeset versions of that text, complete with Orwell's holograph and typewritten pages, and handwritten amendments and corrections. The book had a preface by Daniel Segal. It has been reprinted in various international editions with translated introductions and notes, and reprinted in English in limited edition formats.
In 1997, Davison produced a definitive text of Nineteen Eighty Four as part of Secker's 20-volume definitive edition of the Complete Works of George Orwell. This edition removed errors and reversed editorial changes in the original editions made without Orwell's oversight, all based on detailed reference to Orwell's original manuscript and notes. This text has gone on to be reprinted in various subsequent paperback editions, including one with an introduction by the novelist Thomas Pynchon, without obvious note that it is a revised text, and has been translated as an unexpurgated version of text.
In 2021, Polygon published Nineteen Eighty Four: The Jura Edition, with an introduction by Alex Massie.
== Sources for literary motifs ==
Nineteen Eighty-Four uses themes from life in the Soviet Union and wartime life in Great Britain as sources for many of its motifs. Some time at an unspecified date after the first American publication of the book, the producer Sidney Sheldon wrote to Orwell interested in adapting the novel to the Broadway stage. Orwell wrote in a letter to Sheldon (to whom he would sell the US stage rights) that his basic goal with Nineteen Eighty-Four was imagining the consequences of Stalinist government ruling British society:
[Nineteen Eighty-Four] was based chiefly on communism, because that is the dominant form of totalitarianism, but I was trying chiefly to imagine what communism would be like if it were firmly rooted in the English speaking countries, and was no longer a mere extension of the Russian Foreign Office.
According to Orwell's biographer D. J. Taylor Orwell's A Clergyman's Daughter (1935) has "essentially the same plot of Nineteen Eighty-Four ... It's about somebody who is spied upon, and eavesdropped upon, and oppressed by vast exterior forces they can do nothing about. It makes an attempt at rebellion and then has to compromise".
The statement "2 + 2 = 5", used to torment Winston Smith during his interrogation, was a communist party slogan from the second five-year plan, which encouraged fulfilment of the five-year plan in four years. The slogan was seen in electric lights on Moscow house-fronts, billboards and elsewhere.
The switch of Oceania's allegiance from Eastasia to Eurasia and the subsequent rewriting of history ("Oceania was at war with Eastasia: Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia. A large part of the political literature of five years was now completely obsolete"; ch 9) is evocative of the Soviet Union's changing relations with Nazi Germany. The two nations were open and frequently vehement critics of each other until the signing of the 1939 Treaty of Non-Aggression. Thereafter, and continuing until the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, no criticism of Germany was allowed in the Soviet press, and all references to prior party lines stopped—including in the majority of non-Russian communist parties who tended to follow the Russian line. Orwell had criticised the Communist Party of Great Britain for supporting the Treaty in his essays for Betrayal of the Left (1941). "The Hitler-Stalin pact of August 1939 reversed the Soviet Union's stated foreign policy. It was too much for many of the fellow-travellers like Gollancz [Orwell's sometime publisher] who had put their faith in a strategy of construction Popular Front governments and the peace bloc between Russia, Britain and France."
The description of Emmanuel Goldstein, with a "small, goatee beard", evokes the image of Leon Trotsky. The film of Goldstein during the Two Minutes Hate is described as showing him being transformed into a bleating sheep. This image was used in a propaganda film during the Kino-eye period of Soviet film, which showed Trotsky transforming into a goat. Like Goldstein, Trotsky was a formerly high-ranking party official who was ostracised and then wrote a book criticising party rule, The Revolution Betrayed, published in 1936.
The omnipresent images of Big Brother, a man described as having a moustache, bears resemblance to the cult of personality built up around Joseph Stalin.
The news in Oceania emphasised production figures, just as it did in the Soviet Union, where record-setting in factories (by "Heroes of Socialist Labour") was especially glorified. The best known of these was Alexei Stakhanov, who purportedly set a record for coal mining in 1935.
The tortures of the Ministry of Love evoke the procedures used by the NKVD in their interrogations, including beatings, deprivation, and torture through the use of their greatest fear.
The random bombing of Airstrip One is based on the area bombing of London by Buzz bombs and the V-2 rocket in 1944–1945.
The Thought Police is based on the NKVD, which arrested people for "anti-Soviet" remarks.
The confessions of the "Thought Criminals" Rutherford, Aaronson and Jones are based on the show trials of the 1930s, which included fabricated confessions by the prominent Bolsheviks Nikolai Bukharin, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev to the effect that they were being paid by the Nazi government to undermine the Soviet regime under Leon Trotsky's direction.
The song "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree" ("Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you, and you sold me") was based on an old English song called "Go no more a-rushing" ("Under the spreading chestnut tree, Where I knelt upon my knee, We were as happy as could be, 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree."). The song was published as early as 1891. The song was a popular camp song in the 1920s, sung with corresponding movements (like touching one's chest when singing "chest", and touching one's head when singing "nut"). Glenn Miller recorded the song in 1939.
The "Hates" (Two Minutes Hate and Hate Week) were inspired by the constant rallies sponsored by party organs throughout the Stalinist period. These were often short pep-talks given to workers before their shifts began (Two Minutes Hate), but could also last for days, as in the annual celebrations of the anniversary of the October Revolution (Hate Week).
Orwell fictionalised "newspeak", "doublethink" and "Ministry of Truth" based on both the Soviet press, and British wartime usage, such as "Miniform". In particular, he adapted Soviet ideological discourse constructed to ensure that public statements could not be questioned.
Winston Smith's job, "revising history" (and the "unperson" motif) are based on censorship of images in the Soviet Union, which airbrushed images of "fallen" people from group photographs and removed references to them in books and newspapers. In one well-known example, the second edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia had an article about Lavrentiy Beria. After his fall from power and execution, subscribers received a letter from the editor instructing them to cut out and destroy the three-page article on Beria and paste in its place enclosed replacement pages expanding the adjacent articles on F. W. Bergholz, the Bering Sea and Bishop Berkeley.
Big Brother's "Orders of the Day" were inspired by Stalin's regular wartime orders, called by the same name. A small collection of the more political of these have been published (together with his wartime speeches) in English as On the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin. Like Big Brother's orders of the day, Stalin's frequently lauded heroic individuals, like Comrade Ogilvy, the fictitious hero Winston Smith invented to "rectify" (fabricate) a Big Brother Order of the day.
The Ingsoc slogan "Our new, happy life", repeated from telescreens, evokes Stalin's 1935 statement, which became a CPSU slogan, "Life has become better, Comrades; life has become more cheerful."
In 1940 the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges published "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius", which describes the invention by a "benevolent secret society" of a world that would seek to remake human language and reality along human-invented lines. The story concludes with an appendix describing the success of the project. Borges' story addresses similar themes of epistemology, language and history to 1984.
During the Second World War Orwell believed British democracy as it existed before 1939 would not survive; the question being, "Would it end via Fascist coup d'état from above or via Socialist revolution from below?" Later he admitted that events proved him wrong: "What really matters is that I fell into the trap of assuming that 'the war and the revolution are inseparable'."
In his 1946 essay "Why I Write" Orwell explains that the serious works he wrote since the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) were "written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism". Nineteen Eighty-Four is a cautionary tale about revolution betrayed by totalitarian defenders previously proposed in Homage to Catalonia (1938) and Animal Farm (1945), while Coming Up for Air (1939) celebrates the personal and political freedoms lost in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). The biographer Michael Shelden notes Orwell's Edwardian childhood at Henley-on-Thames as the golden country; being bullied at St Cyprian's School as his empathy with victims; his life in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma and the techniques of violence, and wartime censorship in the BBC as capricious authority.
Other influences include Darkness at Noon (1940) and The Yogi and the Commissar (1945) by Arthur Koestler; The Iron Heel (1908) by Jack London; 1920: Dips into the Near Future by John A. Hobson; Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley; We (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin which he reviewed in 1946; and The Managerial Revolution (1940) by James Burnham predicting perpetual war among three totalitarian superstates. Orwell told the writer Jacintha Buddicom that he would write a novel stylistically like A Modern Utopia (1905) by H. G. Wells.
Extrapolating from the Second World War, the novel's pastiche parallels the politics and rhetoric at war's end—the changed alliances at the "Cold War's" (1945–91) beginning; the Ministry of Truth derives from the BBC's overseas service, controlled by the Ministry of Information during the two World Wars; Room 101 derives from a conference room at BBC Broadcasting House; the Senate House of the University of London, containing the Ministry of Information is the architectural inspiration for the Minitrue; the post-war decrepitude derives from the socio-political life of the UK and the US, i.e., the impoverished Britain of 1948 losing its Empire despite newspaper-reported imperial triumph; and war ally but peace-time foe, Soviet Russia became Eurasia.
The term "English Socialism" has precedents in Orwell's wartime writings; in the essay "The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius" (1941), he said that "the war and the revolution are inseparable... the fact that we are at war has turned Socialism from a textbook word into a realisable policy"—because Britain's superannuated social class system hindered the war effort and only a socialist economy would defeat Adolf Hitler. Given the middle class's grasping this, they too would abide socialist revolution and that only reactionary Britons would oppose it, thus limiting the force revolutionaries would need to take power. An English Socialism would come about which "will never lose touch with the tradition of compromise and the belief in a law that is above the State. It will shoot traitors, but it will give them a solemn trial beforehand and occasionally it will acquit them. It will crush any open revolt promptly and cruelly, but it will interfere very little with the spoken and written word."
In the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four "English Socialism" (or "Ingsoc" in Newspeak) is a totalitarian ideology unlike the English revolution he foresaw. Comparison of the wartime essay "The Lion and the Unicorn" with Nineteen Eighty-Four shows that he perceived a Big Brother regime as a perversion of his cherished socialist ideals and English Socialism. Thus Oceania is a corruption of the British Empire he believed would evolve "into a federation of Socialist states, like a looser and freer version of the Union of Soviet Republics".
== Themes ==
=== Nationalism ===
Nineteen Eighty-Four expands upon the subjects summarised in Orwell's essay "Notes on Nationalism" about the lack of vocabulary needed to explain the unrecognised phenomena behind certain political forces. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Party's artificial, minimalist language 'Newspeak' addresses the matter.
Positive nationalism: For instance, Oceanians' perpetual love for Big Brother. Orwell argues in the essay that ideologies such as Neo-Toryism and Celtic nationalism are defined by their obsessive sense of loyalty to some entity.
Negative nationalism: For instance, Oceanians' perpetual hatred for Emmanuel Goldstein. Orwell argues in the essay that ideologies such as Trotskyism and antisemitism are defined by their obsessive hatred of some entity.
Transferred nationalism: For instance, when Oceania's enemy changes, an orator makes a change mid-sentence, and the crowd instantly transfers its hatred to the new enemy. Orwell argues that ideologies such as Stalinism and redirected feelings of racial animus and class superiority among wealthy intellectuals exemplify this. Transferred nationalism swiftly redirects emotions from one power unit to another. In the novel, it happens during Hate Week, a Party rally against the original enemy. The crowd goes wild and destroys the posters that are now against their new friend, and many say that they must be the act of an agent of their new enemy and former friend. Many of the crowd must have put up the posters before the rally but think that the state of affairs had always been the case.
O'Brien concludes: "The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power."
=== Futurology ===
In the novel O'Brien describes the Party's vision of the future:
There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.
=== Censorship ===
One of the most notable themes in Nineteen Eighty-Four is censorship, especially in the Ministry of Truth, where photographs and public archives are manipulated to rid them of "unpersons" (people who have been erased from history by the Party). On the telescreens, almost all figures of production are grossly exaggerated or simply fabricated to indicate an ever-growing economy, even during times when the reality is the opposite. One small example of the endless censorship is Winston being charged with the task of eliminating a reference to an unperson in a newspaper article. He also proceeds to write an article about Comrade Ogilvy, a made-up party member who allegedly "displayed great heroism by leaping into the sea from a helicopter so that the dispatches he was carrying would not fall into enemy hands."
=== Surveillance ===
In Oceania the upper and middle classes have very little true privacy. All of their houses and flats are equipped with two-way telescreens so that they may be watched or listened to at any time. Similar telescreens are found at workstations and in public places, along with hidden microphones. Written correspondence is routinely opened and read by the government before it is delivered. The Thought Police employ undercover agents, who pose as normal citizens and report any person with subversive tendencies. Children are encouraged to report suspicious persons to the government, and some denounce their parents. Citizens are controlled, and the smallest sign of rebellion, even something as small as a suspicious facial expression, can result in immediate arrest and imprisonment. Thus, citizens are compelled to obedience.
=== Poverty and inequality ===
Almost the entire world lives in poverty; hunger, thirst, disease and filth are the norms. Ruined cities and towns are common: the consequence of perpetual wars and extreme economic inefficiency. Social decay and wrecked buildings surround Winston; aside from the ministries' headquarters, little of London was rebuilt. Middle-class citizens and proles consume synthetic foodstuffs and poor-quality "luxuries" such as oily gin and loosely-packed cigarettes, distributed under the "Victory" brand, a parody of the low-quality Indian-made "Victory" cigarettes, which British soldiers commonly smoked during the Second World War.
Winston describes something as simple as the repair of a broken window as requiring committee approval that can take several years and so most of those living in one of the blocks usually do the repairs themselves (Winston himself is called in by Mrs. Parsons to repair her blocked sink). All upper-class and middle-class residences include telescreens that serve both as outlets for propaganda and surveillance devices that allow the Thought Police to monitor them; they can be turned down, but the ones in middle-class residences cannot be turned off.
In contrast to their subordinates, the upper class of Oceanian society reside in clean and comfortable flats in their own quarters, with pantries well-stocked with foodstuffs such as wine, real coffee, real tea, real milk and real sugar, all denied to the general populace. Winston is astonished that the lifts in O'Brien's building work, the telescreens can be completely turned off, and O'Brien has an Asian manservant, Martin. All upper-class citizens are attended to by slaves captured in the "disputed zone", and "The Book" suggests that many have their own cars or even helicopters.
However, despite their insulation and overt privileges, the upper class are still not exempt from the government's brutal restriction of thought and behaviour, even while lies and propaganda apparently originate from their own ranks. Instead, the Oceanian government offers the upper class their "luxuries" in exchange for maintaining their loyalty to the state; non-conformant upper-class citizens can still be condemned, tortured, and executed just like any other individual. "The Book" makes clear that the upper class' living conditions are only "relatively" comfortable, and would be regarded as "austere" by those of the pre-revolutionary élite.
The proles live in poverty and are kept sedated with synthetic entertainment such as pornography, a national lottery whose "big prizes" are always won by non-existent people, and gin, "which the proles were not supposed to drink". At the same time, the proles are freer and less intimidated than the upper classes: they are not expected to be particularly patriotic and the levels of surveillance that they are subjected to are very low; they lack telescreens in their own homes. "The Book" indicates that because the middle class, not the lower class, traditionally starts revolutions, the model demands tight control of the middle class, with ambitious Outer-Party members neutralised via promotion to the Inner Party or "reintegration" (brainwashing via psychological and physical torture) by the Ministry of Love, and proles can be allowed intellectual freedom because they are deemed to lack intellect. Winston nonetheless believes that "the future belonged to the proles".
The standard of living of the populace is extremely low overall. Consumer goods are scarce, and those available through official channels are of low quality; for instance, despite the Party regularly reporting increased boot production, more than half of the Oceanian populace goes barefoot. The Party claims that poverty is a necessary sacrifice for the war effort, and "The Book" confirms that to be partially correct since the purpose of perpetual war is to consume surplus industrial production. As "The Book" explains, society is in fact designed to remain on the brink of starvation, as "In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance."
=== Thought monitoring ===
The Party monitors facial expressions and aims to find out and control the thoughts of citizens through the "Thought Police" and the detection and elimination of "thoughtcrime". The Party rejects the legal principle Cogitationis poenam nemo patitur ("Thought does not commit a crime").
It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: FACECRIME, it was called.
One is how to discover, against his will, what another human being is thinking, (...) The scientist of today is either a mixture of psychologist and inquisitor, studying with real ordinary minuteness the meaning of facial expressions, gestures, and tones of voice, and testing the truth-producing effects of drugs, shock therapy, hypnosis, and physical torture; (...)
We are not interested in those stupid crimes that you have committed. The Party is not interested in the overt act: the thought is all we care about.
== Critical reception ==
When it was first published, Nineteen Eighty-Four received critical acclaim. V. S. Pritchett, reviewing it for the New Statesman, wrote: "I do not think I have ever read a novel more frightening and depressing; and yet, such are the originality, the suspense, the speed of writing and withering indignation that it is impossible to put the book down." P. H. Newby, reviewing Nineteen Eighty-Four for The Listener magazine, described it as "the most arresting political novel written by an Englishman since Rex Warner's The Aerodrome." Nineteen Eighty-Four was also praised by Bertrand Russell, E. M. Forster and Harold Nicolson. On the other hand, Edward Shanks, reviewing Nineteen Eighty-Four for The Sunday Times, was dismissive, saying Nineteen Eighty-Four "breaks all records for gloomy vaticination". C. S. Lewis was also critical of the novel, claiming that the relationship of Julia and Winston, and especially the Party's view on sex, lacked credibility, and that the setting was "odious rather than tragic". The historian Isaac Deutscher was far more critical of Orwell from a Marxist perspective, and characterised him as a "simple minded anarchist". Deutscher argued that Orwell had struggled to comprehend the dialectical philosophy of Marxism, demonstrated personal ambivalence towards other strands of socialism, and that Nineteen Eighty-Four had been appropriated for the purpose of anti-communist Cold War propaganda.
Upon its publication many American reviewers interpreted it as a statement on the socialist policies of the British prime minister, Clement Attlee, or the policies of Joseph Stalin. Serving as prime minister from 1945 to 1951, Attlee implemented wide-ranging social reforms and changes in the British economy following the Second World War. The American trade union leader Francis A. Hanson wanted to recommend the book to his members, but was concerned with some of the reviews it had received, so Orwell wrote a letter to him. In it he described his novel as a satire, and said:
I do not believe that the kind of society I describe will necessarily arrive, but I believe (allowing, of course, for the fact that the book is a satire) that something resembling it could arrive...[it is] a show...[of the] perversions to which a centralised economy is liable and which have already been partly realisable in communism and fascism.
Throughout its publication history Nineteen Eighty-Four has been banned and legally challenged as subversive or ideologically corrupting, like the dystopian novels We (1924) by Yevgeny Zamyatin, Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley, Darkness at Noon (1940) by Arthur Koestler, Kallocain (1940) by Karin Boye and Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury.
According to Czesław Miłosz, a defector from Stalinist Poland, the book also made an impression behind the Iron Curtain. Writing in The Captive Mind, he stated "[a] few have become acquainted with Orwell's 1984; because it is both difficult to obtain and dangerous to possess, it is known only to certain members of the Inner Party. Orwell fascinates them through his insight into details they know well ... Even those who know Orwell only by hearsay are amazed that a writer who never lived in Russia should have so keen a perception into its life." The writer Christopher Hitchens has called this "one of the greatest compliments that one writer has ever bestowed upon another ... Only one or two years after Orwell's death, in other words, his book about a secret book circulated only within the Inner Party was itself a secret book circulated only within the Inner Party."
== Adaptations ==
In the same year as the novel's publishing, a one-hour radio adaptation featuring David Niven was aired on the NBC radio network as part of the NBC University Theatre series. The first television adaptation appeared as part of CBS's Studio One series in September 1953. BBC Television broadcast an adaptation by Nigel Kneale in December 1954 that was watched by seven million viewers in the UK. Described as British television's first "watercooler moment" by The Telegraph, the BBC adaptation made a dramatic impact on a fledgling television audience who were horrified by the graphic depiction of a totalitarian regime controlling the population, including scenes of Winston Smith (Peter Cushing) being tormented in Room 101 by rats as punishment for daring to rebel against totalitarian rule.
The first feature film adaptation, 1984, was released in 1956. A second feature-length adaptation, Nineteen Eighty-Four, followed in 1984, a reasonably faithful adaptation, which starred John Hurt as Winston Smith and also featured Richard Burton in his final role. The story has been adapted several other times to radio, television and film; other media adaptations include theatre (a musical and a play), an opera and ballet. The BBC's 2013 Orwell season saw Christopher Eccleston star as Winston in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation. An audio dramatisation was released in 2024 to critical acclaim, starring Andrew Garfield as Winston, Tom Hardy as Big Brother, Cynthia Erivo as Julia, and Andrew Scott as O'Brien, featuring a score by Matt Bellamy and Ilan Eshkeri performed by a 60-piece orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. The 2023 novel Julia, written by Sandra Newman, retold the novel from Julia's perspective. It was published with the permission of the Orwell estate.
== Translations ==
The novel was banned in the Soviet Union until 1988, when the first publicly available Russian version in the country, translated by Vyacheslav Nedoshivin, was published in Kodry, a literary journal of Soviet Moldavia. In 1989 another Russian version, translated by Viktor Golyshev, was also published. Outside the Soviet Union, the first Russian version was serialised in the emigre magazine Grani in the mid-1950s, then published as a book in 1957 in Frankfurt. Another Russian version, translated by Sergei Tolstoy from a French version, was published in Rome in 1966. These translations were smuggled into the Soviet Union and became quite popular among dissidents. Some underground published translations also appeared in the Soviet Union. The Soviet philosopher Evald Ilyenkov translated it from German into Russian.
For the Soviet elite, as early as 1959, according to the order of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, the Foreign Literature Publishers secretly issued a Russian version of the novel, for the senior officers of the Communist Party.
In the People's Republic of China the first Simplified Chinese version, translated by Dong Leshan, was serialised in the periodical Selected Translations from Foreign Literature in 1979, for senior officials and intellectuals deemed politically reliable enough. In 1985, the Chinese version was published by Huacheng Publishing House, as a restricted publication. It was first available to the general public in 1988, by the same publisher. Amy Hawkins and Jeffrey Wasserstrom of The Atlantic stated in 2019 that the book is widely available in mainland China for several reasons: the general public largely no longer read books; because the elites who do read books feel connected to the ruling party anyway; and because the Communist Party sees being too aggressive in blocking cultural products as a liability. The authors stated, "It was—and remains—as easy to buy 1984 and Animal Farm in Shenzhen or Shanghai as it is in London or Los Angeles." They also stated that "The assumption is not that Chinese people can't figure out the meaning of 1984, but that the small number of people who will bother to read it won't pose much of a threat." The journalist Michael Rank argued that it is only because the novel is set in London and written by a foreigner that the Chinese authorities believe it has nothing to do with China.
By 1989, Nineteen Eighty-Four had been translated into 65 languages, more than any other novel in English at that time. The amateur translator Tsiu Ing-sing's Taiwanese Hokkien translation, which uses romanisation alongside Chinese characters, was published in 2025.
== Cultural impact ==
The effect of Nineteen Eighty-Four on the English language is extensive; the concepts of Big Brother, Room 101, the Thought Police, thoughtcrime, unperson, memory hole (oblivion), doublethink (simultaneously holding and believing contradictory beliefs) and Newspeak (ideological language) have become common phrases for denoting totalitarian authority. Doublespeak and groupthink are both deliberate elaborations of doublethink, and the adjective "Orwellian" means similar to Orwell's writings, especially Nineteen Eighty-Four. The practice of ending words with "-speak" (such as mediaspeak) is drawn from the novel. Orwell is perpetually associated with 1984; in July 1984 an asteroid was discovered by Antonín Mrkos and named after Orwell.
References to the themes, concepts and plot of Nineteen Eighty-Four have appeared frequently in other works, especially in popular music and video entertainment. An example is the worldwide hit reality television show Big Brother, in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras.
Noam Chomsky adapted Orwell's neologism "unpeople" to describe those whom the state deems "unfit to enter history" and whom the state strips of the right to live in order to advance the state's sovereignty.
In November 2011, the United States federal government argued before the US Supreme Court that it could continue to use GPS tracking of individuals without first seeking a warrant. In response, Justice Stephen Breyer questioned what that means for a democratic society by referencing Nineteen Eighty-Four, stating "If you win this case, then there is nothing to prevent the police or the government from monitoring 24 hours a day the public movement of every citizen of the United States. So if you win, you suddenly produce what sounds like 1984 ..."
The book touches on the invasion of privacy and ubiquitous surveillance. From mid-2013 it was publicised that the American National Security Agency has been secretly monitoring and storing global internet traffic, including the bulk data collection of email and phone call data. Sales of Nineteen Eighty-Four increased by up to seven times within the first week of the 2013 mass surveillance leaks. The book again topped the Amazon.com sales charts in 2017 after a controversy involving Kellyanne Conway using the phrase "alternative facts" to explain discrepancies with the media.
On 5 November 2019, the BBC named Nineteen Eighty-Four on its list of the 100 most influential novels. In 2020, it was number three on the list of "Top Check Outs of All Time" by the New York Public Library.
Nineteen Eighty-Four entered the public domain on 1 January 2021, 70 years after Orwell's death, in most of the world. It is still under copyright in the US until 95 years after publication, or 2044.
== Brave New World comparisons ==
In October 1949, after reading Nineteen Eighty-Four, Huxley sent a letter to Orwell in which he argued that it would be more efficient for rulers to stay in power by the softer touch by allowing citizens to seek pleasure to control them rather than use brute force. He wrote:
Whether in actual fact the policy of the boot-on-the-face can go on indefinitely seems doubtful. My own belief is that the ruling oligarchy will find less arduous and wasteful ways of governing and of satisfying its lust for power, and these ways will resemble those which I described in Brave New World.
...
Within the next generation I believe that the world's rulers will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging and kicking them into obedience.
In the decades since the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four, there have been numerous comparisons to Huxley's Brave New World, which had been published 17 years earlier, in 1932. They are both predictions of societies dominated by a central government and are both based on extensions of the trends of their times. However, members of the ruling class of Nineteen Eighty-Four use brutal force, torture and harsh mind control to keep individuals in line, while rulers in Brave New World keep the citizens in line by drugs, hypnosis, genetic conditioning and pleasurable distractions. Regarding censorship, in Nineteen Eighty-Four the government tightly controls information to keep the population in line, but in Huxley's world, so much information is published that readers are easily distracted and overlook the information that is relevant.
Elements of both novels can be seen in modern-day societies, with Huxley's vision being more dominant in the West and Orwell's vision more prevalent with dictatorships, as is pointed out in essays that compare the two novels, including Huxley's own Brave New World Revisited.
Comparisons with later dystopian novels like The Handmaid's Tale, Virtual Light, The Private Eye and The Children of Men have also been drawn.
== In popular culture ==
In 1955, an episode of BBC's The Goon Show, 1985, was broadcast, written by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes and based on Nigel Kneale's television adaptation. It was re-recorded about a month later with the same script but a slightly different cast. 1985 parodies many of the main scenes in Orwell's novel.
In 1970, the American rock group Spirit released the song "1984" based on Orwell's novel.
In 1973, the ex–Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper released an album called 1984 on the Columbia label (UK), consisting of instrumentals with Orwellian titles such as "Miniluv", "Minipax", "Minitrue" and so forth.
In 1974, David Bowie released the album Diamond Dogs, which is thought to be loosely based on Nineteen Eighty-Four. It includes the tracks "We Are the Dead", "1984" and "Big Brother". Before the album was made, Bowie's management (MainMan) had planned for Bowie and Anthony Ingrassia (MainMan's creative consultant) to co-write and direct a musical production of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, but Orwell's widow refused to give MainMan the rights.
In 1977, the British rock band the Jam released the album This Is the Modern World, which includes the track "Standards" by Paul Weller. This track concludes with the lyrics "...and ignorance is strength, we have God on our side, look, you know what happened to Winston."
In 1984, Ridley Scott directed a television commercial, "1984", to launch Apple's Macintosh computer. The advertisement stated, "1984 won't be like 1984", suggesting that the Apple Mac would be freedom from Big Brother, i.e., the IBM PC.
Rage Against the Machine's 2000 single, "Testify", from their album The Battle of Los Angeles, features the use of "The Party" slogan, "Who controls the past(now), controls the future. Who controls the present(now), controls the past."
An episode of Doctor Who, "The God Complex", depicts an alien ship disguised as a hotel containing Room 101-like spaces, and also, like the novel, quotes the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons".
Radiohead's 2003 single "2 + 2 = 5", from their album Hail to the Thief, is Orwellian by title and content. Thom Yorke states, "I was listening to a lot of political programs on BBC Radio 4. I found myself writing down little nonsense phrases, those Orwellian euphemisms that [the British and American governments] are so fond of. They became the background of the record."
In September 2009, the English rock band Muse released The Resistance, which included songs influenced by Nineteen Eighty-Four.
In Marilyn Manson's autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, he states: "I was thoroughly terrified by the idea of the end of the world and the Antichrist. So I became obsessed with it... reading prophetic books like... 1984 by George Orwell..."
The English band Bastille reference the novel in their song "Back to the Future", the fifth track on their 2022 album Give Me the Future, in the opening lyrics: "Feels like we danced into a nightmare/We're living 1984/If doublethink's no longer fiction/We'll dream of Huxley's Island shores."
Released in 2004, KAKU P-Model/Susumu Hirasawa's song "Big Brother" directly references 1984, and the album itself is about a fictional dystopia in a distant future.
The Used released a song by the same name, "1984", on their 2020 album Heartwork. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gammage_Memorial_Auditorium | Gammage Memorial Auditorium | ASU Gammage (formerly known as Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium) is a multipurpose performing arts center at 1200 South Forest Avenue at East Apache Boulevard in Tempe, Arizona, within the main campus of Arizona State University (ASU). The auditorium, which bears the name of former ASU President Grady Gammage, is considered to be one of the last public commissions of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built from 1962 to 1964.
ASU Gammage stands as one of the largest exhibitors of performing arts among university venues in the world, featuring a wide range of genres and events.
ASU Gammage was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
== History ==
The process that led to construction of the auditorium began in 1957 when incumbent university President Grady Gammage desired a unique facility for the ASU campus. In 1956, a collapsed roof rendered the school's combination auditorium/gymnasium unusable. Gammage recruited his friend Frank Lloyd Wright to design the new building. He would, with various budget related alterations, base its design on a circular opera house that he had conceptualized for the city of Baghdad sometime prior upon the invitation of Iraqi King Faisal II. Plans for that opera house were abandoned after Faisal's assassination in the 14 July Revolution. Wright is also said to be responsible for siting the auditorium, selecting an athletic field at 1200 South Forest Avenue which had formerly held on-campus G.I. housing units.
Wright and Gammage both died in 1959, leaving Wright's protégé William Wesley Peters to undertake completion of the auditorium. Spearheaded by the Robert E. McKee Company, construction of the facility commenced in 1962 and was completed twenty-five months later, officially opening on September 18, 1964, in time to host The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.
=== Notable events ===
The auditorium was used for the funeral of Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater on June 3, 1998.
On October 13, 2004, the auditorium was the site of the third and closing debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election.
== Structure ==
The structure measures 300 feet (91 m) long by 250 feet (76 m) wide by 80 feet (24 m) high. Fifty concrete columns support the round roof with its pattern of interlocking circles. Twin "flying buttress" pedestrian ramps extending 200 feet (61 m) from the north and east sides of the structure connect the building to the parking lot. The auditorium seats 3,017 people on its main floor, grand tier and balcony. The stage can be adapted for opera, theatricals, musicals, concerts, and lectures.
== Performance and other spaces ==
Auditorium
The auditorium has a maximum seating capacity of 3,017. It is wheelchair accessible and has an infrared system for 100 hearing-impaired people (in addition to signers).
Stage
Type: proscenium
Playing space dimensions: 64'x33' or 64'x40'
Proscenium opening: 64'x30'
Height grid/ceiling: 78'
Floor type: Canadian hard rock maple
Rigging system type: 58 double purchase, 40 hydraulic (98 lines total)
Backstage
Loading dock
Door dimensions: 10'x11'6"
Dressing rooms: 9
Maximum capacity: 54
Deck
Permanent installations: traps in stage, orchestra shell, hydraulic orchestra pit, electricity in pit, music stands, pianos
Pit
Dimensions: 76'x9'
Number of stands: 85
Chairs for pit: 90
Electrics/Sound
Building electrics current: 9 panels-3-600/3-200/2-100/1-100 = 2700 total
Lighting board: computer memory
Lighting equipment: 32-8x13, 22-10x12, 55-6x9, 30 8" Fresnels, 12 Par Cans, 12 Mini Strips |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics | Quantum mechanics | Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. It is the foundation of all quantum physics, which includes quantum chemistry, quantum biology, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
Quantum mechanics can describe many systems that classical physics cannot. Classical physics can describe many aspects of nature at an ordinary (macroscopic and (optical) microscopic) scale, but is not sufficient for describing them at very small submicroscopic (atomic and subatomic) scales. Classical mechanics can be derived from quantum mechanics as an approximation that is valid at ordinary scales.
Quantum systems have bound states that are quantized to discrete values of energy, momentum, angular momentum, and other quantities, in contrast to classical systems where these quantities can be measured continuously. Measurements of quantum systems show characteristics of both particles and waves (wave–particle duality), and there are limits to how accurately the value of a physical quantity can be predicted prior to its measurement, given a complete set of initial conditions (the uncertainty principle).
Quantum mechanics arose gradually from theories to explain observations that could not be reconciled with classical physics, such as Max Planck's solution in 1900 to the black-body radiation problem, and the correspondence between energy and frequency in Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, which explained the photoelectric effect. These early attempts to understand microscopic phenomena, now known as the "old quantum theory", led to the full development of quantum mechanics in the mid-1920s by Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, Paul Dirac and others. The modern theory is formulated in various specially developed mathematical formalisms. In one of them, a mathematical entity called the wave function provides information, in the form of probability amplitudes, about what measurements of a particle's energy, momentum, and other physical properties may yield.
== Overview and fundamental concepts ==
Quantum mechanics allows the calculation of properties and behaviour of physical systems. It is typically applied to microscopic systems: molecules, atoms and subatomic particles. It has been demonstrated to hold for complex molecules with thousands of atoms, but its application to human beings raises philosophical problems, such as Wigner's friend, and its application to the universe as a whole remains speculative. Predictions of quantum mechanics have been verified experimentally to an extremely high degree of accuracy. For example, the refinement of quantum mechanics for the interaction of light and matter, known as quantum electrodynamics (QED), has been shown to agree with experiment to within 1 part in 1012 when predicting the magnetic properties of an electron.
A fundamental feature of the theory is that it usually cannot predict with certainty what will happen, but only gives probabilities. Mathematically, a probability is found by taking the square of the absolute value of a complex number, known as a probability amplitude. This is known as the Born rule, named after physicist Max Born. For example, a quantum particle like an electron can be described by a wave function, which associates to each point in space a probability amplitude. Applying the Born rule to these amplitudes gives a probability density function for the position that the electron will be found to have when an experiment is performed to measure it. This is the best the theory can do; it cannot say for certain where the electron will be found. The Schrödinger equation relates the collection of probability amplitudes that pertain to one moment of time to the collection of probability amplitudes that pertain to another.
One consequence of the mathematical rules of quantum mechanics is a tradeoff in predictability between measurable quantities. The most famous form of this uncertainty principle says that no matter how a quantum particle is prepared or how carefully experiments upon it are arranged, it is impossible to have a precise prediction for a measurement of its position and also at the same time for a measurement of its momentum.
Another consequence of the mathematical rules of quantum mechanics is the phenomenon of quantum interference, which is often illustrated with the double-slit experiment. In the basic version of this experiment, a coherent light source, such as a laser beam, illuminates a plate pierced by two parallel slits, and the light passing through the slits is observed on a screen behind the plate. The wave nature of light causes the light waves passing through the two slits to interfere, producing bright and dark bands on the screen – a result that would not be expected if light consisted of classical particles. However, the light is always found to be absorbed at the screen at discrete points, as individual particles rather than waves; the interference pattern appears via the varying density of these particle hits on the screen. Furthermore, versions of the experiment that include detectors at the slits find that each detected photon passes through one slit (as would a classical particle), and not through both slits (as would a wave). However, such experiments demonstrate that particles do not form the interference pattern if one detects which slit they pass through. This behavior is known as wave–particle duality. In addition to light, electrons, atoms, and molecules are all found to exhibit the same dual behavior when fired towards a double slit.
Another non-classical phenomenon predicted by quantum mechanics is quantum tunnelling: a particle that goes up against a potential barrier can cross it, even if its kinetic energy is smaller than the maximum of the potential. In classical mechanics this particle would be trapped. Quantum tunnelling has several important consequences, enabling radioactive decay, nuclear fusion in stars, and applications such as scanning tunnelling microscopy, tunnel diode and tunnel field-effect transistor.
When quantum systems interact, the result can be the creation of quantum entanglement: their properties become so intertwined that a description of the whole solely in terms of the individual parts is no longer possible. Erwin Schrödinger called entanglement "...the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics, the one that enforces its entire departure from classical lines of thought". Quantum entanglement enables quantum computing and is part of quantum communication protocols, such as quantum key distribution and superdense coding. Contrary to popular misconception, entanglement does not allow sending signals faster than light, as demonstrated by the no-communication theorem.
Another possibility opened by entanglement is testing for "hidden variables", hypothetical properties more fundamental than the quantities addressed in quantum theory itself, knowledge of which would allow more exact predictions than quantum theory provides. A collection of results, most significantly Bell's theorem, have demonstrated that broad classes of such hidden-variable theories are in fact incompatible with quantum physics. According to Bell's theorem, if nature actually operates in accord with any theory of local hidden variables, then the results of a Bell test will be constrained in a particular, quantifiable way. Many Bell tests have been performed and they have shown results incompatible with the constraints imposed by local hidden variables.
It is not possible to present these concepts in more than a superficial way without introducing the mathematics involved; understanding quantum mechanics requires not only manipulating complex numbers, but also linear algebra, differential equations, group theory, and other more advanced subjects. Accordingly, this article will present a mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics and survey its application to some useful and oft-studied examples.
== Mathematical formulation ==
In the mathematically rigorous formulation of quantum mechanics, the state of a quantum mechanical system is a vector
ψ
{\displaystyle \psi }
belonging to a (separable) complex Hilbert space
H
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}}
. This vector is postulated to be normalized under the Hilbert space inner product, that is, it obeys
⟨
ψ
,
ψ
⟩
=
1
{\displaystyle \langle \psi ,\psi \rangle =1}
, and it is well-defined up to a complex number of modulus 1 (the global phase), that is,
ψ
{\displaystyle \psi }
and
e
i
α
ψ
{\displaystyle e^{i\alpha }\psi }
represent the same physical system. In other words, the possible states are points in the projective space of a Hilbert space, usually called the complex projective space. The exact nature of this Hilbert space is dependent on the system – for example, for describing position and momentum the Hilbert space is the space of complex square-integrable functions
L
2
(
C
)
{\displaystyle L^{2}(\mathbb {C} )}
, while the Hilbert space for the spin of a single proton is simply the space of two-dimensional complex vectors
C
2
{\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{2}}
with the usual inner product.
Physical quantities of interest – position, momentum, energy, spin – are represented by observables, which are Hermitian (more precisely, self-adjoint) linear operators acting on the Hilbert space. A quantum state can be an eigenvector of an observable, in which case it is called an eigenstate, and the associated eigenvalue corresponds to the value of the observable in that eigenstate. More generally, a quantum state will be a linear combination of the eigenstates, known as a quantum superposition. When an observable is measured, the result will be one of its eigenvalues with probability given by the Born rule: in the simplest case the eigenvalue
λ
{\displaystyle \lambda }
is non-degenerate and the probability is given by
|
⟨
λ
→
,
ψ
⟩
|
2
{\displaystyle |\langle {\vec {\lambda }},\psi \rangle |^{2}}
, where
λ
→
{\displaystyle {\vec {\lambda }}}
is its associated unit-length eigenvector. More generally, the eigenvalue is degenerate and the probability is given by
⟨
ψ
,
P
λ
ψ
⟩
{\displaystyle \langle \psi ,P_{\lambda }\psi \rangle }
, where
P
λ
{\displaystyle P_{\lambda }}
is the projector onto its associated eigenspace. In the continuous case, these formulas give instead the probability density.
After the measurement, if result
λ
{\displaystyle \lambda }
was obtained, the quantum state is postulated to collapse to
λ
→
{\displaystyle {\vec {\lambda }}}
, in the non-degenerate case, or to
P
λ
ψ
/
⟨
ψ
,
P
λ
ψ
⟩
{\textstyle P_{\lambda }\psi {\big /}\!{\sqrt {\langle \psi ,P_{\lambda }\psi \rangle }}}
, in the general case. The probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics thus stems from the act of measurement. This is one of the most debated aspects of quantum theory, with different interpretations of quantum mechanics giving radically different answers to questions regarding quantum-state collapse, as discussed below.
=== Time evolution of a quantum state ===
The time evolution of a quantum state is described by the Schrödinger equation:
i
ℏ
∂
∂
t
ψ
(
t
)
=
H
ψ
(
t
)
.
{\displaystyle i\hbar {\frac {\partial }{\partial t}}\psi (t)=H\psi (t).}
Here
H
{\displaystyle H}
denotes the Hamiltonian, the observable corresponding to the total energy of the system, and
ℏ
{\displaystyle \hbar }
is the reduced Planck constant. The constant
i
ℏ
{\displaystyle i\hbar }
is introduced so that the Hamiltonian is reduced to the classical Hamiltonian in cases where the quantum system can be approximated by a classical system; the ability to make such an approximation in certain limits is called the correspondence principle.
The solution of this differential equation is given by
ψ
(
t
)
=
e
−
i
H
t
/
ℏ
ψ
(
0
)
.
{\displaystyle \psi (t)=e^{-iHt/\hbar }\psi (0).}
The operator
U
(
t
)
=
e
−
i
H
t
/
ℏ
{\displaystyle U(t)=e^{-iHt/\hbar }}
is known as the time-evolution operator, and has the crucial property that it is unitary. This time evolution is deterministic in the sense that – given an initial quantum state
ψ
(
0
)
{\displaystyle \psi (0)}
– it makes a definite prediction of what the quantum state
ψ
(
t
)
{\displaystyle \psi (t)}
will be at any later time.
Some wave functions produce probability distributions that are independent of time, such as eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. Many systems that are treated dynamically in classical mechanics are described by such "static" wave functions. For example, a single electron in an unexcited atom is pictured classically as a particle moving in a circular trajectory around the atomic nucleus, whereas in quantum mechanics, it is described by a static wave function surrounding the nucleus. For example, the electron wave function for an unexcited hydrogen atom is a spherically symmetric function known as an s orbital (Fig. 1).
Analytic solutions of the Schrödinger equation are known for very few relatively simple model Hamiltonians including the quantum harmonic oscillator, the particle in a box, the dihydrogen cation, and the hydrogen atom. Even the helium atom – which contains just two electrons – has defied all attempts at a fully analytic treatment, admitting no solution in closed form.
However, there are techniques for finding approximate solutions. One method, called perturbation theory, uses the analytic result for a simple quantum mechanical model to create a result for a related but more complicated model by (for example) the addition of a weak potential energy. Another approximation method applies to systems for which quantum mechanics produces only small deviations from classical behavior. These deviations can then be computed based on the classical motion.
=== Uncertainty principle ===
One consequence of the basic quantum formalism is the uncertainty principle. In its most familiar form, this states that no preparation of a quantum particle can imply simultaneously precise predictions both for a measurement of its position and for a measurement of its momentum. Both position and momentum are observables, meaning that they are represented by Hermitian operators. The position operator
X
^
{\displaystyle {\hat {X}}}
and momentum operator
P
^
{\displaystyle {\hat {P}}}
do not commute, but rather satisfy the canonical commutation relation:
[
X
^
,
P
^
]
=
i
ℏ
.
{\displaystyle [{\hat {X}},{\hat {P}}]=i\hbar .}
Given a quantum state, the Born rule lets us compute expectation values for both
X
{\displaystyle X}
and
P
{\displaystyle P}
, and moreover for powers of them. Defining the uncertainty for an observable by a standard deviation, we have
σ
X
=
⟨
X
2
⟩
−
⟨
X
⟩
2
,
{\displaystyle \sigma _{X}={\textstyle {\sqrt {\left\langle X^{2}\right\rangle -\left\langle X\right\rangle ^{2}}}},}
and likewise for the momentum:
σ
P
=
⟨
P
2
⟩
−
⟨
P
⟩
2
.
{\displaystyle \sigma _{P}={\sqrt {\left\langle P^{2}\right\rangle -\left\langle P\right\rangle ^{2}}}.}
The uncertainty principle states that
σ
X
σ
P
≥
ℏ
2
.
{\displaystyle \sigma _{X}\sigma _{P}\geq {\frac {\hbar }{2}}.}
Either standard deviation can in principle be made arbitrarily small, but not both simultaneously. This inequality generalizes to arbitrary pairs of self-adjoint operators
A
{\displaystyle A}
and
B
{\displaystyle B}
. The commutator of these two operators is
[
A
,
B
]
=
A
B
−
B
A
,
{\displaystyle [A,B]=AB-BA,}
and this provides the lower bound on the product of standard deviations:
σ
A
σ
B
≥
1
2
|
⟨
[
A
,
B
]
⟩
|
.
{\displaystyle \sigma _{A}\sigma _{B}\geq {\tfrac {1}{2}}\left|{\bigl \langle }[A,B]{\bigr \rangle }\right|.}
Another consequence of the canonical commutation relation is that the position and momentum operators are Fourier transforms of each other, so that a description of an object according to its momentum is the Fourier transform of its description according to its position. The fact that dependence in momentum is the Fourier transform of the dependence in position means that the momentum operator is equivalent (up to an
i
/
ℏ
{\displaystyle i/\hbar }
factor) to taking the derivative according to the position, since in Fourier analysis differentiation corresponds to multiplication in the dual space. This is why in quantum equations in position space, the momentum
p
i
{\displaystyle p_{i}}
is replaced by
−
i
ℏ
∂
∂
x
{\displaystyle -i\hbar {\frac {\partial }{\partial x}}}
, and in particular in the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation in position space the momentum-squared term is replaced with a Laplacian times
−
ℏ
2
{\displaystyle -\hbar ^{2}}
.
=== Composite systems and entanglement ===
When two different quantum systems are considered together, the Hilbert space of the combined system is the tensor product of the Hilbert spaces of the two components. For example, let A and B be two quantum systems, with Hilbert spaces
H
A
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}_{A}}
and
H
B
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}_{B}}
, respectively. The Hilbert space of the composite system is then
H
A
B
=
H
A
⊗
H
B
.
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}_{AB}={\mathcal {H}}_{A}\otimes {\mathcal {H}}_{B}.}
If the state for the first system is the vector
ψ
A
{\displaystyle \psi _{A}}
and the state for the second system is
ψ
B
{\displaystyle \psi _{B}}
, then the state of the composite system is
ψ
A
⊗
ψ
B
.
{\displaystyle \psi _{A}\otimes \psi _{B}.}
Not all states in the joint Hilbert space
H
A
B
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}_{AB}}
can be written in this form, however, because the superposition principle implies that linear combinations of these "separable" or "product states" are also valid. For example, if
ψ
A
{\displaystyle \psi _{A}}
and
ϕ
A
{\displaystyle \phi _{A}}
are both possible states for system
A
{\displaystyle A}
, and likewise
ψ
B
{\displaystyle \psi _{B}}
and
ϕ
B
{\displaystyle \phi _{B}}
are both possible states for system
B
{\displaystyle B}
, then
1
2
(
ψ
A
⊗
ψ
B
+
ϕ
A
⊗
ϕ
B
)
{\displaystyle {\tfrac {1}{\sqrt {2}}}\left(\psi _{A}\otimes \psi _{B}+\phi _{A}\otimes \phi _{B}\right)}
is a valid joint state that is not separable. States that are not separable are called entangled.
If the state for a composite system is entangled, it is impossible to describe either component system A or system B by a state vector. One can instead define reduced density matrices that describe the statistics that can be obtained by making measurements on either component system alone. This necessarily causes a loss of information, though: knowing the reduced density matrices of the individual systems is not enough to reconstruct the state of the composite system. Just as density matrices specify the state of a subsystem of a larger system, analogously, positive operator-valued measures (POVMs) describe the effect on a subsystem of a measurement performed on a larger system. POVMs are extensively used in quantum information theory.
As described above, entanglement is a key feature of models of measurement processes in which an apparatus becomes entangled with the system being measured. Systems interacting with the environment in which they reside generally become entangled with that environment, a phenomenon known as quantum decoherence. This can explain why, in practice, quantum effects are difficult to observe in systems larger than microscopic.
=== Equivalence between formulations ===
There are many mathematically equivalent formulations of quantum mechanics. One of the oldest and most common is the "transformation theory" proposed by Paul Dirac, which unifies and generalizes the two earliest formulations of quantum mechanics – matrix mechanics (invented by Werner Heisenberg) and wave mechanics (invented by Erwin Schrödinger). An alternative formulation of quantum mechanics is Feynman's path integral formulation, in which a quantum-mechanical amplitude is considered as a sum over all possible classical and non-classical paths between the initial and final states. This is the quantum-mechanical counterpart of the action principle in classical mechanics.
=== Symmetries and conservation laws ===
The Hamiltonian
H
{\displaystyle H}
is known as the generator of time evolution, since it defines a unitary time-evolution operator
U
(
t
)
=
e
−
i
H
t
/
ℏ
{\displaystyle U(t)=e^{-iHt/\hbar }}
for each value of
t
{\displaystyle t}
. From this relation between
U
(
t
)
{\displaystyle U(t)}
and
H
{\displaystyle H}
, it follows that any observable
A
{\displaystyle A}
that commutes with
H
{\displaystyle H}
will be conserved: its expectation value will not change over time. This statement generalizes, as mathematically, any Hermitian operator
A
{\displaystyle A}
can generate a family of unitary operators parameterized by a variable
t
{\displaystyle t}
. Under the evolution generated by
A
{\displaystyle A}
, any observable
B
{\displaystyle B}
that commutes with
A
{\displaystyle A}
will be conserved. Moreover, if
B
{\displaystyle B}
is conserved by evolution under
A
{\displaystyle A}
, then
A
{\displaystyle A}
is conserved under the evolution generated by
B
{\displaystyle B}
. This implies a quantum version of the result proven by Emmy Noether in classical (Lagrangian) mechanics: for every differentiable symmetry of a Hamiltonian, there exists a corresponding conservation law.
== Examples ==
=== Free particle ===
The simplest example of a quantum system with a position degree of freedom is a free particle in a single spatial dimension. A free particle is one which is not subject to external influences, so that its Hamiltonian consists only of its kinetic energy:
H
=
1
2
m
P
2
=
−
ℏ
2
2
m
d
2
d
x
2
.
{\displaystyle H={\frac {1}{2m}}P^{2}=-{\frac {\hbar ^{2}}{2m}}{\frac {d^{2}}{dx^{2}}}.}
The general solution of the Schrödinger equation is given by
ψ
(
x
,
t
)
=
1
2
π
∫
−
∞
∞
ψ
^
(
k
,
0
)
e
i
(
k
x
−
ℏ
k
2
2
m
t
)
d
k
,
{\displaystyle \psi (x,t)={\frac {1}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\int _{-\infty }^{\infty }{\hat {\psi }}(k,0)e^{i(kx-{\frac {\hbar k^{2}}{2m}}t)}\mathrm {d} k,}
which is a superposition of all possible plane waves
e
i
(
k
x
−
ℏ
k
2
2
m
t
)
{\displaystyle e^{i(kx-{\frac {\hbar k^{2}}{2m}}t)}}
, which are eigenstates of the momentum operator with momentum
p
=
ℏ
k
{\displaystyle p=\hbar k}
. The coefficients of the superposition are
ψ
^
(
k
,
0
)
{\displaystyle {\hat {\psi }}(k,0)}
, which is the Fourier transform of the initial quantum state
ψ
(
x
,
0
)
{\displaystyle \psi (x,0)}
.
It is not possible for the solution to be a single momentum eigenstate, or a single position eigenstate, as these are not normalizable quantum states. Instead, we can consider a Gaussian wave packet:
ψ
(
x
,
0
)
=
1
π
a
4
e
−
x
2
2
a
{\displaystyle \psi (x,0)={\frac {1}{\sqrt[{4}]{\pi a}}}e^{-{\frac {x^{2}}{2a}}}}
which has Fourier transform, and therefore momentum distribution
ψ
^
(
k
,
0
)
=
a
π
4
e
−
a
k
2
2
.
{\displaystyle {\hat {\psi }}(k,0)={\sqrt[{4}]{\frac {a}{\pi }}}e^{-{\frac {ak^{2}}{2}}}.}
We see that as we make
a
{\displaystyle a}
smaller the spread in position gets smaller, but the spread in momentum gets larger. Conversely, by making
a
{\displaystyle a}
larger we make the spread in momentum smaller, but the spread in position gets larger. This illustrates the uncertainty principle.
As we let the Gaussian wave packet evolve in time, we see that its center moves through space at a constant velocity (like a classical particle with no forces acting on it). However, the wave packet will also spread out as time progresses, which means that the position becomes more and more uncertain. The uncertainty in momentum, however, stays constant.
=== Particle in a box ===
The particle in a one-dimensional potential energy box is the most mathematically simple example where restraints lead to the quantization of energy levels. The box is defined as having zero potential energy everywhere inside a certain region, and therefore infinite potential energy everywhere outside that region. For the one-dimensional case in the
x
{\displaystyle x}
direction, the time-independent Schrödinger equation may be written
−
ℏ
2
2
m
d
2
ψ
d
x
2
=
E
ψ
.
{\displaystyle -{\frac {\hbar ^{2}}{2m}}{\frac {d^{2}\psi }{dx^{2}}}=E\psi .}
With the differential operator defined by
p
^
x
=
−
i
ℏ
d
d
x
{\displaystyle {\hat {p}}_{x}=-i\hbar {\frac {d}{dx}}}
the previous equation is evocative of the classic kinetic energy analogue,
1
2
m
p
^
x
2
=
E
,
{\displaystyle {\frac {1}{2m}}{\hat {p}}_{x}^{2}=E,}
with state
ψ
{\displaystyle \psi }
in this case having energy
E
{\displaystyle E}
coincident with the kinetic energy of the particle.
The general solutions of the Schrödinger equation for the particle in a box are
ψ
(
x
)
=
A
e
i
k
x
+
B
e
−
i
k
x
E
=
ℏ
2
k
2
2
m
{\displaystyle \psi (x)=Ae^{ikx}+Be^{-ikx}\qquad \qquad E={\frac {\hbar ^{2}k^{2}}{2m}}}
or, from Euler's formula,
ψ
(
x
)
=
C
sin
(
k
x
)
+
D
cos
(
k
x
)
.
{\displaystyle \psi (x)=C\sin(kx)+D\cos(kx).\!}
The infinite potential walls of the box determine the values of
C
,
D
,
{\displaystyle C,D,}
and
k
{\displaystyle k}
at
x
=
0
{\displaystyle x=0}
and
x
=
L
{\displaystyle x=L}
where
ψ
{\displaystyle \psi }
must be zero. Thus, at
x
=
0
{\displaystyle x=0}
,
ψ
(
0
)
=
0
=
C
sin
(
0
)
+
D
cos
(
0
)
=
D
{\displaystyle \psi (0)=0=C\sin(0)+D\cos(0)=D}
and
D
=
0
{\displaystyle D=0}
. At
x
=
L
{\displaystyle x=L}
,
ψ
(
L
)
=
0
=
C
sin
(
k
L
)
,
{\displaystyle \psi (L)=0=C\sin(kL),}
in which
C
{\displaystyle C}
cannot be zero as this would conflict with the postulate that
ψ
{\displaystyle \psi }
has norm 1. Therefore, since
sin
(
k
L
)
=
0
{\displaystyle \sin(kL)=0}
,
k
L
{\displaystyle kL}
must be an integer multiple of
π
{\displaystyle \pi }
,
k
=
n
π
L
n
=
1
,
2
,
3
,
…
.
{\displaystyle k={\frac {n\pi }{L}}\qquad \qquad n=1,2,3,\ldots .}
This constraint on
k
{\displaystyle k}
implies a constraint on the energy levels, yielding
E
n
=
ℏ
2
π
2
n
2
2
m
L
2
=
n
2
h
2
8
m
L
2
.
{\displaystyle E_{n}={\frac {\hbar ^{2}\pi ^{2}n^{2}}{2mL^{2}}}={\frac {n^{2}h^{2}}{8mL^{2}}}.}
A finite potential well is the generalization of the infinite potential well problem to potential wells having finite depth. The finite potential well problem is mathematically more complicated than the infinite particle-in-a-box problem as the wave function is not pinned to zero at the walls of the well. Instead, the wave function must satisfy more complicated mathematical boundary conditions as it is nonzero in regions outside the well. Another related problem is that of the rectangular potential barrier, which furnishes a model for the quantum tunneling effect that plays an important role in the performance of modern technologies such as flash memory and scanning tunneling microscopy.
=== Harmonic oscillator ===
As in the classical case, the potential for the quantum harmonic oscillator is given by
V
(
x
)
=
1
2
m
ω
2
x
2
.
{\displaystyle V(x)={\frac {1}{2}}m\omega ^{2}x^{2}.}
This problem can either be treated by directly solving the Schrödinger equation, which is not trivial, or by using the more elegant "ladder method" first proposed by Paul Dirac. The eigenstates are given by
ψ
n
(
x
)
=
1
2
n
n
!
⋅
(
m
ω
π
ℏ
)
1
/
4
⋅
e
−
m
ω
x
2
2
ℏ
⋅
H
n
(
m
ω
ℏ
x
)
,
{\displaystyle \psi _{n}(x)={\sqrt {\frac {1}{2^{n}\,n!}}}\cdot \left({\frac {m\omega }{\pi \hbar }}\right)^{1/4}\cdot e^{-{\frac {m\omega x^{2}}{2\hbar }}}\cdot H_{n}\left({\sqrt {\frac {m\omega }{\hbar }}}x\right),\qquad }
n
=
0
,
1
,
2
,
…
.
{\displaystyle n=0,1,2,\ldots .}
where Hn are the Hermite polynomials
H
n
(
x
)
=
(
−
1
)
n
e
x
2
d
n
d
x
n
(
e
−
x
2
)
,
{\displaystyle H_{n}(x)=(-1)^{n}e^{x^{2}}{\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}\left(e^{-x^{2}}\right),}
and the corresponding energy levels are
E
n
=
ℏ
ω
(
n
+
1
2
)
.
{\displaystyle E_{n}=\hbar \omega \left(n+{1 \over 2}\right).}
This is another example illustrating the discretization of energy for bound states.
=== Mach–Zehnder interferometer ===
The Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) illustrates the concepts of superposition and interference with linear algebra in dimension 2, rather than differential equations. It can be seen as a simplified version of the double-slit experiment, but it is of interest in its own right, for example in the delayed choice quantum eraser, the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb tester, and in studies of quantum entanglement.
We can model a photon going through the interferometer by considering that at each point it can be in a superposition of only two paths: the "lower" path which starts from the left, goes straight through both beam splitters, and ends at the top, and the "upper" path which starts from the bottom, goes straight through both beam splitters, and ends at the right. The quantum state of the photon is therefore a vector
ψ
∈
C
2
{\displaystyle \psi \in \mathbb {C} ^{2}}
that is a superposition of the "lower" path
ψ
l
=
(
1
0
)
{\displaystyle \psi _{l}={\begin{pmatrix}1\\0\end{pmatrix}}}
and the "upper" path
ψ
u
=
(
0
1
)
{\displaystyle \psi _{u}={\begin{pmatrix}0\\1\end{pmatrix}}}
, that is,
ψ
=
α
ψ
l
+
β
ψ
u
{\displaystyle \psi =\alpha \psi _{l}+\beta \psi _{u}}
for complex
α
,
β
{\displaystyle \alpha ,\beta }
. In order to respect the postulate that
⟨
ψ
,
ψ
⟩
=
1
{\displaystyle \langle \psi ,\psi \rangle =1}
we require that
|
α
|
2
+
|
β
|
2
=
1
{\displaystyle |\alpha |^{2}+|\beta |^{2}=1}
.
Both beam splitters are modelled as the unitary matrix
B
=
1
2
(
1
i
i
1
)
{\displaystyle B={\frac {1}{\sqrt {2}}}{\begin{pmatrix}1&i\\i&1\end{pmatrix}}}
, which means that when a photon meets the beam splitter it will either stay on the same path with a probability amplitude of
1
/
2
{\displaystyle 1/{\sqrt {2}}}
, or be reflected to the other path with a probability amplitude of
i
/
2
{\displaystyle i/{\sqrt {2}}}
. The phase shifter on the upper arm is modelled as the unitary matrix
P
=
(
1
0
0
e
i
Δ
Φ
)
{\displaystyle P={\begin{pmatrix}1&0\\0&e^{i\Delta \Phi }\end{pmatrix}}}
, which means that if the photon is on the "upper" path it will gain a relative phase of
Δ
Φ
{\displaystyle \Delta \Phi }
, and it will stay unchanged if it is in the lower path.
A photon that enters the interferometer from the left will then be acted upon with a beam splitter
B
{\displaystyle B}
, a phase shifter
P
{\displaystyle P}
, and another beam splitter
B
{\displaystyle B}
, and so end up in the state
B
P
B
ψ
l
=
i
e
i
Δ
Φ
/
2
(
−
sin
(
Δ
Φ
/
2
)
cos
(
Δ
Φ
/
2
)
)
,
{\displaystyle BPB\psi _{l}=ie^{i\Delta \Phi /2}{\begin{pmatrix}-\sin(\Delta \Phi /2)\\\cos(\Delta \Phi /2)\end{pmatrix}},}
and the probabilities that it will be detected at the right or at the top are given respectively by
p
(
u
)
=
|
⟨
ψ
u
,
B
P
B
ψ
l
⟩
|
2
=
cos
2
Δ
Φ
2
,
{\displaystyle p(u)=|\langle \psi _{u},BPB\psi _{l}\rangle |^{2}=\cos ^{2}{\frac {\Delta \Phi }{2}},}
p
(
l
)
=
|
⟨
ψ
l
,
B
P
B
ψ
l
⟩
|
2
=
sin
2
Δ
Φ
2
.
{\displaystyle p(l)=|\langle \psi _{l},BPB\psi _{l}\rangle |^{2}=\sin ^{2}{\frac {\Delta \Phi }{2}}.}
One can therefore use the Mach–Zehnder interferometer to estimate the phase shift by estimating these probabilities.
It is interesting to consider what would happen if the photon were definitely in either the "lower" or "upper" paths between the beam splitters. This can be accomplished by blocking one of the paths, or equivalently by removing the first beam splitter (and feeding the photon from the left or the bottom, as desired). In both cases, there will be no interference between the paths anymore, and the probabilities are given by
p
(
u
)
=
p
(
l
)
=
1
/
2
{\displaystyle p(u)=p(l)=1/2}
, independently of the phase
Δ
Φ
{\displaystyle \Delta \Phi }
. From this we can conclude that the photon does not take one path or another after the first beam splitter, but rather that it is in a genuine quantum superposition of the two paths.
== Applications ==
Quantum mechanics has had enormous success in explaining many of the features of our universe, with regard to small-scale and discrete quantities and interactions which cannot be explained by classical methods. Quantum mechanics is often the only theory that can reveal the individual behaviors of the subatomic particles that make up all forms of matter (electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, and others). Solid-state physics and materials science are dependent upon quantum mechanics.
In many aspects, modern technology operates at a scale where quantum effects are significant. Important applications of quantum theory include quantum chemistry, quantum optics, quantum computing, superconducting magnets, light-emitting diodes, the optical amplifier and the laser, the transistor and semiconductors such as the microprocessor, medical and research imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging and electron microscopy. Explanations for many biological and physical phenomena are rooted in the nature of the chemical bond, most notably the macro-molecule DNA.
== Relation to other scientific theories ==
=== Classical mechanics ===
The rules of quantum mechanics assert that the state space of a system is a Hilbert space and that observables of the system are Hermitian operators acting on vectors in that space – although they do not tell us which Hilbert space or which operators. These can be chosen appropriately in order to obtain a quantitative description of a quantum system, a necessary step in making physical predictions. An important guide for making these choices is the correspondence principle, a heuristic which states that the predictions of quantum mechanics reduce to those of classical mechanics in the regime of large quantum numbers. One can also start from an established classical model of a particular system, and then try to guess the underlying quantum model that would give rise to the classical model in the correspondence limit. This approach is known as quantization.
When quantum mechanics was originally formulated, it was applied to models whose correspondence limit was non-relativistic classical mechanics. For instance, the well-known model of the quantum harmonic oscillator uses an explicitly non-relativistic expression for the kinetic energy of the oscillator, and is thus a quantum version of the classical harmonic oscillator.
Complications arise with chaotic systems, which do not have good quantum numbers, and quantum chaos studies the relationship between classical and quantum descriptions in these systems.
Quantum decoherence is a mechanism through which quantum systems lose coherence, and thus become incapable of displaying many typically quantum effects: quantum superpositions become simply probabilistic mixtures, and quantum entanglement becomes simply classical correlations. Quantum coherence is not typically evident at macroscopic scales, though at temperatures approaching absolute zero quantum behavior may manifest macroscopically.
Many macroscopic properties of a classical system are a direct consequence of the quantum behavior of its parts. For example, the stability of bulk matter (consisting of atoms and molecules which would quickly collapse under electric forces alone), the rigidity of solids, and the mechanical, thermal, chemical, optical and magnetic properties of matter are all results of the interaction of electric charges under the rules of quantum mechanics.
=== Special relativity and electrodynamics ===
Early attempts to merge quantum mechanics with special relativity involved the replacement of the Schrödinger equation with a covariant equation such as the Klein–Gordon equation or the Dirac equation. While these theories were successful in explaining many experimental results, they had certain unsatisfactory qualities stemming from their neglect of the relativistic creation and annihilation of particles. A fully relativistic quantum theory required the development of quantum field theory, which applies quantization to a field (rather than a fixed set of particles). The first complete quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics, provides a fully quantum description of the electromagnetic interaction. Quantum electrodynamics is, along with general relativity, one of the most accurate physical theories ever devised.
The full apparatus of quantum field theory is often unnecessary for describing electrodynamic systems. A simpler approach, one that has been used since the inception of quantum mechanics, is to treat charged particles as quantum mechanical objects being acted on by a classical electromagnetic field. For example, the elementary quantum model of the hydrogen atom describes the electric field of the hydrogen atom using a classical
−
e
2
/
(
4
π
ϵ
0
r
)
{\displaystyle \textstyle -e^{2}/(4\pi \epsilon _{_{0}}r)}
Coulomb potential. Likewise, in a Stern–Gerlach experiment, a charged particle is modeled as a quantum system, while the background magnetic field is described classically. This "semi-classical" approach fails if quantum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field play an important role, such as in the emission of photons by charged particles.
Quantum field theories for the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force have also been developed. The quantum field theory of the strong nuclear force is called quantum chromodynamics, and describes the interactions of subnuclear particles such as quarks and gluons. The weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force were unified, in their quantized forms, into a single quantum field theory (known as electroweak theory), by the physicists Abdus Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg.
=== Relation to general relativity ===
Even though the predictions of both quantum theory and general relativity have been supported by rigorous and repeated empirical evidence, their abstract formalisms contradict each other and they have proven extremely difficult to incorporate into one consistent, cohesive model. Gravity is negligible in many areas of particle physics, so that unification between general relativity and quantum mechanics is not an urgent issue in those particular applications. However, the lack of a correct theory of quantum gravity is an important issue in physical cosmology and the search by physicists for an elegant "Theory of Everything" (TOE). Consequently, resolving the inconsistencies between both theories has been a major goal of 20th- and 21st-century physics. This TOE would combine not only the models of subatomic physics but also derive the four fundamental forces of nature from a single force or phenomenon.
One proposal for doing so is string theory, which posits that the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries gravitational force.
Another popular theory is loop quantum gravity (LQG), which describes quantum properties of gravity and is thus a theory of quantum spacetime. LQG is an attempt to merge and adapt standard quantum mechanics and standard general relativity. This theory describes space as an extremely fine fabric "woven" of finite loops called spin networks. The evolution of a spin network over time is called a spin foam. The characteristic length scale of a spin foam is the Planck length, approximately 1.616×10−35 m, and so lengths shorter than the Planck length are not physically meaningful in LQG.
== Philosophical implications ==
Since its inception, the many counter-intuitive aspects and results of quantum mechanics have provoked strong philosophical debates and many interpretations. The arguments centre on the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, the difficulties with wavefunction collapse and the related measurement problem, and quantum nonlocality. Perhaps the only consensus that exists about these issues is that there is no consensus. Richard Feynman once said, "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." According to Steven Weinberg, "There is now in my opinion no entirely satisfactory interpretation of quantum mechanics."
The views of Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and other physicists are often grouped together as the "Copenhagen interpretation". According to these views, the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics is not a temporary feature which will eventually be replaced by a deterministic theory, but is instead a final renunciation of the classical idea of "causality". Bohr in particular emphasized that any well-defined application of the quantum mechanical formalism must always make reference to the experimental arrangement, due to the complementary nature of evidence obtained under different experimental situations. Copenhagen-type interpretations were adopted by Nobel laureates in quantum physics, including Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Feynman, and Zeilinger as well as 21st-century researchers in quantum foundations.
Albert Einstein, himself one of the founders of quantum theory, was troubled by its apparent failure to respect some cherished metaphysical principles, such as determinism and locality. Einstein's long-running exchanges with Bohr about the meaning and status of quantum mechanics are now known as the Bohr–Einstein debates. Einstein believed that underlying quantum mechanics must be a theory that explicitly forbids action at a distance. He argued that quantum mechanics was incomplete, a theory that was valid but not fundamental, analogous to how thermodynamics is valid, but the fundamental theory behind it is statistical mechanics. In 1935, Einstein and his collaborators Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen published an argument that the principle of locality implies the incompleteness of quantum mechanics, a thought experiment later termed the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox. In 1964, John Bell showed that EPR's principle of locality, together with determinism, was actually incompatible with quantum mechanics: they implied constraints on the correlations produced by distance systems, now known as Bell inequalities, that can be violated by entangled particles. Since then several experiments have been performed to obtain these correlations, with the result that they do in fact violate Bell inequalities, and thus falsify the conjunction of locality with determinism.
Bohmian mechanics shows that it is possible to reformulate quantum mechanics to make it deterministic, at the price of making it explicitly nonlocal. It attributes not only a wave function to a physical system, but in addition a real position, that evolves deterministically under a nonlocal guiding equation. The evolution of a physical system is given at all times by the Schrödinger equation together with the guiding equation; there is never a collapse of the wave function. This solves the measurement problem.
Everett's many-worlds interpretation, formulated in 1956, holds that all the possibilities described by quantum theory simultaneously occur in a multiverse composed of mostly independent parallel universes. This is a consequence of removing the axiom of the collapse of the wave packet. All possible states of the measured system and the measuring apparatus, together with the observer, are present in a real physical quantum superposition. While the multiverse is deterministic, we perceive non-deterministic behavior governed by probabilities, because we do not observe the multiverse as a whole, but only one parallel universe at a time. Exactly how this is supposed to work has been the subject of much debate. Several attempts have been made to make sense of this and derive the Born rule, with no consensus on whether they have been successful.
Relational quantum mechanics appeared in the late 1990s as a modern derivative of Copenhagen-type ideas, and QBism was developed some years later.
== History ==
Quantum mechanics was developed in the early decades of the 20th century, driven by the need to explain phenomena that, in some cases, had been observed in earlier times. Scientific inquiry into the wave nature of light began in the 17th and 18th centuries, when scientists such as Robert Hooke, Christiaan Huygens and Leonhard Euler proposed a wave theory of light based on experimental observations. In 1803 English polymath Thomas Young described the famous double-slit experiment. This experiment played a major role in the general acceptance of the wave theory of light.
During the early 19th century, chemical research by John Dalton and Amedeo Avogadro lent weight to the atomic theory of matter, an idea that James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann and others built upon to establish the kinetic theory of gases. The successes of kinetic theory gave further credence to the idea that matter is composed of atoms, yet the theory also had shortcomings that would only be resolved by the development of quantum mechanics. While the early conception of atoms from Greek philosophy had been that they were indivisible units – the word "atom" deriving from the Greek for 'uncuttable' – the 19th century saw the formulation of hypotheses about subatomic structure. One important discovery in that regard was Michael Faraday's 1838 observation of a glow caused by an electrical discharge inside a glass tube containing gas at low pressure. Julius Plücker, Johann Wilhelm Hittorf and Eugen Goldstein carried on and improved upon Faraday's work, leading to the identification of cathode rays, which J. J. Thomson found to consist of subatomic particles that would be called electrons.
The black-body radiation problem was discovered by Gustav Kirchhoff in 1859. In 1900, Max Planck proposed the hypothesis that energy is radiated and absorbed in discrete "quanta" (or energy packets), yielding a calculation that precisely matched the observed patterns of black-body radiation. The word quantum derives from the Latin, meaning "how great" or "how much". According to Planck, quantities of energy could be thought of as divided into "elements" whose size (E) would be proportional to their frequency (ν):
E
=
h
ν
{\displaystyle E=h\nu \ }
,
where h is the Planck constant. Planck cautiously insisted that this was only an aspect of the processes of absorption and emission of radiation and was not the physical reality of the radiation. In fact, he considered his quantum hypothesis a mathematical trick to get the right answer rather than a sizable discovery. However, in 1905 Albert Einstein interpreted Planck's quantum hypothesis realistically and used it to explain the photoelectric effect, in which shining light on certain materials can eject electrons from the material. Niels Bohr then developed Planck's ideas about radiation into a model of the hydrogen atom that successfully predicted the spectral lines of hydrogen. Einstein further developed this idea to show that an electromagnetic wave such as light could also be described as a particle (later called the photon), with a discrete amount of energy that depends on its frequency. In his paper "On the Quantum Theory of Radiation", Einstein expanded on the interaction between energy and matter to explain the absorption and emission of energy by atoms. Although overshadowed at the time by his general theory of relativity, this paper articulated the mechanism underlying the stimulated emission of radiation, which became the basis of the laser.
This phase is known as the old quantum theory. Never complete or self-consistent, the old quantum theory was rather a set of heuristic corrections to classical mechanics. The theory is now understood as a semi-classical approximation to modern quantum mechanics. Notable results from this period include, in addition to the work of Planck, Einstein and Bohr mentioned above, Einstein and Peter Debye's work on the specific heat of solids, Bohr and Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen's proof that classical physics cannot account for diamagnetism, and Arnold Sommerfeld's extension of the Bohr model to include special-relativistic effects.
In the mid-1920s quantum mechanics was developed to become the standard formulation for atomic physics. In 1923, the French physicist Louis de Broglie put forward his theory of matter waves by stating that particles can exhibit wave characteristics and vice versa. Building on de Broglie's approach, modern quantum mechanics was born in 1925, when the German physicists Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan developed matrix mechanics and the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger invented wave mechanics. Born introduced the probabilistic interpretation of Schrödinger's wave function in July 1926. Thus, the entire field of quantum physics emerged, leading to its wider acceptance at the Fifth Solvay Conference in 1927.
By 1930, quantum mechanics had been further unified and formalized by David Hilbert, Paul Dirac and John von Neumann with greater emphasis on measurement, the statistical nature of our knowledge of reality, and philosophical speculation about the 'observer'. It has since permeated many disciplines, including quantum chemistry, quantum electronics, quantum optics, and quantum information science. It also provides a useful framework for many features of the modern periodic table of elements, and describes the behaviors of atoms during chemical bonding and the flow of electrons in computer semiconductors, and therefore plays a crucial role in many modern technologies. While quantum mechanics was constructed to describe the world of the very small, it is also needed to explain some macroscopic phenomena such as superconductors and superfluids. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kataller_Toyama | Kataller Toyama | Kataller Toyama (カターレ富山, Katāre Toyama) is a football club based in Toyama, Capital of Toyama Prefecture. The club currently play in J2 League after promotion from J3 in 2024, Japanese second tier of professional football.
== History ==
The idea of a merged club had been discussed by the Toyama Prefectural Football Association as early as 2005, but discussions had come to nothing at the time.
On 10 September 2007, YKK (owner of YKK AP SC) and Hokuriku Electric Power Company (owner of ALO's Hokuriku), agreed with merging their clubs to aim promotion to the J.League in response of eager request by the TPFA. According to Tulip TV, local broadcasting company, over twenty companies informally promised to invest in the new club. In the media briefing, the governor of Toyama Prefecture also participated.
TPFA has founded an organisation named "Civic Football Club Team of Toyama Prefecture (富山県民サッカークラブチーム)" with two major economic organisation and representatives of Hokuriku Electric Power Company and YKK. The Japan Football League confirmed that the merged club would compete in the JFL from the 2008 season.
They applied for J.League Associate Membership in January 2008, then their application was accepted at the board meeting of J.League on 19 February 2008. On 23 November 2008, they secured qualification for promotion to the J2 League and on 1 December 2008, promotion was made official by J.League.
In 2014, after a six-year stint at the J2, Kataller Toyama was relegated to the J3 ahead of the 2015 season after a J2 bottom-place finish.
On 7 December 2024, Kataller Toyama secure promotion to J2 League after draw 2-2 against Matsumoto Yamaga and ended 10 years in third tier.
== Name and crest ==
The word "kataller" is a portmanteau of the phrase katare (勝たれ) which in Toyama dialect means "to win", and the French aller, "to go". The phrase is also intended to be a pun of Italian cantare, "to sing", and of native Japanese katare (語れ), "to talk" (written with a different kanji character).
The crest is shaped in the form of a tulip, the official Toyama Prefecture flower.
== League & cup record ==
Key
== Honours ==
== Current squad ==
As of 12 September 2025.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
=== Out on loan ===
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
== Club officials ==
== Managerial history ==
== Kit and colours ==
=== Colours ===
Kataller Toyama's main colour is blue.
=== Kit evolution === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea | Mauna Kea | Mauna Kea (, Hawaiian: [ˈmɐwnə ˈkɛjə]; abbreviation for Mauna a Wākea, 'White Mountain') is a dormant shield volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi. Its peak is 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft) above sea level, making it the highest point in Hawaii and the island with the second highest high point, behind New Guinea. The peak is about 38 m (125 ft) higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor. Mauna Kea is unusually topographically prominent for its height: its prominence from sea level is 15th in the world among mountains, at 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft); its prominence from under the ocean is 9,330 m (30,610 ft), rivaled only by Mount Everest. This dry prominence is greater than Everest's height above sea level of 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), and some authorities have labeled Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world, from its underwater base. Mauna Kea is ranked 8th by topographic isolation.
It is about one million years old and thus passed the most active shield stage of life hundreds of thousands of years ago. In its current post-shield state, its lava is more viscous, resulting in a steeper profile. Late volcanism has also given it a much rougher appearance than its neighboring volcanoes due to construction of cinder cones, decentralization of its rift zones, glaciation on its peak, and weathering by the prevailing trade winds. Mauna Kea last erupted 6,000 to 4,000 years ago and is now thought to be dormant.
In Hawaiian religion, the peaks of the island of Hawaiʻi are sacred. An ancient law allowed only high-ranking aliʻi to visit its peak. Ancient Hawaiians living on the slopes of Mauna Kea relied on its extensive forests for food, and quarried the dense volcano-glacial basalts on its flanks for tool production. When Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, settlers introduced cattle, sheep, and game animals, many of which became feral and began to damage the volcano's ecological balance. Mauna Kea can be ecologically divided into three sections: an alpine climate at its summit, a Sophora chrysophylla–Myoporum sandwicense (or māmane–naio) forest on its flanks, and an Acacia koa–Metrosideros polymorpha (or koa–ʻōhiʻa) forest, now mostly cleared by the former sugar industry, at its base. In recent years, concern over the vulnerability of the native species has led to court cases that have forced the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources to work towards eradicating all feral species on the volcano.
With its high elevation, dry environment, and stable airflow, Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. Since the creation of an access road in 1964, thirteen telescopes funded by eleven countries have been constructed at the summit. The Mauna Kea Observatories are used for scientific research across the electromagnetic spectrum and comprise the largest such facility in the world. Their construction on a landscape considered sacred by Native Hawaiians continues to be a topic of debate to this day.
== Topographic prominence ==
Mauna Kea is unusually topographically prominent for its height, with a wet prominence fifteenth in the world among mountains, and a dry prominence second in the world, after only Mount Everest. It is the highest peak on its island, so its wet prominence matches its height above sea level, at 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft). Because the Hawaiian Islands slope deep into the ocean, Mauna Kea has a dry prominence of 9,330 m (30,610 ft). This dry prominence is taller than Mount Everest's height above sea level of 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), so Everest would have to include whole continents in its foothills to exceed Mauna Kea's dry prominence.
Given how much Mauna Kea protrudes from the Hawaiian Trough, some authorities have called it the tallest (as opposed to highest) mountain in the world, as measured from base to peak. Unlike prominence, base is loosely defined, which has resulted in numbers ranging from 9,966 m (32,696 ft) (roughly to the deepest point in the Hawaiian Trough) to 17,205 m (56,447 ft) (to the root of the mountain deep underground). Similar calculations have made contradictory claims for other mountains. The climb from the deepest known point on Earth's seabed (Challenger Deep) to nearby Mount Lamlam is 11,528 m (37,820 ft), and the Himalayan Mountains have tremendously deep roots. The climb between parts of the Atacama Trench and Andes Mountains has been described as "the highest slope on earth": the bottom of Richard's Deep (8,065 m (26,460 ft) deep) to the peak of the nearby Llullaillaco (6,739 m (22,110 ft) high) is 14,804 m (48,570 ft). Neither Mount Lamlam nor Llullaillaco have the dry prominence of Mauna Kea, because they do not extend into trenches in every direction.
== Geology ==
Mauna Kea is one of five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaiʻi, the largest and youngest island of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. Of these five hotspot volcanoes, Mauna Kea is the fourth oldest and fourth most active. It began as a preshield volcano driven by the Hawaiʻi hotspot around one million years ago, and became exceptionally active during its shield stage until 500,000 years ago. Mauna Kea entered its quieter post-shield stage 250,000 to 200,000 years ago, and is currently active, having last erupted between 4,500 and 6,000 years ago. Mauna Kea does not have a visible summit caldera, but contains a number of small cinder and pumice cones near its summit. A former summit caldera may have been filled and buried by later summit eruption deposits.
Mauna Kea is over 32,000 km3 (7,680 cu mi) in volume, so massive that it and its neighbor, Mauna Loa, depress the ocean crust beneath it by 6 km (4 mi).
The volcano continues to slip and flatten under its own weight at a rate of less than 0.2 mm (0.01 in) per year. Much of its mass lies east of its present summit. It stands 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft) above sea level, about 38 m (125 ft) higher than its neighbor Mauna Loa, and is the highest point in the state of Hawaii.
Like all Hawaiian volcanoes, Mauna Kea has been created as the Pacific tectonic plate has moved over the Hawaiian hotspot in the Earth's underlying mantle. The Hawaii island volcanoes are the most recent evidence of this process that, over 70 million years, has created the 6,000 km (3,700 mi)-long Hawaiian Ridge–Emperor seamount chain. The prevailing, though not completely settled, view is that the hotspot has been largely stationary within the planet's mantle for much, if not all of the Cenozoic Era. However, while Hawaiian volcanism is well understood and extensively studied, there remains no definite explanation of the mechanism that causes the hotspot effect.
Lava flows from Mauna Kea overlapped in complex layers with those of its neighbors during its growth. Most prominently, Mauna Kea is built upon older flows from Kohala to the northwest, and intersects the base of Mauna Loa to the south. The original eruptive fissures (rift zones) in the flanks of Mauna Kea were buried by its post-shield volcanism. Hilo Ridge, a prominent underwater rift zone structure east of Mauna Kea, was once believed to be a part of the volcano; however, it is now understood to be a rift zone of Kohala that has been affected by younger Mauna Kea flows.
The shield-stage lavas that built the enormous main mass of the volcano are tholeiitic basalts, like those of Mauna Loa, created through the mixing of primary magma and subducted oceanic crust. They are covered by the oldest exposed rock strata on Mauna Kea, the post-shield alkali basalts of the Hāmākua Volcanics, which erupted between 250,000 and 70–65,000 years ago. The most recent volcanic flows are hawaiites and mugearites: they are the post-shield Laupāhoehoe Volcanics, erupted between 65,000 and 4,000 years ago. These changes in lava composition accompanied the slow reduction of the supply of magma to the summit, which led to weaker eruptions that then gave way to isolated episodes associated with volcanic dormancy. The Laupāhoehoe lavas are more viscous and contain more volatiles than the earlier tholeiitic basalts; their thicker flows significantly steepened Mauna Kea's flanks. In addition, explosive eruptions have built cinder cones near the summit. These cones are the most recent eruptive centers of Mauna Kea. Its present summit is dominated by lava domes and cinder cones up to 1.5 km (0.9 mi) in diameter and hundreds of meters tall.
Mauna Kea is the only Hawaiian volcano with distinct evidence of glaciation. Similar deposits probably existed on Mauna Loa, but have been covered by later lava flows. Despite Hawaii's tropical location, during several past ice ages a drop of a degree in temperature allowed snow to remain at the volcano's summit through summer, triggering the formation of an ice cap. There are three episodes of glaciation that have been recorded from the last 180,000 years: the Pōhakuloa (180–130 ka), Wāihu (80–60 ka) and Mākanaka (40–13 ka) series. These have extensively sculpted the summit, depositing moraines and a circular ring of till and gravel along the volcano's upper flanks. Subglacial eruptions built cinder cones during the Mākanaka glaciation, most of which were heavily gouged by glacial action. The most recent cones were built between 9,000 and 4,500 years ago, atop the glacial deposits, although one study indicates that the last eruption may have been around 3,600 years ago.
At their maximum extent, the glaciers extended from the summit down to between 3,200 and 3,800 m (10,500 and 12,500 ft) of elevation. A small body of permafrost, less than 25 m (80 ft) across, was found at the summit of Mauna Kea before 1974, and may still be present. Small gullies etch the summit, formed by rain- and snow-fed streams that flow only during winter melt and rain showers.
On the windward side of the volcano, stream erosion driven by trade winds has accelerated erosion in a manner similar to that on older Kohala.
Mauna Kea is home to Lake Waiau, the highest lake in the Pacific Basin. At an altitude of 3,969 m (13,022 ft), it lies within the Puʻu Waiau cinder cone and is the only alpine lake in Hawaii. The lake is very small and shallow, with a surface area of 0.73 ha (1.80 acres) and a depth of 3 m (10 ft) when fullest. Radiocarbon dating of samples at the base of the lake indicates that it was clear of ice 12,600 years ago. Hawaiian lava types are typically permeable, preventing lake formation due to infiltration. Either sulfur-bearing steam altered the volcanic ash to low-permeability clays, or explosive interactions between rising magma and groundwater or surface water during phreatic eruptions formed exceptionally fine ash that reduced the permeability of the lake bed.
No artesian water was known on the island of Hawaiʻi until 1993 when drilling by the University of Hawaiʻi tapped an artesian aquifer more than 300 m (980 ft) below sea level, that extended more than 100 m (330 ft) of the borehole's total depth. The borehole had drilled through a compacted layer of soil and lava where the flows of Mauna Loa had encroached upon the exposed Mauna Kea surface and had subsequently been subsided below sea level. Isotopic composition shows the water present to have been derived from rain coming off Mauna Kea at higher than 2,000 m (6,600 ft) above mean sea level. The aquifer's presence is attributed to a freshwater head within Mauna Kea's basal lens. Scientists believe there may be more water in Mauna Kea's freshwater lens than current models may indicate. Two more boreholes were drilled on Mauna Kea in 2012, with water being found at much higher elevations and shallower depths than expected. Donald Thomas, director of the University of Hawaiʻi's Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes believes one reason to continue study of the aquifers is due to use and occupancy of the higher elevation areas, stating: "Nearly all of these activities depend on the availability of potable water that, in most cases, must be trucked to the Saddle from Waimea or Hilo — an inefficient and expensive process that consumes a substantial quantity of our scarce liquid fuels."
=== Future activity ===
The last eruption of Mauna Kea was about 4,600 years ago (about 2600 BC); because of this inactivity, Mauna Kea is assigned a United States Geological Survey hazard listing of 7 for its summit and 8 for its lower flanks, out of the lowest possible hazard rating of 9 (which is given to the extinct volcano Kohala). Since 8000 BC lava flows have covered 20% of the volcano's summit and virtually none of its flanks.
Despite its dormancy, Mauna Kea is expected to erupt again. Based on earlier eruptions, such an event could occur anywhere on the volcano's upper flanks and would likely produce long lava flows, mostly of ʻaʻā, 15–25 km (9–16 mi) long. Long periods of activity could build a cinder cone at the source. Although not likely in the next few centuries, such an eruption would probably result in little loss of life but significant damage to infrastructure.
== Human history ==
=== Native history ===
The first Ancient Hawaiians to arrive on Hawaiʻi island lived along the shores, where food and water were plentiful. Settlement expanded inland to the Mauna Loa – Mauna Kea region in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Archaeological evidence suggests that these regions were used for hunting, collecting stone material, and possibly for spiritual reasons or for astronomical or navigational observations. The mountain's plentiful forest provided plants and animals for food and raw materials for shelter. Flightless birds that had previously known no predators became a staple food source.
Early settlement of the Hawaiian islands led to major changes to local ecosystems and many extinctions, particularly amongst bird species. Ancient Hawaiians brought foreign plants and animals, and their arrival was associated with increased rates of erosion.
The prevailing lowland forest ecosystem was transformed from forest to grassland; some of this change was caused by the use of fire, but the prevailing cause of forest ecosystem collapse and avian extinction on Hawaiʻi appears to have been the introduction of the Polynesian (or Pacific) rat.
The five volcanoes of Hawaiʻi are revered as sacred mountains. For this reason, a kapu (ancient Hawaiian law) restricted visitor rights to high-ranking aliʻi. Hawaiians associated elements of their natural environment with particular deities. In Hawaiian mythology, the summit of Mauna Kea was seen as the "region of the gods", a place where benevolent spirits reside. Poliʻahu, deity of snow, also resides there. "Mauna Kea" is an abbreviation for Mauna a Wākea and means 'white mountain' in reference to its seasonally snow-capped summit; Wākea is also the Hawaiian sky god.
Around AD 1100, natives established adze quarries high up on Mauna Kea to extract the uniquely dense basalt (generated by the quick cooling of lava flows meeting glacial ice during subglacial eruptions) to make tools. Volcanic glass and gabbro were collected for blades and fishing gear, and māmane wood was preferred for the handles. At peak quarry activity after AD 1400, there were separate facilities for rough and fine cutting; shelters with food, water, and wood to sustain the workers; and workshops creating the finished product.
Lake Waiau provided drinking water for the workers. Native chiefs would also dip the umbilical cords of newborn babies in its water, to give them the strength of the mountain. Use of the quarry declined between this period and contact with Americans and Europeans. As part of the ritual associated with quarrying, the workers erected shrines to their gods; these and other quarry artifacts remain at the sites, most of which lie within what is now the Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve.
This early era was followed by cultural expansion between the 12th and late 18th century. Land was divided into regions designed for the immediate needs of the populace. These ahupuaʻa generally took the form of long strips of land oriented from the mountain summits to the coast. Mauna Kea's summit was encompassed in the ahupuaʻa of Kaʻohe, with part of its eastern slope reaching into the nearby Humuʻula. Principal sources of nutrition for Hawaiians living on the slopes of the volcano came from the māmane–naio forest of its upper slopes, which provided them with vegetation and bird life. Bird species hunted included the ʻuaʻu (Pterodroma sandwichensis), nēnē (Branta sandvicensis), and palila (Loxioides bailleui). The lower koa–ʻōhiʻa forest gave the natives wood for canoes and ornate bird feathers for decoration.
=== Modern era ===
There are three accounts of foreigners visiting Hawaiʻi before the arrival of James Cook, in 1778. However, the earliest Western depictions of the isle, including Mauna Kea, were created by explorers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Contact with Europe and America had major consequences for island residents. Native Hawaiians were devastated by introduced diseases; port cities including Hilo, Kealakekua, and Kailua grew with the establishment of trade; and the adze quarries on Mauna Kea were abandoned after the introduction of metal tools.
In 1793, cattle were brought by George Vancouver as a tribute to King Kamehameha I. By the early 19th century, they had escaped confinement and roamed the island freely, greatly damaging its ecosystem. In 1809 John Palmer Parker arrived and befriended Kamehameha I, who put him in charge of cattle management on the island. With an additional land grant in 1845, Parker established Parker Ranch on the northern slope of Mauna Kea, a large cattle ranch that is still in operation today. Settlers to the island burned and cut down much of the lower native forest for sugarcane plantations and houses.
The Saddle Road, named for its crossing of the saddle-shaped plateau between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, was completed in 1943, and eased travel to Mauna Kea considerably.
The Pohakuloa Training Area on the plateau is the largest military training ground in Hawaiʻi. The 108,863-acre (44,055 ha) base extends from the volcano's lower flanks to 2,070 m (6,790 ft) elevation, on state land leased to the US Army since 1956. There are 15 threatened and endangered plants, three endangered birds, and one endangered bat species in the area.
Mauna Kea has been the site of extensive archaeological research since the 1980s. Approximately 27 percent of the Science Reserve had been surveyed by 2000, identifying 76 shrines, 4 adze manufacturing workshops, 3 other markers, 1 positively identified burial site, and 4 possible burial sites. By 2009, the total number of identified sites had risen to 223, and archaeological research on the volcano's upper flanks is ongoing. It has been suggested that the shrines, which are arranged around the volcano's summit along what may be an ancient snow line, are markers for the transition to the sacred part of Mauna Kea. Despite many references to burial around Mauna Kea in Hawaiian oral history, few sites have been confirmed. The lack of shrines or other artifacts on the many cinder cones dotting the volcano may be because they were reserved for burial.
=== Ascents ===
In pre-contact times, natives traveling up Mauna Kea were probably guided more by landscape than by existing trails, as no evidence of trails has been found. It is possible that natural ridges and water sources were followed instead. Individuals likely took trips up Mauna Kea's slopes to visit family-maintained shrines near its summit, and traditions related to ascending the mountain exist to this day. However, very few natives reached the summit, because of the strict kapu placed on it.
In the early 19th century, the earliest notable recorded ascents of Mauna Kea included the following:
On August 26, 1823, Joseph F. Goodrich, an American missionary, made the first recorded ascent in a single day; however, a small arrangement of stones he observed suggested he was not the first human on the summit. He recorded four ecosystems as he travelled from base to summit, and also visited Lake Waiau.
On June 17, 1825, an expedition from HMS Blonde, led by botanist James Macrae, reached the summit of Mauna Kea. Macrae was the first person to record the Mauna Kea silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense), saying: "The last mile was destitute of vegetation except one plant of the Sygenisia tribe, in growth much like a Yucca, with sharp pointed silver coloured leaves and green upright spike of three or four feet producing pendulous branches with brown flowers, truly superb, and almost worth the journey of coming here to see it on purpose."
In January 1834, David Douglas climbed the mountain and described extensively the division of plant species by altitude. On an unrelated traverse, from Kamuela to Hilo in July, he was found dead in a pit intended to catch wild cattle. Although murder was suspected, it was probably an accidental fall. The site, Ka lua kauka 19°53′17″N 155°20′17″W, is marked by the Douglas fir trees named for him.
In 1881, Queen Emma traveled to the peak to bathe in the waters of Lake Waiau during competition for the role of ruling chief of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
On August 6, 1889, E.D. Baldwin left Hilo and followed cattle trails to the summit.
In February 2021, Victor Vescovo and Clifford Kapono made the first ascent of Mauna Kea from its subaerial base 16,785 ft below sea level using the submersible Limiting Factor, then ocean kayaks from above the mountain base 27 miles to the shoreline, then bicycles to a camp at about 9000 ft altitude from which they then walked to the 13,802 ft summit (a total gain of 30,587 ft).
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries trails were formed, often by the movement of game herds, that could be traveled on horseback. However, vehicular access to the summit was practically impossible until the construction of a road in 1964, and it continues to be restricted. Today, multiple trails to the summit exist, in various states of use.
== Ecology ==
=== Background ===
Hawaiʻi's geographical isolation strongly influences its ecology. Remote islands like Hawaiʻi have a large number of species that are found nowhere else (see Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands). The remoteness resulted in evolutionary lines distinct from those elsewhere and isolated these endemic species from external biotic influence, and also makes them especially vulnerable to extinction and the effects of invasive species. In addition the ecosystems of Hawaiʻi are under threat from human development including the clearing of land for agriculture; an estimated third of the island's endemic species have already been wiped out. Because of its elevation, Mauna Kea has the greatest diversity of biotic ecosystems anywhere in the Hawaiian archipelago. Ecosystems on the mountain form concentric rings along its slopes due to changes in temperature and precipitation with elevation. These ecosystems can be roughly divided into three sections by elevation: alpine–subalpine, montane, and basal forest.
Contact with Americans and Europeans in the early 19th century brought more settlers to the island, and had a lasting negative ecological effect. On lower slopes, vast tracts of koa–ʻōhiʻa forest were converted to farmland. Higher up, feral animals that escaped from ranches found refuge in, and damaged extensively, Mauna Kea's native māmane–naio forest. Non-native plants are the other serious threat; there are over 4,600 introduced species on the island, whereas the number of native species is estimated at just 1,000.
=== Alpine environment ===
The summit of Mauna Kea lies above the tree line, and consists of mostly lava rock and alpine tundra. An area of heavy snowfall, it is inhospitable to vegetation, and is known as the Hawaiian tropical high shrublands. Growth is restricted here by extremely cold temperatures, a short growing season, low rainfall, and snow during winter months. A lack of soil also retards root growth, makes it difficult to absorb nutrients from the ground, and gives the area a very low water retention capacity.
Plant species found at this elevation include Styphelia tameiameiae, Taraxacum officinale, Tetramolopium humile, Agrostis sandwicensis, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Trisetum glomeratum, Poa annua, Sonchus oleraceus, and Coprosma ernodiodes. One notable species is Mauna Kea silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense var. sandwicense), a highly endangered endemic plant species that thrives in Mauna Kea's high elevation cinder deserts. At one stage reduced to a population of just 50 plants, Mauna Kea silversword was thought to be restricted to the alpine zone, but in fact has been driven there by pressure from livestock, and can grow at lower elevations as well.
The Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve on the southern summit flank of Mauna Kea was established in 1981. The reserve is a region of sparsely vegetated cinder deposits and lava rock, including areas of aeolian desert and Lake Waiau. This ecosystem is a likely haven for the threatened ʻuaʻu (Pterodroma sandwichensis) and also the center of a study on wēkiu bugs (Nysius wekiuicola).
Wēkiu bugs feed on dead insect carcasses that drift up Mauna Kea on the wind and settle on snow banks. This is a highly unusual food source for a species in the genus Nysius, which consists of predominantly seed-eating insects. They can survive at extreme elevations of up to 4,200 m (13,780 ft) because of natural antifreeze in their blood. They also stay under heated surfaces most of the time. Their conservation status is unclear, but the species is no longer a candidate for the Endangered Species List; studies on the welfare of the species began in 1980. The closely related Nysius aa lives on Mauna Loa. Wolf spiders (Lycosidae) and forest tent caterpillar moths have also been observed in the same Mauna Kea ecosystem; the former survive by hiding under heat-absorbing rocks, and the latter through cold-resistant chemicals in their bodies. Several native moths are also present near the summit including Agrotis helela and Agrotis kuamauna.
=== Māmane–naio forest ===
The forested zone on the volcano, at an elevation of 2,000–3,000 m (6,600–9,800 ft), is dominated by māmane (Sophora chrysophylla) and naio (Myoporum sandwicense), both endemic tree species, and is thus known as māmane–naio forest. Māmane seeds and naio fruit are the chief foods of the birds in this zone, especially the palila (Loxioides bailleui). The palila was formerly found on the slopes of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualālai, but is now confined to the slopes of Mauna Kea—only 10% of its former range—and has been declared critically endangered.
The largest threat to the ecosystem is grazing by feral sheep, cattle (Bos primigenius), and goats (Capra hircus) introduced to the island in the late 18th century. Feral animal competition with commercial grazing was severe enough that a program to eradicate them existed as far back as the late 1920s, and continued through to 1949. One of the results of this grazing was the increased prevalence of herbaceous and woody plants, both endemic and introduced, that were resistant to browsing. The feral animals were almost eradicated, and numbered a few hundred in the 1950s. However, an influx of local hunters led to the feral species being valued as game animals, and in 1959 the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, the governing body in charge of conservation and land use management, changed its policy to a sustained-control program designed to facilitate the sport.
Mouflon (Ovis aries orientalis) was introduced from 1962 to 1964, and a plan to release axis deer (Axis axis) in 1964 was prevented only by protests from the ranching industry, who said that they would damage crops and spread disease. The hunting industry fought back, and the back-and-forth between the ranchers and hunters eventually gave way to a rise in public environmental concern. With the development of astronomical facilities on Mauna Kea commencing, conservationists demanded protection of Mauna Kea's ecosystem. A plan was proposed to fence 25% of the forests for protection, and manage the remaining 75% for game hunting. Despite opposition from conservationists the plan was put into action. While the land was partitioned no money was allocated for the building of the fence. In the midst of this wrangling the Endangered Species Act was passed; the National Audubon Society and Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, claiming that they were violating federal law, in the landmark case Palila v. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (1978).
The court ruled in favor of conservationists and upheld the precedence of federal laws before state control of wildlife. Having violated the Endangered Species Act, Hawaiʻi state was required to remove all feral animals from the mountainside. This decision was followed by a second court order in 1981. A public hunting program removed many of the feral animals, at least temporarily. An active control program is in place, though it is not conducted with sufficient rigor to allow significant recovery of the māmane-naio ecosystem. There are many other species and ecosystems on the island, and on Mauna Kea, that remain threatened by human development and invasive species.
The Mauna Kea Forest Reserve protects 52,500 acres (212 km2) of māmane-naio forest under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. Ungulate hunting is allowed year-round. A small part of the māmane–naio forest is encompassed by the Mauna Kea State Recreation Area.
=== Lower environment ===
A band of ranch land on Mauna Kea's lower slopes was formerly Acacia koa – Metrosideros polymorpha (koa-ʻōhiʻa) forest. Its destruction was driven by an influx of European and American settlers in the early 19th century, as extensive logging during the 1830s provided lumber for new homes. Vast swathes of the forest were burned and cleared for sugarcane plantations. Most of the houses on the island were built of koa, and those parts of the forest that survived became a source for firewood to power boilers on the sugarcane plantations and to heat homes. The once vast forest had almost disappeared by 1880, and by 1900, logging interests had shifted to Kona and the island of Maui. With the collapse of the sugar industry in the 1990s, much of this land lies fallow but portions are used for cattle grazing, small-scale farming and the cultivation of eucalyptus for wood pulp.
The Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge is a major koa forest reserve on Mauna Kea's windward slope. It was established in 1985, covering 32,733 acres (13,247 ha) of ecosystem remnant. Eight endangered bird species, twelve endangered plants, and the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) have been observed in the area, in addition to many other rare biota. The reserve has been the site of an extensive replanting campaign since 1989. Parts of the reserve show the effect of agriculture on the native ecosystem, as much of the land in the upper part of the reserve is abandoned farmland.
Bird species native to the acacia koa–ʻōhiʻa forest include the Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis), the ʻakepa (Loxops coccineus), Hawaii creeper (Oreomystis mana), ʻakiapōlāʻau (Hemignathus munroi), and Hawaiian hawk (Buteo solitarius), all of which are endangered, threatened, or near threatened; the Hawaiian crow in particular is extinct in the wild, but there are plans to reintroduce the species into the Hakalau reserve.
== Summit observatories ==
Mauna Kea's summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation due to favorable observing conditions. The arid conditions are important for submillimeter and infrared astronomy for this region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The summit is above the inversion layer, keeping most cloud cover below the summit and ensuring the air on the summit is dry, and free of atmospheric pollution. The summit atmosphere is exceptionally stable, lacking turbulence for some of the world's best astronomical seeing. The very dark skies resulting from Mauna Kea's distance from city lights are preserved by legislation that minimizes light pollution from the surrounding area; the darkness level allows the observation of faint astronomical objects. These factors historically made Mauna Kea an excellent spot for stargazing.
In the early 1960s, the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce encouraged astronomical development of Mauna Kea, as economic stimulus; this coincided with University of Arizona astronomer Gerard Kuiper's search for sites to use newly improved detectors of infrared light. Site testing by Kuiper's assistant Alika Herring in 1964 confirmed the summit's outstanding suitability. An intense three-way competition for NASA funds to construct a large telescope began between Kuiper, Harvard University, and the University of Hawaiʻi (UH), which only had experience in solar astronomy. This culminated in funds being awarded to the "upstart" UH proposal. UH rebuilt its small astronomy department into a new Institute for Astronomy, and in 1968 the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources gave it a 65-year lease for all land within a 4 km (2.5 mi) radius of its telescope, essentially that above 11,500 ft (3,505 m). On its completion in 1970, the UH 88 in (2.2 m) was the seventh largest optical/infrared telescope in the world.
By 1970, two 24 in (0.6 m) telescopes had been constructed by the US Air Force and Lowell Observatory. In 1973, Canada and France agreed to build the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea. However, local organisations started to raise concerns about the environmental impact of the observatory. This led the Department of Land and Natural Resources to prepare an initial management plan, drafted in 1977 and supplemented in 1980. In January 1982, the UH Board of Regents approved a plan to support the continued development of scientific facilities at the site. In 1998, 2,033 acres (823 ha) were transferred from the observatory lease to supplement the Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve. The 1982 plan was replaced in 2000 by an extension designed to serve until 2020: it instituted an Office of Mauna Kea Management, designated 525 acres (212 ha) for astronomy, and shifted the remaining 10,763 acres (4,356 ha) to "natural and cultural preservation". This plan was further revised to address concern expressed in the Hawaiian community that a lack of respect was being shown toward the cultural values of the mountain.
Today the Mauna Kea Science Reserve has 13 observation facilities, each funded by as many as 11 countries. There are nine telescopes working in the visible and infrared spectrum, three in the submillimeter spectrum, and one in the radio spectrum, with mirrors or dishes ranging from 0.9 to 25 m (3 to 82 ft). In comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope has a 2.4 m (7.9 ft) mirror, similar in size to the UH88, now the second smallest telescope on the mountain.
A "Save Mauna Kea" movement believes development of the mountain to be sacrilegious. Native Hawaiian non-profit groups such as Kahea, concerned with cultural heritage and the environment, also oppose development for cultural and religious reasons. The multi-telescope "outrigger" proposed in 2006 was eventually canceled. A planned new telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), has attracted controversy including the Thirty Meter Telescope protests. The TMT was approved in April 2013. In October 2014, the groundbreaking ceremony for the telescope was interrupted by protesters causing the project to temporarily halt. In late March 2015, demonstrators blocked access of the road to the summit again. On April 2, 2015, 300 protestors were gathered near the visitor center when 12 people were arrested with 11 more arrested at the summit. Among the concerns of the protest groups are the land appraisals and Native Hawaiians consultation. Construction was halted on April 7, 2015, after protests expanded over the state. After several halts, the project has been voluntarily postponed. Governor Ige announced substantial changes to the management of Mauna Kea in the future but stated the project can move forward. The Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi approved the resumption of construction on October 31, 2018. Protestors have posted online petitions as a reaction against the Thirty Meter Telescope. The online petition titled "The Immediate Halt to the Construction of the TMT Telescope" was posted to Change.org on July 14, 2019. The online petition has currently gathered over 278,057 signatures worldwide. Some protesters have also called for the impeachment of Hawaiian Governor David Ige because of his support for the Thirty Meter Telescope. On July 18, 2019, an online petition titled "Impeach Governor David Ige" had been posted to Change.org and has currently gathered over 62,562 signatures.
As of late 2021, construction plans are currently on hold due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a shift in funding for the project that may see federal funds made available through the National Science Foundation. The controversy surrounding construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope continues. Independent polls commissioned by local media organizations show consistent support for the project in the islands with over two thirds of local residents supporting the project. These same polls indicate Native Hawaiian community support remains split with about half of Hawaiian respondents supporting construction of the new telescope.
A July 2022 state law responds to the protests by shifting control over the master land lease from the University of Hawaiʻi to the new Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority (MKSOA). The MKSOA is a 12-member board (11 voting members and 1 non-voting member) which includes representatives from the university, astronomers and native Hawaiians and it was created with the aim of finding a balance between the conflicting interests of astronomers and native Hawaiians. It is placed within the Hawaii department of land and natural resources and will be the principal authority for the management of state-managed lands within the Mauna Kea lands after a 5-year transition period from the university starting on July 1, 2023. During the transition period, the MKSOA and the university will jointly manage the land while the authority develops a management plan to govern land uses, human activities, and overall operations. Once the transition period is up in 2028, the authority's responsibilities will include issuing new land use permits which will be important as the current master lease ends in 2033, and any observatories which don't come up with new leases by the time of its expiration will be decommissioned.
== Climate ==
Mauna Kea has an alpine climate (ET). Due to the influence of its tropical latitude, temperature swings are very low. Frosts are common year round, but the average monthly temperature remains above freezing throughout the year.
Snow may fall at an altitude of 11,000 ft (3,353 m) and above in any month, but occurs most often from October to April.
A weather station was operated from 1972 to 1982; however, only 33 months within this period have temperature records. Many years only have data for two months. The temperatures presented below are smoothed averages, not the raw numbers recorded by NOAA.
== Recreation ==
Mauna Kea's coastline is dominated by the Hamakua Coast, an area of rugged terrain created by frequent slumps and landslides on the volcano's flank. The area includes several recreation parks including Kalopa State Recreation Area, Wailuku River State Park and Akaka Falls State Park.
There are over 3,000 registered hunters on Hawaii island, and hunting, for both recreation and sustenance, is a common activity on Mauna Kea. A public hunting program is used to control the numbers of introduced animals including pigs, sheep, goats, turkey, pheasants, and quail. The Mauna Kea State Recreation Area functions as a base camp for the sport. Birdwatching is also common at lower levels on the mountain. A popular site is Kīpuka Puʻu Huluhulu, a kīpuka on Mauna Kea's flank that formed when lava flows isolated the forest on a hill.
Mauna Kea's great height and the steepness of its flanks provide a better view and a shorter hike than the adjacent Mauna Loa. The height with its risk of altitude sickness, weather concerns, steep road grade, and overall inaccessibility make the volcano dangerous and summit trips difficult. Until the construction of roads in the mid-20th century, only the hardy visited Mauna Kea's upper slopes; hunters tracked game animals, and hikers traveled up the mountain. These travelers used stone cabins constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s as base camps, and it is from these facilities that the modern mid-level Onizuka Center for International Astronomy telescope support complex is derived. The first Mauna Kea summit road was built in 1964, making the peak accessible to more people.
Today, multiple hiking trails exist, including the Mauna Kea Trail, and by 2007 over 100,000 tourists and 32,000 vehicles were going each year to the Visitor Information Station (VIS) adjacent to the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy. The Mauna Kea Access Road is paved up to the Center at 2,804 m (9,199 ft). One study reported that around a third of visitors and two-thirds of professional astronomers working on the mountain have experienced symptoms of acute altitude sickness. Visitors to the mountain should prepare ahead of time by acclimating at a lower elevation or using a prescription medicine like Diamox. It is strongly recommended to use a four-wheel drive vehicle to drive all the way to the top. Brakes often overheat on the way down and there is no fuel available on Mauna Kea. A free Star Gazing Program was previously held at the VIS every night from 6-10 pm, with the program canceled due to both a change in operating hours and closure due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Between 5,000 and 6,000 people visit the summit of Mauna Kea each year, and to help ensure safety, and protect the integrity of the mountain, a ranger program was implemented in 2001. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague#:~:text=Prague%20is%20located%20approximately%20at,N%2014%C2%B025%E2%80%B2E. | Prague#:~:text=Prague is located approximately at,N 14°25′E. | Prague ( PRAHG; Czech: Praha [ˈpraɦa] ) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Located on the Vltava River, the city has a population of about 1.4 million, making it the twelfth-largest city in the European Union. Its metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.3 million people.
Prague is a historical city with Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378) and Rudolf II (r. 1575–1611). It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austria-Hungary. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and Protestant Reformations, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era.
Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions including Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Petřín hill, and Vyšehrad. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city. It is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University, the oldest university in Central Europe.
Prague is classified as a "Beta+" global city according to GaWC studies. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and as of 2017, the city receives more than 8.5 million international visitors annually. In 2017, Prague was listed as the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, and Istanbul.
== Etymology and names ==
According to a popular legend, which first appeared in Chronica Boemorum (1119–1125) of Cosmas of Prague, the Czech name Praha is derived from the Czech word práh (meaning 'threshold'). In the 18th century, Josef Dobrovský's theory was accepted, according to which the name is derived from the old Slavic word práh. This word means 'ford' or 'rapid', referring to the city's origin at a crossing point of the Vltava river and to the rapids of the Vltava. Since the 19th century, the accepted theory has been that the name is derived from the old Czech verb pražiti ('to burn') and from vypražený les ('burned forest'), referring to a forest that was burned down so a settlement could be established there. In the mid-20th century, linguist Antonín Profous corrected the theory by saying that the name is indeed derived from pražiti, but this word also means 'to roast' (when speaking about the sun), and the name denoted a hot, arid place (related to the shale bedrock where the Prague Castle was founded).
Prague is nicknamed the "City of a Hundred Spires," based on a count by 19th-century mathematician Bernard Bolzano; today's count is estimated by the Prague Information Service at 500. Other nicknames for Prague also include the Golden City, the Mother of Cities and the Heart of Europe.
The local Jewish community, which belongs to one of the oldest continuously existing in the world, has described the city as עיר ואם בישראל Ir va-em be-yisrael, "The city and mother in Israel".
== History ==
Prague has grown from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehrad in the south, to become the capital of a modern European country. With archaeological deposits over 10m deep, the city serves as a model for the implementation of comprehensive regulations for the protection of archaeological heritage throughout the Czech Republic.
=== Early history ===
The region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c. 1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya.
Around the fifth and fourth century BC, a Celtic tribe appeared in the area, later establishing settlements, including the largest Celtic oppidum in Bohemia, Závist, in a present-day south suburb Zbraslav in Prague, and naming the region of Bohemia, which means "home of the Boii people". In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes (Marcomanni, Quadi, Lombards and possibly the Suebi), leading some to place the seat of the Marcomanni king, Maroboduus, in Závist. Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map drawn by Roman geographer Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis.
In the late 5th century AD, during the great Migration Period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes living in Bohemia moved westwards and, probably in the 6th century, the Slavic tribes settled the Central Bohemian Region. In the following three centuries, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in the Šárka valley, Butovice, and Levý Hradec.
The construction of what came to be known as Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, expanding a fortified settlement that had existed on the site since the year 800. The first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, some 70 years later than Prague Castle. Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which began construction in 1344, but was not completed until the 20th century.
The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th-century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the Přemyslid dynasty. Legend says that Libuše, prophesied from her castle at Vyšehrad, came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied: "I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars". She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site.
The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia. Under Duke of Bohemia Boleslaus II the Pious the area became a bishopric in 973. Until Prague was elevated to archbishopric in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz.
Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from across Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Hispano-Jewish merchant and traveler Abraham ben Jacob. The Old New Synagogue of 1270 still stands in the city. Prague was also once home to a slave market.
At the site of the ford in the Vltava river, King Vladislaus I had the first bridge built in 1170, the Judith Bridge (Juditin most), named in honor of his wife Judith of Thuringia. This bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1342, but some of the original foundation stones of that bridge remain in the river. It was rebuilt and named the Charles Bridge.
In 1257, under King Ottokar II, Malá Strana ("Lesser Quarter") was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the Hradčany (Prague Castle) area. This was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg rights. The new district was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město ("Old Town"), which had borough status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications.
=== Late Middle Ages ===
Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign (1346–1378) of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new Luxembourg dynasty. As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital. In the 1470s, Prague had around 70,000 inhabitants and with an area of 360 ha (~1.4 square miles) it was the third-largest city in the Holy Roman Empire.
Charles IV ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just before his reign, was erected to connect the east bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. In 1347, he founded Charles University, the oldest university in Central Europe.
His father John of Bohemia began construction of the Gothic Saint Vitus Cathedral, within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, the year the cathedral was begun.
The city had a mint and was a center of trade for German and Italian bankers and merchants. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to the rising power of the craft guilds (themselves often torn by internal conflicts), and the increasing number of poor.
The Hunger Wall, a substantial fortification wall south of Malá Strana and the castle area, was built during a famine in the 1360s. The work is reputed to have been ordered by Charles IV as a means of providing employment and food to the workers and their families.
Charles IV died in 1378. During the reign of his son, King Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. During Easter 1389, members of the Prague clergy announced that Jews had desecrated the host (Eucharistic wafer), and the clergy encouraged mobs to pillage, ransack, and burn the Jewish quarter. Nearly the entire Jewish population of Prague (ca 750 people) was murdered.
Jan Hus, a theologian and rector at Charles University, preached in Prague. In 1402, he began giving sermons in the Bethlehem Chapel. Inspired by John Wycliffe, these sermons focused on what were seen as radical reforms of a corrupt Church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance, put on trial for heresy, and burned at the stake in Konstanz in 1415.
Four years later, Prague experienced its first defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský. Hus' death, coupled with Czech proto-nationalism and proto-Protestantism, had spurred the Hussite Wars. Peasant rebels, led by the general Jan Žižka, along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated Emperor Sigismund in the Battle of Vítkov Hill in 1420.
During the Hussite Wars, when Prague was attacked by "Crusader" and mercenary forces, the city militia fought bravely under the Prague Banner. This swallow-tailed banner is approximately 4 by 6 ft (1.2 by 1.8 m), with a red field sprinkled with small white fleurs-de-lis, and a silver old Town Coat-of-Arms in the center. The words "PÁN BŮH POMOC NAŠE" (The Lord is our Relief/Help) appeared above the coat-of-arms, with a Hussite chalice centered on the top. Near the swallow-tails is a crescent-shaped golden sun with rays protruding.
One of these banners was captured by Swedish troops during the Battle of Prague (1648) when they captured the western bank of the Vltava river and were repulsed from the eastern bank; it was placed in the Royal Military Museum in Stockholm. Although this flag still exists, it is in very poor condition. They also took the Codex Gigas and the Codex Argenteus. The earliest evidence indicates that a gonfalon with a municipal charge painted on it was used for the Old Town as early as 1419. Since this city militia flag was in use before 1477 and during the Hussite Wars, it is the oldest still preserved municipal flag of Bohemia.
In the following two centuries, Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings were erected and Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle was added.
=== Habsburg era ===
In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg. The fervent Catholicism of its members brought them into conflict in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were gaining popularity. These problems were not preeminent under Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. He lived in Prague Castle, where his court welcomed not only astrologers and magicians but also scientists, musicians, and artists. Rudolf was an art lover as well, and Prague became a capital of European culture. This was a prosperous period for the city: famous people living there in that age include the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, the painter Arcimboldo, the alchemists Edward Kelley and John Dee, the poet Elizabeth Jane Weston, and others.
In 1618, the famous second defenestration of Prague provoked the Thirty Years' War, a particularly harsh period for Prague and Bohemia. Ferdinand II of Habsburg was deposed, and his place as King of Bohemia taken by Frederick V, Elector Palatine; however, his army was crushed in the Battle of White Mountain (1620) not far from the city. Following this, in 1621, was the execution of 27 Czech Protestant leaders (involved in the uprising) in Old Town Square and the exile of many others. Prague was forcibly converted back to Roman Catholicism, followed by the rest of the Czech lands. The city suffered subsequently during the war under an attack by Electorate of Saxony (1631) and during the Battle of Prague (1648). Prague began a steady decline, which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000. In the second half of the 17th century, Prague's population began to grow again. Jews had been in Prague since the end of the 10th century and, by 1708, they accounted for about a quarter of Prague's population.
In 1689, a great fire devastated Prague, which spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1713–14, a major outbreak of plague hit Prague one last time, killing 12,000 to 13,000 people.
In 1744, during the Austrian War of Succession, Frederick the Great of Prussia invaded Bohemia. He took Prague after a severe and prolonged siege in the course of which a large part of the town was destroyed. Empress Maria Theresa expelled the Jews from Prague in 1745; though she rescinded the expulsion in 1748, the proportion of Jewish residents in the city never recovered. In 1757, during the Seven Years' War, Prussian bombardment destroyed more than one-quarter of the city and heavily damaged St. Vitus Cathedral. However, a month later, Frederick the Great was defeated and forced to retreat from Bohemia.
The economy of Prague continued to improve during the 18th century. The population increased to 80,000 inhabitants by 1771. Many rich merchants and nobles enhanced the city with a host of palaces, churches, and gardens full of art and music, creating the Baroque city features.
In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město, and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution produced great changes and developments in Prague, as new factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby regions. The first suburb, Karlín, was created in 1817, and twenty years later the population exceeded 100,000.
The revolutions in Europe in 1848 also touched Prague, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years, the Czech National Revival began its rise, until it gained the majority in the town council in 1861. Prague had a large number of German speakers in 1848, but by 1880 the number of German speakers had decreased to 14% (42,000), and by 1910 to 6.7% (37,000), due to a massive increase in the city's overall population caused by the influx of Czechs from the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and the increasing prestige and importance of the Czech language as part of the Czech National Revival. In 1891, the city council ordered that all German inscriptions be removed in Prague, while Czechs at the same time demanded equal status for the Czech and German languages in Bohemia and Moravia.
=== 20th century ===
==== First Czechoslovak Republic ====
World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of the president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. At this time, Prague was a true European capital with a highly developed industry. By 1930, the population had risen to 850,000.
==== Second World War ====
Hitler ordered the German Army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. For most of its history, Prague had been a multi-ethnic city with important Czech, German and (mostly native German-speaking) Jewish populations. From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, Hitler took over Prague Castle. During the Second World War, most Jews were deported and killed by the Germans. In 1942, Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany—Reinhard Heydrich—during Operation Anthropoid, accomplished by Czechoslovak national heroes Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. Hitler ordered bloody reprisals.
In February 1945, Prague suffered several bombing raids by the US Army Air Forces. 701 people were killed, more than 1,000 people were injured and some buildings, factories and historic landmarks (Emmaus Monastery, Faust House, Vinohrady Synagogue) were destroyed. Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the destruction of many other cities in that time. According to American pilots, it was the result of a navigational mistake. In March, a deliberate raid targeted military factories in Prague, killing about 370 people.
On 5 May 1945, two days before Germany capitulated, an uprising against Germany occurred. Several thousand Czechs were killed in four days of bloody street fighting, with many atrocities committed by both sides. Fought concurrently with the Prague uprising, the Prague offensive significantly helped the liberation of Czechoslovakia. At daybreak on 9 May, the 3rd Shock Army of the Red Army took the capital city almost unopposed. The majority (about 50,000 people) of the German population of Prague either fled or were expelled by the Beneš decrees in the aftermath of the war.
==== Cold War ====
Prague was a city in a country under the military, economic, and political control of the Soviet Union (see Iron Curtain and COMECON). The world's largest Stalin Monument was unveiled on Letná hill in 1955 and destroyed in 1962. The 4th Czechoslovak Writers' Congress, held in the city in June 1967, took a strong position against the regime. On 31 October 1967 students demonstrated at Strahov. This spurred the new secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, Alexander Dubček, to proclaim a new deal in his city's and country's life, starting the short-lived season of the "socialism with a human face". It was the Prague Spring, which aimed at the renovation of political institutions in a democratic way. The other Warsaw Pact member countries, except Romania and Albania, were led by the Soviet Union to repress these reforms through the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the capital, Prague, on 21 August 1968. The invasion, chiefly by infantry and tanks, effectively suppressed any further attempts at reform. The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Red Army would end only in 1991. Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc committed suicide by self-immolation in January and February 1969 to protest against the "normalization" of the country.
=== After the Velvet Revolution ===
In 1989, after riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague, and the capital of Czechoslovakia benefited greatly from the new mood. In 1992, the Historic Centre of Prague and its monuments were inscribed as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1993, after the Velvet Divorce, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. Since the 1990s, high-rise buildings have been built in Prague in large quantities. In the late 1990s, Prague again became an important cultural center of Europe and was notably influenced by globalisation. In 2000, the IMF and World Bank summits took place in Prague and anti-globalization riots took place here. In 2002, Prague suffered from widespread floods that damaged buildings and its underground transport system.
In 2012, Prague's main airport, Prague Ruzyně International Airport was renamed Václav Havel Airport, in honour of the Czech Republic's former first president Václav Havel, who died previously in late 2011.
Prague launched a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but failed to make the candidate city shortlist. In June 2009, as the result of financial pressures from the global recession, Prague's officials chose to cancel the city's planned bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
On 21 December 2023, a mass shooting took place at Charles University in central Prague. Fifteen people were killed and 25 were injured. It was the deadliest mass murder in the history of the Czech Republic.
== Geography ==
Prague is situated on the Vltava River. The Berounka flows into the Vltava in the suburbs of Lahovice. There are 99 watercourses in Prague with a total length of 360 km (220 mi). The longest streams are Rokytka and Botič.
There are 4 reservoirs, 47 fishponds, 33 retention reservoirs, and dry polders in the city. The largest pond is Velký Počernický rybník with 41.76 ha (103.2 acres). The largest body of water is Hostivař Reservoir with 42 hectares (103.8 acres).
In terms of geomorphological division, most of Prague is located in the Prague Plateau. In the south, the city's territory extends into the Hořovice Uplands, in the north it extends into the Central Elbe Table lowland. The highest point is the top of the hill Teleček on the western border of Prague, at 399 m (1,309 ft) above sea level. Notable hills in the centre of Prague are Petřín with 327 m (1,073 ft) and Vítkov with 270 m (890 ft). The lowest point is the Vltava in Suchdol at the place where it leaves the city, at 172 m (564 ft).
Prague is located approximately at 50°5′N 14°25′E. Prague is approximately at the same latitude as Frankfurt, Germany; Paris, France; and Vancouver, Canada. The northernmost point is at 50°10′39″N 14°31′37″E, the southernmost point is at 49°56′31″N 14°23′44″E, the westernmost point is at 50°6′14″N 14°13′31″E, and the easternmost point is at 50°5′14″N 14°42′23″E. Farthest geographical points of the city territory are marked physically by so-called Prague Poles.
=== Climate ===
Prague has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk) bordering on a humid continental climate (Dfb), defined as such by the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm. The winters are relatively cold with average temperatures at about freezing point (0 °C), and with very little sunshine. Snow cover can be common between mid-November and late March, although snow accumulations of more than 200 mm (8 in) are infrequent. There are also a few periods of mild temperatures in winter. Summers usually bring plenty of sunshine and temperatures around 25 °C (77 °F), but there has been a considerable increase in days with over 30 °C (86 °F) in later years. Nights can be quite cool even in summer, though. Precipitation in Prague is low by Czech standards (about 500 mm per year) since it is located in the rain shadow of the Sudetes and other mountain ranges. The driest season is usually winter, while late spring and summer can bring quite heavy rain, especially in the form of thundershowers. The number of hours of average sunshine has increased over time. Temperature inversions are relatively common between mid-October and mid-March, bringing foggy, cold days and sometimes moderate air pollution. Prague is also a windy city with common sustained western winds and an average wind speed of 16 km/h (10 mph) that often helps break temperature inversions and clear the air in cold months.
== Administration and politics ==
=== Administrative division ===
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and, as such, is the regular seat of its central authorities. Since 24 November 1990, it is de facto again a statutory city, but has a specific status of the municipality and the region at the same time. Prague also houses the administrative institutions of the Central Bohemian Region.
Until 1949, all administrative districts of Prague were formed by the whole one or more cadastral units, municipalities, or towns. Since 1949, there has been a fundamental change in the administrative division. Since then, the boundaries of many urban districts, administrative districts, and city districts are independent of the boundaries of cadastral territories, and some cadastral territories are thus divided into administrative and self-governing parts of the city. Cadastral area (for example, Vinohrady and Smíchov) are still relevant, especially for the registration of land and real estate and house numbering.
Prague is divided into 10 municipal districts (1–10), 22 administrative districts (1–22), 57 municipal parts, and 112 cadastral areas.
=== City government ===
Prague is administered by the autonomous Prague City Assembly, which consists of 65 members and is elected through municipal elections. As of Dec. 20, 18 members of the council were from the centre-right Together Prague group, which governs the city in conjunction with 12 members of the Pirates (centre to centre-left) and 5 members of the Mayors and Independents group (centre to centre-right). Thus, the governing coalition has a comfortable majority in the assembly with 35 of 65 seats. Opposition parties include ANO 2011 (right-wing populist) with 14 members, Prague Together (centre) with 11 votes, Freedom and Direct Democracy (right-wing to far-right) with 3 members, and 2 unaffiliated Independents.
The executive body of Prague, elected by the Assembly, is Prague City Council. The municipal office of Prague is at Prague City Hall and has 11 members, including the mayor. It prepares proposals for the Assembly meetings and ensures that adopted resolutions are fulfilled. The Mayor of Prague is Civic Democratic Party member Bohuslav Svoboda.
=== National politics ===
==== 2025 ====
==== 2021 ====
== Demographics ==
=== 2011 census ===
Even though the official population of Prague hovers around 1.3 million as of the 2011 census, the city's real population is much higher due to only 65% of its residents having registered in the city. Data taken from mobile phone movements around the city suggest that the real population of Prague is closer to 1.9 or 2.0 million, with an additional 300,000 to 400,000 commuters coming to the city on weekdays for work, education, or commerce.
About 14% of the city's residents were born outside the Czech Republic, the highest ratio anywhere in the country. However, 64.8% of the city's population self-identified as ethnically Czech, which is slightly higher than the national average of 63.7%. Almost 29% of respondents declined to answer the question on ethnicity at all, so it may be assumed that the real percentage of ethnic Czechs in Prague is considerably higher. The largest ethnic minority are Slovaks, followed by Ukrainians and Russians.
Prague's population is the oldest and best-educated in the country. It has the lowest proportion of children. Only 10.8% of census respondents claimed adherence to a religion; the majority of these were Roman Catholics.
=== Historical population ===
Development of the Prague population since 1378 (since 1869 according to the censuses within the limits of present-day Prague):
=== Foreign residents ===
As of 31 March 2025, there were 351,734 foreign residents in Prague, of whom 132,170 had permanent residence in Prague. The following nationalities are the most numerous:
== Culture ==
The city is traditionally one of the cultural centres of Europe, hosting many cultural events. Some of the significant cultural institutions include the National Theatre (Národní Divadlo) and the Estates Theatre (Stavovské or Tylovo or Nosticovo divadlo), where the premières of Mozart's Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito were held. Other major cultural institutions are the Rudolfinum, which is home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Municipal House, which is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The Prague State Opera (Státní opera) performs at the Smetana Theatre.
The city has many world-class museums, including the National Museum (Národní muzeum), the Museum of Prague (Muzeum Prahy), the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Alfons Mucha Museum, the Prague Postal Museum, the African-Prague Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Náprstek Museum (Náprstkovo muzeum), the Josef Sudek Gallery and The Josef Sudek Studio, the National Library, the National Gallery, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and the Kunsthalle Praha, the newest museum in the city.
There are hundreds of concert halls, galleries, cinemas, and music clubs in the city. It hosts music festivals including the Prague Spring International Music Festival, the Prague Autumn International Music Festival, the Prague International Organ Festival, the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, and the Prague International Jazz Festival. Film festivals include Bohemia Film Awards, the Febiofest, the One World Film Festival, and Echoes of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The city also hosts the Prague Writers' Festival, the Prague Folklore Days, Prague Advent Choral Meeting the Summer Shakespeare Festival, the Prague Fringe Festival, the World Roma Festival, as well as the hundreds of Vernissages and fashion shows.
With the growth of low-cost airlines in Europe, Prague has become a weekend city destination, allowing tourists to visit its museums and cultural sites as well as try its Czech beers and cuisine.
The city has many buildings by renowned architects, including Adolf Loos (Villa Müller), Frank O. Gehry (Dancing House) and Jean Nouvel (Golden Angel).
Recent major events held in Prague:
=== In popular culture ===
The early 1912 silent drama film Pro peníze was filmed mostly in Prague. Many films have been made afterwards at Barrandov Studios and at Prague Studios. Hollywood films produced in Prague include Mission Impossible, Dungeons and Dragons, xXx, Blade II, Children of Dune, Alien vs. Predator, Doom, Chronicles of Narnia, Hellboy, EuroTrip, Van Helsing, Red Tails, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Many Indian films have also been filmed in the city including Yuvvraaj, Drona, Rockstar, Jab Harry Met Sejal, Bang Bang, and Duplicate.
Among the most famous foreign music videos filmed in Prague are: Never Tear Us Apart by INXS, Some Things by Lasgo, Silver and Cold by AFI, Diamonds from Sierra Leone by Kanye West, Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna and Numb by Linkin Park.
Video games set in Prague include Osman, Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Still Life, Metal Gear Solid 4, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Forza Motorsport 5, 6 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Historical fiction novels set in Prague include The Discovery of Witches, Shadows of Night by Deborah Harkness and Dan Brown's The Secret of Secrets.
Due to its large pornography industry, Prague has been nicknamed the "Porn Capital of Europe", a nickname also given to Budapest.
=== Cuisine ===
In 2008, the Allegro restaurant received the first Michelin star in the whole of the post-Communist part of Central Europe. It retained its star until 2011. As of 2018, there were just two Michelin-starred restaurants in Prague: La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise and Field. Another six have been awarded Michelin's Bib Gourmand: Bistrøt 104, Divinis, Eska, Maso a Kobliha, Na Kopci, and Sansho.
Czech beer has a long history, with brewing taking place in Břevnov Monastery in 993. In Old Town, Žižkov and Vinohrady there are hundreds of restaurants, bars and pubs, especially with Czech beer. Prague also hosts several microbrewery festivals throughout the year. The city is home to historical breweries Staropramen (Praha 5), U Fleků, U Medvídků, U Tří růží, Strahov Monastery Brewery (Praha 1) and Břevnov Monastery Brewery (Praha 6). Among many microbreweries are: Novoměstský, Pražský most u Valšů, Národní, Boršov, Loď pivovar, U Dobřenských, U Dvou koček, U Supa (Praha 1), Pivovarský dům (Praha 2), Sousedský pivovar Bašta (Praha 4), Suchdolský Jeník, Libocký pivovar (Praha 6), Marina (Praha 7), U Bulovky (Praha 8), Beznoska, Kolčavka (Praha 9), Vinohradský pivovar, Zubatý pes, Malešický mikropivovar (Praha 10), Jihoměstský pivovar (Praha 11), Lužiny (Praha 13), Počernický pivovar (Praha 14) and Hostivar (Praha 15).
Prague ham and Prague cake are dishes typical for Prague. Trdelník, also called "chimney cakes", is a popular dessert in Prague, although it is not a traditional Czech food.
==== Social media ====
In an October 2024 article, Prague was ranked 7th on "Europe's 10 most beautiful cities to visit in autumn". The ranking was done by Travelbag and based on analysing Google search and Instagram hashtags.
== Economy ==
Prague's economy accounts for 25% of the Czech GDP, making it the highest performing regional economy of the country. As of 2021, its GDP per capita in purchasing power standard is €58,216, making it the third best performing region in the EU at 203 per cent of the EU-27 average in 2021.
Prague employs almost a fifth of the entire Czech workforce, and its wages are significantly above average (≈+20%). In 4Q/2020, during the pandemic, average salaries available in Prague reached CZK 45.944 (≈€1,800) per month, an annual increase of 4%, which was nevertheless lower than the national increase of 6.5% both in nominal and real terms. (Inflation in the Czech Republic was 3.2% in 4Q/2020.) Since 1990, the city's economic structure has shifted from industrial to service-oriented. Industry is present in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, printing, food processing, the manufacture of transport equipment, computer technology, and electrical engineering. In the service sector, financial and commercial services, trade, restaurants, hospitality, and public administration are the most significant. Services account for around 80 per cent of employment. There are 800,000 employees in Prague, including 120,000 commuters. The number of (legally registered) foreign residents in Prague has been increasing despite the country's economic downturn. As of March 2010, 148,035 foreign workers were reported to be living in the city, making up about 18 per cent of the workforce, up from 131,132 in 2008. Approximately one-fifth of all investment in the Czech Republic takes place in the city.
Almost one-half of the national income from tourism is spent in Prague. The city offers approximately 73,000 beds in accommodation facilities, most of which were built after 1990, including almost 51,000 beds in hotels and boarding houses.
From the late 1990s to the late 2000s, the city was a common filming location for international productions such as Hollywood and Bollywood motion pictures. A combination of architecture, low costs, and the existing motion picture infrastructure has proven attractive to international film production companies.
The modern economy of Prague is largely service and export-based, and, in a 2010 survey, the city was named the best city in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for business.
In 2005, Prague was deemed among the three best cities in Central and Eastern Europe according to The Economist's livability rankings. The city was named as a top-tier nexus city for innovation across multiple sectors of the global innovation economy, placing 29th globally out of 289 cities, ahead of Brussels and Helsinki for innovation in 2010.
Na příkopě is the most expensive street among all the states of the V4. In 2017, with the amount of rent €2,640 (CZK 67,480) per square meter per year, ranked on 22nd place among the most expensive streets in the world. The second most expensive is Pařížská street.
In the Eurostat research, Prague ranked fifth among Europe's 271 regions in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant, achieving 172 per cent of the EU average. It ranked just above Paris and well above the country as a whole, which achieved 80 per cent of the EU average.
Companies with highest turnover in the region in 2014:
Prague is also the site of some of the most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic:
President of the Czech Republic
The Government and both houses of Parliament
Ministries and other national offices (Industrial Property Office, Czech Statistical Office, National Security Authority, etc.)
Czech National Bank
Czech Television and other major broadcasters
Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty
Galileo global navigation project
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
== Tourism ==
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Romanesque, to Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Gothic, Art Nouveau, Cubist, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern.
Prague is classified as a "Beta+" global city according to GaWC studies, comparable to Vienna, Manila and Washington, D.C. Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city receives more than 8.4 million international visitors annually, as of 2017. Furthermore, the city was ranked 7th in the world ICCA Destination Performance Index, measuring performance of conference tourism in 2021. As of December 2024 the city is ranked 3rd among the best places to visit during Christmas.
An iconic part of the city that made a comeback in 2025 is Prague's Matějská pouť (St. Matthew's fun fair) Cyclone roller coaster. Originally constructed in 1963 it was an attraction at the Výstaviště fairgrounds. In 2018, it was removed due to urban revitalization plans. The Štaubert family, custodians of the ride, undertook an extensive restoration, dismantling and refurbishing the structure in Chotouchov near Kolín. The renovated Cyclone restarted for the 2025 Matějská pouť.
Prague is also home to Klementinum, the oldest meteorological station in the Czech Republic with a continuous series of daily temperature measurements since 1775, although occasional measurements began another 20 years earlier. Klementinum is most likely the second-oldest meteorological station in Europe at which temperatures have been measured continuously to this day.
=== Main attractions ===
==== Hradčany and Lesser Town (Malá Strana) ====
==== Old Town (Staré Město) and Josefov ====
==== New Town (Nové Město) ====
==== Vinohrady and Žižkov ====
==== Other places ====
=== Tourism statistics ===
Prague is by far the most visited Czech city. In 2023, Prague was visited by 7,442,614 guests who stayed overnight, of which 78.8% were from abroad. The average number of overnight stays of non-residents was 2.3. Most non-residents arriving to Prague and staying overnight were from the following countries:
In 2023, the most visited tourist destinations of Prague were:
== Education ==
Nine public universities and thirty-six private universities are located in the city, including:
=== Public universities ===
=== Public arts academies ===
=== Private universities ===
Jan Amos Komenský University (UJAK), founded in 2001
Metropolitan University Prague (MUP), founded in 2001
The University of Finance and Administration (VSFS) founded in 1999
=== Largest private colleges ===
=== International institutions ===
== Science, research and hi-tech centres ==
The Prague metropolitan area is an important centre of research. It is the seat of 39 out of 54 institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, including the largest ones, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Microbiology, and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. It is also a seat of 10 public research institutes, four business incubators and large hospitals performing research and development activities such as the Motol University Hospital or Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, which was the largest transplant center in Europe as of 2019. Universities seated in Prague (see section Colleges and Universities) also represent important centres of science and research activities.
As of 2008, there were 13,000 researchers (out of 30,000 in the country, counted in full-time equivalents), representing a 3% share of Prague's economically active population. Gross expenditure on research and development accounted for €901.3 million (41.5% of the country's total).
Some well-known multinational companies have established research and development facilities in Prague, among them Siemens, Honeywell, Oracle, Microsoft, and Broadcom.
Prague was selected to host the administration of the EU satellite navigation system Galileo. It started to provide its first services in December 2016, and full completion is expected by 2020.
== Transport ==
The public transport infrastructure consists of the heavily used Prague Integrated Transport (PID, Pražská integrovaná doprava) system, with the Prague Metro (lines A, B, and C) at the network's core. The metro's total length is 65 km (40 mi) with 61 stations in total.
Part of the PID are also the Prague tram system, Prague bus service, commuter trains, funiculars, and seven ferries. Prague has one of the highest rates of public transport usage in the world, with 1.2 billion passenger journeys per year.
Inner and outer ring roads carry the main flow of traffic leads through the centre of the city, and around its perimeter. The Inner Ring Road (The City Ring "MO") surrounds central Prague. It is the longest city tunnel in Europe with a length of 5.5 km (3.4 mi), and five interchanges have been completed to relieve congestion in the north-western part of Prague.
The Outer Ring Road which, when finished, will connect all major motorways that meet each other in the Prague region and provide faster transit without the necessity to drive through the city. So far 39 km (24 mi), out of a total planned 83 km (52 mi), is in operation. As of 2021, the next 12 km (7 mi) section between Modletice and Běchovice is planned to be completed in 2025.
The city forms the hub of the Czech railway system, with services to all parts of the country and abroad. The railway system links Prague with major European cities. Travel times range between 2 hours to Dresden and 13 hours to Zürich.
Prague's main international railway station is Hlavní nádraží; rail services are also available from other main stations: Masarykovo nádraží, Holešovice and Smíchov, in addition to suburban stations. Commuter rail services operate under the name Esko Praha, which is part of PID (Prague Integrated Transport).
Prague is served by one international airport; the largest airport in the Czech Republic and one of the largest and busiest airports in Central and Eastern Europe. Other airports in Prague include the city's original airport in the north-eastern district of Kbely, which is serviced by the Czech Air Force, which also houses the Prague Aviation Museum. The nearby Letňany Airport is mainly used for private aviation and aeroclub aviation.
A small percentage of people commute by bike in Prague, depending on the season. Cycling is very common as a sport or recreation. Bikesharing is partially connected to the public transportation network and subsidised by the city.
== Sport ==
Prague is the site of many sports events, national stadiums, and teams.
=== Teams ===
Sparta Prague (Czech First League) – football club
Slavia Prague (Czech First League) – football club
Bohemians 1905 (Czech First League) – football club
Dukla Prague (Czech 2nd Football League) – football club
Viktoria Žižkov (Czech 2nd Football League) – football club
HC Sparta Praha (Czech Extraliga) – ice hockey club
HC Slavia Praha (Czech 2nd Hockey League) – ice hockey club
USK Praha (National Basketball League) – basketball club
Prague Lions (European League of Football) –American football
AK Markéta Praha (speedway club)
PSK Olymp Praha (athletics club)
=== Stadia and arenas ===
O2 Arena – the second largest ice hockey arena in Europe. It hosted 2004, 2015 IIHF World Championship and 2024, NHL 2008 and 2010 Opening Game and Euroleague Final Four.
Strahov Stadium – the largest stadium in the world.
Fortuna Arena, football stadium
I. ČLTK Prague, tennis club
Markéta Stadium, speedway and athletics stadium
Stadion Juliska, football and athletics stadium
Gutovka– sport area with a large concrete skatepark, the highest outdoor climbing wall in Central Europe, four beach volleyball courts and children's playground. The Central European Beach Volleyball Championship 2018 took place here.
=== Events ===
Prague International Marathon
Prague Open – Tennis Tournament
Prague Chess Festival
Sparta Prague Open – Tennis Tournament held at TK Sparta Prague in Prague 7
Josef Odložil Memorial – athletics meeting
World Ultimate Club Championships 2010 concluded in Strahov and Eden Arena.
Mystic SK8 Cup – World Cup of Skateboarding venue held at the Štvanice skatepark
== International relations ==
The city of Prague maintains its own EU delegation in Brussels called Prague House.
Prague was the location of U.S. President Barack Obama's speech on 5 April 2009, which led to the New START treaty with Russia, signed in Prague on 8 April 2010.
The annual conference Forum 2000, which was founded by former Czech President Václav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yōhei Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel in 1996, is held in Prague. Its main objective is "to identify the key issues facing civilization and to explore ways to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture, or ethnicity as their primary components", and also intends to promote democracy in non-democratic countries and to support civil society. Conferences have attracted several prominent thinkers, Nobel laureates, former and acting politicians, business leaders, and other individuals like: Frederik Willem de Klerk, Bill Clinton, Nicholas Winton, Oscar Arias Sánchez, Dalai Lama, Hans Küng, Shimon Peres and Madeleine Albright.
=== Twin towns – sister cities ===
Prague is twinned with:
=== Namesakes ===
Several other settlements are derived from or similar to the name of Prague. In many of these cases, Czech emigration has left several namesake cities scattered over the globe, with a notable concentration in the New World.
Additionally, Kłodzko is sometimes referred to as "Little Prague" (German: Klein-Prag). Although now in Poland, it had been traditionally a part of Bohemia until 1763 when it became part of Silesia. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blyde_River_Canyon_Nature_Reserve#God.27s_Window | Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve#God.27s Window | Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve (or Motlatse Canyon Provincial Nature Reserve) is situated in the Drakensberg escarpment region of eastern Mpumalanga, South Africa. The reserve protects the Blyde River Canyon, including sections of the Ohrigstad and Blyde Rivers and the geological formations around Bourke's Luck Potholes, where the Treur River tumbles into the Blyde below. Southwards of the canyon, the reserve follows the escarpment, to include the Devil's and God's Window, the latter a popular viewpoint to the lowveld at the reserve's southern extremity.
The Mogologolo (1,794 m), Mariepskop (1,944 m) and Hebronberg (1,767 m) massifs are partially included in the reserve. Elevation varies from 560 m to 1,944 m above sea level. Its resort areas are F.H. Odendaal and Swadeni, the latter only accessible from Limpopo province. The area of approximately 29,000 hectares (290 km2) is administered by the Mpumalanga Parks Board.
== Bourke's Luck Potholes ==
This geological feature and day visitors' attraction, named after prospector Bernard Thomas Bourke (brother of Eddie Bourke), is situated at the confluence of the Treur and Blyde Rivers, on the reserve's western boundary 24°40′28″S 30°48′39″E. The reserve's nature conservation headquarters is located here, beside the village of Moremela, at the canyon's southern, or upper reaches. Bourke's Luck Potholes marks the beginning of the Blyde River Canyon.
Sustained kolks in the Treur River's plunge pools have eroded a number of cylindrical potholes or giant's kettles, which can be viewed from the crags above. It was named after a local prospector, Tom Bourke, who predicted the presence of gold, though he found none himself. The pedestrian bridges connect the various overlooks of the potholes and the gorge downstream.
== The Three Rondavels ==
The Three Rondavels are three round, grass-covered mountain tops with somewhat pointed peaks. They quite closely resemble the traditional round or oval rondavels or African homesteads, which are made with local materials. Sometimes they are also called the Three Sisters, though this may confuse them with a similar threesome visible from the N1 road in the Northern Cape, very far to the south.
The names of the peaks commemorate a 19th-century chief, Maripi, and three of his wives. The flat-topped peak adjacent to the rondavels is Mapjaneng, "the chief", who is remembered for opposing invading Swazis in a memorable battle. The three rondavels are named for three of his more troublesome wives – Magabolle, Mogoladikwe and Maseroto. Behind the rondavels the distant high plateau of Mariepskop may be visible. Beside the dam, the isolated Thabaneng hill is known as the "sundial" or "mountain with a shadow that moves". It is said that the position of its shadow indicates the time of day.
On a clear day the lookout point provides extensive views. From here one looks over the canyon to the Three Rondavels on the other side, which is flanked on various sides by promontories of the northern Drakensberg range.
The formation of the attractive sedimentary formations are explained geologically as the slow erosion of underlying soft stone, leaving exposed the more resistant quartzite and shale that form the rondavels.
== God's Window ==
God's Window 24°52′28″S 30°53′29″E is a popular vantage point along the Drakensberg escarpment, at the southern extremity of the Nature Reserve.
Here, sheer cliffs plunge over 700 metres to the Lowveld. From this escarpment—a mostly unbroken rampart of cliffs—opens a vista into the Lowveld expanse and escarpment forests, the Eden-like aesthetic appearance of which prompted the name. On a clear day it is possible to see over the Kruger National Park towards the Lebombo Mountains on the border with Mozambique. Although relatively uncommon, with extremely good visibility, the Indian Ocean is also partly visible.
God's Window features prominently in the plot of the 1980 cult film The Gods Must Be Crazy. Near the end of the movie, the Bushman character Xi (played by Namibian bush farmer N!xau) travels to God's Window, and due to some low-lying cloud cover believes it to be the end of the Earth.
The original Window is a rock that is set further back on a private farm and due to quarry operations and tree plantation farming, this actual rock that looks like a square window could not be used. The site was moved by the government to the edge of the escarpment.
A viewing platform 24°52′35.8″S 30°53′19.6″E near the car park gives extensive views down the gorge to the plain below.
== Fauna ==
The high plateaus are inhabited by mountain reedbuck, baboon troops and rock hyraxes. Impala, kudu, blue wildebeest, waterbuck and zebra roam the wooded lowveld area. Hippo and crocodile are present in the Blyderivierpoort Dam.
Three species of flat gecko were described in 2014 from the reserve and its vicinity. The Blyde River flat gecko, discovered in 1991, is as yet only known from the cliff face of one of the three rondavels, while the Mariepskop flat gecko was discovered on nearby Mariepskop in 1982. The Abel Erasmus flat gecko is known to occur at Bourke's Luck inside the reserve.
Exotic fish like smallmouth bass, brown and rainbow trout occur in the river, which have reduced the range of the local Treur river barb to upper catchments of the Blyde River system. Thanks to reintroductions after its rediscovery in the 1970s, it now flourishes here. The Natal mountain catfish occurs as an isolated population in the Limpopo system, and the Belvedere creek is the only place in the Limpopo system where the Rosefin barb is found.
African fish eagle and African finfoot are found along the Blyde River. The lowveld woodlands harbour purple-crested lourie, emerald cuckoo, red-backed mannikin, golden-tailed woodpecker, gorgeous bushshrike, white-faced owl and a number of raptors like white-backed vulture, gymnogene, black-chested snake eagle, Wahlberg's eagle and long-crested eagle. A number of raptors frequent the mountains and cliffs, including cape vulture, black eagle, jackal buzzard, peregrine falcon, lanner falcon and rock kestrel.
Birds associated with flowering plants of the higher slopes include Gurney's sugarbird and malachite sunbird. A breeding colony of bald ibis occurs in the grassy uplands, besides small numbers of cape eagle-owl and red-breasted sparrowhawk. Forest birds include crowned eagle, Knysna lourie, cinnamon dove, olive bushshrike, green twinspot and wood owl.
== Flora ==
The reserve's vegetation is classified as the Northeastern Drakensberg High-Mountain Sourveld ecoregion, an area prone to lightning-induced burning. Its very diverse flora is ascribed to the variation in altitude and rainfall (541 mm to 2,776 mm p.a.), and the extremes in geology and pedology. It is topographically complex with a variety of habitats which include grassland plateaus, wetlands and sponge areas, grassland slopes, afromontane forest, riparian forest, moist woodlands, dry woodlands and shrublands. Its four veld types are Afromontane Forest, North-eastern Mountain Sour Grassland, Sour Lowveld Bushveld and Mixed Lowveld Bushveld.
Around a 1,000 plant species have been recorded. This includes cycads, of which the Blyde river cycad is almost endemic to the reserve, with some 200 individuals remaining. A variety of orchid, lily and protea (genera Protea, Faurea and Leucospermum) species occur, including the Blyde river protea which is endemic to the canyon, and the escarpment pincushion of which about 30 plants are present. Tree ferns grow along seepages in the uplands.
Indigenous forest covers 2,111 ha of the nature reserve, or 7.3% of its surface area. These are fragmented into some 60 patches between 0.21 ha and 567 ha in extent. They are assigned to two forest communities, high altitude moist and low altitude dry afromontane forest. The altitudinal gradient accounts for most of their variation in plant communities.
== General area ==
The reserve is fringed to the east by the Mariepskop and Klaserie Waterfall Nature Reserves, and the Mapulaneng forestry region, below the escarpment. National Park status had been considered, if some adjacent areas were to be incorporated and their forestry activities discontinued.
Percy FitzPatrick and George Fullerton's summer quarters as transport riders during the 1880s was situated at Paradise Camp 24°55′24″S 30°52′08″E, some 6 km south of God's Window, and similarly perched on the edge of the escarpment. Close to God's Window are several waterfalls, including Berlin Falls and Lisbon Falls. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovering_the_Satellites | Recovering the Satellites | Recovering the Satellites is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Counting Crows. It was released in the United States on October 15, 1996, three years after their debut album and following two years of worldwide touring. With producer Gil Norton, it features founding members Adam Duritz, David Bryson (guitar), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), and Matt Malley (bass), as well as new additions Ben Mize (drums) and Dan Vickrey (guitars). Multi-instrumentalist and eventual band member David Immerglück played on the album as a session musician, as well.
Three singles were released, with "A Long December" being the best charting, peaking at number 6 on the US Radio Songs chart and number 1 in Canada.
The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart in the US, No. 4 on the OOC album charts in the UK, and No. 7 on the ARIA charts in Australia. It has been certified double-platinum in both the US and Canada, and well as gold in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. It received generally positive reviews.
== Recording and release ==
As with their debut, August and Everything After, the band recorded the album with Norton by renting a large house and using the acoustics of the space for unique sounds. Marvin Etzioni produced the album's eighth track, "Miller's Angels".
Duritz recorded two songs for the album on piano with friends from the Soul Rebels Brass Band playing horns that were ultimately cut: "Chelsea" and "Good Luck". He has said that he could not figure out how to sequence the songs with the rest of the album.
"Chelsea" was eventually released as a bonus track on the live double album Across a Wire: Live in New York City. "Good Luck" was presumed lost for several years until in the early 2020s. Geffen Records were contacted by filmmakers making a documentary on the band for HBO, covering the period between August and Everything After and Recovering the Satellites, for music and archive information. Original masters of the recordings, once thought lost in the 2008 Universal Studios fire, and video performances were provided by the label, including "Good Luck".
== Reception ==
Writing for Rolling Stone, Anthony DeCurtis gave the album four out of five stars. He said that the band's second album develops the sounds of August and Everything After and that they "largely achieve their serious ambitions". He praised Adam Duritz's lyrics and called the album "deeply satisfying". Andy Gill from The Independent gave the album a more negative review. He criticized Duritz's song-writing as "self-pity[ing]" and called him a "classic solipsistic soul-barer, he just won't shut up about himself". He called the album "bland" with "obvious" influences (including R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Lynyrd Skynyrd). Gill had some praise for producer Gil Norton's work on the album.
In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker also had negative feelings about the album, and gave it a "C" grade. He criticized Duritz's "yowling" and "moans" and called Counting Crows a "pastiche of its influences". The Los Angeles Times concluded that "there are precious few of the killer pop hooks that made such songs as 'Mr. Jones' and ''Round Here' irresistible despite their lack of originality."
In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album a "self-consciously challenging response" to their successful debut album. He described the songs as "slightly more somber" than those on the first album but "more affecting". He noted an occasional "pretentiousness" on the album but praised "A Long December" as particularly articulate.
== Track listing ==
All tracks written by Adam Duritz unless otherwise indicated
"Catapult" (Duritz, David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Dan Vickrey, Ben Mize) – 3:34
"Angels of the Silences" (Duritz, Gillingham) – 3:39
"Daylight Fading" (Duritz, Vickrey, Gillingham) – 3:50
"I'm Not Sleeping" (Duritz, Bryson, Gillingham, Malley, Vickrey, Mize) – 4:57
"Goodnight Elisabeth" – 5:20
"Children in Bloom" – 5:23
"Have You Seen Me Lately?" – 4:08
"Miller's Angels" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 6:33
"Another Horsedreamer's Blues" – 4:32
"Recovering the Satellites" – 5:24
"Monkey" – 3:02
"Mercury" – 2:48
"A Long December" – 4:57
"Walkaways" (Duritz, Vickrey) – 1:12
== Personnel ==
Counting Crows
David Bryson – guitars, Dobro, tambourine, vocals
Adam Duritz – piano, tambourine, Wurlitzer, lead vocals
Charlie Gillingham – Hammond B-3, piano, Mellotron, Wurlitzer, accordion, harmonica, vocals
Matt Malley – electric bass guitar, double bass, vocals
Ben Mize – drums, tambourine, percussion, light bulbs, Zippo lighter, vocals
Dan Vickrey – guitars, vocals
Additional musicians
Paul Buckmaster – Orchestra conductor on "Daylight Fading", "I'm Not Sleeping", and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"
Charlie Gillingham – string arrangements on "Daylight Fading", "I'm Not Sleeping", and "Another Horsedreamer's Blues"
Marvin Etzioni – mandolin on "Mercury"
David Immerglück – pedal steel guitar and octave mandolin on "Miller's Angels"
== Charts ==
== Certifications == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Formula_One_season#Teams_and_drivers | 1967 Formula One season#Teams and drivers | The 1967 Formula One season was the 21st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 18th World Championship of Drivers, the 10th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, and six non-championship races open to Formula One cars. The World Championship was contested over eleven races between 2 January and 22 October 1967.
Denny Hulme won the Drivers' Championship in a Brabham-Repco. Brabham was also awarded the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. As of 2025, this is the only championship won by a New Zealand driver. Hulme also became the first driver in World Championship history to win the title without having scored a pole position during the season.
Lorenzo Bandini crashed during the Monaco Grand Prix. Losing an early lead of the race and trying to get back to the front, the Ferrari driver clipped the chicane at the harbour front and then hit a hidden mooring. The car turned over and exploded in flames. It took marshals several minutes to extricate Bandini from the burning wreck and three days later, the Italian died. British driver Bob Anderson died during a test at Silverstone. His Brabham slid off the track in wet conditions and hit a marshals post, suffering serious chest and neck injuries and later dying in hospital.
== Teams and drivers ==
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1967 FIA World Championship. A pink background denotes additional Formula 2 entrants to the German Grand Prix on the very long Nürburgring track.
=== Team and driver changes ===
After his success in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Chris Amon was offered a seat at the Ferrari F1 team. It would be the New Zealander's first full-time F1 drive since 1964.
Pedro Rodríguez was signed by Cooper, after 1964 champion John Surtees moved to Honda. Honda's 1966 drivers Richie Ginther and Ronnie Bucknum left the sport.
1962 champion Graham Hill moved from BRM to Lotus, replacing Peter Arundell. Mike Spence was hired as his replacement at BRM, having gained experience with their V8 engine at Reg Parnell's privateer team.
==== Mid-season changes ====
Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini suffered a fatal crash during the Monaco Grand Prix. The team brought back last year's drivers Mike Parkes and Ludovico Scarfiotti for two races and then reduced their operations to just one car for Chris Amon.
Bruce McLaren had switched from Ford to BRM engines over the winter. He was supposed to get V12 engines for the McLaren M5A, but when those were delayed, he had to start the season in a modified Formula Two car powered by a BRM V8.
After having worked with engine suppliers Climax and BRM since 1966, Lotus switched to newly developed Cosworth DFV's from the third race of this year. The project was funded by the Ford Motor Company.
Pedro Rodríguez suffered a crash in the 1967 Mediterranean Grand Prix, a Formula Two race at Autodromo di Pergusa, and took about two months to recover. Richard Attwood and Jacky Ickx fell in for him at Cooper. It was Ickx's F1 debut, while he would go on to win the F2 championship that year as well.
Matra introduced their first Formula One chassis, the MS7, in the last two races of the season, with their Formula Two driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise granted the drive.
== Calendar ==
=== Calendar changes ===
The South African Grand Prix returned to the calendar but it was held at the Kyalami Circuit instead of the Prince George Circuit.
The Dutch Grand Prix was brought forward from mid July to early June, ahead of the Belgian and French Grand Prix.
The French Grand Prix was moved to the Bugatti version of the Circuit de la Sarthe, replacing Reims-Gueux.
The British Grand Prix was moved from Brands Hatch to Silverstone, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.
The Canadian Grand Prix was hosted for the first time, at Mosport Park near Toronto.
== Regulation changes ==
After Lorenzo Bandini's fatal accident, the FIA banned circuit organisers from using straw bales along the track and TV crews from flying their helicopters too low, as both had contributed to the fire flaring up.
== Championship report ==
=== Rounds 1 to 4 ===
Coming down from his third World Championship in 1966, Jack Brabham started this year off as well, with a pole position at the South African Grand Prix. Teammate Denny Hulme started second and two-time World Champion Jim Clark lined up in third in his Lotus. Hulme took the lead at the start, while Clark fell back to sixth. In a race of attrition, the crowd saw Rhodesian driver John Love take the lead. When he had to stop for extra fuel, however, it was Pedro Rodríguez who won in his Cooper. Love finished second, ahead of John Surtees in a Honda. Hulme and Brabham finished several laps down but still in the points, since there were just six classified finishers in total.
From 1967 to 1969, there was four months between the first and second race of the championship, and most teams would usually run the first race with old designs, or not even participate. This year, Ferrari, McLaren and Matra started their year with the Monaco Grand Prix. Lotus had planned to run revolutionary new Cosworths, but they were not ready in time. Jack Brabham scored pole position like in South Africa, but again lost the lead at the start, this time to long-time Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini. Before long, Hulme took over at the front and increased his lead to 15 seconds. Desperately trying to get closer, Bandini struck the barrier in the chicane at the harbour front and mounted the straw bales. The car landed upside down and exploded in flames. Bandini would succumbed to his injuries three days later. Hulme won the race, one lap ahead of Graham Hill (Lotus) and two ahead of Chris Amon (Ferrari). Like in the first race, there were just six finishers.
When Lotus could finally run the new Cosworth engines in the Dutch Grand Prix, their pace was significantly better than before and Hill snatched pole position. A surprising Dan Gurney in the Eagle started second, reigning champion Brabham in third. After drivers had to avoid a wandering marshal on the grid, the positions at the front remained rather the same, until Gurney made a pit stop. Hill's engine suddenly seized on lap 11, but teammate Clark was charging, getting up to second on lap 15 and taking the lead from Brabham on the next lap. He kept increasing his lead with a second per lap and easily won, ahead of the teammates Brabham and Hulme. Behind them finished the three Ferraris.
Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix ended up with quite the same drivers at the front, except Brabham could only manage seventh. Clark, Gurney and Hill occupied the front row. Clark was the only one of the three with a good start, however. During the first lap, Mike Parkes crashed his Ferrari and was thrown out. He broke a leg and wrist and would not return to Formula One. At the front of the field, Clark was followed by Stewart (BRM) and Amon (Ferrari), before Amon fell back and Gurney took third. Then, Clark had to pit to change a spark plug and Stewart ran into trouble with his gearbox, and Gurney took the lead. After setting a new lap record, the American driver won, over a minute ahead of Stewart and Amon.
Four different winners led to a close fight at the top of the Drivers' Championship. Denny Hulme (Brabham) was first with 16 points, ahead of Pedro Rodríguez (Cooper) and Chris Amon (Ferrari) with 11. In the battle for the Manufacturers' Cup, Brabham had scored 18 points, ahead of Cooper (14) and Ferrari (11).
=== Rounds 5 to 7 ===
For the French Grand Prix, the front row consisted of 1962 champion Graham Hill (Lotus), triple World Champion Jack Brabham (Brabham) and winner of the last race, Dan Gurney (Eagle). But after just 5 laps, it was fourth-starting Jim Clark who led the field. Before the race reached half distance, however, both Lotuses had retired. The Cosworth engines deemed fast but unreliable. After Gurney retired as well with a fuel leak, which left Brabham and his teammate Hulme to finish first and second. Jackie Stewart finished third in his BRM, a lap down on the leader. For the third time this year, there were just six classified finishers.
The British Grand Prix was run at Silverstone and saw the green-and-yellow Lotuses (Clark ahead of Hill) qualifying in front of the green-and-gold Brabhams (Brabham ahead of Hulme). The Lotus duo gained a big lead over the rest, before Hill took the lead on lap 26. When a screw in his suspension failed, however, he had to pit on lap 55, and his engine seized ten laps later. Clark took a comfortable win, ahead of Hulme and Amon, the Ferrari driver having passed Brabham four laps from the end.
During practice for the German Grand Prix, Hill crashed and wrote off his Lotus, while escaping uninjured. Clark clinched pole position, ahead of Hulme and Formula Two driver Jacky Ickx. (Traditionally, the F2 race would be run at the same time as the Grand Prix. F2 drivers would not be eligible to score points for the F1 championship.) At the start, Clark and Hulme led away, with Bruce McLaren stealing third. On lap 3, Clark's right-rear wheel was deflating slowly and he had to back off. Dan Gurney inherited the lead after McLaren retired with an oil leak. The American set a new lap record, despite an extra chicane having been added to the circuit, and increased his lead over Hulme to over 40 seconds. On lap 13, however, his Eagle's drive shaft broke and cut through an oil pipe, handing Hulme a lucky victory, ahead of teammate Brabham and Ferrari driver Amon.
In the Drivers' Championship, Denny Hulme (Brabham) was leading with 37 points, ahead of Jack Brabham (Brabham) with 25 points and Jim Clark (Lotus) and Chris Amon (Ferrari) in a shared third place with 19 points. Brabham was leading the championship for the Manufacturers' Cup with 42 points, ahead of Cooper with 21 and Lotus and Ferrari in a shared third place with 19 points.
=== Rounds 8 to 11 ===
The Canadian Grand Prix was on the championship calendar for the first time and was supposed to be a one-off in celebration of Canada's 100 years of independence, but the popularity of the event would result in F1 returning to Mosport Park seven more years and the Canadian GP still being featured on the calendar today. Jim Clark (Lotus) qualified on pole position, ahead of teammate Graham Hill and championship leader Denny Hulme (Brabham). It had been a rainy night, but a clear morning, which led to most of the Goodyear runners starting on intermediate tyres, while most of the Firestone started on dries. During the warm-up lap, the rain returned and it caused a treacherous first lap, with the Goodyear tyres at an advantage. Hulme took the lead off of Clark, and Bruce McLaren got by the pole-sitter into second place. The track was now drying and around a quarter of the race, the dry-runners regained their advantage. Clark retook second place and began to catch Hulme at over a second a lap. On lap 58, he was there and immediately went by into the lead, but right at that moment, the rain returned. Clark's engine got soaked and cut out, while Hulme desperatly needed clean goggles so chose to pit. This left Jack Brabham, second in the championship, free to win the race, over a minute ahead of teammate Hulme and at least a lap ahead of the race. Dan Gurney finished third in the Eagle.
Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix was disrupted by rain, but the result was not surprising: Clark scored his fifth pole position of the year, ahead of Brabham and McLaren. Hulme started in sixth. The marshal starting the race used a different procedure to what the drivers were used to, which led to half of the grid essentially doing a false start, but no penalties were issued. Brabham took the lead before Gurney grabbed it later in the lap, while Hill and Clark followed them. On lap 3, Clark was already back in the lead, but then suffered a slow puncture. With the pole-sitter in the pits and Gurney's engine having broken, as it had done so many times, it was Hulme who took over the lead. Brabham and Hill formed a close trio with him and the lead swapped hands a couple of times. Clark had a lost a full lap with his pit stop, but managed to unlap himself with two thirds of the race still to go, and quickly set a new lap record. Hulme retired with an overheating engine and Hill took advantage from Clark's slipstream to open up the gap to Brabham at two seconds per lap, until on lap 58, his engine exploded. His rivals' retirements, topped with his maniacal pace, brought Clark up to second place, with leader Brabham in his sights and Honda driver John Surtees in third place, the 1964 champion this time being the one to benefit from Clark's tow. On lap 60, Clark grabbed the lead and gained a three-second advantage, until he dramatically ran out of fuel. Surtees took the lead and was side-by-side with Brabham going into the last corner. Brabham dove to the inside but slid wide. Surtees crossed back and took the flag with a margin of just 0.2 seconds. It would be Honda's last win until 2006. Clark coasted over the line in third place.
The Brabham duo (Hulme and Brabham) were leading the championship but the Lotus duo (Hill and Clark) that occupied the first row for the United States Grand Prix. Gurney had started beside them, took second place at the start and even started pressuring the leader. After just 24 laps, however, the home hero retired with a broken suspension, but the Lotuses were showing better pace anyway. Clark took over the lead when Hill suffered issues with his clutch. This gave Ferrari driver Chris Amon a chance for second place, but his engine ran out of oil with 12 laps to go. Clark would take a comfortable victory, but two laps from the end, his right-rear suspension broke. By slowing down and managing to keep the car on track, Hill could not catch up in time, and Clark took the chequered flag. One could say it was the summary of the season: the Lotuses were unreliable and finished less than half of the races, but if they did, they were so fast that they lapped the rest of the field. This time, it was Hulme who finished in third, a lap down.
Going into the final race, the Mexican Grand Prix, Hulme had a lead of five points in the standings, so if Brabham wanted to do anything about it, he needed to win and for his teammate to finish fifth or lower. Clark started again on pole position, with Brabham and Hulme down in fifth and sixth, respectively. Hill shortly took the lead, but Clark grabbed it back and grew his advantage to seven seconds. Hulme was comfortably hanging back six seconds behind Brabham. Hill retired when his drive shaft broke and had damaged his engine, and the race settled down. Clark set a new lap record and lapped everyone but Brabham in second. Hulme finished third, enough to win the title.
Denny Hulme (Brabham, 51 points) won his first and only championship, ahead of teammate Jack Brabham (46) and Jim Clark (Lotus, 41). Hulme is the only champion to date from New Zealand, and the first of two drivers to win the title without achieving a pole position in the season. Only Niki Lauda would repeat this feat in 1984. The Brabham team (63 points) also won the Manufacturers' Cup, ahead of Lotus (44) and Cooper (28).
== Results and standings ==
=== Grands Prix ===
=== Scoring system ===
Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. Formula 2 cars were not eligible for Championship points. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race. For both the Championship and the Cup, the best five results from rounds 1-6 and the best four results from rounds 7-11 were counted.
Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:
=== World Drivers' Championship standings ===
1 – Ineligible for Formula One points, because they drove with Formula Two cars.
=== International Cup for F1 Manufacturers standings ===
Bold results counted to championship totals.
== Non-championship races ==
Other Formula One races held in 1967, which did not count towards the World Championship.
== Notes and references == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seduction_of_Joe_Tynan#Awards | The Seduction of Joe Tynan#Awards | The Seduction of Joe Tynan is a 1979 American political drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg, and produced by Martin Bregman. The screenplay was written by Alan Alda, who also played the title role.
The film stars Alda, Barbara Harris, and Meryl Streep, with Rip Torn, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Kimbrough, and Carrie Nye. Streep said that she was on "automatic pilot" during filming because she went to work not long after the death of her lover, John Cazale, adding that she got through the process with Alda's support.
== Plot summary ==
Joe Tynan is a liberal U.S. senator from New York with possible presidential ambitions. For the time being, he is weighing the nomination of a potential Supreme Court justice with the elderly Sen. Birney urging him strongly to support the nominee.
Tynan is married, with two children and his frequent work-related absence is an occupational hazard tolerated by wife Ellie, who is busy studying for a new career as a therapist. When he travels to Louisiana to investigate the nominated judge, he encounters labor lawyer Karen Traynor, who knows of evidence revealing the nominee to be unfit. As they spend time together, Tynan and Karen (who is also married) begin a romantic affair.
While back in Washington, D.C., engaging in a friendly rivalry with Southern senator Kittner and preparing for the party's upcoming national convention, Tynan begins to realize that Sen. Birney is suffering from a form of early dementia. Ellie, meanwhile, discovers Tynan's relationship with Karen, causing considerable friction at home. Tynan breaks off the affair and makes amends to his wife as he delivers a speech at the convention.
== Cast ==
Alan Alda as Joe Tynan
Barbara Harris as Ellie Tynan
Meryl Streep as Karen Traynor
Rip Torn as Senator Kittner
Melvyn Douglas as Senator Birney
Charles Kimbrough as Francis
Carrie Nye as Aldena Kittner
Michael Higgins as Senator Pardew
Blanche Baker as Janet
Chris Arnold as Jerry
Maureen Anderman as Joe's Secretary
John Badila as Reporter on TV Screen
Robert Christian as Arthur Briggs
Maurice Copeland as Edward Anderson
Lu Elrod as Congresswoman at Party
Marian Hailey as Sheila Lerner
Dan Hedaya as Alex Heller
== Reception ==
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Alan Alda's Joe Tynan isn't altogether believable as a politician, but he's a warm, sensitive, intelligent character, around whom an uncommonly well-meaning movie has been fashioned." Dale Pollock of Variety wrote that the film "features a literate script, sensitive direction and a brace of fine performances by Alan Alda, Barbara Harris and Meryl Streep." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "We all know that Alan Alda can act; the revelation in his new film, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, is how well he can write. His script, set in the world of politics, is a pleasure to listen to." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times stated, "The Seduction of Joe Tynan is at least a decent effort to look at the pressures at work on a rising young politician, both from within and without. Years from now, however, it may be best remembered as the first film to give Meryl Streep full rein for her luminous talents." Judith Martin of The Washington Post wrote, "Barbara Harris' superb and rounded characterization is only one of many deliciously funny-sad and authentic touches in this amazingly unstereotyped political satire." David Ansen of Newsweek called the film an "intelligent, beautifully acted cautionary tale about the conflict between the siren call of success and the responsibilities of a private life."
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 75% rating based on 12 reviews.
== Awards ==
Wins
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards: LAFCA Award, Best Supporting Actor, Melvyn Douglas; Best Supporting Actress, Meryl Streep; 1979.
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures: NBR Award, Best Supporting Actress, Meryl Streep; 1979.
National Society of Film Critics: NSFC Award, Best Supporting Actress, Meryl Streep; 1979.
New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award, Best Supporting Actress, Meryl Streep; 1979. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Production_Design | Academy Award for Best Production Design | The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted from the Art Directors' branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) being renamed the Designers' branch. Since 1947, the award is shared with the set decorators. It is awarded to the best interior design in a film.
The films below are listed with their production year (for example, the 2000 Academy Award for Best Art Direction is given to a film from 1999). In the lists below, the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees in alphabetical order.
== Superlatives ==
== Winners and nominees ==
=== 1920s ===
=== 1930s ===
=== 1940s ===
=== 1950s ===
=== 1960s ===
=== 1970s ===
=== 1980s ===
=== 1990s ===
=== 2000s ===
=== 2010s ===
=== 2020s === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemangiosarcoma#Treatments | Hemangiosarcoma#Treatments | Hemangiosarcoma is a rapidly growing, highly invasive variety of cancer that occurs almost exclusively in dogs, and only rarely in cats, horses, mice, or humans (vinyl chloride toxicity). It is a sarcoma arising from the lining of blood vessels; that is, blood-filled channels and spaces are commonly observed microscopically. A frequent cause of death is the rupturing of this tumor, causing the patient to rapidly bleed to death.
The term "angiosarcoma", when used without a modifier, usually refers to hemangiosarcoma. However, glomangiosarcoma (8710/3) and lymphangiosarcoma (9170/3) are distinct conditions (in humans).
== Dogs ==
Hemangiosarcoma is quite common in dogs, and more so in certain breeds including German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers. It also occurs in cats, but much more rarely. Dogs with hemangiosarcoma rarely show clinical signs until the tumor has become very large and has metastasized. Typically, clinical signs are due to hypovolemia after the tumor ruptures, causing extensive bleeding. Owners of the affected dogs often discover that the dog has hemangiosarcoma only after the dog collapses.
The tumor most often appears on the spleen, right heart base, or liver, although varieties also appear on or under the skin or in other locations. It is the most common tumor of the heart, and occurs in the right atrium or right auricular appendage. Here it can cause right-sided heart failure, arrhythmias, pericardial effusion, and cardiac tamponade. Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen or liver is the most common tumor to cause hemorrhage in the abdomen. Hemorrhage secondary to splenic and hepatic tumors can also cause ventricular arrhythmias. Hemangiosarcoma of the skin usually appears as a small red or bluish-black lump. It can also occur under the skin. It is suspected that in the skin, hemangiosarcoma is caused by sun exposure. Occasionally, hemangiosarcoma of the skin can be a metastasis from visceral hemangiosarcoma. Other sites the tumor may occur include bone, kidneys, the bladder, muscle, the mouth, and the central nervous system.
=== Clinical features ===
Presenting complaints and clinical signs are usually related to the site of origin of the primary tumor or to the presence of metastases, spontaneous tumor rupture, coagulopathies, or cardiac arrhythmias. More than 50% of patients are presented because of acute collapse after spontaneous rupture of the primary tumor or its metastases. Some episodes of collapse are a result of ventricular arrhythmias, which are relatively common in dogs with splenic or cardiac HSA.
Most common clinical signs of visceral hemangiosarcoma include loss of appetite, arrhythmias, weight loss, weakness, lethargy, collapse, pale mucous membranes, and/or sudden death. An enlarged abdomen is often seen due to hemorrhage. Metastasis is most commonly to the liver, omentum, lungs, or brain.
A retrospective study published in 1999 by Ware, et al., found a five times greater risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma in spayed vs. intact female dogs and a 2.4 times greater risk of hemangiosarcoma in neutered dogs as compared to intact males. The validity of this study is in dispute.
=== Clinicopathologic findings ===
Hemangiosarcoma can cause a wide variety of hematologic and hemostatic abnormalities, including anemia, thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); presence of nRBC, schistocytes, and acanthocytes in the blood smear; and leukocytosis with neutrophilia, left shift, and monocytosis.
=== Diagnosis ===
A definitive diagnosis requires biopsy and histopathology. Cytologic aspirates may be inconclusive with studies reporting various specificity, and negative results may not correlate with absence of disease, as one study concludes "cytological diagnosis of splenic neoplasia is reliable, but a negative result cannot be used to exclude the possibility of splenic neoplasia." This is because of frequent blood contamination and poor exfoliation. Surgical biopsy is the typical approach in veterinary medicine.
Imaging modalities may include one ore more of ultrasound, CT, MRI and FDG-PET/CT. FGD-PET/CT may show some benefit over traditional CT for staging and detection of metastasis.
=== Symptoms ===
Dogs rarely show symptoms of hemangiosarcoma until after the tumor ruptures, causing extensive bleeding. Then symptoms can include short-term lethargy, loss of appetite, enlarged abdomen, weakness in the back legs, paled colored tongue and gums, rapid heart rate, and a weak pulse.
=== Treatments ===
Treatment includes chemotherapy and, where practical, removal of the tumor with the affected organ, such as with a splenectomy. Splenectomy alone gives an average survival time of 1–3 months. The addition of chemotherapy, primarily comprising the drug doxorubicin, alone or in combination with other drugs, can increase the average survival time by 2–4 months beyond splenectomy alone.
A 2012 paper published the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, in dogs treated with a compound derived from the Coriolus versicolor (commonly known as "Turkey Tail") mushroom showed a favorable response to the agent compared to historical controls of dogs treated with splenectomy and Doxorubicin .:. A controlled, randomized study in 101 dogs was later conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School which showed that the Coriolus versicolor mushroom did not have the same outcome noted in the 2012 paper with 15 dogs. In the 2022 paper by Gednet et al. dogs treated with splenectomy followed by Doxorubicin did better than dogs treated with splenectomy and mushroom agent. Combination of Doxorubicin with the Turkey Tail mushroom also did not improve survival when compared to Doxorubicin alone. However, as noted in the 2012 study, the Turkey Tail mushroom extract did not cause any systemic adverse reactions, even when combined with Doxorubicin.:.
Immune therapy based on cultivation of tumor tissue is being developed for dogs. A preventive vaccine based on several proteins commonly found in dog cancers, including hemangiosarcomas, is also being developed.
In the skin, it can be cured in most cases with complete surgical removal as long as there is not visceral involvement. Median survival times for stage I is 780 days, where more advanced stages can range from 172 to 307 days. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Aid:_A_Factor_of_Evolution | Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution | Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a 1902 collection of anthropological essays by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. The essays, initially published in the English periodical The Nineteenth Century between 1890 and 1896, explore the role of mutually beneficial cooperation and reciprocity (or "mutual aid") in the animal kingdom and human societies both past and present. It is an argument against theories of social Darwinism that emphasize competition and survival of the fittest, and against the romantic depictions by writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who thought that cooperation was motivated by universal love. Instead, Kropotkin argues that mutual aid has pragmatic advantages for the survival of human and animal communities and, along with the conscience, has been promoted through natural selection.
Mutual Aid is considered a fundamental text in anarchist communism. It presents a scientific basis for communism as an alternative to the historical materialism of the Marxists. Kropotkin considers the importance of mutual aid for prosperity and survival in the animal kingdom, in indigenous and early European societies, in the medieval free cities (especially through the guilds), and in the late 19th century village, labor movement, and impoverished people. He criticizes the State for destroying historically important mutual aid institutions, particularly through the imposition of private property.
Many biologists (including Stephen Jay Gould, one of the most influential evolutionary biologists of his generation) also consider it an important catalyst in the scientific study of cooperation.
== Content ==
Kropotkin emphasizes the distinction between competitive struggle between individual organisms over limited resources and collective struggle between organisms and the environment. He drew from his firsthand observations of Siberia and Northeast Asia, where he saw that animal populations were limited not by food sources, which were abundant, but rather by harsh weather. For example, predatory birds may compete by stealing food from one another while migratory birds cooperate in order to survive harsh winters by traveling long distances. He did not deny the competitive form of struggle but argued that the cooperative counterpart has been under-emphasized: "There is an immense amount of warfare and extermination going on amidst various species; there is, at the same time, as much, or perhaps even more, of mutual support, mutual aid, and mutual defense... Sociability is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle."
Kropotkin's ideas expressed the now recognized importance of mutualism (a beneficial relationship between two different species) and altruism (when one member of a species aids another) in biology. Examples of altruism in animals include kin selection and reciprocal altruism.
== Reception ==
Daniel P. Todes, in his account of Russian naturalism in the 19th century, concludes that Kropotkin's work "cannot be dismissed as the idiosyncratic product of an anarchist dabbling in biology" and that his views "were but one expression of a broad current in Russian evolutionary thought that pre-dated, indeed encouraged, his work on the subject and was by no means confined to leftist thinkers."
As a description of biology, Kropotkin's perspective is consistent with contemporary understanding. Stephen Jay Gould admired Kropotkin's observations, noting that cooperation, if it increases individual survival, is not ruled out by natural selection, and is in fact encouraged. Douglas H. Boucher places Kropotkin's book as a precursor to the development of the biological theory of altruism.
== Editions == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_Dallas_Mavericks_season | 2020–21 Dallas Mavericks season | The 2020–21 Dallas Mavericks season was the 41st season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Mavericks clinched the Southwest division for the first time since the 2009-10 season following a 110–90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 7, 2021. However, the Mavericks lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers for the second consecutive season in seven games.
Following the season on June 17, 2021, long time head coach Rick Carlisle resigned from his position as head coach after 13 seasons and leading the team to a championship in 2011.
== Draft ==
1 The Mavericks acquired the second-round pick from the Golden State Warriors.
== Roster ==
== Standings ==
Notes
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
y – Clinched division title
x – Clinched playoff spot
pb – Clinched play-in spot
o – Eliminated from playoff contention
* – Division leader
== Game log ==
=== Preseason ===
The preseason schedule was announced on November 27, 2020.
=== Regular season ===
The schedule for the first half was announced on December 4, 2020. The second half was revealed on February 24, 2021.
=== Postseason ===
== Player statistics ==
=== Regular season ===
=== Playoffs ===
== Transactions ==
=== Trades ===
=== Free agents ===
==== Subtractions ====
== Awards == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Think_I'm_Go_Go | I Think I'm Go Go | "I Think I'm Go Go" is a 1980 song by the British new wave band Squeeze, released on their third album Argybargy. The lyrics were written by Chris Difford and the music was written by Glenn Tilbrook.
== Background ==
Chris Difford said about the lyrics, "This was a song about touring, which could be a very strange experiences. It would get to the stage where I'd think 'I don't know where I am, I don't know which county I am in, what time we're onstage, or who I'm sleeping with.' 'I think I'm go go' was the turn of phrase in the band at the time." Difford continued, "This song was very popular in America. The first verse is about being in Amsterdam because a lot of our early gigs were in Holland. Glenn's dad lived out there and he used to arrange gigs for us. It was always good fun playing there. The second verse is about New York and mentions liquor stores, rodeos and PIX, which was an American radio station. The last verse is about London."
Glenn Tilbrook said of the song, "This was a step forward in our imaginations. It was influenced lyrically by the fact we have been whopped around the head and rendered bewildered by the amount of traveling we'd been doing. We all found it bewildering, but I had the sense that Chris probably felt this more so than the rest of us." Tilbrook also said, "It's very Beatles-like and also has a similar sound to our song, 'The Knack'. There's a direct through line from 'The Knack' to 'I Think I'm Go Go', with that sense of other-worldness. The use of strings added to that feeling. I wanted to contrast real strings with synth strings and change the feel between the verses. This meant the listener got a sense of being jolted out of one mood or another."
== Critical opinion ==
AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that "the group stretches into some spacy territory on "I Think I'm Go Go[.]" |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_France | Regions of France | France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (French: régions, singular région [ʁeʒjɔ̃]), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which have a semi-autonomous status).
All of the thirteen metropolitan administrative regions (including Corsica as of 2019) are further subdivided into two to thirteen administrative departments, with the prefect of each region's administrative centre's department also acting as the regional prefect. The overseas regions administratively consist of only one department each and hence also have the status of overseas departments.
Most administrative regions also have the status of regional territorial collectivities, which comes with a local government, with departmental and communal collectivities below the regional level. The exceptions are Corsica, French Guiana, Mayotte and Martinique, where region and department functions are managed by single local governments having consolidated jurisdiction and which are known as single territorial collectivities.
== History ==
=== 1982–2015 ===
The term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation (2 March 1982), which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for regional representatives took place on 16 March 1986.
Between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four overseas regions (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion); in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth.
=== Reform and mergers of regions ===
In 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 effective 1 January 2016.
The law gave interim names for most of the new regions by combining the names of the former regions, e.g. the region composed of Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes and Limousin was temporarily called Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes. However, the combined region of Upper and Lower Normandy was simply called "Normandy" (Normandie). Permanent names were proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016 and new names confirmed by the Conseil d'État by 30 September 2016. The legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to "Centre-Val de Loire" with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names.
Given below is a table of former regions and which new region they became part of.
== List of administrative regions ==
== Role ==
Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law. They levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a regional council (conseil régional) made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections.
A region's primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools. In March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the resulting costs, and that such measures would increase regional inequalities.
In addition, regions have considerable discretionary power over infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, universities and research, and assistance to business owners. This has meant that the heads of wealthy regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions.
Proposals to give regions limited legislative autonomy have met with considerable resistance; others propose transferring certain powers from the departments to their respective regions, leaving the former with limited authority.
=== Regional control ===
Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986.
== Overseas regions ==
Overseas region (French: Région d'outre-mer) is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. As integral parts of the French Republic, they are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council, elect a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and use the euro as their currency.
Although these territories have had these political powers since 1982, when France's decentralisation policy dictated that they be given elected regional councils along with other regional powers, the designation overseas regions dates only to the 2003 constitutional change; indeed, the new wording of the constitution aims to give no precedence to either appellation overseas department or overseas region, although the second is still virtually unused by French media.
The following have overseas region status:
in the Indian Ocean (Africa):
Mayotte
Réunion
in the Americas:
French Guiana in South America
Guadeloupe in the Antilles (Caribbean)
Martinique in the Antilles (Caribbean)
^ Saint Pierre and Miquelon (located just south of Newfoundland, Canada, in North America), once an overseas department, was demoted to a territorial collectivity in 1985. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eastman | George Eastman | George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he patented and sold a roll film camera, making amateur photography accessible to the general public for the first time. Working as the treasurer and later president of Kodak, he oversaw the expansion of the company and the film industry.
Eastman was a major philanthropist, establishing the Eastman School of Music, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and schools of dentistry and medicine at the University of Rochester and Eastman Dental Hospital at University College London, and making large contributions to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), the construction of several buildings at the second campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the Charles River, and Tuskegee University and Hampton University, two historically black universities in the South. With interests in improving health, he provided funds for clinics in London and other European cities to serve low-income residents.
In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain caused by a disorder affecting his spine. On March 14, 1932, he shot himself in the heart, leaving a note which read, "To my friends: my work is done. Why wait?"
Eastman is regarded as one of the most influential and well-known residents of Rochester, New York. He has been commemorated on several college campuses and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the George Eastman Museum has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
== Early life ==
Eastman was born in Waterville, New York, as the youngest child of George Washington Eastman and Maria Eastman (née Kilbourn), at the 10-acre (4.0 ha) farm which his parents had bought in 1849. He had two older sisters, Ellen Maria and Katie. He was largely self-educated, although he attended a private school in Rochester after the age of eight.
In the early 1840s, his father had started a business school, the Eastman Commercial College in Rochester, New York. The city became one of the first "boomtowns" in the United States, based on its rapid industrialization. As his father's health started deteriorating, the family gave up the farm and moved to Rochester in 1860. His father died of a brain disorder on April 27, 1862. To survive and afford George's schooling, his mother took in boarders.
The second daughter, Katie, had contracted polio when young and died in late 1870 when George was 15 years old. The young George left school early and started working to help support the family. As Eastman began to have success with his photography business, he vowed to repay his mother for the hardships she had endured in raising him.
== Career ==
=== Founding of Kodak ===
While working as a bank clerk in the 1870s, Eastman became interested in photography. After receiving lessons from George Monroe and George Selden, he developed a machine for coating dry plates in 1879. In 1881, he founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company with Henry Strong to sell plates, with Strong as company president and Eastman as treasurer, where he handled most executive functions. Around the same time, he began experiments to create a flexible film roll that could replace plates altogether. In 1885, he received a patent for a film roll and then focused on creating a camera to use the rolls. In 1888, he patented and released the Kodak camera ("Kodak" being a word Eastman created). It was sold loaded with enough roll film for 100 exposures. When all the exposures had been made, the photographer mailed the camera back to the Eastman company in Rochester, along with $10. The company would process the film, make a print of each exposure, load another roll of film into the camera, and send the camera and the prints to the photographer.
The separation of photo-taking from the difficult process of film development was novel and made photography more accessible to amateurs than ever before, and the camera was immediately popular with the public. By August 1888, Eastman was struggling to meet orders, and he and his employees soon had several other cameras in development. The rapidly-growing Eastman Dry Plate Company was reorganized as the Eastman Company in 1889, and then incorporated as Eastman Kodak in 1892.
=== Growth of film industry ===
Eastman recognized that most of his revenue would come from the sale of additional film rolls, rather than camera sales, and focused on film production. By providing quality and affordable film to every camera manufacturer, Kodak managed to turn competitors into de facto business partners. In 1889 he patented the processes for the first nitrocellulose film along with chemist Henry Reichenbach. Several patent infringement lawsuits would preoccupy Eastman and his lawyers in subsequent years, including one from Reichenbach after he was fired in 1892. The largest lawsuit would come from rival film producer Ansco. Inventor Hannibal Goodwin had filed a patent for nitrocellulose film in 1887, before Eastman and Reichenbach's, but it was not granted until 1898. Ansco purchased the patent in 1900 and sued Kodak for infringement. Kodak ultimately lost the suit, which lasted over a decade and cost the company $5 Million.
Eastman paid close attention to Kodak's advertisements. He coined the slogan, "You press the button, we do the rest", which became ubiquitous in the general public.
As Kodak pursued a monopoly on film through patents and acquisitions, the company experienced rapid growth. By 1896, Kodak was the leading supplier of film stock internationally, and by 1915, the company was the largest employer in Rochester, with over 8,000 employees and annual earnings of $15.7 million. In 1934, shortly after Eastman's death, Kodak employed 23,000. One of the largest markets for film became the emerging motion picture industry. When Thomas Edison and other film producers formed the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, Eastman negotiated for Kodak to be the sole supplier of film to the industry. His monopolistic actions attracted the attention of the federal government, which began an anti-trust investigation into Kodak in 1911 for exclusive contracts, acquisitions of competitors, and price-fixing. This resulted in a lawsuit against Kodak in 1913 and a final judgment in 1921, ordering Kodak to stop fixing prices and sell many of its interests.
Kodak's growth was sustained during the 20th century by innovations in film and cameras, including the Brownie camera, which was marketed to children. Eastman took interest in color photography in 1904, and funded experiments in color film production for the next decade. The resulting product, created by John Capstaff, was a two-color process named Kodachrome. Later, in 1935, Kodak would release the more famous second Kodachrome, the first marketed integral tripack film. During World War I, Eastman established a photographic school in Rochester to train pilots for aerial reconnaissance.
In an era of growing trade union activities, Eastman sought to counter the union movement by anticipating worker demands. To this end, he implemented several worker benefit programs, including a welfare fund to provide workmen's compensation in 1910 and a profit-sharing program for all employees in 1912.
== Personal life ==
Eastman never married. He was close to his mother and to his sister Ellen Maria and her family. He had a long platonic relationship with Josephine Dickman, a trained singer and the wife of business associate George Dickman. He became especially close to Dickman after the death of his mother, Maria Eastman, in 1907. He was also an avid traveler, enjoyed music and social gatherings, and had a passion for playing the piano.
The loss of his mother, Maria, was particularly crushing to George. Almost pathologically concerned with decorum, he found himself, for the first time, unable to control his emotions in the presence of his friends. "When my mother died, I cried all day", he said later. "I could not have stopped to save my life." Due to his mother's reluctance to accept his gifts, Eastman could never do enough for his mother during her lifetime. He continued to honor her after her death. On September 4, 1922, he opened the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, which included a chamber-music hall, Kilbourn Theater, dedicated to his mother's memory. At the Eastman House, he maintained a rose bush, using a cutting from her childhood home.
== Later years ==
Eastman was a presidential elector in 1900 and 1916. In 1915, Eastman founded the Bureau of Municipal Research in Rochester to gather information and make government policy recommendations. The agency was later renamed the Center for Governmental Research and continues to carry out that mission. In 1924, Eastman and the Bureau supported a referendum to change Rochester's government to a city manager system, which passed.
In 1920, Eastman established the Eastman Savings and Loan to provide financial services to Kodak employees. The institution was later rechartered as ESL Federal Credit Union.
In the 1920s, Eastman was involved in calendar reform and supported the 13-month per year International Fixed Calendar developed by Moses B. Cotsworth. On January 17, 1925, Eastman invited Cotsworth to his home; he had been introduced to Cotsworth's calendar by a mutual friend and was interested in the system. He secretly funded Cotsworth for a year and then openly supported him and the 13-month plan. Eastman took a major role in planning and financing the campaign for a new global calendar, and also headed the National Committee on Calendar Simplification in the United States, which was created at the behest of the League of Nations. Eastman supported Cotsworth's campaign until his death.
Eastman wrote several articles to promote the 13-month system, including "Problems of Calendar Improvement" in Scientific American and "The Importance of Calendar Reform to the Business World" in Nation's Business. By 1928, the Kodak Company implemented the calendar in its business bookkeeping, and continued to use it until 1989. He was chairman of the National Committee on Calendar Simplification. Although a conference was held at the League of Nations in 1931, with his death and the looming tensions of World War II, this calendar was dropped from consideration.
In 1925, Eastman gave up his daily management of Kodak and officially retired as president. He remained associated with the company in a business executive capacity, as the chairman of the board, until his death.
=== Philanthropy ===
During his lifetime, Eastman donated $100 million to various organizations, becoming one of the major philanthropists in the United States during his lifetime. His largest donations went to the University of Rochester and to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build their programs and facilities. Preferring to remain anonymous, he made donations under the alias "Mr. Smith". In 1918, he endowed the establishment of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, and in 1921, a school of medicine and dentistry there. In 1922, he founded the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, hiring its first music director Albert Coates. Figured for its value in 1932, the year of Eastman's death, $100 million is equivalent to more than $2 billion in 2022.
In 1915, Eastman provided funds for the establishment of the Eastman Dental Dispensary in Rochester. He donated £200,000 in 1926 to fund a dental clinic in London after being approached by the chairman of the Royal Free Hospital, George Riddell, 1st Baron Riddell. Donations of £50,000 each had been made by Lord Riddell and the Royal Free honorary treasurer. On November 20, 1931, the UCL Eastman Dental Institute opened in a ceremony attended by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, and the American Ambassador to the UK. The clinic was incorporated into the Royal Free Hospital and was committed to providing dental care for disadvantaged children from central London. It is now a part of University College London. In 1929 he founded the George Eastman Visiting Professorship at Oxford, to be held each year by a different American scholar of the highest distinction. Eastman also funded Eastmaninstitutet, a dental care clinic for children opened in 1937 in Stockholm, Sweden.
=== Views on race ===
Marion Gleason, a close confidante of Eastman, later described his views on African Americans as "typical of his time – paternalistic, but strictly against social fraternization." Although he made generous donations to the Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute, becoming their largest donor in his era, he also upheld and reinforced the de facto segregation which existed in Rochester. Kodak hired virtually no black employees during Eastman's lifetime, and a 1939 commission of the New York State Legislature on living conditions of African Americans found that Kodak had only a single black employee. The Eastman Dental Dispensary also rejected black applicants, and the Eastman Theater restricted black patrons to its balcony. Eastman rejected several requests to meet with NAACP representatives, including a direct appeal from president Walter White in 1929.
From 1925 until his death, Eastman donated $10,000 per year to the American Eugenics Society (increasing the donation to $15,000 in 1932), a popular cause among many of the upper class when there were concerns about immigration and "race mixing".
== Infirmity and suicide ==
In his final two years, Eastman was in intense pain due to a disorder affecting his spine. He had trouble standing, and his walk became a slow shuffle. Today, it might be diagnosed as a form of degenerative disease such as disc herniations from trauma or age causing either painful nerve root compressions, or perhaps a type of lumbar spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal caused by calcification in the vertebrae. Since his mother suffered during the final two years of her life in a wheelchair, she also may have had a spine condition, but that is uncertain. Only her uterine cancer and successful surgery are documented in her health history.
As a result of his pain, Eastman suffered from depression. On March 14, 1932, Eastman killed himself with a single gunshot through the heart, leaving a note reading: "To my friends, my work is done – Why wait? GE."
Eastman's funeral was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester. His cremated remains were buried on the grounds of the company he founded, at what is now known as Eastman Business Park.
His entire estate was bequeathed to the University of Rochester.
== Legacy ==
Eastman disdained public notoriety and sought to tightly control his image. He was reluctant to share information in interviews, and on multiple occasions, both Eastman and Kodak blocked biographers from full access to his records. A definitive biography was finally published in 1996.
Eastman is the only person represented by two stars in the Film category in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one on the north side of the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard and the other on the west side of the 1700 block of Vine Street. Both recognize the same achievement, that he developed bromide paper, which became a standard of the film industry.
The Eastman Quadrangle of the River Campus of the University of Rochester is named for Eastman. The Rochester Institute of Technology has a building dedicated to him, in recognition of his support and substantial donations. MIT installed a plaque of Eastman on one of the buildings he funded. (Students rub the nose of Eastman's image on the plaque for good luck.)
Eastman had built a mansion at 900 East Avenue in Rochester. Here, he entertained friends to dinner and held private music concerts. The University of Rochester used the mansion for various purposes for decades after his death. In 1949, it re-opened after having been adapted for use as the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark, and is now known as the George Eastman Museum.
Eastman's boyhood home was saved from destruction. It was restored to its state during his childhood and is displayed at the Genesee Country Village and Museum.
== Patents ==
U.S. patent 226,503 "Method and Apparatus for Coating Plates", filed September 1879, issued April 1880.
U.S. patent 306,470 "Photographic Film", filed May 10, 1884, issued October 14, 1884.
U.S. patent 306,594 "Photographic Film", filed March 7, 1884, issued October 14, 1884.
U.S. patent 317,049 (with William H. Walker) "Roll Holder for Photographic Films", filed August 1884, issued May 1885.
U.S. patent 388,850 "Camera", filed March 1888, issued September 1888.
Eastman licensed, then purchased U.S. patent 248,179 "Photographic Apparatus" (roll film holder), filed June 21, 1881, issued October 11, 1881, to David H. Houston.
== Honors and commemorations ==
In 1930 he was awarded the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal.
In 1934, the George Eastman Monument at Kodak Park (now Eastman Business Park) was unveiled.
On July 12, 1954, the U.S. Post Office issued a three-cent commemorative stamp marking the 100th anniversary of Eastman's birth, which was first issued in Rochester, New York.
Also in 1954, to commemorate Eastman's 100th birthday, the University of Rochester erected a meridian marker near the center of Eastman Quadrangle on the campus of the University of Rochester using a gift from Eastman's former associate and University alumnus Charles F. Hutchison.
In the fall of 2009, a statue of Eastman was erected approximately 60 feet (18 m) north by northeast of the meridian marker on the Eastman Quadrangle of the University of Rochester.
In 1966, the George Eastman House was designated a National Historic Landmark.
The auditorium at the Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State University is named for Eastman, in recognition of his inspiration to Swalm.
In 1968, Eastman was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.
== Representation in other media ==
PBS American Experience produced an episode entitled The Wizard of Photography: The Story of George Eastman and How He Transformed Photography. It first aired on May 22, 2000.
Several short documentary films about his life have been made and shown at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Quincy,_Massachusetts | List of mayors of Quincy, Massachusetts | The Mayor of Quincy is the head of the municipal government in Quincy, Massachusetts.
== List of mayors == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledgehammer | Sledgehammer | A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, massive, often metal head, attached to a long wooden or solid handle. The long handle is combined with a heavy head which allows the sledgehammer to pick up momentum during a swing and apply a large force compared to hammers designed to drive nails. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area. This is in contrast to other types of hammers, which concentrate gravity and force in a relatively small area.
== Etymology ==
The word sledgehammer is derived from the Old-English "slægan", which, in its first sense, means "to strike violently". The English words "slag", "slay", and "slog" are cognates.
== Uses ==
The handle can range from 50 centimetres (1 ft 8 in) to a full 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) long, depending on the mass of the head. The head mass is usually 1 to 9 kilograms (2.2 to 19.8 lb). Modern heavy duty sledgehammers come with 10-to-20-pound (4.5–9.1 kg) heads. Sledgehammers usually require two hands and a swinging motion involving the entire torso, in contrast to smaller hammers used for driving in nails. The combination of a long swinging range, and heavy head, increases the force of the resulting impact.
Sledgehammers are often used in demolition work, for breaking through drywall or masonry walls. Sledgehammers were formerly widely used in mining operations, particularly hand steel, but are rarely used in modern mining. Sledgehammers are also used when substantial force is necessary to dislodge a trapped object (often in farm or oil field work), or for fracturing concrete. Another common use is for driving fence posts into the ground. Sledgehammers are used by police forces in raids on property to gain entry by force, commonly through doors. They were and still are commonly used by blacksmiths to shape heavy sections of iron. The British SAS counter terrorist team used sledgehammers to gain access to rooms during the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege. However, today they use a tool called a "dynamic hammer".
Another use of sledgehammers is for driving railroad spikes into wooden sleepers during rail construction. When the two ends of the Union Pacific railroad were joined at Promontory, Utah, Leland Stanford hammered a golden spike into a sleeper with a silver hammer. Sledges used to drive spikes for rails had curved heads that came down to a "beak" that was only about one inch across. The shape meant that drivers needed to be accurate, and spot where the spike hit was often not much larger than a small coin, as anything larger would hit the plate or the sleeper. The curved head kept the handle away from the rail, as the spikes were driven with the rail between the spike and the driver. These are often called spike mauls.
== Drilling hammer ==
A drilling hammer, club hammer, lump hammer, crack hammer, mini-sledge or thor hammer is a small sledgehammer whose relatively light weight and short handle allow one-handed use. It is useful for light demolition work, driving masonry nails, and for use with a steel chisel when cutting stone or metal. In this last application, its weight drives the chisel more deeply into the material being cut than lighter hammers. Club hammers are common on the British inland waterways for driving mooring pins into the towpath or canal bank.
Scouts BSA has adopted the shorter sledgehammer, commonly referred to as an engineer's hammer, as an unofficial tool referred to as the scout hammer, as a complement to the pocket knife and hand axe. The handle is 12–18 inches (30–46 cm) long with a head weighing 2 to 6 lb (0.91–2.72 kg). The hammer is used for a variety of purposes such as driving tent stakes, establishing temporary fencing using wood or metal rebar, splitting wood in conjunction with a wedge, or straightening bent objects.
== Post maul ==
Post mauls are similar to sledgehammers in shape but are meant to drive wooden fence posts or tree stakes into the earth. Newer mauls have broad, flat circular faces that are significantly larger in diameter than the body of the head (where the handle attaches). Older post mauls are significantly larger than sledgehammers like their newer counterparts except the outside diameter (body) of older post maul designs remained the same large diameter as that of the faces of the hammer from one side to the other side. Sledgehammers usually have octagonal faces that are the same diameter or slightly smaller than the body of the head, and they are not nearly as large in overall diameter as a post maul.
== In popular culture ==
The 1986 Peter Gabriel song "Sledgehammer" repeatedly namedrops the tool and depicts one being swung on its cover art.
In professional wrestling, the sledgehammer is a widely popular weapon, mostly associated with the wrestler Paul "Triple H" Levesque, who made it his weapon of choice. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Firth | Colin Firth | Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of a number of awards and honours, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Volpi Cup as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2011, Firth was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and appeared in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.
Identified in the mid-1980s with the "Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, he had leading roles in A Month in the Country (1987), Tumbledown (1988) and Valmont (1989). His portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice led to widespread attention and roles in more prominent films such as The English Patient (1996), Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), and Love Actually (2003). He starred as Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones film series (2001–2025), and also acted in the musical comedy Mamma Mia! (2008) and its 2018 sequel.
Firth won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George VI in the historical drama The King's Speech (2010). He was previously Oscar-nominated for playing a grieving gay man in the romantic drama A Single Man (2009), which earned him the BAFTA Award and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. He subsequently played secret agent Harry Hart in Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and its 2017 sequel. He also performed in films such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), 1917 (2019), The Secret Garden, Supernova (both 2020), and Operation Mincemeat (2021). For his roles on television, he received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his portrayals of Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart in the BBC film Conspiracy (2001), and Michael Peterson in the HBO limited series The Staircase (2022).
In 2012, he founded the production company Raindog Films, under which he served as a producer for Eye in the Sky (2015) and Loving (2016). His films have grossed more than $3 billion from 42 releases worldwide. Firth has campaigned for the rights of Indigenous people and is a member of Survival International. He has also campaigned on issues of asylum seekers, refugees' rights and the environment. He commissioned and co-authored a scientific paper on a study of the differences in brain structure between people of differing political orientations.
== Early life and education ==
Colin Andrew Firth was born on 10 September 1960 in the village of Grayshott, Hampshire, to parents who were academics and teachers. His mother, Shirley Jean (née Rolles), was a comparative religion lecturer at King Alfred's College (now the University of Winchester); and his father, David Norman Lewis Firth, was a history lecturer at King Alfred's and education officer for the Nigerian government. Firth is the eldest of three children; his sister Kate is an actress and voice coach, and his brother Jonathan is also an actor. His maternal grandparents were Congregationalist ministers and his paternal grandfather was an Anglican priest. They did overseas missionary work, and both of his parents were born and spent part of their childhoods in India.
As a child, Firth frequently travelled due to his parents' work, spending some years in Nigeria. He also lived in St. Louis, Missouri, when he was 11, which he has described as "a difficult time". On returning to England, he attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School (now Kings' School, Winchester), which at the time was a state comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire. He was still an outsider and the target of bullying. To counter this, he adopted the local working-class Hampshire accent and copied his schoolmates' lack of interest in schoolwork.
Firth began attending drama workshops at age 10, and by 14 had decided to be a professional actor. Until further education, he was not academically inclined, later saying in an interview, "I didn't like school. I just thought it was boring and mediocre and nothing they taught me seemed to be of any interest at all." However, at Barton Peveril Sixth Form College in Eastleigh, he was imbued with a love of English literature by an enthusiastic teacher, Penny Edwards, and has said that his two years there were among the happiest of his life.
After his sixth form years, Firth moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre, where he made many contacts and got a job in the wardrobe department at the National Theatre. He subsequently studied at Drama Centre London.
== Career ==
=== 1983–1995: Early work and breakthrough ===
Firth played Hamlet in the Drama Centre end-of-year production, and in 1984, Firth made his film debut as Tommy Judd, Guy Bennett's straight, Marxist school friend in the screen adaptation of the play Another Country (with Rupert Everett as Guy Bennett). It was the start of a longstanding public feud between Firth and Everett, which was eventually resolved. He starred with Sir Laurence Olivier in Lost Empires (1986), a TV adaptation of J. B. Priestley's novel.
In 1987, Firth and other up-and-coming British actors such as Tim Roth, Bruce Payne and Paul McGann were dubbed the 'Brit Pack'. That year, he appeared with Kenneth Branagh in the film version of J. L. Carr's A Month in the Country. Sheila Johnston observed a theme in his early work of playing those traumatised by war. He portrayed real-life British soldier Robert Lawrence MC in the 1988 BBC dramatisation Tumbledown. Lawrence was severely injured at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown during the Falklands War, and the film details his struggles to adjust to his disability whilst confronted with indifference from the government and public. It attracted controversy at the time, with criticism coming from left and right sides of the political spectrum. Despite this, the performance brought Firth a Royal TV Society Best Actor Award, and a nomination for the 1989 BAFTA Television Award. In 1989, he played the title role in Miloš Forman's Valmont, based on Les Liaisons dangereuses. Released just a year after Dangerous Liaisons, it did not make a big impact in comparison. That year he also played a paranoid, socially awkward character in the Argentinian psychological thriller Apartment Zero.
Firth finally became a British household name through his role as the aloof, haughty aristocrat Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Producer Sue Birtwistle's first choice for the part, he was eventually persuaded to take it despite his unfamiliarity with Austen's writing. He and co-star Jennifer Ehle began a romantic relationship during the filming, which received media attention only after their separation. Sheila Johnston wrote that Firth's approach to the part "lent Darcy complex shades of coldness, even caddishness, in the early episodes". The series was an international success and unexpectedly elevated Firth to stardom—in some part due to a scene not from the novel, where he emerges from a lake swim in a wet shirt. Although he did not mind being recognised as "a romantic idol as a Darcy with smouldering sex appeal" in a role that "officially turned him into a heart-throb", he expressed the wish not to be associated with Pride and Prejudice forever. He was, therefore, reluctant to accept similar roles and risk becoming typecast.
=== 1996–2008: Romance and ensemble films ===
For a time, it did seem as if Mr. Darcy would overshadow the rest of Firth's career, and there were humorous allusions to the role in his next five movies. The most notable was his casting as the love interest Mark Darcy in the film adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary, itself a modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Firth accepted the part as he saw it as an opportunity to lampoon his Mr. Darcy character. The film was very successful and critically well-liked. A 2004 sequel was mostly panned by critics but still financially successful.
Prior to this, Firth had a significant supporting role in The English Patient (1996) as the husband of Kristin Scott Thomas's character, whose jealousy of her adultery leads to tragedy. That year he also played the husband of the character of Kristin's sister, Serena Scott Thomas, in the television miniseries Nostromo. Of the two he said "Serena was a much more faithful wife."
He next played the lead role as a school teacher and obsessed Arsenal F.C. football fan in the romantic fictional adaptation Fever Pitch (1997) of Nick Hornby’s million-selling autobiographical essay Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life.
He had parts in light romantic period pieces such as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Relative Values (2000) and The Importance of Being Earnest (2002). He appeared in several television productions, including Donovan Quick (an updated version of Don Quixote) (1999), and had a more serious role as Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart in Conspiracy (2001), concerning the Nazi Wannsee Conference, for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Firth featured in the ensemble all-star cast of Richard Curtis's Love Actually (2003), another financial success which divided critics. He was also given solo billing as the romantic lead in Hope Springs, but it received very poor reviews and made little box-office impact. He starred as Amanda Bynes' character's father in the 2003 teen comedy What A Girl Wants, which was based on the play The Reluctant Debutante. He played painter Johannes Vermeer opposite Scarlett Johansson in the 2003 release Girl with a Pearl Earring; some critics praised the film's subtlety and sumptuous visuals, whilst others found it almost restrained, tedious and bereft of emotion. Nevertheless, it received mostly favourable reviews, was moderately successful and earned several awards and nominations.
In 2005 Firth appeared in Nanny McPhee with Emma Thompson, in which he plays a struggling widowed father, it was a rare venture for him into the fantasy genre. He also appeared in Where the Truth Lies, a return to some of his darker, more intense early roles, that included a notorious scene featuring a bisexual orgy. Sheila Johnston wrote that it "confounded his fans", but nonetheless that his character "draws knowingly on that suave, cultivated persona", which could be traced from Mr. Darcy. Other films from this time included Then She Found Me (2007) with Helen Hunt and The Last Legion (2007) with Aishwarya Rai.
In 2008, he played the adult Blake Morrison reminiscing on his difficult relationship with his ailing father in the film adaptation of Morrison's memoir, And When Did You Last See Your Father? It received generally favorable reviews. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it four out of five stars. Manohla Dargis in The New York Times said: "It's a pleasure to watch Mr. Firth–a supremely controlled actor who makes each developing fissure visible–show the adult Blake coming to terms with his contradictory feelings, letting the love and the hurt pour out of him." Philip French of The Observer wrote that Firth "[does] quiet agonising to perfection." However, Derek Elley of Variety called the film "an unashamed tearjerker that's all wrapping and no center." While he conceded that it was "undeniably effective at a gut level despite its dramatic shortcomings", he added, "Things aren't helped any by Firth's dour perf, as his Blake comes across as a self-centered whiner, a latter-day Me Generation figure who's obsessed with finding problems when there really aren't any."
The film adaptation of Mamma Mia! (2008) was Firth's first foray into musicals. He described the experience as "a bit nerve-wracking" but believed he got off lightly by being tasked with one of the less demanding songs, Our Last Summer. Mamma Mia became the highest grossing British-made film of all time, taking in over $600 million worldwide. Like Love Actually, it polarised critics, with supporters such as Empire calling it "cute, clean, camp fun, full of sunshine, and toe tappers", whereas Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian said the film gave him a "need to vomit". Carrie Rickey in The Philadelphia Inquirer described Firth's performance as "the embodiment of forced mirth." That year, Firth also starred in Easy Virtue, which screened at the Rome Film Festival to excellent reviews. He starred in Genova, which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2009 he appeared in A Christmas Carol, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, using the performance capture procedure, playing Scrooge's optimistic nephew Fred, with Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright Penn, Bob Hoskins and Cary Elwes.
=== 2009–2011: Critical success ===
At the 66th Venice International Film Festival in 2009, Firth received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his role in Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man, as a college professor grappling with solitude after the death of his longtime partner. His performance earned him career-best reviews and Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors' Guild, BAFTA, and BFCA nominations; he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in February 2010.
Firth starred in the 2010 film The King's Speech as Prince Albert, Duke of York/King George VI, detailing his efforts to overcome his speech impediment while becoming monarch of the United Kingdom at the end of 1936. At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the film received a standing ovation. The TIFF release of The King's Speech fell on Firth's 50th birthday and was called the "best 50th birthday gift". On 16 January 2011, he won a Golden Globe for his performance in The King's Speech in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. The Screen Actors Guild recognised him with the award for Best Male Actor on 30 January 2011.
In February 2011, he won his second consecutive best actor award at the 2011 BAFTA awards, and received an Academy Award for Best Actor in on 27 February 2011. The film grossed $414,211,549 worldwide.
Firth appeared as senior British secret agent Bill Haydon in the 2011 adaptation of the John le Carré novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson and co-starring Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong and John Hurt. It gathered mostly excellent reviews. The Independent described Firth's performance as "suavely arrogant" and praised the film. Deborah Young in The Hollywood Reporter thought Firth got "all the best dialogue", which he delivered "sardonically". Leslie Felperin in Variety wrote that all the actors brought their "A game" and Firth was in "particularly choleric, amusing form."
=== 2012–present: Established actor ===
In May 2011, Firth began filming Gambit — a remake of Ronald Neame's 1960s crime caper, in the part originally played by Michael Caine. It was released in the UK in November 2012 and was a financial and critical failure. Empire's Kim Newman wrote, "Firth starts out homaging Caine with his horn-rimmed cool but soon defaults to his usual repressed British cold mode", whilst Time Out London called his a "likeable performance", although criticised the film overall. Stephen Dalton in The Hollywood Reporter said, "To his credit, Firth keeps his performance grounded in downbeat realism while all around are wildly mugging in desperate pursuit of thin, forced laughs. In 2012, Firth co-founded Raindog Films with British music industry executive and entrepreneur Ged Doherty. Its first feature, Eye in the Sky, for which Firth was co-producer, was released in April 2016.
In May 2013, it was announced that Firth had signed to co-star with Emma Stone in Woody Allen's romantic comedy Magic in the Moonlight, set in the 1920s and shot on the French Riviera. In 2014, he did his first turn as Harry Hart / Agent Galahad in the spy action film Kingsman: The Secret Service, which grossed $414.4 million against an $81 million budget. Firth had been announced to voice Paddington Bear for the film Paddington; however, he announced his withdrawal on 17 June 2014, saying: "It's been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realization that he simply doesn't have my voice".
In June 2015, he began filming the story of amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst in The Mercy, alongside Rachel Weisz, David Thewlis and Jonathan Bailey. In 2016, Firth reprised his popular role as Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Baby, which fared much better with audiences and critics than the second in the series (Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason). He portrayed American book editor Max Perkins in Genius, co-starring Jude Law as author Thomas Wolfe and based on A. Scott Berg's biography Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. In 2016 he began filming for Rupert Everett's directorial debut The Happy Prince, a biopic of Oscar Wilde, playing Wilde's friend Reginald "Reggie" Turner.
In 2017, he reprised his role as Jamie from 2003's Love Actually in the television short film Red Nose Day Actually, by original writer and director Richard Curtis. Also that year, Firth returned as Harry Hart / Agent Galahad in the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle. In 2018, Firth reprised his role of Harry Bright in the sequel to Mamma Mia!, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. That year, he also appeared as William Weatherall Wilkins in the musical fantasy film Mary Poppins Returns, starring Emily Blunt in the title role. He also played British naval commander David Russell in Thomas Vinterberg's Kursk, a film about the true story of the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster, in which he starred alongside Matthias Schoenaerts. In 2019, he had a cameo as British General Erinmore in Sam Mendes's World War I film 1917. Set in 1947 England, Firth starred with Julie Walters in The Secret Garden and later in 2020 with Stanley Tucci in Supernova. In 2021, he starred in romantic drama film Mothering Sunday directed by Eva Husson. In December 2021, he was cast in Sam Mendes's drama film Empire of Light, starring Olivia Colman. He was seen as Ewen Montagu in Operation Mincemeat, in April 2022. Firth returned to television in May 2022 starring as Michael Peterson in the HBO production The Staircase. In 2025, Firth starred in the drama series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, portraying Jim Swire whose daughter died on Pan Am Flight 103 while in flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988.
== Writing ==
Firth's first published work, "The Department of Nothing", appeared in Speaking with the Angel (2000), a collection of short stories edited by Nick Hornby and published to benefit the TreeHouse Trust to aid autistic children. He met Hornby during the filming of the original Fever Pitch. He contributed to the book We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples (2009), which explores the cultures, diversity and challenges of Indigenous peoples around the world. It features contributions from many Western writers, including Laurens van der Post, Noam Chomsky, Claude Lévi-Strauss; and from Indigenous people such as Davi Kopenawa Yanomami and Roy Sesana. Profits from the book's sale benefit the Indigenous rights organisation Survival International. Firth was an executive producer for the film In Prison My Whole Life, featuring Noam Chomsky and Angela Davis. It was selected to the 2007 London Film Festival and the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
In December 2010, Firth was guest editor on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, where he commissioned research to scan the brains of volunteers (mostly university students) to see if there were structural differences that might account for political leanings. The resulting academic paper listed him as an author, along with two University College London researchers and the science reporter of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. For his contribution, professor John Jost called Firth a 'scientific ambassador' in the field of political neuroscience. The study suggested that conservatives had more development in the amygdala, and liberals in the anterior cingulate cortex.
In 2012, Firth's audiobook recording of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair was released at Audible.com and was declared Audiobook of the Year at the 2013 Audie Awards.
== Activism ==
Firth has been a longstanding supporter of Survival International, a non-governmental organisation that advocates for the rights of tribal peoples. Speaking in 2001, he said, "My interest in tribal peoples goes back many years ... and I have supported [Survival] ever since." In 2003, during the promotion of Love Actually, he spoke in defence of the Indigenous people of Botswana, condemning the Botswana government's eviction of the Gana and Gwi people (San) from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. He said of San, "These people are not the remnants of a past era who need to be brought up to date. Those who are able to continue to live on the land that is rightfully theirs are facing the 21st century with a confidence that many of us in the so-called developed world can only envy." He has also backed a Survival International campaign to press the Brazilian government to take more decisive action in defence of Awá-Guajá people, whose land and livelihood is critically threatened by the actions of loggers.
As a supporter of the Refugee Council, Firth was involved in a campaign to stop the deportation of a group of 42 Congolese asylum seekers, expressing concerns in open letters to The Independent and The Guardian that they faced being murdered on their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Firth said: "To me, it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the Middle-England xenophobes. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for." Four of the asylum seekers were given last-minute reprieves from deportation.
Firth, along with other celebrities, has been involved in the Oxfam global campaign Make Trade Fair, focusing on trade practices considered especially unfair to third-world producers, including dumping, high import tariffs, and labour rights. He and some collaborators opened Eco, an eco-friendly shop in West London, which offers fair-trade and eco-friendly goods, and expert advice on making spaces more energy efficient. In October 2009, at the London Film Festival, he launched a film and political activism website, Brightwide (since decommissioned), with his wife Livia.
During the 2010 general election, Firth announced his support for the Liberal Democrats, having previously been a Labour supporter, citing asylum and refugees' rights as key reasons for the change. In December 2010, he publicly dropped his support of the Liberal Democrats, citing their U-turn on tuition fees, and said that he was currently unaffiliated. He appeared in literature supporting changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing members of parliament to the House of Commons, in the unsuccessful Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.
In 2009, Firth joined the 10:10 project, supporting the movement calling for people to reduce their carbon footprints. In 2010, he endorsed "Roots & Shoots", an education programme in the UK run by the Jane Goodall Institute.
== Personal life ==
In 1989, Firth began a relationship with Meg Tilly, his co-star in Valmont. Their son, William Joseph Firth, was born in 1990. William is now also an actor, appearing with his father in Bridget Jones's Baby in 2016. The family moved to the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada but Firth and Tilly ultimately broke up in 1994. During the filming of Pride and Prejudice, Firth and co-star Jennifer Ehle began a romantic relationship, which received media attention only after their separation.
In 1997, Firth married Italian activist Livia Giuggioli. They have two sons, Luca and Matteo. Firth speaks fluent Italian. The family divided their time between Wandsworth, in London, and Umbria, Italy. They announced their separation in 2019. They had gone through a private separation several years prior, but had reconciled.
Firth was a vocal opponent of the Brexit initiative for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. Following the referendum's passage, and the ensuing uncertainty over rights of non-EU citizens, he applied for "dual citizenship (British and Italian)" in 2017 to "have the same passports as his wife and children". The Italian Ministry of the Interior announced Firth's application had been approved on 22 September 2017. Firth stated regarding the decision that "I have a passionate love of Italy" but "will always be extremely British (you only have to look at or listen to me)."
In 2011, after winning the Academy Award for his portrayal of King George VI in The King's Speech, Firth suggested that he may be a republican (anti-monarchist) in a CNN interview with Piers Morgan, saying that voting was "one of his favourite things" and that unelected institutions were "a problem for him".
== Acting credits and accolades ==
Firth has received numerous awards, including an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as King George VI in Tom Hooper's historical drama The King's Speech (2010).
He received an honorary doctorate on 19 October 2007 from the University of Winchester. On 13 January 2011, he was presented with the 2,429th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In April 2011, Time included him in its list of the World's 100 Most Influential People. He was made a Freeman of the City of London on 8 March 2012, and was awarded an honorary fellowship by the University of the Arts London in 2012.
Firth was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali | Muhammad Ali | Muhammad Ali ( ah-LEE; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "the Greatest", he is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He held the Ring magazine heavyweight title from 1964 to 1970, was the undisputed champion from 1974 to 1978, and was the WBA and Ring heavyweight champion from 1978 to 1979. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He joined the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s, but later transitioned to Sunni Islam in the mid-1970s after the death of its longtime leader, Elijah Muhammad. He won the world heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. During that year, he denounced his birth name as a "slave name" and formally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1967, Ali refused to be drafted into the military, owing to his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War, and was found guilty of draft evasion and stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison while appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned in 1971. He did not fight for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture of the 1960s generation, and he became a prominent, high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career.
Ali fought in several highly publicized boxing matches, including fights with Liston, Joe Frazier (including the Fight of the Century, to that point the biggest boxing event and the Thrilla in Manila), and George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle. At a time when many boxers let their managers do the talking, Ali became renowned for his provocative and outlandish persona. He was famous for trash talking, often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, and is identified as a pioneer in hip-hop. He often predicted in which round he would knock out his opponent. As a boxer, Ali was known for his unorthodox movement, footwork, head movement, and rope-a-dope technique, among others.
Outside boxing, Ali performed as a spoken word artist, releasing two studio albums: I Am the Greatest! (1963) and The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay (1976). Both albums received Grammy Award nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy, and activism. In 1984, he made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome, which some reports attributed to boxing-related injuries, though he and his specialist physicians disputed this. He remained an active public figure, but in his later years made fewer public appearances as his condition worsened, and was cared for by his family until his death in 2016.
== Early life ==
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. () was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Odessa Grady Clay and Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. Clay Sr. was named after the 19th-century Republican politician and abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay. He was a descendant of slaves of the antebellum South, and was predominantly of African descent, with Irish and English heritage. DNA testing performed in 2018 showed that Clay was a descendant of the former slave Archer Alexander, the model of a freed man for the Emancipation Memorial.
His father was a sign and billboard painter, and his mother a domestic helper. Although Cassius Sr. was a Methodist, he allowed Odessa to bring up both Cassius Jr. and his younger brother Rudy (later renamed Rahaman Ali), as Baptists. Clay Jr. attended Central High School in Louisville and was dyslexic, which led to difficulties in reading and writing.
He grew up amid racial segregation. His mother recalled one occasion when he was denied a drink of water at a store because of his race, saying it "really affected him." He was also strongly affected by the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, taking out his frustration by vandalizing a local rail yard with a friend. He later told his daughter Hana, "Nothing would ever shake me up (more) than the story of Emmett Till."
== Amateur career ==
Clay was first directed toward boxing by Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over a thief having taken his bicycle. He told the officer he was going to "whup" the thief. The officer told Clay he had better learn how to box first. Initially, Clay did not take up Martin's offer, but after seeing amateur boxers on a local television boxing program called Tomorrow's Champions, Clay was interested in the prospect of fighting. He then began to work with trainer Fred Stoner, whom he credits with giving him the "real training", eventually molding "my style, my stamina and my system". For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by boxing cutman Chuck Bodak.
Clay made his amateur boxing debut in 1954 against local amateur boxer Ronnie O'Keefe. He won by split decision. He went on to win six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two Chicago Golden Gloves, two national Golden Gloves titles, two Amateur Athletic Union national titles, the U.S. Olympic Trials, and the light heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100–8. In his 1975 autobiography, he recalled that shortly after his return from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a "whites-only" restaurant and fought with a white gang. The story was later disputed, and several of his friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham, denied it. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, "Honkies sure bought into that one!" Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at the Georgia Dome during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the Games.
== Professional career ==
=== Early career ===
Clay made his professional debut on October 29, 1960, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker. From then until the end of 1963, Clay amassed a record of 19–0 with 15 wins by knockout. He defeated boxers including Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, LaMar Clark, Doug Jones, and Henry Cooper. Clay also beat his former trainer and veteran boxer Archie Moore in a 1962 match.
These early fights were not without trials. Clay was knocked down by both Sonny Banks and Cooper. In the Cooper fight, Clay was floored by a left hook at the end of round four and was saved by the bell, going on to win in the predicted fifth round due to Cooper's severely cut eye. The fight with Doug Jones on March 13, 1963, was Clay's toughest fight during this stretch. The number two and three heavyweight contenders respectively, Clay and Jones fought on Jones' home turf at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones staggered Clay in the first round, and the unanimous decision for Clay was greeted by boos and a rain of debris thrown into the ring. Watching on closed-circuit TV, heavyweight champ Sonny Liston quipped that if he fought Clay he (Liston) might get locked up for murder. The fight was later named "Fight of the Year" by The Ring magazine.
In each of these fights, Clay vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities. He called Jones "an ugly little man" and Cooper a "bum". He said he was embarrassed to get in the ring with Alex Miteff and claimed that Madison Square Garden was "too small for me". Ali's trash talk was inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner's, after he saw George's talking ability attract huge crowds to events. In a 1969 interview he stated that he met with George in Las Vegas in 1961, that George told him that talking a big game would earn paying fans who either wanted to see him win or wanted to see him lose, thus Clay transformed himself into a self-described "big-mouth and a bragger".
In 1960, Clay left Moore's camp, partially due to Clay's refusal to do chores such as washing dishes and sweeping. To replace Moore, Clay hired Angelo Dundee to be his trainer. Clay had met Dundee in February 1957 during Clay's amateur career. Around this time, Clay sought longtime idol Sugar Ray Robinson to be his manager, but was rebuffed.
=== World heavyweight champion ===
==== First Fight against Liston ====
By late 1963, Clay had become the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. The fight was set for February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach. Liston was an intimidating personality, a dominating fighter with a criminal past and ties to the mob. Based on Clay's uninspired performance against Jones and Cooper in his previous two fights, and Liston's destruction of former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in two first-round knockouts, Clay was an 8:1 underdog. Despite this, Clay taunted Liston during the pre-fight buildup, dubbing him "the big ugly bear", claiming "Liston even smells like a bear" and "I'm gonna give him to the local zoo after I whup him." Clay turned the pre-fight weigh-in into a circus, shouting at Liston that "someone is going to die at ringside tonight." Clay's pulse rate was measured at 120, more than double his normal 54.
The outcome of the fight was a major upset. At the opening bell, Liston rushed at Clay, seemingly angry and looking for a quick knockout. However, Clay's superior speed and mobility enabled him to elude Liston, making the champion miss and look awkward. At the end of the first round, Clay opened up his attack and hit Liston repeatedly with jabs. Liston fought better in round two, but at the beginning of the third round Clay hit Liston with a combination that buckled his knees and opened a cut under his left eye. This was the first time Liston had ever been cut. At the end of round four, Clay was returning to his corner when he began experiencing blinding pain in his eyes and asked his trainer, Angelo Dundee, to cut off his gloves. Dundee refused. It has been speculated that the problem was due to ointment used to seal Liston's cuts, perhaps deliberately applied by his corner to his gloves. Though unconfirmed, boxing historian Bert Sugar said that two of Liston's opponents also complained about their eyes "burning".
Despite Liston's attempts to knock out a blinded Clay, Clay was able to survive the fifth round until sweat and tears rinsed the irritation from his eyes. In the sixth, Clay dominated, hitting Liston repeatedly. Liston did not answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay was declared the winner by TKO. Liston stated that the reason he quit was an injured shoulder. Following the win, a triumphant Clay rushed to the edge of the ring and, pointing to the ringside press, shouted: "Eat your words!" He added, "I am the greatest! I shook up the world. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived."
At ringside post fight, Clay appeared unconvinced that the fight was stopped due to a Liston shoulder injury, saying that the only injury Liston had was "an open eye, a big cut eye!" When told by Joe Louis that the injury was a "left arm thrown out of its socket," Clay quipped, "Yeah, swinging at nothing, who wouldn't?"
In winning this fight at the age of 22, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion. However, Floyd Patterson remained the youngest to win the heavyweight championship, doing so at the age 21 during an elimination bout following Rocky Marciano's retirement. Mike Tyson broke both records in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick to win the heavyweight title at age 20. The feat also made Clay the fastest boxer to win the championship (non-vacant) in the modern era, doing so in 20 bouts.
Soon after the Liston fight, Clay changed his name to Cassius X, and then later to Muhammad Ali upon converting to the Nation of Islam.
==== Rematch with Liston ====
Ali then faced a rematch with Liston scheduled for May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. It had been scheduled for Boston the previous November, but was postponed for six months due to Ali's emergency surgery for a hernia three days before. The fight was controversial. Midway through the first round, Liston was knocked down by a difficult-to-see blow the press dubbed a "phantom punch". Referee Jersey Joe Walcott did not begin the count immediately after the knockdown, as Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Liston rose after he had been down for about 20 seconds, and the fight momentarily continued. However a few seconds later Walcott, having been informed by the timekeepers that Liston had been down for a count of 10, stopped the match and declared Ali the winner by knockout. The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.
It has since been speculated that Liston purposely dropped to the ground. Proposed motivations include threats on his life from the Nation of Islam, that he had bet against himself and that he "took a dive" to pay off debts. Slow-motion replays show that Liston was jarred by a chopping right from Ali, although it is unclear whether the blow was a genuine knockout punch.
==== Fight against Patterson ====
Ali defended his title against former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson on November 22, 1965. Before the match, Ali mocked Patterson, who was widely known to call him by his former name Cassius Clay, as an "Uncle Tom", calling him "The Rabbit". Although Ali had the better of Patterson, who appeared injured during the fight, the match lasted 12 rounds before being called on a technical knockout. Patterson later said he had strained his sacroiliac. Ali was criticized in the sports media for appearing to have toyed with Patterson during the fight. Patterson biographer W. K. Stratton claims that the conflict between Ali and Patterson was not genuine but was staged to increase ticket sales and the closed-circuit viewing audience, with both men complicit in the theatrics. Stratton also cites an interview by Howard Cosell in which Ali explained that rather than toying with Patterson, he refrained from knocking him out after it became apparent Patterson was injured. Patterson later said that he had never been hit by punches as soft as Ali's. Stratton states that Ali arranged the second fight, in 1972, with the financially struggling Patterson to help the former champion earn enough money to pay a debt to the IRS.
==== Main Bout ====
After the Patterson fight, Ali founded his own promotion company, Main Bout. The company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts. The company's stockholders were mainly fellow Nation of Islam members, along with several others, including Bob Arum.
Ali and then-WBA heavyweight champion boxer Ernie Terrell had agreed to meet for a bout in Chicago on March 29, 1966 (the WBA, one of two boxing associations, had stripped Ali of his title following his joining the Nation of Islam). But in February Ali was reclassified by the Louisville draft board as 1-A from 1-Y, and he indicated that he would refuse to serve, commenting to the press, "I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.", although the second part is probably apocryphal. Amidst the media and public outcry over Ali's stance, the Illinois Athletic Commission refused to sanction the fight, citing technicalities.
Instead, Ali traveled to Canada and Europe and won championship bouts against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Brian London, and Karl Mildenberger.
Ali returned to the United States to fight Cleveland Williams at the Astrodome in Houston on November 14, 1966. The bout drew a record-breaking indoor crowd of 35,460 people. Williams had once been considered among the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, but in 1964 he had been shot at point-blank range by a Texas policeman, resulting in the loss of one kidney and 3.0 metres (10 ft) of his small intestine. Ali dominated Williams, winning a third-round technical knockout in what some consider the finest performance of his career.
Ali fought Terrell in Houston on February 6, 1967. Terrell, who was unbeaten in five years and had defeated many of the boxers Ali had faced, was billed as Ali's toughest opponent since Liston; he was big, strong and had a three-inch reach advantage over Ali. During the lead up to the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali "Clay", much to Ali's annoyance. The two almost came to blows over the name issue in a pre-fight interview with Howard Cosell. Ali seemed intent on humiliating Terrell. "I want to torture him", he said. "A clean knockout is too good for him." The fight was close until the seventh round, when Ali bloodied Terrell and almost knocked him out. In the eighth round, Ali taunted Terrell, hitting him with jabs and shouting between punches, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... what's my name?" Ali won a unanimous 15-round decision. Terrell claimed that early in the fight Ali deliberately thumbed him in the eye, forcing him to fight half-blind, and then, in a clinch, rubbed the wounded eye against the ropes. Because of Ali's apparent intent to prolong the fight to inflict maximum punishment, critics described the bout as "one of the ugliest boxing fights". Tex Maule later wrote: "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." Ali denied the accusations of cruelty but, for Ali's critics, the fight provided more evidence of his arrogance.
After Ali's title defense against Zora Folley on March 22, he was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service. His boxing license was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed.
== Draft resistance ==
Ali registered for conscription in the United States military on his 18th birthday and was listed as 1-A in 1962. In 1964, he was reclassified as Class 1-Y (fit for service only in times of national emergency) after he failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub-standard, due to his dyslexia. (He was quoted as saying, "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest!") By early 1966, the army lowered its standards to permit soldiers above the 15th percentile and Ali was again classified as 1-A. This classification meant he was now eligible for the draft and induction into the U.S. Army at a time when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam War, a war which put him further at odds with the white establishment.
When notified of this status, Ali declared that he would refuse to serve in the army and publicly considered himself a conscientious objector. Ali stated: "War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers". He also said, "We are not to be the aggressor but we will defend ourselves if attacked." He stated: "Man, I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong." Ali elaborated: "Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?"
On April 28, 1967, Ali appeared in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, but he refused three times to step forward when his name was called. An officer warned him that he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called, and he was arrested. Later that same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and the World Boxing Association stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit. Ali remained unable to obtain a license to box in any state for over three years. On June 4, 1967, in a first for sports professionals, a group of high-profile African-American athletes—including Jim Brown, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as one political leader, Carl Stokes—assembled with Ali at the Negro Industrial Economic Union in Cleveland for what became known as the "Cleveland Summit" or the "Muhammad Ali Summit". The meeting was organized by Brown for his peers to question Ali about the seriousness of his convictions, and to decide whether to support him, which they ultimately did.
At the trial on June 20, 1967, the jury found Ali guilty after only 21 minutes of deliberation of the criminal offense of violating the Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971.
Ali remained free in the years between the Appellate Court decision and the Supreme Court ruling. As public opinion began turning against the war and the Civil Rights Movement continued to gather momentum, Ali became a popular speaker at colleges and universities across the country; this itinerary was rare if not unprecedented for a prizefighter. At Howard University, for example, he gave his popular "Black Is Best" speech to 4,000 cheering students and community intellectuals, after he was invited to speak by sociology professor Nathan Hare on behalf of the Black Power Committee, a student protest group.
On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States in Clay v. United States overturned Ali's conviction by a unanimous 8–0 decision (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself, as he had been the U.S. Solicitor General at the time of Ali's conviction). The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Ali's claims per se. Rather, the Court held that since the appeal board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption to Ali, it was therefore impossible to determine which of the three basic tests for conscientious objector status (offered in the Justice Department's brief) the appeal board relied on, and Ali's conviction must be reversed.
In a 1974 interview, Ali said, "If they say stand and salute the flag I do that out of respect, because I'm in the country". Ali would later say, "If America was in trouble and real war came, I'd be on the front line if we had been attacked. But I could see that [the Vietnam War] wasn't right." He also said, "Black men would go over there and fight, but when they came home, they couldn't even be served a hamburger."
=== Impact of Ali's draft refusal ===
Ali's example inspired many black Americans and others. However, initially when he refused induction, he became arguably the most hated man in the country and received many death threats. People who supported Ali during this time were also threatened, including sports journalist Jerry Izenberg, whose columns defended Ali's decision not to serve. He wrote, "Bomb threats emptied our office, making the staff stand out in the snow. My car windshield was smashed with a sledgehammer." The New York Times columnist William Rhoden wrote, "Ali's actions changed my standard of what constituted an athlete's greatness. Possessing a killer jump shot or the ability to stop on a dime was no longer enough. What were you doing for the liberation of your people? What were you doing to help your country live up to the covenant of its founding principles?"
Recalling Ali's anti-war position, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "I remember the teachers at my high school didn't like Ali because he was so anti-establishment and he kind of thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. The fact that he was proud to be a black man and that he had so much talent ... made some people think that he was dangerous. But for those very reasons I enjoyed him."
Civil rights figures came to believe that Ali had an energizing effect on the freedom movement as a whole. Al Sharpton spoke of his bravery at a time when there was still widespread support for the Vietnam War:
For the heavyweight champion of the world, who had achieved the highest level of athletic celebrity, to put all of that on the line—the money, the ability to get endorsements—to sacrifice all of that for a cause, gave a whole sense of legitimacy to the movement and the causes with young people that nothing else could have done. Even those who were assassinated, certainly lost their lives, but they didn't voluntarily do that. He knew he was going to jail and did it anyway. That's another level of leadership and sacrifice.
Ali was honored with the annual Martin Luther King Award in 1970 by civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, who called him "a living example of soul power, the March on Washington in two fists". Coretta Scott King added that Ali was "a champion of justice and peace and unity".
In speaking of the cost on Ali's career of his refusal to be drafted, his trainer Angelo Dundee said, "One thing must be taken into account when talking about Ali: He was robbed of his best years, his prime years." Ali's promoter Bob Arum did not support Ali's choice at the time, but in 2016 Arum stated: "when I look back at his life, and I was blessed to call him a friend and spent a lot of time with him, it's hard for me to talk about his exploits in boxing because as great as they were they paled in comparison to the impact that he had on the world. ... He did what he thought was right. And it turned out he was right, and I was wrong."
Ali's resistance to the draft was covered in the 2013 documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.
=== NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications ===
In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators Frank Church and Howard Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam. A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal".
In 1971, Ali's Fight of the Century with Frazier was used by an activist group, the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, to pull off a burglary at an FBI office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the COINTELPRO operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child.
== Exile and comeback ==
In March 1966, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces. He was systematically denied a boxing license in every state and stripped of his passport. As a result, he did not fight from March 1967 to October 1970 until his conviction was overturned in 1971.
=== Protesting while exiled ===
During this time of inactivity, as opposition to the Vietnam War began to grow and Ali's stance gained sympathy, he spoke at colleges across the nation, criticizing the Vietnam War and advocating African American pride and racial justice. Ali based himself in Chicago. According to most close to him, his Chicago years were formative.
At the time, Ali was widely condemned by the American media, with fears that his actions could potentially lead to mass civil disobedience. Despite this, Ebony magazine noted in the late 1960s that Ali's popularity had increased during this time, especially among black people.
=== The Super Fight ===
While banned from sanctioned bouts, Ali settled a $1 million lawsuit against radio producer Murray Woroner by accepting $10,000 to appear in a privately staged fantasy fight against retired champion Rocky Marciano. In 1969 the boxers were filmed sparring for about 75 one-minute rounds; they produced several potential outcomes. A computer program purportedly determined the winner, based on data about the fighters, along with the opinions of approximately 250 boxing experts. Edited versions of the bout were shown in movie theaters in 1970. In the U.S. version Ali lost in a simulated 13th-round knockout, but in the European version Marciano lost due to cuts, also simulated.
Ali suggested that prejudice determined his defeat in the U.S. version; he was reported to have jokingly said, "That computer was made in Alabama."
== Return ==
On August 11, 1970, with his case still in appeal, Ali was granted a license to box by the City of Atlanta Athletic Commission. Leroy Johnson, Jesse Hill Jr. and Harry Pett had used their local political influence and set up the company House of Sports to organize the fight, underlining the influential power of Georgia's black politics in Ali's comeback. Ali's first return bout was against Jerry Quarry on October 26, resulting in a win after three rounds after Quarry was cut.
A month earlier, a victory in federal court forced the New York State Boxing Commission to reinstate Ali's license. He fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December, an uninspired performance that ended in a dramatic technical knockout of Bonavena in the 15th round. The win left Ali as a top contender against heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
=== Fight against Joe Frazier ===
Ali and Frazier's first fight, held at the Garden, was on March 8, 1971, while Ali's Supreme Court appeal was still pending. It was nicknamed the "Fight of the Century" due to the tremendous excitement surrounding a bout between two undefeated fighters, each with a legitimate claim to be heavyweight champion. Veteran U.S. boxing writer John Condon called it "the greatest event I've ever worked on in my life." The bout was broadcast to 36 countries; promoters granted 760 press passes.
Adding to the atmosphere were the considerable pre-fight theatrics and name calling. Before the fight, Frazier called Ali "Cassius Clay," angering Ali who responded by calling Frazier a "dumb tool of the white establishment" and saying "Frazier is too ugly to be champ. Frazier is too dumb to be champ." Ali also frequently called Frazier an "Uncle Tom". Dave Wolf, who worked in Frazier's camp, recalled that "Ali was saying 'the only people rooting for Joe Frazier are white people in suits, Alabama sheriffs, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm fighting for the little man in the ghetto.' Joe was sitting there, smashing his fist into the palm of his hand, saying, 'What the fuck does he know about the ghetto?'"
Ali began training at a farm near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and, finding the country setting to his liking, sought to develop a real training camp in the countryside. He found a five-acre site on a Pennsylvania country road in the village of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. On this site, Ali carved out what was to become his training camp, where he trained for all his fights from 1972 to the end of his career in 1981.
The Monday night fight lived up to its billing. In a preview of their two other fights, a crouching, bobbing and weaving Frazier constantly pressured Ali, getting hit regularly by Ali jabs and combinations, but relentlessly attacking and scoring repeatedly, especially to Ali's body. The fight was even in the early rounds, but Ali was taking more punishment than ever in his career up until that point. On several occasions in the early rounds, he played to the crowd and shook his head "no" after he was hit. In the later rounds—in what was the first appearance of the "rope-a-dope strategy"—Ali leaned against the ropes and absorbed punishment from Frazier, hoping to tire him. In the 11th round, Frazier connected with a left hook that wobbled Ali, but because it appeared that Ali might be clowning as he staggered backwards across the ring, Frazier hesitated to press his advantage, fearing an Ali counterattack. In the final round, Frazier knocked Ali down with a vicious left hook, which referee Arthur Mercante Sr. said was as hard as a man can be hit. Ali was back on his feet in three seconds. Nevertheless, Ali lost by unanimous decision, his first professional defeat.
=== After his loss ===
==== Chamberlain challenge and Ellis fight ====
In 1971, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain challenged Ali to a fight, and a bout was scheduled for July 26. Although the seven-foot-one-inch-tall Chamberlain had formidable physical advantages over Ali—weighing 60 pounds more and able to reach 14 inches further—Ali was able to influence Chamberlain into calling off the bout by taunting him with calls of "Timber!" and "The tree will fall" during a shared interview. These statements of confidence unsettled his taller opponent, whom Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had offered a record-setting contract, conditional on Chamberlain agreeing to abandon what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness", and he did exactly that.
Meanwhile, on June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court overturned Ali's draft evasion conviction. To replace Ali's opponent, promoter Bob Arum quickly booked a former sparring partner of Ali's, Jimmy Ellis, who was a childhood friend from Louisville, Kentucky, to fight him. Ali won the bout through a technical knockout when the referee stopped the fight in the twelfth round.
==== Fights against Quarry, Patterson, Foster, Bugner and Norton ====
After Ellis, Ali fought Jerry Quarry, had a second bout with Floyd Patterson, and faced Bob Foster in 1972, winning a total of six fights that year. During two bouts he had in 1973 with Joe Bugner and Ken Norton, he wore a "People's Choice" robe given to him by Elvis Presley, who in later years Ali revealed became one of his "close, personal" friends. In 1973, before his fight with Norton, Tom Cushman, a boxing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, said Ali was "gloriously overconfident" and didn't consider Norton "a threat at all". But during the fight, either in the second round according to most press reports, or the final round according to Norton, Norton broke Ali's jaw and inflicted by decision the second loss of his career. After considering retirement, Ali won a controversial decision against Norton in their second bout. This led to a rematch with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1974; Frazier had recently lost his title to George Foreman.
==== Second fight against Joe Frazier ====
Ali was strong in the early rounds of the fight, and staggered Frazier in the second round. Referee Tony Perez mistakenly thought he heard the bell ending the round and stepped between the two fighters as Ali was pressing his attack, giving Frazier time to recover. However, Frazier came on in the middle rounds, snapping Ali's head in round seven and driving him to the ropes at the end of round eight. The last four rounds saw round-to-round shifts in momentum between the two fighters. Throughout most of the bout, however, Ali was able to circle away from Frazier's dangerous left hook and to tie Frazier up when he was cornered, the latter a tactic that Frazier's camp complained of bitterly. Judges awarded Ali a unanimous decision.
=== World heavyweight champion (second reign) ===
==== The Rumble in the Jungle ====
The defeat of Frazier set the stage for a title fight against heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, on October 30, 1974—a bout nicknamed The Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman was considered one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight history. In assessing the fight, analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, who had given Ali four tough battles and won two of them, had both been devastated by Foreman in second-round knockouts. Ali was 32 years old and had lost speed and reflexes since his twenties. Contrary to his later persona, Foreman was at the time a brooding and intimidating presence. Almost no one associated with the sport, not even Ali's longtime supporter Howard Cosell, thought Ali could beat Foreman.
As usual, Ali was confident and colorful before the fight. He told interviewer David Frost, "If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whup Foreman's behind!" He told the press, "I've done something new for this fight. I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." Ali was wildly popular in Zaire, with crowds chanting "Ali, bomaye" ("Ali, kill him") wherever he went.
Ali opened the fight moving and scoring with right crosses to Foreman's head. Then, beginning in the second round, and to the consternation of his corner, Ali retreated to the ropes and invited Foreman to hit him while covering up, clinching and counterpunching, all while verbally taunting Foreman. The move, which would later become known as the "Rope-a-dope", so violated conventional boxing wisdom—letting one of the hardest hitters in boxing strike at will—that at ringside writer George Plimpton thought the fight had to be fixed. Foreman, increasingly angered, threw punches that were deflected and did not land squarely. Midway through the fight, as Foreman began tiring, Ali countered more frequently and effectively with punches and flurries, which electrified the pro-Ali crowd. In the eighth round, Ali dropped an exhausted Foreman with a combination at center ring; Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, and amidst pandemonium in the ring, Ali had regained the title by knockout. Reflecting on the fight, George Foreman later said: "I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?' I realized that this ain't what I thought it was."
It was a major upset victory, after Ali came in as a 4–1 underdog against the previously unbeaten, heavy-hitting Foreman. The fight became famous for Ali's introduction of the rope-a-dope tactic. The fight was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide. It was the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time.
==== Fights against Wepner, Lyle and Bugner ====
Ali's next opponents included Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. Wepner, a journeyman known as "The Bayonne Bleeder", stunned Ali with a knockdown in the ninth round; Ali would later say he tripped on Wepner's foot. The fight inspired Sylvester Stallone to create the acclaimed film Rocky.
==== Third fight against Joe Frazier ====
Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, known as the "Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975, in temperatures approaching 100 °F (38 °C). In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the "rope-a-dope" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counterpunching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the 12th round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called "target practice" on Frazier's head. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, spent.
An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know", and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "Why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me".
After the third fight with Frazier, Ali considered retirement. He said, "I'm sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I'm so, so tired. There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family."
=== Later career ===
On February 2, 1976, Ali defeated Jean-Pierre Coopman by 5th round knockout. The WBC Heavyweight title was not on the line for this fight. On April 30, 1976, Ali would fight Jimmy Young and win a controversial unanimous decision. Howard Cosell would remark that he had "never seen Ali so off in his timing" and when asked on his performance against Young in the post-fight interview, Ali stated that he was "getting old" and that he was "preserving his energy" for Ken Norton. On May 24, 1976, Ali defeated Richard Dunn, winning by 5th round technical knockout. The punch used to knock Dunn out was taught to Ali by Taekwondo Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee. Rhee called that punch the "Accupunch"; he learned it from Bruce Lee. The Dunn fight was the last time Ali would knock an opponent out in his boxing career.
Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time in September 1976. The bout, which was held at Yankee Stadium, resulted in Ali winning a controversial decision that ringside commentators had scored in favor of Norton. Afterwards, he announced he was retiring from boxing to practice his faith, having converted to Sunni Islam after falling out with the Nation of Islam the previous year.
After returning to beat Alfredo Evangelista in May 1977, Ali struggled in his next fight against Earnie Shavers that September, getting pummeled a few times by punches to the head. Ali won the fight by another unanimous decision, but the bout caused his longtime doctor Ferdie Pacheco to quit after he was rebuffed for telling Ali he should retire. Pacheco was quoted as saying, "the New York State Athletic Commission gave me a report that showed Ali's kidneys were falling apart. I wrote to Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer, his wife and Ali himself. I got nothing back in response. That's when I decided enough is enough."
In February 1978, Ali faced Leon Spinks at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At the time, Spinks had only seven professional fights to his credit, and had recently fought a draw with journeyman Scott LeDoux. Ali sparred less than two dozen rounds in preparation for the fight and was seriously out of shape by the opening bell. He lost the title by split decision. A rematch occurred in September at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. 70,000 people attended the bout and paid a total of $6 million admission, making it the largest live gate in boxing history at that time. Ali won a unanimous decision in an uninspiring fight, with referee Lucien Joubert scoring rounds 10–4, judge Ernie Cojoe 10–4, and judge Herman Preis 11–4. This made Ali the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times.
Following this win, on July 27, 1979, Ali announced his retirement from boxing. His retirement was short-lived, however; Ali announced his comeback to face Larry Holmes for the WBC belt in an attempt to win the heavyweight championship an unprecedented fourth time. The fight was largely motivated by Ali's need for money. Boxing writer Richie Giachetti said, "Larry didn't want to fight Ali. He knew Ali had nothing left; he knew it would be a horror."
It was around this time that Ali started struggling with vocal stutters and trembling hands. The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) ordered that he undergo a complete physical in Las Vegas before being allowed to fight again. Ali chose instead to check into the Mayo Clinic, who declared him fit to fight. Their opinion was accepted by the NAC on July 31, 1980, paving the way for Ali's return to the ring.
==== Fight stoppage vs. Larry Holmes ====
On October 2, 1980, Ali returned to the ring to fight Holmes at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Holmes, who fought under the nickname "The Easton Assassin", easily dominated Ali. After the tenth round, Angelo Dundee stepped into the ring and instructed the referee to stop the fight. It was the only time Ali ever lost by stoppage.
Immediately after the fight, Ali was given painkillers and antidepressants, in violation of World Boxing Council rules prohibiting the administration of any drug before the postfight urinalysis.
Giachetti called the fight "awful...the worst sports event I ever had to cover". Actor Sylvester Stallone was ringside for the fight and said that it was like watching an autopsy on a man who is still alive. The Holmes fight is said to have contributed to Ali's Parkinson's syndrome. Despite pleas to definitively retire, Ali fought one last time on December 11, 1981, in Nassau, Bahamas, against Trevor Berbick, losing a ten-round decision.
== Exhibition bouts ==
In exhibitions, Ali boxed both well-known boxers and celebrities from other walks of life, including Antonio Inoki, Michael Dokes, Sammy Davis Jr., Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye, Burt Young, Lyle Alzado, Dave Semenko, and Puerto Rican comedian Jose Miguel Agrelot (with Iris Chacon acting as Agrelot's corner-woman).
== Personal life ==
=== Sibling ===
Rahaman Ali (1943–2025) was Ali's only sibling. Though not as successful as his brother, Rahaman, who was born Rudolph Arnett Clay, would also follow in his brother's footsteps and become a professional boxer from 1964 to 1972. After his professional career ended, Rahaman would often travel and train with Muhammad.
=== Marriages and children ===
Ali was married four times and had seven daughters and two sons. Ali was introduced to cocktail waitress Sonji Roi by Herbert Muhammad, who was to become Ali's long-time manager, and asked her to marry him after their first date. They married approximately one month later on August 14, 1964. They quarreled over Sonji's refusal to join the Nation of Islam. According to Ali, "She wouldn't do what she was supposed to do. She wore lipstick; she went into bars; she dressed in clothes that were revealing and didn't look right." The marriage was childless and they divorced on January 10, 1966. Just before the divorce was finalized, Ali sent Sonji a note: "You traded heaven for hell, baby." Ali's brother Rahaman said that she was Ali's only true love and the Nation of Islam made Ali divorce her and Ali never got over it.
On August 17, 1967, Ali married 17-year-old Belinda Boyd. In an interview with NBC 6, Boyd recounted meeting Ali when she was 10 years old at her hometown mosque. Boyd stated Ali signed an autograph for her while humorously remarking on his future fame, saying, "Listen here little girl. This is my name. Imma be famous. You need to keep that 'cause it's gone be worth a lot of money." Boyd said, "You'll never be famous with that name. And, I walked away." Born into a Chicago family that had converted to the Nation Of Islam, she later changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: author and rapper Maryum "May May" (born 1968); twins Jamillah and Rasheda (born 1970); and Muhammad Ali Jr. (born 1972). Rasheda married Robert Walsh and has two sons: Biaggio Ali (born 1998), who is an amateur MMA fighter, and Nico Ali (born 2000), who is a professional boxer.
Ali was a resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in suburban Philadelphia in the early 1970s. At age 31 in 1973, Ali began an extramarital relationship with 16-year-old Wanda Bolton (who subsequently changed her name to Aaisha Fletcher) with whom he fathered another daughter, Khaliah (born June 1974). While still married to Belinda, Ali married Aaisha in an Islamic ceremony that was not legally recognized. According to Khaliah, Aaisha and her mother lived at Ali's Deer Lake training camp alongside Belinda and her children. In January 1985, Aaisha sued Ali for unpaid palimony. The case was settled when Ali agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund for Khaliah. In 2001, Khaliah was quoted as saying she believed her father viewed her as "a mistake". He had another daughter, Miya (born 1972), from an extramarital relationship with Patricia Harvell.
By the summer of 1977, his second marriage ended due to Ali's repeated infidelity, and he had married actress and model Veronica Porché. At the time of their marriage, they had a daughter, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila Ali, was born in December 1977, and went on to become a professional boxer. By 1986, Ali and Porché were divorced due to Ali's continuous infidelity. Porché said of Ali's infidelity, "It was too much temptation for him, with women who threw themselves at him. It didn't mean anything. He didn't have affairs – he had one-night stands. I knew beyond a doubt there were no feelings involved. It was so obvious, It was easy to forgive him."
On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda "Lonnie" Williams. Lonnie first met Ali at the age of 6 when her family moved to Louisville in 1963. In 1982, she became Ali's primary caregiver and in return, he paid for her to attend graduate school at UCLA. Together they adopted a son, Asaad Amin (born 1986), when Asaad was five months old. In 1992, Lonnie incorporated Greatest of All Time, Inc. (G.O.A.T. Inc) to consolidate and license his intellectual properties for commercial purposes. She served as the vice president and treasurer until the sale of the company in 2006.
Ali then lived in Scottsdale, Arizona with Lonnie. In January 2007, it was reported that they had put their home in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which they had bought in 1975, up for sale and had purchased a home in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, for $1,875,000. Both homes were subsequently sold after Ali's death with Lonnie living in their remaining home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late twenties.
Ali's daughter Laila was a professional boxer from 1999 until 2007, despite her father's previous opposition to women's boxing. In 1978, he said "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that." Ali still attended a number of his daughter's fights. Ali's daughter Hana is married to Bellator middleweight fighter Kevin Casey. Hana wrote about her father, "His love for people was extraordinary. I would get home from school to find homeless families sleeping in our guest room. He'd see them on the street, pile them into his Rolls-Royce and bring them home. He'd buy them clothes, take them to hotels and pay the bills for months in advance." She also said celebrities like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood would often visit Ali.
==== Paternity claims ====
Kiiursti Mensah-Ali claims she is Ali's biological daughter with Barbara Mensah, with whom he allegedly had a 20-year relationship, citing photographs and a paternity test conducted in 1988. She said he accepted responsibility and took care of her, but all contacts with him were cut off after he married his fourth wife Lonnie. Kiiursti says she has a relationship with his other children. After his death she again made passionate appeals to be allowed to mourn at his funeral.
In 2010, Osmon Williams came forward claiming to be Ali's biological son. His mother Temica Williams (also known as Rebecca Holloway) launched a $3 million lawsuit against Ali in 1981 for sexual assault, claiming that she had started a sexual relationship with him when she was 12, and that her son Osmon (born 1977) was fathered by Ali when she was 17. She further alleged that Ali had originally supported her and her son financially, but stopped doing so after four years. The case went on until 1986 and was eventually thrown out as her allegations were deemed to be barred by the statute of limitations. According to Veronica, Ali admitted to the affair with Williams, but did not believe Osmon was his son, which Veronica supported by saying: "Everybody in the camp was going with that girl." Ali's biographer and friend Thomas Hauser has said this claim was of "questionable veracity".
=== Religion and beliefs ===
==== Affiliation with the Nation of Islam ====
Ali said that he first heard of the Nation of Islam when he was fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament in Chicago in 1959 and attended his first Nation of Islam meeting in 1961. He continued to attend meetings, although he kept his involvement hidden from the public. In 1962, Clay met Malcolm X, who soon became his spiritual and political mentor. By the time of the first Liston fight, Nation of Islam members, including Malcolm X, were visible in his entourage. This led to a story in The Miami Herald just before the fight disclosing that Clay had joined the Nation of Islam, which nearly caused the bout to be canceled. The article quoted Cassius Clay Sr. as saying that his son had joined the Black Muslims when he was 18.
In fact, Clay was initially refused entry to the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) due to his boxing career. However, after he won the championship from Liston in 1964, the Nation of Islam was more receptive and agreed to publicize his membership. Shortly afterwards on March 6, Elijah Muhammad gave a radio address that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (most high). Around that time Ali moved to the south side of Chicago and lived in a series of houses, always near the Nation of Islam's Mosque Maryam or Elijah Muhammad's residence. He stayed in Chicago for about 12 years.
Only a few journalists, most notably Howard Cosell, accepted the new name at that time. Ali stated that his earlier name was a "slave name" and a "white man's name" and added that "I didn't choose it and I don't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name". The person he was formerly named after was a white slave owner turned abolitionist. Ali explained in his autobiography after studying his works, "he may have gotten rid of his slaves, 'but (he) held on to white supremacy'". Ali concluded: "Why should I keep my white slavemaster's name visible and my black ancestors invisible, unknown, unhonored?"
Not afraid to antagonize the white establishment, Ali stated, "I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me." Ali's friendship with Malcolm X ended as Malcolm split with the Nation of Islam a couple of weeks after Ali joined, and Ali remained with the Nation of Islam. Ali later said that turning his back on Malcolm was one of the mistakes he regretted most in his life.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam, its leader Elijah Muhammad, and a narrative that labeled the white race as the perpetrator of genocide against African Americans made Ali a target of public condemnation. The Nation of Islam was widely viewed by whites and some African Americans as a black separatist "hate religion" with a propensity toward violence; Ali had few qualms about using his influential voice to speak Nation of Islam doctrine. In a press conference articulating his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali stated, "My enemy is the white people, not Vietcong or Chinese or Japanese."
Writer Jerry Izenberg once noted that, "the Nation became Ali's family and Elijah Muhammad became his father. But there is an irony to the fact that while the Nation branded white people as devils, Ali had more white colleagues than most African American people did at that time in America, and continued to have them throughout his career."
==== Conversion to Sunni Islam ====
In Hauser's biography Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, Ali stated that he was not a Christian as he thought the idea of God having a son sounded wrong and did not make sense to him, stating, "God don't beget; man begets". However, he still believed that even good Christians or good Jews could receive God's blessing and enter heaven as he stated, "God created all people, no matter what their religion". He also stated, "If you're against someone because he's a Muslim that's wrong. If you're against someone because he's a Christian or a Jew, that's wrong".
In a 2004 autobiography, Ali attributed his conversion to mainstream Sunni Islam to Warith Deen Muhammad, who assumed leadership of the Nation of Islam upon the death of his father Elijah Muhammad in 1975 and persuaded the Nation's followers to become adherents of Sunni Islam. Ali said some people did not like the change and stuck to Elijah's teachings, but he admired it, and so left Elijah's teachings and became a follower of Sunni Islam.
Ali had gone on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972, which inspired him in a similar manner to Malcolm X, meeting people of different colors from all over the world giving him a different outlook and greater spiritual awareness. In 1977, he said that, after he retired, he would dedicate the rest of his life to getting "ready to meet God" by helping people, charitable causes, uniting people and helping to make peace. He went on another Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1988.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he stated that "Islam is a religion of peace" and "does not promote terrorism or killing people", and that he was "angry that the world sees a certain group of Islam followers who caused this destruction, but they are not real Muslims. They are racist fanatics who call themselves Muslims." In December 2015, after the November 2015 Paris attacks, he stated that "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion", that "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda", and that "political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam, and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."
He also developed an interest in Sufism, which he referenced in his 2003 autobiography, The Soul of a Butterfly. According to Ali's daughter, Hana Yasmeen Ali, who co-authored The Soul of a Butterfly with him, Ali was attracted to Sufism after reading the books of Inayat Khan, which contain Sufi teachings.
Muhammad Ali received guidance from Islamic scholars such as Grand Mufti of Syria Al Marhum Al Sheikh Ahmed Kuftaro, Hisham Kabbani, Imam Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, and Timothy J. Gianotti, who planned his funeral.
=== Health ===
During his amateur career, Ali refrained from smoking, drugs, and drinking alcohol and soda pop, and adopted an idiosyncratic diet. Upon his acceptance of the dietary restrictions of Islam, the Nation of Islam recruited cooks to prepare his meals.
== Entertainment career ==
=== Acting ===
Ali had a cameo role in the 1962 film version of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and during his exile from boxing, he starred in the short-lived 1969 Broadway musical, Buck White. He also appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull.
His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee.
The film Freedom Road, made in 1978, features Ali in a rare acting role as Gideon Jackson, a former slave and Union soldier in 1870s Virginia, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate.
=== Spoken word poetry ===
In 1963, Ali released an album of spoken word music on Columbia Records titled, I Am the Greatest, and in 1964, he recorded a cover version of the rhythm and blues song "Stand by Me". I Am the Greatest sold 500,000 copies, and has been identified as an early example of rap music and a precursor to hip-hop. It reached number 61 on the album chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album at the 6th Annual Grammy Awards in 1964. He later received a second Grammy nomination, for "Best Recording for Children", with his 1976 spoken word novelty record, The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.
=== Professional wrestling ===
Ali was involved with professional wrestling at different times in his career.
On June 1, 1976, as Ali was preparing for his bout with Inoki, he attended a match featuring Gorilla Monsoon. After the match was over, Ali removed his shirt and jacket and confronted professional wrestler Gorilla Monsoon in the ring after his match at a World Wide Wrestling Federation show in Philadelphia Arena. After dodging a few punches, Monsoon put Ali in an airplane spin and dumped him to the mat. Ali stumbled to the corner, where his associate Butch Lewis convinced him to walk away.
On March 31, 1985, Ali was the special guest referee for the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania event.
In 1995, Ali led a group of Japanese and American professional wrestlers, including his 1976 opponent Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair, on a sports diplomacy mission to North Korea. Ali was guest of honor at the record-breaking Collision in Korea, a wrestling event with the largest attendance of all time.
Ali was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by The Undertaker at the 2024 ceremony.
=== Television appearances ===
Muhammad Ali's fights were some of the world's most-watched television broadcasts, setting television viewership records. His most-watched fights drew an estimated 1–2 billion viewers worldwide between 1974 and 1980, and were the world's most-watched live television broadcasts at the time. Outside of fights, he made many other television appearances. The following table lists known viewership figures of his non-fight television appearances. For television viewership figures of his fights, see Boxing career of Muhammad Ali: Television viewership.
=== Art ===
Ali was also an amateur artist and made dozens of drawings and paintings in the 1970s. In 1977, Rodney Hilton Brown, who owned an art gallery in NYC, asked Ali if he was interested in painting. Ali took him up on the offer and produced several paintings for him to sell. Brown is the author of Muhammad Ali: The Untold Story: Painter, Poet and Prophet. In October 2021, 26 of his drawings and arts were placed on auction and sold for close to US$1 Million.
== Later life ==
By the end of his boxing career Ali had absorbed an estimated 200,000 hits.
In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome, which sometimes results from head trauma from violent physical activities such as boxing. Ali still remained active during this time, later participating as a guest referee at WrestleMania I.
=== Philanthropy, humanitarianism and politics ===
Ali was known for being a humanitarian and philanthropist. He focused on practicing his Islamic duty of charity and good deeds, donating millions to charity organizations and disadvantaged people of all religious backgrounds. It is estimated that Ali helped to feed more than 22 million people afflicted by hunger across the world. Early in his career, one of his main focuses was youth education. He spoke at several historically black colleges and universities about the importance of education and became the largest single black donor to the United Negro College Fund in 1967 by way of a $10,000 donation ($78,000 in 2020 USD). In late 1966, he also pledged to donate a total of $100,000 to the UNCF (specifically promising to donate much of the proceeds of his title defense against Cleveland Williams) and paid $4,500 per closed circuit installation at six HBCUs so they could watch his fights.
Ali began visiting Africa, starting in 1964 when he visited Nigeria and Ghana. In 1974, he visited a Palestinian refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, where Ali declared "support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland". During that visit Ali also declared that the "United States is the stronghold of Zionism and imperialism." In 1978, following his loss to Spinks and before winning the rematch, Ali visited Bangladesh and received honorary citizenship there. The same year, he participated in The Longest Walk, a protest march in the United States in support of Native American rights, along with singer Stevie Wonder and actor Marlon Brando.
In 1978, Ali visited the Soviet Union and remarked on citizens' lack of explicit racism, the lack of crime on the streets, and Soviet tolerance of religion, especially Islam.
In early 1980, Ali was recruited by President Jimmy Carter for a diplomatic mission to Africa, in an effort to persuade a number of African governments to join the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Having arrived in Tanzania, Ali told cameras, "Russia is invading a Muslim country, Asiatic country," and that its probable intention to head to oil-rich Persia to take wells and ports "could lead to nuclear war. My purpose in coming here was to try to stop that." However, according to Ali biographer Thomas Hauser, "at best, it was ill-conceived; at worst, a diplomatic disaster." The Tanzanian government was insulted that Carter had sent an athlete to discuss a serious political issue. One official asked whether the United States would "send Chris Evert to negotiate with London". Consequently, Ali was only received by the youth and culture minister, rather than President Julius Nyerere. Ali was unable to explain why the African countries should join the US boycott when it had failed to support the African boycott of the 1976 Olympics (in protest of Apartheid in South Africa), although neither did the Soviet Union, and was unaware of the sentiment that the Soviet Union had backed some popular revolutions on the continent, although none of the countries on the itinerary were Soviet allies. The Nigerian government also rebuffed him and confirmed that they would be participating in the Moscow Games. Ali did, however, convince the government of Kenya to boycott the Soviet Olympics.
On January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles, Ali talked a suicidal man down from jumping off a ninth-floor ledge, an event that made national news.
In 1984, Ali announced his support for the re-election of United States President Ronald Reagan. When asked to elaborate on his endorsement of Reagan, Ali told reporters, "He's keeping God in schools and that's enough." In 1985, he visited Israel to request the release of Muslim prisoners at Atlit detainee camp, which Israel declined.
Around 1987, the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution selected Ali to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ali rode on a float at the following year's Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. In 1988, during the First Intifada, Ali participated in a Chicago rally in support of Palestine. The same year, he visited Sudan to raise awareness about the plight of famine victims. According to Politico, Ali supported Orrin Hatch politically. In 1989, he participated in an Indian charity event with the Muslim Educational Society in Kozhikode, Kerala, along with Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.
In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq prior to the Gulf War and met with president Saddam Hussein in an attempt to negotiate the release of American hostages. Ali secured the release of the hostages, in exchange for promising Hussein that he would bring America "an honest account" of Iraq. Despite arranging the hostages' release, he received criticism from president George H. W. Bush, and Joseph C. Wilson, the highest-ranking American diplomat in Baghdad.
In 1994, Ali campaigned to the United States government to come to the aid of refugees afflicted by the Rwandan genocide, and to donate to organizations helping Rwandan refugees.
In 1996, he lit the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. It was watched by an estimated 3.5 billion viewers worldwide. During halftime at the Men's Gold Medal Basketball tournament , the International Olympic Committee presented Ali with a new gold medal to replace the medal he had received at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome. Although it was rumored that Ali had thrown it into the Ohio River years prior, Ali confirmed to TV executive Dick Ebersol that "he'd simply lost" it.
On November 17, 2002, Ali went to Afghanistan as the "U.N. Messenger of Peace". He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN.
On September 1, 2009, Ali visited Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, the home of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, eventually settling in Kentucky.
On July 27, 2012, Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was helped to his feet by his wife Lonnie to stand before the flag due to his Parkinson's syndrome rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium. The same year, he was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy and humanitarianism.
=== Earnings ===
By 1978, Ali's total fight purse earnings were estimated to be nearly $60 million (inflation-adjusted $400 million), including an estimated $47.45 million grossed between 1970 and 1978. By 1980, his total fight purse earnings were estimated to be up to $70 million (inflation-adjusted $340 million).
In 1978, Ali revealed that he was "broke" and several news outlets reported his net worth to be an estimated $3.5 million (inflation-adjusted $17 million). The press attributed his decline in wealth to several factors, including taxes consuming at least half of his income, management taking a third of his income, his lifestyle, and spending on family, charity and religious causes.
In 2006, Ali sold his name and image for $50 million, after which Forbes estimated his net worth to be $55 million in 2006. Following his death in 2016, his fortune was estimated to be between $50 million and $80 million.
=== Declining health ===
Ali's Parkinson's syndrome led to a gradual decline in his health, though he was still active into the early 2000s, promoting his own biopic, Ali, in 2001. That year he also contributed an on-camera segment to the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert.
In 1998, Ali began working with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, to raise awareness and fund research for a cure. They made a joint appearance before Congress to push the case in 2002. In 2000, Ali worked with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to raise awareness and encourage donations for research.
In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahaman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days. Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine. On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia. Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was released the next day.
== Death ==
Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Though his condition was initially described as fair, it worsened, and he died the following day at the age of 74 from septic shock.
=== News coverage and tributes ===
Following Ali's death, he was the number-one trending topic on Twitter for over 12 hours and on Facebook for several days. BET played their documentary Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami. ESPN played four hours of non-stop commercial-free coverage of Ali. News networks, such as ABC News, BBC, CNN, and Fox News, also covered him extensively.
He was mourned globally, and a family spokesman said the family "certainly believes that Muhammad was a citizen of the world ... and they know that the world grieves with him". Politicians such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Cameron and more paid tribute to Ali. Ali also received numerous tributes from the world of sports including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, the Miami Marlins, LeBron James, Steph Curry and more. Then-Louisville mayor Greg Fischer stated, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world. But he only has one hometown."
The day after Ali's death, the UFC paid tribute to Ali at their UFC 199 event in a lengthy video tribute package, crediting Ali for his accomplishments and inspiring multiple UFC champions.
=== Memorial ===
Ali's funeral had been pre-planned by himself and others for several years prior to his actual death. The services began in Louisville on June 9, 2016, with an Islamic Janazah prayer service at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center. The Janazah prayer was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On June 10, 2016, the funeral procession passed through the streets of Louisville ending at Cave Hill Cemetery, where his body was interred during a private ceremony. A public memorial service for Ali at downtown Louisville's KFC Yum! Center was held during the afternoon of June 10. Billy Crystal, Ali's wife Lonnie Ali, sports journalist Bryant Gumbel and former President Bill Clinton all gave the eulogies. The pallbearers included Will Smith, Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, with honorary pallbearers including George Chuvalo, Larry Holmes and George Foreman. Ali's memorial was watched by an estimated 1 billion viewers worldwide.
If the measure of greatness is to gladden the heart of every human being on the face of the earth, then he truly was the greatest. In every way he was the bravest, the kindest and the most excellent of men.
== Legacy ==
=== In boxing ===
Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times and was involved in more Ring "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter. He was one of only three boxers to be named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated. He was also named BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year three times. The Sporting News recognized him as the Fighter of the Decade for the 1960s.
Ali was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its first year and held wins over seven other Hall of Fame inductees during an era that has been called the golden age of heavyweight boxing. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years.
The World Boxing Council ranks Ali as their greatest heavyweight champion of all time.
=== In hip-hop ===
Ali often used rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry when trash talking in boxing, and also delivered political poetry in his activism outside of boxing. He played a role in the shaping of the black poetic tradition, paving the way for the Last Poets in 1968, Gil Scott-Heron in 1970, and the emergence of hip-hop in the 1970s. Ali has been referred to as "the first rapper". As a "rhyming trickster", he was noted for his boasts, "funky delivery", "comical trash talk", and "endless quotables". Rolling Stone notes his "freestyle skills" and his "rhymes, flow, and braggadocio" would "one day become typical of old school MCs like Run DMC and LL Cool J", and his "outsized ego foreshadowed the vainglorious excesses of Kanye West, while his Afrocentric consciousness and cutting honesty pointed forward to modern bards like Rakim, Nas, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar."
In 2006, the documentary Ali Rap was produced by ESPN, with Chuck D of Public Enemy as the host. Other rappers narrated the documentary as well, including Doug E. Fresh, Ludacris and Rakim who all spoke on Ali's behalf in the film.
Ali has been cited as an inspiration by many celebrated rappers throughout the following decades, such as LL Cool J, Chuck D, Jay-Z, Eminem, Sean Combs, Slick Rick, Nas and MC Lyte, and is frequently mentioned in popular hip-hop songs.
=== In Ali's hometown ===
In 1978, shortly after becoming heavyweight champion of the world for the third time, and three years before his permanent retirement, Ali received a round of accolades in his hometown of Louisville. In September, at a tribute ceremony held at Fairgrounds Stadium, then-Governor of Kentucky Julian Carroll proclaimed 1978 the "Year of Ali" and presented to Ali the Governor's Distinguished Service Award. Carroll said he signed the proclamation because "no single day or week – or even month – ever could contain the deeds of this man." In November, the Louisville Board of Aldermen voted 6–5 to rename downtown thoroughfare Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard, via an ordinance shortly signed into law by then-Mayor William B. Stansbury. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen.
As the street renaming was under consideration, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) considered renaming Ali's alma mater, Central High School, in his honor. Despite an initial endorsement by then-Jefferson County Judge/Executive and current U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, and an affirmative vote by the Jefferson County Fiscal Court, the committee decided not to proceed, citing long-time school tradition and alumni disagreement, even though they urged other ways to honor Ali in the community. In time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown.
In November 2005, Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali opened the $54 million, 93,000 ft2, non-profit Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth.
On January 16, 2019, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority voted to change the name of the city's main airport to "Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport" in honor of Ali. Then-Louisville mayor Greg Fischer upon the occasion said:Muhammad Ali belonged to the world, but he only had one hometown, and fortunately, that is our great city of Louisville. Muhammad became one of the most well-known people to ever walk the Earth and has left a legacy of humanitarianism and athleticism that has inspired billions of people. It [is] important that we, as a city, further champion The Champ's legacy, and the airport renaming is a wonderful next step. On June 6, 2019, the airport unveiled its new logo, featuring "Ali's silhouette, arms up and victorious, against the background of a butterfly."
=== Around the US and world ===
Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was influenced by Ali, whose footwork he studied and incorporated into his own style while developing Jeet Kune Do in the 1960s.
Opened in 1976, Ali Mall, located in Araneta Center, Quezon City, Philippines, is named after Ali. Construction of the mall, the first of its kind in the Philippines, began shortly after his victory in a match with Joe Frazier in nearby Araneta Coliseum in 1975. Ali attended its opening. The Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki fight the same year played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival, Ultimate Fighting Championship, in 2007.
Ali was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award. He was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton in January 2001 and with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in November 2005. For his work with the civil rights movement and the United Nations, he received the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold from the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin in December 2005.
The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was introduced in 1999 and passed in 2000, to protect the rights and welfare of boxers in the United States. In May 2016, a bill was introduced to United States Congress by Markwayne Mullin, a politician and former MMA fighter, to extend the Ali Act to mixed martial arts. In June 2016, US senator Rand Paul proposed an amendment to the US draft laws named after Ali, a proposal to eliminate the Selective Service System.
In June 2007, Ali received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the Sports Illustrated's Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former "sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world". Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career.
The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences created the Muhammad Ali Voice of Humanity Honor in 2016, which is presented at its annual Voice Arts Awards. The award was created in collaboration with the Muhammad Ali Center and is presented to "an individual whose voice, through humanitarianism, activism or personal sacrifice, has made a decidedly positive impact on our national or global condition as a society". Sculptor Marc Mellon created the bronze sculpture for the award, which depicts Ali mid-speech. Recipients of the honor include Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Ken Burns, Vance Jones, Lonnie Ali, Stacey Abrams, Wes Studi, and Manuela Testolini.
In January 2017, the Muhammad Ali Commemorative Coin Act was introduced into the 115th Congress but was not enacted.
On May 31, 2025, the first full-body bronze statue of Ali in the United States was unveiled in Lewiston, Maine, where he fought his second bout with Sonny Liston. The statue was not publicly supported by Ali's family nor did any member attend the unveiling due to Ali's Islamic faith, which prohibits the creation of full-body statues of people. However, Ali's widow Lonnie said she was honored by the initiative of recognizing her husband.
In January 2026, the U.S. Postal Service announced it would release a Muhammad Ali Forever stamp, featuring a 1974 photograph. The first-day-of-issue ceremony took place on January 15, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. A total of 22 million stamps will be printed for public use and collectors.
=== 20th-century superlatives ===
By the end of the 20th century, Ali had made it onto several superlatives lists or otherwise was mentioned in superlative terms covering the century or a large portion thereof.
Ali was ranked at or near the top of most lists of the 20th century's greatest boxers. He was crowned Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Named BBC's Sports Personality of the Century, he received more votes than the other five candidates combined. The Associated Press ranked him as the second best boxer and best heavyweight of the 20th century. He was named Athlete of the Century by USA Today, the second best athlete of the 20th century behind Pelé by the International Olympic Committee and ranked as the third greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.
Ali was named one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life magazine in 1990. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or living athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. In 1999, he was one of three athletes, alongside Pelé and Jackie Robinson, named in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.
In August 2024, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) voted him as the best male athlete of the last 100 years above Usain Bolt, Michael Jordan and Pelé.
== In media and popular culture ==
As a world champion boxer, activist and pop culture icon, Ali was the subject of numerous creative works including books, films, music, video games, TV shows, and other. Muhammad Ali was often dubbed the world's "most famous" person in the media. Several of his fights were watched by an estimated 1–2 billion viewers between 1974 and 1980, and his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was watched by an estimated 3.5 billion viewers.
Ali appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 38 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan's 50. He also appeared on the cover of Time magazine 5 times. In 2015, Harris Poll found that Ali was one of the three most recognizable athletes in the United States, along with Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth.
On the set of Freedom Road Ali met Canadian singer-songwriter Michel, and subsequently helped create Michel's album The First Flight of the Gizzelda Dragon and an unaired television special featuring them both.
Ali was the subject of the British television program This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Ali was featured in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, a 1978 DC Comics comic book pitting the champ against the superhero. In 1979, Ali guest starred as himself in an episode of the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. The show's title itself was inspired by the quote "Different strokes for different folks" popularized in 1966 by Ali, who also inspired the title of the 1967 Syl Johnson song "Different Strokes", one of the most sampled songs in pop music history.
He also wrote several bestselling books about his career, including The Greatest: My Own Story, Healing: A Journal of Tolerance and Understanding, and The Soul of a Butterfly. The Muhammad Ali effect, named after Ali, is a term that came into use in psychology in the 1980s, as he stated in The Greatest: My Own Story: "I only said I was the greatest, not the smartest." According to this effect, when people are asked to rate their intelligence and moral behavior in comparison to others, people will rate themselves as more moral, but not more intelligent than others. Ali cooperated with Thomas Hauser on a biography, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. The oral history was released in 1991.
When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The 2001 biopic Ali garnered a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Will Smith for his portrayal of Ali. Prior to making the film, Smith rejected the role until Ali requested that he accept it. Smith said the first thing Ali told him was: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me."
In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry. His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon.
His 1966 fight against George Chuvalo was the subject of the 2003 documentary film The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali. A decade later, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, a documentary directed by Bill Siegel that focuses on Ali's refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, opened in Manhattan in August 2013. A 2013 made-for-TV movie titled Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight dramatized the same aspect of Ali's life.
Ali was portrayed by Eli Goree in Regina King's film One Night in Miami, a fictionalized account of the meeting on February 25, 1964, between Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a room at the Hampton House, celebrating Ali's surprise title win over Sonny Liston.
Antoine Fuqua's documentary What's My Name: Muhammad Ali was released in 2019. Then in September 2021, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns released the four-part docuseries Muhammad Ali, spanning over eight hours on Ali's life. The series, which Burns began developing in early 2016, was broadcast on PBS. Dave Zirin, who watched an 8-hour rough cut of this documentary, called it "utterly outstanding" and said "the footage they found will blow minds".
While an officially authorized musical Ali, based on Ali's life, has been planned, it has been postponed indefinitely.
== Professional boxing record == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_boh%C3%A8me | La bohème | La bohème ( LAH boh-EM, Italian: [la boˈɛm]) is an opera in four acts, composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The story is set in Paris around 1830 and shows the Bohemian lifestyle (known in French as "la bohème") of a poor seamstress and her artist friends.
The world premiere of La bohème was in Turin on 1 February 1896 at the Teatro Regio, conducted by the 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini. Since then, La bohème has become part of the standard Italian opera repertory and is one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide.
In 1946, 50 years after the opera's premiere, Toscanini conducted a commemorative performance of it on radio with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. A recording of the performance was later released by RCA Victor on vinyl record, tape and compact disc. It is the only recording ever made of a Puccini opera by its original conductor.
== Origin of the story ==
As credited on its title page, the libretto of La bohème is based on Henri Murger's 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème, a collection of vignettes portraying young bohemians living in Paris in the 1840s. Although often called a novel, the book has no unified plot. Like the 1849 play drawn from the book by Murger and Théodore Barrière, the opera's libretto focuses on the relationship between Rodolfo and Mimì, ending with her death. Also like the play, the libretto combines two characters from the novel, Mimì and Francine, into the single character of Mimì. Early in the composition stage Puccini was in dispute with the composer Ruggero Leoncavallo, who said that he had offered Puccini a completed libretto and felt that Puccini should defer to him. Puccini responded that he had had no idea of Leoncavallo's interest and that having been working on his own version for some time, he felt that he could not oblige him by abandoning the opera. Leoncavallo completed his own version in which Marcello was sung by a tenor and Rodolfo by a baritone. It was not as successful as Puccini's and is now rarely performed.
Much of the libretto is original. Major sections of acts two and three are the librettists' invention, with only a few passing references to incidents and characters in Murger. Most of acts one and four follow the book, piecing together episodes from various chapters. The final scenes in acts one and four—the scenes with Rodolfo and Mimì—resemble both the play and the book. The story of their meeting closely follows chapter 18 of the book, in which the two lovers living in the garret are not Rodolphe and Mimì at all, but rather Jacques and Francine. The story of Mimì's death in the opera draws from two different chapters in the book, one relating Francine's death and the other relating Mimì's.
The published libretto includes a note from the librettists briefly discussing their adaptation. Without mentioning the play directly, they defend their conflation of Francine and Mimì into a single character: "Chi può non confondere nel delicato profilo di una sola donna quelli di Mimì e di Francine?" ("Who cannot confuse in the delicate profile of one woman the personality both of Mimì and of Francine?"). At the time, the book was in the public domain, Murger having died without heirs, but rights to the play were still controlled by Barrière's heirs.
== Performance history and reception ==
=== Initial success ===
The world première performance of La bohème took place in Turin on 1 February 1896 at the Teatro Regio and was conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini. The role of Rodolfo was played by Evan Gorga with Cesira Ferrani as Mimi, but Gorga was unable to accommodate the high tessitura and the music had to be transposed down for him. The initial response of the audience at the first performance was subdued and critical responses were polarized. Despite this varied introductory response, the opera quickly became popular throughout Italy and productions were soon mounted by the following companies: The Teatro di San Carlo (14 March 1896, with Elisa Petri as Musetta and Antonio Magini-Coletti as Marcello); The Teatro Comunale di Bologna (4 November 1896, with Amelia Sedelmayer as Musetta and Umberto Beduschi as Rodolfo); The Teatro Costanzi (17 November 1896, with Maria Stuarda Savelli as Mimì, Enrico Giannini-Grifoni as Rodolfo, and Maurizio Bensaude as Marcello); La Scala (15 March 1897, with Angelica Pandolfini as Mimì, Camilla Pasini as Musetta, Fernando De Lucia as Rodolfo, and Edoardo Camera as Marcello); La Fenice (26 December 1897, with Emilia Merolla as Mimì, Maria Martelli as Musetta, Giovanni Apostolu and Franco Mannucci as Rodolfo, and Ferruccio Corradetti as Marcello); Teatro Regio di Parma (29 January 1898, with Solomiya Krushelnytska as Mimì, Lina Cassandro as Musetta, Pietro Ferrari as Rodolfo, and Pietro Giacomello as Marcello); Paris Opera (13 June 1898); and the Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo (21 August 1898, with Emilia Corsi as Mimì, Annita Barone as Musetta, Giovanni Apostolu as Rodolfo, and Giovanni Roussel as Marcello).
The first performance of La bohème outside Italy was at the Teatro de la Ópera in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 16 June 1896. The protagonists were Hariclea Darclée and Emilio De Marchi, conducted by Edoardo Mascheroni.
The opera was performed in Alexandria, Lisbon, and Moscow in early 1897. The United Kingdom premiere took place at the Theatre Royal in Manchester, on 22 April 1897, in a presentation by the Carl Rosa Opera Company supervised by Puccini. This performance was given in English and starred Alice Esty as Mimì, Bessie McDonald as Musetta, Robert Cunningham as Rodolfo, and William Paull as Marcello. On 2 October 1897 the same company gave the opera's first staging at the Royal Opera House in London and on 14 October 1897 in Los Angeles for the opera's United States premiere. The opera reached New York City on 16 May 1898 when it was performed at Wallack's Theatre with Giuseppe Agostini as Rodolfo. The first production of the opera actually produced by the Royal Opera House itself premiered on 1 July 1899 with Nellie Melba as Mimì, Zélie de Lussan as Musetta, Fernando De Lucia as Rodolfo, and Mario Ancona as Marcello.
La bohème premiered in Germany at the Kroll Opera House in Berlin on 22 June 1897. The French premiere of the opera was presented by the Opéra-Comique on 13 June 1898 at the Théâtre des Nations. The production used a French translation by Paul Ferrier and starred Julia Guiraudon as Mimì, Jeanne Tiphaine as Musetta, Adolphe Maréchal as Rodolfo, and Lucien Fugère as Marcello. The Czech premiere of the opera was presented by the National Theatre on 27 February 1898.
=== 20th and 21st centuries ===
La bohème continued to gain international popularity throughout the early 20th century and the Opéra-Comique alone had already presented the opera one hundred times by 1903. The Belgian premiere took place at La Monnaie on 25 October 1900 using Ferrier's French translation with Marie Thiérry as Mimì, Léon David as Rodolfo, Eugène-Charles Badiali as Marcello, sets by Pierre Devis, Armand Lynen, and Albert Dubosq, and Philippe Flon conducting. The Metropolitan Opera staged the work for the first time on 26 December 1900 with Nellie Melba as Mimì, Annita Occhiolini-Rizzini as Musetta, Albert Saléza as Rodolfo, Giuseppe Campanari as Marcello, and Luigi Mancinelli conducting. La bohème was the last opera performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera's original 1883 building on 16 April 1966, conducted by George Schick.
The opera was first performed in Brazil at the Theatro da Paz in Belém on 21 April 1900 with the Brazilian soprano Tilde Maragliano as Mimì, Maria Cavallini as Musetta, Giuseppe Agostini as Rodolfo and Alessandro Modesti as Marcello. The conductor was Giorgio Polacco.
The following year La bohème was presented at the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil, on 2 July 1901 with Elvira Miotti as Mimì, Mabel Nelma as Musetta, Michele Sigaldi as Rodolfo, and Enrico De Franceschi as Marcello. Other premieres soon followed:
Melbourne: 13 July 1901 (Her Majesty's Theatre; first performance in Australia)
Monaco: 1 February 1902, Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Monte Carlo with Nellie Melba as Mimì, Enrico Caruso as Rodolfo, Alexis Boyer as Marcello, and Léon Jehin conducting.
Prato: 25 December 1902, Regio Teatro Metastasio with Ulderica Persichini as Mimì, Norma Sella as Musetta, Ariodante Quarti as Rodolfo, and Amleto Pollastri as Marcello.
Catania: 9 July 1903, Politeama Pacini with Isabella Costa Orbellini as Mimì, Lina Gismondi as Musetta, Elvino Ventura as Rodolfo, and Alfredo Costa as Marcello.
Austria: 25 November 1903, Vienna State Opera in Vienna with Selma Kurz as Mimì, Marie Gutheil-Schoder as Musetta, Fritz Schrödter as Rodolfo, Gerhard Stehmann as Marcello, and Gustav Mahler conducting.
Sweden: 19 May 1905, Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, presented by the Royal Swedish Opera with Maria Labia as Mimì.
Puccini died in Brussels on 29 November 1924, and the news of his death reached Rome during a performance of La bohème. The opera was immediately stopped, and the orchestra played Chopin's Funeral March for the stunned audience.
The first production of La bohème at the Salzburg Festival did not occur until as late as July 2012. However, that festival has not shown much interest in the operas of Puccini, only ever having one production each of Tosca and Turandot in its entire history.
=== Critical reception ===
Despite the opera's popularity with audiences, Puccini has been the target of condescension by some music critics who find his music insufficiently sophisticated or difficult. The composer Benjamin Britten wrote in 1951, "[A]fter four or five performances I never wanted to hear Bohème again. In spite of its neatness, I became sickened by the cheapness and emptiness of the music."
== Roles ==
== Synopsis ==
Place: Paris
Time: Around 1830.
=== Act 1 ===
In the four bohemians' garret (Christmas Eve)
Marcello is painting while Rodolfo gazes out of the window. They complain of the cold. In order to keep warm, they burn the manuscript of Rodolfo's drama. Colline, the philosopher, enters shivering and disgruntled at not having been able to pawn some books. Schaunard, the musician of the group, arrives with food, wine and cigars. He explains the source of his riches: a job with an eccentric English gentleman, who hired him to play his violin to a parrot until it died. The others hardly listen to his tale as they set up the table to eat and drink. Schaunard interrupts, telling them that they must save the food for the days ahead: tonight they will all celebrate his good fortune by dining at Cafe Momus, and he will pay.
The friends are interrupted by Benoît, the landlord, who arrives to collect the rent. They flatter him and ply him with wine. In his drunkenness, he begins to boast of his amorous adventures, but when he also reveals that he is married, they thrust him from the room—without the rent payment—in comic moral indignation. The rent money is divided for their evening out at Cafe Momus. This was a cafe in Rue des Prêtres St Germain l’Auxerrois.
Marcello, Schaunard and Colline go out, but Rodolfo remains alone for a moment in order to finish an article he is writing, promising to join his friends soon. There is a knock at the door. It is a girl who lives in another room in the building. Her candle has blown out, and she has no matches; she asks Rodolfo to light it. She is briefly overcome with faintness, and Rodolfo helps her to a chair and offers her a glass of wine. She thanks him. After a few minutes, she says that she is better and must go. But as she turns to leave, she realizes that she has lost her key.
Her candle goes out in the draught and Rodolfo's candle goes out too; the pair stumble in the dark. Rodolfo, eager to spend time with the girl, to whom he is already attracted, finds the key and pockets it, feigning innocence. He takes her cold hand (Che gelida manina—"What a cold little hand") and tells her of his life as a poet, then asks her to tell him more about her life. The girl says her name is Mimì (Sì, mi chiamano Mimì—"Yes, they call me Mimì"), and describes her simple life as an embroiderer. Impatiently, the waiting friends call Rodolfo. He answers and turns to see Mimì bathed in moonlight (duet, Rodolfo and Mimì: O soave fanciulla—"Oh lovely girl"). They realize that they have fallen in love. Rodolfo suggests remaining at home with Mimì, but she decides to accompany him to the Cafe Momus. As they leave, they sing of their newfound love.
=== Act 2 ===
Cafe Momus (same evening)
A great crowd, including children, has gathered with street sellers announcing their wares (chorus: Aranci, datteri! Caldi i marroni!—"Oranges, dates! Hot chestnuts!"). The friends arrive; Rodolfo buys Mimì a bonnet from a vendor, while Colline buys a coat and Schaunard a horn. Parisians gossip with friends and bargain with the vendors; the children of the streets clamor to see the wares of Parpignol, the toy seller. The friends enter the Cafe Momus.
As the men and Mimì dine at the cafe, Musetta, Marcello's former sweetheart, arrives with her rich (and elderly) government minister admirer, Alcindoro, whom she is tormenting. It is clear she is tired of him. To the delight of the Parisians and the embarrassment of her patron, she sings a risqué song (Musetta's waltz: Quando me'n vo'—"When I go along"), hoping to reclaim Marcello's attention. The ploy works; at the same time, Mimì recognizes that Musetta truly loves Marcello. To be rid of Alcindoro for a bit, Musetta pretends to be suffering from a tight shoe and sends him to the shoemaker to get her shoe mended. Alcindoro leaves, and Musetta and Marcello fall rapturously into each other's arms.
The friends are presented with their bill. However, Schaunard's purse has gone missing and no one else has enough money to pay. The sly Musetta has the entire bill charged to Alcindoro. The sound of a military band is heard, and the friends leave. Alcindoro returns with the repaired shoe seeking Musetta. The waiter hands him the bill and, dumbfounded, Alcindoro sinks into a chair.
=== Act 3 ===
At the toll gate at the Barrière d'Enfer (late February)
Peddlers pass through the barriers and enter the city. Mimì appears, coughing violently. She tries to find Marcello, who is currently living in a little tavern where he paints signs for the innkeeper. She tells him of her hard life with Rodolfo, who abandoned her the night before, and of Rodolfo's terrible jealousy (O buon Marcello, aiuto!—"Oh, good Marcello, help me!"). Marcello tells her that Rodolfo is asleep inside, and expresses concern about Mimì's cough. Rodolfo wakes up and comes out looking for Marcello. Mimì hides and overhears Rodolfo first telling Marcello that he left Mimì because of her coquettishness, but finally confessing that his jealousy is a sham: he fears she is slowly being consumed by a deadly illness (most likely tuberculosis, known by the catchall name "consumption" in the nineteenth century). Rodolfo, in his poverty, can do little to help Mimì and hopes that his pretended unkindness will inspire her to seek another, wealthier suitor (Marcello, finalmente—"Marcello, finally").
Out of kindness towards Mimì, Marcello tries to silence him, but she has already heard all. Her weeping and coughing reveal her presence, and Rodolfo hurries to her. Musetta's laughter is heard and Marcello goes to find out what has happened. Mimì tells Rodolfo that she is leaving him, and asks that they separate amicably (Mimì: Donde lieta uscì—"From here she happily left"); but their love for one another is too strong for the pair to part. As a compromise, they agree to remain together until the spring, when the world is coming to life again and no one feels truly alone. Meanwhile, Marcello has found Musetta, and the couple quarrel fiercely about Musetta's flirtatiousness (quartet: Mimì, Rodolfo, Musetta, Marcello: Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina!—"Goodbye, sweet awakening in the morning!").
=== Act 4 ===
Back in the garret (some months later)
Marcello and Rodolfo are trying to work, though they are primarily talking about their girlfriends, who have left them and found wealthy lovers. Rodolfo has seen Musetta in a fine carriage and Marcello has seen Mimì dressed like a queen. The men both express their nostalgia (duet: O Mimì, tu più non torni—"O Mimì, will you not return?"). Schaunard and Colline arrive with a very frugal dinner and all parody eating a plentiful banquet, dance together and sing, before Schaunard and Colline engage in a mock duel.
Musetta suddenly appears; Mimì, who took up with a wealthy viscount after leaving Rodolfo in the spring, has left her patron. Musetta found her that day in the street, severely weakened by her illness, and Mimì begged Musetta to bring her to Rodolfo. Mimì, haggard and pale, is assisted onto a bed. Briefly, she feels as though she is recovering. Musetta and Marcello leave to sell Musetta's earrings in order to buy medicine, and Colline leaves to pawn his overcoat (Vecchia zimarra—"Old coat"). Schaunard leaves with Colline to give Mimì and Rodolfo some time together. Mimì tells Rodolfo that her love for him is her whole life (aria/duet, Mimì and Rodolfo: Sono andati?—"Have they gone?").
To Mimì's delight, Rodolfo presents her with the pink bonnet he bought her, which he has kept as a souvenir of their love. They remember past happiness and their first meeting—the candles, the lost key (Mimi playfully confesses that she had figured out that Rodolfo had pocketed it). Mimì is overwhelmed by a seizure of coughing. The others return, with a gift of a muff to warm Mimì's hands and a cordial to soothe her cough. Mimì gently thanks Rodolfo for the muff, which she believes is a present from him, reassures him that she is better, and falls asleep. Musetta prays. Schaunard discovers that Mimì has died. Rodolfo rushes to the bed, calling Mimì's name in anguish. He sobs helplessly as the curtain falls.
== Instrumentation ==
La bohème is scored for:
woodwinds: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets (A, B-flat), bass clarinet (A, B-flat), 2 bassoons
brass: 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in F, 3 trombones, bass trombone
percussion: timpani, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes
strings: harp, violins I, II, viola, cello, double bass
off-stage (end of act 2): 4 piccolos, 6 trumpets, 6 snare drums (occasionally on-stage)
== Recording history ==
The discography of La bohème is a long one with many distinguished recordings, including the 1972 Decca recording conducted by Herbert von Karajan with Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo and Mirella Freni as Mimì (made before Pavarotti became an international superstar of opera), and the 1973 RCA Victor recording conducted by Sir Georg Solti with Montserrat Caballé as Mimì and Plácido Domingo as Rodolfo which won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. The 1959 recording conducted by Tullio Serafin with Renata Tebaldi as Mimì and Carlo Bergonzi as Rodolfo was included in the soundtrack of the 1987 movie Moonstruck.
The earliest commercially released full-length recording was probably that recorded in February 1917 and released on His Master Voice's Italian label La Voce del Padrone. Carlo Sabajno conducted the La Scala Orchestra and Chorus with Gemma Bosini and Reno Andreini as Mimì and Rodolfo. One of the most recent is the 2008 Deutsche Grammophon release conducted by Bertrand de Billy with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón as Mimì and Rodolfo.
There are several recordings with conductors closely associated with Puccini. In the 1946 RCA Victor recording, Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the world premiere of the opera, conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra with Jan Peerce as Rodolfo and Licia Albanese as Mimì. It is the only recording of a Puccini opera by its original conductor. Thomas Beecham, who worked closely with Puccini when preparing a 1920 production of La bohème in London, conducted a performance of the opera in English released by Columbia Records in 1936 with Lisa Perli as Mimì and Heddle Nash as Rodolfo. Beecham also conducts on the 1956 RCA Victor recording with Victoria de los Ángeles and Jussi Björling as Mimì and Rodolfo.
Although the vast majority of recordings are in the original Italian, the opera has been recorded in several other languages. These include: a recording in French conducted by Erasmo Ghiglia with Renée Doria and Alain Vanzo as Mimì and Rodolfo (1960); a recording in German with Richard Kraus conducting the Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra and Chorus with Trude Eipperle and Fritz Wunderlich as Mimì and Rodolfo (1956); and the 1998 release on the Chandos Opera in English label with David Parry conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra and Cynthia Haymon and Dennis O'Neill as Mimì and Rodolfo.
Enrico Caruso, who was closely associated with the role of Rodolfo, recorded the famous aria "Che gelida manina" in 1906. This aria has been recorded by nearly 500 tenors in at least seven different languages between 1900 and 1980. In 1981 the A.N.N.A. Record Company released a six LP set with 101 different tenors singing the aria.
== The missing act ==
In 1957 Illica's widow died and his papers were given to the Parma Museum. Among them was the full libretto to La bohème. It was then discovered that the librettists had prepared an act which Puccini decided not to use in his composition. It is noteworthy for explaining Rodolfo's jealous remarks to Marcello in act 3.
The "missing act" is located in the timeline between the Café Momus scene and act 3 and describes an open-air party at Musetta's dwelling. Her protector has refused to pay further rent out of jealous feelings, and Musetta's furniture is moved into the courtyard to be auctioned off the following morning. The four Bohemians find in this an excuse for a party and arrange for wine and an orchestra. Musetta gives Mimì a beautiful gown to wear and introduces her to a Viscount. The pair dances a quadrille in the courtyard, which moves Rodolfo to jealousy. This explains his act 3 reference to the "moscardino di Viscontino" (young fop of a Viscount). As dawn approaches, furniture dealers gradually remove pieces for the morning auction.
Ruggero Leoncavallo composed an opera based the same source material, also titled La bohème; this episode is included in Leoncavallo's treatment which premiered in 1897.
== Derivative works ==
In 1959 "Musetta's Waltz" was adapted by songwriter Bobby Worth for the pop song "Don't You Know?", a hit for Della Reese. Earlier, it was used for another song, "One Night of Love".
In 1969 in Paris, American free-jazz pianist Dave Burrell recorded his La Vie de Bohème with a seven-piece group of European and American musicians. The music on the double-LP is improvised and experimental, but the listener can still discern Puccini's themes, as well as the narrative arc of the complete opera.
The opera was adapted into a 1983 short story by the novelist V. S. Pritchett for publication by the Metropolitan Opera Association.
=== Modernizations ===
Baz Luhrmann produced the opera for Opera Australia in 1990 with modernized supertitle translations, and a budget of only A$60,000 (A$130,545.17 in 2022). A DVD was issued of the stage show. According to Luhrmann, this version was set in 1957 (rather than the original period of 1830) because "...[they] discovered that 1957 was a very, very accurate match for the social and economic realities of Paris in the 1840s." In 2002, Luhrmann restaged his version on Broadway. The production won two awards at the 57th Tony Awards out of six nominations: Catherine Martin for Best Scenic Design and Nigel Levings for Best Lighting Design as well as a special award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre. Joe Jonas appeared in this production in the children's chorus. To play eight times a week for 228 performances, three casts of Mimìs and Rodolfos (Alfred Boe, Jesús García, David Miller), and two Musettas (Jessica Comeau, Chloë Wright) and Marcellos (Eugene Brancoveanu, Ben Davis), were used in rotation. La bohème was then a key source for the plot of Luhrmann's 2001 jukebox musical film Moulin Rouge!.
Rent, a 1996 musical by Jonathan Larson, is based on La bohème. Here the lovers, Roger and Mimi, are faced with AIDS and progress through the action with songs such as "Light My Candle", which have direct reference to La bohème. Many of the character names are retained or are similar (Rodolfo is Roger, Colline is Collins, the character Angel is given the surname "Schunard", Benoit is Benny) and at another point in the play, Roger's roommate and best friend Mark makes a wry reference to "Musetta's Waltz", which is a recurring theme throughout the first act and is played at the end of the second act. The story is set amongst artists living in New York City at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s.
A TV movie was released in 1965 directed by Wilhelm Semmelroth and designed by Franco Zeffirelli, based on the latter's previously directed version for stage. It starred Gianni Raimondi in the role of Rodolfo and Mirella Freni as Mimi. The soundtrack, however, was pre-recorded and lip-synced, and conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
Robin Norton-Hale directed a new production at the Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn, for OperaUpClose in December 2009. For act 2 the entire audience and cast moved downstairs to the pub itself, with the pub's patrons serving as extras in the Cafe Momus scene. In 2010 the production was transferred to the West End's Soho Theatre and won a Laurence Olivier Award.
A 2019 production by Canada's Against the Grain Theatre featured a translated English libretto, and transposed the story to a contemporary Canadian urban setting. This production toured several Canadian cities before its production at Toronto's Tranzac Club was livestreamed by CBC Gem on 13 October. The CBC broadcast received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for Best Performing Arts Program and Best Direction in a TV Movie. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_zebra | Plains zebra | The plains zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchellii) is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six or seven subspecies have been recognised, including the quagga which was thought to be a separate species. More recent research supports variations in zebra populations being clines rather than subspecies.
Plains zebras are intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra and tend to have broader stripes than both. Great variation in coat patterns exists between clines and individuals. The plains zebra's habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, both tropical and temperate. They generally avoid desert, dense rainforest and permanent wetlands. Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spotted hyenas, Nile crocodiles and, to a lesser extent, leopards, cheetahs and African wild dogs.
Plains zebras are a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares and their recent offspring; bachelor groups also form. Groups may come together to form herds. The animals keep watch for predators; they bark or snort when they see a predator and the harem stallion attacks predators to defend his harem.
The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities, such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat. The loss of open grasslands due to woody plant encroachment increases predation risk and therewith habitat. Plains zebra are listed as near threatened by the IUCN as of 2016. The species population is stable and not endangered, though populations in most countries have declined sharply.
== Taxonomy ==
The plains zebra was formally classified by British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1824 as Equus burchellii. After the quagga, described by Pieter Boddaert in 1785, was found to be the same species in the 21st century, the plains zebra was reclassified as Equus quagga due to the principle of priority. The plains zebra and mountain zebra were traditionally placed in the subgenus Hippotigris, in contrast to Grévy's zebra, which was considered the sole species of the subgenus Dolichohippus; however, recent (2013) phylogenetic evidence finds that plains zebras are more closely related to Grévy's zebras than mountain zebras. Groves and Bell (2004) place all three species in the subgenus Hippotigris, and zebras appear to be a monophyletic lineage. In areas where plains zebras are sympatric with Grévy's zebras, finding them in the same herds is not unusual, and fertile hybrids occur.
=== Subspecies ===
In their 2004 study of cranial and pelage differences between specimens, Groves and Bell found support for the division of the plains zebra into six subspecies:
*Sometimes a seventh subspecies is recognised.
Burchell's zebra was thought to have been hunted to extinction. However, Groves and Bell concluded that "the extinct true Burchell's zebra is a phantom". Careful study of the original zebra populations in Zululand and Eswatini and of skins harvested on game farms in Zululand and Natal has revealed that a certain small proportion shows similarity to what now is regarded as typical burchellii. The type localities of the subspecies Equus quagga burchellii and Equus quagga antiquorum are so close to each other that the two are in fact one and that, therefore, the older of the two names should take precedence over the younger. They suggested that the correct name for the subspecies must be burchellii, not antiquorum.
A 2005 genetic study confirmed the quagga being the same species as the plains zebra. It showed that the quagga had little genetic diversity and that it diverged from the other plains zebra subspecies only 120,000–290,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene and, possibly, the penultimate glacial maximum. Its distinct coat pattern may have evolved rapidly because of geographical isolation and/or adaptation to a drier environment. In addition, plains zebra subspecies tend to have less striping the further south they live, and the quagga was the most southern-living of them all.
The simplified cladogram below is based on the 2005 analysis (some taxa shared haplotypes and could therefore not be differentiated):
A 2018 DNA study found no evidence for a subspecies structure in plains zebras but, instead, observed a north–south genetic continuum. Modern plains zebra populations appear to have originated from Southern Africa around 370,000 years ago with plains zebras in Uganda, the most northern population, being the most distinct.
== Physical description ==
The plains zebra stands at a height of 127–140 cm (50–55 in) with a head-body length of 217–246 cm (85–97 in) and a tail length of 47–56.5 cm (18.5–22.2 in). Males weigh 220–322 kg (485–710 lb) while females weigh 175–250 kg (386–551 lb). The species is intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra. It is dumpy bodied with relatively short legs and a skull with a convex forehead and a somewhat concave nose profile. The neck is thicker in males than in females. The ears are upright and have rounded tips. They are shorter than in the mountain zebra and narrower than in Grévy's zebra. As with all wild equids, the plains zebra has an erect mane along the neck and a tuft of hair at the end of the tail. The body hair of a zebra is 9.4 ± 4 mm (0.37 ± 0.16 in), shorter than in other African ungulates.
Like all zebras, they are boldly striped in black and white and no two individuals look exactly alike. Compared to other species, the plains zebra has broader stripes. The stripes are vertical on the fore part of the body, and tend towards the horizontal on the hindquarters. Northern zebra populations have narrower and more defined striping; southern populations have varied but lesser amounts of striping on the under parts, the legs and the hindquarters. Southern populations also have brown "shadow" stripes between the black and white colouring. These are absent or poorly expressed in northern zebras. The natal coat of a foal is brown and white and the brown darkens with age.
Various abnormalities of the patterns have been documented in plains zebras. Melanistic zebras have high concentrations of dark stripes on the torso but low concentrations on the legs. "Spotted" individuals display interruptions in black striping patterns. There have even been morphs with white spots on dark backgrounds. Striping abnormalities have been linked to inbreeding. Albino zebras have been recorded in the forests of Mount Kenya, with the dark stripes being blonde. The quagga had brown and white stripes on the head and neck, brown upper parts and a white belly, tail and legs.
== Ecology ==
=== Range and habitat ===
The plains zebra's range stops short of the Sahara from South Sudan and southern Ethiopia extending south along eastern Africa, as far as Zambia, Mozambique, and Malawi, before spreading into most southern African countries. They may have lived in Algeria in the Neolithic era. Plains zebras generally live in treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, but can be found in a variety of habitats, both tropical and temperate. However, they are generally absent from deserts, dense rainforests, and permanent wetlands. They generally prefer Acacieae woodlands over Commiphora. They are water-dependent and live in more mesic environments than other African equids. They seldom wander 10–12 km (6.2–7.5 mi) from a water source. Zebras also live in elevations from sea level to 4,300 feet (1,300 m) on Mount Kenya.
Depending on the population, zebra herds may be sedentary, being highly dense with small ranges, or migratory, being less populated with separate, extensive dry and wet home ranges. When migrating, zebras appear to rely on some memory of the locations where foraging conditions were best and may predict conditions months before their arrival.
The loss of open grasslands due to woody plant encroachment increases predation risk and therewith habitat.
=== Diet and predation ===
Plains zebras primarily feed on grass; preferred species being Themeda triandra, Cynodon dactylon, Eragrostis superba and Cenchrus ciliaris. Zebra sometimes browse on herbs, leaves and twigs or dig for corms and rhizomes during the dry season. They appear to partial to eating scorched Colophospermum mopane and Pterocarpus rotundifolius, consuming both the leaves and twigs.
Plains zebras are adapted for grazing on both long, tough grass stems and newly emerging short grass (stems and sheaths). In some areas, it rarely feeds below 100–150 mm (3.9–5.9 in) to ground level. It ranges more widely than many other species, even into woodlands, and it is often the first grazing species to appear in a well-vegetated area. The flexible upper lip allows them to push plant material between the incisors to cut. Zebras have a less efficient digestive system than ruminants but food passage is twice as fast. Thus, zebras are less selective in foraging, but they do spend much time eating. The zebra is a pioneer grazer and prepares the way for more specialised grazers such as blue wildebeests and Thomson's gazelles.
The plains zebra's major predators are lions and spotted hyenas. Lions are most successful when targeting lone individuals, usually an old male while hyenas chase and isolate an individual from the group, usually a female or foal. Nile crocodiles also prey on zebras when they are near water. Less common predators include leopards, cheetahs and African wild dogs, which mostly hunt foals. When in the presence of a lion, zebras remain alert and stand in a semi-circle at as much as 100 m (330 ft) and no less than 50 m (160 ft). Stallions sometimes try to drive lions away with bluff charges. By contrast, zebras may approach cheetahs and wild dogs and a single hyena is allowed to come within a few metres. To escape from predators, an adult zebra can run at 60–70 km/h (37–43 mph). When being hunted by hyenas or wild dogs, a zebra harem stays close together and cooperates to protect threatened members, particularly the young. The harem stallion goes on the offensive and attacks the dogs or hyenas.
== Behaviour ==
Plains zebras are nomadic and non-territorial, home ranges vary from 30 km2 (12 sq mi) to 600 km2 (230 sq mi), depending on the area and if the population is migratory. They are more active during the day and spend most of their time feeding. Other activities include dust bathing, rubbing, drinking and intermittent resting which is very brief. At night, zebra activity is subdued except when threatened by predators. They may rest or sleep laying down, while one individual keeps guard.
=== Social structure ===
The plains zebra is highly social and usually forms small family groups called harems, which consist of a single stallion, several mares and their recent offspring. The adult membership of a harem is highly stable, typically remaining together for months to years. Groups of all-male "bachelors" also exist. These are stable groups of up to 15 males with an age-based hierarchy, led by a young male. These males stay in their groups until they are ready to start a harem. The bachelors prepare for their adult roles with play fights and greeting/challenge rituals, which take up most of their activities.
Multiple harems and bachelor groups come together to form larger herds of hundreds of animals, especially during migrations. Plains zebras are unusual among harem-holding species in forming these groups. In addition, pairs of harems may create temporarily stable subgroups within a herd, allowing individuals to interact with those outside their group. Among harem-holding species, this has only been observed in primates such as the gelada and the hamadryas baboon. Bachelor groups tend to be at the periphery of herds and when the herd moves, the bachelors trail behind.
Stallions form and expand their harems by abducting young mares from their natal harems. When a mare reaches sexual maturity and has her first oestrous cycle, she attracts the attention of nearby stallions, both bachelors and harem leaders. Her family stallion (likely her father) chases off or fights stallions attempting to abduct her. Even after a young mare is isolated from her natal harem, the fight over her continues until her oestrous cycle is over and it starts again with the next oestrous cycle. It is rare that the mare's original abductor keeps her for long. When the mare finally ovulates, the male that impregnates her keeps her for good. Thus, the mare becomes a permanent member of a new harem. Oestrus in a female becomes less noticeable to outside males as she gets older, hence competition for older females is virtually nonexistent.
Mares exist in a hierarchy, with the alpha female being the first to mate with the harem stallion and being the one to lead the group. When new mares are added to the group, they are met with hostility by the other mares. Thus, the harem stallion must shield the new mares until the aggression subsides. The most recently added females rank lowest. Females that become unfit or weak may drop in their rank, though. The female membership of a harem stays intact, even if a new stallion takes over. During herd gatherings, family stallions may be cordial towards each other, while the mares are less tolerant.
A stallion defends his harem from other males. When challenged, the stallion issues a warning to the invader by rubbing nose or shoulder with him. If the warning is not heeded, a fight breaks out. Zebra fights often become very violent, with the animals biting at each other's necks, heads, or legs, wrestling to the ground and occasional kicking. Sometimes, a stallion lies still on the ground as if surrendering, but once the other male lets up, he strikes and continues the fight. Most fighting occurs over young mares in oestrus and as long as a harem stallion is healthy, he usually is not challenged. Only unhealthy stallions have their harems taken over and even then, the new stallion gradually takes over, pushing the old one out without a fight.
=== Communication ===
At least six different calls have been documented for the plains zebra. One is its distinctive, high-pitched, contact call (commonly called "barking") heard as "a-ha, a-ha, a-ha" or "kwa-ha, kaw-ha, ha, ha" also transcribed as "kwahaah", or "oug-ga". The species name quagga is derived from the Khoikhoi word for "zebra" and is onomatopoeic for its call. When a predator is sighted, a zebra makes a two-syllable alarm call. A loud snort is made when moving in cover of potential danger. When in contentment, a zebra makes a more drawn-out snort. Males make a short, high-pitched squeal when hurt, and foals emit a drawn-out wail when in distress.
Two main facial expressions are made by zebras; the greeting and threat. In both cases, the lips are pulled back and chewing motions are made. Greeting involves the ears sticking up and directing forward; while the threat involves the ears down. Zebras strengthen their social bonds with grooming. Members of a harem nip and scrape along the neck, withers, and back with their teeth and lips. Mothers and foals groom the most often, followed by siblings. Grooming shows social status and eases aggressive behaviour.
=== Reproduction and parenting ===
The stallion mates with all his mares. Males exhibit the flehmen response to test for female receptivity, which involves the upper lip curling back to smell for urine (via the vomeronasal organ). The female signals her readiness for copulation by straddling her legs and raising her tail. The gestation period lasts around a year, and a single young is produced. Mares may give birth to one foal every twelve months. The birthing peak is during the rainy season. A mare gives birth within the vicinity of her group and while lying down on her side. The newborn foal weighs 30–35 kg (66–77 lb) and the afterbirth is rarely consumed.
A newborn is capable of standing almost immediately and starts to eat grass within a week. Early on, a mother zebra keeps any other zebra away from her foal, including the stallion, the other mares, and even her previous offspring. Later, though, they all bond. Within the group, a foal has the same rank as its mother. The stallion is generally intolerant of foals that are not his, and zebras may practice infanticide and feticide.
Mortality for foals is high in their first year of life and is usually caused by predation. However, zebra young are afforded more protection than those of species like wildebeest and hartebeest. A foal is usually weaned at around eleven months, but may suckle for longer. Females reach puberty before three years, and males after five or six. Young male zebras eventually leave their family groups as the relationship with their mothers fades after the birth of a sibling. The young stallion then seeks out other young stallions for company. Young females may stay in the harem until they are abducted by another stallion. Plains zebras have an average lifespan of 25 years in the wild.
== Human interactions ==
=== Conservation ===
In 2016, the plains zebra was classified as near threatened by the IUCN. As of that year, the total population is estimated to be around 500,000 individuals. The species remains common throughout its range but has experienced population declines in 10 of the 17 countries where it is native. They are stable in Ethiopia, Malawi, and South Africa and possibly Angola; stable or increasing in Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini; and decreasing in Botswana, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. They are extinct in Burundi, Lesotho and possibly Somalia.
Zebras are threatened by hunting for their hide and meat, and habitat change from farming. They also compete with livestock for food, and fencing blocks migration routes. Civil wars in some countries have also caused declines in zebra populations. The zebra can be found in numerous protected areas across its range, including the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Tsavo and Masai Mara in Kenya, Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, Etosha National Park in Namibia, and Kruger National Park in South Africa. Some stable populations live in unprotected areas.
The quagga was hunted by early Dutch settlers and later by Afrikaners to provide meat or for their skins. The skins were traded or used locally. The quagga was probably vulnerable to extinction due to its limited distribution, and it may have competed with domestic livestock for forage. The last known wild quagga died in 1878. The last captive quagga, a female in Amsterdam's Natura Artis Magistra zoo, lived there from 9 May 1867 until it died on 12 August 1883, but its origin and cause of death are unclear. In 1984, the quagga was the first extinct animal to have its DNA analysed, and the Quagga Project is trying to recreate the phenotype of hair coat pattern and related characteristics by selectively breeding Burchell's zebras.
=== In popular culture ===
Zebras have been featured in African art and culture for millennia. They have been depicted in rock art in Southern Africa (modern Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) dating from 20,000–28,000 years ago, though not as commonly as antelope species like eland. How the zebra got its stripes has been the subject of folk tales, some of which involve it being scorched by fire. The San people associated zebra stripes with water, rain and lighting due to its dazzling pattern.
The plains zebra is the national animal of the Republic of Botswana and its stripes are depicted on the country's flag. The flag stripes also represent racial harmony in the country. The zebra has also been associated with beauty and the women of various societies would paint much of their bodies in stripes. For the Shona people of Zimbabwe, the zebra is a totem animal, along with the eland, buffalo, lion and monkey. The zebra is praised in a poem as an "iridescent and glittering creature". Its stripes have symbolised the joining of male and female and at Great Zimbabwe, zebra stripes decorate what is believed to be a domba, a premarital school meant to initiate women into adulthood. In the Shona language, the name "madhuve" means "woman/women of the zebra totem" and is a given name for girls in Zimbabwe.
Zebras have also been represented in Western culture. They have been thought of as a more exotic alternative to horse; the comic book character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle is depicted riding a zebra. The film Racing Stripes features a captive zebra ostracised from the horses and end up being ridden by a rebellious girl. In the film Fantasia, two centaurs are depicted being half human and half zebra, instead of the typical half human and half horse. Zebras have been featured as characters in other animated films like Khumba, The Lion King and the Madagascar films.
=== Introduced California population ===
The plains zebra currently has a wild population in San Simeon, California. This population of 129 individuals, as of 2019, descended from the Hearst Castle, owned by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was an American newspaper publisher and owned the Hearst Castle between 1919 and 1951 as his own personal property. In this property was a personal zoo, formally named the 'Hearst Castle of Comparative Zoology', and was once the largest private zoo in the world. Included in this zoo were areas where certain animals could free-roam in designated parts, and this included the ancestors of the current loose zebra population. In 1937, Heart encountered financial issues and had to dismantle the zoo. Although some animals to relocated to other zoos and private collectors, a number of animals were still left on parts of the property, even after the property was donated to the State of California in 1958. The zebra's left behind managed to slowly grow a present population and now freely roam in San Simeon without any enclosures. This population now represents the largest wild zebra herd outside of Africa. Today this population acts as a tourist attraction with herds being visible along the east side of California State Route 1, settling from the Hearst Ranch south to the San Simeon Creek Road. The zebras can even be spotted living alongside the ranches cattle. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T. R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as the state's 33rd governor for two years. He served as the 25th vice president under President William McKinley for six months in 1901, assuming the presidency after McKinley's assassination. As president, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive Era policies.
A sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt overcame health problems through his strenuous life. He was homeschooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard University. His book The Naval War of 1812 established his reputation as a historian and popular writer. Roosevelt became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in the New York State Legislature. His first wife Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt and mother Martha Bulloch Roosevelt died on the same night, devastating him psychologically. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. Roosevelt served as the assistant secretary of the Navy under McKinley, and in 1898 helped plan the successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish Army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, Roosevelt was elected New York's governor in 1898. Because the New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious state agenda, they convinced McKinley to choose him as his running mate in the 1900 presidential election. The McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory.
Roosevelt began his presidency at age 42 when McKinley was assassinated. He thus became (and remains) the youngest person to assume the position. As a leader of the progressive movement, he championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, which called for fairness for all citizens, breaking bad trusts, regulating railroads, and pure food and drugs. Roosevelt prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments to preserve U.S. natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, beginning construction of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt expanded the U.S. Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project naval power. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and convinced William Howard Taft to succeed him in 1908.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism yet failed to win the 1912 Republican presidential nomination. He founded the Bull Moose Party and ran in 1912; the split allowed the Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win. Roosevelt led a four-month expedition to the Amazon basin, where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the U.S. out; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. Roosevelt's health deteriorated and he died in 1919. Polls of historians and political scientists rank him as one of the greatest American presidents.
== Early life ==
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan. His parents were Martha Stewart Bulloch and businessman Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister Anna (called Bamie), a younger brother Elliott, and a younger sister Corinne.
Roosevelt's youth was shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma attacks, which terrified him and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and his cousins formed the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals he killed or caught. At age nine, he recorded his observations in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".
Family trips, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt discovered the benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regimen of exercise. After being manhandled by older boys on the way to a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to train him.
=== Education ===
Roosevelt was homeschooled. Biographer H. W. Brands wrote that, "The most obvious drawback...was uneven coverage of...various areas of...knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages.
In September 1876, he entered Harvard University. His father instructed him to, "take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death in 1878 devastated Roosevelt. He inherited US$60,000 (equivalent to $1.71 million in 2024), on which he could live comfortably for the rest of his life.
His father, a devout Presbyterian, had regularly led the family in prayers. While at Harvard, young adult Theodore emulated him by teaching Sunday School for more than three years at the Episcopal Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When the minister at Christ Church insisted he become an Episcopalian to continue teaching, Roosevelt declined, and began teaching a mission class in a poor section of Cambridge.
Roosevelt did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses, but struggled in Latin and Greek. He was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist, and studied biology intently. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing, and was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) with an A.B. magna cum laude. Henry F. Pringle wrote:
Roosevelt, attempting to analyze his college career and weigh the benefits he had received, felt that he had obtained little from Harvard. He had been depressed by the formalistic treatment of many subjects, by the rigidity, the attention to minutiae that were important in themselves, but which somehow were never linked up with the whole.
Roosevelt gave up his plan of studying natural science and attended Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York. Although Roosevelt was an able student, he found law to be irrational. Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party and defeated a Republican state assemblyman tied closely to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt dropped out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."
=== Naval history and strategy ===
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the United States Navy in the War of 1812. He published The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book included comparisons of British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. It was praised for its scholarship and style, and remains a standard study of the war.
Some believed Roosevelt's naval ideas were derived from author Alfred Thayer Mahan, who popularized a concept that only nations with significant naval power had been able to influence history, dominate oceans, exert their diplomacy to the fullest, and defend their borders, but naval historian Nicholas Danby states that Roosevelt's ideas predated meeting Mahan or reading his work.
=== First marriage and widowerhood ===
In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of undiagnosed kidney failure, on the same day as Roosevelt's mother Martha died of typhoid fever. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large "X" on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.
After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a bill proposing power be centralized in the mayor's office.
== Early political career ==
=== State Assemblyman ===
In 1881, Roosevelt won election to the New York State Assembly, representing the 21st district, which was centered on the "Silk Stocking District" of New York County's Upper East Side. He served in the 1882, 1883, and 1884 sessions of the legislature.
Roosevelt began making his mark immediately. He blocked a corrupt effort of financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed the collusion of Gould and Judge Theodore Westbrook and successfully argued for an investigation, aiming for the judge to be impeached. Although the investigation committee rejected the impeachment, Roosevelt had exposed corruption in Albany and assumed a high and positive profile in New York publications.
Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made more impressive by the victory that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won in Roosevelt's district. With Senator Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election and sought the office of Speaker, but Titus Sheard obtained the position. Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities, during which he wrote more bills than any other legislator.
=== Presidential election of 1884 ===
With numerous presidential hopefuls, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. The state Republican Party preferred incumbent president, Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Roosevelt succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention. He then took control of the convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; consequently, he gained a national reputation as a key politician in his state.
Roosevelt attended the 1884 Republican National Convention in Chicago, where he gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers against Blaine. However, Blaine gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, and won the nomination. In a crucial moment of his budding career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of fellow Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman...this needed...skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to then.
Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Cleveland, the Democratic nominee in the general election. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt carelessly said he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "I decline to answer." In the end, he realized he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the party and did so in a press release. Having lost the support of many reformers, and still reeling from the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and moved to North Dakota.
== Cattle rancher in Dakota ==
Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle and with the cattle business booming, Roosevelt invested $14,000 (equivalent to $400,000 in 2024) in hope of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and ranch in Dakota.
Following the 1884 United States presidential election, Roosevelt built Elkhorn Ranch 35 mi (56 km) north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. A cowboy, he said, possesses, "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He wrote about frontier life for national magazines and published books: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.
Roosevelt successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address the problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns, which resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He formed the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. In 1886, Roosevelt served as a deputy sheriff in Billings County, North Dakota. He and ranch hands hunted down three boat thieves.
The severe winter of 1886–1887 wiped out his herd and over half of his $80,000 investment (equivalent to $2.44 million in 2024). He ended his ranching life and returned to New York, where he escaped the damaging label of an ineffectual intellectual.
== Second marriage ==
On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit Carow, at St George's, Hanover Square, in London, England. Roosevelt felt deeply troubled that his second marriage was soon after the death of his first wife and he faced resistance from his sisters. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. They also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.
== Reentering public life ==
Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, Republican leaders approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the 1886 election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democrat Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard, but Hewitt won with 41%, taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31%, and Roosevelt took third with 27%. Fearing his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned to writing The Winning of the West, tracking the westward movement of Americans; it was a great success, earning favorable reviews and selling all copies from the first printing.
=== Civil Service Commission ===
After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The Sun described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection in the 1892 presidential election, the winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system:
The very citadel of spoils politics, the hitherto impregnable fortress that had existed unshaken since it was erected on the foundation laid by Andrew Jackson, was tottering to its fall under the assaults of this audacious and irrepressible young man... Whatever may have been the feelings of the (fellow Republican party) President (Harrison)—and there is little doubt that he had no idea when he appointed Roosevelt that he would prove to be so veritable a bull in a china shop—he refused to remove him and stood by him firmly till the end of his term.
=== New York City Police Commissioner ===
In 1894, reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after, he realized he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas; Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed there would be no repeat.
William Lafayette Strong won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of commissioners and radically reformed the police force: he implemented regular inspections of firearms and physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, closed corrupt police hostelries, and had telephones installed in station houses.
In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:
When Roosevelt read [my] book, he came... No one ever helped as he did. For two years we were brothers in (New York City's crime-ridden) Mulberry Street. When he left I had seen its golden age... There is very little ease where Theodore Roosevelt leads, as we all of us found out. The lawbreaker found it out who predicted scornfully that he would "knuckle down to politics the way they all did", and lived to respect him, though he swore at him, as the one of them all who was stronger than pull... that was what made the age golden, that for the first time a moral purpose came into the street. In the light of it everything was transformed.
Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against Tom Platt and Tammany Hall—he was notified the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he accept, but he delighted in the insults and lampoons directed at him, and earned goodwill. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party.
== Emergence as national figure ==
=== Assistant Secretary of the Navy ===
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt strongly opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics. He gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was in poor health and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley and was adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897:
I would regard war with Spain from two viewpoints: first, the advisability on the grounds both of humanity and self-interest of interfering on behalf of the Cubans, and of taking one more step toward the complete freeing of America from European dominion; second, the benefit done our people by giving them something to think of which is not material gain, and especially the benefit done our military forces by trying both the Navy and Army in actual practice.
On February 15, 1898, the armored cruiser USS Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war on Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.
=== War in Cuba ===
With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in 1898, Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many friends begged Roosevelt to remain in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", it was one of many temporary units active only during the war.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas; in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his experience with the New York National Guard enabled him to immediately begin teaching basic soldiering skills. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, athletes, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent the Rough Riders on a parallel road northwest running along a ridge up from the beach. Roosevelt took command of the regiment; he had his first experience in combat when the Rough Riders met Spanish troops in a skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas. They fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.
On July 1, in a combined assault with the Regulars, under Roosevelt's leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for charges up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. Roosevelt was the only soldier on horseback, as he rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of orders. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The assaults would become known as the Battle of San Juan Heights. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt recalled San Juan Heights as "the great day of my life". After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel"; "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker.
=== Governor of New York ===
Shortly after Roosevelt's return, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of New York machine boss Thomas C. Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Prospering politically from the Platt machine, Roosevelt's rise to power was marked by the pragmatic decisions of Platt, who disliked Roosevelt. Platt feared Roosevelt would oppose his interests in office and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics, but needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black. Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned on his war record, winning by just 1%.
As governor, Roosevelt learned about economic issues and political techniques that proved valuable in his presidency. He studied the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. G. Wallace Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected Platt worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.
Power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate people with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in spring 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the poor. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations and radical movements.
As chief executive of the most populous state, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the nomination in 1900 and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.
=== Vice presidency (1901) ===
In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination if the convention offered it to him but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Mark Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.
Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and a match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's barnstorming style. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of those who won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. The voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.
Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."
== Presidency (1901–1909) ==
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt, vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. When McKinley seemed to recover, Roosevelt resumed his vacation. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt rushed back to Buffalo. He was in North Creek when he learned of McKinley's death on September 14. Roosevelt then continued to Buffalo and was sworn in as the 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
McKinley's supporters were uneasy about Roosevelt, with Ohio Senator Mark Hanna particularly bitter, given his strong opposition at the convention. Although Roosevelt assured party leaders that he would adhere to McKinley's policies and retained his cabinet, he sought to establish himself as the party's leader and position himself for the 1904 election. Roosevelt's ascension to the presidency was met with concern by conservative Republicans, with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin noting that:
Conservatives, who had utterly dominated the Republican Party for three decades, feared the impulsive young president would prove a "bucking bronco," upsetting the alliance between business and government that had delivered unparalled prosperity at the turn of the century. Reformers hoped Roosevelt's vigorous leadership would refashion the Republican Party into the progressive force it had been under Abraham Lincoln, endeavoring to spread prosperity beyond the wealthy few to the common man.
Adding to this point, Kearns has noted that
Throughout his career, Roosevelt had struggled to reconcile party allegiance with the drive to address social problems, a balancing act that became more difficult as the troubling aspects of industrialization intensified. While he considered himself conservative in relation to the Populists, he believed that his party was in thrall to reactionaries who so "dreaded radicalism" that they "distrusted anything that was progressive." Precisely such men dominated both chambers of Congress, Roosevelt lamented. He would work to "push" them forward but recognized that genuine progress would require a direct appeal to the people, "the masters of both of us." To reach the general public, he would enlist the new breed of independent journalists, without whose "active support," he later acknowledged, he "would have been powerless."
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House, sparking a bitter reaction across the heavily segregated South. While Roosevelt initially planned more dinners with Washington, he later avoided further invitations in favor of business appointments to retain political support in the white South.
=== Domestic policies: The Square Deal ===
==== Trust busting and regulation ====
Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster" for his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors. He viewed big business as essential to the American economy, prosecuting only "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. Roosevelt brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly, and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. His predecessors, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley, had together prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations.
After winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed creating the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which included the Bureau of Corporations. Congress was receptive to the department but skeptical of the antitrust powers Roosevelt wanted within the Bureau. Roosevelt appealed to the public, pressuring Congress, which overwhelmingly passed his version of the bill.
House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands notes, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." Roosevelt's willingness to exercise power extended to attempted rule changes in American football, forcing retention of martial arts classes at the U.S. Naval Academy, revising disciplinary rules, altering the design of a disliked coin, and ordering simplified spellings for 300 words, though he rescinded the latter after ridicule from the press and a House protest.
==== Coal strike ====
In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in miners getting more pay for fewer hours but no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." He was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
==== Prosecuted misconduct ====
During Roosevelt's second year in office, corruption was uncovered in the Indian Service, the United States General Land Office, and the Post Office Department. He prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated Native American tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation involving Oregon timberlands led to him and Ethan A. Hitchcock forcing General Land Office Commissioner Binger Hermann from office in November 1902. Special prosecutor Francis J. Heney obtained 146 indictments in the Oregon Land Office bribery ring. Roosevelt also prosecuted 44 postal employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians agree he moved "quickly and decisively" to address misconduct in his administration.
==== Railroads ====
Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, resisted. Roosevelt worked with Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. They ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, allowing railroads to appeal to federal courts on what was "reasonable". The Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and other aspects of railroad operations.
==== Pure food and drugs ====
Roosevelt responded to public outrage over abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Conservatives initially opposed the bill, but Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, galvanized support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act banned misleading labels and preservatives with harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned impure or falsely labeled food and drugs from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908 and convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909.
==== Conservation ====
Roosevelt was proudest of his work in conserving natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. He worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that met resistance from Western Congress members, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States he placed under public protection totals approximately 230 million acres (930,000 square kilometers). Roosevelt was the first honorary member of the Camp-Fire Club of America.
Roosevelt extensively used executive orders to protect forest and wildlife lands during his presidency. By the end of his second term, Roosevelt used executive orders to reserve 150 million acres (600,000 square kilometers) of forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite Congress's perception that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill preventing the president from reserving further land. Before signing the bill, Roosevelt established an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign it into law. In total, Roosevelt established 121 forest reserves in 31 states through executive orders. Roosevelt issued 1,081 executive orders, more than any previous president except for Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders.
==== Business panic of 1907 ====
In 1907, Roosevelt faced the greatest domestic economic crisis since the Panic of 1893. Wall Street's stock market entered a slump in early 1907, and many investors blamed Roosevelt's regulatory policies for the decline in stock prices. Roosevelt ultimately helped calm the crisis by meeting with the leaders of U.S. Steel on November 4, 1907, and approving their plan to purchase a Tennessee steel company near bankruptcy—its failure would ruin a major New York bank.
However, in August, Roosevelt had exploded in anger at the super-rich for their economic malfeasance, calling them "malefactors of great wealth" in a major speech, "The Puritan Spirit and the Regulation of Corporations". Trying to restore confidence, he blamed the crisis primarily on Europe, but then, after saluting the unbending rectitude of the Puritans, he went on:
It may well be that the determination of the government...to punish certain malefactors of great wealth, has been responsible for something of the trouble; at least to the extent of having caused these men to combine to bring about as much financial stress as possible, in order to discredit the policy of the government and thereby secure a reversal of that policy, so that they may enjoy unmolested the fruits of their own evil-doing.
Regarding the very wealthy, Roosevelt privately scorned, "their entire unfitness to govern the country, and ... the lasting damage they do by much of what they think are the legitimate big business operations of the day".
=== Foreign policy ===
==== Japan ====
The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that Japan would dominate or seize the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.
In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, Roosevelt wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values, but he did not envision any new acquisitions. One of Roosevelt's priorities was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
Though he proclaimed that the United States would be neutral during the Russo-Japanese War, Roosevelt secretly favored Imperial Japan to emerge victorious against the Russian Empire. In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. It ended explicit discrimination against the Japanese, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment, the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome. This goodwill facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
==== China ====
Following the Boxer Rebellion, foreign powers, including the United States, required China to pay indemnities as part of the Boxer protocol. In 1908, Roosevelt appropriated these indemnities for the Boxer Indemnity Scholarships, which funded tens of thousands of Chinese students to study in the U.S. over the next 40 years.
==== Europe ====
Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad. He also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.
Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of directing most of its attention to the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the U.S. signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the U.S. from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the U.S.; as Roosevelt later put it, this "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
==== Latin America and the Panama Canal ====
As president, Roosevelt primarily directed the nation's overseas ambitions towards the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term, the U.S. had more battleships than any country other than Britain. The Panama Canal, when it opened in 1914, allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.
In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned about the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power.
Two possible routes for an isthmus canal in Central America were under consideration: through Nicaragua and through Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40 million (equivalent to $1.12 billion in 2024) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the newspapers but are divided on whether actual corruption took place.
In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines, if necessary, without congressional approval.
Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard reports that:
The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and real politician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century... yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.
On November 6, 1906, Roosevelt was the first president to depart the continental United States on an official diplomatic trip. Roosevelt made a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico. He visited the Panama Canal worksite and attended diplomatic receptions in both Panama and Puerto Rico.
=== Media ===
Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage. Aside from the Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases, Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges.
=== Election of 1904 ===
With the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Mark Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.
While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time ordering Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $2.72 million in 2024) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote to Parker's 38%, and won the Electoral College vote 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations.
=== Second term ===
As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, which he promised to not run again after its conclusion, and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law, called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas, he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.
The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery that financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $4.1 million in 2024) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple".
==== Rhetoric of righteousness ====
Roosevelt's rhetoric was characterized by an intense moralism of personal righteousness. The tone was typified by his denunciation of "predatory wealth" in a message he sent Congress in January 1908 calling for passage of new labor laws:
Predatory wealth--of the wealth accumulated on a giant scale by all forms of iniquity, ranging from the oppression of wageworkers to unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing out competition, and to defrauding the public by stock jobbing and the manipulation of securities. Certain wealthy men of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have during the last few months made it apparent that they have banded together to work for a reaction. Their endeavor is to overthrow and discredit all who honestly administer the law, to prevent any additional legislation which would check and restrain them, and to secure if possible a freedom from all restraint which will permit every unscrupulous wrongdoer to do what he wishes unchecked provided he has enough money....The methods by which the Standard Oil people and those engaged in the other combinations of which I have spoken above have achieved great fortunes can only be justified by the advocacy of a system of morality which would also justify every form of criminality on the part of a labor union, and every form of violence, corruption, and fraud, from murder to bribery and ballot box stuffing in politics.
=== Roosevelt and racial issues ===
In 1890 to 1919 there was a sharp decline --a "nadir"--in the political and social status of African Americans in the South as well as the North. On the positive side Roosevelt included black soldiers in his Rough Rider unit in 1898. He invited the nation's leading Black spokesman. Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House in October 1901, and routinely took Washington's advice in how to distribute patronage jobs to Black Republicans.
More and more, however, he supported the downward trend.
During a southern tour in 1905 he admonished the African American voters to accept white supremacy and boasted to whites that his mother was from Georgia. In the middle of his second term the President dismissed an entire battalion of black soldiers who colluded and refused to obey his explicit orders to report the names of soldiers who attacked white civilians in Brownsville, Texas. In 1912 when launching the Bull Moose Party, he mobilized only white men in the South, while President Taft was mobilizing both races there.
== Post-presidency (1909–1919) ==
=== Election of 1908 ===
Roosevelt enjoyed being president but believed limited terms provided a check against dictatorship. He decided to honor his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. Though he favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, Root's ill health made him unsuitable. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes was a strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt considered him too independent. He settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had been his friend since 1890 and consistently supported Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!" Just weeks later, he branded as "false and malicious" the charge he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear Roosevelt was not interested.
In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted progressivism emphasizing the rule of law; he preferred that judges, rather than politicians, make decisions about fairness. However, Taft proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt, lacking the energy, personal magnetism, and public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized lowering the tariff would create severe tensions inside the Republican Party, he stopped talking about it. Taft, ignoring the risks, tackled the tariff boldly, resulting in the Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909, which alienated reformers on all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, allowing Taft space.
=== Africa and Europe (1909–1910) ===
In March 1909, the ex-president left for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa in East Africa and traveled to the Belgian Congo before following the Nile River to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Well-financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and American Museum of Natural History. The group, led by hunter-tracker R.J. Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined by Frederick Selous, famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring. The team killed or trapped 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted carcasses and skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all. Regarding the large number taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the trip in African Game Trails.
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule, stating Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome. He met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other leaders. In Oslo, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, where he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics, he quietly met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger. Roosevelt returned to the U.S. in June 1910. Four months later, Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in a plane, staying aloft for 4 minutes in a Wright brothers-designed craft.
Roosevelt relied on Andrew Carnegie for financing his expedition. In return, Carnegie asked the ex-president to mediate the growing conflict between the cousins who ruled Britain and Germany. Roosevelt started to, but the scheme collapsed when King Edward VII suddenly died. David Nasaw argues Roosevelt systematically deceived and manipulated Carnegie and held the elderly man in contempt.
=== The Great Rapprochement with Great Britain ===
The Great Rapprochement was the convergence of diplomatic, political, military, and economic objectives of the United States and Great Britain from 1895 to 1915. Roosevelt played a central role through his close contacts with British intellectuals and politicians and in his diplomatic work regarding the Panama Canal. The British welcomed Roosevelt, as seen in the Alaska boundary dispute. The British diplomats voted with Roosevelt's diplomats to deny Canada's claim to an ocean port that would allow access to the gold mines in the Canadian Yukon. The Canadians felt betrayed by the British control of Canadian foreign policy in order to appease the United States.
In 1915–1917 Roosevelt was the leading proponent of America entering the war on the side of Great Britain. In October 1916, campaigning for the Republican ticket to defeat President Woodrow Wilson's reelection, Roosevelt lashed out: President Wilson's ignoble shirking of responsibility has been clothed in an utterly misleading phrase, the phrase of a coward, He kept us out of war. In actual reality, war has been creeping nearer and nearer... and we face it without policy, plan, purpose or preparation.
Roosevelt argued that the United States had a moral obligation to support the Allies and that neutrality, as President Wilson promised, was both cowardly and dangerous.
=== Republican Party schism ===
Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a copy of himself, but recoiled as Taft began to display his individuality. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated his success had been possible not just through Roosevelt, but also Taft's half-brother Charles Phelps Taft. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff, when he concentrated power with conservative party leaders in Congress. Others have argued that Taft abided by the goals and procedures of the "Square Deal" promoted by Roosevelt in his first term. The problem was Roosevelt and the more radical progressives had moved on to more aggressive goals, such as curbing the judiciary, which Taft rejected.
Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party, and to avoid splitting it in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. To that end, Roosevelt publicly expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in June 1910.
==== Dispute over court power ====
Roosevelt gave speeches in the West in the late summer and early fall of 1910 in which he severely criticized the nation's judiciary. Roosevelt not only attacked the Supreme Court's 1905 decision in Lochner v. New York, he accused federal courts of undermining democracy, branding the suspect jurists "fossilized judges", and compared their tendency to strike down progressive reform legislation, to Justice Roger B. Taney's ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). To ensure the constitution served the public interests, Roosevelt joined other progressives in calling for the "judicial recall", which would enable popular majorities to remove judges from office and reverse unpopular judicial decisions. This attack horrified Taft, who, though he privately agreed that Lochner and other decisions had been poorly decided, was an adamant believer in judicial authority preserving constitutional government. His horror was shared with other prominent members of the elite legal community, and solidified in Taft's mind that Roosevelt must not be permitted to regain the presidency.
==== Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" ====
In August 1910, Roosevelt escalated the rivalry with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career. It marked his public break with Taft and conservative Republicans. Advocating a program he called the "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and the need to control corporate creation and combination. He called for a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr.. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since 1892. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York State senator Franklin D. Roosevelt, who argued he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent.
The Republican progressives interpreted the defeats as a compelling argument for reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and replace Taft at the national level. Despite his skepticism of the league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between them became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated because he had personally approved an acquisition the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912.
==== Battling Taft over arbitration treaties ====
Taft as a world leader arbitrated for world peace. In 1911 he and Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated treaties with Britain and France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or another tribunal. These were signed in August 1911, but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with Senate leaders during negotiations. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing them.
Arbitration revealed a dispute among American progressives. One faction, led by Taft looked to it as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer, understanding the legal issues. Taft's base was the conservative business community that supported peace movements before 1914. However, he failed to mobilize them. The businessmen believed economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that trade led to an interdependent world that would make war expensive and useless. However, an opposing faction, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of war as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the treaties. Roosevelt was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed arbitration was a naïve solution and great issues had to be decided by war. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest.
=== Election of 1912 ===
==== Republican primaries and convention ====
In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics".
Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the party from defeat in the upcoming election. In February 1912 in Boston, Roosevelt said, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me". Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought division would lead to defeat in the election, while Taft believed he would be defeated either in the primary or general election.
The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. At the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Taft won the nomination on the first ballot.
According to Lewis L. Gould, in 1912 Roosevelt saw Taft as the agent of "the forces of reaction and of political crookedness".... Roosevelt had become the most dangerous man in American history, said Taft, "because of his hold upon the less intelligent voters and the discontented." The Republican National Committee, dominated by the Taft forces, awarded 235 delegates to the president and 19 to Roosevelt...Roosevelt believed himself entitled to 72 delegates from Arizona, California, Texas and Washington that had been given to Taft. Firm in his conviction that the nomination was being stolen from him, Roosevelt ....told cheering supporters that there was "a great moral issue" at stake and he should have "sixty to eighty lawfully elected delegates" added to his total....Roosevelt ended his speech declaring: "Fearless of the future; unheeding of our individual fates; with unflinching hearts and undimmed eyes; we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord!"
==== Progressive Party ====
Once his defeat appeared probable, Roosevelt announced he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive". Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party. Leadership of the new party included a range of reformers. Jane Addams campaigned vigorously for the party as a breakthrough in social reform. Gifford Pinchot represented environmentalists and anti-trust crusaders. Publisher Frank Munsey provided cash and George W. Perkins, a Wall Street financier came from the efficiency movement. He handled the new party's finances efficiently but was distrusted by many reformers.
Governor Hiram Johnson controlled the California party, forcing out the Taft supporters. He was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his radical 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests:
To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. This country belongs to the people. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest. This assertion is explicit... Mr. Wilson must know that every monopoly in the United States opposes the Progressive party... I challenge him... to name the monopoly that did support the Progressive party, whether... the Sugar Trust, the US Steel Trust, the Harvester Trust, the Standard Oil Trust, the Tobacco Trust, or any other... Ours was the only program to which they objected, and they supported either Mr. Wilson or Mr. Taft.
Though many Progressive party activists in the North opposed the steady loss of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won few votes outside traditional Republican strongholds. Out of 1,100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina.
==== Attempted assassination ====
On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot by saloonkeeper John Schrank, who believed the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in Roosevelt's chest after penetrating his eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual". Schrank was disarmed and captured by Roosevelt's stenographer, Elbert E. Martin as he attempted to fire a second time, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take Schrank and make sure no violence was done to him.
As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined to go to hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90-minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. Only afterwards did he accept medical attention. Probes and an x-ray showed the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded it would be less dangerous to leave it than attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet in him for the rest of his life. Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their campaigning until Roosevelt resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to campaign. He wrote a friend about the bullet, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat-pocket."
==== Democratic victory ====
After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt did not expect to win the election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to progressive Democrats who might have considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest despite Taft's quiet presence. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but they differed on various issues; Wilson opposed federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor, and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses.
Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%) and Wilson's 6.3 million (42%). Wilson scored a landslide in the Electoral College with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt 88, and Taft 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Roosevelt garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War.
=== South American expedition (1913–1914) ===
In 1907 a friend of Roosevelt's, John Augustine Zahm, invited Roosevelt to help plan a research expedition to South America. To finance it, Roosevelt obtained support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt–Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian Cândido Rondon.
Once in South America, a more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the river Duvida and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. Duvida was later renamed Roosevelt River. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie, Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. The initial expedition started tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of rainy season. The trip down Duvida started on February 27, 1914.
Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped in to try to prevent canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba. The infection weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks in, he had to be attended to constantly by the expedition's physician and Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection and an infirmity in the other leg, due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt had chest pains and a fever that soared to 103 °F (39 °C) and made him delirious. Regarding his condition as a threat to others' survival, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed, preparing to commit suicide with morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.
Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of 50 pounds (23 kg), Rondon reduced the pace for map-making, which required regular stops to fix their position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that it had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over 625 miles (1,006 km) long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims.
=== Final years ===
Roosevelt returned to the U.S. in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the U.S. had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many reforms passed. Roosevelt made campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party, and Roosevelt and many of his followers rejoined the Republican Party.
==== World War I ====
When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish Americans and German Americans whom he described as unpatriotic; he insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, aged 20. Roosevelt never recovered from his loss.
==== League of Nations ====
Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation.
When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations". By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge and developed his own plans for a different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations.
==== Final political activities ====
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for!" He wrote to William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations.
While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition deteriorated throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks and never fully recovered.
== Death ==
On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were either "Please put out that light, James" or "James, will you please put out the light.", said to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt died at the age of 60 in his sleep at Sagamore Hill of a pulmonary embolism.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay on January 8. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, former New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, Senators Warren G. Harding and Henry Cabot Lodge, and former President William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay.
== Writer ==
Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."
As an editor of The Outlook, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four-volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race"—had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help.
In 1905, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms and published several essays denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.
== Character and beliefs ==
British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises Roosevelt's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects".
Roosevelt was a Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was also a member of The Explorers Club.
Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the U.S. would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905.
Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations." He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the Great White Fleet around the world in 1907–1909. He boasted in his autobiography:
When I left the Presidency I finished seven and a half years of administration, during which not one shot had been fired against a foreign foe. We were at absolute peace, and there was no nation in the world with whom a war cloud threatened, no nation in the world whom we had wronged, or from whom we had anything to fear. The cruise of the battle fleet was not the least of the causes which ensured so peaceful an outlook.
Historian Howard K. Beale has argued:
He and his associates came close to seeking war for its own sake. Ignorant of modern war, Roosevelt romanticized war. ... Like many young men tamed by civilization into law-abiding but adventurous living, he needed an outlet for the pent-up primordial man in him and found it in fighting and killing, vicariously or directly, in hunting or in war. Indeed he had a fairly good time in war when war came. ... There was something dull and effeminate about peace. ... He gloried in war, was thrilled by military history, and placed warlike qualities high in his scale of values. Without consciously desiring it, he thought a little war now and then stimulated admirable qualities in men. Certainly preparedness for war did.
Roosevelt often praised moral behavior but apparently never made a spiritual confession of his own faith. After the 1884 death of his wife, he almost never mentioned Jesus in public or private. His rejection of dogma and spirituality, says biographer William Harbaugh, led to a broad tolerance. Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself, a lifelong adherent of the Dutch Reformed church. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home to the local church and back, even after a serious operation. According to Christian Reisner, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing", and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected". In an address delivered to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that:
Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes what a very large number of people tend to forget, that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally—I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally—impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less of resolution, strive to raise ourselves. Almost every man who has by his lifework added to the sum of human achievement of which the race is proud, has based his lifework largely upon the teachings of the Bible ... Among the greatest men a disproportionately large number have been diligent and close students of the Bible at first hand.
== Political positions ==
When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many fiscal conservatives, stating that "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government, which was central to his political ideology of progressive conservatism. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
=== Foreign policy beliefs ===
In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was the duty of the United States to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social Darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, the United States had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt was a conservative realist in his foreign policy approach. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argued that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government:
I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness.
On his international outlook, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However, he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
== Legacy ==
Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and emphasizing character as much as issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his early proposals that foreshadowed the modern welfare state, including federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy. Conservationists admire Roosevelt for prioritizing the environment and selflessness towards future generations. Conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty, and military values. Dalton states, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century."
Liberals and socialists criticize his interventionist and imperialist approach, while libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents.
=== Persona and masculinity ===
Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act". Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson, highlighting their roles as warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", viewing his romantic notion of life as emerging from his belief in physical bravery as the highest virtue. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Theodore Roosevelt (1931), stated the "Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men."
Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. He often warned that men were becoming too complacent, failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. Historian Serge Ricard noted that Roosevelt's advocacy of the "Strenuous Life" made him an ideal subject for psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in his era. He promoted competitive sports for physically strengthening American men and supported organizations like the Boy Scouts, to mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were central to Roosevelt's image:
What makes the hero a hero is the romantic notion that he stands above the tawdry give and take of everyday politics, occupying an ethereal realm where partisanship gives way to patriotism, and division to unity, and where the nation regains its lost innocence... In 1902, Théobald Chartran was commissioned to paint Roosevelt's presidential portrait. Roosevelt hid it in a closet before having it destroyed because it made him look like a "meek kitten". Roosevelt instead chose John Singer Sargent to paint his portrait.
=== Memorials and cultural depictions ===
Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927.
Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists—not only in English, but in many translations. Another popular legacy is the teddy bear—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902.
For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was tainted by Roosevelt's lobbying of the War Department. In the 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on the basis the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider and reverse himself, leading to the charge it was a "politically motivated award". In 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor for his charge. He is the only president to have received it.
The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the USS Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600), a submarine in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), an aircraft carrier on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986. Roosevelt has appeared on five U.S. Postage stamps, the first being issued in 1922. In 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued in 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century series. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter. Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered in 2005, was named after him. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 (M.P.C. 118221). Robert Peary named the Roosevelt Range and Roosevelt Land after him.
Roosevelt has also been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels. Roosevelt is the leader of the American civilization in the video game Civilization VI. Beginning in 1965, Al Sheehan produced an annual musical spectacular on the history of North Dakota performed at the Medora Musical, which included a portrayal of Roosevelt in the Badlands.
For 80 years, an equestrian statue of Roosevelt, sitting above a Native American and an African American, stood in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. In 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, the statue was removed. Museum president Ellen V. Futter said the decision did not reflect a judgment about Roosevelt but the sculpture's "hierarchical composition".
=== Audiovisual media ===
Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 1912 voice recording of The Right of the People to Rule, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is available from the Michigan State University libraries. The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park | Yellowstone National Park | Yellowstone National Park is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress through the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the US, and is also widely understood to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes, subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
While Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Management and control of the park originally fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the first secretary of the interior to supervise the park being Columbus Delano. However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee the management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916. In 1917, the administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service, which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance, and researchers have examined more than one thousand indigenous archaeological sites.
Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km2), with lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and covers part of the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force twice in the last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States. The park is inhabited by grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, over one-third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing, and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.
== History ==
The park is roughly bisected by the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its name. Near the end of the 18th century, French trappers named the river Roche Jaune, likely a translation of the Hidatsa name Mi tsi a-da-zi ("Yellow Stone River"). Later, American trappers rendered the French name in English as "Yellow Stone". Although it is commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Native American name source is unclear.
The human history of the park began at least 11,000 years ago when Native Americans began to hunt and fish in the region. During the construction of the post office in Gardiner, Montana, in the 1950s, an obsidian point of Clovis origin was found that dated from approximately 11,000 years ago. These Paleo-Indians, of the Clovis culture, used the region's abundant obsidian to make cutting tools and weapons. Arrowheads sourced from the Obsidian Cliffs have been found as far away as the Mississippi Valley and Ohio, indicating that a regular obsidian trade existed between local tribes and tribes farther east. More recently, Native American tribes including the Bannock, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Blackfeet, Crow, Salish, and Kootenai continued to visit in Yellowstone until the 1870s, some resided there, and, under treaty rights, a few were hunting there as late as 1889.
When the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered present-day Montana in 1805 they encountered the Nez Perce, Crow, and Shoshone tribes who described to them the Yellowstone region to the south, but they chose not to investigate. In 1806, John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, left to join a group of fur trappers. After splitting up with the other trappers in 1807, Colter passed through a portion of what later became the park, during the winter of 1807–1808. He observed at least one geothermal area in the northeastern section of the park, near Tower Fall. After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with members of the Crow and Blackfoot tribes in 1809, Colter described a place of "fire and brimstone" that most people dismissed as delirium; the supposedly mystical place was nicknamed "Colter's Hell". Over the next 40 years, numerous reports from mountain men and trappers told of boiling mud, steaming rivers, and petrified trees, yet most of these reports were believed to be a myth.
After an 1856 exploration, mountain man Jim Bridger reported observing boiling springs, spouting water, and a mountain of glass and yellow rock. These reports were largely ignored because Bridger was a known "spinner of yarns". In 1859, a U.S. Army Surveyor named Captain William F. Raynolds embarked on a two-year survey of the southern central Rockies. After wintering in Wyoming, in May 1860, Raynolds and his party—which included geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden and guide Jim Bridger—attempted to cross the Continental Divide over Two Ocean Plateau from the Wind River drainage in northwest Wyoming. Heavy spring snows prevented their passage but had they been able to traverse the divide, the party would have been the first organized survey to enter the Yellowstone region. The American Civil War hampered further organized explorations until the late 1860s.
The first detailed expedition to the Yellowstone area was the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded explorers. The Folsom party followed the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake. The members of the Folsom party kept a journal and based on the information it reported, a party of Montana residents organized the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition in 1870. It was headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn, and included Nathaniel P. Langford (who later became known as "National Park" Langford) and a U.S. Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane. The expedition spent about a month exploring the region, collecting specimens, and naming sites of interest.
A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the region should be set aside and protected as a national park. He wrote detailed articles about his observations for the Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher, who had previously commented that the region should be protected. Others made similar suggestions. An 1871 letter to Ferdinand V. Hayden from Jay Cooke, a businessman who wanted to bring tourists to the region, encouraged him to mention it in his official report of the survey. Cooke wrote that his friend, Congressman William D. Kelley had also suggested "Congress pass a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever".
=== Park creation ===
In 1871, eleven years after his failed first effort, Ferdinand V. Hayden was finally able to explore the region. With government sponsorship, he returned with a second, larger expedition, the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871. He compiled a comprehensive report, including large-format photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings by Thomas Moran. The report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw this region from public auction. On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication, the law which created Yellowstone National Park.
Hayden, while not the only person to have thought of creating a park in the region, was its first and most enthusiastic advocate. He believed in "setting aside the area as a pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and warned that there were those who would come and "make merchandise of these beautiful specimens". Worrying the area could face the same fate as Niagara Falls, he concluded the site should "be as free as the air or Water". In his report to the Committee on Public Lands, he concluded that if the bill failed to become law, "vandals who are now waiting to enter into this wonder-land, will in a single season despoil, beyond recovery, these remarkable curiosities, which have required all the cunning skill of nature thousands of years to prepare".
Hayden and his 1871 party recognized Yellowstone as a unique place that should be available for further research. He also was encouraged to preserve it for others to see and experience it. In 1873, Congress authorized and funded a survey to find a wagon route to the park from the south which was completed by the Jones Expedition of 1873. The park was not set aside strictly for ecological purposes. Hayden imagined something akin to the scenic resorts and baths in England, Germany, and Switzerland.
THE ACT OF DEDICATION
AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming ... is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed there from ...
Approved March 1, 1872.
Signed by:
ULYSSES S. GRANT, President of the United States.
SCHUYLER COLFAX, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate.
JAMES G. BLAINE, Speaker of the House.
There was considerable local opposition to Yellowstone National Park during its early years. Some locals feared the regional economy would be unable to thrive if there remained strict federal prohibitions against resource development or settlement within park boundaries. Local entrepreneurs advocated reducing the size of the park so that mining, hunting, and logging activities could be developed. To this end, numerous bills were introduced into Congress by Montana representatives who sought to remove the federal land-use restrictions.
Nathaniel Langford was appointed as the park's first superintendent in 1872 by the Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano, the first overseer and controller of the park. Langford served for five years but was denied a salary, funding, and staff. Langford lacked the means to improve the land or properly protect the park, and without formal policy or regulations, had few legal methods of enforcement. This left Yellowstone vulnerable to poachers, vandals, and others seeking to exploit its resources. He addressed the practical problems park administrators faced in the 1872 Report to the Secretary of the Interior and correctly predicted that Yellowstone would become a major international attraction deserving the continuing stewardship of the government. In 1874, both Langford and Delano advocated the creation of a federal agency to protect the vast park, but Congress refused. In 1875, Colonel William Ludlow, who had previously explored areas of Montana under the command of George Armstrong Custer, was assigned to organize and lead an expedition to Montana and the newly established Yellowstone Park. Observations about the lawlessness and exploitation of park resources were included in Ludlow's Report of a Reconnaissance to the Yellowstone National Park. The report included letters and attachments by other expedition members, including naturalist and mineralogist George Bird Grinnell.
Grinnell documented the poaching of buffalo, deer, elk, and antelope for hides: "It is estimated that during the winter of 1874–1875, not less than 3,000 buffalo and mule deer suffer even more severely than the elk, and the antelope nearly as much."
As a result, Langford was forced to step down in 1877.
Having traveled through Yellowstone and witnessed land management problems, Philetus Norris volunteered for the position following Langford's exit. Congress finally saw fit to implement a salary for the position and provide minimal funding to operate the park. Norris used these funds to expand access to the park, building numerous crude roads and facilities.
In 1880, Harry Yount was appointed as a gamekeeper to control poaching and vandalism in the park. Yount had previously spent decades exploring the mountain country of present-day Wyoming, including the Grand Tetons, after joining F V. Hayden's Geological Survey in 1873. Yount is the first national park ranger, and Yount's Peak, at the head of the Yellowstone River, was named in his honor. These measures proved insufficient, as neither Norris nor the three superintendents who followed were given sufficient manpower or resources.
During the 1870s and 1880s, Native American tribes were effectively excluded from the national park. Under a half-dozen tribes had made seasonal use of the Yellowstone area — the only year-round residents were small bands of Eastern Shoshone known as "Sheepeaters". They left the area under the assurances of a treaty negotiated in 1868, under which the Sheepeaters ceded their lands but retained the right to hunt in Yellowstone. The United States never ratified the treaty and refused to recognize the claims of the Sheepeaters or any other tribe that had used Yellowstone.
The Nez Perce band associated with Chief Joseph, numbering about 750 people, passed through Yellowstone National Park in thirteen days in late August 1877. They were being pursued by the U.S. Army and entered the national park about two weeks after the Battle of the Big Hole. Some of the Nez Perce were friendly to the tourists and other people they encountered in the park; some were not. Nine park visitors were briefly taken captive. Despite Joseph and other chiefs ordering that no one should be harmed, at least two people were killed and several wounded. One of the areas where encounters occurred was in Lower Geyser Basin and east along a branch of the Firehole River to Mary Mountain and beyond. That stream was named Nez Perce Creek in memory of their trail through the area. A group of Bannocks entered the park in 1878, alarming park Superintendent Philetus Norris. In the aftermath of the Sheepeater Indian War of 1879, Norris built a fort to prevent Native Americans from entering the national park.
The Northern Pacific Railroad built a train station in Livingston, Montana, as a gateway terminus to connect to the northern entrance area in 1883, which helped to increase visitation from 300 in 1872 to 5,000 in 1883. The spur line was completed in fall of that year from Livingston to Cinnabar for stage connection to Mammoth, then in 1902 extended to Gardiner station, where passengers also switched to stagecoach. Visitors in these early years faced poor and dusty roads as well as limited services; automobiles were first admitted in phases in 1915. By 1901 a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy connection opened via Cody and in 1908 a Union Pacific Railroad connection to West Yellowstone, followed by a 1927 Milwaukee Road connection to Gallatin Gateway near Bozeman, also motorcoaching visitors via West Yellowstone. Rail visitation fell off considerably by World War II and ceased regular service in favor of the automobile around the 1960s, though special excursions occasionally continued into the early 1980s.
Ongoing poaching and destruction of natural resources continued unabated until the U.S. Army arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs in 1886 and built Camp Sheridan. Over the next 22 years, as the army constructed permanent structures, Camp Sheridan was renamed Fort Yellowstone. On May 7, 1894, the Boone and Crockett Club, acting through the personality of George G. Vest, Arnold Hague, William Hallett Phillips, W. A. Wadsworth, Archibald Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Bird Grinnell were successful in carrying through the Park Protection Act, which saved the park. The Lacey Act of 1900 provided legal support for the officials prosecuting poachers. With the funding and manpower necessary to keep a diligent watch, the army developed its own policies and regulations that permitted public access while protecting park wildlife and natural resources. When the National Park Service was created in 1916, many of the management principles developed by the army were adopted by the new agency. The army turned control over to the National Park Service on October 31, 1918.
In 1898, the naturalist John Muir described the park as follows: However orderly your excursions or aimless, again and again amid the calmest, stillest scenery you will be brought to a standstill hushed and awe-stricken before phenomena wholly new to you. Boiling springs and huge deep pools of purest green and azure water, thousands of them, are plashing and heaving in these high, cool mountains as if a fierce furnace fire were burning beneath each one of them; and a hundred geysers, white torrents of boiling water and steam, like inverted waterfalls, are ever and anon rushing up out of the hot, black underworld.
=== Automobiles and further development ===
By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park, resulting in conflicts with horses and horse-drawn transportation. Horse travel on roads was eventually prohibited.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal relief agency for young men, played a major role between 1933 and 1942 in developing Yellowstone facilities. CCC projects included reforestation, campground development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds, trail construction, fire hazard reduction, and fire-fighting work. The CCC built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds, and the current system of park roads.
During World War II, tourist travel fell sharply, staffing was cut, and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s, visitation increased tremendously in Yellowstone and other national parks. To accommodate the increased visitation, park officials implemented Mission 66, an effort to modernize and expand park service facilities. Planned to be completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service, Mission 66 construction diverged from the traditional log cabin style with design features of a modern style. During the late 1980s, most construction styles in Yellowstone reverted to the more traditional designs. After the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village, structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor center at Canyon Village, which opened in 2006, incorporates a more traditional design as well.
The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake just west of Yellowstone at Hebgen Lake damaged roads and some structures in the park. In the northwest section of the park, new geysers were found, and many existing hot springs became turbid. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in recorded history.
In 1963, after several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone, the United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of the national parks. In a paper known as the Leopold Report, the committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended the management of Yellowstone's elk population.
The wildfires during the summer of 1988 were the largest in the history of the park. Approximately 793,880 acres (3,210 km2; 1,240 mi2) or 36% of the parkland was impacted by the fires, leading to a systematic re-evaluation of fire management policies. The fire season of 1988 was considered normal until a combination of drought and heat by mid-July contributed to an extreme fire danger. On "Black Saturday", August 20, 1988, strong winds expanded the fires rapidly, and more than 150,000 acres (610 km2; 230 mi2) burned.
On October 1, 2013, Yellowstone National Park closed due to the 2013 United States federal government shutdown.
== Research and recognition ==
The expansive cultural history of the park has been documented by the 1,000 archeological sites that have been discovered. The park has 1,106 historic structures and features, and of these Obsidian Cliff and five buildings have been designated National Historic Landmarks. Yellowstone was designated an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and a UN World Heritage Site on September 8, 1978. The park was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1995 to 2003 due to the effects of tourism, infection of wildlife, and issues with invasive species. In 2010, Yellowstone National Park was honored with its own quarter under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program.
Justin Farrell explores three moral sensibilities that motivated activists in dealing with Yellowstone. First came the utilitarian vision of maximum exploitation of natural resources, a characteristic of developers in the late 19th century. Second was the spiritual vision of nature inspired by Romanticism and the transcendentalists in the mid-19th century. The twentieth century saw the biocentric moral vision that focuses on the health of the ecosystem as theorized by Aldo Leopold, which led to the expansion of federally protected areas and the surrounding ecosystems.
The Heritage and Research Center is located at Gardiner, Montana, near the north entrance to the park. The center is home to the Yellowstone National Park's museum collection, archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and herbarium. The Yellowstone National Park Archives maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the National Park Service. The collection includes the administrative records of Yellowstone, as well as resource management records, records from major projects, and donated manuscripts and personal papers. The archives are affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration.
== Geography ==
Yellowstone National Park occupies a roughly square parcel of volcanic complex that jogs slightly beyond the northwestern corner of Wyoming. Approximately 96 percent of the total land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another three percent is within Montana, with the remaining one percent in Idaho. Montana's portion of Yellowstone contains multiple trails, facilities and swimming holes, while the Idaho portion of the park is completely undeveloped. The irregular eastern boundary of the national park follows the height of land along the Absaroka Range.
The park is 63 miles (101 km) north to south, and 54 miles (87 km) west to east by air. Yellowstone is 2,219,789 acres (8,983 km2; 3,468 sq mi) in area, larger than either of the states of Rhode Island or Delaware. Rivers and lakes cover five percent of the land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at 87,040 acres (352 km2; 136 sq mi). Yellowstone Lake is up to 400 feet (120 m) deep and has 110 miles (180 km) of shoreline. At an elevation of 7,733 feet (2,357 m) above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. Forests comprise 80 percent of the land area of the park; most of the rest is grassland.
The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park. The divide is a topographic feature that separates the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages. About one-third of the park lies on the west side of the divide. The origins of the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers are near each other but on opposite sides of the divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone find their way to the Gulf of Mexico.
The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, at an average elevation of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. The plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains, which range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet (2,700 to 3,400 m) in elevation. The highest point in the park is atop Eagle Peak (11,358 feet or 3,462 metres) and the lowest is along Reese Creek (5,282 feet or 1,610 metres). Nearby mountain ranges include the Gallatin Range to the northwest, the Beartooth Mountains in the north, the Absaroka Range to the east, the Teton Range to the south, and the Madison Range to the west. The most prominent summit on the Yellowstone Plateau is Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet (3,122 m).
Yellowstone National Park has one of the world's largest petrified forests, trees which were long ago buried by ash and soil, and were gradually replaced by mineral materials. This ash and other volcanic debris are believed to have come from the park area itself as the central part of Yellowstone is the massive caldera of a supervolcano. The park contains 290 waterfalls of at least 15 feet (4.6 m), the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 308 feet (94 m).
Three deep canyons are located in the park, cut through the volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. The Lewis River flows through Lewis Canyon in the south, and the Yellowstone River has carved two colorful canyons, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in its journey north.
== Geology ==
=== Volcanism ===
Yellowstone is at the northeastern end of the Snake River Plain, a great bow-shaped arc through the mountains that extends roughly 400 miles (640 km) from the park to the Idaho-Oregon border.
The volcanism of Yellowstone is believed to be linked to the somewhat older volcanism of the Snake River Plain. Yellowstone is thus the active part of a hotspot that the North American Plate has moved over in a southwest direction over time. The origin of this hotspot volcanism is disputed. One theory holds that a mantle plume has caused the Yellowstone hotspot to migrate, while another theory explains migrating hotspot volcanism as the result of the fragmentation and dynamics of the subducted Farallon Plate in Earth's interior.
The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America, and worldwide it is only rivaled by the Lake Toba Caldera on Sumatra. It has been termed a supervolcano because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single connected chamber, about 37 miles (60 km) long, 18 miles (29 km) wide, and 3 to 7 miles (4.8 to 11.3 km) deep. The current caldera was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago, which released more than 240 mi3 (1,000 km3) of ash, rock and pyroclastic materials. This eruption was more than 1,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. It produced a caldera nearly 5⁄8 mile (1.0 km) deep and 45 by 28 miles (72 by 45 km) in area and deposited the Lava Creek Tuff, a welded tuff geologic formation. The most violent known eruption, which occurred 2.1 million years ago, ejected 588 mi3 (2,450 km3) of volcanic material and created the rock formation known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and the Island Park Caldera. A smaller eruption ejected 67 mi3 (280 km3) of material 1.3 million years ago, forming the Henry's Fork Caldera and depositing the Mesa Falls Tuff.
Each of the three climactic eruptions released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America, falling many hundreds of miles away. The amount of ash and gases released into the atmosphere probably caused significant impacts on world weather patterns and led to the extinction of some species, primarily in North America.
A subsequent caldera-forming eruption occurred about 160,000 years ago. It formed the relatively small caldera that contains the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Since the last supereruption, a series of smaller eruptive cycles between 640,000 and 70,000 years ago, has nearly filled in the Yellowstone Caldera with 80 different eruptions of rhyolitic lavas such as those that can be seen at Obsidian Cliffs and basaltic lavas which can be viewed at Sheepeater Cliff. Lava strata are most easily seen at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River continues to carve into the ancient lava flows. The canyon is a typical V-shaped valley, indicative of river-type erosion rather than erosion caused by glaciation.
Each eruption is part of an eruptive cycle that climaxes with the partial collapse of the roof of the volcano's partially emptied magma chamber. This creates a collapsed depression, called a caldera, and releases vast amounts of volcanic material, usually through fissures that ring the caldera. The time between the last three cataclysmic eruptions in the Yellowstone area has ranged from 600,000 to 800,000 years; however, the small number of such climactic eruptions cannot be used to make an accurate prediction for future volcanic events.
=== Geysers and the hydrothermal system ===
The most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful geyser, located in Upper Geyser Basin. Castle Geyser, Lion Geyser, Beehive Geyser, Grand Geyser (the world's tallest predictable geyser), Giant Geyser (the world's most voluminous geyser), Riverside Geyser and numerous other geysers are in the same basin. The park contains the tallest active geyser in the world—Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin. A study that was completed in 2011 found that at least 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone. Of these, an average of 465 are active in a given year. Yellowstone contains at least 10,000 geothermal features altogether, including geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles. Over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are concentrated in Yellowstone.
In May 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, Yellowstone National Park, and the University of Utah created the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), a partnership for long-term monitoring of the geological processes of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, for disseminating information concerning the potential hazards of this geologically active region.
In 2003, changes at the Norris Geyser Basin resulted in the temporary closure of some trails in the basin. New fumaroles were observed, and several geysers showed enhanced activity and increasing water temperatures. Several geysers became so hot that they were transformed into purely steaming features; the water had become superheated and they could no longer erupt normally. This coincided with the release of reports of a multiple year United States Geological Survey research project which mapped the bottom of Yellowstone Lake and identified a structural dome that had uplifted at some time in the past. Research indicated that these uplifts posed no immediate threat of a volcanic eruption, since they may have developed long ago, and there had been no temperature increase found near the uplifts. Most recently, in July 2024, a hydrothermal explosion occurred in Biscuit Basin.
On March 10, 2004, a biologist discovered 5 dead bison which apparently had inhaled toxic geothermal gases trapped in the Norris Geyser Basin by a seasonal atmospheric inversion. This was closely followed by an upsurge in earthquake activity in April 2004. In 2006, it was reported that the Mallard Lake Dome and the Sour Creek Dome—areas that have long been known to show significant changes in their ground movement—had risen at a rate of 1.5 to 2.4 inches (3.8 to 6.1 cm) per year from mid–2004 through 2006. As of late 2007, the uplift has continued at a reduced rate. These events inspired a great deal of media attention and speculation about the geologic future of the region. Experts responded to the conjecture by informing the public that there was no increased risk of a volcanic eruption in the near future. These changes demonstrate the dynamic nature of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system.
=== Earthquakes ===
Yellowstone experiences thousands of small earthquakes every year, virtually all of which are undetectable to people. About 2/3 of the earthquakes occur in an area between Hegben Lake and the Yellowstone Caldera along a buried fracture zone left from the 2.1 mya eruption.
There have been six earthquakes with at least magnitude 6 or greater in historical times, including the 7.2‑magnitude Hebgen Lake earthquake which occurred just outside the northwest boundary of the park in 1959. This quake triggered a huge landslide, which caused a partial dam collapse on Hebgen Lake; immediately downstream, the sediment from the landslide dammed the river and created a new lake, known as Earthquake Lake. Twenty-eight people were killed, and property damage was extensive in the immediate region. The earthquake caused some geysers in the northwestern section of the park to erupt, large cracks in the ground formed and emitted steam, and some hot springs that normally have clear water turned muddy. The stress created in the fracture zone by this quake is theorized to be responsible for the current quake activity in the northwestern section of Yellowstone. A 6.1‑magnitude earthquake struck inside the park on June 30, 1975, but the damage was minimal.
For three months in 1985, 3,000 minor earthquakes were detected in the northwestern section of the park, during what has been referred to as an earthquake swarm, and has been attributed to minor subsidence of the Yellowstone caldera. Beginning on April 30, 2007, 16 small earthquakes with magnitudes up to 2.7 occurred in the Yellowstone Caldera for several days. These swarms of earthquakes are common, and there have been 70 such swarms between 1983 and 2008. In December 2008, over 250 earthquakes were measured over four days under Yellowstone Lake, the largest measuring a magnitude of 3.9. In January 2010, more than 250 earthquakes were detected over two days. Seismic activity in Yellowstone National Park continues and is reported hourly by the Earthquake Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey.
On March 30, 2014, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck near the middle of Yellowstone near the Norris Basin at 6:34 am; reports indicated no damage. This was the largest earthquake to hit the park since February 22, 1980.
== Biology and ecology ==
Yellowstone National Park is the centerpiece of the 20 million acres (80,940 km2; 31,250 mi2) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a region that includes Grand Teton National Park, adjacent National Forests and expansive wilderness areas in those forests. The ecosystem is the largest remaining continuous stretch of mostly undeveloped pristine land in the contiguous United States, considered the world's largest intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone. With the successful wolf reintroduction program, which began in the 1990s, much of the original faunal and floral species known to inhabit the region when the first explorers entered the area can be found there. The site is home to a key field observation site for the National Ecological Observatory Network.
=== Flora ===
Over 69,000 species of trees and other vascular plants are native to the park. Another 170 species are considered to be exotic species and are non-native. Of the eight conifer tree species documented, lodgepole pine forests cover 80% of the total forested areas. Other conifers, such as subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and whitebark pine, are found in scattered groves throughout the park. As of 2007, the whitebark pine is threatened by a fungus known as white pine blister rust; however, this is mostly confined to forests well to the north and west. In Yellowstone, about seven percent of the whitebark pine species have been impacted with the fungus, compared to nearly complete infestations in northwestern Montana. Quaking Aspen and willows are the most common species of deciduous trees. The aspen forests have declined significantly since the early 20th century, but scientists at Oregon State University attribute the recent recovery of the aspen to the reintroduction of wolves which has changed the grazing habits of local elk.
There are dozens of species of flowering plants that have been identified, most of which bloom between May and September. The Yellowstone sand verbena is a rare flowering plant found only in Yellowstone. It is closely related to species usually found in much warmer climates, making the sand verbena an enigma. The estimated 8,000 examples of this rare flowering plant all make their home in the sandy soils on the shores of Yellowstone Lake, well above the waterline.
In Yellowstone's hot waters, bacteria form mats of bizarre shapes consisting of trillions of organisms. These bacteria are some of the most primitive life forms on earth. Flies and other arthropods live on the mats, even in the middle of the bitterly cold winters. Initially, scientists thought that microbes there gained sustenance only from sulfur. In 2005 researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder discovered that the sustenance for at least some of the diverse hyperthermophilic species is molecular hydrogen.
Thermus aquaticus is a bacterium found in the Yellowstone hot springs that produces an important enzyme (Taq polymerase) that is easily replicated in the lab and is useful in replicating DNA as part of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process. The retrieval of these bacteria can be achieved with no impact on the ecosystem. Other bacteria in the Yellowstone hot springs may also prove useful to scientists who are searching for cures for various diseases. In 2016, researchers from Uppsala University reported the discovery of a class of thermophiles, Hadesarchaea, in Yellowstone's Culex Basin. These organisms are capable of converting carbon monoxide and water to carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Non-native plants sometimes threaten native species by occupying nutrient resources. Though exotic species are most commonly found in areas with the greatest human visitation, such as near roads and at major tourist areas, they have also spread into the backcountry. Generally, most exotic species are controlled by pulling the plants out of the soil or by spraying, both of which are time-consuming and expensive.
=== Fauna ===
Yellowstone is widely considered to be the finest megafauna wildlife habitat in the lower 48 states. There are almost 60 species of mammals in the park, including the Rocky Mountain wolf, coyote, the Canadian lynx, cougars, and black and grizzly bears. Other large mammals include the bison (often referred to as buffalo), elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goat, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep.
The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the largest public herd of American bison in the United States. Bison once numbered between 30 and 60 million individuals throughout North America, and Yellowstone remains one of their last strongholds. Their populations had increased from less than 50 in the park in 1902 to 4,000 by 2003. The Yellowstone Park bison herd reached a peak in 2005 with 4,900 animals. Despite a summer estimated population of 4,700 in 2007, the number dropped to 3,000 in 2008 after a harsh winter and controversial brucellosis management strategies which sent hundreds to slaughter.
The Yellowstone Park bison herd is believed to be one of only four free-roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Henry Mountains bison herd of Utah, at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and in Elk Island National Park in Alberta.
The relatively large bison populations are a concern for ranchers, who fear that the species can transmit bovine diseases to their domesticated cousins. About half of Yellowstone's bison have been exposed to brucellosis, a bacterial disease that came to North America with European cattle that may cause cattle to miscarry. The disease has little effect on park bison, and no reported cases of transmission from wild bison to domestic livestock have been filed. Elk also carry the disease and are believed to have transmitted the infection to horses and cattle.
To combat the perceived threat of brucellosis transmission to cattle, national park personnel regularly corral bison herds back into the park when they venture outside of the area's borders. During the winter of 1996–1997, the bison herd was so large that 1,079 bison that had exited the park were either shot or sent to slaughter. Animal rights activists argue that this is a cruel practice and that the possibility for disease transmission is not as great as some ranchers maintain. Ecologists point out that the bison are merely traveling to seasonal grazing areas that lie within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that have been converted to cattle grazing, some of which are within National Forests and are leased to private ranchers. APHIS has stated that with vaccinations and other means, brucellosis can be eliminated from the bison and elk herds throughout Yellowstone.
Starting in 1914, to protect elk populations, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds to be used for "destroying wolves, prairie dogs, and other animals injurious to agriculture and animal husbandry" on public lands. Park Service hunters carried out these orders, and by 1926 they had killed 136 wolves. Gradually, wolves were virtually eliminated from Yellowstone. Further exterminations continued until the National Park Service ended the practice in 1935. With the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the wolf was one of the first mammal species listed. After the wolves were extirpated from Yellowstone, the coyote then became the park's top canine predator. Since the coyote is not able to bring down large animals, this lack of an apex predator resulted in a marked increase in lame and sick megafauna.
By the 1990s, the Federal government had reversed its views on wolves. In a controversial decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which oversees threatened and endangered species), northwestern wolves imported from Canada were reintroduced into the park. Reintroduction efforts have been successful, with populations remaining relatively stable. A survey conducted in 2005 reported that there were 13 wolf packs, totaling 118 individuals in Yellowstone and 326 in the entire ecosystem. These park figures were lower than those reported in 2004, but may be attributable to wolf migration to other nearby areas as suggested by the substantial increase in the Montana population during that interval. Almost all the wolves documented were descended from the 66 wolves reintroduced in 1995–96. The recovery of populations throughout the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho has been so successful that on February 27, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population from the endangered species list. As of January 2023, there are at least 108 wolves in the park in 10 packs. Wolves in Yellowstone sit at the core of a larger population connected throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Black bears are common in the park and were a park symbol due to visitor interaction with the bears starting in 1910. Feeding and close contact with bears has not been permitted since the 1960s to reduce their desire for human foods. Yellowstone is one of the few places in the United States where black bears can be seen coexisting with grizzly bears. Black bear observations occur most often in the park's northern ranges, and in the Bechler area which is in the park's southwestern corner.
As of 2017, an estimated 700 grizzly bears were living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with about 150 grizzlies living wholly or partially within Yellowstone National Park. The grizzly was initially listed as a threatened species in the contiguous United States on July 28, 1975, by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The grizzly bear was taken off the endangered species list in 2007. Opponents of delisting the grizzly expressed concerns that states might once again allow hunting and that better conservation measures were needed to ensure a sustainable population. A federal district judge overturned the delisting ruling in 2009, reinstating the grizzly. The grizzly was once again removed from the list in 2017. In September 2018, a U.S. district judge ruled that the grizzly's protections must be restored in full, arguing the Fish and Wildlife Service was mistaken in removing the bear from the threatened status list. Hunting is prohibited within Yellowstone National Park while hunters may transport the carcass through the park with a permit.
Population figures for elk are more than 30,000—the largest population of any large mammal species in Yellowstone. The northern herd has decreased enormously since the mid‑1990s; this has been attributed to wolf predation and causal effects such as elk using more forested regions to evade predation, consequently making it harder for researchers to accurately count them. The northern herd migrates west into southwestern Montana in the winter. The southern herd migrates southward, and the majority of this elk winter on the National Elk Refuge, immediately southeast of Grand Teton National Park. The southern herd migration is the largest mammalian migration remaining in the U.S. outside of Alaska.
In 2003 the tracks of one female lynx and her cub were spotted and followed for over 2 miles (3.2 km). Fecal material and other evidence obtained were tested and confirmed to be those of a lynx. No visual confirmation was made, however. Lynx have not been seen in Yellowstone since 1998, though DNA taken from hair samples obtained in 2001 confirmed that lynx were at least transient to the park. Other less commonly seen mammals include the cougar and wolverine. The cougar has an estimated population of only 25 individuals park-wide. Accurate population figures for the wolverine are not known. These uncommon and rare mammals provide insight into the health of protected lands such as Yellowstone and help managers make determinations as to how best to preserve habitats.
Eighteen species of fish live in Yellowstone, including the core range of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout—a fish highly sought by anglers. The Yellowstone cutthroat trout has faced several threats since the 1980s, including the suspected illegal introduction into Yellowstone Lake of lake trout, an invasive species which consume the smaller cutthroat trout. Although lake trout were established in Shoshone and Lewis lakes (on the Snake River drainage) after U.S. government stocking operations in 1890, it was never officially introduced into the Yellowstone River drainage. The cutthroat trout has also faced an ongoing drought, as well as the accidental introduction of a parasite—whirling disease—which causes a terminal nervous system disease in younger fish. Since 2001, all native sport fish species caught in Yellowstone waterways are subject to catch and release regulations.
Yellowstone is also home to seven species of reptiles: the painted turtle, rubber boa, prairie rattlesnake, bullsnake, sagebrush lizard, valley garter snake and wandering garter snake. Four species of amphibians are present: the boreal chorus frog, tiger salamander, western toad and Columbia spotted frog.
Three hundred eleven species of birds have been reported, almost half of which nest in Yellowstone. In 1999, twenty-six pairs of nesting bald eagle were documented. Extremely rare sightings of whooping cranes have been recorded; however, only three examples of this species are known to live in the Rocky Mountains out of 385 known worldwide. Other birds, considered species of special concern because of their rarity in Yellowstone, include the common loon, harlequin duck, osprey, peregrine falcon and the trumpeter swan.
== Forest fires ==
As wildfire is a natural part of most ecosystems, plants indigenous to Yellowstone have adapted in a variety of ways. Douglas-fir have a thick bark that protects the inner section of the tree from most fires. Lodgepole pines—the most common tree species in the park—generally have cones that are only opened by the heat of a fire. Their seeds are held in place by a tough resin, and fire assists in melting the resin, allowing the seeds to disperse. Fire clears out dead and downed wood, providing fewer obstacles for lodgepole pines to flourish. subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, whitebark pine, and other species tend to grow in colder and moister areas, where the fire is less likely to occur. Aspen trees sprout new growth from their roots, and even if a severe fire kills the tree above ground, the roots often survive unharmed because they are insulated from the heat by soil. The National Park Service estimates that in natural conditions, grasslands in Yellowstone burned an average of every 20 to 25 years, while forests in the park would experience fire about every 300 years.
About thirty-five natural forest fires are ignited each year by lightning, while another six to ten are started by people—in most cases by accident. Yellowstone National Park has three fire lookout towers, each staffed by trained firefighters. The easiest one to reach is atop Mount Washburn, which has interpretive exhibits and an observation deck open to the public. The park also monitors fire from the air and relies on visitor reports of smoke and flames. Fire towers are staffed almost continuously from late June to mid-September—the primary fire season. Fires burn with the greatest intensity in the late afternoon and evening. Few fires burn more than 100 acres (40 ha), and the vast majority of fires reach only a little over an acre (0.5 ha) before they burn themselves out. Fire management focuses on monitoring dead and down wood quantities, soil, and tree moisture, and the weather, to determine those areas most vulnerable to fire should one ignite. The current policy is to suppress all human-caused fires and to evaluate natural fires, examining the benefit or detriment they may pose to the ecosystem. If a fire is considered to be an immediate threat to people and structures, or will burn out of control, then fire suppression is performed.
To minimize the chances of out-of-control fires and threats to people and structures, park employees do more than just monitor the potential for fire. Controlled burns are prescribed fires that are deliberately started to remove dead timber under conditions that allow firefighters an opportunity to carefully control where and how much wood is consumed. Natural fires are sometimes considered prescribed fires if they are left to burn. In Yellowstone, unlike some other parks, there have been very few fires deliberately started by employees as prescribed burns. However, over the last 30 years, over 300 natural fires have been allowed to burn naturally. In addition, firefighters remove dead and down wood and other hazards from areas where they will be a potential fire threat to lives and property, reducing the chances of fire danger in these areas. Fire monitors also regulate fire through educational services to the public and have been known to temporarily ban campfires from campgrounds during periods of high fire danger. The common notion in early United States land management policies was that all forest fires were bad. The fire was seen as a purely destructive force and there was little understanding that it was an integral part of the ecosystem. Consequently, until the 1970s, when a better understanding of wildfire was developed, all fires were suppressed. This led to an increase in dead and dying forests, which would later provide the fuel load for fires that would be much harder, and in some cases, impossible to control. The latest Fire Management Plan (2014) allows natural fires to burn if they posed no immediate threat to lives and property.
The spring season of 1988 was wet, but by summer, drought began moving in throughout the northern Rockies, creating the driest year on record to that point. Grasses and plants which grew well in the early summer from the abundant spring moisture produced plenty of grass, which soon turned to dry tinder. The National Park Service began firefighting efforts to keep the fires under control, but the extreme drought made suppression difficult. Between July 15 and 21, 1988, fires quickly spread from 8,500 acres (3,400 ha; 13.3 sq mi) throughout the entire Yellowstone region, which included areas outside the park, to 99,000 acres (40,000 ha; 155 sq mi) on the park land alone. By the end of the month, the fires were out of control. Large fires burned together, and on August 20, 1988, the single worst day of the fires, more than 150,000 acres (61,000 ha; 230 sq mi) were consumed. Seven large fires were responsible for 95% of the 793,000 acres (321,000 ha; 1,239 sq mi) that were burned over the next couple of months. The cost of 25,000 firefighters and U.S. military forces participating in the suppression efforts was 120 million dollars. By the time winter brought snow that helped extinguish the last flames, the fires had destroyed 67 structures and caused several million dollars in damage. Though no civilians died, two personnel associated with the firefighting efforts were killed.
Contrary to media reports and speculation at the time, the fires killed very few park animals—surveys indicated that only about 345 elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 36 deer, 12 moose, 6 black bears, and 9 bison had perished. Changes in fire management policies were implemented by land management agencies throughout the United States, based on knowledge gained from the 1988 fires and the evaluation of scientists and experts from various fields. By 1992, Yellowstone had adopted a new fire management plan which observed stricter guidelines for the management of natural fires.
== Climate and weather ==
Yellowstone's climate is greatly influenced by altitude, with lower elevations generally found to be warmer year-round. The record high temperature was 99 °F (37 °C) in 2002, while the coldest temperature recorded is −66 °F (−54 °C) in 1933. During the summer months of June to early September, daytime highs are normally in the 70 to 80 °F (21 to 27 °C) range, while nighttime lows can go to below freezing (0 °C), especially at higher altitudes. Summer afternoons are frequently accompanied by thunderstorms. Spring and fall temperatures range between 30 and 60 °F (−1 and 16 °C) with nights in the teens to single digits (−5 to −20 °C). Winter in Yellowstone is accompanied by high temperatures usually between 0 and 20 °F (−18 and −7 °C) and nighttime temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) for most of the winter.
Precipitation in Yellowstone is highly variable and ranges from 15 inches (380 mm) annually near Mammoth Hot Springs to 80 inches (2,000 mm) in the southwestern sections of the park. The precipitation of Yellowstone is greatly influenced by the moisture channel formed by the Snake River Plain to the west that was, in turn, formed by Yellowstone itself. Snow is possible in any month of the year, but most common between November and April, with averages of 150 inches (3,800 mm) annually around Yellowstone Lake, to twice that amount at higher elevations.
The climate at Yellowstone Lake is classified as subarctic (Dfc), according to Köppen-Geiger climate classification, while at the park headquarters, the classification is humid continental (Dfb).
Tornadoes in Yellowstone are rare. However, on July 21, 1987, the most powerful tornado recorded in Wyoming touched down in the Teton Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest and hit Yellowstone National Park. Called the Teton–Yellowstone tornado, it was classified as an F4, with wind speeds estimated at between 207 and 260 miles per hour (333 and 418 km/h). The tornado left a path of destruction 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 km) wide, and 24 miles (39 km) long, and leveled 15,000 acres (6,100 ha; 23 sq mi) of mature pine forest.
In June 2022, the park closed entrances and evacuated visitors after experiencing record-level rainfall and flooding that caused multiple road and bridge failures, power outages, and mudslides. A combination of heavy rain and rapid snow melt resulted in the Yellowstone River rising to a new record height at 13.88 feet (4.23 m), breaking a previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 m) set in 1918. Flooding on the Lamar River reached 16.7 feet (5.1 m), beating a 1996 record of 12.15 feet (3.70 m). Damage from the flooding includes washed out roads and bridges, and damage to infrastructure systems including electricity, water and wastewater systems. It was initially forecast that the park would not be able to reopen the north entrance by Gardiner, MT, or the northeast entrance near Cooke City, MT, during the 2022 season. The park partially reopened Wednesday, June 22, after a 9-day closure. The north entrance was opened on October 30, two days ahead of schedule. The northeast entrance was opened on October 15. To limit the nearly one million visitors per month that visit in the summer, the park temporarily restricted entry to cars based on license plates.
== Recreation ==
Yellowstone ranks among the most popular national parks in the United States. Since the mid-1960s, at least 2 million tourists have visited the park almost every year. Average annual visitation increased to 3.5 million during the ten years from 2007 to 2016, with a record of 4,257,177 recreational visitors in 2016. This number was surpassed in 2023 with 4.5 million people visiting the park. July is the busiest month. At peak summer levels, 3,700 employees work for Yellowstone National Park concessionaires. Concessionaires manage nine hotels and lodges, with a total of 2,238 hotel rooms and cabins available. They also oversee gas stations, stores, and most of the campgrounds. Another 800 employees work either permanently or seasonally for the National Park Service.
Park service roads lead to major features; however, road reconstruction has produced temporary road closures. Yellowstone is in the midst of a long-term road reconstruction effort, which is hampered by a short repair season. In the winter, all roads aside from the one which enters from Gardiner, Montana, and extends to Cooke City, Montana, are closed to wheeled vehicles. Park roads are closed to wheeled vehicles from early November to mid-April, but some park roads remain closed until mid-May. The park has 310 miles (500 km) of paved roads accessible from five different entrances. There is no public transportation available inside the park, but several tour companies can be contacted for guided (including self-guided) motorized transport. In the winter, concessionaires operate guided snowmobile and snow coach tours, though their numbers and access are based on quotas established by the National Park Service. Facilities in the Old Faithful, Canyon and Mammoth Hot Springs areas of the park are very busy during the summer months. Traffic jams created by road construction or by people observing wildlife can result in long delays.
Yellowstone National Park provides a range of recreational opportunities, but they also come with inherent risks. From 2007 to 2023, a total of 74 deaths were recorded within the park. Driving is the leading cause of fatalities, accounting for over 45%, often occurring on roads and highways that traverse Yellowstone's challenging terrain. Water-related activities, including fishing, swimming, and boating on Yellowstone Lake and the park’s rivers and streams, contribute to 16% of fatalities. Hiking, climbing, and walking make up 38%, with incidents frequently occurring on the trails of Yellowstone National Park or near Yellowstone's geothermal areas.
The National Park Service maintains nine visitor centers and museums and is responsible for the maintenance of historical structures and many of the other 2,000 buildings. These structures include National Historical Landmarks, such as the Old Faithful Inn built from 1903 to 1904 and the entire Fort Yellowstone – Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. A historical and educational tour is available at Fort Yellowstone, which details the history of the National Park Service and the development of the park. Campfire programs, guided walks, and other interpretive presentations normally available at numerous locations in the summer, and on a limited basis during other seasons were suspended in 2021 as a response to COVID-19.
Camping is available at a dozen campgrounds with more than 2,000 campsites. Camping is also available in surrounding National Forests, as well as in Grand Teton National Park to the south. Backcountry campsites are accessible only by foot or by horseback and require a permit. There are 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of hiking trails available. The park is not considered to be a good destination for mountaineering because of the predominance of unstable volcanic rock. Visitors with pets are required to keep them on a leash at all times and are limited to areas near roadways and in "front country" zones such as drive-in campgrounds. Around thermal features, wooden and paved trails have been constructed to ensure visitor safety, and most of these areas are handicapped accessible. The National Park Service maintains a year-round clinic at Mammoth Hot Springs and provides emergency services throughout the year.
Hunting is not permitted, though it is allowed in the surrounding national forests during the open season. Fishing is a popular activity, and a Yellowstone Park fishing license is required to fish in park waters. Many park waters are fly fishing only and all native fish species are catch and release only. Boating is prohibited on rivers and creeks except for a 5 miles (8.0 km) stretch of the Lewis River between Lewis and Shoshone lakes, and it is open to non-motorized use only. Yellowstone Lake has a marina at Bridge Bay while there is a boat ramp at the Lewis lake campground.
In the early history of the park, visitors were able to visit "bear feeding grounds", a series of dumps with seating. Visitors were additionally allowed and quietly encouraged to feed the bears. Visitors welcomed the chance to get their pictures taken with the bears, who had learned to beg for food. This led to numerous injuries to humans each year. In 1970, park officials changed their policy and started a vigorous program to educate the public on the dangers of close contact with bears, and to try to eliminate opportunities for bears to find food in campgrounds and trash collection areas. Although it has become more difficult to observe bears in recent years, the number of human injuries and deaths has taken a significant drop and visitors are in less danger. The eighth recorded bear-related death in the park's history occurred in August 2015.
Other protected lands in the region include Caribou-Targhee, Gallatin, Custer, Shoshone and Bridger-Teton National Forests. The National Park Service's John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway is to the south and leads to Grand Teton National Park. The famed Beartooth Highway provides access from the northeast and has spectacular high-altitude scenery. Nearby communities include West Yellowstone, Montana; Cody, Wyoming; Red Lodge, Montana; Ashton, Idaho; and Gardiner, Montana. The closest air transport is available by way of Bozeman, Montana; Billings, Montana; Jackson, Wyoming; Cody, Wyoming, or Idaho Falls, Idaho. Salt Lake City, 320 miles (510 km) to the south, is the closest large metropolitan area.
== Legal jurisdiction ==
The entire park is within the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, making it the only federal court district that includes portions of more than one state (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming). Law professor Brian C. Kalt has argued that it may be impossible to impanel a jury in compliance with the Vicinage Clause of the Sixth Amendment for a crime committed solely in the unpopulated Idaho portion of the park (and that it would be difficult to do so for a crime committed solely in the lightly populated Montana portion). One defendant, who was accused of a wildlife-related crime in the Montana portion of the park, attempted to raise this argument but eventually pleaded guilty, with the plea deal including his specific agreement not to raise the issue in his appeal.
== Education ==
As of 2022, resident park employees living in the Mammoth, Wyoming area around the outer edge of the park may send their children to school in Gardiner Public Schools of Gardiner, Montana. The former Mammoth School has a preschool and a community center. Some families have one parent in Bozeman, Montana with the children attending school in Bozeman instead of in the Mammoth/Gardiner area. Not as many children live in locations in the interior of the park. Several families of park employees living in interior parts of the park have one parent in a city such as Cody, Wyoming or West Yellowstone, Montana so the children can go to school in those cities.
Circa the 1880s there were education programs for dependent children in the Mammoth area, involving a person hired to teach via money from parents or a soldier providing such services. Some residents chose to send their children to schools in locations towards the east of the country or in Bozeman. In 1921 the Mammoth School, created by the Park Service, opened. By 2008 more and more Yellowstone employees only were in Yellowstone during park season, and fewer employees had dependent children. Additionally, the interstate agreement to send Wyoming money to Montana was made circa that year. For those two reasons, in 2008 the Mammoth School closed.
== Notable deaths ==
In 1970, a nine-year-old boy, Andrew Clark Hecht, accidentally fell into Crested Pool spring and died. The Andrew Clark Hecht Memorial Public Safety Achievement Award was created in his memory, and is annually given to the individual or group who contributes the most in public safety. The recipient also receives $1,000 USD.
A 63-year-old hiker from Billings, Montana, was fatally attacked by a grizzly bear on August 6, 2015, near the Elephant Back Loop Trail; park officials later euthanized the bear, citing public safety concerns.
Death of Colin Scott (2016) – a 23-year-old American man from Portland, Oregon, died after falling into a thermal hot spring in the Norris Geyser Basin |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Texas | Politics of Texas | For about a hundred years, from after Reconstruction until the 1990s, the Democratic Party dominated Texas politics, making it part of the Solid South. In a reversal of alignments, since the late 1960s, the Republican Party has grown more prominent. By the 1990s, it became the state's dominant political party and remains so to this day, as Democrats have not won a statewide race since Bob Bullock won the 1994 Lieutenant gubernatorial election.
Texas is a majority Republican state with Republicans controlling every statewide office. Texas Republicans have majorities in the State House and Senate, an entirely Republican Texas Supreme Court, control of both Senate seats in the US Congress. Texas is America's most-populous Republican state. A number of political commentators had suggested that Texas is trending Democratic since 2016, however, Republicans have continued to win every statewide office through 2025. Despite continued victories, the margin of victory for Republicans in statewide races has continued to shrink. Greg Abbott's gubernatorial win in 2014 was by more than 20 points, shrinking to 13 in 2018, and to just under 11 points in 2022. In 2020, Donald Trump won the state by less than 6 points, the narrowest margin of victory for a Republican since 1996. Notably, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said Donald Trump would have lost in Texas in the 2020 election if he had not successfully blocked counties from mailing out applications for mail-in ballots to all registered voters. Despite the narrowing margins, in 2024, Trump won Texas by double digit margins once again, proving Texas remains a solidly red state.
The 19th-century culture of the state was heavily influenced by the plantation culture of the Old South, dependent on African-American slaves, as well as the patron system once prevalent (and still somewhat present) in northern Mexico and South Texas. In these societies, the government's primary role was seen as being the preservation of social order. Solving individual problems in society was seen as a local problem with the expectation that the individual with wealth should resolve their own issues. These influences continue to affect Texas today. In their book, Texas Politics Today 2009-2010, authors Maxwell, Crain, and Santos attribute Texas' traditionally low voter turnout among whites to these influences. But beginning in the early 20th century, voter turnout was dramatically reduced by the state legislature's disenfranchisement of most blacks, and many poor whites and Latinos.
== History of the Republican Party in Texas ==
As a response to the Congressional Reconstruction Act, which was passed in 1867, Texans banded together to what is now called the "Republican Party". Those called "radical republicans" disagreed with President Andrew Johnson's proposal for lenient Reconstruction policies. These republicans believed in the liberation of African Americans and that they deserved to have the same rights as everyone else. The Reconstruction Act of 1867, which designated the actions necessary for the former Confederate states to rejoin the Union was mostly crafted by these Radical Republicans. In order for the rebel states to rejoin the Union, they had to craft a new constitution, which could only be approved through majority consent of residents including African Americans, divide into five military districts (not including Tennessee), and ratify the 14th amendment of the Constitution. After abiding to these stipulations, these states would regain full representation in Congress. These endeavors resulted in the official establishment of the Republican Party. A majority of these party members were freed African Americans, immigrants, and Texas Unionists. The party gained more popularity after demanding that any government official involved in the Rebellion was removed from office. The party continued to grow as it rallied for risky plans that ultimately made the economy boom.
=== Democratic dominance: 1845–mid-1990s ===
From 1848 until Dwight D. Eisenhower's victory in 1952, Texas voted for the Democratic candidate for president in every election except 1928, when it did not support Catholic Al Smith. The Democrats were pro-slavery pre-Civil War, as Abraham Lincoln was a Republican in the North. Most Republicans were Abolitionists. In the mid-20th century 1952 and 1956 elections, the state voters joined the landslide for Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Texas did not vote in 1864 and 1868 due to the Civil War and Reconstruction).
In the post-Civil War era, two of the most important Republican figures in Texas were African Americans George T. Ruby and Norris Wright Cuney. Ruby was a black community organizer, director in the federal Freedmen's Bureau, and leader of the Galveston Union League. His protégé Cuney was a person of mixed-race descent whose wealthy, white planter father freed him and his siblings before the Civil War and arranged for his education in Pennsylvania. Cuney returned and settled in Galveston, where he became active in the Union League and the Republican party; he rose to the leadership of the party. He became influential in Galveston and Texas politics, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential black leaders in the South during the 19th century.
From 1902 through 1965, Texas had virtually disenfranchised most Black, many Latino, and poor White people through the imposition of the poll tax and white primaries. Across the South, Democrats controlled congressional apportionment based on total population, although they had disenfranchised the black population. The Solid South exercised tremendous power in Congress, and Democrats gained important committee chairmanships by seniority. They gained federal funding for infrastructure projects in their states and the region, as well as support for numerous military bases, as two examples of how they brought federal investment to the state and region.
In the post-Reconstruction era, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Republican Party became non-competitive in the South, due to Democrat-dominated legislatures' disenfranchisement of blacks and many poor whites and Latinos. In Texas, the Democrat-dominated legislature excluded them through passage of a poll tax and white primary. Voter turnout in Texas declined dramatically following these disenfranchisement measures, and Southern voting turnout was far below the national average.
Although black people made up 20 percent of the state population at the turn of the century, they were essentially excluded from formal politics. Republican support in Texas had been based almost exclusively in the free black communities, particularly in Galveston, and in the German counties of the rural Texas Hill Country inhabited by German immigrants and their descendants, who had opposed slavery in the antebellum period. The German counties continued to run Republican candidates. Harry M. Wurzbach was elected from the 14th district from 1920 to 1926, contesting and finally winning the election of 1928, and being re-elected in 1930.
Some of the most important American political figures of the 20th century, such as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President John Nance Garner, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, and Senator Ralph Yarborough were Texas Democrats. But, the Texas Democrats were rarely united, being divided into conservative, moderate and liberal factions that vied with one another for power.
=== Increasing Republican strength: 1960–1990 ===
Beginning in the late 1960s, Republican strength increased in Texas, particularly among residents of the expanding "country club suburbs" around Dallas and Houston. The election, to Congress, of Republicans such as John Tower, (who had switched from the Democratic Party) and George H. W. Bush in 1961 and 1966, respectively, reflected this trend. Nationally, outside of the South, Democrats supported the civil rights movement and achieved important passage of federal legislation in the mid-1960s. In the South, however, Democratic leaders had opposed changes to bring about black voting or desegregated schools and public facilities and in many places exercised resistance. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, southern white voters began to align with the Republican Party, a movement accelerated after the next year, when Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, providing for federal enforcement of minorities' constitutional right to vote. Voter registration and turnout increased among blacks and Latinos in Texas and other states.
Unlike the rest of the South, however, Texas voters were never especially supportive of the various third-party candidacies of Southern Democrats. It was the only state in the former Confederacy to back Democrat Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election. During the 1980s, a number of conservative Democrats defected to the GOP, including Senator Phil Gramm, Congressman Kent Hance, and GOP Governor Rick Perry, who was a Democrat during his time as a state lawmaker.
John Tower's 1961 election to the U.S. Senate made him the first statewide GOP officeholder since Reconstruction and the disenfranchisement of black Republicans. Republican Governor Bill Clements and Senator Phil Gramm (also a former Democrat) were elected after him. Republicans became increasingly dominant in national elections in white-majority Texas. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win the state was Jimmy Carter in 1976. In the 1992 election, Bill Clinton became the first Democrat to win the Oval Office while losing Texas electoral votes. This result significantly reduced the power of Texas Democrats at the national level, as party leaders believed the state had become unwinnable.
=== Republican dominance: mid-1990s–present ===
Despite increasing Republican strength in national elections, after the 1990 census, Texas Democrats still controlled both houses of the State Legislature and most statewide offices. As a result, they directed the redistricting process after the decennial census. Although Congressional Texas Democrats received an average of 45 percent of the votes, Democrats consistently had a majority in the state delegation, as they had in every election since at least the end of Reconstruction.
In 1994, in the midst of the Republican Revolution, Democratic Governor Ann Richards lost her bid for re-election against Republican George W. Bush, ending an era in which Democrats controlled the governorship for all but eight of 120 years. Republicans have won the governorship ever since. In 1998, Bush won re-election in a landslide victory, with Republicans sweeping to victory in all the statewide races. Republicans won the Texas Senate for the first time since Reconstruction in 1996.
After the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled state Senate sought to draw a congressional district map that would guarantee a Republican majority in the state's delegation. The Democrat-controlled state House desired to retain a plan similar to the existing lines. There was an impasse. With the Legislature unable to reach a compromise, the matter was settled by a panel of federal court judges, who ruled in favor of a district map that largely retained the status quo. Republicans controlled the Legislative Redistricting Board, which defines the state legislative districts, by a majority of four to one. They used their voting strength to adopt maps for the state legislature that strongly favored them, as Democrats had done before.
In 2002, Republicans gained control of the Texas House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. The newly elected Republican legislature engaged in an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting plan. Democrats said that the redistricting was a blatant partisan gerrymander, while Republicans argued that it was a much-needed correction of the partisan lines drawn after the 1990 census. The plan was based on the 2000 census, not taking into account the effects of nearly one million new citizens in the state. In the first elections following the redistricting, the Republicans enjoyed a gain of six seats in the 2004, giving them a majority of the state's delegation for the first time since Reconstruction.
In December 2005, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal that challenged the legality of this redistricting plan. While largely upholding the map, it ruled the El Paso-to-San Antonio 23rd District, which had been a protected majority-Latino district until the 2003 redistricting, was unconstitutionally drawn. The ruling forced nearly every district in the El Paso-San Antonio corridor to be reconfigured. Partly due to this, Democrats picked up two seats in the state in the 2006 elections.
In 2018, Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke lost his Senate bid to the incumbent Ted Cruz by 2.6%, the best result for a Democratic Senate candidate since Lloyd Bentsen won in 1988. O'Rourke's performance in 2018 led analysts to predict greater gains for the Democrats going into the 2020s. In the 2020 elections, Texas voted for the Republican nominee for president Donald Trump by a narrower margin than in 2016, and re-elected the Republican incumbent senator, John Cornyn. In the 2022 governor race, the Republican governor Greg Abbott easily won reelection against Beto O'Rourke.
Texas remains a strongly Republican state. In 2024, Trump expanded his win margin to almost 14 percentage points, the first Republican victory by double digits since 2012, while Ted Cruz won reelection with an eight-percent margin. Both Texas U.S. senators are Republican, as are all statewide elected officials. Texas Republican dominance has continued unabated.
== Issues ==
=== Capital punishment ===
Texas has a reputation for strict "law and order" sentencing. Texas leads the nation in executions in raw numbers, with 578 executions from 1976 to 2022. The second-highest ranking state is Oklahoma at 119. A 2002 Houston Chronicle poll of Texans found that when asked "Do you support the death penalty?" 69.1% responded that they did, 21.9% did not support and 9.1% were not sure or gave no answer. The Death Penalty Information Center article "Why is Texas #1 Executions?", explains that the three main reasons that Texas' capital punishment cases progress so quickly are that the judges are harsh because that's how they get reelected, Texas doesn't supply a public defender to defendants in need of one, and that Texas didn't allow evidence significance to be lightened while weighing sentencing extents. Historians and death penalty enthusiasts speculate that Texas' natural gravitation towards the death penalty is due to its history of having very traditional values.
=== Secessionist sentiment ===
Texas has a long history with secession. It was originally a Spanish province, which in 1821 seceded from Spain and helped form the First Mexican Empire. In 1824 Texas became a state in the new Mexican republic. In 1835 Antonio López de Santa Anna assumed dictatorial control over that republic and several states openly rebelled against the changes: Coahuila y Tejas (the northern part of which would become the Republic of Texas), San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Yucatán, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. Several of these states formed their own governments: the Republic of the Rio Grande, the Republic of Yucatan, and the Republic of Texas. Only the Texans defeated Santa Anna and retained their independence.
Some Texans believe that because it joined the United States as a country, the Texas state constitution includes the right to secede. However, neither the ordinance of The Texas Annexation of 1845 nor The Annexation of Texas Joint Resolution of Congress March 1, 1845 included provisions giving Texas the right to secede. Texas did originally retain the right to divide into as many as five independent States, and as part of the Compromise of 1850 continues to retain that right while ceding former claims westward and northward along the full length of the Rio Grande in exchange for $10 million from the federal government. See Texas divisionism.
The United States Supreme Court's primary ruling on the legality of secession involved a case brought by Texas involving a Civil War era bonds transfer. In deciding the 1869 Texas v. White case, the Supreme Court first addressed the issue of whether Texas had in fact seceded when it joined the Confederacy. In a 5–3 vote the Court "held that as a matter of constitutional law, no state could leave the Union, explicitly repudiating the position of the Confederate States that the United States was a voluntary compact between sovereign states." In writing the majority opinion Chief Justice Salmon Chase opined that:
When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.
However, as the issue of secession per se was not the one before the court, it has been debated as to whether this reasoning is merely dicta or a binding ruling on the question. It is also worth noting that Salmon Chase was nominated by Abraham Lincoln and was a staunch anti-secessionist. It is unlikely that he or his Republican appointed court would have approved of the Confederacy and Texas' choice to join it.
The state's organized secessionist movement is growing, with a notable minority of Texans holding secessionist sentiments. A 2009 poll found that 31% of Texans believe that Texas has the legal right to secede and form an independent country and 18% believe it should do so. The Texas Nationalist Movement has been working towards Texas independence for 15 years. In January 2021, State Representative Kyle Biedermann filed HB 1359, which would bring a vote for Texas independence to the citizens of Texas in November 2021.
=== Budget ===
Until 2010, Texas had weathered the Great Recession fairly well, buffered by its vast oil and gas industries. It avoided the housing industry meltdown and its unemployment rate continues to be below the national level. It benefited from having a two-year budget cycle, allowing officials create budget plans with more time to focus on issues of importance. However, Texas was impacted by the economic downturn just like many other states, and by 2011 was suffering from tens of billions of dollars in budget deficits. In order to deal with this deficit, a supermajority of Republicans led to a massive cost cutting spree. In order to draw new businesses to the state, Texas has developed a program of tax incentives to corporations willing to move there. These efforts, along with Texas focusing on developing their natural energy resources, has led to a surplus as Texas begins its next two year budget cycle.
Major revenue sources
For FY 2011, the top Texas revenue sources by category were approximately:
Federal Income:
$42,159,665,863.56
Sales Tax:
$21,523,984,733.17
Investments:
$10,406,151,499.48
Other Revenue:
$8,569,805,443.66
Licenses, Fees, Fines and Penalties:
$7,741,880,095.57
As of 2008, Texas residents paid a total of $88,794 million in income taxes. This does not include Federal taxes paid by Texas businesses.
Besides sales tax, other taxes include franchise, insurance, natural gas, alcohol, cigarette and tobacco taxes. Texas has no personal state income tax.
Major spending categories
For FY 2011, the top Texas State Agency spending categories were approximately:
Public Assistance Payments:
$26,501,123,478.54
Intergovernmental Payments:
$21,014,819,852.52
Interfund Transfers/Other:
$12,319,487,032.40
Salaries and Wages:
$8,595,912,992.82
Employee Benefits:
$5,743,905,057.61
== Current state political parties ==
Republican Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Republican Party)
Texas Democratic Party (State Affiliate of Democratic Party)
Libertarian Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Libertarian Party)
Constitution Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Constitution Party)
Texas Independence Party (State Affiliate of Independence Party of America)
Green Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Green Party of the United States)
Reform Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Reform Party of the United States of America)
Socialist Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Socialist Party USA)
Communist Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Communist Party of the United States of America)
Southern Independence Party (State Specific)
Confederate Party of Texas (state Specific)
== Federal representation ==
Texas currently has 38 House districts. In the 119th Congress, 13 of Texas's seats are held by Democrats and 25 are held by Republicans:
Texas's 1st congressional district represented by Nathaniel Moran (R)
Texas's 2nd congressional district represented by Dan Crenshaw (R)
Texas's 3rd congressional district represented by Keith Self (R)
Texas's 4th congressional district represented by Pat Fallon (R)
Texas's 5th congressional district represented by Lance Gooden (R)
Texas's 6th congressional district represented by Jake Ellzey (R)
Texas's 7th congressional district represented by Lizzie Fletcher (D)
Texas's 8th congressional district represented by Morgan Luttrell (R)
Texas's 9th congressional district represented by Al Green (D)
Texas's 10th congressional district represented by Michael McCaul (R)
Texas's 11th congressional district represented by August Pfluger (R)
Texas's 12th congressional district represented by Craig Goldman (R)
Texas's 13th congressional district represented by Ronny Jackson (R)
Texas's 14th congressional district represented by Randy Weber (R)
Texas's 15th congressional district represented by Monica De La Cruz (R)
Texas's 16th congressional district represented by Veronica Escobar (D)
Texas's 17th congressional district represented by Pete Sessions (R)
Texas's 18th congressional district represented by Sylvester Turner (D)
Texas's 19th congressional district represented by Jodey Arrington (R)
Texas's 20th congressional district represented by Joaquin Castro (D)
Texas's 21st congressional district represented by Chip Roy (R)
Texas's 22nd congressional district represented by Troy Nehls (R)
Texas's 23rd congressional district represented by Tony Gonzales (R)
Texas's 24th congressional district represented by Beth Van Duyne (R)
Texas's 25th congressional district represented by Roger Williams (R)
Texas's 26th congressional district represented by Brandon Gill (R)
Texas's 27th congressional district represented by Michael Cloud (R)
Texas's 28th congressional district represented by Henry Cuellar (D)
Texas's 29th congressional district represented by Sylvia Garcia (D)
Texas's 30th congressional district represented by Jasmine Crockett (D)
Texas's 31st congressional district represented by John Carter (R)
Texas's 32nd congressional district represented by Julie Johnson (D)
Texas's 33rd congressional district represented by Mark Veasey (D)
Texas's 34th congressional district represented by Vicente Gonzalez (D)
Texas's 35th congressional district represented by Greg Casar (D)
Texas's 36th congressional district represented by Brian Babin (R)
Texas's 37th congressional district represented by Lloyd Doggett (D)
Texas's 38th congressional district represented by Wesley Hunt (R)
Texas's two United States senators are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, serving since 2002 and 2013, respectively.
Texas is part of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the New Orleans–based United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
== Notable Texas political figures ==
George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
Rick Perry, 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015.
Ted Cruz, United States senator from Texas since 2013.
Greg Abbott, forty- eighth governor of Texas
George R. Brown- supporter of Lyndon B. Johnson who played a key role in his success
Ben Barnes- Texas House Speaker in 1965 and lieutenant governor of 1969 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom | List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom | The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the principal minister of the crown of His Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet.
There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, as the role was not created but rather evolved over time through a merger of duties. The term was regularly, if informally, used by Robert Walpole by the 1730s. It was used in the House of Commons as early as 1805, and it was certainly in parliamentary use by the 1880s, although did not become the official title until 1905, when Henry Campbell-Bannerman was prime minister.
Historians generally consider Robert Walpole, who led the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721, to be the first prime minister. Walpole is also the longest-serving British prime minister by this definition. The first prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was William Pitt the Younger at its creation on 1 January 1801. The first to use the title in an official act was Benjamin Disraeli who signed the 1878 Treaty of Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty".
In 1905, the post of prime minister was officially given recognition in the order of precedence, with the incumbent Henry Campbell-Bannerman the first officially referred to as "prime minister". The first prime minister of the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland upon its creation in 1922 (when 26 Irish counties seceded and created the Irish Free State) was Andrew Bonar Law, although the country was not renamed officially until 1927, when Stanley Baldwin was the serving prime minister.
The current prime minister is Keir Starmer, who assumed the office on 5 July 2024.
== Before the Kingdom of Great Britain ==
Before the Union of England and Scotland in 1707, the Treasury of England was led by the Lord High Treasurer. By the late Tudor period, the Lord High Treasurer was regarded as one of the Great Officers of State, and was often (though not always) the dominant figure in government: Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (lord high treasurer, 1547–1549), served as lord protector to his young nephew King Edward VI; William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (lord high treasurer, 1572–1598), was the dominant minister to Queen Elizabeth I; Burghley's son Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, succeeded his father as Chief Minister to Elizabeth (1598–1603) and was eventually appointed by King James I as lord high treasurer (1608–1612).
By the late Stuart period, the Treasury was often run not by a single individual (i.e., the lord high treasurer) but by a commission of lords of the Treasury, led by the first lord of the Treasury. The last lords high treasurer, Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (1702–1710) and Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford (1711–1714), ran the government of Queen Anne.
== From 1707 to 1721 ==
Following the succession of George I in 1714, the arrangement of a commission of lords of the Treasury (as opposed to a single lord high treasurer) became permanent. For the next three years, the government was headed by Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, who was appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Subsequently, Lords Stanhope and Sunderland ran the government jointly, with Stanhope managing foreign affairs and Sunderland domestic. Stanhope died in February 1721 and Sunderland resigned two months later; Townshend and Robert Walpole were then invited to form the next government. From that point, the holder of the office of first lord also usually (albeit unofficially) held the status of prime minister. It was not until the Edwardian era that the title prime minister was constitutionally recognised. The prime minister still holds the office of first lord by constitutional convention, the only exceptions being the Earl of Chatham and the Marquess of Salisbury.
== Since 1721 ==
=== Prime ministers ===
== Living former prime ministers ==
Currently, there are eight living former prime ministers of the United Kingdom. The most recent death of a former prime minister was that of Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) on 8 April 2013.
== Disputed prime ministers ==
Due to the gradual evolution of the post of prime minister, the title is applied to early prime ministers only retrospectively; this has sometimes given rise to academic dispute. William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, and James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, are sometimes listed as prime ministers. Bath was invited to form a ministry by George II when Henry Pelham resigned in 1746, as was Waldegrave in 1757 after the dismissal of William Pitt the Elder, who dominated the affairs of government during the Seven Years' War. Neither was able to command sufficient parliamentary support to form a government; Bath stepped down after two days and Waldegrave after four. Modern academic consensus does not consider either man to have held office as prime minister; they are therefore listed separately.
=== List notes ===
== Timeline == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica | Metallica | Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. Former members of the band are bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, and Jason Newsted, and guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica in 1983.
Metallica first found commercial success with the release of its third album, Master of Puppets (1986), which is often cited as one of the best metal albums of all time. The band's next album, ...And Justice for All (1988), gave Metallica its first Grammy Award nomination. Its fifth album, Metallica (1991), was a turning point for the band that saw it transition from its thrash metal roots; the album appealed to a more mainstream audience, achieving substantial commercial success and selling more than 16 million copies in the United States to date, making it the best-selling album of the SoundScan era. After experimenting with different genres and directions in subsequent releases, Metallica returned to its thrash metal roots with its ninth album, Death Magnetic (2008), which drew similar praise to that of the band's earlier albums. The band's eleventh and most recent album, 72 Seasons, was released in 2023.
In 2000, Metallica led the case against the peer-to-peer file sharing service Napster, in which the band and several other artists filed lawsuits against the service for sharing their copyright-protected material without consent, eventually reaching a settlement. Metallica was the subject of the acclaimed 2004 documentary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which documented the troubled production of the band's eighth album, St. Anger (2003), and the internal struggles within the band at the time. In 2009, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band co-wrote the screenplay for and starred alongside Dane DeHaan in the 2013 concert film Metallica: Through the Never, in which the band performed live against a fictional thriller storyline.
Metallica is one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold more than 163 million albums worldwide as of 2023, and is the third-best-selling music artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, having sold 58 million albums in the United States as of 2017. The band has released eleven studio albums, four live albums (including two performances with the San Francisco Symphony), twelve video albums, one cover album, two extended plays, 37 singles and 39 music videos. Metallica has won ten Grammy Awards from 26 nominations and had six consecutive studio albums, from Metallica through Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016), debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Metallica has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines such as Rolling Stone, which ranked the band in 61st place on its list of 100 greatest artists of all time.
== History ==
=== 1981–1984: Formation, early years, and Kill 'Em All ===
Metallica was formed in Los Angeles in late 1981 when Danish drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper, The Recycler, in which the advertisement read, "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden." Guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner of Leather Charm answered the advertisement. Although he had not formed a band, Ulrich asked Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel if he could record a song for the label's upcoming compilation album, Metal Massacre. Slagel accepted. The band was officially formed on October 28, 1981, five months after Ulrich and Hetfield first met.
The band name came from Ulrich's friend Ron Quintana, who was thinking of names for a fanzine and was considering MetalMania or Metallica. After hearing the two names, Ulrich wanted the latter for his band, so he suggested Quintana use MetalMania instead. Dave Mustaine replied to an advertisement for a lead guitarist; Ulrich and Hetfield recruited him after seeing his expensive guitar equipment.
Hetfield took vocal duties at the band's first gig, which took place in March 1982 at Radio City in Anaheim with newly recruited bassist Ron McGovney. They were chosen to open for British heavy metal band Saxon at the second gig of their 1982 U.S. tour.
Metallica recorded its first demo, Power Metal, whose name was inspired by McGovney's early business cards, in early 1982. The band played as a five-piece at their fourth gig, which took place in April 1982 in Costa Mesa with lead guitarist Brad Parker, though he did not last. According to Mustaine, the band was "fed up" with auditioning guitar players and Hetfield became the de facto guitarist, in addition to the vocalist. Hetfield played guitar live for the first time at the band's fifth gig, in May 1982. Metal Massacre I was released on June 14, 1982; early pressings listed the band incorrectly as "Mettallica", which angered the band. Hetfield sang and played both bass and rhythm guitar, while Lars Ulrich played drums and Lloyd Grant played a guitar solo.
The term "thrash metal" was coined in February 1984 by Kerrang! journalist Malcolm Dome in reference to Anthrax's song "Metal Thrashing Mad". Prior to this, Hetfield referred to Metallica's sound as "power metal". In late 1982, Ulrich and Hetfield attended a show at the West Hollywood nightclub Whisky a Go Go, which featured bassist Cliff Burton in the band Trauma. The two were "blown away" by Burton's use of a wah-wah pedal and asked him to join Metallica. Hetfield and Mustaine wanted McGovney to leave because they thought he "didn't contribute anything, he just followed." Although Burton initially declined the offer, by the end of the year, he had accepted on the condition that the band move to El Cerrito in the San Francisco Bay Area. Metallica's first live performance with Burton was at the nightclub The Stone in March 1983, and the first recording to feature Burton was the Megaforce demo (1983).
Metallica was ready to record their debut album, but when Metal Blade was unable to cover the cost, they began looking for other options. Concert promoter Jonathan "Jonny Z" Zazula, who had heard the demo No Life 'til Leather (1982), offered to broker a record deal between Metallica and New York City–based record labels. After those record labels showed no interest, Zazula borrowed enough money to cover the recording budget and signed Metallica to his own label, Megaforce Records.
In May 1983, Metallica traveled to Rochester, New York, to record its debut album, Metal Up Your Ass, which was produced by Paul Curcio. The other members decided to eject Mustaine from the band because of his drug and alcohol abuse and violent behavior just before the recording sessions on April 11, 1983. Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett replaced Mustaine the same afternoon. Metallica's first live performance with Hammett was on April 16, 1983, at a nightclub in Dover, New Jersey, called The Showplace; the support act was Anthrax, which included Dan Lilker and Neil Turbin. This was the first time the two bands performed live together.
Mustaine, who went on to form Megadeth, has expressed his dislike for Hammett in interviews, saying Hammett "stole" his job.
Because of conflicts with its record label and the distributors' refusal to release an album titled Metal Up Your Ass, the album was renamed Kill 'Em All. It was released on Megaforce Records in the U.S. and on Music for Nations in Europe, and peaked at number 155 on the Billboard 200 in 1986. Although the album was not initially a financial success, it earned Metallica a growing fan base in the underground metal scene. To support the release, Metallica embarked on the Kill 'Em All for One tour with Raven. In February 1984, Metallica supported Venom on the Seven Dates of Hell tour, during which the bands performed in front of 7,000 people at the Aardschok Festival in Zwolle, Netherlands.
=== 1984–1986: Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and Burton's death ===
Metallica recorded its second studio album, Ride the Lightning, at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, from February to March 1984. It was released on July 27, 1984 and reached number 100 on the Billboard 200. A French printing press mistakenly printed green covers for the album, which are now considered collector's items. Mustaine received writing co-credit for "Ride the Lightning" and "The Call of Ktulu".
Elektra Records A&R director Michael Alago and co-founder of Q Prime management, Cliff Burnstein, attended a Metallica concert in September 1984; they were impressed with the performance, signed Metallica to Elektra and made the band a client of Q Prime. Metallica's growing success was such that the band's British label, Music for Nations, released "Creeping Death" as a limited-edition single, which sold 40,000 copies as an import in the U.S. Two of the three songs on the record – cover versions of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?" and Blitzkrieg's "Blitzkrieg" – appeared on the 1988 Elektra reissue of Kill 'Em All. Metallica embarked on its first major European tour with Tank to an average crowd of 1,300. Returning to the U.S., it embarked on a co-headlining tour with W.A.S.P. and support from Armored Saint. Metallica played its largest show at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park, England, on August 17, 1985, with Bon Jovi and Ratt, playing to 70,000 people. At a show in Oakland, California, at the Day on the Green festival, the band played to a crowd of 60,000.
Metallica's third studio album, Master of Puppets, was recorded at Sweet Silence Studios from September to December 1985 and released on March 3, 1986. The album reached number 29 on the Billboard 200 and spent 72 weeks on the chart. It was the band's first album to be certified Gold on November 4, 1986, and was certified six times Platinum in 2003. Steve Huey of AllMusic considered the album "the band's greatest achievement". Following the release of the album, Metallica supported Ozzy Osbourne on a U.S. tour. Hetfield broke his wrist while skateboarding; he continued with the tour, performing vocals, with guitar technician John Marshall playing rhythm guitar.
On September 27, 1986, during the European leg of Metallica's Damage, Inc. Tour, members drew cards to determine which bunks on the tour bus they would sleep in. Burton won and chose to sleep in Hammett's bunk. At around sunrise near Dörarp, Sweden, the bus driver lost control and skidded, which caused the bus to overturn several times. Ulrich, Hammett and Hetfield sustained no serious injuries; however, Burton was pinned under the bus and died. Hetfield said:
I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other people. I just went, "Don't fucking do that!" I already wanted to kill the [bus driver]. I don't know if he was drunk or if he hit some ice. All I knew was, he was driving and Cliff wasn't alive anymore.
=== 1986–1994: Newsted joins, ...And Justice for All and Metallica ===
Burton's death left Metallica's future in doubt. The three remaining members decided Burton would want them to carry on, and with the Burton family's blessings, the band sought a replacement. Roughly 40 people – including Hammett's childhood friend, Les Claypool of Primus; Troy Gregory of Prong; and Jason Newsted, formerly of Flotsam and Jetsam – auditioned for the band to fill Burton's spot. Newsted learned Metallica's entire setlist; after the audition, Metallica invited him to Tommy's Joynt in San Francisco. Hetfield, Ulrich and Hammett decided on Newsted as Burton's replacement; his first live performance with Metallica was at the Country Club in Reseda, California. The members initiated Newsted by tricking him into eating a ball of wasabi. The band finished its tour in February 1987.
After Newsted joined Metallica, the band left their El Cerrito practice space – a suburban house formerly rented by sound engineer Mark Whitaker and dubbed "the Metalli-mansion" – and relocated to the adjacent cities of Berkeley and Albany before eventually settling in the Marin County city of San Rafael, north of San Francisco. In March 1987, Hetfield again broke his wrist while skateboarding, forcing the band to cancel an appearance on Saturday Night Live. On August 21, 1987, an all-covers extended play (EP), titled The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited, was released. The EP was recorded in an effort to use the band's newly constructed recording studio, test Newsted's talents, and to relieve grief and stress following the death of Burton. A video titled Cliff 'Em All commemorating Burton's three years in Metallica was released in 1987; the video included bass solos, home videos and pictures.
Metallica's first studio album since Burton's death, ...And Justice for All, was recorded from January to May 1988 and released in September. The album was a commercial success, reaching number 6 on the Billboard 200, and was the band's first album to enter the top 10. The album was certified Platinum nine weeks after its release. There were complaints about the production, however; Steve Huey of AllMusic said Ulrich's drums were clicking more than thudding, and the guitars "buzz thinly". The lack of audible bass in the album also drew widespread criticism. To promote the album, Metallica embarked on a tour called Damaged Justice.
In 1989, Metallica received its first Grammy Award nomination for ...And Justice for All in the new Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrument category. Metallica was the favorite to win, but the award was given to Jethro Tull for the album Crest of a Knave. The award was controversial with fans and the press; Metallica was standing off-stage waiting to receive the award after performing the song "One". Jethro Tull had been advised by its manager not to attend the ceremony because he was expecting Metallica to win. The award was named in Entertainment Weekly's "Grammy's 10 Biggest Upsets" list.
Following the release of ...And Justice for All, Metallica released its debut music video for the song "One", which the band performed in an abandoned warehouse. The footage was remixed with the film Johnny Got His Gun. Rather than organize an ongoing licensing deal, Metallica purchased the rights to the film. The remixed video was submitted to MTV with an alternative, performance-only version that was held back in case MTV banned the remixed version. MTV accepted the remixed version; the video was viewers' first exposure to Metallica. In 1999, it was voted number 38 in MTV's "Top 100 Videos of All Time" countdown and was featured on the network's 25th-anniversary edition of ADD Video, which showcased the most popular videos on MTV in the last 25 years.
In October 1990, Metallica entered One on One Recording's studio in North Hollywood to record its next album. Bob Rock, who had worked with Aerosmith, the Cult, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, was hired as the producer. Metallica – also known as The Black Album – was remixed three times, cost US$1 million, and ended Hammett and Ulrich's marriages. Although the release was delayed until 1991, Metallica debuted at number one in 10 countries, selling 650,000 units in the U.S. during its first week. The album marked a change in Metallica's musical style and brought the band mainstream attention; it has been certified 16 times Platinum in the U.S., which makes it the 25th-best-selling album in the country. The making of Metallica and the following tour was documented in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. The tour in support of the album, called the Wherever We May Roam Tour, lasted 14 months and included dates in the U.S., Japan and the U.K. In September 1991, 1.6 million rock music fans converged in Moscow to enjoy the first open-air rock concert to be held in the Soviet Union; it was part of the Monsters of Rock series. In April 1992, Metallica appeared at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and performed a three-song set. Hetfield later performed "Stone Cold Crazy" with the remaining members of Queen and Tony Iommi.
On August 8, 1992, during the co-headlining Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Hetfield suffered second and third-degree burns to his arms, face, hands and legs. There had been some confusion with the new pyrotechnics setup, which resulted in Hetfield walking into a 12-foot (3.7 m) flame during "Fade to Black". Newsted said Hetfield's skin was "bubbling like on The Toxic Avenger". Metallica returned to the stage seventeen days later with guitar technician and Metal Church member John Marshall replacing Hetfield on guitar for the remainder of the tour, although Hetfield was able to sing. Later in 1993, Metallica went on the Nowhere Else to Roam Tour, playing five shows in Mexico City. Live Shit: Binge & Purge, the band's first box set, was released in November 1993. The collection contains three live CDs, three home videos, and a book filled with riders and letters.
=== 1994–2001: Load, Reload, Napster controversy and Newsted's departure ===
After almost three years of touring to promote Metallica, including a headlining performance at Woodstock '94, Metallica returned to the studio to write and record its sixth studio album. The band went on a brief hiatus in the summer of 1995 and played a short tour, Escape from the Studio '95, which comprised three outdoor shows, including a headline show at Donington Park supported by Slayer, Skid Row, Slash's Snakepit, Therapy? and Corrosion of Conformity. The band spent about a year writing and recording new songs, resulting in the release of Load in 1996. Load debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and ARIA Charts; it was the band's second number one album. The cover art, Blood and Semen III, was created by Andres Serrano, who pressed a mixture of his own semen and blood between sheets of plexiglass. The release saw another change in the band's musical direction and a new image, which included a revamped logo and the band members having their hair cut. While Load was a commercial success, the band's change in style had polarized their fanbase. Metallica headlined the alternative rock festival Lollapalooza festival in mid-1996.
During early production of the album, the band had recorded enough material to fill a double album. It was decided that half of the songs were to be released; the band would continue to work on the remaining songs and release them the following year. This resulted in follow-up album, titled Reload. The cover art was again created by Serrano, this time using a mixture of blood and urine. Reload, too, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and reached number two on the Top Canadian Album chart. Hetfield said in the 2004 documentary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster that the band initially thought some of the songs on these albums were of average quality; these were "polished and reworked" until judged releasable. To promote Reload, Metallica performed "Fuel" and "The Memory Remains" with Marianne Faithfull on NBC's Saturday Night Live in December 1997.
In 1998, Metallica compiled a double album of cover songs, titled Garage Inc. The first disc contained newly recorded covers of songs by Diamond Head, Killing Joke, the Misfits, Thin Lizzy, Mercyful Fate, Black Sabbath and others, and the second disc featured the original version of The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited, which had become a scarce collector's item. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number two.
On April 21 and 22, 1999, Metallica recorded two performances with the San Francisco Symphony, which was conducted by Michael Kamen, who had previously worked with producer Rock on "Nothing Else Matters". Kamen approached Metallica in 1991 with the idea of pairing the band's music with a symphony orchestra. Kamen and his staff of over 100 composed additional orchestral material for Metallica songs. Metallica wrote two new Kamen-scored songs for the event: "No Leaf Clover" and "-Human". The audio recording and concert footage were released in 1999 as the album and concert film S&M. It entered the Billboard 200 at number two and the Australian ARIA charts and Top Internet Albums chart at number one.
In 2000, Metallica discovered that a demo of its song "I Disappear", which was supposed to be released in combination with the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack, was receiving radio airplay. Tracing the source of the leak, the band found the file on the Napster peer-to-peer file-sharing network and also found that the band's entire catalogue was freely available. Metallica filed a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, alleging that Napster violated three areas of the law: copyright infringement, unlawful use of digital audio interface device and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
Ulrich provided a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding copyright infringement on July 11, 2000. Federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the site to place a filter on the program within 72 hours or be shut down. A settlement between Metallica and Napster was reached when German media conglomerate Bertelsmann BMG showed interest in purchasing the rights to Napster for $94 million. Under the terms of settlement, Napster agreed to block users who shared music by artists who do not want their music shared. On June 3, 2002, Napster filed for Chapter 11 protection under U.S. bankruptcy laws. On September 3, 2002, an American bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of Napster to Bertelsmann and forced Napster to liquidate its assets, according to Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy laws.
At the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, Ulrich appeared with host Marlon Wayans in a skit that criticized the idea of using Napster to share music. Wayans played a college student listening to Metallica's "I Disappear". Ulrich walked in and asked for an explanation, and he responded to Wayans' excuse that using Napster was just "sharing" by saying that Wayans' idea of sharing was "borrowing things that were not yours without asking." He called in the Metallica road crew, who proceeded to confiscate all of Wayans' belongings, leaving him almost naked in an empty room. Napster creator Shawn Fanning responded later in the ceremony by presenting an award wearing a Metallica shirt that read: "I borrowed this shirt from a friend. Maybe, if I like it, I'll buy one of my own." Ulrich was later booed on stage at the award show when he introduced the final musical act, Blink-182.
Newsted left Metallica on January 17, 2001, just as plans were being made to enter the recording studio. He said he left the band for "private and personal reasons, and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love." During a Playboy interview with Metallica, Newsted said he wanted to release an album with his side project, Echobrain. Hetfield was opposed to the idea and said, "When someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica" and that a side project is "like cheating on your wife in a way." Newsted said Hetfield had recorded vocals for a song used in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and appeared on one Corrosion of Conformity album, Wiseblood. Hetfield replied: "My name isn't on those records. And I'm not out trying to sell them" and raised questions such as, "Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?"
=== 2001–2006: Some Kind of Monster, St. Anger, and Trujillo joins ===
In April 2001, filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky began following Metallica to document the recording process of the band's next studio album. Over two years they recorded more than 1,000 hours of footage. On July 19, 2001, before preparations to enter the recording studio, Hetfield entered rehab to treat his "alcoholism and other addictions". All recording plans were put on hold and the band's future was in doubt. Hetfield left rehab on December 4, 2001, and the band returned to the recording studio on April 12, 2002. Hetfield was required to limit his work to four hours a day between noon and 4 pm, and to spend the rest of his time with his family. The footage recorded by Berlinger and Sinofsky was compiled into the documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2004. In the documentary, Newsted said his former bandmates' decision to hire a therapist to help solve their problems which he felt they could have solved on their own was "really fucking lame and weak".
In June 2003, Metallica's eighth studio album, St. Anger, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and drew mixed reactions from critics. Ulrich's "steely" sounding snare drum and the absence of guitar solos received particular criticism. Kevin Forest Moreau of Shakingthrough.net said, "the guitars stumble in a monotone of mid-level, processed rattle; the drums don't propel as much as struggle to disguise an all-too-turgid pace; and the rage is both unfocused and leavened with too much narcissistic navel-gazing". Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork described it as "an utter mess". However, Blender magazine called it the "grimiest and grimmest of the band's Bob Rock productions", and New York Magazine called it "utterly raw and rocking". The title track, "St. Anger", won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2004; it was used as the official theme song for WWE's SummerSlam 2003.
For the duration of St. Anger's recording period, producer Bob Rock played bass on the album and in several live shows at which Metallica performed during that time. Once the record was completed, the band started to hold auditions for Newsted's permanent replacement. Bassists Pepper Keenan, Jeordie White, Scott Reeder, Eric Avery, Danny Lohner, and Chris Wyse—among others—auditioned for the role. After three months of auditions, Robert Trujillo, formerly of Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy Osbourne's band, was chosen as the new bassist. Newsted, who had joined Canadian thrash metal band Voivod by that time, was Trujillo's replacement in Osbourne's band during the 2003 Ozzfest tour, which included Voivod.
Before the band's set at the 2004 Download Festival, Ulrich was rushed to the hospital after having an anxiety seizure and was unable to perform. Hetfield searched for last-minute volunteers to replace Ulrich. Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison volunteered. Lombardo performed "Battery" and "The Four Horsemen", Ulrich's drum technician Flemming Larsen performed "Fade to Black", and Jordison performed the remainder of the set. Having toured for two years in support of St. Anger on the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003 and the Madly in Anger with the World Tour, with multi-platinum rock band Godsmack in support, Metallica took a break from performing and spent most of 2005 with friends and family. The band opened for the Rolling Stones at SBC Park in San Francisco on November 13 and 15, 2005.
=== 2006–2013: Death Magnetic and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ===
In February 2006, Metallica announced on its official website that after 15 years, long-time producer Bob Rock would not be producing the band's next studio album. Instead, the band chose to work with producer Rick Rubin. Around the same time, a petition signed by 1,500 fans was posted online in an attempt to encourage the band to prohibit Rock from producing Metallica albums, saying he had too much influence on the band's sound and musical direction. Rock said the petition hurt his children's feelings; he said, "sometimes, even with a great coach, a team keeps losing. You have to get new blood in there."
In December 2006, Metallica released a DVD titled The Videos 1989–2004, which sold 28,000 copies in its first week and entered the Billboard Top Videos chart at number three. Metallica recorded a guitar-based interpretation of Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" for a tribute album titled We All Love Ennio Morricone, which was released in February 2007. The track received a Grammy nomination at the 50th Grammy Awards for the category "Best Rock Instrumental Performance". A recording of "The Ecstasy of Gold" has been played to introduce Metallica's performances since the 1980s.
Metallica scheduled the release of the album Death Magnetic as September 12, 2008, and the band filmed a music video for the album's first single, "The Day That Never Comes". On September 2, 2008, a record store in France began selling copies of Death Magnetic nearly two weeks before its scheduled worldwide release date, which resulted in the album being made available on peer-to-peer clients. This prompted the band's UK distributor Vertigo Records to officially release the album on September 10, 2008. Rumors of Metallica or Warner Bros. taking legal action against the French retailer were unconfirmed, though drummer Lars Ulrich responded to the leak by saying, "... We're ten days from release. I mean, from here, we're golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me", and, "By 2008 standards, that's a victory. If you'd told me six months ago that our record wouldn't leak until 10 days out, I would have signed up for that."
Death Magnetic marked a return to the band's traditional thrash metal sound. The album debuted at number one in the U.S., selling 490,000 units; Metallica became the first band to have five consecutive studio albums debut at number one in the history of the Billboard 200. A week after its release, Death Magnetic remained at number one on the Billboard 200 and the European album chart; it also became the fastest selling album of 2008 in Australia. Death Magnetic remained at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart for three consecutive weeks. Metallica was one of two artists whose album—the other being Jack Johnson's album Sleep Through the Static—remained on the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks at number one in 2008. Death Magnetic also remained at number one on Billboard's Hard Rock, Modern Rock/Alternative and Rock album charts for five consecutive weeks. The album reached number one in 32 countries outside the U.S., including the UK, Canada, and Australia. In November 2008, Metallica's record deal with Warner Bros. ended and the band considered releasing its next album through the internet.
On January 14, 2009, it was announced that Metallica would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009, and that former bassist Jason Newsted—who left the band in 2001—would perform with the band at the ceremony. Initially, it was announced that the matter had been discussed and that bassist Trujillo had agreed not to play because he "wanted to see the Black Album band". However, during the band's set of "Master of Puppets" and "Enter Sandman", both Trujillo and Newsted were on stage. Ray Burton, father of the late Cliff Burton, accepted the honor on his behalf. Although he was not to be inducted with them, Metallica invited Dave Mustaine to take part in the induction ceremony. Mustaine declined because of his touring commitments in Europe.
Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010, at Warsaw Babice Airport, Poland, as a part of the Sonisphere Festival series. The show in Sofia, Bulgaria, on June 22, 2010, was broadcast via satellite to cinemas. The bands also played concerts in Bucharest on June 26, 2010, and Istanbul on June 27, 2010. On June 28, 2010, Death Magnetic was certified double platinum by the RIAA. Metallica's World Magnetic Tour ended in Melbourne on November 21, 2010. The band had been touring for more than two years in support of Death Magnetic. To accompany the final tour dates in Australia and New Zealand, a live, limited edition EP of past performances in Australia called Six Feet Down Under was released. The EP was followed by Six Feet Down Under (Part II), which was released on November 12, 2010. Part 2 contains a further eight songs recorded during the first two Oceanic Legs of the World Magnetic Tour. On November 26, 2010, Metallica released a live EP titled Live at Grimey's, which was recorded in June 2008 at Grimey's Record Store, just before the band's appearance at Bonnaroo Music Festival that year.
In a June 2009 interview with Italy's Rock TV, Ulrich said Metallica was planning to continue touring until August 2010, and that there were no plans for a tenth album. He said he was sure the band would collaborate with producer Rick Rubin again. According to Blabbermouth.net, the band was considering recording its next album in the second half of 2011. In November 2010, during an interview with The Pulse of Radio, Ulrich said Metallica would return to writing in 2011. Ulrich said, "There's a bunch of balls in the air for 2011, but I think the main one is we really want to get back to writing again. We haven't really written since, what, '06, '07, and we want to get back to kind of just being creative again. Right now we are going to just chill out and then probably start up again in, I'd say, March or April, and start probably putting the creative cap back on and start writing some songs."
On November 9, 2010, Metallica announced it would be headlining the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro on September 25, 2011. On December 13, 2010, the band announced it would again play as part of the "big four" during the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, on July 8, 2011. It was the first time all of the "big four" members played on the same stage in the UK. On December 17, 2010, Another "big four" Sonisphere performance that would take place in France on July 9 was announced. On January 25, 2011, another "big four" performance on April 23, 2011, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, was announced. It was the first time all of the "big four" members played on the same stage in the U.S. On February 17, 2011, a show in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on July 2, 2011, was announced. On February 22, a "big four" show in Milan on July 6, 2011, was announced. On March 2, 2011, another "big four" concert, which took place in Gothenburg on July 3, 2011, was announced. The final "big four" concert was in New York City, at Yankee Stadium, on September 14, 2011.
In an interview at the April 2011 Big Four concert, Robert Trujillo said Metallica will work with Rick Rubin again as producer for the new album and were "really excited to write some new music. There's no shortage of riffage in Metallica world right now." He added, "The first album with Rick was also the first album for me, so in a lot of ways, you're kind of testing the water. Now that we're comfortable with Rick and his incredible engineer, Greg Fidelman, who worked with Slayer, actually, on this last record—it's my hero—it's a great team. And it's only gonna better; I really believe that. So I'm super-excited." In June 2011, Rubin said Metallica had begun writing its new album.
On June 15, 2011, Metallica announced that recording sessions with singer-songwriter Lou Reed had concluded. The album, which was titled Lulu, was recorded over several months and comprised ten songs based on Frank Wedekind's "Lulu" plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box. The album was released on October 31, 2011. The recording of the album was problematic at times; Lars Ulrich later said Lou Reed challenged him to a "street fight". On October 16, 2011, Robert Trujillo confirmed that the band was back in the studio and writing new material. He said, "The writing process for the new Metallica album has begun. We've been in the studio with Rick Rubin, working on a couple of things, and we're going to be recording during the most of next year."
Metallica was due to make its first appearance in India at the "India Rocks" concert, supporting the 2011 Indian Grand Prix. However, the concert was canceled when the venue was proven to be unsafe. Fans raided the stage during the event and the organizers were later arrested for fraud. Metallica made its Indian debut in Bangalore on October 30, 2011. On November 10, it was announced that Metallica would headline the main stage on Saturday June 9, 2012, at the Download Festival at Donington Park and that the band would play The Black Album in its entirety. Metallica celebrated its 30th anniversary by playing four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco in December 2011. The shows were exclusive to Met Club members and tickets were charged at $6 each or $19.81 for all four nights. The shows consisted of songs from the band's career and featured guest appearances by artists who had either helped or had influenced Metallica. These shows were notable because Lloyd Grant, Dave Mustaine, Jason Newsted, Glenn Danzig, Ozzy Osbourne, Jerry Cantrell, Apocalyptica, members of Diamond Head, and King Diamond joined Metallica on stage for all appropriate songs. In December 2011, Metallica began releasing songs that were written for Death Magnetic but were not included on the album online. On December 13, 2011, the band released Beyond Magnetic, a digital EP release exclusively on iTunes. It was released on CD in January 2012.
On February 7, 2012, Metallica announced that it would start a new music festival called Orion Music + More, which took place on June 23 and 24, 2012, in Atlantic City. Metallica also confirmed that it would headline the festival on both days and would perform two of its most critically acclaimed albums in their entirety: The Black Album on one night, and Ride the Lightning on the other. In a July 2012 interview with Canadian radio station 99.3 The Fox, Ulrich said Metallica would not release its new album until at least early 2014.
In November 2012, Metallica left Warner Bros. Records and launched an independent record label, Blackened Recordings, which will produce the band's future releases. The band acquired the rights to all of its studio albums, which were all reissued through the new label. Blackened releases were licensed through Warner subsidiary Rhino Entertainment in North America and internationally through Universal Music. On September 20, 2012, Metallica announced via its official website that a new DVD containing footage of shows it performed in Quebec in 2009 would be released that December; fans would get the chance to vote for two setlists that would appear on the DVD. The film, titled Quebec Magnetic, was released in the U.S. on December 10, 2012.
=== 2013–2019: Metallica: Through the Never and Hardwired... to Self-Destruct ===
In an interview with Classic Rock on January 8, 2013, Ulrich said regarding the band's upcoming album, "What we're doing now certainly sounds like a continuation [of Death Magnetic]". He also said, "I love Rick [Rubin]. We all love Rick. We're in touch with Rick constantly. We'll see where it goes. It would stun me if the record came out in 2013." Also in 2013, the band starred in a 3D concert film titled Metallica: Through the Never, which was directed by Antal Nimród and was released in IMAX theaters on September 27.
In an interview dated July 22, 2013, Ulrich told Ultimate Guitar, "2014 will be all about making a new Metallica record"; he said the album will most likely be released during 2015. Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo later confirmed the band's intention to enter the studio. At the second Orion Music + More festival held in Detroit, the band played under the name "Dehaan"—a reference to actor Dane DeHaan, who starred in Metallica: Through the Never. The band performed its debut album Kill 'Em All in its entirety, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its release. On December 8, 2013, the band played a show called "Freeze 'Em All" in Antarctica, becoming the first band to play on all seven continents. The performance was filmed and released as a live album the same month.
At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in January 2014, Metallica performed "One" with Chinese pianist Lang Lang. In March 2014, Metallica began a tour called "Metallica By Request", in which fans request songs for the band to perform. A new song, titled "Lords of Summer" was written for the concerts and released as a "first take" demo in June 2014. In June 2014, the band headlined the Glastonbury Festival in an attempt to attract new fans. Ulrich said, "We have one shot, you never know if you'll be invited back". In November 2014, Metallica performed at the closing ceremony of BlizzCon 2014.
In January 2015, Metallica announced a "Metallica Night" with the San Jose Sharks, which featured a Q&A session with the band and a charity auction benefiting the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club, but no performances. They were announced to headline Lollapalooza in March 2015, returning to perform there for the first time in 20 years. On May 2, 2015, Metallica performed their third annual Metallica Day at AT&T Park. Metallica were also announced to play at X Games for the first time at X Games Austin 2015 in Austin, Texas. On June 14, 2015, Hetfield and Hammett performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" live via electric guitars prior to game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. In late October, the band unveiled a new website with an introduction from Ulrich containing footage from the studio of the band working on new material. On November 2, Metallica were announced to play "The Night Before" Super Bowl 50 at AT&T Park. Metallica announced they would be opening the U.S. Bank Stadium on August 20, 2016, with Avenged Sevenfold and Volbeat as support.
In April 2016, during the week leading up to Record Store Day, for which the band was its ambassador for 2016, Ulrich told Billboard that the band's expanded role within the music industry had played a part in the amount of time that it had taken to write and record the album. "The way we do things now is very different than the way we did things back in the days of Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning. Nowadays we like to do so many different things." Ulrich was also optimistic that production of the album had almost reached its completion. "Unless something radical happens it would be difficult for me to believe that it won't come out in 2016". On August 18, 2016, the band announced via their website that their tenth studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, would be released worldwide on November 18, 2016, via their independent label, Blackened Recordings. They also unveiled the track listing, album artwork, and released a music video for the album's first single, "Hardwired". The album was released as scheduled and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
Metallica announced they would be touring the US and Canada in summer of 2017 for the WorldWired Tour. The stadium tour also includes Avenged Sevenfold, Volbeat and Gojira as supporting acts. On August 7, 2017, Metallica was invited by the San Francisco Giants again for the fifth annual "Metallica Night" with Hammett and Hetfield performing the national anthem. In January 2018, the band announced that they would be reissuing The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited on April 13 for Record Store Day, and the sixth annual "Metallica Night" was also announced a few weeks later, this time in April, with all proceeds going to the All Within My Hands Foundation, which the band created in late 2017. In February 2018, the band announced a second set of North American tour dates, most of which for cities that they had not visited in up to thirty years.
=== 2019–2023: S&M2 and 72 Seasons ===
In an interview with Australian magazine The Music's official podcast in March 2019, Trujillo said that Metallica had begun jamming on new material for its next studio album. "I'm excited about the next record because I believe it will also be a culmination of the two [previous] records and another journey. There's no shortage of original ideas, that's the beauty of being in this band." He estimated that the album would be released sooner than the previous two did, saying: "this time around I think we'll be able to jump on it a lot quicker and jump in the studio and start working." In an interview with Australian magazine Mixdown the following month, Hammett said that the band had tentative plans to enter the studio after the conclusion of its WorldWired Tour. He stated, "We're in our third year since Hardwired. Maybe we can get a bit more focus and go into the studio a bit sooner." After not contributing any writing to Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, Hammett said regarding his ideas for the new album, "I have a ton of material. I've over-compensated, so I'm ready to go anytime."
In March 2019, Metallica announced that its WorldWired Tour would continue into Australia and New Zealand in October with Slipknot in support. Later that month, the band announced that it would perform at the grand opening of San Francisco's new Chase Center with the San Francisco Symphony in September to celebrate the twenty-year anniversary of S&M. The commemorative shows, titled S&M2, were screened in more than 3,000 theaters worldwide on October 9; the event featured arrangements from the original S&M concerts as well as new arrangements for songs recorded since then and a cover of the Alexander Mosolov piece Iron Foundry, and were conducted by Edwin Outwater and San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas. S&M2 went on to earn $5.5 million at the box office, making it the biggest global rock event cinema release of all time; a second screening was later announced for October 30 as a result. In August 2020, the band announced that they would release the S&M2 performances as an album, DVD and box set.
In July 2019, Metallica announced a set of South American tour dates for April 2020 with Greta Van Fleet in support. In September, ahead of that year's Global Citizen Festival, it was announced that Metallica would perform at the following year's festival in September 2020 alongside artists such as Billie Eilish, Miley Cyrus and Coldplay, in what would be the final event of Global Poverty Project's year-long Global Goal Live: The Possible Dream campaign. The following day, on September 27, Metallica announced that Hetfield had re-entered a rehabilitation program and that its Australia/New Zealand tour would be postponed. In a statement by Ulrich, Hammett and Trujillo, the band spoke of the devastation of the news, saying that Hetfield "[had] been struggling with addiction on and off for many years" and that all tickets would be fully refunded. Ulrich later added that Hetfield was "in the process of healing himself", and that the band hoped to return to Australia and New Zealand in 2020. The band's other commitments, including a benefit concert in March 2020, were still expected to continue as planned; a further five US festival appearances were announced in October. These shows were later postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to support Hetfield's recovery.
In March 2020, the band began a series on YouTube and Facebook called #MetallicaMondays, where they streamed full archived shows every Monday to relieve boredom while staying home and social distancing amid the pandemic. In May 2020, while in quarantine, Metallica performed a virtual acoustic version of "Blackened", titled "Blackened 2020", which was later made available for download. In an interview with Marc Benioff in April 2020, Ulrich stated that Metallica could work on its next studio album while in quarantine. Trujillo told The Vinyl Guide in June that the band was "excited about cultivating new ideas" for its new album. "We communicate every week, which is really great, so we have our connection intact. And what we've started doing is basically just really concentrating on our home studios and being creative from our homes and navigating through ideas and building on new ideas. And that's where we're at right now". He also said that the band was working towards eventually entering a studio to record the album. On August 10, 2020, Metallica played a show at Gundlach-Bundschu Winery in Sonoma, California, which was only attended by a few crew members, and it was recorded and played for drive-in movies across the U.S. and Canada on August 29.
In May 2021, the band announced that they would do one more #MetallicaMondays on May 24 to benefit their All Within My Hands Foundation. The concert dates to September 6, 2018, in Lincoln, Nebraska. On Labor Day, September 6, 2021, the band's All Within My Hands Foundation raised $377,450. Metallica teamed up with workwear brand Carhartt on the initiative, with the clothing brand donating all of their sales proceeds on the holiday to the band's Metallica Scholars initiative, which provides opportunities to people interested in pursuing essential workforce jobs.
On November 28, 2022, the band released the single "Lux Æterna". On January 19, 2023, Metallica released the second single titled "Screaming Suicide". On March 1, 2023, Metallica released the third single titled "If Darkness Had a Son". On March 30, 2023, Metallica released a music video for the album's title track, "72 Seasons". The band released their eleventh studio album 72 Seasons on April 14, 2023. Metallica promoted the album with a three-and-a-half-year-long tour, titled the M72 World Tour, which began on April 27, 2023, in Amsterdam and is set to conclude on July 5, 2026, in London.
=== 2023–present: Future plans ===
In an interview on Loudwire Nights radio program in April 2023, Ulrich stated that "there [were] some ideas [Metallica] could start with" for the follow-up to 72 Seasons, adding, "I'm looking forward to going live and being in sharing mode for the next couple of years. The beauty of being with these guys, I kind of joke, James writes more riffs when he's tuning his guitar than most people do in a lifetime. That's the beauty of being in band with these guys and I'm eternally grateful. I'm dumbfounded by it." When asked about "leftovers" that could be used for the next Metallica album, Ulrich said, "There's always a few riffs in the riff tank." In May 2024, Hetfield confirmed that he has been "writing lots of music, playing guitar pretty much every day".
In a March 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Hammett confirmed that he has been working on ideas for the next Metallica album: "I have 767 new ones for the next album. It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I'm the one responsible for all of it and I can't do it...I don't foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we're still finishing the tour."
== Style and lyrical themes ==
Metallica played thrash and speed metal on their first four albums before changing their sound to a more traditional heavy metal style on 1991's Black Album. Load and Reload, released in 1996 and 1997 respectively, saw the band move towards hard rock. 2008's Death Magnetic saw them returning to a more thrash-influenced sound.
The band was influenced by early heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists such as Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, Rush, Aerosmith, and Judas Priest, new wave of British heavy metal bands Raven, Venom, Motörhead, Saxon, Diamond Head, Blitzkrieg, and Iron Maiden and European bands Scorpions, Accept, and Mercyful Fate. They were also influenced by punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and Misfits, post-punk band Killing Joke and hardcore punk bands Discharge, GBH, and Suicidal Tendencies.
Lars Ulrich has cited Iron Maiden as probably the biggest influence on Metallica's career. The band's early releases contained fast tempos, harmonized leads, and nine-minute instrumental tracks. Steve Huey of AllMusic said Ride the Lightning featured "extended, progressive epics; tight, concise groove-rockers". He also said Metallica expanded its compositional technique and range of expression to take on a more aggressive approach in following releases, and lyrics dealt with personal and socially conscious issues. Religious and military leaders, rage, insanity, monsters, and drugs—among other themes—were explored on Master of Puppets.
In 1991, Huey said Metallica with new producer Bob Rock simplified and streamlined its music for a more commercial approach to appeal to mainstream audiences. Robert Palmer of Rolling Stone said the band abandoned its aggressive, fast tempos to expand its music and expressive range. The change in direction proved commercially successful; Metallica was the band's first album to peak at number one on the Billboard 200. Metallica noticed changes to the rock scene created by the grunge movement of the early-1990s. In Load—an album that has been described as having "an almost alternative rock" approach—the band changed musical direction again and focused on non-metal influences.
Metallica's new lyrical approach moved away from drugs and monsters, and focused on anger, loss, and retribution. Some fans and critics were not pleased with this change, which included haircuts, the cover art of Load, a new main logo, and headlining the Lollapalooza festival of 1996. David Fricke of Rolling Stone described the move as "goodbye to the moldy stricture and dead-end Puritanism of no-frills thrash", and called Load the heaviest record of 1996. With the release of ReLoad in 1997, the band displayed blues and early hard rock influences, incorporating more rhythm and harmony in song structures.
St. Anger marked another large change in the band's sound. Guitar solos were excluded from the album, leaving a "raw and unpolished sound". The band used drop C tuning; Ulrich's snare drum received particular criticism. New York Magazine's Ethan Brown said it "reverberates with a thwong". The album's lyrics deal with Hetfield's drug rehabilitation and include references to the devil, anti-drug themes, claustrophobia, impending doom, and religious hypocrisy. At the advice of producer Rick Rubin, for its ninth studio album Death Magnetic, the band returned to standard tuning and guitar solos. As a return to Metallica's thrash roots, Death Magnetic was a riff-oriented album featuring intense guitar solos and subtle lyrics about suicide and redemption.
== All Within My Hands Foundation ==
In February 2017, Metallica launched All Within My Hands Foundation, "dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services". For example, the group works with various selected charities to organize volunteer projects at food banks. It also works with workforce training institutions on its Metallica Scholars grant program to help chosen students learn new trade skills. The Foundation has also donated and raised funds for World Central Kitchen's relief efforts during the Russo-Ukrainian war and granted $200,000 for relief efforts after the destructive 2023 Hawaii wildfires. The band has also performed fundraising concerts for the Foundation. The Foundation takes its name from the song All Within My Hands from the St. Anger album.
== Legacy and influence ==
Metallica has become one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time and is credited as one of the "big four" of thrash metal, along with Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. The band has sold more than 125 million records worldwide, including an RIAA-certified 66 million and Nielsen SoundScan-reported 58 million in the US, making Metallica one of the most commercially successful bands of all time. The writers of The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll said Metallica gave heavy metal "a much-needed charge". Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Greg Prato of Allmusic said Metallica "expanded the limits of thrash, using speed and volume not for their own sake, but to enhance their intricately structured compositions", and called the band "easily the best, most influential heavy metal band of the '80s, responsible for bringing the music back to Earth".
Jonathan Davis of Korn said he respects Metallica as his favorite band; he said, "I love that they've done things their own way and they've persevered over the years and they're still relevant to this day. I think they're one of the greatest bands ever." Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin said Metallica has been the biggest influence on the band, stating, "they really changed my life when I was 16 years old—I'd never heard anything that heavy". Chuck Billy of Testament has also cited Metallica as an influence on the band, as well as Hetfield as "an inspiration with clever lyrics"; he added, "When I first started hearing Metallica it was something new to me the way his cadence of vocal styles sang to the music." Vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn of Machine Head said that when creating the band's 2007 album, The Blackening, "What we mean is an album that has the power, influence and epic grandeur of that album Master of Puppets—and the staying power—a timeless record like that". Gojira guitarist Christian Andreu said it was while listening to Ride the Lightning that he started making music; saying "we find on the album 'Fade to Black', 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', emblematic pieces". Trivium guitarists Corey Beaulieu and Matt Heafy said that when they heard Metallica they wanted to start playing guitar. M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold said touring with Metallica was the band's career highlight, and said, "Selling tons of records and playing huge shows will never compare to meeting your idols Metallica". God Forbid guitarists Doc and Dallas Coyle were inspired by Metallica as they grew up, and the band's bassist John Outcalt admires Burton as a "rocker". Ill Niño drummer Dave Chavarri said he finds early Metallica releases are "heavy, raw, rebellious. It said, 'fuck you'", and Adema drummer Kris Kohls said the band is influenced by Metallica.
On April 4, 2009, Metallica were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the second year they were eligible and first year they were nominated. Metallica's induction into the Hall included its current lineup, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, and Lars Ulrich, and former members Jason Newsted and Cliff Burton.
MTV ranked Metallica the third "Greatest Heavy Metal Band in History". Metallica was ranked 42nd on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", was listed fifth on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock", and the band was number one on VH1's "20 Greatest Metal Bands" list. Rolling Stone placed the band 61st on its list of "The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time"; its albums Master of Puppets and Metallica were ranked at numbers 167 and 252 respectively on the magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Master of Puppets was named in Q Magazine's "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time", and was ranked number one on IGN's "Top 25 Metal Albums", and number one on Metal-rules.com's "Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums" list. "Enter Sandman" was ranked number 399 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Kerrang! released a tribute album titled Master of Puppets: Remastered with the April 8, 2006, edition of the magazine to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Master of Puppets. The album featured cover versions of Metallica songs by Machine Head, Bullet for My Valentine, Chimaira, Mastodon, Mendeed, and Trivium—all of which are influenced by Metallica. At least 15 Metallica tribute albums have been released. On September 10, 2006, Metallica guest starred on The Simpsons' eighteenth-season premiere, "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer". Hammett's and Hetfield's voices were used in three episodes of the animated television series Metalocalypse.
They were cited as an influence by many heavy metal bands including Sepultura, Testament, Slipknot, Machine Head, Bullet for My Valentine, Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, System of a Down, Lamb of God, Gojira, As I Lay Dying, Fear Factory, Korn, and Taproot.
In 1996, Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica released a tribute album titled Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, which features eight Metallica songs played on cellos. A parody band named Beatallica plays music using a combination of the Beatles and Metallica songs. Beatallica faced legal troubles when Sony, which owns the Beatles' catalog, issued a cease and desist order, claiming "substantial and irreparable injury" and ordering the group to pay damages. Ulrich, a fan of Beatallica, asked Metallica's lawyer Peter Paterno to help settle the case.
On March 7, 1999, Metallica was inducted into the San Francisco Walk of Fame. The mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, proclaimed the day "Official Metallica Day". The band was awarded the MTV Icon award in 2003, and a concert paying tribute to the band with artists performing its songs was held. Performances included Sum 41 and a medley of "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Enter Sandman", and "Master of Puppets". Staind covered "Nothing Else Matters", Avril Lavigne played "Fuel", hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg performed "Sad but True", Korn played "One", and Limp Bizkit performed "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)".
The Guitar Hero video game series included several of Metallica's songs. "One" was used in Guitar Hero III. The album Death Magnetic was later released as purchasable, downloadable content for the game. "Trapped Under Ice" was featured in the sequel, Guitar Hero World Tour. In 2009, Metallica collaborated with the game's developers to make Guitar Hero: Metallica, which included a number of Metallica's songs. Harmonix' video game series Rock Band included "Enter Sandman" and "Battery"; "Ride the Lightning", "Blackened", and "...And Justice for All" were released as downloadable tracks. In 2013, due to expiring content licenses, "Ride the Lightning", "Blackened", and "...And Justice for All" are no longer available for download. Fortnite Festival, a 2023 rhythm game developed by Harmonix as part of Fortnite, held a Metallica-centric season from June to August 2024 which included "One", "Lux Æterna", and "Master of Puppets". Metallica also performed virtually in Fortnite in "Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury.", with cosmetics based on Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett and Trujillo being added to the game.
In October 2020, Miley Cyrus announced that she was planning on recording a Metallica covers album and on January 7, 2021, she announced that she has recorded a cover version of "Nothing Else Matters" that would feature Elton John on piano, drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. This version was produced by Andrew Watt, and was released as a promotional single for the tribute album The Metallica Blacklist.
In late 2024, Sky News ran an article on Gaza's first rock group, Osprey V. The group's guitarist, Raji El-Jaru said that the group was influenced by Metallica and Linkin Park.
== Feuds ==
=== Dave Mustaine/Megadeth ===
Former lead guitarist and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has been involved in a historic feud with Metallica. During his time as a founding member during the first two years of the band, Mustaine's tenure was marred by his alcoholism and even a physical altercation with James Hetfield. Mustaine continued to make numerous inflammatory statements against his former band in the press due to buried tension primarily stemming from his firing in 1983 among other issues such as existing songwriting credits across Metallica's first three albums.
By the late 1980s, it was believed that the feud had largely subsided; later confirmed after Megadeth were hired to open for Metallica on numerous European dates in 1993. Despite this, Mustaine expressed his anger at Metallica during his appearance in the band's documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, in a scene he later disapproved of as he felt he was mischaracterized, and that it did not represent the full extent of what happened during the meeting.
By 2010, the two bands found themselves on friendlier terms when they took part in the lauded "Big 4 Tour", alongside Slayer and Anthrax. That same year, Mustaine took part in Metallica's exclusive 30th anniversary show in San Francisco which invited other former members: Ron McGovney, Lloyd Grant, and Jason Newsted. In 2022, Tensions reignited between the band and Mustaine following discussions over a remastered release of the No Life 'Til Leather demo in which Hetfield and Ulrich considered involving Mustaine. However, the relationship quickly began to deteriorate once again after a dispute with Ulrich insisting on crediting himself on each of the tracks, much to Mustaine's anger, resulting in the cancellation of the project entirely and reigniting hostility with his former bandmates.
=== Mötley Crüe ===
Often clashing during the early 1980s, both bands were fighting for dominance in the Los Angeles rock scene during Metallica's early years prior to their relocation to the Bay Area. Both James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich expressed their hatred of the hair metal scene in Los Angeles during the time and frequently attacked multiple up-and-coming local bands in multiple interviews, including Mötley Crüe. Ulrich and Mötley Crüe's bassist Nikki Sixx had allegedly been involved in a spat prior to a show at the Troubadour in Hollywood in 1982. Though despite their public disdain for glam metal, Metallica were impressed by the production and commercial success of Dr. Feelgood in 1989, later hiring the album's producer Bob Rock to produce their self-titled fifth album in 1991.
Several years later, Sixx and Ulrich reignited the feud after Ulrich accused Mötley Crüe of performing to a backing track at the 1997 American Music Awards. Sixx responded via an online forum in which he insulted numerous band members and also attacked Metallica's then-recent album Load. Despite this, Sixx praised Metallica's then-latest album St. Anger during a 2003 interview, contrary to the negative attention it received upon release.
In 2006, both Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, and former bassist Jason Newsted took part in a reality show titled Rock Star: Supernova as they would both participate in creating a supergroup while the show's premise revolved around finding a frontman via contest. During a 2011 meet-and-greet in Mexico City, Hetfield was approached by a fan attacking Mötley Crüe due to their public image and frequent appearances in tabloids. Hetfield refused to directly respond to the fan's comments towards Mötley Crüe but laughed in his insults toward the band.
In 2015, drummer Lee reignited the feud when he tweeted a picture of Ulrich with the words "Straight Outta Tempo" superimposed over his face. Following the post by Lee, Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil had stated online that he was unaware of the feud with Metallica; however, during a later interview with an Oregon radio show, Neil was again asked about the band's current relationship with Metallica and hung up on the show's host. Things were alleged to have calmed down by 2017, when Hetfield appeared on Sixx's radio show Sixx Sense. During an interview in 2021, Sixx applauded Metallica's longevity and praised several of their releases during an interview.
=== Jason Newsted ===
Following his hiring in 1986, former bassist Jason Newsted had regularly experienced incidents of hazing and a perceived lack of acceptance from his bandmates despite his strong efforts in a majority of the band's live performances. Many fans and outlets cite the band's fourth album's unusual mixing to drown the bass tracks as a possible effort by Hetfield and Ulrich to minimize Newsted's involvement. This sentiment was further exacerbated by the fact that Newsted was only given songwriting credits on three songs during his 14-year span in the band which also saw him perform on four studio albums.
Tensions between Hetfield and Newsted reached a breaking point in 2000 after Hetfield repeatedly blocked Newsted's request to venture into his side project Echobrain. Discussions broke down and Newsted abruptly left the band in January 2001 prior to the recording of St. Anger. Despite Newsted's animosity surrounding his decision, he was later inducted into the hall of fame as a member of the band in 2009 and also appeared at the band's 30th anniversary show in San Francisco in 2011. In August 2021, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the band's self-titled album, Newsted was given a box set of the reissue to open for an unboxing video, which was uploaded to the band's YouTube channel.
== Band members ==
=== Timeline ===
== Discography ==
Studio albums
Kill 'Em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
...And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica (1991)
Load (1996)
Reload (1997)
St. Anger (2003)
Death Magnetic (2008)
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016)
72 Seasons (2023)
== Tours ==
== Awards and nominations ==
Grammy Awards
1990: Best Metal Performance – "One"
1991: Best Metal Performance – "Stone Cold Crazy"
1992: Best Metal Performance – Metallica
1999: Best Metal Performance – "Better than You"
2000: Best Hard Rock Performance – "Whiskey in the Jar"
2001: Best Rock Instrumental Performance – "The Call of Ktulu" (with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony)
2004: Best Metal Performance – "St. Anger"
2009: Best Metal Performance – "My Apocalypse"
2009: Best Recording Package – Death Magnetic
2024: Best Metal Performance – "72 Seasons" |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon | John Lennon | John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.
Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. He initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually seemed to cede to McCartney. He wrote and co-wrote songs with increasing innovation, including "Strawberry Fields Forever", which he later cited as his finest work with the band. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War (1967), and authoring In His Own Write (1964) and A Spaniard in the Works (1965), both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the counterculture of the 1960s.
In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration bed-in for peace, and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career. Lennon and Ono collaborated on many works, including a trilogy of avant-garde albums and several more films. After the Beatles disbanded, Lennon released his solo debut John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and the international top-10 singles "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine", and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Moving to New York City in 1971, his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year deportation attempt by the Nixon administration. Lennon and Ono separated from 1973 to 1975, during which time he produced Harry Nilsson's album Pussy Cats. He also had chart-topping collaborations with Elton John ("Whatever Gets You thru the Night") and David Bowie ("Fame"). Following a five-year hiatus, Lennon returned to music in 1980 with the Ono collaboration Double Fantasy. He was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman three weeks after the album's release.
As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number-one singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Double Fantasy, his second-best-selling non-Beatles album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. That year, he won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2002, Lennon was voted eighth in a BBC history poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and 38th-greatest artist of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice (first as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994).
== Early years: 1940–1956 ==
John Winston Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, the only child of Alfred and Julia Lennon (née Stanley). Alfred was a merchant seaman of Irish descent who was away at the time of his son's birth, and Lennon had Welsh ancestry on his mother's side. His parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John "Jack" Lennon, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. His father was often away from home but sent regular pay cheques to 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, where Lennon lived with his mother; the cheques stopped when he went absent without leave in February 1944. When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, but Julia, by then pregnant with another man's child, rejected the idea. After her sister Mimi complained to Liverpool's Social Services twice, Julia gave her custody of Lennon.
In July 1946, Lennon's father visited her and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him. Julia followed them – with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins – and after a heated argument, his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. In one account of this incident, Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her. According to author Mark Lewisohn, however, Lennon's parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home. Billy Hall, who witnessed the incident, has said that the dramatic portrayal of a young John Lennon being forced to make a decision between his parents is inaccurate. Lennon had no further contact with Alf for close to 20 years.
Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton, with Mimi and her husband George Toogood Smith, who had no children of their own. His aunt purchased volumes of short stories for him, and his uncle, a dairyman at his family's farm, bought him a mouth organ and engaged him in solving crossword puzzles. Julia visited Mendips on a regular basis, and John often visited her at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool, where she played him Elvis Presley records, taught him the banjo, and showed him how to play "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino. In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature:
A part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loudmouthed lunatic poet/musician. But I cannot be what I am not [...] I was the one who all the other boys' parents – including Paul's father – would say, "Keep away from him" [...] The parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friend's home [...] Partly out of envy that I didn't have this so-called home [...] but I did [...] There were five women that were my family. Five strong, intelligent, beautiful women, five sisters. One happened to be my mother. [She] just couldn't deal with life. She was the youngest and she had a husband who ran away to sea and the war was on and she couldn't cope with me, and I ended up living with her elder sister. Now those women were fantastic [...] And that was my first feminist education [...] I would infiltrate the other boys' minds. I could say, "Parents are not gods because I don't live with mine and, therefore, I know."
He regularly visited his cousin Stanley Parkes, who lived in Fleetwood and took him on trips to local cinemas. During the school holidays Parkes often visited Lennon with Leila Harvey, another cousin, and the three often travelled to Blackpool two or three times a week to watch shows. They would visit the Blackpool Tower Circus and see artists such as Dickie Valentine, Arthur Askey, Max Bygraves and Joe Loss, with Parkes recalling that Lennon particularly liked George Formby. After Parkes's family moved to Scotland, the three cousins often spent their school holidays together there. Parkes recalled, "John, cousin Leila and I were very close. From Edinburgh we would drive up to the family croft at Durness, which was from about the time John was nine years old until he was about 16." Lennon's uncle George died of a liver haemorrhage on 5 June 1955, aged 52.
Lennon was raised as an Anglican and attended Dovedale Primary School. After passing his eleven-plus exam, he attended Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool from September 1952 to 1957, and was described by Harvey at the time as a "happy-go-lucky, good-humoured, easy going, lively lad". However, he was also known to frequently engage in fights, bully and disrupt classes. Despite this, he quickly built a reputation as the class clown and often drew comical cartoons that appeared in his self-made school magazine, the Daily Howl.
In 1956, Julia bought John his first guitar. The instrument was an inexpensive Gallotone Champion acoustic for which she lent her son five pounds and ten shillings on the condition that the guitar be delivered to her own house and not Mimi's, knowing well that her sister was not supportive of her son's musical aspirations. Mimi was sceptical of his claim that he would be famous one day, and she hoped that he would grow bored with music, often telling him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it."
Lennon's senior school years were marked by a shift in his behaviour. Teachers at Quarry Bank High School described him thus: "He has too many wrong ambitions and his energy is often misplaced", and "His work always lacks effort. He is content to 'drift' instead of using his abilities." Lennon's misbehaviour created a rift in his relationship with his aunt.
On 15 July 1958, at the age of 44, Julia Lennon was struck and killed by a car while she was walking home after visiting the Smiths' house. His mother's death traumatised the teenage Lennon, who, for the next two years, drank heavily and frequently got into fights, consumed by a "blind rage". Julia's memory would later serve as a major creative inspiration for Lennon, inspiring songs such as the 1968 Beatles song "Julia".
Lennon failed his O-level examinations, and was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art after his aunt and headmaster intervened. At the college he began to wear Teddy Boy clothes and was threatened with expulsion for his behaviour. In the description of Cynthia Powell, Lennon's fellow student and subsequently his wife, he was "thrown out of the college before his final year".
Lennon faced significant challenges throughout his education due to dyslexia, which negatively affected his reading and writing skills. Lennon's academic performance was poor, and was often described as a "troublemaker" in the classroom. While he was drawn to art and music from a young age, his struggles with dyslexia negatively impacted his studies and ultimately resulted in his expulsion from the Liverpool College of Art.
== The Quarrymen to the Beatles: 1956–1970 ==
=== Formation, fame and touring: 1956–1966 ===
At the age of 15, Lennon formed a skiffle group, the Quarrymen. Named after Quarry Bank High School, the group was established by Lennon in September 1956. By the summer of 1957, the Quarrymen played a "spirited set of songs" made up of half skiffle and half rock and roll. Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen's second performance, which was held in Woolton on 6 July at the St Peter's Church garden fête. Lennon then asked McCartney to join the band.
McCartney said that Aunt Mimi "was very aware that John's friends were lower class", and would often patronise him when he arrived to visit Lennon. According to McCartney's brother Mike, their father similarly disapproved of Lennon, declaring that Lennon would get his son "into trouble". McCartney's father nevertheless allowed the fledgling band to rehearse in the family's front room at 20 Forthlin Road. During this time Lennon wrote his first song, "Hello Little Girl", which became a UK top 10 hit for the Fourmost in 1963.
McCartney recommended that his friend George Harrison become the lead guitarist. Lennon thought that Harrison, then 14 years old, was too young. McCartney engineered an audition on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, where Harrison played "Raunchy" for Lennon and was asked to join. Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon's friend from art school, later joined as bassist. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe became "The Beatles" in early 1960. In August that year, the Beatles were engaged for a 48-night residency in Hamburg, in West Germany, and were desperately in need of a drummer. They asked Pete Best to join them. Lennon's aunt, horrified when he told her about the trip, pleaded with Lennon to continue his art studies instead. After the first Hamburg residency, the band accepted another in April 1961, and a third in April 1962. As with the other band members, Lennon was introduced to Preludin while in Hamburg, and regularly took the drug as a stimulant during their long, overnight performances.
Brian Epstein managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. He had no previous experience managing artists, but he had a strong influence on the group's dress code and attitude on stage. Lennon initially resisted his attempts to encourage the band to present a professional appearance, but eventually complied, saying "I'll wear a bloody balloon if somebody's going to pay me." McCartney took over on bass after Sutcliffe decided to stay in Hamburg, and Best was replaced with drummer Ringo Starr; this completed the four-piece line-up that would remain until the group's break-up in 1970. The band's first single, "Love Me Do", was released in October 1962 and reached No. 17 on the British charts. They recorded their debut album, Please Please Me, in under 10 hours on 11 February 1963, a day when Lennon was suffering the effects of a cold, which is evident in the vocal on the last song to be recorded that day, "Twist and Shout". The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership yielded eight of its fourteen tracks. With a few exceptions, one being the album title itself, Lennon had yet to bring his love of wordplay to bear on his song lyrics, saying: "We were just writing songs ... pop songs with no more thought of them than that – to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant". In a 1987 interview, McCartney said that the other Beatles idolised Lennon: "He was like our own little Elvis ... We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest."
The Beatles achieved mainstream success in the UK early in 1963. Lennon was on tour when his first son, Julian, was born in April. During their Royal Variety Show performance, which was attended by the Queen Mother and other British royalty, Lennon poked fun at the audience: "For our next song, I'd like to ask for your help. For the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands ... and the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery." After a year of Beatlemania in the UK, the group's historic February 1964 US debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show marked their breakthrough to international stardom. A two-year period of constant touring, filmmaking, and songwriting followed, during which Lennon wrote two books, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. The Beatles received recognition from the British establishment when they were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Lennon grew concerned that fans who attended Beatles concerts were unable to hear the music above the screaming of fans, and that the band's musicianship was beginning to suffer as a result. Lennon's "Help!" expressed his own feelings in 1965: "I meant it ... It was me singing 'help'". He had put on weight (he would later refer to this as his "Fat Elvis" period), and felt he was subconsciously seeking change. A hurtful comment from a reporter would lead him to undergo several bouts with weight loss and appearance changes throughout the rest of his life. In March of that year, he and Harrison were unknowingly introduced to LSD when a dentist, hosting a dinner party attended by the two musicians and their partners, spiked the guests' coffee with the drug. When they wanted to leave, their host revealed what they had taken, and strongly advised them not to leave the house because of the likely effects. Later, in a lift at a nightclub, they all believed it was on fire; Lennon recalled: "We were all screaming ... hot and hysterical."
In March 1966, during an interview with Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, Lennon remarked, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink ... We're more popular than Jesus now – I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity." The comment went virtually unnoticed in England but caused great offence in the US when quoted by a magazine there five months later. The furore that followed, which included the burning of Beatles records, Ku Klux Klan activity and threats against Lennon, contributed to the band's decision to stop touring.
=== Studio years, break-up and solo work: 1966–1970 ===
After the band's final concert on 29 August 1966, Lennon filmed the anti-war black comedy How I Won the War – his only appearance in a non-Beatles feature film – before rejoining his bandmates for an extended period of recording, beginning in November. Lennon had increased his use of LSD and, according to author Ian MacDonald, his continuous use of the drug in 1967 brought him "close to erasing his identity". The year 1967 saw the release of "Strawberry Fields Forever", hailed by Time magazine for its "astonishing inventiveness", and the group's landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which revealed lyrics by Lennon that contrasted strongly with the simple love songs of the group's early years.
In late June, the Beatles performed Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" as Britain's contribution to the Our World satellite broadcast, before an international audience estimated at up to 400 million. Intentionally simplistic in its message, the song formalised his pacifist stance and provided an anthem for the Summer of Love. After the Beatles were introduced to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the group attended an August weekend of personal instruction at his Transcendental Meditation seminar in Bangor, Wales. During the seminar, they were informed of Epstein's death. "I knew we were in trouble then", Lennon said later. "I didn't have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music. I was scared – I thought, 'We've fucking had it now.'" McCartney organised the group's first post-Epstein project, the self-written, -produced and -directed television film Magical Mystery Tour, which was released in December that year. While the film itself proved to be their first critical flop, its soundtrack release, featuring Lennon's Lewis Carroll-inspired "I Am the Walrus", was a success.
Led by Harrison and Lennon's interest, the Beatles travelled to the Maharishi's ashram in India in February 1968 for further guidance. While there, they composed most of the songs for their double album The Beatles, but the band members' mixed experience with Transcendental Meditation signalled a sharp divergence in the group's camaraderie. On their return to London, they became increasingly involved in business activities with the formation of Apple Corps, a multimedia corporation composed of Apple Records and several other subsidiary companies. Lennon described the venture as an attempt to achieve "artistic freedom within a business structure". Released amid the Protests of 1968, the band's debut single for the Apple label included Lennon's B-side "Revolution", in which he called for a "plan" rather than committing to Maoist revolution. The song's pacifist message led to ridicule from political radicals in the New Left press. Adding to the tensions at the Beatles' recording sessions that year, Lennon insisted on having his new girlfriend, the Japanese artist Yoko Ono, beside him, thereby contravening the band's policy regarding wives and girlfriends in the studio. He was especially pleased with his songwriting contributions to the double album and identified it as a superior work to Sgt. Pepper. At the end of 1968, Lennon participated in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a television special that was not broadcast. Lennon performed with the Dirty Mac, a supergroup composed of Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. The group also backed a vocal performance by Ono. A film version was released in 1996.
By late 1968, Lennon's increased drug use and growing preoccupation with Ono, combined with the Beatles' inability to agree on how the company should be run, left Apple in need of professional management. Lennon asked Lord Beeching to take on the role but he declined, advising Lennon to go back to making records. Lennon was approached by Allen Klein, who had managed the Rolling Stones and other bands during the British Invasion. In early 1969, Klein was appointed as Apple's chief executive by Lennon, Harrison and Starr, but McCartney never signed the management contract.
Lennon and Ono were married on 20 March 1969 and soon released a series of 14 lithographs called "Bag One" depicting scenes from their honeymoon, eight of which were deemed indecent and most of which were banned and confiscated. Lennon's creative focus continued to move beyond the Beatles, and between 1968 and 1969 he and Ono recorded three albums of experimental music together: Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (known more for its cover than for its music), Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions and Wedding Album. In 1969, they formed the Plastic Ono Band, releasing Live Peace in Toronto 1969. Between 1969 and 1970, Lennon released the singles "Give Peace a Chance", which was widely adopted as an anti-Vietnam War anthem, "Cold Turkey", which documented his withdrawal symptoms after he became addicted to heroin, and "Instant Karma!".
In protest at Britain's involvement in "the Nigeria-Biafra thing" (namely, the Nigerian Civil War), its support of America in the Vietnam War and (perhaps jokingly) against "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts, Lennon returned his MBE medal to the Queen. This gesture had no effect on his MBE status, which could be renounced but ultimately only the Sovereign has the power to annul the original award. The medal, together with Lennon's letter, is held at the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.
Lennon left the Beatles on 20 September 1969, but agreed not to inform the media while the group renegotiated their recording contract. He was outraged that McCartney publicised his own departure on releasing his debut solo album in April 1970. Lennon's reaction was, "Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit for it!" He later wrote, "I started the band. I disbanded it. It's as simple as that." In a December 1970 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine, he revealed his bitterness towards McCartney, saying, "I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record." Lennon also spoke of the hostility he perceived the other members had towards Ono, and of how he, Harrison and Starr "got fed up with being sidemen for Paul ... After Brian Epstein died we collapsed. Paul took over and supposedly led us. But what is leading us when we went round in circles?"
== Solo career: 1970–1980 ==
=== Initial solo success and activism: 1970–1972 ===
Between 1 April and 15 September 1970, Lennon and Ono went through primal therapy with Arthur Janov at Tittenhurst, in London and at Janov's clinic in Los Angeles, California. Designed to release emotional pain from early childhood, the therapy entailed two half-days a week with Janov for six months; he had wanted to treat the couple for longer, but their American visa ran out and they had to return to the UK. Lennon's debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970), was received with praise by many music critics, but its highly personal lyrics and stark sound limited its commercial performance. The album featured the song "Mother", in which Lennon confronted his feelings of childhood rejection, and the Dylanesque "Working Class Hero", an attack on Western social systems which, due to the lyrics "you're so fucking crazy" and "you're still fucking peasants", fell foul of broadcasters.
In January 1971, Tariq Ali expressed his revolutionary political views when he interviewed Lennon, who immediately responded by writing "Power to the People". In his lyrics to the song, Lennon reversed the non-confrontational approach he had espoused in "Revolution", although he later disowned "Power to the People", saying that it was borne out of guilt and a desire for approval from radicals such as Ali. Lennon became involved in a protest against the prosecution of Oz magazine for alleged obscenity. Lennon denounced the proceedings as "disgusting fascism", and he and Ono (as Elastic Oz Band) released the single "God Save Us/Do the Oz" and joined marches in support of the magazine.
Eager for a major commercial success, Lennon adopted a more accessible sound for his next album, Imagine (1971). Rolling Stone reported that "it contains a substantial portion of good music" but warned of the possibility that "his posturings will soon seem not merely dull but irrelevant". The album's title track later became an anthem for anti-war movements, while the song "How Do You Sleep?" was a musical attack on McCartney in response to lyrics on Ram that Lennon felt, and McCartney later confirmed, were directed at him and Ono. In "Jealous Guy", Lennon addressed his demeaning treatment of women, acknowledging that his past behaviour was a result of long-held insecurity.
In gratitude for his guitar contributions to Imagine, Lennon initially agreed to perform at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh benefit shows in New York. Harrison refused to allow Ono to participate at the concerts, however, which resulted in the couple having a heated argument and Lennon pulling out of the event.
Lennon and Ono moved to New York in August 1971 and immediately embraced US radical left politics. The couple released their "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single in December. During the new year, the Nixon administration took what it called a "strategic counter-measure" against Lennon's anti-war and anti-Nixon propaganda. The administration embarked on what would be a four-year attempt to deport him. Lennon was embroiled in a continuing legal battle with the immigration authorities, and he was denied permanent residency in the US; the issue would not be resolved until 1976.
Some Time in New York City was recorded as a collaboration with Ono and was released in 1972 with backing from the New York band Elephant's Memory. A double LP, it contained songs about women's rights, race relations, Britain's role in Northern Ireland and Lennon's difficulties in obtaining a green card. The album was a commercial failure and was maligned by critics, who found its political sloganeering heavy-handed and relentless. The NME's review took the form of an open letter in which Tony Tyler derided Lennon as a "pathetic, ageing revolutionary". In the US, "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" was released as a single from the album and was televised on 11 May, on The Dick Cavett Show. Many radio stations refused to broadcast the song because of the word nigger.
Lennon and Ono gave two benefit concerts with Elephant's Memory and guests in New York in aid of patients at the Willowbrook State School mental facility. Staged at Madison Square Garden on 30 August 1972, they were his last full-length concert appearances. After George McGovern lost the 1972 presidential election to Richard Nixon, Lennon and Ono attended a post-election wake held in the New York home of activist Jerry Rubin. Lennon was depressed and got intoxicated; he left Ono embarrassed after he had sex with a female guest. Ono's song "Death of Samantha" was inspired by the incident.
=== "Lost weekend": 1973–1975 ===
As Lennon was about to record Mind Games in 1973, he and Ono decided to separate. The ensuing 18-month period apart, which he later called his "lost weekend" in reference to the film of the same name, was spent in Los Angeles and New York City in the company of May Pang. Mind Games, credited to the "Plastic U.F.Ono Band", was released in November 1973. Lennon also contributed "I'm the Greatest" to Starr's album Ringo (1973), released the same month. With Harrison joining Starr and Lennon at the recording session for the song, it marked the only occasion when three former Beatles recorded together between the band's break-up and Lennon's death.
In early 1974, Lennon was drinking heavily and his alcohol-fuelled antics with Harry Nilsson made headlines. In March, two widely publicised incidents occurred at The Troubadour club. In the first incident, Lennon stuck an unused menstrual pad on his forehead and scuffled with a waitress. The second incident occurred two weeks later, when Lennon and Nilsson were ejected from the same club after heckling the Smothers Brothers. Lennon decided to produce Nilsson's album Pussy Cats, and Pang rented a Los Angeles beach house for all the musicians. After a month of further debauchery, the recording sessions were in chaos, and Lennon returned to New York with Pang to finish work on the album. In April, Lennon had produced the Mick Jagger song "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)" which was, for contractual reasons, to remain unreleased for more than 30 years. Pang supplied the recording for its eventual inclusion on The Very Best of Mick Jagger (2007).
Lennon had settled back in New York when he recorded the album Walls and Bridges. Released in October 1974, it included "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", which featured Elton John on backing vocals and piano, and became Lennon's only single as a solo artist to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during his lifetime. A second single from the album, "#9 Dream", followed before the end of the year. Starr's Goodnight Vienna (1974) again saw assistance from Lennon, who wrote the title track and played piano. On 28 November, Lennon made a surprise guest appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving concert at Madison Square Garden, in fulfilment of his promise to join the singer in a live show if "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", a song whose commercial potential Lennon had doubted, reached number one. Lennon performed the song along with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There", which he introduced as "a song by an old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul".
In the first two weeks of January 1975, Elton John topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with his cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", featuring Lennon on guitar and backing vocals - Lennon is credited on the single under the moniker of "Dr. Winston O'Boogie". As January became February, Lennon and Ono reunited as Lennon and Bowie completed recording of their co-composition "Fame", which became David Bowie's first US number one, featuring guitar and backing vocals by Lennon. In February, Lennon released Rock 'n' Roll (1975), an album of cover songs. "Stand by Me", taken from the album and a US and UK hit, became his last single for five years. He made what would be his final stage appearance in the ATV special A Salute to Lew Grade, recorded on 18 April and televised in June. Playing acoustic guitar and backed by an eight-piece band, Lennon performed two songs from Rock 'n' Roll ("Stand by Me", which was not broadcast, and "Slippin' and Slidin'") followed by "Imagine". The band, known as Etc., wore masks behind their heads, a dig by Lennon, who thought Grade was two-faced.
=== Hiatus and return: 1975–1980 ===
Lennon began what would be a five-year hiatus from the music industry, during which time, he later said, he "baked bread" and "looked after the baby". He devoted himself to his new son Sean, rising at 6 am daily to plan and prepare his meals and to spend time with him. He wrote "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" for Starr's Ringo's Rotogravure (1976), performing on the track in June in what would be his last recording session until 1980.
Sean Lennon, Lennon's only child with Ono, was born on 9 October 1975 (Lennon's thirty-fifth birthday), after which Lennon took on the role of househusband. He formally announced his break from music in Tokyo in 1977, saying, "we have basically decided, without any great decision, to be with our baby as much as we can until we feel we can take time off to indulge ourselves in creating things outside of the family." During his career break he created several series of drawings, and drafted a book containing a mix of autobiographical material and what he termed "mad stuff", all of which would be published posthumously.
Lennon emerged from his hiatus in October 1980, when he released the single "(Just Like) Starting Over". In November, he and Ono released the album Double Fantasy, which included songs Lennon had written in Bermuda. In June, Lennon chartered a 43-foot sailboat and embarked on a sailing trip to Bermuda. En route, he and the crew encountered a storm, rendering everyone on board seasick, except Lennon, who took control and sailed the boat through the storm. This experience re-invigorated him and his creative muse. He spent three weeks in Bermuda in a home called Fairylands writing and refining the tracks for the upcoming album.
The music reflected Lennon's fulfilment in his new-found stable family life. Sufficient additional material was recorded for a planned follow-up album Milk and Honey, which was issued posthumously, in 1984. Double Fantasy was not well received initially and drew comments such as Melody Maker's "indulgent sterility ... a godawful yawn".
== Murder ==
In New York, at approximately 5:00 p.m. on 8 December 1980, Lennon autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Mark David Chapman before leaving The Dakota with Ono for a recording session at the Record Plant. After the session, Lennon and Ono returned to the Dakota in a limousine at around 10:50 p.m. (EST). They left the vehicle and walked through the archway of the building. Chapman then shot Lennon twice in the back and twice in the shoulder at close range. Lennon was rushed in a police cruiser to the emergency room of Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. (EST); he was 40 years old.
Ono issued a statement the next day, saying "There is no funeral for John. Later in the week we will set the time for a silent vigil to pray for his soul. We invite you to participate from wherever you are at the time." She requested that instead of flowers, people could donate to Lennon's personal charitable foundation, the Spirit Foundation. "John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love. Yoko and Sean." His remains were cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Ono scattered his ashes in New York's Central Park, where the Strawberry Fields memorial was later created. Chapman avoided going to trial when he ignored his lawyer's advice and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life.
In the weeks following the murder, "(Just Like) Starting Over" and Double Fantasy topped the charts in the UK and the US. "Imagine" hit number one in the UK in January 1981 and "Happy Xmas" peaked at number two. "Imagine" was succeeded at the top of the UK chart by "Woman", the second single from Double Fantasy. Later that year, Roxy Music's cover version of "Jealous Guy", recorded as a tribute to Lennon, was also a UK number-one.
== Personal relationships ==
=== Cynthia Lennon ===
Lennon met Cynthia Powell (1939–2015) in 1957, when they were fellow students at the Liverpool College of Art. Although Powell was intimidated by Lennon's attitude and appearance, she heard that he was obsessed with the French actress Brigitte Bardot, so she dyed her hair blonde. Lennon asked her out, but when she said that she was engaged, he shouted, "I didn't ask you to fuckin' marry me, did I?" She often accompanied him to Quarrymen gigs and travelled to Hamburg with McCartney's girlfriend to visit him.
Lennon was jealous by nature and eventually grew possessive, often terrifying Powell with his anger. In her 2005 memoir John, Powell recalled that, when they were dating, Lennon once struck her after he observed her dancing with Stuart Sutcliffe. She ended their relationship as a result, until three months later, when Lennon apologised and asked to reunite. She took him back and later noted that he was never again physically abusive towards her, although he could still be "verbally cutting and unkind". Lennon later said that until he met Ono, he had never questioned his chauvinistic attitude towards women. He said that the Beatles song "Getting Better" told his (or his peers') own story. "I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically – any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace".
Recalling his July 1962 reaction when he learned that Cynthia was pregnant, Lennon said, "There's only one thing for it Cyn. We'll have to get married." The couple wed on 23 August at the Mount Pleasant Register Office in Liverpool, with Brian Epstein serving as best man. His marriage began just as Beatlemania was taking off across the UK. He performed on the evening of his wedding day and would continue to do so almost daily from then on. Epstein feared that fans would be alienated by the idea of a married Beatle, and he asked the Lennons to keep their marriage secret. Julian was born on 8 April 1963; Lennon was on tour at the time and did not see his infant son until three days later.
Cynthia attributed the start of the marriage breakdown to Lennon's use of LSD, and she felt that he slowly lost interest in her as a result of his use of the drug. When the group travelled by train to Bangor, Wales in 1967 for the Maharishi Yogi's Transcendental Meditation seminar, a policeman did not recognise her and stopped her from boarding. She later recalled how the incident seemed to symbolise the end of their marriage. After spending a holiday in Greece, Cynthia arrived home at Kenwood to find Lennon sitting on the floor with Ono in terrycloth robes and left the house to stay with friends, feeling shocked and humiliated. A few weeks later, Alexis Mardas informed Powell that Lennon was seeking a divorce and custody of Julian. She received a letter stating that Lennon was doing so on the grounds of her adultery with Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, an accusation which Powell denied. After negotiations, Lennon capitulated and agreed to let her divorce him on the same grounds (adultery). The case was settled out of court in November 1968, with Lennon giving her £100,000, a small annual payment, and custody of Julian.
=== Brian Epstein ===
The Beatles were performing at Liverpool's Cavern Club in November 1961 when they were introduced to Brian Epstein after a midday concert. Epstein was homosexual and closeted, and according to biographer Philip Norman, one of Epstein's reasons for wanting to manage the group was that he was attracted to Lennon. Later biographer Mark Lewisohn called the claim unsubstantiated and wrote:
Suggestions that it was only homoerotic fantasy that drew Brian Epstein to the Beatles are distortion ... and perform a malign disservice to both him and them. It may have been part of the mix, but he was, above all else, simply the latest in an ever-lengthening line of people seduced by the Beatles' singular mix of talents.
Almost as soon as Julian was born, Lennon went on holiday to Spain with Epstein, which led to speculation about their relationship. When he was later questioned about it, Lennon said, "Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship. It was my first experience with a homosexual that I was conscious was homosexual. We used to sit in a café in Torremolinos looking at all the boys and I'd say, 'Do you like that one? Do you like this one?' I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time: I am experiencing this." Soon after their return from Spain, at McCartney's twenty-first birthday party in June 1963, Lennon physically attacked Cavern Club master of ceremonies Bob Wooler for saying "How was your honeymoon, John?" The MC, known for his wordplay and affectionate but cutting remarks, was making a joke, but ten months had passed since Lennon's marriage, and the deferred honeymoon was still two months in the future. Lennon was drunk. He later said: "He called me a queer so I battered his bloody ribs in."
Lennon delighted in mocking Epstein for his homosexuality and for the fact that he was Jewish. When Epstein invited suggestions for the title of his autobiography, Lennon offered Queer Jew; on learning of the eventual title, A Cellarful of Noise, he parodied, "More like A Cellarful of Boys". He demanded of a visitor to Epstein's flat, "Have you come to blackmail him? If not, you're the only bugger in London who hasn't." During the recording of "Baby, You're a Rich Man", he sang altered choruses of "Baby, you're a rich fag Jew".
=== Julian Lennon ===
During his marriage to Cynthia, Lennon's first son Julian was born at the same time that his commitments with the Beatles were intensifying at the height of Beatlemania. Lennon was touring with the Beatles when Julian was born on 8 April 1963. Julian's birth, like his mother Cynthia's marriage to Lennon, was kept secret because Epstein was convinced that public knowledge of such things would threaten the Beatles' commercial success. Julian recalled that as a small child in Weybridge some four years later, "I was trundled home from school and came walking up with one of my watercolour paintings. It was just a bunch of stars and this blonde girl I knew at school. And Dad said, 'What's this?' I said, 'It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds.'" Lennon used it as the title of a Beatles song, and though it was later reported to have been derived from the initials LSD, Lennon insisted, "It's not an acid song." Lennon was distant from Julian, who felt closer to McCartney than to his father. During a car journey to visit Cynthia and Julian during Lennon's divorce, McCartney composed a song, "Hey Jules", to comfort him. It would evolve into the Beatles song "Hey Jude". Lennon later said, "That's his best song. It started off as a song about my son Julian ... he turned it into 'Hey Jude'. I always thought it was about me and Yoko but he said it wasn't."
Lennon's relationship with Julian was already strained, and after Lennon and Ono moved to New York in 1971, Julian did not see his father again until 1973. With Pang's encouragement, arrangements were made for Julian and his mother to visit Lennon in Los Angeles, where they went to Disneyland. Julian started to see his father regularly, and Lennon gave him a drumming part on a Walls and Bridges track. He bought Julian a Gibson Les Paul guitar and other instruments, and encouraged his interest in music by demonstrating guitar chord techniques. Julian recalls that he and his father "got on a great deal better" during the time he spent in New York: "We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general."
In a Playboy interview with David Sheff shortly before his death, Lennon said, "Sean is a planned child, and therein lies the difference. I don't love Julian any less as a child. He's still my son, whether he came from a bottle of whiskey or because they didn't have pills in those days. He's here, he belongs to me, and he always will." He said he was trying to reestablish a connection with the then 17-year-old, and confidently predicted, "Julian and I will have a relationship in the future." After his death it was revealed that he had left Julian very little in his will.
=== Yoko Ono ===
Lennon first met Yoko Ono on 9 November 1966 at the Indica Gallery in London, where Ono was preparing her conceptual art exhibit. They were introduced by gallery owner John Dunbar. Lennon was intrigued by Ono's "Hammer A Nail": patrons hammered a nail into a wooden board, creating the art piece. Although the exhibition had not yet begun, Lennon wanted to hammer a nail into the clean board, but Ono stopped him. Dunbar asked her, "Don't you know who this is? He's a millionaire! He might buy it." According to Lennon's recollection in 1980, Ono had not heard of the Beatles, but she relented on condition that Lennon pay her five shillings, to which Lennon said he replied, "I'll give you an imaginary five shillings and hammer an imaginary nail in." Ono subsequently related that Lennon had taken a bite out of the apple on display in her work Apple, much to her fury.
Ono began to telephone and visit Lennon at his home. When Cynthia asked him for an explanation, Lennon explained that Ono was only trying to obtain money for her "avant-garde bullshit". While his wife was on holiday in Greece in May 1968, Lennon invited Ono to visit. They spent the night recording what would become the Two Virgins album, after which, he said, they "made love at dawn". When Lennon's wife returned home she found Ono wearing her bathrobe and drinking tea with Lennon who simply said, "Oh, hi." Ono became pregnant in 1968 and miscarried a male child on 21 November 1968, a few weeks after Lennon's divorce from Cynthia was granted.Two years before the Beatles disbanded, Lennon and Ono began public protests against the Vietnam War. They were married in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969, and spent their honeymoon at the Hilton Amsterdam, campaigning with a week-long bed-in. They planned another bed-in in the United States, but were denied entry, so held one instead at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, where they recorded "Give Peace a Chance". They often combined advocacy with performance art, as in their "Bagism", first introduced during a Vienna press conference. Lennon detailed this period in the Beatles song "The Ballad of John and Yoko". Lennon changed his name by deed poll on 22 April 1969, adding "Ono" as a middle name. The brief ceremony took place on the roof of the Apple Corps building, where the Beatles had performed their rooftop concert three months earlier. Although he used the name John Ono Lennon thereafter, some official documents referred to him as John Winston Ono Lennon. The couple settled at Tittenhurst Park at Sunninghill in Berkshire. After Ono was injured in a car accident, Lennon arranged for a king-size bed to be brought to the recording studio as he worked on the Beatles' album, Abbey Road.
Ono and Lennon moved to New York, to a flat on Bank Street, Greenwich Village. Looking for somewhere with better security, they relocated in 1973 to the more secure Dakota overlooking Central Park at 1 West 72nd Street.
=== May Pang ===
ABKCO Industries was formed in 1968 by Allen Klein as an umbrella company to ABKCO Records. Klein hired May Pang as a receptionist in 1969. Through involvement in a project with ABKCO, Lennon and Ono met her the following year. She became their personal assistant. In 1973, after she had been working with the couple for three years, Ono confided that she and Lennon were becoming estranged. She went on to suggest that Pang should begin a physical relationship with Lennon, telling her, "He likes you a lot." Astounded by Ono's proposition, Pang nevertheless agreed to become Lennon's companion. The pair soon left for Los Angeles, beginning an 18-month period he later called his "lost weekend". In Los Angeles, Pang encouraged Lennon to develop regular contact with Julian, whom he had not seen for two years. He also rekindled friendships with Starr, McCartney, Beatles roadie Mal Evans, and Harry Nilsson.
In June, Lennon and Pang returned to Manhattan in their newly rented penthouse apartment where they prepared a spare room for Julian when he visited them. Lennon, who had been inhibited by Ono in this regard, began to reestablish contact with other relatives and friends. By December, he and Pang were considering a house purchase, and he refused to accept Ono's telephone calls. In February 1975, he agreed to meet Ono, who claimed to have found a cure for smoking. After the meeting, he failed to return home or call Pang. When Pang telephoned the next day, Ono told her that Lennon was unavailable because he was exhausted after a hypnotherapy session. Two days later, Lennon reappeared at a joint dental appointment; he was stupefied and confused to such an extent that Pang believed he had been brainwashed. Lennon told Pang that his separation from Ono was now over, although Ono would allow him to continue seeing her as his mistress.
=== Sean Lennon ===
Sean Ono Lennon was born on 9 October 1975, his father's 35th birthday. Ono had previously suffered three miscarriages in her attempt to have a child with Lennon. After Ono and Lennon were reunited, she became pregnant again. She initially said that she wanted to have an abortion but changed her mind and agreed to allow the pregnancy to continue on the condition that Lennon adopt the role of househusband, which he agreed to do.
Following Sean's birth, Lennon's subsequent hiatus from the music industry would span five years. He had a photographer take pictures of Sean every day of his first year and created numerous drawings for him, which were posthumously published as Real Love: The Drawings for Sean. Lennon later proudly declared, "He didn't come out of my belly but, by God, I made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and to how he sleeps, and to the fact that he swims like a fish."
=== Former Beatles ===
While Lennon remained consistently friendly with Starr during the years that followed the Beatles' break-up in 1970, his relationships with McCartney and Harrison varied. He was initially close to Harrison, but the two drifted apart after Lennon moved to the US in 1971. When Harrison was in New York for his December 1974 Dark Horse tour, Lennon agreed to join him on stage but failed to appear after an argument over Lennon's refusal to sign an agreement that would finally dissolve the Beatles' legal partnership. Harrison later said that when he visited Lennon during his five years away from music, he sensed that Lennon was trying to communicate, but his bond with Ono prevented him. Harrison offended Lennon in 1980 when he published I, Me, Mine, an autobiography that Lennon felt made little mention of him. Lennon told Playboy, "I was hurt by it. By glaring omission ... my influence on his life is absolutely zilch ... he remembers every two-bit sax player or guitarist he met in subsequent years. I'm not in the book."
Lennon's most intense feelings were reserved for McCartney. In addition to attacking him with the lyrics of "How Do You Sleep?", Lennon argued with him through the press for three years after the group split. The two later began to reestablish something of the close friendship they had once known, and, on one occasion in 1974, even recorded music together (later bootlegged as A Toot and a Snore in '74) before eventually growing apart once more. During McCartney's final visit in April 1976, Lennon said that they watched the episode of Saturday Night Live in which Lorne Michaels made a $3,000 offer to get the Beatles to reunite on the show. According to Lennon, the pair considered going to the studio to make a joke appearance, attempting to claim their share of the money, but they were too tired. Lennon summarised his feelings towards McCartney in an interview three days before his death: "Throughout my career, I've selected to work with ... only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono ... That ain't bad picking."
Along with his estrangement from McCartney, Lennon always felt a musical competitiveness with him and kept an ear on his music. During his career break from 1975 until shortly before his death, according to Fred Seaman, Lennon and Ono's assistant at the time, Lennon was content to sit back as long as McCartney was producing what Lennon saw as mediocre material. Lennon took notice when McCartney released "Coming Up" in 1980, which was the year Lennon returned to the studio. "It's driving me crackers!" he jokingly complained, because he could not get the tune out of his head. That same year, Lennon was asked whether the group were dreaded enemies or the best of friends, and he replied that they were neither, and that he had not seen any of them in a long time. But he also said, "I still love those guys. The Beatles are over, but John, Paul, George and Ringo go on."
== Political activism ==
Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon as a bed-in at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel; the March 1969 event attracted worldwide media ridicule. During a second bed-in three months later at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Lennon wrote and recorded "Give Peace a Chance". Released as a single, the song was quickly interpreted as an anti-war anthem and sung by a quarter of a million demonstrators against the Vietnam War in Washington, DC, on 15 November, the second Vietnam Moratorium Day. In December, they paid for billboards in 10 cities around the world which declared, in the national language, "War Is Over! If You Want It".
During the year, Lennon and Ono began to support efforts by the family of James Hanratty to prove his innocence. Hanratty had been hanged in 1962. According to Lennon, those who had condemned Hanratty were "the same people who are running guns to South Africa and killing blacks in the streets ... The same bastards are in control, the same people are running everything, it's the whole bullshit bourgeois scene." In London, Lennon and Ono staged a "Britain Murdered Hanratty" banner march and a "Silent Protest For James Hanratty", and produced a 40-minute documentary on the case. At an appeal hearing more than thirty years later, Hanratty's conviction was upheld after DNA evidence was found to match, validating those who condemned him.
Lennon and Ono showed their solidarity with the Clydeside UCS workers' work-in of 1971 by sending a bouquet of red roses and a cheque for £5,000. On moving to New York City in August that year, they befriended two of the Chicago Seven, Yippie peace activists Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman. Another political activist, John Sinclair, poet and co-founder of the White Panther Party, was serving ten years in prison for selling two joints of marijuana after previous convictions for possession of the drug. In December 1971 at Ann Arbor, Michigan, 15,000 people attended the "John Sinclair Freedom Rally", a protest and benefit concert with contributions from Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party, and others. Lennon and Ono, backed by David Peel and Jerry Rubin, performed an acoustic set of four songs from their forthcoming Some Time in New York City album including "John Sinclair", whose lyrics called for his release. The day before the rally, the Michigan Senate passed a bill that significantly reduced the penalties for possession of marijuana and four days later Sinclair was released on an appeal bond. The performance was recorded and two of the tracks later appeared on John Lennon Anthology (1998).
Following the Bloody Sunday incident in Northern Ireland in 1972, Lennon said that given the choice between the British army and the IRA he would side with the latter. Lennon and Ono wrote two songs protesting British presence and actions in Ireland for their Some Time in New York City album: "The Luck of the Irish" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday". In 2000, David Shayler, a former member of Britain's domestic security service MI5, suggested that Lennon had given money to the IRA, though this was swiftly denied by Ono. Biographer Bill Harry records that following Bloody Sunday, Lennon and Ono financially supported the production of the film The Irish Tapes, a political documentary with an Irish Republican slant. In February 2000 Lennon's cousin Stanley Parkes stated that the singer had given money to the IRA during the 1970s. After the events of Bloody Sunday Lennon and Ono attended a protest in London while displaying a Red Mole newspaper with the headline "For the IRA, Against British Imperialism".
According to FBI surveillance reports, and confirmed by Tariq Ali in 2006, Lennon was sympathetic to the International Marxist Group, a Trotskyist group formed in Britain in 1968. However, the FBI considered Lennon to have limited effectiveness as a revolutionary, as he was "constantly under the influence of narcotics".
In 1972, Lennon contributed a drawing and limerick titled "Why Make It Sad to Be Gay?" to Len Richmond and Gary Noguera's The Gay Liberation Book. Lennon's last act of political activism was a statement in support of the striking minority sanitation workers in San Francisco on 5 December 1980. He and Ono planned to join the workers' protest on 14 December.
=== Deportation attempt ===
Following the impact of "Give Peace a Chance" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" on the anti-war movement, the Nixon administration heard rumours of Lennon's involvement in a concert to be held in San Diego at the same time as the 1972 Republican National Convention and tried to have him deported. Nixon believed that Lennon's anti-war activities could cost him his reelection; Republican Senator Strom Thurmond suggested in a February 1972 memo that "deportation would be a strategic counter-measure" against Lennon. The next month the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began deportation proceedings, arguing that his 1968 misdemeanour conviction for cannabis possession in London had made him ineligible for admission to the United States. Lennon spent the next 3+1⁄2 years in and out of deportation hearings until 8 October 1975, when a court of appeals barred the deportation attempt, stating "the courts will not condone selective deportation based upon secret political grounds". While the legal battle continued, Lennon attended rallies and made television appearances. He and Ono co-hosted The Mike Douglas Show for a week in February 1972, introducing guests such as Jerry Rubin and Bobby Seale to mid-America. In 1972, Bob Dylan wrote a letter to the INS defending Lennon, stating:
John and Yoko add a great voice and drive to the country's so-called art institution. They inspire and transcend and stimulate and by doing so, only help others to see pure light and in doing that, put an end to this dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as Artist Art by the overpowering mass media. Hurray for John and Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!
On 23 March 1973, Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days. Ono, meanwhile, was granted permanent residence. In response, Lennon and Ono held a press conference on 1 April 1973 at the New York City Bar Association, where they announced the formation of the state of Nutopia; a place with "no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people". Waving the white flag of Nutopia (two handkerchiefs), they asked for political asylum in the US. The press conference was filmed, and appeared in a 2006 documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon. Soon after the press conference, Nixon's involvement in a political scandal came to light, and in June the Watergate hearings began in Washington, D.C.. They led to the president's resignation 14 months later. In December 1974, when he and members of his tour entourage visited the White House, Harrison asked Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor, to intercede in the matter. Ford's administration showed little interest in continuing the battle against Lennon, and the deportation order was overturned in 1975. The following year, Lennon received his green card certifying his permanent residency, and when Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as president in January 1977, Lennon and Ono attended the Inaugural Ball.
=== FBI surveillance and declassified documents ===
After Lennon's death, historian Jon Wiener filed a Freedom of Information Act request for FBI files that documented the Bureau's role in the deportation attempt. The FBI admitted it had 281 pages of files on Lennon, but refused to release most of them on the grounds that they contained national security information. In 1983, Wiener sued the FBI with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. It took 14 years of litigation to force the FBI to release the withheld pages. The ACLU, representing Wiener, won a favourable decision in their suit against the FBI in the Ninth Circuit in 1991. The Justice Department appealed the decision to the Supreme Court in April 1992, but the court declined to review the case. In 1997, respecting President Bill Clinton's newly instigated rule that documents should be withheld only if releasing them would involve "foreseeable harm", the Justice Department settled most of the outstanding issues outside court by releasing all but 10 of the contested documents.
Wiener published the results of his 14-year campaign in January 2000. Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files contained facsimiles of the documents, including "lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges". The story is told in the documentary The US vs. John Lennon. The final 10 documents in Lennon's FBI file, which reported on his ties with London anti-war activists in 1971 and had been withheld as containing "national security information provided by a foreign government under an explicit promise of confidentiality", were released in December 2006. They contained no indication that the British government had regarded Lennon as a serious threat; one example of the released material was a report that two prominent British leftists had hoped Lennon would finance a left-wing bookshop and reading room.
== Art ==
In 1967, Lennon, who had attended art school, funded and anonymously participated in Ono's art exhibition Half-A-Room that was held at Lisson Gallery. Following his collaborating with Ono in the form of The Plastic Ono Band that began in 1968, Lennon became involved with the Fluxus art movement. In the summer of 1968, Lennon began showing his painting and conceptual art at his You Are Here art exhibition held at Robert Fraser Gallery in London. The show, that was dedicated to Ono, included a six foot in diameter round white monochrome painting called You Are Here (1968). Besides the white monochrome paint, its surface contained only the tiny hand written inscription "you are here". This painting, and the show in general, was conceived as a response to Ono's conceptual art piece This is Not Here (1966) that was part of her Fluxus installation of wall text pieces called Blue Room Event (1966). Blue Room Event consisted of sentences that Ono wrote directly on her white New York apartment walls and ceiling. Lennon's You Are Here show also included sixty charity collection boxes, a pair of Lennon's shoes with a sign that read "I take my shoes off to you", a ready made black bike (an apparent homage to Marcel Duchamp and his 1917 Bicycle Wheel), an overturned white hat labeled For The Artist, and a large glass jar full of free-to-take you are here white pin badges. A hidden camera secretly filmed the public reaction to the show. For the 1 July opening, Lennon, dressed all in white (as was Ono), released 365 white balloons into the city sky. Each ballon had attached to it a small paper card to be mailed back to Lennon at the Robert Fraser Gallery at 69 Duke Street, with the finder's comments.
After moving to New York City, from 18 April to 12 June 1970, Lennon and Ono presented a series of Fluxus conceptual art events and concerts at Joe Jones's Tone Deaf Music Store called GRAPEFRUIT FLUXBANQUET. Performances included Come Impersonating John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Grapefruit Banquet and Portrait of John Lennon as a Young Cloud by Yoko + Everybody. That same year, Lennon also made The Complete Yoko Ono Word Poem Game (1970): a conceptual art poem collage that utilized the cut-up (or découpé) aleatory technique typical of the work of John Cage and many Fluxus artists. The cut-up technique can be traced to at least the Dadaists of the 1920s, but was popularized in the early 1960s by writer William S. Burroughs. For The Complete Yoko Ono Word Poem Game, Lennon took the portrait photo of himself that was included in the packaging of the 1968 The Beatles LP (aka The White Album) and cut it into 134 small rectangles. A single word was written on the back of each fragment, to be read in any order. The portrait image was meant to be reassembled in any order. The Complete Yoko Ono Word Poem Game was presented by Lennon to Ono on 28 July in an inscribed envelope for her to randomly assemble and reassemble at will.
Lennon made whimsical drawings and fine art prints on occasion until the end of his life. For example, he drew a 1968 comic for the macrobiotic magazine Harmony and one printed inside the sleeve of his Wedding Album (1969). Lennon exhibited at Eugene Schuster's London Arts Gallery his Bag One lithographs in an exhibition that included several depicting erotic imagery. The show opened on 15 January 1970 and 24 hours later it was raided by police officers who confiscated 8 of the 14 lithos on the grounds of indecency. The lithographs had been drawn by Lennon in 1969 chronicling his wedding and honeymoon with Yoko Ono and one of their bed-ins staged in the interests of world peace.
In 1969, Lennon appeared in the Yoko Ono Fluxus art film Self-Portrait, which consisted of a single forty-minute shot of Lennon's penis. The film was premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. In 1971, Lennon made an experimental art film called Erection that was edited on 16 mm film by George Maciunas, founder of the Fluxus art movement and avant-garde contemporary of Ono. The film uses the songs "Airmale" and "You" from Ono's 1971 album Fly, as its soundtrack.
== Musicianship ==
=== Instruments ===
Lennon played a mouth organ during a bus journey to visit his cousin in Scotland. Impressed, the driver told Lennon of a harmonica he could have if he came to Edinburgh the following day, where one had been stored in the bus depot since a passenger had left it on a bus. The professional instrument quickly replaced Lennon's toy; he often used the instrument during the Beatles' Hamburg years, and it became a signature sound in the group's early recordings. His mother taught him how to play the banjo, later buying him an acoustic guitar. At 16, he played rhythm guitar with the Quarrymen.
As his career progressed, he played a variety of electric guitars, predominantly the Rickenbacker 325, Epiphone Casino and Gibson J-160E, and, from the start of his solo career, the Gibson Les Paul Junior. Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas claimed that since his Beatle days Lennon habitually tuned his D-string slightly flat, so his Aunt Mimi could tell which guitar was his on recordings. Occasionally he played a six-string bass guitar, the Fender Bass VI, providing bass on some Beatles numbers ("Back in the U.S.S.R.", "The Long and Winding Road", "Helter Skelter") that occupied McCartney with another instrument. His other instrument of choice was the piano, on which he composed many songs, including "Imagine", described as his best-known solo work. His jamming on a piano with McCartney in 1963 led to the creation of the Beatles' first US number one, "I Want to Hold Your Hand". In 1964, he became one of the first British musicians to acquire a Mellotron keyboard, though it was not heard on a Beatles recording until "Strawberry Fields Forever" in 1967.
In 2024, a guitar of Lennon's that was thought to have been lost was found in an attic and auctioned at Julien's Auctions for $2.9 million (2.68 million euros)
=== Vocal style ===
Lennon's vocal style was heavily influenced by Little Richard, Larry Williams and Little Willie John; the British music writer Ian MacDonald noted that "no white singer" had been able to imitate them successfully before Lennon and McCartney. MacDonald contrasted Lennon's singing voice, a "brassy northern roar flecked with bluesy moans", with the "conventionally glamorous" voices of earlier artists such as Elvis Presley, Dean Martin and Cliff Richard. The British critic Nik Cohn observed of Lennon, "He owned one of the best pop voices ever, rasped and smashed and brooding, always fierce." Cohn wrote that Lennon, performing "Twist and Shout", would "rant his way into total incoherence, half rupture himself". When the Beatles recorded the song, the final track during the one-day session that produced the band's 1963 debut album, Please Please Me, Lennon's voice, already compromised by a cold, came close to giving out. Lennon said, "I couldn't sing the damn thing, I was just screaming." In the words of biographer Barry Miles, "Lennon simply shredded his vocal cords in the interests of rock 'n' roll." The Beatles' producer, George Martin, tells how Lennon "had an inborn dislike of his own voice which I could never understand. He was always saying to me: 'DO something with my voice! ... put something on it ... Make it different.'" Martin obliged, often using double-tracking and other techniques.
As his Beatles era segued into his solo career, his singing voice found a widening range of expression. Biographer Chris Gregory writes of Lennon "tentatively beginning to expose his insecurities in a number of acoustic-led 'confessional' ballads, so beginning the process of 'public therapy' that will eventually culminate in the primal screams of 'Cold Turkey' and the cathartic John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band." Music critic Robert Christgau called this Lennon's "greatest vocal performance ... from scream to whine, is modulated electronically ... echoed, filtered, and double tracked." David Stuart Ryan described Lennon's vocal delivery as ranging from "extreme vulnerability, sensitivity and even naivety" to a hard "rasping" style. Wiener too described contrasts, saying the singer's voice can be "at first subdued; soon it almost cracks with despair". Music historian Ben Urish recalled hearing the Beatles' Ed Sullivan Show performance of "This Boy" played on the radio a few days after Lennon's murder: "As Lennon's vocals reached their peak ... it hurt too much to hear him scream with such anguish and emotion. But it was my emotions I heard in his voice. Just like I always had."
== Writing ==
Beatles biographer Bill Harry wrote that Lennon began drawing and writing creatively at an early age with the encouragement of his uncle. He collected his stories, poetry, cartoons and caricatures in a Quarry Bank High School exercise book that he called the Daily Howl. The drawings were often of crippled people, and the writings satirical, and throughout the book was an abundance of wordplay. According to classmate Bill Turner, Lennon created the Daily Howl to amuse his best friend and later Quarrymen bandmate Pete Shotton, to whom he would show his work before he let anyone else see it. Turner said that Lennon "had an obsession for Wigan Pier. It kept cropping up", and in Lennon's story A Carrot in a Potato Mine, "the mine was at the end of Wigan Pier." Turner described how one of Lennon's cartoons depicted a bus stop sign annotated with the question, "Why?" Above was a flying pancake, and below, "a blind man wearing glasses leading along a blind dog – also wearing glasses".
Lennon's love of wordplay and nonsense with a twist found a wider audience when he was 24. Harry writes that In His Own Write (1964) was published after "Some journalist who was hanging around the Beatles came to me and I ended up showing him the stuff. They said, 'Write a book' and that's how the first one came about". Like the Daily Howl it contained a mix of formats including short stories, poetry, plays and drawings. One story, "Good Dog Nigel", tells the tale of "a happy dog, urinating on a lamp post, barking, wagging his tail – until he suddenly hears a message that he will be killed at three o'clock". The Times Literary Supplement considered the poems and stories "remarkable ... also very funny ... the nonsense runs on, words and images prompting one another in a chain of pure fantasy". Book Week reported, "This is nonsense writing, but one has only to review the literature of nonsense to see how well Lennon has brought it off. While some of his homonyms are gratuitous word play, many others have not only double meaning but a double edge." Lennon was not only surprised by the positive reception, but that the book was reviewed at all, and suggested that readers "took the book more seriously than I did myself. It just began as a laugh for me".
In combination with A Spaniard in the Works (1965), In His Own Write formed the basis of the stage play The Lennon Play: In His Own Write, co-adapted by Victor Spinetti and Adrienne Kennedy. After negotiations between Lennon, Spinetti and the artistic director of the National Theatre, Laurence Olivier, the play opened at The Old Vic in 1968. Lennon and Ono attended the opening night performance, their second public appearance together. In 1969, Lennon wrote "Four in Hand", a skit based on his teenage experiences of group masturbation, for Kenneth Tynan's play Oh! Calcutta! After Lennon's death, further works were published, including Skywriting by Word of Mouth (1986), Ai: Japan Through John Lennon's Eyes: A Personal Sketchbook (1992), with Lennon's illustrations of the definitions of Japanese words, and Real Love: The Drawings for Sean (1999). The Beatles Anthology (2000) also presented examples of his writings and drawings.
== Legacy ==
Music historians Schinder and Schwartz wrote of the transformation in popular music styles that took place between the 1950s and the 1960s. They said that the Beatles' influence cannot be overstated: having "revolutionised the sound, style, and attitude of popular music and opened rock and roll's doors to a tidal wave of British rock acts", the group then "spent the rest of the 1960s expanding rock's stylistic frontiers". On National Poetry Day in 1999, the BBC conducted a poll to identify the UK's favourite song lyric and announced "Imagine" as the winner.
Two home recording demos by Lennon, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", were finished by the three surviving members of the Beatles when they reunited in 1994 and 1995. Both songs were released as Beatles singles in conjunction with The Beatles Anthology compilations. A third song, "Now and Then", was also worked on but not released until 2023 whereupon it was dubbed "the last Beatles song", topping the UK charts.
In 1997, Yoko Ono and the BMI Foundation established an annual music competition programme for songwriters of contemporary musical genres to honour John Lennon's memory and his large creative legacy. Over $400,000 have been given through BMI Foundation's John Lennon Scholarships to talented young musicians in the United States.
In a 2006 Guardian article, Jon Wiener wrote: "For young people in 1972, it was thrilling to see Lennon's courage in standing up to [US President] Nixon. That willingness to take risks with his career, and his life, is one reason why people still admire him today." For music historians Urish and Bielen, Lennon's most significant effort was "the self-portraits ... in his songs [which] spoke to, for, and about, the human condition." Writing for El País in 2024, Amaia Odriozola described Lennon's Windsor glasses as being "known all over the world" and credited him with pioneering glasses as a "style statement" for musicians.
In 2013, Downtown Music Publishing signed a publishing administration agreement for the US with Lenono Music and Ono Music, home to the song catalogues of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, respectively. Under the terms of the agreement, Downtown represents Lennon's solo works, including "Imagine", "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)", "Power to the People", "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", "Jealous Guy", "(Just Like) Starting Over" and others.
Lennon has been the subject of numerous memorials and tributes. In 2002, the airport in Lennon's home town was renamed the Liverpool John Lennon Airport. On what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday in 2010, Cynthia and Julian Lennon unveiled the John Lennon Peace Monument in Chavasse Park, Liverpool. The sculpture, entitled Peace & Harmony, exhibits peace symbols and carries the inscription "Peace on Earth for the Conservation of Life · In Honour of John Lennon 1940–1980". In December 2013, the International Astronomical Union named one of the craters on Mercury after Lennon.
There is a John Lennon Park in Havana, Cuba which features a statue in his likeness sitting on a bench.
=== Accolades ===
The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is regarded as one of the most influential and successful of the 20th century. As performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number one singles in the US Hot 100 chart. His album sales in the US stand at 14 million units. Double Fantasy was his best-selling album, at three million shipments in the US. Released shortly before his death, it won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. That year, the BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music was given to Lennon.Participants in a 2002 BBC poll voted him eighth of "100 Greatest Britons". Between 2003 and 2008, Rolling Stone recognised Lennon in several reviews of artists and music, ranking him fifth of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and 38th of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and his albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, 22nd and 76th respectively of "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) with the other Beatles in 1965, but returned his medal in 1969 because of "Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts". Lennon was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
== Discography ==
=== Studio albums ===
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (with Yoko Ono, Apple, 1968)
Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions (With Yoko Ono, Zapple, 1969)
Wedding Album (With Yoko Ono, Apple, 1969)
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (Apple, 1970)
Imagine (Apple, 1971)
Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono, Apple, 1972)
Mind Games (Apple, 1973)
Walls and Bridges (Apple, 1974)
Rock 'n' Roll (Apple, 1975)
Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono, Geffen, 1980)
Milk and Honey (Posthumous with Yoko Ono, Polydor, 1984)
== Filmography ==
All releases after his death in 1980 use archival footage.
=== Film ===
=== Television === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Provincial_Park | Cypress Provincial Park | Cypress Provincial Park is a provincial park on the North Shore of Metro Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia. The park has two sections: a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) southern section which is accessible by road from West Vancouver, and a 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi) northern section which is only accessible by hiking trails. The two sections are linked by a narrow strip of park along the mountainous Howe Sound Crest Trail.
The southern section of Cypress Provincial Park contains a ski area (Cypress Mountain Ski Area) that is operated under a Park Use Permit by a private company called Cypress Bowl Recreations Ltd, owned by Boyne Canada, a subsidiary of US-based Boyne Resorts.
== Etymology ==
The name Cypress refers to the tree Cupressus nootkatensis, also known as yellow cedar or yellow cypress, which is common in the park at altitudes over 800 metres. Cypress Bowl is the name of the bowl between the three mountains that make up the Cypress Mountain Ski Area (Mount Strachan, Black Mountain, and Hollyburn Mountain).
== History ==
Evidence of Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations use has been documented in the park, including 350-400 year old bark-stripping scars on old-growth yellow cedar trees above Yew Lake.
Logging first began in 1870 to clear cut dense forests on Mount Vaughan, later renamed to Hollyburn Mountain in 1912. In 1918, James Nasmyth started a logging operation and built a mill on Rodgers Creek which operated until 1923. In the 1920s, Hollyburn Mountain became a popular recreation area for hikers and skiers utilizing the old logging roads. In 1926, the Hollyburn Lodge was built on First Lake, becoming the first commercial ski camp on the North Shore when it opened as the Hollyburn Ski Camp on January 16, 1927. In 1933, the West Lake Ski Camp also opened. By the late 1930s, Heaps Timber Company acquired timber leases in the Hollyburn and Cypress Bowl area. Public controversy forced the provincial government to set aside Cypress Bowl as a park reserve in 1944, after 40 hectares had already been logged. On January 17, 1951, the Hollyburn Aerial Tram (HAT) chairlift and HAT Inn opened near Hi-View Lookout. With rising popularity of skiing, nearly 300 cabins were built on Hollyburn Ridge by the 1960s.
Clear-cut logging resumed in 1966, affecting portions of Black Mountain and Strachan Mountain. The controversy about logging in the park, under the oversight of the Social Credit government, was debated in the BC Legislature and reported on in the media.Public outrage caused the province to take over development of winter recreation, resulting in the creation of Alpine and Nordic skiing facilities in 1970 and the construction of Cypress Bowl Road in 1973. Cypress Provincial Park was granted Class A Provincial Park status in 1975. The park was expanded north in 1982 to its current boundaries. The expansion included a narrow ridge running from Cypress Bowl to Brunswick Mountain, along what is now the Howe Sound Crest Trail, and a valley of subalpine mountain lakes (Brunswick Lake, Hanover Lake, and Deeks Lake). The Howe Sound Crest Trail linking the two park sections was completed by the late 1980s.
In 1984, the ski resorts, formerly operated by BC Parks, were privatized and now operate under a Park Use Permit. Beginning in 1986, the ski resort operator began attempts to block public access to winter activities in the provincial park without a day pass, resulting in protests. Hiker access trails were later developed to ensure public access to park areas outside of the resort area. The resort has unsuccessfully petitioned to expanded their Park Use Permit area numerous times but in 2002, 40 hectares of second growth forest on Black Mountain were added to the permit area, while a similar area of mostly old-growth forest and subalpine meadow on Hollyburn and Strachan was removed from the permit area. Cypress Creek Lodge opened in 2008. In 2010, Cypress helped host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver where it hosted Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding competitions. The original Hollyburn Lodge, first constructed in 1926, completed renovations and reopened in 2018.
== Climate ==
== Winter season ==
During the winter, this is a ski area for both cross-country and alpine skiers. The ski operation has four quad (2 are high speed) and two double chairlifts, as well as a tube tow and a magic carpet for their ski school participants. With 53 downhill runs (beginner 23%, intermediate 37%, advanced 40%) and over 19 km (12 mi) of cross-country trails, Cypress Mountain is the largest ski area on Vancouver's North Shore. It also has the highest vertical rise, 613 m (2,011 ft), of the three North Shore ski resorts.
== Summer use ==
In summer and fall, the park is usually free of snow and is popular with hikers. Its trail system includes sections of the Baden-Powell Trail in the southern section of the park, as well as the Howe Sound Crest Trail in the northern section. Parkbus offers a seasonal shuttle service to the park.
Beginning in the summer of 2005, Cypress Mountain Resort has created a lift-assisted mountain bike park, as set out in the 1997 Cypress Provincial Park Master Plan. Even though the lift accessed biking has now been closed for Olympic preparations and they have not yet bothered to restore the trails Cypress still hold many non-lift accessed bike trails. Most of these trails are situated lower down the mountain and are actually not a part of the park because of this they are under threat to development. These Trails on Cypress (Black Mountain Side) are known around the world for being some of the most technically challenging in the world, more challenging than the other two shore mountains (Seymour and Fromme). Trails on Cypress are known as being steep, eroded, and very dangerous. It has multiple rock faces that are close to vertical also having large jumps and drops. Most famous of these is the Brutus Gap, (appearing in many large bike films) it is a step-down drop in excess of 20 ft (6.1 m) in both length and height. That being said Cypress does house some more easily ridable trails, still not easy by any means but more accessible. Some of these include: Mystery DH, Stupid Grouse, Slippery Canoe, Upper Tall Cans, Firehose, and Pull Tab. Some of the legendary and most difficult trails are: 5th Horseman, Sex Girl, Shoreplay. One of the original trails is pre-reaper and reaper these are steep trails that used to have some very difficult man made features, sadly most of these were sawed down and destroyed by the government. For more information regarding trails on Cypress there are mountain bike specific maps that include many of the trails and is a great place to start for riding on the mountain.
== Major mountains in the park ==
The lower section of the park contains three main mountains that form Cypress Bowl. The upper, smaller, section includes a series of mountains along a north–south ridge from St. Mark's in the south to Gotha Peak in the far north of the park.
Cypress Bowl (South)
Mt. Strachan
Black Mountain
Hollyburn Mountain.
Howe Sound Crest (North)
St. Mark's Summit
Unnecessary Mountain
The Lions
Thomas Peak
David Peak
James Peak
Mt. Harvey
Brunswick Mountain
Hat Mountain
Mt. Hanover
Wettin Peak
Coburg Peak
Gotha Peak
== 2010 Olympics ==
A significant part of Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics was hosted by Cypress in February 2010, including the snowboard (half-pipe, snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom) and freestyle skiing (moguls and aerials) events, as well as the recently added Skiercross, which used the snowboardcross run, with some modifications. The Freestyle Venue was completed in the Fall of 2006. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poisonwood_Bible | The Poisonwood Bible | The Poisonwood Bible is a 1998 novel by Barbara Kingsolver, which tells the story of a missionary family, the Prices, who in 1959 move from the U.S. state of Georgia to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo, close to the Kwilu River.
The novel's title refers to Bible errata. The father of the family creates his own "misprint" of the Bible. He concludes his sermons with the Kikongo expression "Tata Jesus is bängala" with the intent of saying "Jesus is most precious". In his hurried mispronunciation, he actually says "Jesus is poisonwood".
== Plot ==
Orleanna Price, the mother of the family, narrates the introductory chapter in five of the novel's seven sections. The narrative then alternates among the four daughters. The four girls increasingly mature and develop differently as each adapts to African village life and the political turmoil that overtakes the Belgian Congo in the 1960s.
The Price family packs up their belongings for their flight to the Congo, where they are going to spend a year as the family of a missionary. However, shortly before leaving, they are informed that they are limited to 44 pounds of luggage per person. The Southern Baptist Mission League suggests they solve this problem by leaving for the airport wearing many layers of clothing, hiding household items among the layers of clothes to lighten their luggage.
The Price daughters – Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May – and their mother, Orleanna, and father, Nathan, attend their first church service in the village of Kilanga, and they realize how different their culture is from that of the Congo. For example, 14-year-old Leah helps her father plant a "demonstration garden"; it immediately receives criticism from Mama Tataba, whom the family has engaged as a live-in maid, and the garden does poorly due to the inappropriate climate. Nathan tries to hold an impromptu Easter celebration in hopes of baptizing numerous people, but he is unable to carry this out, as the river along the village, where he plans to hold the baptism, is infested with crocodiles.
Leah and her twin Adah begin to spy on Eeben Axelroot, the pilot who conveyed the family to Kilanga, and Nathan tries to convince Congolese men, one by one, to convert to Christianity. Meanwhile, five-year-old Ruth May befriends the village children. She finds out about Axelroot's business with the diamonds after breaking her arm.
After Mama Tataba departs, an orphan boy named Nelson becomes the family servant. Nathan and Leah go to Leopoldville (present day Kinshasa) to witness what is going on with the independence in the Congo. Methuselah (a parrot the Prices adopted from the previous missionary) dies, and Adah finds his feathers. Ruth May becomes very sick and lies in bed for the majority of the day. Leah begins to spend a lot of time with Anatole, Kilanga's teacher, discussing topics such as justice and the Congo. Leah wants to participate in the hunt, which upsets the village elders, as it would go against their custom, but she eventually is allowed to participate and even hunts an antelope.
The girls all gather together in the morning to check out the chicken coop. Inside they find footprints and a green mamba snake. A scream and gasp is heard from Ruth May, who has been bitten by the snake. The girls watch her turn cold and blue before she dies. Orleanna becomes filled with guilt over Ruth May's death, and takes the other children away, leaving her arrogant husband to fend for himself. With Anatole's help, they eventually reach safety.
The remaining Price sisters go through many different life changes: Adah dedicates herself to getting a scientific education back home (she is hemiplegic and wants to learn more about the condition); Leah marries Anatole and they start a family together; Rachel remains perceptive but vain and distrustful of men, goes through a string of marriages, and starts a business; and Nathan dies in his unsuccessful mission: killed by a mob of Kilanga's villagers when they blame him for a crocodile attack on a boat of children.
The story ends with a final chapter from Ruth May reflecting on her sisters and mother attempting to visit her grave, but not being able to find it, and a woman telling them a place named Kilanga never existed. She watches her sisters and her mother, and has seen how they have matured; she has matured as well. Through her death, she finally is able to understand the Congolese term muntu, which describes the concept of unity and how all life is connected in some way. She understands that she is muntu, and a part of all that is around her. Ruth May only wants her mother to understand the concept and for her to move on. She asks for her mother to forgive herself and not live with the guilt anymore.
== Major characters ==
The Prices
Orleanna Price – Nathan's wife, and the mother of their four daughters. Born in Mississippi, she is deferential to her husband, but independent-minded.
Nathan Price – Orleanna's husband. An evangelical (Southern Baptist) minister and a World War II veteran from Georgia, determined to "save Africa for Jesus". He feels guilt for having survived the war while his comrades died.
Rachel Price (15 at start of the novel) – the oldest Price girl; blonde and self-centered, she is obsessed with her looks and American consumer culture.
Leah Price (14 at start of the novel) – Adah's tomboyish twin; intelligent, self-confident, competitive, and tenacious. The most outspoken of the women, Leah is prone to dogmatism and concerned with her own salvation.
Adah Price (14 at start of the novel) – Leah's twin, hemiplegic from birth. Silent, but witty, she is brilliant in math and languages, but is envious of her twin. She is also skeptical, sarcastic, envious, and prone to self-pity. She likes to think about things backwards as well as forwards, and is fond of palindromes.
Ruth May Price (5 at the start of the novel) – the youngest Price girl; she is playful, independent, adventurous, perceptive, and inquisitive.
Other characters
The Underdowns – Belgian mission chiefs who welcome and send supplies to the Prices.
Eeben Axelroot – a corrupt Afrikaner mercenary pilot.
Anatole Ngemba – the village teacher; an orphan, his fluency in English allows him to be an interpreter for Nathan's sermons.
Brother Fowles – a New Yorker; the Prices' predecessor on the mission. Married to Céline, a local woman.
Mama Tataba – a village woman, formerly employed by Fowles, who works for the Prices. Best known and celebrated for her prestigious quote, 'You got to be make hills'.
Tata Ndu – the chief of Kilanga.
Tata Kuvudundu – the spiritual leader of the village.
Nelson – an orphaned village boy; he is Anatole's student who works for the Prices. He is forced to sleep outside in the chicken coop.
Methuselah – a parrot left by Brother Fowles; it is excellent at imitating human speech.
== Reception and awards ==
Writing in The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani called the book "powerful", but said the social allegories were at times "heavy-handed".
John Mullan, reviewing the book in British newspaper The Guardian, said the book was "remarkable not just for its story, but also for its narrative form".
The Poisonwood Bible was selected for Oprah's Book Club in 1999. Additionally that year, the book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. It won the 2000 Boeke Prize.
In March 2016, the book was discussed on BBC Radio 4's A Good Read.
== Adaptations ==
In March 2019, Bond Group Entertainment – a production company launched by actress Amy Adams and her manager Stacy O'Neil – secured a first-look deal with HBO to develop a TV adaptation of Kingsolver's novel. Adams and O’Neil will executive produce the limited series, while Anya Epstein and Kingsolver are writing the screenplay. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Koenig | Ezra Koenig | Ezra Michael Koenig ( KAY-nig; born April 8, 1984) is an American musician, record producer, and radio personality. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additionally, Koenig is the creator of the Netflix animated comedy series Neo Yokio and also hosts the Apple Music radio talk show Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig. Time Crisis is airing its tenth season, as of 2024.
Koenig's accolades include two Grammy Awards from five nominations; with Vampire Weekend, he won Best Alternative Music Album in 2013 and 2019. He was also nominated for Album of the Year in 2016 for his production work on Beyoncé's album Lemonade (2016).
== Early life ==
Koenig was born in New York City and is the son of Bobby Bass, a psychotherapist, and Robin Koenig, a set dresser on film and TV productions. He is Jewish, and his family emigrated to the U.S. from Romania and Hungary. His parents lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before moving to Glen Ridge, New Jersey shortly after their son's birth. As a young teenager, Ezra attended Buck's Rock Camp, a Montessori-style performing and creative arts camp in Connecticut. He graduated from Glen Ridge High School. Koenig has a younger sister, Emma Koenig (born 1988), who is the author of the books FUCK! I'm in my twenties and Moan, and has written for television and magazines. Ezra began writing music around the age of ten, and his first song ever was titled "Bad Birthday Party".
While attending Columbia University, he ran a blog called Internet Vibes about fashion, existentialism, personal identity, and modern culture. After graduating, he taught English through Teach for America at Junior High School 258 in Brooklyn. Students recalled Koenig bringing his guitar with him to class, despite trying to hide it and his music career. He was described as a laid-back teacher who successfully made bonds with his students. In fall 2007, a deal with XL Recordings cut short Koenig's teaching career.
During his schooling and college years, he was involved in numerous musical projects with Wes Miles, a childhood friend and now current frontman of Ra Ra Riot. Koenig and Miles formed an experimental band, The Sophisticuffs, which was described as "wildly inventive musical work". In 2004, Koenig formed the hip hop group L'Homme Run, which was notable for the comedic track "Pizza Party", with fellow Vampire Weekend band member Chris Tomson, played saxophone for the indie rock band Dirty Projectors and worked as an intern for The Walkmen.
== Career ==
=== Vampire Weekend ===
In 2005, Ezra formed the indie rock band Vampire Weekend. The name of the group was in reference to an unreleased indie film of the same name that Ezra and his friends produced during a vacation. In the film, Ezra portrayed the protagonist, Walcott, a man hell-bent on escaping Cape Cod as he believed vampires were coming. Many songs from the band's eponymous release made reference to the film.
Ezra met his bandmates at Columbia University, prior to 2003. After already having met drummer Chris Tomson, Koenig became acquainted with Rostam Batmanglij. The two immediately bonded over Radiohead at a party during freshman year and vowed to start a band one day. Rounding out the group was Chris Baio, Koenig's suite-mate in his sophomore year, with whom he shared a love of Destiny's Child. The group immediately got to work, playing their first show in 2006 at a battle of the bands in a campus basement. They placed third out of four. Later that year, some of their demos appeared online, earning raves from sites like Stereogum and Pitchfork. Before they knew it, they were selling out shows and appearing on the cover of Spin without even having released an album.
Their eponymous debut album arrived on January 29, 2008, and by the end of the year they had performed on Saturday Night Live, played for 40,000 fans at England's Glastonbury festival, and sold nearly half a million albums. The album was self-produced while they were working full-time jobs. Since then, the band have released another four albums: Contra (2010), Modern Vampires of the City (2013), Father of the Bride (2019), and Only God Was Above Us (2024).
The band has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards. In 2011, Contra was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, but Brothers by The Black Keys won the award. In 2014, Modern Vampires of the City was nominated in the category and, this time, the band won the award. Following the win, Koenig exclaimed, "I'm the pre-eminent Ezra of my time, and when I die, then we can talk about who comes next." In 2020, Father of the Bride earned the band a second win for Best Alternative Music Album and a first nomination for Album of the Year. "Harmony Hall" was nominated for Best Rock Song.
=== Time Crisis ===
In 2015 Koenig began hosting his own podcast on Apple Music.
The show, Time Crisis, features Koenig with co-host Jake Longstreth, an American painter, musician, and internet radio personality. Each episode lasts two hours, during which Koenig and company discuss corporate snack food history, the tasteful palette of ’70s rock (with a focus on the Grateful Dead), portmanteaus, and respond to emails from listeners. Often, the show ends with The Top Five where Koenig and Longstreth compare the top five songs on Apple Music this week to that of a week from the past relevant to the discourse of the episode.
Jonah Hill, Rashida Jones, Mark Ronson, Florence Welch, Jamie Foxx, Tim Heidecker, James Corden, and Koenig's sister Emma Koenig have appeared as guests on the internet radio show.
The show debuted on July 12, 2015, and new episodes air fortnightly. The show is in its eighth season.
=== Neo Yokio ===
Following a hiatus from Vampire Weekend, Koenig wrote and produced an animated comedy-adventure series about a depressive, demon-slaying playboy voiced by Jaden Smith. The series, Neo Yokio, debuted on Netflix in September 2017. The show was written and produced in 2015, with the final sound mix being completed in January 2016; however, due to issues with Fox, the show was postponed until finally being picked up by Netflix.
Neo Yokio is presented in the style of an anime series. However, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Koenig stated that he believes the show is not a traditional anime: "First of all, out of respect for true anime, I've always called Neo Yokio "anime-inspired" – it's a hybrid. But I've always been a fan of anime, and I always wanted to do something that was kind of an homage to it. Maybe a loving parody. Initially the people I was working with thought I should be the voice of the main character, but I was, like, 'I just spent seven years being the frontman of something, using my voice all the time. What I need right now is to slip into the background of something.'"
Upon release, the show's first season received mixed reviews from critics, earning a 54% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Shannon Liao of The Verge criticised the show's story and voice-acting, writing that "the initial glamor of the backdrops and talent involved wears off fast. It has awful voice acting, and a pointless, predictable story that’s only surprising because it’s so willing to hit the bottom of the barrel." The New York Times gave the show a more optimistic review, stating that "if a defensive reading of the line, “Yes, my girlfriend broke up with me to take a finance job in San Francisco,” makes you chuckle, “Neo Yokio” may be for you."
On an episode of Time Crisis in early 2018, Koenig spoke about the future of Neo Yokio, hinting that "Neo's not dead." However, Netflix canceled the show the following month after one season and a Christmas special.
== Other projects and appearances ==
In 2009, Koenig provided vocals on the song "Carby" on LP, the debut album from Discovery, a group which features Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot vocalist Wes Miles. In the same year, he appeared on "Warm Heart of Africa" by the Very Best, "Pyromiltia" by Theophilus London, "I Could Be Wrong" by Chromeo and "Dynamo" by Abd al Malik.
In 2012, Koenig performed "I Think Ur a Contra" with Angelique Kidjo in her PBS special. He appeared and provided vocals in the music video for Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand". His recording of the song "Papa Hobo", by Paul Simon, was included as part of the soundtrack for Max Winkler's film Ceremony.
In 2013, Koenig was featured in the song "Jessica" by Major Lazer.
In 2014, Koenig was featured on "Ezra's Interlude" by Chromeo, as well as "New Dorp, New York" by SBTRKT. He also appeared in the HBO drama series Girls and Haim's music video for "My Song 5" featuring A$AP Ferg, and performed the voice of Ryland on the animated series Major Lazer. At the 86th Academy Awards, Koenig accompanied Karen O on backing vocals and acoustic guitar for her performance of the Oscar-nominated song "The Moon Song" from the film Her.
In 2016, Koenig was credited as a writer and producer on the song "Hold Up" by Beyoncé. Due to these contributions, Koenig was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album Lemonade. In January and April 2016, Koenig vocally supported political candidate Bernie Sanders by performing at a number of his rallies.
In 2017, Koenig made an appearance in Charli XCX's music video for "Boys".
In 2018, Koenig was credited as a songwriter and producer on the single "I Promise You" by James Corden, from the film Peter Rabbit, which also prominently featured Vampire Weekend's songs. His demo of the song was also released.
In February 2020, Vampire Weekend performed at a rally for U.S Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders.
In 2022, Koenig was credited as a co-writer and producer of Liam Gallagher's song "Moscow Rules" from his album C'mon You Know. He also plays multiple instruments across the album.
Also in 2022, Koenig was featured as a vocalist in Phoenix's song “Tonight,” which is the third single from the band's seventh album, Alpha Zulu.
On August 11, 2024, he appeared in the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony with Phoenix, Angèle, Vannda and Kavinsky.
== Influences ==
Since the age of 9, Koenig has been an admirer of music. In a 2014 interview with Vulture, he stated, "My dad is a massive music fan, so even just growing up in the house, he was buying new cool music, up through when I was born. So I was very familiar with the Ramones, Run DMC, Blondie—core New York music. My parents would often play the Ramones song, "We’re a Happy Family", so I remember when I was 9 or 10, learning the lyrics and trying to understand." By the time he got to high school, Koenig's taste had slightly changed: "I had some older friends who were really obsessed with hip-hop, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest. There’s something about Midnight Marauders; it feels like a late night in the city album."
Koenig is also a self-professed fan of bands such as the Grateful Dead and Sublime, who he believes largely influenced his musical taste.
== Personal life ==
In August 2018, Koenig's girlfriend, actress Rashida Jones, gave birth to their son. In a 2024 interview published in The Guardian, Koenig referred to Jones as his wife. In a 2024 interview published in People, Koenig said that the couple are “married in the eyes of God.” |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_J3_League | 2015 J3 League | The 2015 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2015 明治安田生命J3リーグ) was the 19th season of the third tier in Japanese football, and the 2nd season of the professional J3 League.
== Clubs ==
To participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or have submitted an application before 30 June 2014, and then passed an inspection to obtain a participation license issued by J.League Council. J.League has confirmed the following clubs participating in the 2015 J3 season:
== Competition rules ==
The league is played in three rounds, each team playing a total of 36 matches. J.League U-22 Selection played all their matches on the road.
Each team must have at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Two foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J. League. The matchday roster will consist of 16 players, and up to 5 substitutes will be allowed in a game.
=== Promotion and relegation ===
Rules for promotion to J2 are largely similar to those of Japan Football League in the recent seasons: to be promoted, a club must hold a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. The U-22 team is not eligible for promotion regardless of their final position. The champions will be promoted directly, in exchange with 22nd-placed J2 club, and the runners-up will participate in the playoffs with 21st J2 club. If either or both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, the playoffs and/or direct exchange will not be held in accordance to the exact positions of promotion-eligible clubs.
No relegation to JFL is planned. Up to 2 clubs may be promoted if they are licensed by J. League for J3 participation and finish in top 4 of JFL.
=== Personnel and kits ===
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
=== Managerial changes ===
== Foreign players ==
Note:
^1 A special team, composed of best J1 and J2 youngsters to prepare them for the 2016 Olympics
== League table ==
== Results ==
=== Rounds 1–13 ===
=== Rounds 14–26 ===
=== Rounds 27–39 ===
=== Promotion/relegation playoffs ===
2015 J2/J3 Play-Offs (2015 J2・J3入れ替え戦)
Machida Zelvia was promoted to J2 League.Oita Trinita was relegated to J3 League.
== Top scorers ==
Updated to games played on 23 November 2015Source: Meiji Yasuda J3 League Stats & Data - Ranking:Goals
== Attendances == |
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