url stringlengths 19 730 | title stringlengths 3 700 | text stringlengths 0 130k |
|---|---|---|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press_v._United_States | Associated Press v. United States | Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1 (1945) was a ruling of the United States Supreme Court concerning both antitrust law and freedom of the press. The ruling confirmed that anticompetitive behavior in the news industry should be subjected to a First Amendment analysis on the ability of the public to receive information from multiple sources.
== Background ==
The Associated Press (AP), which included more than 1,200 American newspapers in its membership, had prohibited its members from selling or providing news content to organizations that were not members, regardless of whether that content had been created by the AP as branded content, or by its member newspapers in the form of "spontaneous news". This rule made it difficult for non-member news organizations to compete with or join the AP network.
A similar rule had been enacted by another news conglomerate, the Tribune Company, and the United States government sued both that company and the AP for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Action against the AP was first heard at the District Court for the Southern District of New York, which held that the AP had violated antitrust law. The AP appealed, and the concurrent government action against the Tribune Company was combined into the Supreme Court proceeding under the name Associated Press v. United States in 1945.
== Opinion of the court ==
The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Hugo Black, held that the Associated Press had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. While the AP had argued that the First Amendment allowed it to control the distribution of its own content, the court disagreed, ruling that freedom of the press did not allow news organizations to violate antitrust law. The AP bylaws, as written, constituted restraint of trade. Furthermore, the bylaws restricted interstate commerce in a fashion prohibited by the Sherman Act. The fact that the AP had not yet achieved a true monopoly on the distribution of news content was deemed irrelevant,
While the ruling essentially focused on antitrust law, the parts of Black's opinion discussing journalism and public knowledge have become more influential. In Black's words: "Freedom to publish is guaranteed by the Constitution, but freedom to combine to keep others from publishing is not. Freedom of the press from governmental interference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression of that freedom by private interests."
== Impact ==
Associated Press v. United States, thanks to Black's comment on the control of private media interests, is widely cited as an important precedent supporting efforts in the United States to restrict media concentration. This applies to both the growth of news conglomerates in that era, and the later growth of mass media firms. The ruling has regained influence in the newspaper industry in the 2000s, this time due to the consolidation of newspaper ownership as that industry declines in profitability.
The ruling has also been cited as justification for many regulations by the Federal Communications Commission toward broadcasting content, as media firms may try to prevent certain viewpoints from being seen/heard on stations that they control. In the more recent era, Black's comments on the power of media conglomerates have been applied in arguments to regulate the size of big tech firms, who have pioneered new techniques for controlling the flow of information to the public. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy | Assassination of John F. Kennedy | John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, when he was fatally shot from the nearby Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting; Connally was also wounded in the attack but recovered. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was hastily sworn in as president two hours and eight minutes later aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field.
After the assassination, Oswald returned home to retrieve a pistol; he shot and killed a lone Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit shortly afterwards. Around 70 minutes after Kennedy and Connally were shot, Oswald was apprehended by the Dallas Police Department and charged under Texas state law with the murders of Kennedy and Tippit. Two days later, as live television cameras covered Oswald being moved through the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters, he was fatally shot by Dallas nightclub operator Jack Ruby. Like Kennedy, Oswald was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he soon died. Ruby was convicted of Oswald's murder, though the decision was overturned on appeal, and Ruby died in prison in 1967 while awaiting a new trial.
After a 10-month investigation, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald assassinated Kennedy, and that there was no evidence that either Oswald or Ruby was part of a conspiracy. In 1967, New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison brought the only trial for Kennedy's murder against businessman Clay Shaw; Shaw was acquitted. Subsequent federal investigations—such as the Rockefeller Commission and Church Committee—agreed with the Warren Commission's general findings. In its 1979 report, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that Kennedy was likely "assassinated as a result of a conspiracy". The HSCA did not identify possible conspirators, but concluded that there was "a high probability that two gunmen fired at [the] President". The HSCA's conclusions were largely based on a police Dictabelt recording, which was subsequently debunked by the U.S. Justice Department.
Kennedy's assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned many conspiracy theories and alternative scenarios; polls have found that a vast majority of Americans believe there was a conspiracy. The assassination left a profound impact and was the first of four major assassinations during the 1960s in the United States, coming two years before the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and five years before the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy's brother Robert in 1968. Kennedy was the fourth U.S. president to be assassinated and is the most recent to have died in office.
== Background ==
=== Kennedy ===
In 1960, John F. Kennedy, then a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, was elected the 35th president of the United States with Lyndon B. Johnson as his vice presidential running mate. Kennedy's tenure saw the height of the Cold War, and much of his foreign policy was dedicated to countering the Soviet Union and communism. As president, he authorized operations to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist government in Cuba, which culminated in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, during which he declined to directly involve American troops. The following year, Kennedy de-escalated the Cuban Missile Crisis, widely regarded as the closest that humanity has come to nuclear holocaust.
In 1963, Kennedy decided to travel to Texas to smooth over frictions within the state's Democratic Party between liberal U.S. senator Ralph Yarborough and conservative governor John Connally. The visit was first agreed upon by Kennedy, Johnson, and Connally during a meeting in El Paso in June. The motorcade route was finalized on November 18 and announced soon thereafter. Kennedy also viewed the Texas trip as an informal launch of his 1964 reelection campaign.
=== Oswald ===
Lee Harvey Oswald (born 1939) was a former U.S. Marine who had served in Japan and the Philippines, and had espoused communist beliefs since reading Karl Marx aged 14. After accidentally shooting his elbow with an unauthorized handgun and fighting an officer, Oswald was court-martialed twice and demoted. In September 1959, he received a dependency discharge after claiming his mother was disabled. A 19-year-old Oswald sailed on a freighter from New Orleans to France and then traveled to Finland, where he was issued a Soviet visa.
Oswald defected to the Soviet Union, and in January 1960 he was sent to work at a factory in Minsk, Belarus. In 1961, he met and married Marina Prusakova, with whom he had a child. In 1962, he returned to the United States with a repatriation loan from the U.S. embassy. He settled in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where he socialized with Russian émigrés—notably George de Mohrenschildt, a CIA informant. In March 1963, a bullet narrowly missed General Edwin Walker at his Dallas residence; a witness observed two conspicuous men. Relying on Marina's testimony, a note left by Oswald, and ballistic evidence, the Warren Commission attributed this assassination attempt to Oswald.
In April 1963, Oswald returned to his birthplace, New Orleans, and established an independent chapter of the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee, of which he was the sole member. While passing out pro-Castro literature alongside unknown compatriots, Oswald was arrested after scuffling with anti-Castro Cuban exiles. In late September 1963, Oswald traveled to Mexico City, where, according to the Warren Commission, he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies.
On October 3, Oswald returned to Dallas and found work at the Texas School Book Depository on Dealey Plaza. During the workweek he lived separately from Marina at a Dallas rooming house. On the morning of the assassination, he carried a long package (which he told coworkers contained curtain rods) into the depository; the Warren Commission concluded that this package contained Oswald's disassembled rifle.
== November 22 ==
=== Kennedy's arrival in Dallas and route to Dealey Plaza ===
On the evening of November 21, Air Force One touched down in Fort Worth, Texas at 11:07 pm. The President and First Lady arrived at the Hotel Texas in downtown Fort Worth at 11:35 pm. The following morning, November 22, President Kennedy and the First Lady boarded a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible limousine to travel to a luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart. Other occupants of this vehicle—the second in the motorcade—were Secret Service Agent Bill Greer, who drove; Special Agent Roy Kellerman in the front passenger seat; and Governor Connally and his wife Nellie, who sat just forward of the Kennedys. Four Dallas police motorcycle officers accompanied the Kennedy limousine. Vice President Johnson, his wife Lady Bird, and Senator Yarborough rode in another convertible.
The motorcade's meandering 10-mile (16 km) route through Dallas was designed to give Kennedy maximum exposure to crowds by passing through a suburban section of Dallas, and Main Street in Downtown Dallas, before turning right on Houston Street. After another block, the motorcade was to turn left onto Elm Street, pass through Dealey Plaza, and travel a short segment of the Stemmons Freeway to the Trade Mart. The planned route had been reported in newspapers several days in advance. Despite concerns about hostile protestors—Kennedy's UN ambassador Adlai Stevenson had been spat on in Dallas a month earlier—Kennedy was greeted warmly by enthusiastic crowds.
=== Shooting ===
Kennedy's limousine entered Dealey Plaza at 12:30 pm. CST. Nellie Connally turned and commented to Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, "Mr. President, they can't make you believe now that there are not some in Dallas who love and appreciate you, can they?" Kennedy's reply – "No, they sure can't" – were his last words.
From Houston Street, the limousine made the planned left turn onto Elm, passing the Texas School Book Depository. As it continued down Elm Street, multiple shots were fired: about 80% of the witnesses recalled hearing three shots. The Warren Commission concluded that three shots were fired and noted that most witnesses recalled that the second and third shots were bunched together. Shortly after Kennedy began waving, some witnesses heard the first gunshot, but few in the crowd or motorcade reacted, many interpreting the sound as a firecracker or backfire.
Within one second of each other, Governor Connally and Mrs. Kennedy turned abruptly from their left to their right. Connally—an experienced hunter—immediately recognized the sound as that of a rifle and turned his head and torso rightward, noting nothing unusual behind him. He testified that he could not see Kennedy, so he started to turn forward again (turning from his right to his left), and that when his head was facing about 20 degrees left of center, he was struck in his upper right back by a shot he did not hear, then shouted, "My God. They're going to kill us all!"
According to the Warren Commission and the HSCA, Kennedy was waving to the crowds on his right when a shot entered his upper back and exited his throat just beneath his larynx. He raised his elbows and clenched his fists in front of his face and neck, then leaned forward and leftward. Mrs. Kennedy, facing him, put her arms around him. Although a serious wound, it likely would have been survivable.
According to the Warren Commission's single-bullet theory—derided as the "magic bullet theory" by conspiracy theorists—Governor Connally was injured by the same bullet that exited Kennedy's neck. The bullet created an oval-shaped entry wound near Connally's shoulder, struck and destroyed several inches of his right fifth rib, and exited his chest just below his right nipple, puncturing and collapsing his lung. That same bullet then entered his arm just above his right wrist and shattered his right radius bone. The bullet exited just below the wrist at the inner side of his right palm and finally lodged in his left thigh.
As the limousine passed the grassy knoll, Kennedy was struck a second time by a fatal shot to the head. The Warren Commission made no finding as to whether this was the second or third bullet fired, and concluded—as did the HSCA—that the second shot to strike Kennedy entered the rear of his head. It then passed in fragments through his skull, creating a large, "roughly ovular" [sic] hole on the rear, right side of the head, and spraying blood and fragments. His brain and blood spatter landed as far as the following Secret Service car and the motorcycle officers.
Secret Service agent Clint Hill was riding on the running board of the car immediately behind Kennedy's limousine. Hill testified to the Warren Commission that he heard one shot, jumped onto the street, and ran forward to board the limousine and protect Kennedy. Hill stated that he heard the fatal headshot as he reached the Lincoln, "approximately five seconds" after the first shot that he heard. After the headshot, Mrs. Kennedy began climbing onto the limousine's trunk, but she later had no recollection of doing so. Hill believed she may have been reaching for a piece of Kennedy's skull. He jumped onto the limousine's bumper, and he clung to the car as it exited Dealey Plaza and sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital. After Mrs. Kennedy crawled back into her seat, both Governor and Mrs. Connally heard her repeatedly saying: "They have killed my husband. I have his brains in my hand."
Bystander James Tague received a minor wound to the cheek—either from a bullet or concrete curb fragments—while standing by the triple underpass. Nine months later, the FBI removed the curb, and spectrographic analysis revealed metallic residue consistent with the lead core in Oswald's ammunition. Tague testified before the Warren Commission and initially stated that he was wounded by either the second or third shot of the three shots that he remembered hearing. When the commission counsel pressed him to be more specific, Tague testified that he was wounded by the second shot.
=== Aftermath in Dealey Plaza ===
As the motorcade left Dealey Plaza, some witnesses sought cover, and others joined police officers to run up the grassy knoll in search of a shooter. No shooter was found behind the knoll's picket fence. Among the 178 witnesses who testified to the Warren Commission, 78 were unsure of the shots' origin, 49 believed they came from the depository, and 21 thought they came from the grassy knoll. No witness ever reported seeing anyone—with or without a gun—immediately behind the knoll's picket fence at the time of the shooting.
Lee Bowers was in a two-story railroad switch tower 120 yards (110 m) behind the grassy knoll's picket fence; he was watching the motorcade and had an unobstructed view of the only route by which a shooter could flee the grassy knoll; he saw no one leaving the scene. Bowers testified to the Warren Commission that "one or two" men were between him and the fence during the assassination: one was a familiar parking lot attendant, and the other wore a uniform like a county courthouse custodian. He testified seeing "some commotion" on the grassy knoll at the time of the assassination: "something out of the ordinary, a sort of milling around, but something occurred in this particular spot which was out of the ordinary, which attracted my eye for some reason which I could not identify".
At 12:36 pm, teenager Amos Euins approached Dallas police sergeant D.V. Harkness to report having seen a "colored man ... leaning out of the window [with] a rifle" on the sixth floor of the depository during the assassination; in response, Harkness radioed that he was sealing off the depository. Witness Howard Brennan then approached a police inspector to report seeing a shooter—a white man in khaki clothing—in the same window. Police broadcast Brennan's description of the man at 12:45 pm. Brennan testified that, after the second shot, "This man ... was aiming for his last shot ... and maybe paused for another second as though to assure himself that he had hit his mark." Witness James R. Worrell Jr. also reported seeing a gun barrel emerge from a sixth-floor depository window. Bonnie Ray Williams, who was on the fifth floor of the depository, stated that the rifle's report was so loud and near that the ceiling plaster fell onto his head.
=== Oswald's flight, murder of J. D. Tippit, and arrest ===
When searching the sixth floor of the depository, two deputies found an Italian Carcano M91/38 bolt-action rifle. Oswald had purchased the used rifle the previous March under the alias "A. Hidell" and had it delivered to his Dallas P.O. box. The FBI found Oswald's partial palm print on the barrel, and fibers on the rifle were consistent with those of Oswald's shirt. A bullet found on Governor Connally's hospital gurney and two fragments found in the limousine were ballistically matched to the Carcano.
Oswald left the depository and traveled by bus to his boarding house, where he retrieved a jacket and revolver. At 1:12 pm, police officer J. D. Tippit spotted Oswald walking in the residential neighborhood of Oak Cliff and called him to his patrol car. After an exchange of words, Tippit exited his vehicle; Oswald then shot Tippit three times in the chest. As Tippit lay on the ground, Oswald fired a final shot into Tippit's right temple. Oswald then calmly walked away before running as witnesses emerged.
As Dallas police officers conducted a roll call of depository employees, Oswald's supervisor, Roy Truly, realized that Oswald was absent and notified the police. Based on a false identification of Oswald, Dallas police raided a library in Oak Cliff before realizing their mistake. At 1:36 pm, the police were called after a conspicuous Oswald, tired from running, was seen sneaking into the Texas Theatre without paying. With the film War Is Hell still playing, Dallas policemen arrested Oswald after a brief struggle in which Oswald drew his fully loaded gun. He denied shooting anyone and claimed he was being made a "patsy" because he had lived in the Soviet Union.
=== Kennedy declared dead; Johnson sworn in ===
At 12:38 pm, Kennedy arrived in the emergency room of Parkland Memorial Hospital. Although Kennedy was still breathing after the shooting, his personal physician, George Burkley, immediately saw that survival was impossible. After Parkland surgeons performed futile cardiac massage, Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 pm, 30 minutes after the shooting. CBS host Walter Cronkite broke the news on live television.
The Secret Service was concerned about the possibility of a larger plot and urged Johnson to leave Dallas and return to the White House, but Johnson refused to do so without any proof of Kennedy's death. Johnson returned to Air Force One around 1:30 p.m, and shortly thereafter, he received telephone calls from advisors McGeorge Bundy and Walter Jenkins advising him to depart for Washington, D.C., immediately. He replied that he would not leave Dallas without Jacqueline Kennedy and that she would not leave without Kennedy's body. According to Esquire, Johnson did "not want to be remembered as an abandoner of beautiful widows".
At the time of Kennedy's assassination, the murder of a president was not under federal jurisdiction. Accordingly, Dallas County medical examiner Earl Rose insisted that Texas law required him to perform an autopsy. A heated exchange between Kennedy's aides and Dallas officials nearly erupted into a fistfight before the Texans yielded and allowed Kennedy's body to be transported to Air Force One. At 2:38 pm, with Jacqueline Kennedy at his side, Johnson was administered the oath of office by federal judge Sarah Tilghman Hughes aboard Air Force One, shortly before departing for Washington with Kennedy's coffin.
== Immediate aftermath ==
=== Autopsy ===
President Kennedy's autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland on the night of November 22. Jacqueline Kennedy had selected a naval hospital as the postmortem site, as President Kennedy had been a naval officer during World War II. The autopsy was conducted by three physicians: naval commanders James Humes and J. Thornton Boswell, with assistance from ballistics wound expert Pierre A. Finck; Humes led the procedure. Under pressure from the Kennedy family and White House staffers to expedite the procedure, the physicians conducted a "rushed" and incomplete autopsy. Kennedy's personal physician, Rear Admiral George Burkley, signed a death certificate on November 23 and recorded that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the skull.
Three years after the autopsy, Kennedy's brain—which had been removed and preserved for later analysis—was found to be missing when the Kennedy family transferred material to the National Archives. Conspiracy theorists often claim that the brain may have shown that the headshot entered from the front. Alternatively, the HSCA concluded that an assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the president's brother, likely removed the footlocker holding the brain and other materials at his direction, and he "either destroyed these materials or otherwise rendered them inaccessible" to prevent "misuse" of said material or to hide the extent of the president's chronic illnesses and consequent medication. Some autopsy X-rays and photographs have also been lost.
Most historians regard the autopsy as the "most botched" segment of the government's investigation. The HSCA forensic pathology panel concluded that the autopsy had "extensive failings", including failure to take sufficient photographs, failure to determine the exact exit or entry point of the head bullet, not dissecting the back and neck, and neglecting to determine the angles of gunshot injuries relative to body axis. The panel further concluded that the two doctors were not qualified to have conducted a forensic autopsy. Panel member Milton Helpern—Chief Medical Examiner for New York City—said that selecting Humes (who had only taken a single course on forensic pathology) to lead the autopsy was "like sending a seven-year-old boy who has taken three lessons on the violin over to the New York Philharmonic and expecting him to perform a Tchaikovsky symphony".
=== Funeral ===
Following the autopsy, Kennedy lay in repose in the East Room of the White House for 24 hours. President Johnson issued Presidential Proclamation 3561, declaring November 25 to be a national day of mourning, and that only essential emergency workers be at their posts. The coffin was then carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state. Hundreds of thousands of mourners lined up to view the guarded casket, with a quarter million passing through the rotunda during the 18 hours of lying in state. Even in the Soviet Union, according to a memo by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover—news of the assassination "was greeted by great shock and consternation, and church bells were tolled in the memory of President Kennedy".
Kennedy's funeral service was held on November 25, at St. Matthew's Cathedral, with the Requiem Mass led by Cardinal Richard Cushing. About 1,200 guests, including representatives from over 90 countries, attended. Although there was no formal eulogy, Auxiliary Bishop Philip M. Hannan read excerpts from Kennedy's speeches and writings. After the service, Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. An eternal flame was lit at his burial site in 1967.
=== Murder of Oswald ===
On Sunday, November 24, at 11:21 am, as Oswald was being escorted to a car in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters for the transfer from the city jail to the county jail, he was shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby. The shooting was broadcast live on television. Robert H. Jackson of the Dallas Times Herald photographed the shooting; for the photograph, titled Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald, he was awarded the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Oswald was taken by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital; he was treated by the same surgeons who had tried to save Kennedy. The bullet had entered his lower left chest but had not exited; major heart blood vessels such as the aorta and inferior vena cava were severed, and the spleen, kidney, and liver were hit. Despite surgical intervention and defibrillation, Oswald died at 1:07 pm.
Arrested immediately after the shooting, Ruby testified to the Warren Commission that he had been distraught by Kennedy's death and that killing Oswald would spare "Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial". He also stated he shot Oswald on the spur of the moment when the opportunity presented itself, without considering any reason for doing so. Initially, Ruby wished to represent himself in his trial until his lawyer Melvin Belli dissuaded him: Belli argued that Ruby had an episode of psychomotor epilepsy and was thus not responsible. Ruby was convicted, but the decision was overturned on appeal. While awaiting retrial in 1967, Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism, secondary to cancer. Like Oswald and Kennedy, Ruby was declared dead at Parkland Hospital.
== Films and photographs of the assassination ==
Standing on the pergola wall some 65 feet (20 m) from the road, tailor Abraham Zapruder recorded Kennedy's killing on 26 seconds of silent 8 mm film—known as the Zapruder film. Frame 313 captures the exact moment at which Kennedy's head explodes. Life magazine published frame enlargements from the Zapruder film shortly after the assassination. The footage itself was first publicly shown at the 1969 trial of Clay Shaw, and on television in 1975 by Geraldo Rivera. In 1999, an arbitration panel ordered the federal government to pay $615,384 per second of film to Zapruder's heirs, valuing the complete film at $16 million (equivalent to $28.2 million in 2025).
Zapruder was one of at least 32 people in Dealey Plaza known to have made film or still photographs at or around the time of the shooting. Most notably among the photographers, Mary Moorman took several photos of Kennedy with her Polaroid, including one of Kennedy less than one-sixth of a second after the headshot.
In addition to Zapruder, Charles Bronson, Marie Muchmore, and Orville Nix filmed the assassination, but at farther distances than Zapruder. Of the three, only Nix—who filmed the assassination from the opposite side of Elm Street from Zapruder, capturing the grassy knoll—actually recorded the fatal shot. In 1966, Nix claimed that, after he gave the film to the FBI, the duplicate that they returned had frames "missing" or "ruined". Although lower-quality duplicates exist, the original film has been missing since 1978. Previously unknown footage filmed by George Jefferies was released in 2007. Recorded a few blocks before the shooting, the film captures Kennedy's bunched suit jacket, explaining the discrepancies between the location of the bullet hole in Kennedy's back and his jacket.
Some films and photographs captured an unidentified woman apparently filming the assassination; researchers have nicknamed her the Babushka Lady due to the shawl around her head. In 1978, Gordon Arnold came forward and claimed that he had filmed the assassination from the grassy knoll and that a police officer had confiscated his film. Arnold is not visible in any photographs taken of the area, which Vincent Bugliosi—author of Reclaiming History—called "conclusive photographic proof that Arnold's story was fabricated".
== Official investigations ==
=== Dallas Police ===
At the Dallas Police headquarters, officers interrogated Oswald about the shootings of Kennedy and Tippit; these intermittent interviews lasted for approximately 12 hours between 2:30 p.m. on November 22 and 11 a.m. on November 24. Throughout, Oswald denied any involvement and resorted to statements that were found to be false.
Captain J. W. Fritz of the Homicide and Robbery Bureau did most of the questioning and kept only rudimentary notes. Days later, Fritz wrote a report of the interrogation from notes he made afterwards. There were no stenographic or tape recordings. Representatives of other law enforcement agencies were also present, including the FBI and the Secret Service, and occasionally participated in the questioning. Several of the FBI agents who were present wrote contemporaneous reports of the interrogation.
On the evening of November 22, Dallas Police performed paraffin tests on Oswald's hands and right cheek in an effort to establish whether or not he had recently fired a weapon. The results were positive for the hands and negative for the right cheek. Such tests were unreliable, and the Warren Commission did not rely on these results.
The Dallas police forced Oswald to host a press conference after midnight on November 23, and, early in the investigation, made many leaks to the media. Their conduct angered Johnson, who instructed the FBI to tell them to "stop talking about the assassination". Dallas Police, after the FBI expressed concerns that someone might try to kill Oswald, assured federal authorities that they would provide him adequate protection.
=== FBI investigation ===
The FBI immediately launched an investigation into the assassination, relying on a federal statute that forbade assaulting a federal officer. Within 24 hours of the killing, FBI Director Hoover sent President Johnson a preliminary report finding that Oswald was the sole culprit. After Ruby killed Oswald, Johnson decided that the Texas authorities were incompetent and instructed the FBI to conduct a complete investigation.
On December 9, 1963, the Warren Commission received the FBI's report of its investigation, which concluded that three bullets had been fired—the first striking Kennedy in the upper back, the second striking Connally, and the third striking Kennedy in the head, killing him. The FBI continued to serve as the main investigative arm of the Warren Commission in the field. A total of 169 FBI agents worked on the case, conducting over 25,000 interviews and writing over 2,300 reports.
The thoroughness of the FBI's investigation is contested. Bugliosi applauded its quality and cites conspiracy theorist Harrison Edward Livingstone's praise of the FBI's commitment to following all leads. In its 1979 report, the HSCA found that the FBI's investigation of pro- and anti-Castro Cubans, and any connections to Oswald or Ruby, was insufficient. The HSCA also noted that Hoover "seemed determined [to make the case that Oswald was the lone assassin] within 24 hours of the assassination".
=== Warren Commission ===
On November 29, President Johnson established by executive order "The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy" and selected Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court to chair the investigation, commonly known as the Warren Commission. Its 888-page final report was presented to Johnson on September 24, 1964, and made public three days later. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in killing Kennedy and wounding Connally, and that Jack Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald. It made no conclusions as to Oswald's motive, but noted his Marxism, anti-authoritarianism, violent tendencies, failure to form personal relationships, and his desire to be significant in history.
Upon examining the Zapruder film, commission staffers realized that the FBI's gunshot theory was impossible. The reaction times of Kennedy and Connally were too close to have been caused by two bullets from Oswald: the reaction interval was less than the 2.3 seconds that it took to reload. This was one of the commission's most crucial findings: that a single shot caused the non-fatal wounds of Kennedy and Connally, known as the "single-bullet theory". In May 1964, staffer Arlen Specter replicated the single bullet's trajectory via a reenactment in Dealey Plaza: the bullet's path was exactly consistent with Kennedy's and Connally's wounds.
Out of the eight commission members, three—Representative Hale Boggs and senators John Cooper and Richard Russell—found the theory "improbable"; their qualms were not mentioned in the final report. Conspiracy theorists labeled this theory the "magic bullet theory", partly due to the bullet's intact and purportedly pristine state. However, the HSCA's Michael Baden noted that the bullet, despite its lack of fragmentation, was fundamentally deformed. In 2023, Secret Service agent Paul E. Landis—who had stood on the running board of Kennedy's car—told The New York Times that he retrieved the "magic bullet" from immediately behind Kennedy's seat upon arrival at Parkland, and that he placed it on Kennedy's stretcher. Landis believes that the bullet dislodged from a shallow wound in Kennedy's back.
As well as the Warren Report's 27 published volumes, the commission created hundreds of thousands of pages of investigative reports and documents. Relman Morin stated that "Never in history was a crime probed as intensely"; Bugliosi concluded that the commission's basic findings have "held up remarkably well". According to Gerald Posner, the Warren report is "universally derided" by the American public. Walter Cronkite noted that "Although the Warren Commission had full power to conduct its own independent investigation, it permitted the FBI and the CIA to investigate themselves—and so cast a permanent shadow on the answers." According to a 2014 report by CIA Chief Historian David Robarge, then-CIA director John A. McCone was involved in a "benign cover-up" by withholding information from the commission.
=== Trial of Clay Shaw ===
On March 22, 1967, New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison arrested and charged New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw with conspiring to assassinate President Kennedy, with the help of Oswald, David Ferrie, and others. A respected businessman who had helped renovate and preserve the French Quarter, Shaw was described as "the unlikeliest villain since Oscar Wilde". Both Shaw and the neurotic, avidly anti-Castro Ferrie were members of New Orleans' gay community. Ferrie died, possibly by suicide, four days after news of the investigation broke. On The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1968, Garrison first publicly alleged that Shaw and Ferrie had been part of a larger CIA scheme to kill Kennedy and frame Oswald. In the 34-day trial conducted in 1969, Garrison played the Zapruder film and argued that the backward motion of Kennedy's head after the fatal shot was indicative of a shooter in front of the Grassy Knoll.
After a brief deliberation, the jury found Shaw not guilty. Mark Lane interviewed the jurors after the trial and stated that some believed that Shaw likely was involved in a conspiracy but that there was insufficient evidence to convict. Lane's claims have been disputed by playwright James Kirkwood—a personal friend of Clay Shaw—who said that he met several jurors who denied ever speaking to Lane. Kirkwood also questioned Lane's claim that the jury believed that there was a conspiracy: Jury foreman Sidney Hebert told Kirkwood, "I didn't think too much of the Warren Report either until the trial. Now I think a lot more of it than I did before."
According to academic E. Jerald Ogg, the Shaw trial is widely regarded as a "travesty of justice"; Kirkwood likened the trial to a Spanish Inquisition hearing. Other observers have characterized the proceedings as relying on homophobia. It remains the only trial to be brought for the Kennedy assassination. In 1979, former CIA director Richard Helms testified that Shaw had been a part-time contact of the Domestic Contact Service of the CIA, through which Shaw volunteered information from his travels abroad, mostly to Latin America. However, according to Max Holland, some 150,000 Americans were contacts. In 1993, the PBS program Frontline obtained a group photograph that featured Ferrie and Oswald together at a 1955 cookout for the Civil Air Patrol: Ferrie had denied ever knowing Oswald.
=== Ramsey Clark Panel ===
Excluding Chief Justice Warren, the members of the Warren Commission did not view the photographs or X-rays taken during Kennedy's autopsy. According to Warren, this was to avoid having to publicly release the explicit material to "sensation mongers". Due to persistent speculation, in February 1968, Attorney General Ramsey Clark convened a panel of four medical experts to examine the photographs and X-rays from the Kennedy autopsy. Their findings concurred with the Warren Commission: Kennedy was struck by two bullets, both from behind.
=== Rockefeller Commission ===
In 1975, President Gerald Ford—who had been a member of the Warren Commission a decade prior—established the United States President's Commission on CIA Activities within the United States, better known as the Rockefeller Commission after its chairman, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. The commission received a mandate to determine if any domestic activities by the CIA were unlawful and to make appropriate recommendations; accordingly, it also re-examined the Kennedy assassination.
After five months of investigation, the Rockefeller Commission submitted its report to President Ford. The report reviewed the medical evidence and agreed that Kennedy had been killed by two shots from behind. Refuting Garrison's claims that the backward motion of Kennedy's head seen on the Zapruder film was indicative of a grassy knoll shooter, the commission found that "such a motion would be caused by a violent straightening and stiffening of the entire body as a result of a seizure-like neuromuscular reaction to major damage inflicted to nerve centers in the brain". The later HSCA suggested that the "propulsive effect resulting from brain matter" ejected from the exit wound may have been responsible. Pathologist Vincent Di Maio testified before the HSCA that the notion of a "transfer of momentum" from a grassy knoll bullet was unfounded and something from "Arnold Schwarzenegger pictures".
The Rockefeller Commission also sought to determine whether CIA operatives—particularly E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis—were present in Dealey Plaza during the assassination, and whether they were among the "three tramps" pictured shortly after the assassination. The commission found no evidence for these claims. It also inquired into purported connections between the CIA and Oswald and Ruby, for which it found no evidence and concluded was "farfetched speculation". They concluded that there was "no credible evidence of CIA involvement".
=== Church Committee ===
In 1975, following the Watergate scandal and the revelation of CIA misconduct by Seymour Hersh (the CIA's so-called "Family Jewels"), the U.S. Senate launched the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities—better known as the Church Committee after its chairman, Senator Frank Church. The committee was to investigate all improper and unlawful actions by the CIA and FBI, both foreign and domestic. Due to persisting theories, the Church Committee organized a subcommittee (staffed by senators Richard Schweiker and Gary Hart) to examine CIA and FBI conduct about the assassination.
In its final report, the Church Committee concluded that there was no evidence of a CIA- or FBI-led conspiracy. They found that the original investigation into the assassination was "deficient" and criticized the FBI and CIA for withholding information from the Warren Commission. In particular, it noted that knowledge of the CIA's many failed attempts to assassinate Castro may have significantly affected the course of the investigation. Moreover, the Church Committee revealed that the CIA had conspired with the Mafia in these plots against Castro. These revelations led to further public scrutiny of the assassination.
=== United States House Select Committee on Assassinations ===
As a result of increasing public and congressional skepticism of the Warren Commission's findings and the transparency of government agencies, in 1976 the House Select Committee on Assassinations was created to investigate the assassinations of Kennedy and of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The HSCA conducted its inquiry until 1978 and issued its final report the following year, concluding that Kennedy was likely assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. They concluded that there was a "high probability" that a fourth shot was fired from the grassy knoll, but they stated that this shot missed Kennedy. Concerning the conclusions of "probable conspiracy", four of the twelve committee members wrote dissenting opinions.
The HSCA also concluded that previous investigations into Oswald's responsibility were "thorough and reliable" but did not adequately investigate the possibility of a conspiracy, and that federal agencies performed with "varying degrees of competency". Specifically, the FBI and CIA were found to be deficient in sharing information with other agencies and the Warren Commission. Instead of furnishing all relevant information, the FBI and CIA only responded to specific requests and were still occasionally inadequate. Furthermore, the Secret Service did not properly analyze the information it possessed before the assassination and was inadequately prepared to protect Kennedy.
The chief reason for the conclusion of "probable conspiracy" was, according to the report's dissent, the subsequently discredited acoustic analysis of a police channel Dictabelt recording. In accordance with the recommendations of the HSCA, the Dictabelt recording and acoustic evidence of a second assassin were subsequently reexamined. In light of investigative reports from the FBI's Technical Services Division and a specially appointed National Academy of Sciences Committee determining that "reliable acoustic data do not support a conclusion that there was a second gunman", the Justice Department concluded "that no persuasive evidence can be identified to support the theory of a conspiracy" in the Kennedy assassination.
=== JFK Act and Assassination Records Review Board ===
In 1991, Oliver Stone's film JFK renewed interest in the assassination and particularly in the still-classified files relating to the killing. In response, Congress passed the JFK Records Act, which called for the National Archives to collect and release all assassination-related documents within 25 years. The act also mandated the creation of an independent office, the Assassination Records Review Board, to review the submitted records for completeness and continued secrecy. From 1994 until 1998, the Assassination Records Review Board gathered and unsealed about 60,000 documents comprising over 4 million pages.
A 1998 staff report for the Assassinations Records Review Board contended that brain photographs in the Kennedy records may not be of Kennedy's brain, reportedly showing much less damage than Kennedy sustained. Dr. Boswell refuted these allegations. The board also found that, conflicting with the photographic images showing no such defect, several witnesses (at both Parkland hospital and the autopsy) remembered a large wound in the back of Kennedy's head. The board, and board member Jeremy Gunn, stressed the problems with witness testimony, urging people to weigh all of the evidence, with due concern for human error, rather than take single statements as "proof" for one theory or another.
All remaining assassination-related records were scheduled to be released by October 2017, except documents certified for continued postponement by succeeding presidents due to "identifiable harm ... to the military, defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations ... of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure." President Donald Trump said in October 2017 that he would not block the release of documents, but in April 2018—the deadline he set to release all JFK records—Trump blocked the release of some records until October 2021.
President Joe Biden, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, delayed the release further, before releasing 13,173 unredacted documents in 2022. A second group of files were unsealed in June 2023, at which point 99 percent of documents had been made public. Three days after entering office for the second time in January 2025, Trump signed an executive order to declassify the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination within 15 days. More than 60,000 documents were released two months later on March 18.
== Conspiracy theories ==
The Kennedy assassination has been described as "the mother of all conspiracies".
For decades, polls have consistently found that a majority of Americans believe there was a conspiracy; some 1,000 to 2,000 books—mostly pro-conspiracy—have been written about the killing. Across different theories, Oswald's role varies from co-conspirator to entirely innocent. Common culprits include the FBI, the CIA, the U.S. military, the Mafia, the military-industrial complex, Vice President Johnson, Castro, the KGB, or some combination thereof. Bugliosi estimated that a total of 42 groups, 82 assassins, and 214 people had been accused in various assassination theories.
Conspiracy theorists often argue that there were multiple shooters—a "triangulation of crossfire"—and that the fatal shot was fired from the grassy knoll and struck Kennedy in the front of the head. Individuals present in Dealey Plaza have been the subject of much speculation, including the three tramps, the umbrella man, and the purported Badge Man. Conspiracy theorists argue that the autopsy and official investigations were flawed or, at worst, complicit, and that witnesses to the Kennedy assassination, like Gary Underhill, met mysterious and suspicious deaths.
Conspiracy theories have been espoused by notable figures, such as L. Fletcher Prouty, Chief of Special Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Kennedy, who believed that elements of the U.S. military and intelligence communities had conspired to assassinate the president. Governor Connally also rejected the single-bullet theory, and President Johnson reportedly expressed doubt regarding the Warren Commission's conclusions before his death. According to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his father believed that the Warren Report was a "shoddy piece of craftsmanship" and that John F. Kennedy had been killed by a conspiracy, possibly involving Cuban exiles and the CIA. Communist rulers like Castro and Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev believed that Kennedy had been killed by right-wing Americans. Former CIA director R. James Woolsey has argued that Oswald killed Kennedy as part of a Soviet conspiracy.
== Legacy ==
=== Political impact and memorialization ===
On November 27—five days after the assassination—President Johnson delivered his "Let Us Continue" speech to Congress. Effectively an inaugural address, Johnson called for the realization of Kennedy's policies, particularly on civil rights; this effort soon materialized as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Confusion surrounding Johnson's succession led to the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S Constitution, which was adopted in 1967 and affirmed that the vice president became president upon the president's death.
On November 29, President Johnson issued Executive Order 11129, renaming Florida's Cape Canaveral—a name borne since at least 1530—to Cape Kennedy. NASA's Launch Operations Center, located on the cape, was also renamed as the Kennedy Space Center. The federal government honored Kennedy in other ways, such as replacing the Benjamin Franklin half-dollar with the Kennedy half-dollar, and renaming Washington, D.C.'s long-planned National Culture Center as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. New York City's airport was also renamed as the John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Kennedy's assassination also resulted in an overhaul of the Secret Service and its procedures. Open limousines were eliminated, staffing was significantly increased, and specialized teams like counter-sniper units were established. The agency's budget has also increased, from $5.5 million in 1963 (equivalent to $57,800,000 in 2025) to over $1.6 billion by the 50th anniversary in 2013.
=== Cultural impact and depictions ===
John F. Kennedy's assassination was the first of four major assassinations during the 1960s, coming two years before the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and five years before the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. For the public, Kennedy's assassination mythologized him into a heroic figure. Although scholars typically regard Kennedy as a good but not great president, public opinion polls consistently find him the most popular post-WWII president.
The event left a lasting impression on many worldwide. As with the preceding attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941, and the subsequent September 11 attacks, asking "Where were you when you heard about President Kennedy's assassination?" would become a common topic of discussion. Journalist Dan Rather opined that the Kennedy assassination will be discussed "a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, in somewhat the same way as people discuss the Iliad. Different people read Homer's description of the war and come to different conclusions, and so it shall be for Kennedy's death."
Along with Oliver Stone's JFK, the assassination has been portrayed in several films: the pro-conspiracy, Dalton Trumbo–written Executive Action (1973) was the first feature film to depict the assassination. Besides explicit portrayals, some critics have argued that the Zapruder film—which itself has been featured in many films and television episodes—advanced cinéma vérité or inspired more graphic depictions of violence in American cinema. Many works of literature have also explored the killing, such as Don DeLillo's 1988 novel Libra, in which Oswald is a CIA agent, James Ellroy's 1995 work American Tabloid, and Stephen King's 2011 time travel novel 11/22/63. The assassination has also been featured in several musical compositions, such as Igor Stravinsky's 1964 piece Elegy for J.F.K. and Phil Ochs' 1966 song "Crucifixion", which reportedly brought Robert Kennedy to tears. Other songs include "Abraham, Martin and John" (1968) and Bob Dylan's "Murder Most Foul" (2020).
=== Artifacts, museums, and locations ===
In 1993, the National Park Service designated Dealey Plaza, the surrounding buildings, the overpass, and a portion of the adjacent railyard as a National Historic Landmark District. The depository and its Sixth Floor Museum, operated by the city of Dallas, draws over 325,000 visitors annually.
The Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One at the time of the assassination is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force; Kennedy's limousine is at the Henry Ford Museum. The Lincoln Catafalque, on which Kennedy's coffin rested in the Capitol, is exhibited at the Capitol Visitor Center. Jacqueline's pink suit, autopsy X-rays, and President Kennedy's blood-stained clothing are in the National Archives, with access controlled by the Kennedy family. Other items in the Archives include Parkland Hospital trauma room equipment; Oswald's rifle, diary, and revolver; bullet fragments; and the limousine's windshield. The Texas State Archives preserve Connally's bullet-punctured clothes; the gun Ruby used to kill Oswald came into the possession of Ruby's brother Earl, and was sold in 1991 for $220,000 (equivalent to $520,000 in 2025).
At the direction of Robert F. Kennedy, some items were destroyed. The casket in which Kennedy's body was transported from Dallas to Washington was dropped into the sea, because "its public display would be extremely offensive and contrary to public policy".
== Notes and references ==
=== Notes ===
=== Citations ===
=== Works cited ===
==== Books ====
==== Government and institutional documents and reports ====
==== Warren Commission documents, exhibits, and testimonies ====
==== Journal articles ====
==== Magazines ====
==== News publications and websites ==== |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Heaton | Robert D. Heaton | Robert Douglas Heaton (July 1, 1873 – June 11, 1933) was 20th-century American businessman and politician who served two terms as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1915 to 1919.
== Biography ==
Robert D. Heaton was born in Raven Run, Pennsylvania. He moved to Ashland, Pennsylvania, with his parents in 1886. He attended the Canandaigua Academy in Canandaigua, New York, the New York Military Academy at Cornwall, New York, and the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. He is identified with many business enterprises of the state and county.
=== Congress ===
Heaton was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1910, and was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Congresses. He did not seek renomination in 1918, having become a candidate for the Pennsylvania State Senate.
=== Later activities ===
He was a member of the State Senate from 1919 to 1932. He resumed his former business activities, and served as a member of the board of trustees of the Ashland State Hospital.
=== Death and burial ===
He died in Ashland, Pennsylvania, aged 59, and is interred in the family cemetery in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
== Sources ==
United States Congress. "Robert D. Heaton (id: H000433)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
The Political Graveyard |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_People%27s_Choice_Awards#Awards | 19th People's Choice Awards#Awards | The 19th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 1992, were held on March 9, 1993, at Universal Studios Hollywood, in Universal City, California. They were hosted by John Ritter and Jane Seymour, and broadcast on CBS.
Special tributes were paid to both Knots Landing and Cheers for their long runs on television.
== Awards ==
Winners are listed first, in bold. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Island_(New_Zealand) | Rose Island (New Zealand) | Rose Island is an uninhabited island and, with an area of 121 hectares, the fifth largest of the Auckland Islands group, a subantarctic chain that forms part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands.
It is located in the northeast of the group, in the mouth of Port Ross, Auckland Island and south west of the larger Enderby Island. It was stocked with rabbits and provided with a boatshed for the relief of castaways during the nineteenth century. The rabbits have since been eradicated by the Department of Conservation, and provides a secure home for a population of Auckland Islands teal. The vegetation on Rose Island contains southern rātā, and while much original vegetation has been destroyed, it is less modified than much of the Auckland Islands. |
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrios_Vikelas | Demetrios Vikelas | Demetrios Vikelas (; Greek: Δημήτριος Βικέλας [viˈcelas]; 15 February 1835 – 20 July 1908) was a Greek businessman and writer; he was the co-founder and first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), from 1894 to 1896.
After a childhood spent in Greece and Istanbul, he found fortune in London, where he married. He then moved to Paris, on account of his wife. Abandoning business, he dedicated himself to literature and history, and published numerous novels, short stories and essays, which earned him a distinguished reputation.
Because of his reputation and the fact that he lived in Paris, he was chosen to represent Greece in a congress called by Pierre de Coubertin in June 1894, which decided to re-establish the Olympic Games and to organise them in Athens in 1896, designating Vikelas to preside over the organisation committee. After the Games were over, he stepped down, remaining in Athens until his death in 1908.
== Childhood ==
Vikelas was born in Ermoupoli, on the island of Syros in Greece. His father was a merchant, originally from Veria (then part of the Ottoman Empire, today capital of the northern Greek province of Imathia in Central Macedonia) and his mother, Smaragda, was a member of the rich Melas family. He was educated at home by his mother, possibly due to his fragile health.
When he was six, the family moved to Constantinople, and ten years after that to Odessa. There he started working for his father's business.
Already he showed signs of his literary potential. At the age of 17 he translated Esther, a tragedy by Jean Racine.
== London, from business to literature ==
While aged 17, in 1852, he left home to live in London with his uncles Leon and Vasileios Melas, where he worked for their business, Melas Bros, first as a bookkeeper and then as a partner. He also began to maintain a weekly correspondence with his mother.
This correspondence, which was kept, is one of the most important in establishing his biography. He also kept a journal in which he recorded not only facts about his daily life but also advice from his uncle Leon and his thoughts on books he had read and plays he was able to attend.
After his day's work at his uncles' business, he took evening classes at University College London (the only university in London which did not require students to be Anglican). There, he obtained a degree in botany (the only subject which offered evening classes). He learned German and Italian. He also took part in fencing, horse-riding and rowing, although circumstances did not allow him to keep these up. He had also become very scholarly, and started to publish — an anthology of poems in 1862 and numerous articles in London periodicals, on the British press and the growing of cotton in Greece.
During the political events of 1863 in Greece, following the revolution which led to the eviction of Otto and the enthronement of George I, Vikelas led fundraising efforts in support of the provisional government. He also wrote letters to the main newspapers of the time to demand that Greece's rights be respected. He became definitively known in the British intellectual world in 1866 when he contacted authors and academics to gain their support for the Cretan cause during the Cretan revolt of 1866–1869, for which he raised more fundraising.
Also in 1866, he married Kalliope Geralopoulou, a young sister of Katerini, the wife of one of his uncles, also a member of a rich merchant family in London. He also became a titular partner in his uncles' business.
He also met and became friends with Charilaos Trikoupis, the son of the Greek ambassador to Britain Spyridon Trikoupis, himself destined to become Prime Minister of Greece. At the time they met, Charilaos Trikoupis was just starting his diplomatic and political career as an attaché, then chargé d'affaires, of the Greek legation. The two men kept a busy correspondence.
Demetrius Vikelas continued to gain favour in Greece — in 1868 he published a 30-page statistical article on the Kingdom of Greece following a conference at the Royal Statistical Society; in 1870 he founded a school for Greek children living in England. All his work — polemic, political, journalistic, historical or literary — had a double objective: to elevate the morals and level of intellect of his country but also to change its reputation with respect to the rest of the world. In his historical essay of 1874, On the Byzantines, he wrote that he wanted to restore the reputation of the Byzantine Empire.
In 1876, in the wake of the economic crisis that had started in 1873, and in order not to lose the profits of their work, Vikelas and his uncles dissolved their business (now called "Melas Bros - D. Vikelas"). He thus found himself in command of a comfortable fortune, which allowed him to fully dedicate his time to literature.
== Paris, the illness of his wife, and literature ==
In 1874, following the death of her father, Vikelas' wife Kalliope began to suffer from mental problems and showed a number of suicidal tendencies. The couple tried travelling to ease the illness. In Paris, following another scare, doctors declared Kalliope mad and she stayed for seven and a half months in Jules Bernard Luys' asylum in Ivry-sur-Seine. True to his character, Vikelas recorded the progress of his wife's mental health daily during the twenty years which followed.
In his journal, from 1872 Vikelas expressed the wish to move to Athens. In 1877, while Kalliope's condition was in remission, they took the opportunity to make the move. Vikelas started to build a home around the corner from the streets of Panepistimiou (on which the University was situated) and Voukourestiou. However, his wife's health worsened again and he accompanied her to France where she again stayed in Ivry-sur-Seine.
During his stays in Paris, Vikelas embarked on translating Shakespeare plays into Greek: King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and Othello during his wife's first stay (1878), and Macbeth and Hamlet during the second (1881). The public readings of his translations received an enthusiastic welcome in the literary community in Athens. He then also wrote his main literary work: Loukis Laras. The book first appeared in Athens as a series starting in 1879. The same year, it was translated into French and German. The French translation (which had its first republication in 1880) was included by the Education Minister Jules Ferry in the list of works which could be given as prizes to good students.
Vikelas spent the following fifteen years in Paris, building up contacts with the surrounding intellectuals and literati of the French capital. Consequently, Juliette Adam dedicated her anthology Poètes grecs contemporains ("Contemporary Greek poets"), published in 1881, to him, and he published in her Nouvelle Revue. He wrote for it, as before, numerous articles (on Byzantine history, Eastern issues and Greek political life), novels (a compendium in French and Greek came out in 1887) and even travel guides.
In the linguistic controversy in Greece between Katharevousa and Dimotiki, Vikelas chose the middle ground, rejecting the excesses of the Dimotikists just as much as the fierce defenders of the more intellectual language. He suggested using Katharevousa for parliamentary proceedings, for example, but popular language for poetry.
Between 1877 and 1892, he travelled, since at the worst of her crises, his wife could not bear his presence. He returned to Greece, visited Scotland, Switzerland, Spain and Constantinople.
In 1892, he bought a new plot in Athens (between the streets of Kriezotou and Valaoriti) where he built a new residence which was also his final home.
In 1893, he helped finance the construction of the Greek Orthodox church in Paris.
In May 1894, he received a request from the Pan-Hellenic Gymnastic Club, asking him to assist at a congress on amateurism convened the following month by Pierre de Coubertin. After hesitation, he agreed to represent the association. Following the congress it was decided to recreate the Olympic Games and to organise them in Athens.
Originally, it had been De Coubertin's idea to hold the first celebration of the modern Olympics in Paris in 1900, but Vikelas convinced him and the newly created International Olympic Committee that they should be held in Athens, in order to symbolically link them to the original Games. As the constitution of the IOC at that time required the IOC president to be from the country which would host the next Games, Vikelas became the IOC's first president.
== Permanent return to Greece ==
With his responsibility for the 1896 Summer Olympics, Vikelas returned to Greece for just ten days in autumn 1894. On October the 14th, he received a telegram from doctor Luys informing him that the condition of his wife had worsened. She had œdemas in her thighs, calves and stomach. She could no longer feed herself. He urgently returned to Paris. It seems that she then died.
In November 1894, a number of young nationalist officers, advocates of the Megali Idea, created a secret society, Ethniki Etairia, whose aim was to revive the morale of the country and prepare the liberation of Greek peoples still under the Ottoman Empire. In September 1895, they recruited civilians, all linked to the organisation of the Olympic Games, including Vikelas himself, although he claimed only to have given in to friendly pressure, playing a solely financial role and then quickly resigning from it. At this point he was still attracted by the possibility of rebuilding his country.
After the Games, which proved a success, Vikelas withdrew from the IOC, replaced as a member by the Count Alexander Mercati and as president by Coubertin. The defeat in the Greco-Turkish War which came soon after dealt a serious blow to his morale. He decided to leave Paris to move permanently to Athens. There he dedicated himself to popular education. In 1899 he founded the "Society for the Spread of Useful Books" in Athens, to help the country to recover from its defeat.
In 1905, he represented the University of Athens at the third Olympic Congress and seventh IOC Meeting in Brussels. He also remained an active member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. He died in Athens on 20 July 1908 "from an afflicting illness".
He had been made a knight of the Legion of Honour on 31 December 1891, and honorary doctor of the University of St Andrews in November 1893 (the first Greek to receive this honour). He was a member (from 1874, and Vice-President from 1894) of the French "Association for the Promotion of Greek Studies", and of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies in London.
== Legacy ==
He left his immense library collection to the city of Heraklion in Crete, founding the Vikelaia Municipal Library.
Though in fact he did not live much of his life in Syros, the island counts him among its most well-known sons. Today, the Sports Center (Stadium) in Ermoupoli bears Demetrios Vikelas' name. The stadium seats 2000 people, and has an Olympic-size swimming pool, four tennis courts, two gym halls, basket and volleyball courts, track and field, floor football court and soccer field.
Also the Syros Island National Airport is named for him.
== The Olympic Movement ==
=== First Olympic Congress ===
Pierre de Coubertin had already attempted to restart the Olympic Games at the Congress for the fifth anniversary of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques in 1892. While he may have raised the enthusiasm of the public, he did not manage to establish a proper commitment.
He decided to reiterate his efforts at the Congress in 1894 which followed, which would openly address the issue of amateur sports, but also with the sub-text of the recreation of the Olympic Games. Six of the seven points which would be debated pertained to amateurism (definition, disqualification, betting, etc.) and the seventh on the possibility of restoring the Games. Coubertin also sought to give an international dimension to his congress. He gained support from several personalities: the King of the Belgians, the Prince of Wales, the Diadochus Constantine (hereditary prince of Greece) and William Penny Brookes, the founder of the "Olympian Games" in Shropshire, England, and Ioannis Phokianos. Phokianos was a professor of mathematics and physics and a college principal. Phokianos was also one of the propagators of sport in Greece and the organizer of an Olympic Games sponsored by Evangelis Zappas in 1875. In 1888, Phokianos organized an elite and private Games as the founder of the Pan-Hellenic Gymnastic Club. Phokianos could not travel to Paris for financial reasons and because he was finalizing the construction of his new college. He turned to one of the more eminent representatives of the Greek community in Paris, Demetrios Vikelas, to whom he wrote to ask him to take part in the Congress.
== Historical and literary works ==
=== Novels and short stories ===
Poems, London, 1862.
Loukis Laras; his main work, a historical, patriotic and moral novel. The style is naturalistic, as opposed to his heavy romantic works which were written as they were in Greece. It is written in simple language to make it accessible to a wider audience. The action unfolds as the Greek War of Independence enters Smyrna, Chios, Syros and the Cyclades. An old rich Greek merchant in London reflects on the adventures of his youth. The novel was published as a series from 1879 in the literary Athenian magazine Estia. The book was translated into eleven languages.
Nouvelle grecques, translated by the Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, 1887.
"Philippe Marthas (Nouvelle grecque)" appeared in La Nouvelle Revue., September–October 1886. read at Gallica (French)
Papa-Narcissus, novel, 1887
Filippos Marthas, novel, 1887
Tales of the Aegean, 1894
=== Books and historical articles ===
Articles on Palaiologos, the last dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, in the Athenian journal Pandora, 1859-1860.
On the Byzantines., London, 1874.
"Les Grecs aux conciles de Bâle et de Florence.", La Nouvelle Revue., May–June 1882. read at Gallica (French)
"La Grèce avant la révolution de 1821", La Nouvelle Revue., January–February 1884. read at Gallica (French)
De Nicopolis à Olympie. Lettres à un ami., 1885. (following his correspondence with the Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire)
"The Byzantine Empire", Scottish Review, no. 8:16, October 1886.
"Byzantism and Hellenism", Scottish Review, no. 9:17, janvier 1887.
"The Subjects of the Byzantine Empire", Scottish Review, no. 9:18, April 1887.
"Greece before 1821", Scottish Review, no. 13:26, April 1889.
"The Formation of the Modern Greek State", Scottish Review, no. 14:27, July 1889.
"L'Empereur Nicéphore Phocas", La Nouvelle Revue., July–August 1890. read at Gallica (French)
Seven Essays on Christian Greece., 1890.
"Le Philhellénisme en France.", Revue d'Histoire diplomatique., III, 1891.
"La Littérature byzantine", Revue des deux mondes, March–April, 1892. read at Gallica (French)
Grèce Byzantine et moderne., Firmin Didot, Paris, 1893.
=== Political and polemic works ===
"Journalism in England", Eunomia (Athènes), 1864.
"Statistics of the Kingdom of Greece", Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, no. 31, September 1868.
Le Rôle et les aspirations de la Grèce dans la question d'Orient., Cercle Saint-Simon, Paris, 1885. read at Gallica (French)
"Vingt-cinq années de règne constitutionnel en Grèce", La Nouvelle Revue., March–April 1889. read at Gallica (French)
"The Territory of the Hellenic Kingdom", no. 14:28, October 1889.
=== Translations ===
He translated into Greek the stories of Hans Christian Andersen (for his nephews and nieces), and various Shakespeare plays. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont | Vermont | Vermont ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. According to the most recent U.S. census estimates, the state has an estimated population of 648,493, making it the second-least populated of all U.S. states. It is the nation's sixth-smallest state by total area. The state's capital of Montpelier is the least populous U.S. state capital. No other U.S. state has a most populous city with fewer residents than Burlington.
Native Americans have inhabited the area for about 12,000 years. The competitive tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk were active in the area at the time of European encounter. During the 17th century, French colonists claimed the territory as part of New France. Conflict arose when the Kingdom of Great Britain began to settle colonies to the south along the Atlantic coast; France was defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years' War, ceding its territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain. Thereafter, the nearby British Thirteen Colonies disputed the extent of the area called the New Hampshire Grants to the west of the Connecticut River, encompassing present-day Vermont. The provincial government of New York sold land grants to settlers in the region, which conflicted with earlier grants from the government of New Hampshire. The Green Mountain Boys militia protected the interests of the established New Hampshire land grant settlers. Ultimately, a group of settlers with New Hampshire land grant titles established the Vermont Republic in 1777 as an independent state during the American Revolutionary War. The Vermont Republic abolished slavery before any other U.S. state. It was admitted to the Union in 1791 as the 14th state.
The geography of the state is marked by the Green Mountains, which run north–south up the middle of the state, separating Lake Champlain and other valley terrain on the west from the Connecticut River Valley that defines much of its eastern border. A majority of its terrain is forested with hardwoods and conifers. The state has warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters.
Vermont's economic activity of $40.6 billion in 2022 is ranked last on the list of U.S. states and territories by GDP, but 21st in GDP per capita. Known for its progressivism, the state was one of the first in the U.S. to recognize same-sex civil unions and marriage, has the highest proportion of renewable electricity generation at 99.9%, and is one of the least religious and least racially/ethnically diverse states. Dairy, forestry, maple syrup, and wine are important sectors in Vermont's agricultural economy. Vermont produces approximately 50% of the nation's maple syrup.
== Toponymy ==
The 17th-century French explorer Samuel de Champlain is sometimes credited with coining the name Vermont, but it did not in fact appear until 1777, when, at the suggestion of Thomas Young, it was adopted as the name of the Vermont Republic (replacing New Connecticut, the name the republic had borne for the first six months of its existence). It represents a French translation of Green Mountain(s), the name of the mountain range that bisects the state. The latter name first appeared in 1772 in the context of the Green Mountain Boys.
== History ==
=== Pre-colonial ===
The first humans to inhabit what is now Vermont arrived about 11,000 years ago, as the glaciers of the last ice age receded. Small groups of hunter-gatherers followed herds of caribou, elk, and mastodon through the grasslands of the Champlain Valley. At that time much of the region was mixed tundra. The oldest human artifacts are 11,000 year old projectile points found along the eastern shore of the saltwater Champlain Sea. This time is known as the Paleo-Indian period.
By about 8,000 years ago, the Champlain Sea had become the freshwater Lake Champlain and the climate was more temperate, bringing increased diversity of flora and fauna. This was the beginning of the Archaic period. By about 4,300 years ago, the forests were as they are today. Large mammals underwent extinction or migrated north, and the human population became reliant on smaller game and plants. People developed fishing equipment and stone cookware, and practiced woodworking and food storage. They had time for travel, leisure, and performed elaborate ceremonies. Most of the state's territory was occupied by the Abenaki, south-western parts were inhabited by the Mohicans and south-eastern borderlands by the Pocumtuc and the Pennacook.
Over 3,000 years ago, the Woodland period began. Food was increasingly sourced from domesticated plants, including maize, beans, and squash. Agriculture meant a change from dispersed hunter-gatherering towards the establishment of larger settlements. Pottery was made from local clay, and tools were made from chert found along the Winooski River. Canoes were used for fishing and travel.
The arrival of European explorers in the 1600s marked the end of the Woodland period and the beginning of the Abenaki. At that time, there were about 10,000 Indigenous people in present day Vermont, of whom an estimated 75–90% were killed by European diseases like smallpox. Survivors moved north to New France or assimilated with European settlers. Today, there are no Indian reservations in Vermont. In 2021, 0.2% of live births in Vermont were to American Indian people.
Nearly all information about the Pre-Columbian era of Vermont is from found artifacts. About 750 prehistoric sites are known in Vermont, but few have been excavated by archaeologists, and those on private property benefit from no legal protection.
Several native toponyms survive in the state, including Lake Bomoseen, Lake Memphremagog, Missisquoi River, Monadnock Mountain, and Winooski.
=== Colonial ===
In 1609, Samuel de Champlain led the first European expedition to Lake Champlain. He named the lake after himself and made the first known map of the area. Portions of the land that is now Vermont remained part of New France until 1763.
The French had a military presence around Lake Champlain, since it was an important waterway, but they did very little colonization. In 1666, they built Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte to defend Canada from the Iroquois. It was abandoned by 1670. A short-lived settlement existed at Pointe à l'Algonquin, now Windmill Point, Alburgh. A village with a church, saw mill and fifty huts existed at the present site of Swanton. Much of the eastern shore of Lake Champlain was mapped out with seigniories, but settlers were unwilling to populate the area, possibly because of continual warfare and raiding there.
The English also made unsuccessful attempts to colonize the area in the 1600s. In 1724, they built Fort Dummer near what is now Brattleboro, but it remained a small and isolated outpost, often under attack by the Abenaki.
With the 1763 Treaty of Paris, France ceded its claims east of the Mississippi River to the Kingdom of Great Britain, making the area more attractive to European settlement. At the same time, New England was overcrowded; new land was needed for settlement. The territory west of the Connecticut River was the last unsettled part of New England, and both the Province of New Hampshire and the Province of New York laid claim to it.
In 1749, New Hampshire governor Benning Wentworth began to auction land in an uncolonized area between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River. This area became known as the New Hampshire Grants. This westward expansion was started to increase New Hampshire's tax base and claim the timber there, White Pine in particular.
There were eventually 135 New Hampshire Grants. The first of Benning Wentworth's grants included a town named after himself: Bennington. A typical town, it was 6 square miles (16 km2), contained 48 lots, with land set aside for a school, a church, and a town center. Five hundred acres of the best land was kept by Wentworth for later resale.
Settlers came from across New England, and were obliged to "Plant and Cultivate Five Acres of Land" within five years. Some settlers kept to the agreement and started farms. Others, like Ethan Allen, did not. They wanted to sell the land for profit. Those who purchased New Hampshire Grants ran into disagreements with New York, which began selling off the same land as land patents.
In 1764, King George III proclaimed the territory to be under the jurisdiction of New York, which meant that the New Hampshire Grant landowners did not have legal title. Meanwhile, New York continued selling large tracts of land, many of which overlapped with those already inhabited. The dispute led to Ethan Allen forming the Green Mountain Boys, an illicit militia that attacked New York settlers and speculators through arson and mob violence. They eventually repelled the New Yorkers, and went on, with Benedict Arnold, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, where they captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British.
=== Sovereignty ===
On January 15, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants declared the independence of the Vermont Republic. For the first six months of its existence, it was called the Republic of New Connecticut.
On June 2, 1777, a second convention of 72 delegates met and adopted the name "Vermont". This was on the advice of Thomas Young, a mentor of Ethan Allen. He advised them on how to achieve admission into the newly independent United States of America as the 14th state. On July 4, they completed the drafting of the first Constitution of Vermont (in effect from 1777 to 1786) at the Windsor Tavern, and adopted it on July 8. This was the first written constitution in North America to ban adult slavery, stating that male slaves become free at the age of 21 and females at 18. It provided for universal adult male suffrage and established a public school system.
=== Revolutionary War ===
The Battle of Bennington was fought on August 16, 1777. A combined American force under General John Stark, attacked the Hessian column at Hoosick, New York, just across the border from Bennington. It killed or captured virtually the entire Hessian detachment. General John Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of the 6,000-man force at Saratoga, New York, on October 17 of that year.
The battles of Bennington and Saratoga together are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War, because they were the first major defeat of a British army. The anniversary of the battle is celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday.
The Battle of Hubbardton (July 7, 1777) was the only Revolutionary battle within the present boundaries of Vermont. Although the Continental forces suffered defeat, the British forces were damaged to the point that they did not pursue the Americans (retreating from Fort Ticonderoga) any further.
=== Admission to the Union ===
Vermont continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor for 14 years. The independent state of Vermont issued its own coinage from 1785 to 1788 and operated a national postal service. Thomas Chittenden was the Governor in 1778–1789 and in 1790–1791.
Because the state of New York continued to assert that Vermont was a part of New York, Vermont could not be admitted to the Union under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution until the legislature of New York consented. On March 6, 1790, the legislature made its consent contingent upon a negotiated agreement on the precise boundary between the two states. When commissioners from New York and Vermont met to decide on the boundary, Vermont's negotiators insisted on also settling the property ownership disputes with New Yorkers, rather than leaving that decision to a federal court. The negotiations were successfully concluded in October 1790 with an agreement that Vermont would pay $30,000 to New York to be distributed among New Yorkers who claimed land in Vermont under New York land patents. In January 1791, a convention in Vermont voted 105–4 to petition Congress to become a state in the federal union. Congress acted on February 18, 1791, to admit Vermont to the Union as the 14th state as of March 4, 1791; two weeks earlier on February 4, 1791, Congress had decided to admit Kentucky as the 15th state as of June 1, 1792. Vermont became the first state to enter the Union after the original 13 states. The revised constitution of 1786, which established a greater separation of powers, continued in effect until 1793, two years after Vermont's admission to the Union.
Under the Act "To Secure Freedom to All Persons Within This State," slavery was officially outlawed by state law on November 25, 1858, less than three years before the American Civil War. Vermonters provided refuge at several sites for escaped slaves fleeing to Canada, as part of the Underground Railroad.
=== Civil War ===
From the mid-1850s on, some Vermonters became abolitionists, which they had previously worked to contain in the South. Abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens was born in Vermont and later represented a district in Pennsylvania in Congress. He developed as a national leader and later promoted Radical Republican goals after the American Civil War. As the Whig Party declined and the Republican Party grew, Vermont supported Republican candidates. In 1860, it voted for Abraham Lincoln, giving him the largest margin of victory of any state.
During the American Civil War, Vermont sent 33,288 troops into United States service, of which 5,224 (more than 15 percent) died.
The northernmost land action of the war was the St. Albans Raid—the robbery of three St. Albans banks, perpetrated in October 1864 by Confederate agents. A posse pursued the Confederate raiders into Canada and captured several, before having to turn them over to Canadian officials. Canada reimbursed the banks, released, and later re-arrested some of the perpetrators.
=== Post–Civil War to the present ===
==== Demographic changes ====
Beginning in the mid-19th century, Vermont industries attracted numerous Irish, Scottish, and Italian immigrants, adding to its residents of mostly English and some French Canadian ancestry. Many of the immigrants migrated to Barre, where many worked as stonecutters of granite, for which there was a national market. Vermont granite was used in major public buildings throughout the United States.
In this period, many Italian and Scottish women operated boarding houses to support their families. Such facilities helped absorb new residents and taught them the new culture; European immigrants peaked in number between 1890 and 1900. Typically immigrants boarded with people of their own language and ethnicity, but sometimes they boarded with others.
Gradually, the new immigrants assimilated into the state. Times of tension aroused divisions. In the early 20th century, some Vermonters were alarmed about the decline of rural areas; people left farming to move to cities and others seemed unable to fit within society. In addition, there was a wave of immigration by French Canadians, and Protestant Anglo-Americans feared being overtaken by the new immigrants, who added to the Catholic population of Irish and Italians. Based on the colonial past, some Yankee residents considered the French Canadians to have intermarried too frequently with Native Americans.
In 1970, the population of Vermont stood at 444,732. By 1980, it had increased by over 65,000 to 511,456. That change, an increase of 15 percent, was the largest increase in Vermont's population since the days of the Revolutionary War.
In 2002, the State of Vermont incorrectly reported that the Abenaki people had migrated north to Quebec by the end of the 17th century; however, in 2011, the State of Vermont designated the Elnu Abenaki Tribe and the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation as state-recognized tribes; in 2012 it recognized the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi and the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koos Abenaki Nation. In 2016, the state governor proclaimed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day. Vermont has no federally recognized tribes.
==== Political changes ====
Vermont approved women's suffrage decades before it became part of the national constitution. Women were first allowed to vote in the elections of December 18, 1880, when they were granted limited suffrage. They were first allowed to vote in town elections, and later in state legislative races.
In 1931, Vermont was the 29th state to pass a eugenics law. Vermont, like other states, sterilized some patients in institutions and persons it had identified through surveys as degenerate or unfit. It nominally had permission from the patients or their guardians, but abuses were documented. Two-thirds of the sterilizations were done on women, and poor, unwed mothers were targeted, among others. There is disagreement about how many sterilizations were performed; most were completed between 1931 and 1941, but such procedures were recorded as late as 1970.
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims required "one man, one vote" redistricting in all states. It had found that many state legislatures had not redistricted and were dominated by rural interests, years after the development of densely populated and industrial urban areas. In addition, it found that many states had an upper house based on geographical jurisdictions, such as counties. This gave disproportionate power to rural and lightly populated counties. The court ruled there was no basis for such a structure. Major changes in political apportionment took place in Vermont and other affected states.
In the 21st century, Vermont increasingly became defined by its progressivism. It was the first state to introduce civil unions in 2000 and the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2009, unforced by court challenge or ruling. On January 22, 2018, Vermont became the first state to legalize cannabis for recreational use by legislative action, and the ninth state in the United States to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. This law was signed by Republican Governor Phil Scott.
== Geography ==
Vermont is located in the New England region of the northeastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles (24,900 km2), making it the 45th-largest state. It is the only state that does not have any buildings taller than 124 feet (38 m). Land comprises 9,250 square miles (24,000 km2) and water comprises 365 square miles (950 km2), making it the 43rd-largest in land area and the 47th in water area. In total area, it is larger than El Salvador and smaller than Haiti. It is the only landlocked state in New England, and it is the easternmost and smallest in area of all US landlocked states.
The Green Mountains in Vermont form a north–south spine running most of the length of the state, slightly west of its center. In the southwest portion of the state are located the Taconic Mountains. In the northwest, near Lake Champlain, is the fertile Champlain Valley. In the south of the valley is Lake Bomoseen.
The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the state's eastern border with New Hampshire, though much of the river flows within New Hampshire. 41% of Vermont's land area is part of the Connecticut River's watershed.
Lake Champlain, the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States, separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state.
From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles (256 km) long. Its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles (143 km) at the Canada–U.S. border; the narrowest width is 37 miles (60 km) near the Massachusetts border. The width averages 60.5 miles (97.4 km). The state's geographic center is approximately three miles (4.8 km) east of Roxbury, in Washington County. There are fifteen U.S. federal border crossings between Vermont and Canada.
Several mountains have timberlines with delicate year-round alpine ecosystems, including Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in the state; Killington Peak, the second-highest; Camel's Hump, the state's third-highest; and Mount Abraham, the fifth-highest peak. Areas in Vermont administered by the National Park Service include the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (in Woodstock) and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
The topography and climate make sections of Vermont subject to large-scale flooding. Incidents include the Great Vermont Flood of 1927, which killed 84 and damaged much of the state's infrastructure, the flood of 1973, which covered many of the state's roads in the southeast, and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, which caused substantial damage throughout the state. In response to the 1927 flood, the federal government funded construction of six flood control dams in the state, run by the Army Corps of Engineers. These extreme rain and flooding events are expected to intensify with climate change.
=== Cities ===
Vermont has ten incorporated cities. The most populous city in Vermont is Burlington. Its metropolitan area is also the most populous in the state, with an estimate of 225,562 as of 2020.
=== Largest towns ===
Although these towns are large enough to be considered cities, they are not incorporated as such.
=== Climate ===
The annual mean temperature for the state is 43 °F (6 °C). Vermont has a humid continental climate, with muddy springs, in general a mild early summer, hot Augusts; it has colorful autumns: Vermont's hills reveal red, orange, and (on sugar maples) gold foliage as cold weather approaches. Winters are colder at higher elevations. It has a Köppen climate classification of Dfb, a temperate continental climate.
The rural northeastern section known as the "Northeast Kingdom" often averages 10 °F (5.6 °C) colder than the southern areas of the state during winter. The annual snowfall averages between 60 and 100 inches (1,500 and 2,500 mm) depending on elevation. Vermont is the seventh coldest state in the country.
The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C), at Vernon, on July 4, 1911. The lowest recorded temperature was −50 °F (−46 °C), at Bloomfield, on December 30, 1933; this is the lowest temperature recorded in New England alongside Big Black River, which recorded a verified −50 °F (−46 °C) in 2009. The agricultural growing season ranges from 120 to 180 days. The United States Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones for the state range between zone 3b, no colder than −35 °F (−37 °C), in the Northeast Kingdom and northern part of the state and zone 5b, no colder than −15 °F (−26 °C), in the southern part of the state. The state receives between 2,200 and 2,400 hours of sunshine annually. New England as a whole receives a range of less than 2,000 hours of sunshine in part of New Hampshire to as much as 2,600 hours of sunshine per year in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
==== Climate change ====
Climate change in Vermont encompasses the effects of climate change, attributed to anthropogenic increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The state is already seeing effects of climate change that affect its ecosystems, economy and public health. According to the state government, rainfall has significantly increased in the last 50 years, storms and flooding have increased, and winters have become warmer and shorter. These changes have affected the winter tourism industry, and caused a decline in critical agricultural and woodland industries like maple sugaring.
The state openly acknowledges and is developing programs that respond to global warming. Vermont was one of the first states in the United States to adopt greenhouse gas emissions goals, in 2006.
=== Geology ===
There are five distinct physiographic regions of Vermont. Categorized by geological and physical attributes, they are the Northeastern Highlands, the Green Mountains, the Taconic Mountains, the Champlain Lowlands, and the Vermont Piedmont.
About 500 million years ago, Vermont was part of Laurentia and located in the tropics. The central and southern Green Mountain range include the oldest rocks in Vermont, formed about one billion years ago during the first mountain building period (or orogeny). Subsequently, about 400 million years ago, the second mountain building period created Green Mountain peaks that were 15,000–20,000 feet (4,600–6,100 m) tall, three to four times their current height and comparable to the Himalayas. The geological pressures that created those peaks remain evident as the Champlain Thrust, running north–south to the west of the mountains (now the eastern shore of Lake Champlain). It is an example of geological fault thrusting where bedrock is pushed over the newer rock formation.
As a result of tectonic formation, Vermont east of the Green Mountains tends to be formed from rocks produced in the Silurian and Devonian periods, and western Vermont mainly from the older Pre-Cambrian and Cambrian material. Several large deposits within the state contain granite. The remains of the Chazy Formation can be observed in Isle La Motte which was one of the first tropical reefs. It is the site of the limestone Fisk Quarry, which contains a collection of ancient marine fossils, such as stromatoporoids, that date to 200 million years ago. At one point, Vermont is believed to have been connected to Africa (Pangaea); the fossils found and the rock formations found on the coasts in both Africa and America are evidence affirming the Pangaea theory.
In the past four centuries, Vermont has experienced a few earthquakes, rarely centered under the state. The highest ranked, in 1952, had a Richter magnitude scale 6.0 and was based in Canada.
=== Fauna ===
The state contains 41 species of reptiles and amphibians (including the spring peeper), 89 species of fish, of which 12 are nonnative; 193 species of breeding birds, 58 species of mammals (including black bears, eastern chipmunks, coyotes, fishers, red and gray foxes, porcupines, and woodchucks), more than 15,000 insect species (including luna moths), and 2,000 higher plant species, plus fungi, algae, and 75 different types of natural communities. Vermont contains one species of venomous snake, the timber rattlesnake, which is confined to a few acres in western Rutland County.
Wildlife has suffered because of human development in the state. By the mid-19th century, wild turkeys were eradicated in the state through hunting and habitat destruction. Sixteen were reintroduced in 1969, and had grown to a flock estimated to number 45,000 in 2009. In 2013, hunters killed 6,968 of these. Since 1970, reduction of farmland has resulted in reduced environment for, and resulted in a decline in, numbers of various shrubland birds, including the American woodcock, brown thrasher, eastern towhee, willow flycatcher, golden-winged warbler, blue-winged warbler, field sparrow, and Baltimore oriole. Ospreys, whose eggs were previously damaged by DDT, began to reappear in 1998 and by 2010, were no longer endangered in the state.
Several species have declined or disappeared from the state, including bats, many of which have been killed by white-nose syndrome, the New England cottontail, outcompeted by the eastern cottontail rabbit, and the yellow-banded bumblebee, gone as one of 19 species of bee in decline.
Invasive species and organisms include the Asian spotted wing drosophila, a destroyer of crops, and eastern equine encephalitis virus whose antibodies were found in moose or deer in each of Vermont's counties.
=== Flora ===
Vermont is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. Much of the state, in particular the Green Mountains, is covered by the conifers and northern hardwoods of the New England-Acadian forests. The western border with New York and the area around Lake Champlain lies within the Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests. The southwest corner of the state and parts of the Connecticut River are covered by northeastern coastal forests of mixed oak.
Invasive wild honeysuckle has been deemed a threat to the state's forests, native species of plants, and wildlife. Many of Vermont's rivers, including the Winooski River, have been subjected to artificial barriers to prevent flooding.
Climate change appears to be affecting the maple sugar industry. Sugar maples have been subject to stress by acid rain, asian long-horned beetles, and pear thrips. In 2011, the deer herd had grown too large for the habitat, and many resorted to eating bark to survive the winter, destroying trees in the process. In addition, the sugar maples need a certain period of cold to produce sap for maple syrup. The time to tap these trees has shrunk to one week in recent years. The tree may be replaced by the more aggressive Norway maples, in effect forcing the sugar maples to "migrate" north to Canada.
== Demographics ==
=== Population ===
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Vermont had a population of 643,085 in the 2020 U.S. census. Vermont was one of two states with fewer people than the District of Columbia; Wyoming was the other. The center of population of Vermont is located in Washington County, in the town of Warren.
The influx of domestic migrants in the 1960s to 1980s brought outlooks different than those of the native-born population. As one example, since 1988, Vermont has consistently voted for Democrats in national elections, despite having been the most Republican state in the nation for more than 100 years after the party's founding in the 1850s.
Inward migration to Vermont began to wane during the 2000s, and became emigration during the 2010s. This trend reversed in the 2020s, with about 4,500 new residents domestically migrating to the state between 2020 and 2021. Chittenden County has seen the most rapid population growth, experiencing a 7.5% increase between 2010 and 2020. In 2018, the top countries of origin for immigrants in Vermont were Canada, Nepal, Jamaica, the Philippines and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
==== Race and ethnicity ====
As of 2022, 94% of Vermont's residents identify as racially White, and 92.2% of all residents are White people without Hispanic origin, making it one of the least diverse states in the U.S., along with Maine. When including French Canadians, the French made up the largest ancestral and ethnic group, with 20% of Vermont's population identify as such, with Irish and English also making up large portions of the populace.
==== Vital statistics ====
A total of 5,384 babies were born in 2021, a 4.89% increase from 2020. Of those births, 90.3% were non-Hispanic white. The fertility rate was 1.371, a slight increase from 2020.
=== Dialect ===
Linguists have identified speech patterns found among Vermonters as belonging to Western New England English, a dialect of New England English, which features full pronunciation of all r sounds, pronouncing horse and hoarse the same, and pronouncing vowels in father and bother the same, none of which are features traditionally shared in neighboring Eastern New England English. Some rural speakers realize the t as a glottal stop (mitten sounds like "mi'in" and Vermont like "Vermon' "). A dwindling segment of the Vermont population, generally both rural and male, pronounces certain vowels in a distinctive manner (e.g. cows with a raised vowel as [kʰɛʊz] and ride with a backed, somewhat rounded vowel as [ɹɒɪd]).
Eastern New England English—also found in New Hampshire, Maine and eastern Massachusetts—was common in eastern Vermont in the mid-twentieth century and before, but has become rare. This accent drops the r sound in words ending in r (farmer sounds like "farm-uh") and adds an r sound to some words ending in a vowel (idea sounds like "idee-er") was common. Those characteristics in eastern Vermont appear to have been inherited from West Country and Scots-Irish ancestors.
Vermont is one of three states (along with Maine and New Hampshire) where French is the second-most spoken language at home, which is largely due to the state's proximity to the province of Quebec. New England French, a unique dialect spoken in many of Vermont's Francophone homes, is derived from Quebec French, in contrast to the Brayon French which predominates in the Francophone regions of northern Maine which were settled primarily by Acadians.
=== Religion ===
According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, 37% reported no religion, the highest rate of irreligion of all U.S. states. The Pew Research Center also determined the largest religion was Christianity; Catholics made up 22% of the population and Protestants were 30%. In contrast with Southern U.S. trends, the majority of Protestants are mainline Protestant, dominated by Methodism. The United Methodist Church was the largest mainline Protestant denomination in Vermont, followed by the American Baptist Churches USA and United Church of Christ. Evangelical Protestants were dominated by independent Baptist churches. Major non-Christian religions were Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other faiths. The largest non-Christian religious group outside of irreligion were Unitarians. An estimated 3.1% of the irreligious were atheist.
With the publication of a study by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, Christianity spread among Protestantism, Catholicism, and non-mainstream Christians including Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses were approximately 64% of the adult population. The religiously unaffiliated were determined to be an estimated 30% of the total adult population according to the Public Religion Research Institute. As of 2022 per the Public Religion Research Institute, Vermont became plurality irreligious, and consistently ranks as one of the most secular states in the United States. The 2022 study estimated 48% of the population were religiously unaffiliated, while 45% were Christian altogether (Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness).
The Association of Religion Data Archives reported that in 2020, the religiously affiliated population were primarily Christian. The single largest Christian denominations were the following: the Catholic Church (124,208); United Church of Christ (11,882); and the United Methodist Church (9,652). Non-denominational Protestants numbered 29,830. Among the largest Christian denominations at this study, Catholics had an adherence rate of 208.70 per 1,000 people; the United Church of Christ 18.48 per 1,000 people; and United Methodists 15.01 per 1,000 people. ARDA's 2020 membership tabulations reflected the Pew Research Center's 2014 study where 21% of the population attended religious services weekly, 32% once or twice a month, and 47% seldom/never. In a 2018 research article by the National Christian Foundation, non-churchgoing Christians nationwide did not attend religious services often through practicing the faith in other ways, not finding a house of worship they liked, disliking sermons and feeling unwelcomed, and logistics.
== Economy ==
In 2024, Real GDP (inflation-adjusted, chained 2017 dollars) for Vermont was US$36 billion. GDP per capita (real, chained 2017 dollars) in 2024 was $55,577. Vermont's nominal GDP for 2024 was $45.7 billion, the lowest among all U.S. states.
In 2021, Vermont had a total employment of 239,758, and the total employer establishments were 20,696. As of 2019, Canada was Vermont's largest foreign trade partner, followed by Taiwan. Quebec received 75% of the state's exports to Canada. In 2022, 7,457 new businesses were registered in Vermont. Retail sales reached $10.8 billion in 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
=== Personal income ===
In 2021, the state had a median household income of $67,674, with approximately 10.3% of the population at or below the poverty line. The median wage in the state was $22.75 hourly or $47,320 annually in 2022. In 2007, about 80% of the 68,000 Vermonters who qualify for food stamps received them. 40% of seniors 75 years or older live on annual incomes of $21,660 or less. In 2011, 15.2% of Vermonters received food stamps. This compares to 14.8% nationally.
In 2011, 91,000 seniors received an annual average of $14,000 from Social Security. This was 59% of the average senior's income. This contributed $1.7 billion to the state's economy.
=== Agriculture ===
As of 2022, agriculture, along with forestry and other animal industry, contributed 0.45% of the state's gross domestic product. As of May 2022, about 0.16% of the state's working population was engaged in agriculture jobs.
==== Dairy farming ====
Dairy farming remains a primary source of agricultural income. In the second half of the 20th century, developers had plans to build condos and houses on what was relatively inexpensive, open land. Vermont's government responded with a series of laws controlling development to prevent the decline of Vermont's dairy industry. This proved ineffective, as the number of Vermont dairy farms has declined nearly 95% from the 11,206 dairy farms operating in 1947. As of December 2021, the state had 568 dairy farms, a decline from 658 in 2019, 1,138 in 2006, and fewer than 1,500 in 2003. The number of dairy farms has been diminishing by roughly 10% annually. Dairy farms control 80% of open land.
In 2021, 28.5% (162) of the state's dairy farms were certified organic. The number of cattle in Vermont had declined by 40%; however, milk production has doubled in the same period due to tripling the production per cow. While milk production rose, Vermont's market share declined. Within a group of states supplying the Boston and New York City markets (called "Federal order Class I"), Vermont was third in market share, with 10.6%; New York has 44.9% and Pennsylvania has 32.9%. In 2007, dairy farmers received a record $23.60 for 100 pounds (45 kg) (11.63 gallons at $2.03/gallon) of milk. This dropped in 2008 to $17 ($1.46/gallon). The average dairy farm produced 1.3 million pounds of milk annually in 2008.
The dairy barn remains characteristic of Vermont, but the 95% decrease in dairy farms between 1947 and 2021 means that preservation of dairy barns has increasingly become a matter of preserving historic legacy rather than meeting a basic need of an agricultural economy. The Vermont Barn Census, organized in 2009 by educational and nonprofit state and local historic preservation programs, has worked to record the number, condition, and features of barns throughout Vermont.
A significant amount of milk is shipped into the Boston market. Therefore, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts certifies that Vermont farms meet Massachusetts sanitary standards. Without this certification, a farmer may not sell milk for distribution into the bulk market. In 2019, two-thirds of all milk in New England was produced by Vermont dairies.
==== Forestry ====
Forestry has always been a staple to the economy, comprising 1% of the total gross state output and 9% of total manufacturing as of 2013. In 2007, Windham County contained the largest concentration of kilns for drying lumber east of the Mississippi River. The decline of farms has resulted in a regrowth of Vermont's forests due to ecological succession. Today, most of Vermont's forests are secondary. The state and non-profit organizations are actively encouraging regrowth and careful forest management. Over 78% of the land area of the state is forested compared to only 37% in the 1880s, when sheep farming was at its peak and large amounts of acreage were cleared for grazing. Over 85% of that area is non-industrial, private forestland owned by individuals or families. In 2013, 73,054 million cubic feet (2,068.7 million cubic meters) of wood was harvested in Vermont. A large amount of Vermont forest products are exports with 21,504 million feet (6.554×109 meters) being shipped overseas plus an additional 16,384 million cubic feet (463.9 million cubic meters) to Canada. Most of it was processed within the state. In this century the manufacture of wood products has fallen by almost half. The annual net growth has been estimated at 172,810 million cubic feet (4,893 million cubic meters). The USDA estimates that 8,584 billion cubic feet (243.1 billion cubic meters) remain in the state. Forest products also add to carbon sequestration since lumber and timber used in houses and furniture hold carbon for long periods of time while the trees that were removed are replaced overtime with new growing stock.
In 2017, the price of wood products had either plummeted or remained the same when compared to previous decades, which meant there was cause for concern with jobs in the industry. For example, in 1994, the price of a thousand board feet was $300, the same as it was in 2017. The price of wood chips has halved in the same time frame. In 1980, the price for a cord of wood was $50; in 2017, $25. For lack of demand, Vermont's forests are growing twice as fast as they are being cut.
==== Other ====
As of 2022, Vermont was the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States at 2,550,000 US gallons (9,700,000 L), representing 50.7% of the nation's total production. In 2021, its production value totaled $56.0 million at $32.00/gallon. There were about 2,000 maple products producers in 2010. The wine industry in Vermont started in 1985. As of 2007, there were 14 wineries.
As of 2020, apple growing is the third largest contributor to the state's agricultural economy, after dairy and maple syrup. Vermont orchards primarily grow McIntosh apples, and the industry has seen a steady decline as consumer preferences have shifted to newer apple varieties. The number of acres devoted to apple growing decreased from approximately 3,700 in 1997 to just 1,700 in 2017, and many of the orchards now focus on growing apples for cider production and providing Pick-Your-Own orchards to appeal to the state's agritourism market. In 1999, apples and apple pie were named the official state fruit and state pie, respectively. Around 23% of Vermont's vegetable farms are organic.
=== Manufacturing ===
As of 2015, GlobalFoundries was the largest private employer in the state and provided jobs to 3,000 employees at its plant in the village of Essex Junction within Chittenden County.
A growing part of Vermont's economy is the manufacture and sale of artisan foods, fancy foods, and novelty items trading in part upon the Vermont "brand", which the state manages and defends. Examples of these specialty exports include Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, Burton Snowboards, Cabot Cheese, Fine Paints of Europe, King Arthur Flour, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Vermont Creamery, several microbreweries, and ginseng growers.
In 2010, a University of Connecticut study reported that Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire tied as the most costly states in the U.S. for manufacturers.
=== Energy ===
Vermont has no fossil fuel reserves, however its forest products industry provides fuel for electricity generation and home heating. Electricity consumption per capita ranks it among the lowest 20% of states, and total electricity consumption was the lowest in the United States. Vermont consumed three times more electricity than it generated in-state in 2019, and imported its largest share of electricity from Canada. Vermont's 99.9% share of electricity generation from renewable sources was the highest among all 50 states.
=== Health ===
An increasingly aging population is expected to increase demand for aging-related services and healthcare. The University of Vermont Medical Center, with more than 8,800 employees, is the largest employer in the state.
In 2010, all of Vermont's hospitals billed patients $3.76 billion, and collected $2 billion. 92,000 people are enrolled in Medicare. In 2011, Medicare spent $740 million on health care in the state.
=== Labor ===
In 2009, the state attained a high of 361,290 workers.
As of 2006, there were 305,000 workers in Vermont. Eleven percent of these are unionized. Out of a workforce of 299,200 workers, 52,000 were government jobs, federal, state, and local.
A modern high unemployment rate of 9% was reached in June 1976. A modern low of 2.4% was measured in February 2000. As of May 2025, the unemployment rate was 2.6%.
Employment grew 7.5% from 2000 to 2006. From 1980 to 2000, employment grew by 3.4%; nationally it was up 4.6%. Real wages were $33,385 in 2006 constant dollars and remained there in 2010; the nation, $36,871.
As of 2014, the Pew Research Center estimated that farms in the state employed fewer than 5,000 illegal immigrants. In 2017, Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced that the state was "exploring a legal challenge" to the executive order signed by President Donald Trump for Vermont law enforcement authorities to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and "perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens".
=== Insurance ===
Captive insurance plays an increasingly large role in Vermont's economy. With this form of alternative insurance, large corporations or industry associations form standalone insurance companies to insure their own risks, thereby substantially reducing their insurance premiums and gaining a significant measure of control over types of risks to be covered. There are also significant tax advantages to be gained from the formation and operation of captive insurance companies. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Vermont in 2009 was the world's third-largest domicile for captive insurance companies, following Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
In 2009, there were 560 such companies.
In 2010, the state had 900 such companies.
=== Recreation ===
Summer camps such as Camp Abnaki, Camp Billings, Camp Dudley, and Camp Hochelaga contribute to Vermont's tourist economy.
In 2005, visitors made an estimated 13.4 million trips to the state, spending $1.57 billion.
In 2012, fall accounted for $460 million of income, about one-quarter of all tourism.
In 2011, the state government earned $274 million in taxes and fees from tourism. 89% of the money came from out-of-state visitors. Tourism supported over 26,000 jobs, 7.2% of total employment.
According to the 2000 census, almost 15% of all housing units in Vermont were vacant and classified "for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use". This was the second highest percentage nationwide, after Maine. In some Vermont cities, vacation homes owned by wealthy residents of New England and New York constitute the bulk of all housing stock. According to one estimate, as of 2009, 84% of all houses in Ludlow were owned by out-of-state residents. Other notable vacation-home resorts include Manchester and Stowe.
==== Hunting ====
Hunting is controlled for black bear, wild turkeys, deer, and moose. There are 5,500 bears in the state. The goal is to keep the numbers between 4,500 and 6,000.
In 2010, there were about 141,000 deer in the state, which is in range of government goals. However, these are distributed unevenly and when in excess of 10–15 per square mile (4–6/km2), reduce timber growth.
In 2012, hunting of migratory birds was limited to October 13 to December 16. Waterfowl hunting is also controlled by federal law.
==== Skiing and snowmobiling ====
Some of the largest ski areas in New England are located in Vermont. Skiers and snowboarders visit Burke Mountain Ski Area, Bolton Valley, Smugglers' Notch, Killington Ski Resort, Mad River Glen, Stowe Mountain Resort, Cochrans Ski Area, Sugarbush, Stratton, Jay Peak, Okemo, Saskadena Six, Mount Snow, Bromley, Brattleboro Ski Hill, and Magic Mountain Ski Area. Summer visitors tour resort towns like Stowe, Manchester, Quechee, Wilmington, Woodstock, Mount Snow, and. The effects of global warming have been predicted to shorten the length of the ski season across Vermont, which would continue the contraction and consolidation of the ski industry in Vermont and threaten individual ski businesses and communities that rely on ski tourism.
In winter, Nordic and backcountry skiers visit to travel the length of the state on the Catamount Trail. Several horse shows are annual events. Vermont's state parks, historic sites, museums, golf courses, and new boutique hotels with spas were designed to attract tourists.
In 2000–2001, there were 4,579,719 skier and snowboarder visits to the state. There were 4,125,082 visits in 2009–2010, a rise from recent years.
In 2008, there were 35,000 members of 138 snowmobiling clubs in Vermont. The combined association of clubs maintains 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of trail often over private lands. The industry is said to generate "hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business."
=== Quarrying ===
The towns of Rutland and Barre are the traditional centers of marble and granite quarrying and carving in the U.S. For many years Vermont was also the headquarters of the smallest union in the U.S., the Journeymen Stonecutters' Association of North America, of about 500 members. The first marble quarry in America was on Mount Aeolus overlooking East Dorset. The granite industry attracted numerous skilled stonecutters in the late 19th century from Italy, Scotland, and Ireland. Barre is the location of the Rock of Ages quarry, the largest dimension stone granite quarry in the United States. Vermont is the largest producer of slate in the country. The highest quarrying revenues result from the production of dimension stone. The Rock of Ages quarry in Barre is one of the leading exporters of granite in the country. The work of the sculptors of this corporation can be seen 3 miles (4.8 km) down the road at the Hope Cemetery, where there are gravestones and mausoleums.
=== Nonprofits and volunteerism ===
There were 2,682 nonprofit organizations in Vermont in 2008, with $2.8 billion in revenue. The state ranked ninth in the country for volunteerism for the period 2005–08. 35.6% of the population volunteered during this period. The national average was 26.4%.
== Education ==
Vermont was named the nation's smartest state in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, there was a gap between state testing standards and national, which is biased in favor of the state standards by 30%, on average. This puts Vermont 11th-best in the nation. Most states have a higher bias. However, when allowance for race is considered, a 2007 U.S. Government list of test scores shows Vermont white fourth graders performed 25th in the nation for reading (229) and 26th for math (247). White eighth graders scored 18th for math (292) and 12th for reading (273). The first three scores were not considered statistically different from average. White eighth graders scored significantly above average in reading. Statistics for black students were not reliable because of their small representation in the testing.
In 2017, spending $1.6 billion on education for 76,000 public school children, represented more than $21,000 per student.
Education Week ranked the state second in high school graduation rates for 2007.
In 2011, 91% of the population had graduated from high school compared with 85% nationally. Almost 34% have at least an undergraduate degree compared with 28% nationally.
In 2013, the ratio of pupils to teachers was the lowest in the country.
=== Higher education ===
Vermont's largest university is The University of Vermont (UVM), a public land-grant research university and one of the original eight Public Ivies. In addition, Vermont State University and the Community College of Vermont reside within the Vermont State Colleges system. The state has several other private colleges, including Bennington College, Champlain College, Middlebury College, Norwich University, Saint Michael's College, and Vermont Law and Graduate School.
Research at the University of Vermont by George Perkins Marsh and the influence of Vermont-born philosopher and educator John Dewey brought about the concepts of electives and learning-by-doing.
== Transportation ==
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is responsible for transportation infrastructure. The principal mode of travel in Vermont is via car, with 93.4% of Vermont households owning a car in 2021. Four car ferry routes operate across Lake Champlain. Passenger rail is provided by Amtrak's daily Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express trains. Intercity bus operators include Vermont Translines, Greyhound Lines, and Megabus. A number of public transit agencies operate bus service at the local, county, and regional levels. Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport is the state's primary airport.
=== Road ===
In 2012, there were 605,000 vehicles registered, nearly one for every person. This is similar to average car ownership nationwide. In 2012, about half of greenhouse gas emissions in the state were from vehicles.
In 2010, Vermont owned 2,840 miles (4,570 km) of highway. This was the third smallest quantity among the 50 states. 2.5% of the highways were listed as "congested", the fifth lowest in the country. The highway fatality rate was one per 100,000,000 miles (160,000,000 km), tenth lowest in the nation. The highways cost $28,669 per mile ($17,814/km) to maintain, the 17th highest in the states. 34.4% of its 2,691 bridges were rated deficient or obsolete, the eighth worst in the nation. A 2005–06 study ranked Vermont 37th out of the states for "cost-effective road maintenance", a decline of thirteen places since 2004–05.
In 2007, Vermont was ranked the third safest state for highway fatalities. One third of these fatal crashes involved a drunken driver. On average, 20–25 people die each year from drunk driving incidents, and 70–80 people are in fatal car crashes in the state. Collisions with moose constitute a traffic threat, particularly in northern Vermont, and cause several deaths per year. In 2009, 93% of Vermont motorists were insured, tying with Pennsylvania for the highest percentage. In 2008, Vermont was the fifth best state for fewest uninsured motorists at 6%.
Trucks weighing less than 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) can use Vermont's interstate highways. The limit for state roads is 99,000 pounds (45,000 kg). This means that vehicles too heavy for the interstates can legally use only secondary roads.
In 1968, Vermont outlawed the use of billboards for advertisement along its roads. It is one of only four states in the U.S. to have done this, along with Hawaii, Maine, and Alaska, and is a source of pride among Vermonters. The consensus from the state's Act 250 commission was that billboards obstruct and distract from scenic views of countryside, critical to Vermont's pastoral image.
==== Major north–south routes ====
Interstate 89 runs a northwest–southeast path through Vermont, beginning in White River Junction and heading northwest to serve the cities of Montpelier, Burlington, and St. Albans en route to the Canada–U.S. border. I-89 intersects I-91 in White River Junction and has a short spur route, Interstate 189, just outside of Burlington.
Interstate 91 runs a north–south path from the Massachusetts state line to the Canada–U.S. border, connecting the towns of Brattleboro, White River Junction, St. Johnsbury, and the city of Newport. I-91 intersects I-89 in White River Junction, and I-93 in St. Johnsbury.
Interstate 93 runs a short, 11-mile (18 km) distance from the New Hampshire state line to its northern terminus in St. Johnsbury, where it intersects I-91. I-93 connects the Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont with the White Mountains region of New Hampshire, and points south.
U.S. Route 5 runs a north–south path in eastern Vermont from the Massachusetts state line to the Canada-U.S. border. U.S. Route 5 is a surface road that runs parallel to I-91 for its entire length in the state, and serves nearly all the same towns. The two routes also parallel the New Hampshire state line between Brattleboro and St. Johnsbury.
U.S. Route 7 runs a north–south path in western Vermont from the Massachusetts state line to the Canada-U.S. border. U.S. Route 7 connects the cities and towns of Bennington, Rutland, Middlebury, Burlington, and St. Albans. Between Bennington and Dorset, U.S. Route 7 runs as a Super 2 freeway. It also parallels I-89 between Burlington and the Canada–U.S. border.
Vermont Route 30 is a 111.870-mile-long north–south road that runs from Brattleboro to Middlebury. Vermont Route 30 runs through the state's historic West River Valley, where it passes through the colonial towns of Newfane, Townshend, West Townshend, East Jamaica, Jamaica, Rawsonville and Bondville.
Vermont Route 100 runs a north–south path directly through the center of the state, along the length of the Green Mountains. VT Route 100 generally parallels both U.S. Route 5 (which runs to its east) and U.S. Route 7 (which runs to its west). Many of the state's major ski areas are located either directly on, or very close to, VT Route 100. The largest town by population along VT Route 100 is Morristown.
==== Major east–west routes ====
U.S. Route 2 runs a generally east–west path across central and northern Vermont, from Alburgh (on the New York state line) to Guildhall (on the New Hampshire state line). U.S. Route 2 connects the Lake Champlain Islands and the Northeast Kingdom to the population centers of Burlington, Montpelier, and St. Johnsbury. U.S. Route 2 runs parallel to I-89 between Colchester and Montpelier. Although the portion of the road from Alburgh to Burlington follows a north–south orientation, U.S. Route 2 in Vermont is entirely signed as east–west.
U.S. Route 4 runs east–west across south-central Vermont from Fair Haven (on the New York state line) to White River Junction (on the New Hampshire state line). U.S. Route 4 also connects the city of Rutland and the towns of Killington and Woodstock. Between Fair Haven and Rutland, U.S. Route 4 runs as a four-lane freeway that is mostly up to Interstate design standards.
U.S. Route 302 runs an east–west path from its western terminus in Montpelier to the village of Wells River, where it intersects both I-91 and U.S. Route 5, and then crosses into New Hampshire. U.S. Route 302 is one of the main roads connecting Montpelier and Barre in central Vermont.
Vermont Route 9 runs an east–west path across the southern part of the state. VT Route 9 connects the towns of Bennington, Wilmington, and Brattleboro.
Vermont Route 105 runs a generally east–west path across the northernmost parts of Vermont (sometimes within a few miles of the Canada–U.S. border) from St. Albans to Bloomfield (on the New Hampshire state line). VT Route 105 ultimately connects the cities of St. Albans and Newport.
=== Ferry ===
There is a year-round ferry service to and from New York State across Lake Champlain from Charlotte to Essex and Grand Isle to Plattsburgh. Operated by the Lake Champlain Transportation Company (LCTC), the Grand Isle - Plattsburgh ferry operates 24 hours a day, while the Charlotte ferry serves a limited schedule.
Seasonal service from Shoreham to Ticonderoga is provided by the Fort Ticonderoga Ferry.
=== Rail ===
Passenger service is provided by Amtrak's Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express, while freight service is provided by the New England Central Railroad, the Vermont Railway, and the Green Mountain Railroad.
The Ethan Allen Express serves Burlington Union Station, Ferrisburgh–Vergennes, Middlebury, Rutland, and Castleton, while the Vermonter serves St. Albans, Essex Junction, Waterbury, Montpelier, Randolph, White River Junction, Windsor, Bellows Falls, and Brattleboro.
=== Intercity bus ===
Greyhound Lines stops in Bennington, Bellows Falls, Brandon, Burlington, Colchester, Ferrisburgh, Manchester, Middlebury, Montpelier, Rutland, Wallingford, and White River Junction. Vermont Translines, an intercity bus company founded by Premier Coach in 2013 partnering with Greyhound and starting service on June 9, 2014, serves Milton, Colchester, Burlington, Middlebury, Brandon, Rutland, Wallingford, Manchester and Bennington. Additionally, Bennington hosts the weekday-operating Albany-Bennington Shuttle, an intercity bus operated by Yankee Trails World Travel.
=== Local bus ===
A patchwork of transit providers operate local bus service in every Vermont county, though route frequency and coverage are often limited outside major cities. Many operators also provide paratransit and regional express bus services. Green Mountain Transit is the largest operator in the state, with weekday ridership of 7,300 as of the fourth quarter of 2025. Other major systems are Marble Valley Regional Transit District (The Bus), Southeast Vermont Transit (MOOver), Tri-Valley Transit, Rural Community Transportation, Advance Transit, and Green Mountain Community Network.
=== Air ===
Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport is the largest in the state, with regular flights to Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Washington Dulles, JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Orlando, and Philadelphia. Airlines serving the airport include American, Breeze, Delta, Sun Country, and United. Beta Technologies operates an eVTOL manufacturing and testing facility at the airport. Additionally, the airport houses the 134th fighter squadron of the 158th fighter wing. Known as the "Green Mountain Boys", the squadron is armed with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and is tasked with protecting the Northeastern United States from the air.
Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional Airport has three daily flights to Boston via Cape Air.
== Media ==
=== Newspapers of record ===
Vermont statute requires the Vermont Secretary of State to designate newspapers that provide general coverage across the state as the Newspapers of Record. As of 2019, these include:
Addison Independent
Bennington Banner
Brattleboro Reformer
Burlington Free Press
Caledonian Record
The Chronicle
Islander
Newport Daily Express
News & Citizen
Rutland Herald
Seven Days
St. Albans Messenger
Times Argus
Valley News
Vermont Lawyer
The White River Valley Herald
=== Broadcast and web media ===
Vermont hosts 93 radio broadcast stations. The top categories are talk/information (11), country (9) and classic rock (9). The top owner of radio broadcast stations is Vermont Public Radio (11 broadcast frequencies and 13 low-power, local transmitters). Other companies had five or fewer stations. The state has 15 online radio stations.
Vermont hosts 10 high-power television broadcast stations, three of which are satellites of a primary station. Represented are the following networks and number of high-power transmitters, ABC (1), CBS (1), Fox (1), NBC (2), PBS (4), and RTV (1). In addition, it has 17 low-power television broadcast stations, which in several cases are satellites of the high-power stations.
The "Rumble Strip" podcast features conversations with everyday Vermonters and in 2021 won a Peabody award.
== Electrical utilities ==
Vermont electric power needs are served by over twenty utilities. The largest is Green Mountain Power, a subsidiary of Énergir which also took over Central Vermont Public Service. Together this company represents 70% of the retail customers in Vermont. The state is a small electricity consumer compared with other states. Therefore, its electricity sector has the lowest carbon footprint in the country. As of 2010, the state had the lowest wholesale electricity costs in New England.
== Public health ==
In 2010, Vermont was the sixth highest ranked state for Well-Being in a study by Gallup and Healthways. In 2010, the state stood third in physical well-being of children.
In 2010, Vermont was ranked the highest in the country for health outcomes.
In 2000, the state implemented the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program to improve preventive services and management of chronic conditions. In 2011, the state ranked third in the nation in child health system performance. In 2011, the March of Dimes gave Vermont an "A", ranking it number one in the country on its Prematurity Report Card.
The state scored well in cessation of smoking, obesity, fewer occupational fatalities, prevalence of health insurance, and low infant mortality. A problem area was a high prevalence of binge drinking. While ranking sixth from best for adults in obesity in 2009, the state still had 22% obese with a rate of 27% for children 10–17. The ranking for children was ninth best in the nation.
In 1993, the obesity rate for adults was 12%. Vermonters spend $141 million annually in medical costs related to obesity. The combined figures for overweight and obese adults rose from 40.7% in 1990 to 58.4% in 2010. This is better than most other states.
In 2011, Vermont led the nation in the rate of young people who had consumed alcohol in the past month; one-third of people aged 11 through 20. One-fifth of that group had binged during that time. The state was second for the use of marijuana by young people; 30% of adults 18 to 25 in the past month.
In 2009, Vermont was ranked second in the nation for safety. Crime statistics on violence were used for the criteria.
In 2007, Vermont was ranked among the best five states in the country for preventing "premature death" in people under 75 years of age. The rate of survival was twice that of the five lowest performing states.
Parts of the state have been declared federal disaster areas on 28 occasions from 1963 to 2008.
In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency cited Chittenden and Bennington as counties with 70 parts per billion of smog which is undesirable.
In 2008, about 100,000 Vermonters got their health care through the federal government, Medicare, Tri-Care, and the Veteran's Administration. An additional 10,000 Vermonters work for employers who provide insurance under federal law under ERISA. About 20% of Vermonters receive health care outside of Vermont; 20% of the care provided within the state is to non-Vermonters. In 2008, the state had an estimated 7.6% with no medical insurance, down from 9.8% in 2005. In 2008, the Vermont Health Access Program for low-income, uninsured adults cost from $7 to $49 per month. A "Catamount Health" premium assistance program was available for Vermonters who do not qualify for other programs. Total monthly premiums ranged from $60 to $393 for an individual. There was a $250 deductible. Insured paid $10 toward each generic prescription. 16.9% of residents 18 to 35 were uninsured, the highest group.
Health care spending increased from $2.3 billion in 2000 to $4.8 billion in 2009.
In 2009, adult day care services cost more in Vermont than any other state—$150 daily.
The state started air drops of rabies bait for raccoons in 1997. Known rabies cases in raccoons peaked in 2007 at 165. The program is in cooperation with neighboring states and Canada.
== Law and government ==
Vermont is federally represented in the United States Congress by two senators and one representative.
The state is governed by a constitution which divides governmental duties into legislative, executive, and judicial branches: the Vermont General Assembly, the governor of Vermont and the Vermont Supreme Court. The governorship and the General Assembly serve two-year terms including the governor, 30 senators, and 150 representatives. There are no term limits for any office. The state capital is in Montpelier.
There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont: towns, cities, and villages. Like most of New England, there is slight provision for autonomous county government. Counties and county seats are merely convenient repositories for various government services such as state courts, with several elected officers such as a state's attorney and sheriff. All county services are directly funded by the state of Vermont. The next effective governmental level below state government are municipalities. Most of these are towns.
=== Finances and taxation ===
Vermont is the only state in the union not to have a balanced-budget requirement, though it has had a balanced budget every year since 1991.
In 2007, Moody's gave its top bond credit rating (Aaa) to the state.
The state uses enterprise funds for operations that are similar to private business enterprises. The Vermont Lottery Commission, the Liquor Control Fund, and the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, are the largest of the State's enterprise funds.
Also in 2007, Vermont was the 14th highest out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for state and local taxation, with a per capita load of $3,681. The national average was $3,447.
Vermont collects a state personal income tax in a progressive structure of five different income brackets, with marginal tax rates ranging from 3.6% to 9.5%. In 2008, the top 1% of Vermont residents provided 30% of the income tax revenue; around 2,000 people had sufficient income to be taxed at the highest marginal rate of 9.5%.
Vermont's general state sales tax rate is 6%, which is imposed on sales of tangible personal property, amusement charges, fabrication charges, some public utility charges and some service contracts. Some towns and cities impose an additional 1% Local Option Tax. There are 46 exemptions from the sales tax, including exemptions for food, medical items, manufacturing machinery, equipment and fuel, residential fuel and electricity, clothing, and shoes. A use tax is imposed on the buyer at the same rate as the sales tax. The buyer pays the use tax when the seller fails to collect the sales tax or the items are purchased from a source where no tax is collected. The use tax applies to items taxable under the sales tax.
Vermont does not collect inheritance taxes, but does impose a state estate tax; a Vermont estate tax return must be filed if the estate must file a federal estate tax return (the requirement for which depends on federal law). Vermont does not collect a gift tax.
Property taxes are levied by municipalities for the support of education and municipal services. Vermont does not assess tax on personal property. Property taxes are based on appraisal of the fair market value of real property. Rates vary from 0.97% on homesteaded property in Ferdinand, Essex County, to 2.72% on nonresidents' property in Barre City. Statewide, towns average 1.77% to 1.82% tax rate.
In 2007, Vermont counties were among the highest in the country for property taxes. Chittenden ($3,809 median), Windham ($3,412), Addison ($3,352), and Windsor ($3,327) ranked in the top 100, out of 1,817 counties in the nation with populations greater than 20,000. Twelve of the state's 14 counties stood in the top 20%. Median annual property taxes as a percentage of median homeowners income, 5.4%, was rated as the third highest in the nation in 2011.
To equitably support education, some towns are required by Act 60 to send some of their collected taxes to be redistributed to school districts lacking adequate support.
=== Politics ===
Vermont is one of four states (Texas, California, and Hawaii) that previously claimed status as independent nations. Vermont is the only state to have voted for presidential candidate William Wirt from the Anti-Masonic Party, and Vermont was one of only two states to vote against Franklin D. Roosevelt in all four of his presidential campaigns (the other was Maine).
Vermont's history of independent political thought has led to movements for the establishment of the Second Vermont Republic and other plans advocating secession.
Vermont is the only state in the United States that requires voters to be sworn in, having established the voter's oath or affirmation in 1777. All white men were granted universal suffrage in 1777.
==== State politics ====
Republicans dominated local Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the mid-1970s, and at the presidential level until the 1990s. Before the 1960s, rural interests dominated the legislature. As a result, cities, particularly the older sections of Burlington and Winooski, were neglected and fell into decay, and people began to move out to newer suburbs.
A series of one man, one vote decisions made by the United States Supreme Court in the 1960s required states to redraw their legislative districts to accurately reflect population. As a result, urban areas in Vermont gained political power.
The legislature was redistricted under one-person, one-vote in the 1960s. It passed the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970, to discourage suburban sprawl and to limit major growth to already developed areas. The law, the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions appointed by the governor, who judged land development and subdivision plans that would affect the state's environment and many small communities significantly. As a result of Act 250, Vermont was the last state to get a Walmart (there are now six Walmarts in the state, as of November 2017, but only three — in Williston, St. Albans, and Derby — were newly built from the ground up). Because of the successful attempts to dilute what is perceived as the original intent of Act 250, and other development pressures, Vermont has been designated one of America's most "endangered historic places" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
From 1856 (the first presidential election after the Republican Party's founding) to 1988, Vermont voted Republican in every presidential election except 1964, when Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson became the first of his party to carry the state amidst a national landslide. Since 1992, Vermont has voted Democratic in every presidential election, marking a massive shift in the state's politics.
In 1995, the state banned the spreading of manure from December 15 to April 1, to prevent run-off and protect the water. Therefore, farms must have environmentally approved facilities to store manure during this time frame.
While the state voted largely Democratic, Republican governor Douglas won all counties but Windham in the 2006 election.
A controversy dating from 1999 has been over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage at the state, but not federal, level. In Baker v. Vermont (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a "separate, but equal" status for them. The state legislature chose the second option, by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean.
In April 2009, the state legislature overrode governor Jim Douglas's veto to allow same-sex marriage, becoming the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation. In September 2009, Vermont became the fourth state in which same-sex couples could marry. The previous three were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa.
In 2007, the state's House of Representatives rejected a measure which would have legalized assisted suicide for the terminally ill, by a vote of (82–63). With the governor's signature on May 20, 2013, Vermont became the fourth state to pass a "death with dignity" law — the first to be passed through legislation, rather than by ballot initiative.
Minor parties and independents flourish. Rules which eliminate smaller parties from the ballot in most states do not exist in Vermont. As a result, voters often have extensive choices for general elections. Among others, this more open policy enabled independents like Bernie Sanders to win election as mayor of Burlington, as a U.S. congressman, and as a U.S. senator.
A political issue has been Act 60, which balances taxation for education funding. This has resulted in the town of Killington trying to secede from Vermont and join New Hampshire, due to what the locals say is an unfair tax burden.
The Vermont constitution and the courts supports the right of a person to walk (fish and hunt) on any unposted, unfenced land. That is, trespass must be proven by the owner; it is not automatically assumed.
Vermont has some of the least restrictive gun control laws in the country. A permit or license is not required for purchasing or carrying firearms. Concealed carry and open carry of a firearm is legal over the age of 16, with those below 16 requiring parental permission.
Vermont has a pro-sanctuary city law.
The state is an alcoholic beverage control state. In 2007, through the Vermont Department of Liquor Control, it took in over $14 million from the sale and distribution of liquor.
In 2013, Vermont became the 17th state to decriminalize marijuana. The statute makes possession of less than an ounce of the drug punishable by a small fine, rather than arrest and possible jail time.
In 2014, Vermont became the first state to call for a constitutional convention to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC.
In 2014, Vermont became the first state to mandate labeling of genetically modified organisms in the retail food supply.
A distinctive law of Vermont is public nudity. The state's legislation calls for nudity in public to be a constitutional right of Vermonters, so long as "lewd and lascivious" acts are not performed in public view, and that the nudist does not undress in the presence of others. One reason this law was implemented is to protect skinny-dippers who frequent swimming holes, a long-time tradition in the state. There are other restrictions and bylaws on the municipal level concerning problematic nudity, but walking in the nude is legally protected in all 251 towns and cities in Vermont.
In January 2018, Governor Phil Scott opted to sign H.511, the Vermont marijuana legalization bill, which allows adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to two mature plants starting July 1, 2018.
==== Federal politics ====
Historically, Vermont was considered one of the most reliably Republican states in the country in terms of national elections. From 1856 to 1988, Vermont voted Democratic only once, in Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory of 1964 against Barry M. Goldwater. It was also one of only two states—Maine is the other—where Franklin D. Roosevelt was completely shut out in all four of his presidential bids. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Republican presidential candidates frequently won the state with over 70% of the vote.
In the 1960s and 1970s, many people moved in from out of state. Much of this immigration included the arrival of more liberal political influences of the urban areas of New York and the rest of New England in Vermont. The brand of Republicanism in Vermont has historically been a moderate one, and combined with the newcomers from out of state, this made Vermont friendlier to Democrats as the national GOP moved to the right. As evidence of this, in 1990 Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was elected to Vermont's lone seat in the House as an independent. Sanders became the state's junior Senator in 2007. However, for his entire career in the House and Senate, Sanders has caucused with the Democrats and is counted as a Democrat for the purposes of committee assignments and voting for party leadership.
After narrowly supporting George H. W. Bush in 1988, it gave Democrat Bill Clinton a 16-point margin in 1992—the first time the state had gone Democratic since 1964. Vermont has voted Democratic in every presidential election since.
Since 2004, Vermont has been one of the Democrats' most loyal states. It gave John Kerry his fourth-largest margin of victory in the presidential campaign against George W. Bush; he won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points, taking almost 59% of the vote. (Kerry, from neighboring Massachusetts, also became the first Northern Democrat ever to carry Vermont; Johnson was from Texas, Clinton from Arkansas and Al Gore, triumphant in Vermont in 2000, from Tennessee.) Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush. Vermont is the only state that did not receive a visit from George W. Bush during his tenure as President of the United States. Indeed, George W. Bush and Donald Trump are the only Republicans to win the White House without carrying Vermont.
In 2008, Vermont gave Barack Obama his third-largest margin of victory (37 percentage points) and third-largest vote share in the nation by his winning the state 68% to 31%. Only Obama's birth state of Hawaii and Washington, D.C. were stronger Democratic victories. The same held true in 2012, when Obama carried Vermont 67% of the vote to 31% for Mitt Romney, and in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won with 57% of the vote to 30% for Donald Trump.
Vermont's two senators are independent Bernie Sanders and Democrat Peter Welch. The state is represented by an at-large member of the House, Democrat Becca Balint, who succeeded Welch in 2023.
== Culture ==
Vermont festivals include the Vermont Maple Festival, Festival on the Green, The Vermont Dairy Festival in Enosburg Falls, the Apple Festival (held each Columbus Day Weekend), the Marlboro Music Festival, the Guilford Country fair and the Vermont Brewers Festival. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is supported by the state and performs throughout the area.
Since 1973 the Sage City Symphony, formed by composer Louis Calabro, has performed in the Bennington area. In 1988, a number of Vermont-based composers including Gwyneth Walker formed the Vermont Composers Consortium, which was recognized by the governor proclaiming 2011 as The Year of the Composer.
Burlington, Vermont's largest city, hosts the annual Vermont International Film Festival, which presents ten days in October of independent films. The Brattleboro-based Vermont Theatre Company presents an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Brattleboro also hosts the summertime Strolling of the Heifers parade which celebrates Vermont's dairy culture. The annual Green Mountain Film Festival is held in Montpelier.
In the Northeast Kingdom, the Bread and Puppet Theatre holds weekly shows in Glover in a natural outdoor amphitheater.
One of Vermont's best known musical acts is the rock band Phish, whose members met while attending school in Vermont and spent much of their early years playing at venues across the state.
The Vermont-based House of LeMay performs several shows a year, hosts the annual "Winter is a Drag Ball", and performs for fundraisers.
Examples of folk art found in Vermont include the Vermontasaurus in Post Mills, a community in Thetford.
The rate of volunteerism in Vermont was eighth in the nation with 37% in 2007. The state stood first in New England. In 2011, Vermont residents were ranked as the healthiest in the country.
== Sports ==
=== Winter sports ===
Winter sports are popular in New England, and Vermont's winter sports attractions are a big part of Vermont tourism. Some well known attractions include Burke Mountain ski area, Jay Peak Resort, Killington Ski Resort, Stowe Mountain Resort, the Quechee Club Ski Area, and Smugglers' Notch Resort.
Vermont natives in the snowboarding profession include Kevin Pearce, Ross Powers, Hannah Teter, and Kelly Clark. Others learned snowboarding in the state, such as Louie Vito and Ellery Hollingsworth.
Vermont Olympic gold medalists include Barbara Cochran,
Hannah Kearney,
Kelly Clark,
Ross Powers,
and Hannah Teter.
=== Baseball ===
The largest professional franchise is the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, based in Burlington. They were named the Vermont Expos before 2006. Up until the 2011 season, they were the affiliate of the Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos). Up until 2020, they played in the New York-Penn League of Single-A and were the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics
=== Basketball ===
Currently the highest-ranked teams in basketball representing Vermont are the NCAA's Vermont Catamounts—male and female.
The Vermont Frost Heaves, the 2007 and 2008 American Basketball Association national champions, were a franchise of the Premier Basketball League, and were based in Barre and Burlington from the fall of 2006 through the winter of 2011.
=== Football ===
The Vermont Bucks, an indoor football team, were based in Burlington and began play in 2017 as the founding team in the Can-Am Indoor Football League. For 2018, the Bucks joined the American Arena League, but folded prior to playing in the new league. The University of Vermont abolished its intercollegiate football team, the Vermont Catamounts, in 1974.
=== Hockey ===
Vermont is home to the University of Vermont Men's and Women's hockey teams. Vermont's only professional hockey team was the Vermont Wild who played in the Federal Hockey League during the 2011–12 season, but the team folded before the season ended.
=== Soccer ===
The Vermont Voltage were a USL Premier Development League soccer club that played in St. Albans.
Vermont Green FC are a USL League 2 club that will play at University of Vermont's Virtue Field in Burlington.
In 2024, the University of Vermont Catamounts men's soccer team won the NCAA Division I National Championship, becoming the first UVM team sport to win a national championship as well as the first America East Conference team to win a national championship. They defeated Marshall 2–1 in overtime, finishing a Cinderella run in the tournament.
Annually since 2002, high school statewide all stars compete against New Hampshire in ten sports during "Twin State" playoffs.
=== Motorsport ===
Vermont also has a few auto racing venues. The most popular of them is Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vermont. It is well known for its tight racing and has become well known in short track stock car racing. Other racing circuits include the USC sanctioned Bear Ridge Speedway, and the NASCAR sanctioned Devil's Bowl Speedway. Some NASCAR Cup drivers have come to Vermont circuits to compete against local weekly drivers such as Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, and Christopher Bell. Kevin Lepage from Shelburne, Vermont is one of a few professional drivers from Vermont. Racing series in Vermont include NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, American Canadian Tour, and Vermont's own Tiger Sportsman Series.
=== Other ===
Rugby Union is represented at the collegiate level and adult club level with 5 men's sides and 1 women's side. All compete in the NERFU conference and some have won national championships.
== Residents ==
The following were either born in Vermont or resided there for a substantial period during their lives and whose names are widely known.
Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States
Pearl S. Buck, author
Jake Burton Carpenter, inventor of the snowboard
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States
John Deere, founder of Deere & Company
George Dewey, the only Admiral of the Navy in U.S. history
John Dewey, philosopher, psychologist, and educator
Stephen Douglas, 19th-century politician
Carlton Fisk, Baseball Hall of Fame catcher
James Fisk, financier
Robert Frost, poet
Richard Morris Hunt, architect
Rudyard Kipling, author
Bill McKibben, environmentalist
Samuel Morey, inventor of the steam-powered paddle wheel boat
Justin Morrill, U.S. Senator and author of the Morrill Land Grant Acts.
Norman Rockwell, painter, author, and illustrator
Bernie Sanders, politician and legislator
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian author and Soviet dissident
Thaddeus Stevens, member of the U.S. House of Representatives and leader of the Radical Republicans
Rudy Vallée, singer and actor
Brigham Young, 2nd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
=== In fiction ===
Vermont was also the home of Dick Loudon, Bob Newhart's character on the 1980s sitcom Newhart. All action supposedly took place in Vermont.
Vermont was the home of Pollyanna and her Aunt Polly in the novel Pollyanna, later made into the 1960 Disney film starring Hayley Mills and Jane Wyman.
In H. P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness, Vermont is the home of folklorist Henry Akeley (and the uninhabited hills of Vermont serve as one of the earth bases of the extraterrestrial Mi-Go).
Donna Tartt's novel The Secret History is a story set mostly in a fictitious town of Hampden, Vermont, and college of the same name, where several students conspire to murder a classmate.
Sinclair Lewis' 1935 anti-fascist novel It Can't Happen Here is largely set in Vermont, as local newspaper editor Doremus Jessup opposes a newly elected dictatorial government.
Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation, Body Awareness, and The Aliens all take place in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf | Virginia Woolf | Adeline Virginia Woolf (; née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device.
Virginia Woolf was born in South Kensington, London, into an affluent and intellectual family as the seventh child of Julia Prinsep Jackson and Leslie Stephen. She grew up in a blended household of eight children, including her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell. Educated at home in English classics and Victorian literature, Woolf later attended King’s College London, where she studied classics and history and encountered early advocates for women’s rights and education.
After the death of her father in 1904, Woolf and her family moved to the bohemian Bloomsbury district, where she became a founding member of the influential Bloomsbury Group. She married Leonard Woolf in 1912, and together they established the Hogarth Press in 1917, which published much of her work. They eventually settled in Sussex in 1940, maintaining their involvement in literary circles throughout their lives.
Woolf began publishing professionally in 1900 and rose to prominence during the interwar period with novels like Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), as well as the feminist essay A Room of One’s Own (1929). Her work became central to 1970s feminist criticism and remains influential worldwide, having been translated into over 50 languages. Woolf’s legacy endures extensive scholarship, cultural portrayals, and tributes such as memorials, societies, and university buildings bearing her name.
== Life ==
=== Early life ===
Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen on 25 January 1882, in South Kensington, London, to Julia (née Jackson) and Sir Leslie Stephen. Her father was a writer, historian, essayist, biographer, and mountaineer, while her mother was a noted philanthropist. Woolf's maternal relatives include Julia Margaret Cameron, a celebrated photographer, and Lady Henry Somerset, a campaigner for women's rights. Originally named after her aunt Adeline, Woolf did not use her first name due to her aunt's recent death. Virginia's great-nephew, the historian William Dalrymple, has claimed that Virginia was part Bengali through her maternal grandmother, Maria Theodosia Pattle.
Both Virginia's parents had children from previous marriages. Julia's first marriage, to barrister Herbert Duckworth, produced three children: George, Stella, and Gerald. Leslie's first marriage, to Minny Thackeray, daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray, resulted in one daughter, Laura. Leslie and Julia Stephen had four children together: Vanessa, Thoby, Virginia, and Adrian.
Virginia showed an early affinity for writing. By the age of five, she was writing letters, and her fascination with books helped form a bond with her father. From the age of 10, she began an illustrated family newspaper, the Hyde Park Gate News, chronicling life and events within the Stephen family, and modelled on the popular magazine Tit-Bits. Virginia would run the Hyde Park Gate News until 1895. In 1897, Virginia began her first diary, which she kept for the next twelve years.
==== Talland House ====
In the spring of 1882, Leslie rented a large white house in St Ives, Cornwall. The family spent three months each summer there for the first 13 years of Virginia's life. Despite its limited amenities, the house's main attraction was the view of Porthminster Bay overlooking the Godrevy Lighthouse. The happy summers spent at Talland House would later influence Woolf's novels Jacob's Room, To the Lighthouse and The Waves.
At both Talland House and her family home, the family engaged with many literary and artistic figures. Frequent guests included literary figures such as Henry James, George Meredith, and James Russell Lowell. The family did not return after 1894; a hotel was constructed in front of the house which blocked the sea view, and Julia Stephen died in May the following year.
==== Sexual abuse ====
In the 1939 essay "A Sketch of the Past", Woolf first disclosed that she had experienced sexual abuse by her half-brother, Gerald Duckworth, during childhood. There is speculation that this contributed to her mental health issues later in life. There are also suggestions of sexual impropriety from George Duckworth during the period that he was caring for the Stephen sisters when they were teenagers.
==== Adolescence ====
Her mother's death precipitated what Virginia later identified as her first "breakdown"—for months afterwards she was nervous and agitated, and she wrote very little for the subsequent two years.
Stella Duckworth took on a parental role in the household. She married in April 1897 but remained closely involved with the Stephens, moving to a house very close to the Stephens to continue to support the family. However, she fell ill on her honeymoon and died in July of that same year. After Stella's death, George Duckworth took on the role of head of the household, and sought to bring Vanessa and Virginia into society. However, this experience did not resonate with either sister. Virginia later reflected on this societal expectation, stating: "Society in those days was a very competent, perfectly complacent, ruthless machine. A girl had no chance against its fangs. No other desires—say to paint, or to write—could be taken seriously." For Virginia, writing remained a priority. She began a new diary at the start of 1897 and filled notebooks with fragments and literary sketches.
In February 1904 Leslie Stephen died, which caused Virginia to suffer another period of mental instability, lasting from April to September. During this time she experienced a severe psychological crisis, which led to at least one suicide attempt. Woolf later described the period between 1897 and 1904 as "the seven unhappy years".
==== Education ====
As was common at the time, Virginia's mother did not believe in formal education for her daughters. Instead, Virginia was educated in a piecemeal fashion by her parents. She also received piano lessons. Virginia had unrestricted access to her father's vast library, exposing her to much of the literary canon. This resulted in a greater depth of reading than any of her Cambridge contemporaries. She later recalled: Even today there may be parents who would doubt the wisdom of allowing a girl of fifteen the free run of a large and quite unexpurgated library. But my father allowed it. There were certain facts – very briefly, very shyly he referred to them. Yet "Read what you like", he said, and all his books...were to be had without asking.
Beginning in 1897, Virginia received private tutoring in Classical Greek and Latin. One of her tutors was Clara Pater, who was instrumental to her classical education, while another, Janet Case, became a lasting friend and introduced her to the suffrage movement. Virginia also attended lectures at the King's College Ladies' Department.
Although Virginia could not attend Cambridge, she was profoundly influenced by her brother Thoby's experiences there. When Thoby went to Trinity in 1899 he became part of an intellectual circle of young men, including Clive Bell, Lytton Strachey, Leonard Woolf (whom Virginia would later marry), and Saxon Sydney-Turner. He introduced his sisters to this circle at the Trinity May Ball in 1900. This circle formed a reading group that they named the Midnight Society, to which the Stephen sisters would later be invited.
=== Bloomsbury (1904–1912) ===
==== Gordon Square ====
After their father's death, Vanessa and Adrian Stephen decided to sell their family home in South Kensington and move to Bloomsbury, a more affordable area. The Duckworth brothers did not join the Stephens in their new home; Gerald did not wish to, and George married and moved with his wife during the preparations. Virginia lived in the house for brief periods in the autumn – she was sent away to Cambridge and Yorkshire for her health. She eventually settled there permanently in December 1904.
From March 1905 the Stephens hosted gatherings with Thoby's intellectual friends at their home. Their social gatherings, referred to as "Thursday evenings", aimed to recreate the atmosphere at Trinity College. This circle formed the core of the intellectual circle of writers and artists known as the Bloomsbury Group. Later, it would include John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant, E. M. Forster, Roger Fry, and David Garnett. The group went on to gain notoriety for the Dreadnought hoax, in which they posed as a royal Abyssinian entourage. Among them, Virginia assumed the role of Prince Mendax.
During this period, Virginia began teaching evening classes on a voluntary basis at Morley College and continued intermittently for the next two years. Her experience here would later influence themes of class and education in her novel Mrs Dalloway. She also made some money from reviews, including some published in church paper The Guardian and the National Review, capitalising on her father's literary reputation in order to earn commissions.
Vanessa added another event to their calendar with the "Friday Club", dedicated to the discussion of the fine arts. This gathering attracted some new members into their circle, including Henry Lamb, Gwen Darwin, and Katherine Laird ("Ka") Cox. Cox was to become Virginia's intimate friend. These new members brought the Bloomsbury Group into contact with another, slightly younger, group of Cambridge intellectuals whom Virginia would refer to as the "Neo-Pagans". The Friday Club continued until 1912 or 1913.
In the autumn of 1906, the siblings travelled to Greece and Turkey with Violet Dickinson. During the trip both Violet and Thoby contracted typhoid fever, which led to Thoby's death on 20 November of that year. Two days after Thoby's death, Vanessa accepted a previous proposal of marriage from Clive Bell. As a couple, their interest in avant-garde art would have an important influence on Virginia's further development as an author.
==== Fitzroy Square and Brunswick Square ====
After Vanessa's marriage, Virginia and Adrian moved into Fitzroy Square, still very close to Gordon Square. The new house had previously been occupied by George Bernard Shaw, and the area had been populated by artists since the previous century. Virginia resented the wealth that Vanessa's marriage had given her; Virginia and Adrian lived more humbly by comparison.
The siblings resumed the Thursday Club at their new home. During this period, the Bloomsbury group increasingly explored progressive ideas, with open discussions of sexuality. Virginia, however, appears not to have shown interest in practising the group's ideologies, finding an outlet for her sexual desires only in writing. Around this time she began work on her first novel, Melymbrosia, which eventually became The Voyage Out (1915). In 1907, Woolf also wrote her first mock-biographical set of three interconnected comic stories chronicling the adventures of a giantess named Violet, titled The Life of Violet, after Violet Dickinson, her first completed experiment in literary parody and biographical writing, anticipating her later experiments in prose.
In November 1911 Virginia and Adrian moved to a larger house in Brunswick Square, and invited John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant and Leonard Woolf to become lodgers there. Virginia saw it as a new opportunity: "We are going to try all kinds of experiments", she told Ottoline Morrell.
=== Asham House (1911–1919) ===
During the later Bloomsbury years, Virginia travelled frequently with friends and family, to Dorset, Cornwall, and farther afield to Paris, Italy and Bayreuth. These trips were intended to prevent her from suffering exhaustion due to extended periods in London. The question arose of her needing a quiet country retreat close to London to support her still-fragile mental health. In the winter of 1910 she and Adrian stayed at Lewes and started exploring Sussex's surrounding area. She soon found a property in nearby Firle, which she named "Little Talland House"; she maintained a relationship with that region for the rest of her life, spending her time either in Sussex or London.
In September 1911 she and Leonard Woolf found Asham House nearby, and she and Vanessa took a joint lease on it. Located at the end of a tree-lined road, the house was in a Regency-Gothic style, "flat, pale, serene, yellow-washed", remote, without electricity or water and allegedly haunted. The sisters had two housewarming parties in January 1912.
Virginia recorded the weekends and holidays she spent there in her Asham Diary, part of which was later published as A Writer's Diary in 1953. Creatively, The Voyage Out was completed there, as was much of Night and Day. The house itself inspired the short story "A Haunted House", published in A Haunted House and Other Short Stories. Asham provided Virginia with much-needed relief from the London's fast-paced life and was where she found happiness that she expressed in her diary on 5 May 1919: "Oh, but how happy we've been at Asheham! It was a most melodious time. Everything went so freely; – but I can't analyse all the sources of my joy".
While at Asham, in 1916 Leonard and Virginia found a farmhouse about four miles away that they thought would be ideal for her sister. Eventually, Vanessa visited to inspect it, and took possession in October of that year, establishing it as a summer home for her family. The Charleston Farmhouse was to become the summer gathering place for the Bloomsbury Group.
=== Marriage and war (1912–1920) ===
Leonard Woolf was one of Thoby Stephen's friends at Trinity College, Cambridge, and had encountered the Stephen sisters in Thoby's rooms while visiting for May Week between 1899 and 1904. He recalled that in "white dresses and large hats, with parasols in their hands, their beauty literally took one's breath away". In 1904 Leonard left Britain for a civil service position in Ceylon, but returned for a year's leave in 1911 after letters from Lytton Strachey, describing Virginia's beauty, enticed him back. He and Virginia attended social engagements together, and he moved into Brunswick Square as a tenant in December of that year.
Leonard proposed to Virginia on 11 January 1912. Initially she expressed reluctance, but the two continued courting. Leonard decided not to return to Ceylon and resigned from his post. On 29 May Virginia declared her love for Leonard, and they married on 10 August at St Pancras Town Hall. The couple spent their honeymoon first at Asham and the Quantock Hills before travelling to the south of France, Spain and Italy. Upon returning, they moved to Clifford's Inn, and began to divide their time between London and Asham. Though Virginia wanted to have children, Leonard refused, as he believed Virginia was not mentally strong enough to be a mother, and worried that having children might worsen her mental health.
Virginia had completed a penultimate draft of her first novel The Voyage Out before her wedding but made large-scale alterations to the manuscript between December 1912 and March 1913. The work was later accepted by her half-brother Gerald Duckworth's publishing house, and she found the process of reading and correcting the proofs extremely emotionally difficult. This led to one of several breakdowns over the next two years; Virginia attempted suicide on 9 September 1913 with an overdose of Veronal, being saved with the help of surgeon Geoffrey Keynes. Virginia's illness led to Duckworth delaying the publication of The Voyage Out until 26 March 1915.
In the autumn of 1914 the couple moved to a house on Richmond Green. In late March 1915 they moved to Hogarth House, after which they named their publishing house in 1917. The decision to move to London's suburbs was made for the sake of Virginia's health. Many of Virginia's friends were against the war, and Virginia herself opposed it from a standpoint of pacifism and anti-censorship. Leonard was exempted from the introduction of conscription in 1916 on medical grounds. The Woolfs employed two servants at the recommendation of Roger Fry in 1916; Lottie Hope worked for some other Bloomsbury Group members, and Nellie Boxall would stay with them until 1934.
The Woolfs spent parts of the World War I era in Asham but were obliged by the owner to leave in 1919. "In despair" they purchased the Round House in Lewes. No sooner had they bought the Round House, than Monk's House in nearby Rodmell came up for auction, a weatherboarded house with oak-beamed rooms, said to date from the 15th or 16th century. The Woolfs sold the Round House and purchased Monk's House for £700. Monk's House also lacked running water but came with an acre of garden, and had a view across the Ouse towards the hills of the South Downs. Leonard Woolf describes this view as being unchanged since the days of Chaucer. The Woolfs would retain Monk's House until the end of Virginia's life; it became their permanent home after their London home was bombed, and it was where she completed Between the Acts in early 1941, which was followed by her final breakdown and suicide in the nearby River Ouse on 28 March.
=== Further works (1920–1940) ===
==== Memoir Club ====
1920 saw a postwar reconstitution of the Bloomsbury Group, under the title of the Memoir Club, which as the name suggests focussed on self-writing, in the manner of Proust's A La Recherche, and inspired some of the more influential books of the 20th century. The Group, which had been scattered by the war, was reconvened by Mary ('Molly') MacCarthy who called them "Bloomsberries", and operated under rules derived from the Cambridge Apostles, an elite university debating society of which some of them had been members. These rules emphasised candour and openness. Among the 125 memoirs presented, Virginia contributed three that were published posthumously in 1976, in the autobiographical anthology Moments of Being. These were 22 Hyde Park Gate (1921), Old Bloomsbury (1922) and Am I a Snob? (1936).
==== Vita Sackville-West ====
On 14 December 1922 Woolf met the writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West, wife of Harold Nicolson. This period was to prove fruitful for both authors, Woolf producing three novels, To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928), and The Waves (1931) as well as a number of essays, including "Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown" (1924) and "A Letter to a Young Poet" (1932). The two women remained friends until Woolf's death in 1941.
Virginia Woolf also remained close to her surviving siblings, Adrian and Vanessa.
==== Further novels and non-fiction ====
Between 1924 and 1940 the Woolfs returned to Bloomsbury, taking out a ten-year lease at 52 Tavistock Square, from where they ran the Hogarth Press from the basement, where Virginia also had her writing room.
1925 saw the publication of Mrs Dalloway in May followed by her collapse while at Charleston in August. In 1927, her next novel, To the Lighthouse, was published, and the following year she lectured on Women & Fiction at Cambridge University and published Orlando in October.
Her two Cambridge lectures then became the basis for her major essay A Room of One's Own in 1929. Virginia wrote only one drama, Freshwater, based on her great-aunt Julia Margaret Cameron, and produced at her sister's studio on Fitzroy Street in 1935. 1936 saw the publication of The Years, which had its origin in a lecture Woolf gave to the National Society for Women's Service in 1931, an edited version of which would later be published as "Professions for Women". Another collapse of her health followed the novel's completion The Years.
The Woolfs' final residence in London was at 37 Mecklenburgh Square (1939–1940), destroyed during the Blitz in September 1940; a month later their previous home on Tavistock Square was also destroyed. After that, they made Sussex their permanent home.
== Death ==
After completing the manuscript of her last novel (posthumously published), Between the Acts (1941), Woolf fell into a depression similar to one that she had earlier experienced. The onset of the Second World War, the destruction of her London home during the Blitz, and the cold reception given to her biography of her late friend Roger Fry all worsened her condition until she was unable to work. When Leonard enlisted in the Home Guard, Virginia disapproved. She held fast to her pacifism and criticised her husband for wearing what she considered to be "the silly uniform of the Home Guard".
After the Second World War began, Woolf's diary indicates that she was obsessed with death, which figured more and more as her mood darkened. On 28 March 1941, Woolf drowned herself by walking into the fast-flowing River Ouse near her home, after placing a large stone in her pocket. Her body was not found until 18 April. Her husband buried her cremated remains beneath an elm tree in the garden of Monk's House, their home in Rodmell, Sussex.
In her suicide note, addressed to her husband, she wrote:
Dearest,
I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can't fight it any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that—everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me, it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been. V.
== Mental health ==
Much examination has been made of Woolf's mental health. From the age of 13, following the death of her mother, Woolf suffered periodic mood swings. However, Hermione Lee asserts that Woolf was not "mad"; she was merely a woman who suffered from and struggled with illness for much of her life, a woman of "exceptional courage, intelligence and stoicism", who made the best use, and achieved the best understanding she could, of that illness. Writer and social anthropologist Camille Caprioglio suggests that Woolf may have been autistic, a possible contributing factor to her mental health struggles. In contemporary terms, the majority of her symptoms are most readily attributed to bipolar disorder.
Her mother's death in 1895, "the greatest disaster that could happen", precipitated a crisis for which their family doctor, Dr. Seton, prescribed rest, stopping lessons and writing, and regular walks supervised by Stella. Yet just two years later, Stella too was dead, bringing on Virginia's first expressed wish for death at the age of 15. This was a scenario she would later recreate in "Time Passes" (To the Lighthouse, 1927).
The death of her father in 1904 provoked her most alarming collapse, on 10 May, when she threw herself out of a window and she was briefly institutionalised under the care of her father's friend, the eminent psychiatrist George Savage. She spent time recovering at the house of Stella's friend Violet Dickinson, and at her aunt Caroline Stephen's house in Cambridge, and by January 1905, Savage considered her cured.
Her brother Thoby's death in 1906 marked a "decade of deaths" that ended her childhood and adolescence.
On Savage's recommendation, Virginia spent three short periods in 1910, 1912, and 1913 at Burley House at 15 Cambridge Park, Twickenham, described as "a private nursing home for women with nervous disorder" run by Miss Jean Thomas. By the end of February 1910, she was becoming increasingly restless, and Savage suggested being away from London. Vanessa rented Moat House, outside Canterbury, in June, but there was no improvement, so Savage sent her to Burley for a "rest cure". This involved partial isolation, deprivation of literature, and force-feeding, and after six weeks she was able to convalesce in Cornwall and Dorset during the autumn.
She loathed the experience; writing to her sister on 28 July, she described how she found the religious atmosphere stifling and the institution ugly, and informed Vanessa that to escape "I shall soon have to jump out of a window". The threat of being sent back would later lead to her contemplating suicide. Despite her protests, Savage would refer her back in 1912 for insomnia and in 1913 for depression.
On emerging from Burley House in September 1913, she sought further opinions from two other physicians on the 13th: Maurice Wright, and Henry Head, who had been Henry James's physician. Both recommended she return to Burley House. Distraught, she returned home and attempted suicide by taking an overdose of 100 grains of veronal (a barbiturate) and nearly dying.
On recovery, she went to Dalingridge Hall, George Duckworth's home in East Grinstead, Sussex, to convalesce on 30 September, returning to Asham on 18 November. She remained unstable over the next two years, with another incident involving veronal that she claimed was an 'accident', and consulted another psychiatrist in April 1914, Maurice Craig, who explained that she was not sufficiently psychotic to be certified or committed to an institution.
The rest of the summer of 1914 went better for her, and they moved to Richmond, but in February 1915, just as The Voyage Out was due to be published, she relapsed once more, and remained in poor health for most of that year. Then she began to recover, following 20 years of ill health. Nevertheless, there was a feeling among those around her that she was now permanently changed, and not for the better.
Over the rest of her life, she suffered recurrent bouts of depression. In 1940, a number of factors appeared to overwhelm her. Her biography of Roger Fry had been published in July, and she had been disappointed in its reception. The horrors of war depressed her, and their London homes had been destroyed in the Blitz in September and October. Woolf had completed Between the Acts (published posthumously in 1941) in November, and completing a novel was frequently accompanied by exhaustion. Her health became increasingly a matter of concern, culminating in her decision to end her life on 28 March 1941.
She also suffered many physical ailments such as headaches, backache, fevers and faints, which related closely to her psychological stress. These often lasted for weeks or even months, and impeded her work: "What a gap! ... for 60 days; & those days spent in wearisome headache, jumping pulse, aching back, frets, fidgets, lying awake, sleeping draughts, sedatives, digitalis, going for a little walk, & plunging back into bed again."
Though this instability would frequently affect her social life, she was able to continue her literary productivity with few interruptions throughout her life. Woolf herself provides not only a vivid picture of her symptoms in her diaries and letters but also her response to the demons that haunted her and at times made her long for death: "But it is always a question whether I wish to avoid these glooms... These 9 weeks give one a plunge into deep waters... One goes down into the well & nothing protects one from the assault of truth."
Psychiatry had little to offer Woolf, but she recognised that writing was one of the behaviours that enabled her to cope with her illness: "The only way I keep afloat... is by working... Directly I stop working I feel that I am sinking down, down. And as usual, I feel that if I sink further I shall reach the truth." Sinking underwater was Woolf's metaphor for both the effects of depression and psychosis— but also for finding the truth, and ultimately was her choice of death.
Throughout her life, Woolf struggled, without success, to find meaning in her illness: on the one hand, an impediment, on the other, something she visualised as an essential part of who she was, and a necessary condition of her art. Her experiences informed her work, such as the character of Septimus Warren Smith in Mrs Dalloway (1925), who, like Woolf, was haunted by the dead, and ultimately takes his own life rather than be admitted to a sanatorium.
Leonard Woolf relates how during the 30 years they were married, they consulted many doctors in the Harley Street area, and although they were given a diagnosis of neurasthenia, he felt they had little understanding of the causes or nature. The proposed solution was simple—as long as she lived a quiet life without any physical or mental exertion, she was well. In contrast, any mental, emotional, or physical strain resulted in a reappearance of her symptoms, beginning with a headache, followed by insomnia and thoughts that started to race. Her remedy was simple: to retire to bed in a darkened room, following which the symptoms slowly subsided.
Modern scholars, including her nephew and biographer, Quentin Bell, have suggested her breakdowns and subsequent recurring depressive periods were influenced by the sexual abuse to which she and her sister Vanessa were subjected by their half-brothers George and Gerald Duckworth (which Woolf recalls in her autobiographical essays "A Sketch of the Past" and "22 Hyde Park Gate"). Biographers point out that when Stella died in 1897, there was no counterbalance to control George's predation, and his nighttime prowling. "22 Hyde Park Gate" ends with the sentence "The old ladies of Kensington and Belgravia never knew that George Duckworth was not only father and mother, brother and sister to those poor Stephen girls; he was their lover also."
It is likely that other factors also played a part. It has been suggested that they include genetic predisposition. Virginia's father, Leslie Stephen, suffered from depression, and her half-sister Laura was institutionalised. Many of Virginia's symptoms, including persistent headache, insomnia, irritability, and anxiety, resembled those of her father's. Another factor is the pressure she placed upon herself in her work; for instance, her breakdown of 1913 was at least partly triggered by the need to finish The Voyage Out.
Virginia herself hinted that her illness was related to how she saw the repressed position of women in society when she wrote A Room of One's Own. in a 1930 letter to Ethel Smyth:
As an experience, madness is terrific I can assure you, and not to be sniffed at; and in its lava I still find most of the things I write about. It shoots out of one everything shaped, final, not in mere driblets, as sanity does. And the six months—not three—that I lay in bed taught me a good deal about what is called oneself.
Thomas Caramagno and others, in discussing her illness, oppose the "neurotic-genius" way of looking at mental illness, where creativity and mental illness are conceptualised as linked rather than antithetical. Stephen Trombley describes Woolf as having a confrontational relationship with her doctors, and possibly being a woman who is a "victim of male medicine", referring to the lack of understanding, particularly at the time, about mental illness.
== Sexuality ==
The Bloomsbury Group held very progressive views of sexuality and rejected the austere strictness of Victorian society. The majority of its members were homosexual or bisexual.
Woolf had several affairs with women, the most notable being with Vita Sackville-West. The two women developed a deep connection; Vita was arguably one of the few people in Virginia's adult life that she was truly close to.
[Virginia Woolf] told Ethel that she only really loved three people: Leonard, Vanessa, and myself, which annoyed Ethel but pleased me.
During their relationship, both women saw the peak of their literary careers, with the titular protagonist of Woolf's acclaimed Orlando: A Biography being inspired by Sackville-West. The pair remained lovers for a decade and stayed close friends for the rest of Woolf's life. Woolf had said to Sackville-West she disliked masculinity.
[Virginia Woolf] dislikes the possessiveness and love of domination in men. In fact, she dislikes the quality of masculinity says that women stimulate her imagination, by their grace & their art of life.
Among her other notable affairs were those with Sibyl Colefax, Lady Ottoline Morrell, and Mary Hutchinson. Some surmise that she fell in love with Madge Symonds, the wife of one of her uncles. Madge Symonds was described as one of Woolf's early loves in Sackville-West's diary. She also fell in love with Violet Dickinson, although there is some confusion as to whether the two consummated their relationship.
Virginia initially declined marriage proposals from her future husband, Leonard. She even went so far as to tell him that she was not physically attracted to him, but later declared that she did love him, and eventually agreed to marriage. Woolf preferred female lovers to male lovers and did not seem to be sexually attracted to men.
I sometimes think that if I married you, I could have everything—and then—is it the sexual side of it that comes between us? As I told you brutally the other day, I feel no physical attraction in you.
Leonard became the love of her life. Although their sexual relationship was questionable, they loved each other deeply and formed a strong and supportive marriage that led to the formation of their publishing house as well as several of her writings. Though Virginia had affairs with and attractions to women during their marriage, she and Leonard maintained a mutual love and respect.
== Work ==
Woolf is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century novelists. A modernist, she was one of the pioneers of using stream of consciousness as a narrative device, alongside contemporaries such as Marcel Proust, Dorothy Richardson and James Joyce. Woolf's reputation was at its greatest during the 1930s, but declined considerably following the Second World War. The growth of feminist criticism in the 1970s helped re-establish her reputation.
Virginia submitted her first article in 1890, to a competition in Tit-Bits. Although it was rejected, this shipboard romance by the eight-year-old would presage her first novel 25 years later, as would contributions to the Hyde Park News, such as the model letter "to show young people the right way to express what is in their hearts", a subtle commentary on her mother's legendary matchmaking. She transitioned from juvenilia to professional journalism in 1904 at the age of 22. Violet Dickinson introduced her to Kathleen Lyttelton, the editor of the Women's Supplement of The Guardian, a Church of England newspaper. Invited to submit a 1,500-word article, Virginia sent Lyttelton a review of William Dean Howells' The Son of Royal Langbirth and an essay about her visit to Haworth that year, Haworth, November 1904. The review was published anonymously on 4 December, and the essay on the 21st. In 1905, Woolf began writing for The Times Literary Supplement (TLS); in 2019, the TLS would publish a collection of her essays entitled Genius and Ink: Virginia Woolf on How to Read, which originally appeared anonymously, as did all their reviews.
Woolf went on to publish novels and essays as a public intellectual to both critical and popular acclaim. Much of her work was self-published through the Hogarth Press. "Virginia Woolf's peculiarities as a fiction writer have tended to obscure her central strength: she is arguably the major lyrical novelist in the English language. Her novels are highly experimental: a narrative, frequently uneventful and commonplace, is refracted—and sometimes almost dissolved—in the characters' receptive consciousness. Intense lyricism and stylistic virtuosity fuse to create a world overabundant with auditory and visual impressions." "The intensity of Virginia Woolf's poetic vision elevates the ordinary, sometimes banal settings"—often wartime environments—"of most of her novels."
Though at least one biography of Virginia Woolf appeared in her lifetime, the first authoritative study of her life was published in 1972 by her nephew Quentin Bell. Hermione Lee's 1996 biography Virginia Woolf provides a thorough and authoritative examination of Woolf's life and work, which she discussed in an interview in 1997. In 2001, Louise DeSalvo and Mitchell A. Leaska edited The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. Julia Briggs's Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life (2005) focuses on Woolf's writing, including her novels and her commentary on the creative process, to illuminate her life. The sociologist Pierre Bourdieu also uses Woolf's literature to understand and analyse gender domination. Woolf biographer Gillian Gill notes that Woolf's traumatic experience of sexual abuse by her half-brothers during her childhood influenced her advocacy for the protection of vulnerable children from similar experiences. Biljana Dojčinović has discussed the issues surrounding translations of Woolf to Serbian as a "border-crossing".
=== Themes ===
Woolf's fiction has been studied for its insight into many themes including war, shell shock, witchcraft, and the role of social class in contemporary modern British society. In the postwar Mrs Dalloway (1925), Woolf addresses the moral dilemma of war and its effects and provides an authentic voice for soldiers returning from the First World War, suffering from shell shock, in the person of Septimus Smith. In A Room of One's Own (1929) Woolf equates historical accusations of witchcraft with creativity and genius among women "When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils...then I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a suppressed poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen". Throughout her work Woolf tried to evaluate the degree to which her privileged background framed the lens through which she viewed class. She examined her own position as someone who would be considered an elitist snob but attacked the class structure of Britain as she found it. In her 1936 essay Am I a Snob? she examined her values and those of the privileged circle she existed in. She concluded she was, and subsequent critics and supporters have tried to deal with the dilemma of being both elite and a social critic.
The sea is a recurring motif in Woolf's work. Noting Woolf's early memory of listening to waves break in Cornwall, Katharine Smyth writes in The Paris Review that "the radiance [of] cresting water would be consecrated again and again in her writing, saturating not only essays, diaries, and letters but also Jacob's Room, The Waves, and To the Lighthouse." Patrizia A. Muscogiuri explains that "seascapes, sailing, diving and the sea itself are aspects of nature and of human beings' relationship with it which frequently inspired Virginia Woolf's writing." This trope is deeply embedded in her texts' structure and grammar; James Antoniou notes in Sydney Morning Herald how "Woolf made a virtue of the semicolon, the shape and function of which resembles the wave, her most famous motif."
Despite the considerable conceptual difficulties, given Woolf's idiosyncratic use of language, her works have been translated into over 50 languages. Some writers, such as the Belgian Marguerite Yourcenar, had rather tense encounters with her, while others, such as the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges, produced versions that were highly controversial.
=== Drama ===
Virginia Woolf researched the life of her great-aunt, the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, publishing her findings in an essay titled "Pattledom" (1925), and later in her introduction to her 1926 edition of Cameron's photographs. She had begun work on a play based on an episode in Cameron's life in 1923 but abandoned it. Finally, it was performed on 18 January 1935 at the studio of her sister, Vanessa Bell on Fitzroy Street in 1935. Woolf directed it herself, and the cast were mainly members of the Bloomsbury Group, including herself. Freshwater is a short three act comedy satirising the Victorian era, only performed once in Woolf's lifetime. Beneath the comedic elements, there is an exploration of both generational change and artistic freedom. Both Cameron and Woolf fought against the class and gender dynamics of Victorianism and the play shows links to both To the Lighthouse and A Room of One's Own that would follow.
=== Non-fiction ===
Woolf wrote a body of autobiographical work and more than 500 essays and reviews, some of which, like A Room of One's Own (1929) were of book-length. Not all were published in her lifetime. Shortly after her death, Leonard Woolf produced an edited edition of unpublished essays titled The Moment and other Essays, published by the Hogarth Press in 1947. Many of these were originally lectures that she gave, and several more volumes of essays followed, such as The Captain's Death Bed: and other essays (1950).
==== A Room of One's Own ====
Among Woolf's non-fiction works, one of the best known is A Room of One's Own (1929), a book-length essay divided into six chapters. Considered a key work of feminist literary criticism, it was written following two lectures she delivered on "Women and Fiction" at Cambridge University the previous year. In it, she examines the historical disempowerment women have faced in many spheres, including social, educational and financial. One of her more famous dicta is contained within the book "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction". Much of her argument ("to show you how I arrived at this opinion about the room and the money") is developed through the "unsolved problems" of women and fiction writing to arrive at her conclusion, although she claimed that was only "an opinion upon one minor point". In doing so, she states a good deal about the nature of women and fiction, employing a quasi-fictional style as she examines where women writers failed because of lack of resources and opportunities, examining along the way the experiences of the Brontës, George Eliot and George Sand, as well as the fictional character of Shakespeare's sister, equipped with the same genius but not position. She contrasts these women who accepted a deferential status with Jane Austen, who wrote entirely as a woman.
=== Hogarth Press ===
Virginia had taken up book-binding as a pastime in October 1901, at the age of 19. The Woolfs had been discussing setting up a publishing house for some time – Leonard intended for it to give Virginia a rest from the strain of writing, and thereby help her fragile mental health. Additionally, publishing her works under their own outfit would save her from the stress of submitting her work to an external company, which contributed to her breakdown during the process of publishing her first novel The Voyage Out. The Woolfs obtained their own hand-printing press in April 1917 and set it up on their dining room table at Hogarth House, thus beginning the Hogarth Press.
The first publication was Two Stories in July 1917, consisting of "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf (which has been described as "Woolf's first foray into modernism") and "Three Jews" by Leonard Woolf. The accompanying illustrations by Dora Carrington were a success, leading Virginia to remark that the press was "specially good at printing pictures, and we see that we must make a practice of always having pictures." The process took two and a half months with a production run of 150 copies. Other short stories followed, including Kew Gardens (1919) with a woodblock by Vanessa Bell as frontispiece. Subsequently, Bell added further illustrations, adorning each page of the text.
Unlike its contemporary small printers, who specialised in expensive artisanal reprints, the Woolfs concentrated on living avant-garde authors, and over the subsequent five years printed works by authors including Katherine Mansfield, T.S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, Clive Bell and Roger Fry. They also produced translations of Russian works with S. S. Koteliansky, and the first translation of the complete works of Sigmund Freud. They acquired a larger press in 1921 and began to sell directly to booksellers. In 1938 Virginia sold her share of the company to John Lehmann, who had started working for Hogarth Press seven years previously. The Press eventually became Leonard's only source of income, but his association with it ended in 1946, after publishing 527 titles, and Hogarth is now an imprint of Penguin Random House.
The Press also produced explicitly political works. Pamphlets had fallen out of fashion due to the high production costs and low revenue, but the Hogarth Press produced several series on contemporary issues of international politics, challenging colonialism and critiquing Soviet Russia and Italian fascism. The Woolfs also published political fiction, including Turbott Wolfe (1926) by William Plomer and In a Province (1934) by Laurens van der Post, which concern South African racial policies and revolutionary movements respectively. Virginia Woolf saw a link between international politics and feminism, publishing a biography of Indian feminist activist Saroj Nalini Dutt and the memoirs of suffragette Elizabeth Robins. Scholar Ursula McTaggart argues that the Hogarth Press shaped and represented Woolf's later concept of an "Outsiders' Society", a non-organised group of women who would resist "the patriarchal fascism of war and nationalism" by exerting influence through private actions, as described in Three Guineas. In this view, the readers and authors form a loose network, with the Press providing the means to exchange ideas.
=== Influences ===
Sybil Oldfield examines Woolf's convinced pacifism, its sources and its expression in her life and works.
Michel Lackey argues that a major influence on Woolf, from 1912 onward, was Russian literature and Woolf adopted many of its aesthetic conventions. The style of Fyodor Dostoyevsky with his depiction of a fluid mind in operation helped to influence Woolf's writings about a "discontinuous writing process", though Woolf objected to Dostoyevsky's obsession with "psychological extremity" and the "tumultuous flux of emotions" in his characters together with his right-wing, monarchist politics as Dostoyevsky was an ardent supporter of the autocracy of the Russian Empire. In contrast to her objections to Dostoyevsky's "exaggerated emotional pitch", Woolf found much to admire in the work of Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy. Woolf admired Chekhov for his stories of ordinary people living their lives, doing banal things and plots that had no neat endings. From Tolstoy, Woolf drew lessons about how a novelist should depict a character's psychological state and the interior tension within. Lackey notes that, from Ivan Turgenev, Woolf drew the lessons that there are multiple "I's" when writing a novel, and the novelist needed to balance those multiple versions of him- or herself to balance the "mundane facts" of a story vs. the writer's overarching vision, which required a "total passion" for art.
The American writer Henry David Thoreau also influenced Woolf. In a 1917 essay, she praised Thoreau for his statement "The millions are awake enough for physical labor, but only one in hundreds of millions is awake enough to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive." They both aimed to capture 'the moment'––as Walter Pater says, "to burn always with this hard, gem-like flame." Woolf praised Thoreau for his "simplicity" in finding "a way for setting free the delicate and complicated machinery of the soul". Like Thoreau, Woolf believed that it was silence that set the mind free to really contemplate and understand the world. Both authors believed in a certain transcendental, mystical approach to life and writing, where even banal things could be capable of generating deep emotions if one had enough silence and the presence of mind to appreciate them. Woolf and Thoreau were both concerned with the difficulty of human relationships in the modern age.
Woolf's preface to Orlando credits Daniel Defoe, Sir Thomas Browne, Laurence Sterne, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Macaulay, Emily Brontë, Thomas de Quincey, and Walter Pater as influences. Among her contemporaries, Woolf was influenced by Marcel Proust, writing to Roger Fry, "Oh if I could write like that!"
==== Virginia Woolf and her mother ====
The intense scrutiny of Virginia Woolf's literary output has led to speculation as to her mother's influence, including psychoanalytic studies of mother and daughter. Her memories of her mother are memories of an obsession, starting with her first major breakdown on her mother's death in 1895, the loss having a profound lifelong effect. In many ways, her mother's profound influence on Virginia Woolf is conveyed in the latter's recollections, "there she is; beautiful, emphatic ... closer than any of the living are, lighting our random lives as with a burning torch, infinitely noble and delightful to her children".
Woolf's understanding of her mother and family evolved considerably between 1907 and 1940, in which the somewhat distant, yet revered figure, becomes more nuanced and complete. She described her mother as an "invisible presence" in her life, and Ellen Rosenman argues that the mother-daughter relationship is a constant in Woolf's writing. She describes how Woolf's modernism needs to be viewed in relationship to her ambivalence towards her Victorian mother, the centre of the former's female identity, and her voyage to her own sense of autonomy. To Woolf, "Saint Julia" was both a martyr whose perfectionism was intimidating and a source of deprivation, by her absences real and virtual and premature death. Julia's influence and memory pervade Woolf's life and work. "She has haunted me", she wrote.
=== Historical feminism ===
According to the 2007 book Feminism: From Mary Wollstonecraft to Betty Friedan by Bhaskar A. Shukla, "Recently, studies of Virginia Woolf have focused on feminist and lesbian themes in her work, such as in the 1997 collection of critical essays, Virginia Woolf: Lesbian Readings, edited by Eileen Barrett and Patricia Cramer." In 1928, Woolf took a grassroots approach to informing and inspiring feminism. She addressed undergraduate women at the ODTAA Society at Girton College, Cambridge, and the Arts Society at Newnham College, with two papers that eventually became A Room of One's Own (1929).
Woolf's best-known nonfiction works, A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938), examine the difficulties that female writers and intellectuals faced because men held disproportionate legal and economic power, as well as the future of women in education and society. In The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir counts, of all women who ever lived, only three female writers—Emily Brontë, Woolf and "sometimes" Katherine Mansfield—who have explored "the given".
== Views ==
In her lifetime, Woolf was outspoken on many topics that were considered controversial, some of which are now considered progressive, others regressive. She was an ardent feminist at a time when women's rights were barely recognised, and anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, anti-militarist and a pacifist when chauvinism was popular. On the other hand, she has been criticised for her views on class and race in her private writings and published works. Like many of her contemporaries, some of her writing is now considered offensive. As a result, she is considered polarising, a revolutionary feminist and socialist hero or a purveyor of hate speech.
Works such as A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938) are frequently taught as icons of feminist literature in courses that would be very critical of some of her views expressed elsewhere. She has also been the recipient of considerable homophobic and misogynist criticism.
=== Humanist views ===
Virginia Woolf was born into a non-religious family and is regarded, along with fellow members of the Bloomsbury group E. M. Forster and G. E. Moore, as a humanist. Both her parents were prominent agnostic atheists although a significant influence was her aunt Caroline Stephen. Caroline Stephen was a convert to Quakerism, the Religious Society of Friends, and was a strong English exponent for its peace testimony in 1890. Her father, Leslie Stephen, had become famous in polite society for his writings which expressed and publicised reasons to doubt the veracity of religion and abhorred military service. Stephen was also President of the West London Ethical Society, an early humanist organisation, and helped to found the Union of Ethical Societies in 1896. Woolf's mother, Julia Stephen, wrote the book Agnostic Women (1880), which argued that agnosticism (defined here as something more like atheism) could be a highly moral approach to life.
Woolf was a critic of Christianity. In a letter to Ethel Smyth, she gave a scathing denunciation of the religion, seeing it as self-righteous "egotism" and stating "my Jew [Leonard] has more religion in one toenail—more human love, in one hair". Woolf stated in her private letters that she thought of herself as an atheist.
She thought there were no Gods; no one was to blame; and so she evolved this atheist's religion of doing good for the sake of goodness.
=== Controversies ===
Hermione Lee cites a number of extracts from Woolf's writings that many, including Lee, would consider offensive, and these criticisms can be traced back as far as those of Wyndham Lewis and Q. D. Leavis in the 1920s and 1930s. Other authors provide more nuanced contextual interpretations and stress the complexity of her character and the apparent inherent contradictions in analysing her apparent flaws. She could certainly be off-hand, rude and even cruel in her dealings with other authors, translators and biographers, such as her treatment of Ruth Gruber. Some authors, including David Daiches, Brenda Silver, Alison Light and other postcolonial feminists, dismiss her (and modernist authors in general) as privileged, elitist, classist, racist, and antisemitic.
Woolf's tendentious expressions, including prejudicial feelings against disabled people, have often been the topic of academic criticism:
The first quotation is from a diary entry of September 1920 and runs: "The fact is the lower classes are detestable." The remainder follow the first in reproducing stereotypes standard to upper-class and upper-middle class life in the early 20th century: "imbeciles should certainly be killed"; "Jews" are greasy; a "crowd" is both an ontological "mass" and is, again, "detestable"; "Germans" are akin to vermin; some "baboon faced intellectuals" mix with "sad green dressed negroes and negresses, looking like chimpanzees" at a peace conference; Kensington High St. revolts one's stomach with its innumerable "women of incredible mediocrity, drab as dishwater".
=== Antisemitism ===
Woolf has often been accused of antisemitism. Despite being happily married to an irreligious Jewish man (Leonard Woolf) who had no connection with or knowledge of his people, she generally characterised Jewish characters with negative stereotypes. For instance, she described some of the Jewish characters in her work in terms that suggested they were physically repulsive or dirty. She also expressed derogatory views in private, writing in a 1930 letter to friend Ethyl Smith, "How I hated marrying a Jew — how I hated their nasal voices and their oriental jewellery, and their noses and their wattles — what a snob I was: for they have immense vitality, and I think I like that quality best of all" (Letter to Ethel Smyth, 1930).
While travelling on a cruise to Portugal, she protested at finding "a great many Portuguese Jews on board, and other repulsive objects, but we keep clear of them". Furthermore, she wrote in her diary: "I do not like the Jewish voice; I do not like the Jewish laugh." Her 1938 short story, written during Hitler's rule, "The Duchess and the Jeweller" (originally titled "The Duchess and the Jew") has been considered antisemitic.
Some believe that Woolf and her husband Leonard came to despise and fear the 1930s' fascism and antisemitism. Her 1938 book Three Guineas was an indictment of fascism and what Woolf described as a recurring propensity among patriarchal societies to enforce repressive societal mores by violence. And yet, her 1938 story "The Duchess and the Jeweller" was so deeply hateful in its depiction of Jews that Harper's Bazaar asked her to modify it before publication; she reluctantly complied.
== Legacy ==
Virginia Woolf is known for her contributions to 20th-century literature and her essays, as well as the influence she has had on literary, particularly feminist criticism. A number of authors have stated that their work was influenced by her, including Margaret Atwood, Michael Cunningham, Gabriel García Márquez, and Toni Morrison. Her iconic image is instantly recognisable from the portrait of her aged 20 by George Charles Beresford (at the top of this page) to the Beck and Macgregor portrait in her mother's dress in Vogue at 44 (see Fry (1913)) or Man Ray's cover of Time magazine (see Ray (1937)) at 55. More postcards of Woolf are sold by London's National Portrait Gallery than of any other person. Her image is ubiquitous and can be found on products ranging from tea towels to T-shirts.
Virginia Woolf is studied around the world, with organisations devoted to her, such as the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, and The Virginia Woolf Society of Japan. In addition, trusts—such as the Asham Trust—encouraged writers in her honour.
In 2019 Time created 89 new covers to celebrate women of the year starting from 1920; it chose Woolf for 1929.
In January 2025 Sophie Oliver, a lecturer of modernism at the University of Liverpool, discovered two previously unknown poems by Woolf, at the Harry Ransom Center, at the University of Texas at Austin. Oliver estimated the date of the poems, which reveal "a different shade" to Woolf, as sometime after March 1927.
=== Monuments and memorials ===
In 2013, Woolf was honoured by her alma mater King's College London with the opening of the Virginia Woolf Building on Kingsway, together with an exhibit depicting her accompanied by the quotation "London itself perpetually attracts, stimulates, gives me a play & a story & a poem" from her 1926 diary. The University of Kent also named a college after her—Woolf College, which was built in 2008.
Busts of Virginia Woolf have been erected at her home in Rodmell, Sussex, and at Tavistock Square, London, where she lived between 1924 and 1939. She is also honoured at Tavistock Square by the Woolf & Whistle, a bar that is located near where her house once stood.
In 2014, she was one of the inaugural honorees in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a walk of fame in San Francisco's Castro neighbourhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields".
A campaign was launched in 2018 to erect a statue of Woolf in Richmond-upon-Thames, where she lived for 10 years. In November 2022 the statue, created by sculptor Laury Dizengremel, was unveiled. It depicts Woolf on a bench overlooking the River Thames and is the first full-size statue of Woolf.
=== Portrayals ===
Michael Cunningham's 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours focused on three generations of women affected by Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway. In 2002, a film version of the novel was released, starring Nicole Kidman as Woolf. Kidman won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.
Susan Sellers's novel Vanessa and Virginia (2008) explores the close sibling relationship between Woolf and her sister, Vanessa Bell. It was adapted for the stage by Elizabeth Wright in 2010 and first performed by Moving Stories Theatre Company.
Priya Parmar's 2014 novel Vanessa and Her Sister also examined the Stephen sisters' relationship during the early years of their association with what became known as the Bloomsbury Group.
In the 2014 novel The House at the End of Hope Street, Woolf is featured as one of the women who has lived in the titular house.
Virginia is portrayed by both Lydia Leonard and Catherine McCormack in the BBC's three-part drama series Life in Squares (2015).
The 2018 film Vita and Virginia depicts the relationship between Vita Sackville-West and Woolf, portrayed by Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki respectively.
In 2022, an opera of The Hours by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Greg Pierce premiered at the Metropolitan Opera to acclaim.
=== Adaptations ===
Sally Potter adapted Orlando (1928) for the screen in 1992, as a film also called Orlando, starring Tilda Swinton.
Woolf's play Freshwater (1935) is the basis for a 1994 chamber opera, Freshwater, by Andy Vores.
Septimus and Clarissa, a stage adaptation of Mrs Dalloway, was created and produced by the New York-based ensemble Ripe Time in 2011. It was adapted by Ellen McLaughlin.
In 2014, artist Kabe Wilson produced a novella and artwork entitled Of One Woman Or So, created over five years by rearranging the words of Woolf's 1929 essay A Room of One's Own.
Woolf Works, a contemporary ballet inspired by Woolf's novels, letters, essays and diaries, choreographed by Wayne McGregor, premiered in May 2015.
The final segment of the 2018 anthology film London Unplugged is adapted from Woolf's short story "Kew Gardens".
== Selected works ==
=== Novels ===
Woolf's most notable other works include the following:
=== Essays and essay collections ===
=== Other ===
"Kew Gardens" (1919), short story
Flush: A Biography (1933)
Freshwater (1935) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Hill | Faith Hill | Audrey Faith McGraw (née Perry; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide.
Hill's first two albums, Take Me as I Am (1993) and It Matters to Me (1995), were major successes that placed a combined three number ones on Billboard's country charts, quickly establishing her as one of country music's top acts. Next she achieved immense mainstream and crossover success with two albums, Faith (1998) and Breathe (1999). Faith produced her first international hit, "This Kiss", while her album Breathe became one of the best-selling country albums of all time. The album was led by the huge crossover success of the songs "Breathe" and "The Way You Love Me". Breathe saw massive sales worldwide and earned three Grammy Awards.
In 2001, Hill recorded "There You'll Be" for the Pearl Harbor soundtrack and it too became an international success. The track remains her best-selling single in Europe. Hill's next two albums, Cry (2002) and Fireflies (2005), continued her commercial successes; the former spawned another crossover single, "Cry", which won Hill a Grammy, and the latter produced the singles "Mississippi Girl" and "Like We Never Loved at All", which earned additional Grammy Awards.
Hill has won five Grammy Awards, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, six American Music Awards, and several other awards. Her Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 with Tim McGraw became the highest-grossing country tour of all time. In 2001, she was named one of the "30 Most Powerful Women in America" by Ladies Home Journal. In 2009, Billboard named her as the Adult Contemporary Artist of the Decade (2000s) and also as the 39th top artist overall. From 2007 to 2012, Hill was the voice of NBC Sunday Night Football's intro song. Hill has been married to American singer Tim McGraw since 1996, with whom she has recorded several duets.
== Early life and career beginnings ==
Audrey Faith Perry was born September 21, 1967, in Ridgeland, Mississippi, north of Jackson, Mississippi. She was adopted as an infant and raised in the nearby town of Star, 20 miles southeast of Jackson by her adoptive parents, Edna and Ted Perry, with their two biological sons in a devout Christian environment.
She began singing at Star Baptist Church at age 3. Hill's vocal talent was apparent early, and she had her first public performance, at a 4-H luncheon, when she was seven. In 1976, a few days before her 9th birthday, she attended a concert by Elvis Presley at the State Fair Coliseum in Jackson, which deeply impressed her. During her teenage years, she became a member of the Steele Family gospel quartet and performed regularly with them at area churches of all denominations. At 17, Hill formed a band that played at local rodeos. She graduated from McLaurin Attendance Center in 1986, then briefly attended Hinds Junior College (now Hinds Community College) in Raymond, Mississippi. At times, she sang for prisoners at the Hinds County Jail, her song of choice being "Amazing Grace".
At age 19 Hill dropped out of college to move to Nashville and pursue her dream of being a country singer. In her early days in Nashville, she auditioned to be a backup singer for Reba McEntire, but failed to secure the job. A few years later in 1991, the singer who beat out Hill for the job was killed in a plane crash with 6 other members of Reba's band.
After a stint selling T-shirts, Hill became a secretary at a music publishing firm. Hill also landed a job at a local McDonald's restaurant franchise, which she intensely disliked. "Fries, burgers, cash register–I did it all, I hated it," she has said.
In 1988, she married music publishing executive Daniel Hill (not to be confused with Canadian musician Dan Hill).
A co-worker heard Hill singing to herself one day, and soon the head of her music publishing company was encouraging her to become a demo singer for the firm. She supplemented this work by singing backup vocals for songwriter Gary Burr, who often performed his new songs at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe. During one of those performances, Martha Sharp, an executive from Warner Bros. Records was in the audience, and, impressed with Hill's voice, began the process of signing her to a recording contract.
In 1994, she and Daniel Hill divorced shortly after the release of her album.
== Music career ==
=== 1993–1997: Country music success ===
Faith Hill's debut album was Take Me as I Am (1993); sales were strong, buoyed by the chart success of "Wild One". Hill became the first female country singer in 30 years to hold Billboard's number one position for four consecutive weeks when "Wild One" managed the feat in 1994. Her version of "Piece of My Heart", also went to the top of the country charts in 1994. The album sold a total of 3 million copies. Other singles from the album include "Take Me as I Am".
The recording of Hill's second album was delayed by surgery to repair a ruptured blood vessel on her vocal cords. It Matters to Me finally appeared in 1995 and was another success, with the title track becoming her third number-one country single. Several other top 10 singles followed, and more than 3 million copies of the album were sold. The fifth single from the album, "I Can't Do That Anymore", was written by Alan Jackson. Other singles from the album include "You Can't Lose Me", "Someone Else's Dream", and "Let's Go to Vegas". During this period, Hill appeared on the acclaimed PBS music program Austin City Limits.
In spring 1996, Hill began the Spontaneous Combustion Tour with country singer Tim McGraw. At the time Hill had recently become engaged to her former producer, Scott Hendricks, and McGraw had recently broken an engagement. McGraw and Hill were quickly attracted to each other and began a relationship. After discovering that Hill was pregnant with their first child, the couple married on October 6, 1996. The couple have three daughters together: Gracie Katherine (born 1997), Maggie Elizabeth (born 1998) and Audrey Caroline (born 2001). Since their marriage, Hill and McGraw have endeavored to never be apart for more than three consecutive days.
After the release of It Matters to Me, Hill took a three-year break from recording to give herself a rest from four years of touring and to begin a family with McGraw. During her break, she joined forces with her husband for their first duet, "It's Your Love". The song stayed at number one for six weeks, and won awards from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Hill has remarked that sometimes when they perform the song together, "it [doesn't] feel like anybody else was really watching."
=== 1998–2003: Pop music crossover and career breakthrough ===
Faith Hill re-entered the music business in 1998 with her third album Faith. The album showcased her progression toward a more mainstream, pop-oriented sound, although it retained a distinct country sound. "This Kiss" became a number one country hit, and was the first of her singles to place on the pop charts, peaking at number seven. More than six million copies of the album were sold. The album also had several other hits including another duet with McGraw, "Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me", "Let Me Let Go" and "The Secret of Life".
Hill immediately released Breathe in November 1999 following this success; it debuted at the top of the Billboard Country and all genre charts, ahead of albums by Mariah Carey and Savage Garden. Although the album had few overt country sounds, it "complement[ed] her vocal strengths". For the first time, the album consisted solely of songs about love and did not venture into the more somber territory that her previous albums had touched. The title track, "Breathe", reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "The Way You Love Me" hit the top 10 as well, topping out at number six on the charts. The album won Hill three Grammy Awards including Best Country Album, Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for "Let's Make Love" featuring Tim McGraw and Best Country Female Vocal Performance for "Breathe". It marked a step away from her girl-next-door image, as the videos and promotional pictures all portrayed a much sexier image. Breathe has sold almost 10 million copies worldwide.
2000 was a very busy year for Hill. In addition to a successful tour with her husband, Hill was featured in a CBS television special, VH1's Behind the Music, VH1 Divas 2000, and the Lifetime cable channel's Intimate Portrait series. She signed an endorsement deal with CoverGirl makeup, performed at the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards, appeared on the cover of numerous magazines, and performed the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIV. Hill was also named to Mr. Blackwell's 10-best dressed women of 2000, the only singer listed among actresses and other celebrities. Hill and McGraw also embarked on their first Soul2Soul tour, the "Soul2Soul Tour 2000".
In 2000, Hill recorded a song for the movie Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, entitled "Where Are You Christmas?" (written by James Horner, Will Jennings and Mariah Carey). The song also appeared on the pop and country charts. Hill's success on the pop charts disturbed some country music insiders, who questioned whether she was trying to dismiss her country roots and move into the pop genre. Despite the grumbling, Hill won the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award, and in her acceptance speech announced, "I love this business, and I love this industry... and my heart is here."
In 2001, Hill recorded a song for the Pearl Harbor soundtrack. The track, also titled "There You'll Be", which was originally offered to Celine Dion, has since become one of Hill's most critically acclaimed songs. Because of the single's international success, a compilation album There You'll Be: The Best of Faith Hill, was released to international markets. The album featured dance mixes of "Breathe" and "The Way You Love Me" along with alternate versions of "Piece of My Heart" and "Let Me Let Go". "There You'll Be" was nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
In 2002, Hill released her fifth studio album, Cry. The album "spotlight[ed] her impressive set of pipes", and also marked the completion of her "transformation into a pop diva", containing few nods to her country roots. Though the album debuted at number one on Billboard magazine's pop and country album charts, the album's singles received much less country radio airplay than her previous hits, instead aiming to international and adult contemporary markets. The album also won a Grammy Award and over 3.7 million copies have been sold worldwide.
An album track from the album "Baby You Belong", was used as the theme song for the movie Lilo & Stitch. The music video featured clips from the movie as well as performance clips.
"When the Lights Go Down", the official second single from the album was used to promote an NBC television special which detailed the making of Cry and also featured intimate performances of Hill's hits.
=== 2005–2006: Return to country music ===
In 2005, Hill returned with her new country album, Fireflies. The CD debuted on top of the Billboard Country and all genre album charts, placing her among only a handful of artists to have three consecutive albums debut at number one on both charts. The debut single, "Mississippi Girl", became Hill's highest-debuting single. The song was specifically written for her by John Rich (of Big and Rich) and Adam Shoenfield of MuzikMafia, and tells the abbreviated story of her life. Hill recorded two other songs by Rich, "Sunshine and Summertime" and "Like We Never Loved at All", both of which became successful singles. The title track "Fireflies", "Stealing Kisses" and "If You Ask" were written by artist Lori McKenna and also appear on McKenna's albums. They appeared and performed the songs together on the Oprah Winfrey Show and an awards show. The album marked a return to Hill's country roots and succeeded in reestablishing her place on country radio.
In 2006, after a six-year break from touring following the birth of her youngest daughter, Hill and husband Tim McGraw embarked on their Soul2Soul II Tour 2006. The tour became the highest grossing country music tour ever with a gross of $90 million. It was named "Major Tour of the Year" by the prestigious Pollstar, beating out such heavyweights as Madonna and the Rolling Stones.
=== 2007–2010: Love Will Always Win, The Hits, Joy to the World and NBC Sunday Night Football ===
In 2007, Hill began work on her first domestic greatest hits package, titled The Hits, which was released on October 2. It contains two new tracks, "Lost" and "Red Umbrella", as well as 13 additional tracks. The album also features hits covering her entire career from 1993 to 2005. Included with the 2-Disc Special-Edition of The Hits is a DVD of 11 of Hill's music videos. The DVD substitutes the Tim McGraw duet "Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me" for their "I Need You" duet on the CD.
Hill is also featured on McGraw's 2007 album Let It Go where she sings two duets with him, "I Need You" and "Shotgun Rider". Both of these songs were performed during the couple's critically acclaimed Soul2Soul II Tour; this tour began in June 2006 and ran through to August 2007. The song I Need You was nominated for both the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals and Best Country Song awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
At the beginning of the 2007 NFL season, Hill replaced Pink as the signature voice of NFL on NBC's Sunday Night Football, singing the weekly game's introductory theme song; of which the show's producer said:
It's not often that you get the opportunity to have a mega-star like Faith Hill perform the signature open to your show.
Hill performed this opening theme until April 15, 2013.
In September 2008, Hill issued her first Christmas album, titled Joy to the World. The compilation received positive reviews, including about.com, which gave the album four and a half out of five stars, calling the album, "a great collection of classic Christmas songs". She worked on the album for two years prior to its official release. The album included one original track, "A Baby Changes Everything", which was released as the album's only single in late 2008 and debuted at No. 24 on Billboard's AC chart, quickly rising to the No. 1 position, becoming Hill's fourth number one on that chart.
During the Super Bowl XLIII pregame show On February 1, 2009, Hill performed "America the Beautiful". Other performers at the event were Jennifer Hudson and Journey, whilst Bruce Springsteen performed the Halftime show.
Celebrating the induction of ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hill performed "The Winner Takes It All", together with keyboardist Benny Andersson, at the event held in New York City on March 13, 2010. Hill also performed a rendition of "The Long & Winding Road" as part of a tribute to Paul McCartney which was held at the White House on July 28, 2010. Audience members included President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
After the performances, Hill contributed a song titled "Give In to Me" which appears on the Country Strong soundtrack which was released in October 2010. The film also stars Hill's husband Tim McGraw. Further appearances followed, with Hill featuring in Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn, where she performs "Love Is The Foundation". Hill also contributed her vocals to the Ryan Tedder penned song "All I Ever Wanted" for the 2010 film Life As We Know It. The song was used in trailers to promote the film and appeared during the end credits of the film.
=== 2011–2015: Unreleased studio album and Las Vegas Residency ===
Brendan O'Brien, known for producing projects for Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and Rage Against the Machine began working with Hill and producing her next album, originally set for release in 2011. Hill also worked with pop producer Brian Kennedy in January 2011 to complete the album.
Hill returned to the studio in March 2011 for another round of recording. "I would like to have a record out," she told Billboard.com, "but it hasn't been the right thing yet. I don't want it to be just another record. It's a lot of work to support a record, so I just want it to be... really great. I want it to represent where I am as a woman. I don't want it to be fake. I want it to be authentic and real." In mid-2011, Hill recorded a duet with George Strait on the song "A Showman's Life" which is on Strait's album Here for a Good Time.
During the CMA Awards held on November 9, 2011, Hill performed the potential first single for her upcoming album titled "Come Home". This song is a re-working of the OneRepublic song heard on their "Dreaming out Loud" album.
In June 2012, Hill debuted the songs "Illusion" and "Overrated" during her set at the CMA Music Festival. Following the performance, Hill confirmed that the album was done, but made no comment about when it would be released or whether the rumored title of Illusion was official.
While a second single, titled "American Heart", along with its accompanying music video, was released on October 1, 2012, no further singles have since been released while an album also remains unreleased.
Following a successful tour of Australia with their Soul2Soul tour throughout March and April 2012, Hill and McGraw began an exclusive twenty show run of the Soul2Soul show at the Venetian in Las Vegas starting December 2012. A second leg of the show ran from October 2013, through to April 2014. The show was met with critical acclaim.
During the Billboard Music Awards filmed on May 17, 2015, Hill joined Little Big Town on a performance of their single "Girl Crush".
=== 2016–present: New music and touring ===
Hill was one of 30 artists selected to perform on "Forever Country", a mash-up track of the songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "On the Road Again" and "I Will Always Love You". The single was released September 16 and celebrates 50 years of the CMA Awards.
On October 4, 2016, during a surprise show at Nashville's famous Ryman Auditorium, both Faith and her husband announced that they would once again be going back on the road together with the Soul2Soul The World Tour 2017. The tour began April 7, 2017, in New Orleans, and continued into Europe throughout 2018, including as part of the C2C: Country to Country festival.
Hill sent out a tweet via her official Twitter account announcing the release of a new compilation album after the announcement of the tour. The album, titled Deep Tracks, is a montage of Hill's favorite songs that were previously included on her various albums but were not released as singles. The album also includes three previously unreleased songs entitled, "Boy", "Why" and "Come to Jesus". The album, which is Hill's last record to be released via Warner Bros. Records, was released November 18, 2016.
It was reported on February 3, 2017, that Hill, alongside McGraw, had signed a new deal with Sony Music Nashville, also indicating that a duet album between the couple, as well as multiple solo recordings would be produced. The new record label signing also preceded the release of "Speak to a Girl", the lead single from Hill and McGraw's joint album, The Rest of Our Life, which was released on November 17, 2017. The release of the album coincided with the opening of an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum titled Mississippi Woman, Louisiana Man, which celebrates the careers of both Hill and McGraw.
On May 20, 2020, Hill, alongside her husband Tim McGraw appeared on CMT's Virtual Benefit Concert, which benefited front line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The duo performed the song Feels So Right.
== Artistry ==
Hill has a mezzo-soprano vocal range, which Joanna Horowitz of The Seattle Times described as unmistakably "throaty".
Although Hill typically does not write most of the music she performs, Horowitz noted that her music "emphasize[s] personal, intimate storytelling". She co-wrote two tracks on her debut album Take Me as I Am: "I've Got This Friend" and "Go the Distance".
== Other ventures ==
=== Film and television career ===
In 1997, Hill guest starred in a three episode arc of popular television series Touched by an Angel and its subsequent spin off series, Promised Land. This marked her acting debut.
In 2002 it was rumored that Hill had won the role of Julia Compton Moore, the wife of Hal Moore, played by Mel Gibson, in the 2002 movie We Were Soldiers. The role was ultimately played by Madeleine Stowe.
Hill made her film debut in the summer of 2004, when she co-starred with Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler and Glenn Close in director Frank Oz's remake of the 1975 thriller The Stepford Wives. Although the film received mixed reviews, it went on to earn over $100 million.
In 2015, Hill appeared in the independent crime drama film Dixieland. The film was written and directed by Hank Bedford and also stars Chris Zylka, Riley Keough, Spencer Lofranco, and Steve Earle. Dixieland had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 2015. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on December 11, 2015, by IFC Films.
On October 14, 2015, it was announced that Hill would be an executive producer for a new lifestyle television program with former Oprah executive producer Lisa Erspamer. The show, called Pickler & Ben, debuted in mid-2017, features Kellie Pickler and Ben Aaron as hosts and is filmed in Nashville.
In August 2021, it was announced that Hill would co-star in Paramount+'s Yellowstone prequel 1883. Hill also appeared in one episode of Yellowstone season four in a flashback scene.
=== Fragrance ===
In October 2009, Hill released her first fragrance titled Faith Hill Parfums. The fragrance is a blend of Southern Magnolia, Jasmine and Peach Pears. In 2010, Hill released her second fragrance, titled True.
=== Philanthropy ===
Hill used her 1999 tour to support a national children's book drive, The Faith Hill Family Literacy Project. The charity was inspired by Faith's father, who faced challenges with literacy. Fans who donated books at one of her concerts were entered into a drawing to meet her personally after the show. The effort resulted in the donation of 35,000 children's books, which were distributed to hospitals, schools, libraries, and daycare centers in 40 cities across the United States.
In the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina, Hill and her husband, Tim McGraw, who was raised in Louisiana, joined groups taking supplies to Gulfport, Mississippi. The two also hosted several charity concerts to benefit those who were displaced by the storm. Later in the year the couple established the Neighbor's Keeper Foundation, which provides funding for community charities to assist with basic humanitarian services in the event of a natural disaster or for desperate personal circumstances. In a special gesture, the couple also donated profits from their performance in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina relief.
In June 2010, Hill and McGraw organized Nashville Rising, a benefit concert aimed to raise $2 million for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in response to the flood in early May that killed 22 people and caused $2 billion in damage.
== Discography ==
Take Me as I Am (1993)
It Matters to Me (1995)
Faith (1998)
Breathe (1999)
Cry (2002)
Fireflies (2005)
Joy to the World (2008)
The Rest of Our Life (with Tim McGraw) (2017)
== Tours ==
Headlining tours
This Kiss Tour (1999)
Co-headlining tours
Soul2Soul Tour (with Tim McGraw) (2000)
Soul2Soul II Tour (with Tim McGraw) (2006–07)
Australia 2012 (with Tim McGraw) (2012)
Soul2Soul: The World Tour (with Tim McGraw) (2017–18)
Promotional tours
'94 Promo Tour (1994)
Residency shows
Faith (2004)
Soul2Soul (with Tim McGraw) (2012–13)
Opening act
No Doubt About It Tour (for Neal McCoy) (1994)
Waitin' on Sundown (for Brooks & Dunn) (1994)
Read My Mind Tour (for Reba McEntire) (1994)
Fruit of the Loom Comfort Tour (for Alan Jackson) (1994–95)
Easy Come Easy Go Tour (George Strait) (1994)
Spontaneous Combustion Tour (for Tim McGraw) (1996)
The Cowboy Rides Away Tour (for George Strait) (2014)
Other shows
Chevy Truck Country Music Festival (with George Strait, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Lila McCann and Big House) (1998)
Millennium Blast Show (with Tim McGraw) (1999)
Sam & Audrey (with Tim McGraw) (2016)
Live 8 Rome, Italy (with Tim McGraw, Duran Duran, Planet Funk, Max Pezzali, Fiorella Mannoia, etc.) (2005)
Concert specials
Faith! (CBS) (2000)
When the Lights Go Down (NBC) (2002)
Fireflies (NBC) (2005)
Love Will Always Win (CBS) (2007)
Joy to the World (PBS) (2008)
Greatest Hits (PBS/GAC) (2009)
Tim & Faith: Soul2Soul (Showtime) (2017)
== Awards ==
=== Grammy Awards ===
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Hill has won 5 awards from 17 nominations.
=== Country Music Association Awards ===
The Country Music Association Awards are held annually by the Country Music Association and celebrate excellence and achievements in the country genre. Hill has won 3 awards from 22 nominations.
=== Other awards ===
In addition to her five Grammy Awards, Hill has also won 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, six American Music Awards, and four People's Choice Awards among others. In addition, Hill received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under in 2000, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosteidae | Colosteidae | Colosteidae is a family of stegocephalians (stem-group tetrapods) that lived in the Carboniferous period. They possessed a variety of characteristics from different tetrapod or stem-tetrapod groups, which made them historically difficult to classify. They are now considered to be part of a lineage intermediate between the earliest Devonian terrestrial vertebrates (such as Ichthyostega), and the different groups ancestral to all modern tetrapods, such as temnospondyls (probably ancestral to modern amphibians) and reptiliomorphs (ancestral to amniotes such as mammals, reptiles, and birds).
== Description ==
Colosteids had elongated bodies, with an estimated 40 vertebrae, not including the tail. The skull is relatively flat and composed of many separate bones, like that of other stegocephalians. Colosteids lacked otic notches at the back of the head, unlike temnospondyls and other "labyrinthodonts". However, they did possess large mandibular and palatal fangs (on the lower jaw and the roof of the mouth), in addition to smaller marginal teeth (at the edge of the mouth), like "labyrinthodonts". The skull was overlaid with wide sensory grooves known as lateral lines, which extended from rear edge of the skull to the tip of the snout. Most aquatic stegocephalians have their lateral lines dip, unbroken, under the nostrils once they reach the tip of the snout, or alternately disconnect into separate grooves separated by the nostrils. However, colosteids evolved a unique alternative; their lateral lines droop below the nostrils so far that they contact the marginal teeth, so that the edge of the skull is responsible for subdividing the grooves, rather than the nostrils.
The mandibular fangs were larger than the palatal ones, though those on the palate were still large. Colosteids were unique compared to most stegocephalians in the fact that a pair of palatal fangs were present on the premaxillary bones at the tip of the snout. In conjunction with the forward position of these fangs, the dentary bones of the lower jaw developed a notch on either side near the symphysis (chin). The symphysis itself is formed by a rough area of bone on the left and right dentaries. This rough patch is formed by a complex system of ridges, which have been described as "brassicate" (textured like a cauliflower). Only Megalocephalus is known to share this brassicate patch with colosteids. The mandibles were also unique in the fact that they possessed a single elongated hole along their inner surface, known as an exomeckelian foramen (or a meckelian fenestra). Earlier stegocephalians like Ichthyostega possessed a subtle slit in the mandible, while most later groups had a series of smaller, well-defined holes.
== Relationships ==
The analysis below was conducted by Swartz in 2012, showing the relationship of colosteids with other tetrapodomorphs. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Order_of_the_Phoenix | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a fantasy novel by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth and longest novel in the Harry Potter series. It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including the surreptitious return of the antagonist Lord Voldemort, O.W.L. exams, and an obstructive Ministry of Magic. The novel was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada. It sold five million copies in the first 24 hours of publication.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won several awards, including the American Library Association Best Book Award for Young Adults in 2003. The book was also made into a 2007 film, and a video game by Electronic Arts.
== Plot ==
During the summer, Harry is frustrated by the lack of communication from his friends and by Dumbledore's refusal to let him help in the struggle against Lord Voldemort. One evening, Dementors attack him and his cousin Dudley, but Harry fends them off using the Patronus Charm. Later, members of the Order of the Phoenix arrive at the Dursley residence and take Harry to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Number 12 is Sirius Black's family home and the headquarters of the Order, which is a secret organisation founded by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry wants to join the Order, but is too young.
Under the leadership of Cornelius Fudge, the Ministry of Magic is waging a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, claiming they are lying about the return of Voldemort. Harry faces legal charges for the Patronus Charm he performed, but is exonerated and returns to Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge, a senior Ministry employee, is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. She implements a textbook-only curriculum and forbids the students from practising defensive spells. Harry, Ron, and Hermione form a secret student group called Dumbledore's Army, which meets in the Room of Requirement to practice defensive magic under Harry's instruction.
One night, Harry dreams that Arthur Weasley is attacked by Voldemort's snake, Nagini. The attack actually occurred, and Dumbledore realises that Harry's mind is connected to Voldemort. He orders Professor Snape to teach Harry Occlumency to keep Voldemort out of his mind. When Umbridge discovers Dumbledore's Army, Dumbledore saves Harry from expulsion by claiming he formed the group. Dumbledore then goes into hiding to avoid arrest. Umbridge is appointed headmistress and begins enacting strict rules and regulations.
During exams, Harry has a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. He attempts to contact Sirius at Grimmauld Place, but Umbridge catches and interrogates him. Hermione intervenes and convinces Umbridge to go with her and Harry into the Forbidden Forest. When Umbridge provokes the centaurs who live there, they take her captive. Harry and his friends fly to the Ministry to rescue Sirius, but he is not there. Instead, they find shelves containing glass spheres, one of which bears Harry's name. Harry picks it up and is immediately surrounded by Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy reveals that Harry was lured to the Ministry by a false vision from Voldemort, who wishes to hear the prophecy contained in the sphere. He asks Harry for the sphere, but Harry refuses to give it to him.
The students fight the Death Eaters with help from several Order of the Phoenix members. Neville accidentally knocks the sphere down some steps, destroying it. Bellatrix Lestrange kills Sirius, and he disappears through a mysterious stone archway. Voldemort appears and tries to kill Harry, but Dumbledore arrives and thwarts him. Fudge and other Ministry of Magic employees arrive on the scene and witness Voldemort just before he flees. Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore tells Harry the prophecy was made by Professor Trelawney, who predicted the birth of a child with the power to vanquish Voldemort. This prophecy caused Voldemort to murder Harry's parents, and it is why he wishes to kill Harry as well. Harry feels overwhelmed by the prophecy and the loss of his godfather, but the wizarding community now believes him and respects him. Motivated by his friends, Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer.
== Publication and release ==
Harry Potter fans waited three years between the releases of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Before the release of the fifth book, 200 million copies of the first four books had already been sold and translated into 55 languages in 200 countries. As the series was already a global phenomenon, the book forged new pre-order records, with thousands of people queuing outside book stores on 20 June 2003 to secure copies at midnight. Despite the security, thousands of copies were stolen from an Earlestown, Merseyside warehouse on 15 June 2003.
=== Critical response ===
In 2004, the book was cited as an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and as an American Library Association Notable Book. It also received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2004 Gold Medal, along with several other awards. Rowling was praised for her imagination by USA Today writer Deirdre Donahue.
The New York Times writer John Leonard praised the novel, saying "The Order of the Phoenix starts slow, gathers speed and then skateboards, with somersaults, to its furious conclusion....As Harry gets older, Rowling gets better." However, he also criticised "the one-note Draco Malfoy" and the predictable Lord Voldemort.
The book was a nominee and finalist for the 2004 Prometheus Award.
=== Predecessors and sequels ===
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, 300 of which were distributed to libraries. By the end of 1997, the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9-to-11-year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. The second novel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in the UK on 2 July 1998. The third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, was published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. The fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was published 8 July 2000, simultaneously by Bloomsbury and Scholastic. The fifth novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is the longest book in the series, yet it is the second-shortest film at 2 hours 18 minutes.
After the publishing of Order of the Phoenix, the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published on 2 April 2005 and sold 9 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release. The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published 21 July 2007. The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.
== Adaptations ==
=== Film ===
In 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in a film version directed by David Yates and written by Michael Goldenberg. The film was produced by David Heyman's company, Heyday Films, alongside David Barron. The budget was reportedly between £75 and 100 million (US$150–200 million), and it became the unadjusted eleventh-highest-grossing film of all time and a critical and commercial success. The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, the third best of all time, and grossed $940 million total, second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the greatest total of 2007.
=== Video games ===
A video game adaptation of the book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was made for Windows, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Boy Advance, and Mac OS X. It was released on 25 June 2007 in the U.S., 28 June 2007 in Australia, and 29 June 2007 in the UK and Europe for PlayStation 3, PSP, PlayStation 2, Windows, and 3 July 2007 for most other platforms. The games were published by Electronic Arts.
The book is also depicted in the 2011 video game Lego Harry Potter: Years 5–7. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_(film_series) | Harry Potter (film series) | Harry Potter is a film series based on the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. The series was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and culminating with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). A spin-off prequel series started with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), marking the beginning of the Wizarding World shared media franchise.
An American and British co-production, the series was mainly produced by David Heyman, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson as the three leading characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, respectively. Four directors worked on the series: Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates. Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), while the remaining films' screenplays were written by Steve Kloves. Production took place over ten years, with the main story arc following Harry's quest to overcome his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, was adapted into two feature-length parts. Part 1 was released in November 2010, and Part 2 was released in July 2011.
Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time—at 20th-highest, grossing $1.3 billion. It is the fourth-highest-grossing film series, with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts.
== Origins ==
In late 1997, film producer David Heyman's London offices received a copy of the first book in what would become J.K. Rowling's series of seven Harry Potter novels. The book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was relegated to a low-priority bookshelf, where it was discovered by a secretary who read it and gave it to Heyman with a positive review. Consequently, Heyman, who had originally disliked "the rubbish title", read the book himself. Highly impressed by Rowling's work, he began the process that led to one of the most successful cinematic franchises of all time.
Heyman's enthusiasm led to Rowling's 1999 sale of the film rights for the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. Pictures for a reported £1 million. A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British and Irish wherever possible, such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, allowing nonetheless for casting of French and Eastern European actors in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where characters from the book are specified as such. Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would have enabled Warner Bros. to make non-author-written sequels.
Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the first film, the deal was not finalized. Spielberg wanted to combine the story of the novels and make an animated film with his DreamWorks Animation studio, but Warner Bros. was against both ideas, wanting to produce individual live-action films for each novel. In the "Rubbish Bin" section of her website, Rowling wrote that she had no role in choosing directors for the films, affirming, "Anyone who thinks I could (or would) have 'veto-ed' him [Spielberg] needs their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced."
After Spielberg left, conversations began with other directors, including Chris Columbus, Jonathan Demme, Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell, Alan Parker, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, and Peter Weir. Petersen and Reiner both pulled out of the running in March 2000. It was then narrowed down to Columbus, Gilliam, Parker, and Silberling. Rowling's first choice was Gilliam. However, on 28 March 2000, Columbus was appointed as director of the film, with Warner Bros. citing his work on other family films such as Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire as influences for their decision.
Harry Potter is the kind of timeless literary achievement that comes around once in a lifetime. Since the books have generated such a passionate following across the world, it was important to us to find a director that has an affinity for both children and magic. I can't think of anyone more ideally suited for this job than Chris [Columbus].
Steve Kloves was selected to write the screenplay for the first film. He described adapting the book as "tough" since it did not "lend itself to adaptation as well as the next two books". Kloves was sent a "raft" of synopses of books proposed as film adaptations, with Harry Potter being the only one that jumped out at him. He went out and bought the book, becoming an instant fan. When speaking to Warner Bros. he stated that the film had to be British and true to the characters. David Heyman was confirmed to produce the film. Rowling received a large amount of creative control for the film, an arrangement that Columbus did not mind.
Warner Bros. had initially planned to release the first film over the 4 July 2001 weekend, making for such a short production window that several of the originally proposed directors had withdrawn themselves from contention. Eventually, due to time constraints, the date was put back to 16 November 2001.
=== Casting the roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione ===
In 2000, after a seven-month search, lead actor Daniel Radcliffe was discovered by producer David Heyman and writer Steve Kloves seated just behind them in a theatre. In Heyman's own words, "There sitting behind me was this boy with these big blue eyes. It was Dan Radcliffe. I remember my first impressions: He was curious and funny and so energetic. There was real generosity too, and sweetness. But at the same time he was really voracious and with hunger for knowledge of whatever kind."
Radcliffe had already established himself as an actor in the 1999 BBC television production of David Copperfield in which he played the title role's childhood years. Heyman persuaded Radcliffe's parents to allow him to audition for the part of Harry Potter, which involved Radcliffe being filmed. Rowling was enthusiastic after viewing Radcliffe's filmed test, saying she didn't think there was a better choice for the part of Harry Potter.
Also in 2000, the then-unknown British actors Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. Their only previous acting experience was in school plays. Grint was eleven years old and Watson ten at the time they were cast.
Los Angeles Times writer Geoff Boucher, who conducted the above-mentioned interview with Heyman, added that the casting of the three major roles "is especially impressive in hindsight. The trio's selection was arguably one of the best show-business decisions over the past decade ... they have shown admirable grace and steadiness in the face of teen superstardom."
== Production ==
Filming for the series began at Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England, in September 2000 and ended in December 2010, with post-production on the final film lasting until summer 2011. Leavesden Studios was the main base for filming Harry Potter, and it opened to the public as a studio tour in 2012 (renamed as Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden).
David Heyman produced all the films in the series with his production company Heyday Films, while David Barron joined the series as an executive producer on Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire and was later appointed producer on the last four films. Chris Columbus was an executive producer on the first two films alongside Mark Radcliffe and Michael Barnathan of 1492 Pictures, but he became a producer on the third film alongside Heyman and Radcliffe. Other executive producers include Tanya Seghatchian and Lionel Wigram. J. K. Rowling, author of the series, was asked to become a producer on Goblet of Fire but declined. She subsequently accepted the role on the two-part Deathly Hallows.
Warner Bros. adapted the seventh and final novel in the series, Deathly Hallows, into two cinematic parts. The two parts were filmed back-to-back from early 2009 to summer 2010, with the completion of reshoots taking place on 21 December 2010; this marked the end of filming Harry Potter. Heyman stated that Deathly Hallows was "shot as one film" but released in two feature-length parts.
Tim Burke, the visual effects supervisor of the series, said of the production on Harry Potter, "It was this huge family; I think there were over 700 people working at Leavesden, an industry in itself." David Heyman said, "When the first film opened, no way did I think we'd make eight films. That didn't seem feasible until after we'd done the fourth." Nisha Parti, the production consultant on the first film, said that Heyman "made the first film very much the way he felt the studio Warner Bros. wanted to make it". After the film's success, Heyman was given "more freedom".
One of the aims of the filmmakers from the beginning of production was to develop the maturity of the films. Chris Columbus stated, "We realised that these movies would get progressively darker. Again, we didn't know how dark but we realised that as the kids get older, the movies get a little edgier and darker." This transpired with the succeeding three directors who would work on the series in the following years, with the films beginning to deal with issues such as death, betrayal, prejudice, and political corruption as the series developed narratively and thematically.
=== Directors ===
After Chris Columbus had finished working on Philosopher's Stone, he was hired to direct Chamber of Secrets. The production started within a week after the release of the first film. Columbus was set to direct all entries in the series, but he did not want to return for Prisoner of Azkaban, claiming he was "burned out". He moved to the position of producer, while Alfonso Cuarón was approached for the role of director. He was initially nervous about directing the instalment since he had not read any of the books or seen the films. After reading the series, he changed his mind and signed on to direct since he had immediately connected to the story.
Because Cuarón decided not to direct the fourth instalment, Goblet of Fire, a new director had to be selected. Mike Newell was chosen to direct the film, but he declined to do so for the next film, Order of the Phoenix, which was given to David Yates, who also directed Half-Blood Prince and both parts of Deathly Hallows, becoming the only director to helm more than one film since Columbus.
Columbus said his vision for the first two films was of a "golden storybook, an old-fashioned look", while Cuarón changed the visual tone of the series, desaturated the colour palette, and expanded the landscape around Hogwarts. Newell decided to direct the fourth film as a "paranoid thriller", while Yates wanted to "bring a sense of jeopardy and character to the world". Cuarón, Newell, and Yates have said that their challenge was striking a balance between making the films according to their individual vision, while working within a cinematic world already established by Columbus.
Heyman commented on the "generosity of the directors" by revealing that "Chris spent time with Alfonso, Alfonso spent time with Mike and Mike spent time with David, showing him an early cut of the film, talking through what it means to be a director and how they went about [making the films]." He also said, "I suppose Chris Columbus was the most conservative choice from the studio's point of view. But he expressed real passion." Producer Tanya Seghatchian said they were "more adventurous" in choosing a director for the third film and went straight to Cuarón. Newell became the first British director of the series when he was chosen for the fourth film; Newell was considered to direct the first film before he dropped out. Yates directed the final films after Heyman thought him capable of handling the edgy, emotional, and political material of the later novels.
All the directors have been supportive of each other. Columbus praised the character development in the films, while Cuarón admired the "quiet poetry" of Yates' films. Mike Newell noted that each director had a different heroism, and Yates views the first four films "respectfully and enjoy[s] them". Radcliffe said Yates "took the charm of the films that Chris made and the visual flair of everything that Alfonso did and the thoroughly British, bombastic nature of the film directed by Mike Newell" and added "his own sense" of realism.
=== Scripts ===
Steve Kloves wrote the screenplays for all but the fifth film, which was penned by Michael Goldenberg. Kloves had direct assistance from J.K. Rowling, though she allowed him what he described as "tremendous elbow room". Rowling asked Kloves to remain faithful to the spirit of the books; thus, the plot and tone of each film and its corresponding book are virtually the same, albeit with some changes and omissions for purposes of cinematic style, time, and budget constraints. Goldenberg also received input from Rowling during his adaptation of the fifth novel; Goldenberg was originally considered to adapt the first novel before the studio chose Kloves.
In a 2010 interview, Heyman briefly explained the book-to-film transition. He commented on Rowling's involvement in the series, stating that she understood that "books and films are different" and was "the best support" a producer could have. Rowling had overall approval on the scripts, which were viewed and discussed by the director and the producers. Heyman also said that Kloves was the "key voice" in the process of adapting the novels and that certain aspects from the books needed to have been excluded from the scripts due to the filmmakers' decision to keep the main focus on Harry's journey as a character, which would ultimately give the films a defined structure. Heyman mentioned that some fans "don't necessarily understand the adaptation process" and that the filmmakers would have loved to "have everything" from the books in the films but noted that it was not possible since they had "neither time nor cinematic structure" to do so. He finished by saying that adapting a novel to the screen is "a really considered process".
Because the films were being made as the novels were being published, the filmmakers had no idea of the story's outcome until the release of the final novel in 2007. Kloves spoke of his relationship with Rowling when adapting the novels by saying, "The thing is about Jo, which is remarkable for someone who had no experience with the filmmaking process, was her intuition. We had a conversation the very first day I met her where she said, 'I know the movies can't be the books ... because I know what's coming and it's impossible to fully dramatise on screen what I'm going to write. But I just ask you to be true to the characters; that's all I care about.'" Kloves also said, "I don't know what compelled me to say this [to Rowling], but I said, 'I've just got to warn you my favourite character is not Harry. My favourite character is Hermione.' And I think for some weird reason, from that moment on, she sort of trusted me."
=== Cast and crew ===
Aside from the three lead actors, other notable cast members include Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, and Dame Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall. Richard Harris, who played the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore, died on 25 October 2002, causing the role to be re-cast to Michael Gambon for Prisoner of Azkaban. Heyman and Cuarón chose Gambon to portray Dumbledore, which he did for all succeeding films. Notable recurring cast members include Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, Brendan Gleeson as Alastor Moody, Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley, and Julie Walters as Molly Weasley.
The series has seen many returning crew members from various departments, including Tim Burke, visual effects supervisor; Peter Doyle, digital film colourist; Nick Dudman, make-up and creature effects designer; David Holmes, stunt double; Amanda Knight, make-up artist; Stephenie McMillan, set designer; Greg Powell, stunt coordinator; Jany Temime, costume designer; and Fiona Weir, casting director.
=== Set design ===
The production designer for all eight films is Stuart Craig. Assisted by Stephenie McMillan, Craig has created iconic sets pieces including the Ministry of Magic, the Chamber of Secrets, Malfoy Manor, and the layout for the CGI Horcrux Cave. Because the novels were being published as the films were being made, Craig was required to rebuild some sets for future films and alter the design of Hogwarts.
He said, "In the early days, every time you saw the exterior of Hogwarts, it was a physical miniature", which was made by craftsmen and occupied a large sound stage. "We ended up with a profile of how Hogwarts looked, a skyline that actually I didn't design, and it wasn't always satisfactory, and as all the novels got written and movies got made there were new requirements [for buildings]. The [Astronomy Tower] definitely wasn't there originally, and so we were able to add that substantial piece. And in the last film, we needed an arena for the battle for Hogwarts – the big courtyard outside doubled in size, and if you look at the first movie it wasn't there at all. There were quite some liberties taken with the continuity of Hogwarts." In the last film, Craig used a digital model instead of a miniature to "embrace the latest technology".
On the method of creating the sets, Craig said he often started by sketching ideas onto a blank sheet of paper. Stephenie McMillan also said that "each film always had plenty of new challenges", citing the changes in visual style between directors and cinematographers as an example, along with the developing story in the novels. Due to J.K. Rowling's descriptions of various settings in the novels, Craig noted his "responsibility was to place it together".Craig commented on his experience working in the studio environment: "I'm the production designer, but on a big movie like Harry Potter I may be responsible for 30 to 35 people; from the supervising art director, and a team of art directors and assistants, to draughtsmen and junior draughtsmen, and then on to model makers, sculptors and scenic artists." He said, "Ten years ago, all the Harry Potter drawings were done in pencil. I would take my roughs and plans and sections and give them to a professional architectural illustrator, who would create concept art using pencil and colour wash on watercolour paper." He said the process changed slightly throughout the years due to, what he called, the "digital revolution" of making films.
When filming of the series was completed, some of Craig's sets had to be rebuilt or transported for them to be displayed at the Warner Bros. studio tour.
=== Cinematography ===
Six directors of photography worked on the series: John Seale on the first film, Roger Pratt on the second and fourth, Michael Seresin on the third, Sławomir Idziak on the fifth, Bruno Delbonnel on the sixth, and Eduardo Serra on the seventh and eighth. Delbonnel was considered to return for both parts of Deathly Hallows, but he declined, stating that he was "scared of repeating" himself. Delbonnel's cinematography in Half-Blood Prince gained the series its only Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. As the series progressed, each cinematographer faced the challenge of shooting and lighting older sets (which had been around since the first few films) in unique and different ways. Chris Columbus said the series' vivid colouring decreased as each film was made.
Michael Seresin commented on the change of visual style from the first two films to Prisoner of Azkaban: "The lighting is moodier, with more shadowing and cross-lighting." Seresin and Alfonso Cuarón moved away from the strongly coloured and brightly lit cinematography of the first two films, with dimmer lighting and a more muted colour palette being utilised for the succeeding five films. After comparing a range of digital cameras with 35 mm film, Bruno Delbonnel decided to shoot the sixth movie, Half-Blood Prince, on film rather than the increasingly popular digital format. This decision was kept for the two-part Deathly Hallows with Eduardo Serra, who said that he preferred to work with film because it was "more technically accurate and dependable".
Because the majority of Deathly Hallows takes place in various settings away from Hogwarts, David Yates wanted to "shake things up" by using different photographic techniques such as using hand-held cameras and very wide camera lenses. Eduardo Serra said, "Sometimes we are combining elements shot by the main unit, a second unit, and the visual effects unit. You have to know what is being captured – colours, contrast, et cetera – with mathematical precision." He noted that with Stuart Craig's "amazing sets and the story", the filmmakers could not "stray too far from the look of the previous Harry Potter films".
=== Editing ===
Along with continuous changes in cinematographers, there have been five film editors to work in post-production on the series: Richard Francis-Bruce edited the first instalment, Peter Honess the second, Steven Weisberg the third, Mick Audsley the fourth, and Mark Day films five through eight.
=== Music ===
The Harry Potter series has had four composers. John Williams scored the first three films: Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban. Due to a busy 2002 schedule, Williams brought in William Ross to adapt and conduct the score for Chamber of Secrets. Williams also composed "Hedwig's Theme", the series' leitmotif which appears in all eight films.
After Williams left the series to pursue other projects, Patrick Doyle scored the fourth entry, Goblet of Fire, which was directed by Mike Newell, with whom Doyle had worked previously. In 2006, Nicholas Hooper started work on the score to Order of the Phoenix, reuniting with director David Yates. Hooper also composed the soundtrack to Half-Blood Prince but decided not to return for the final two films.
In January 2010, Alexandre Desplat was confirmed to compose the score for Deathly Hallows – Part 1. The film's orchestration started in the summer with Conrad Pope, the orchestrator on the first three Harry Potter films, collaborating with Desplat. Pope commented that the music "reminds one of the old days". Desplat returned to score Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011.
Yates stated that he wanted Williams to return to the series for the final instalment, but their schedules did not align due to the urgent demand for a rough cut of the film. The final recording sessions for Harry Potter took place on 27 May 2011 at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra, Desplat and orchestrator Conrad Pope.
Doyle, Hooper and Desplat introduced their own personal themes to their respective soundtracks, while keeping a few of Williams' themes.
=== Visual effects ===
There have been many visual effects companies that work on the Harry Potter series. Some of these include Rising Sun Pictures, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Double Negative, Cinesite, Framestore, and Industrial Light & Magic. The latter three have worked on all the films in the series, while Double Negative and Rising Sun Pictures began their commitments with Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, respectively. Framestore contributed by developing many memorable creatures and sequences to the series. Cinesite was involved in producing both miniature and digital effects for the films. Producer David Barron said that "Harry Potter created the UK effects industry as we know it. On the first film, all the complicated visual effects were done on the [US] west coast. But on the second, we took a leap of faith and gave much of what would normally be given to Californian vendors to UK ones. They came up trumps." Tim Burke, the visual effects supervisor, said many studios "are bringing their work to UK effects companies. Every facility is fully booked, and that wasn't the case before Harry Potter. That's really significant."
=== Final filming ===
On 12 June 2010, filming of the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2 was completed with actor Warwick Davis stating on his Twitter account, "The end of an Era – today is officially the last day of principal photography on 'Harry Potter' – ever. I feel honoured to be here as the director shouts cut for the very last time. Farewell Harry & Hogwarts, it's been magic!" However, reshoots of the epilogue scene were confirmed to begin in the winter of 2010. The reshoots were completed on 21 December 2010, marking the official closure of filming for the Harry Potter franchise. Exactly four years earlier on that day, Rowling's official website revealed the title of the final novel in the book series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
== Films ==
=== Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) ===
Harry Potter is an orphaned boy brought up by his unkind Muggle (non-magical) aunt and uncle. At the age of eleven, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid informs him that he is actually a wizard and that his parents were murdered by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort. Voldemort also attempted to kill one-year-old Harry on the same night, but his killing curse mysteriously rebounded and reduced him to a weak and helpless form. Harry became extremely famous in the Wizarding World as a result. Harry begins his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and learns about magic. During the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger become entangled in the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone which is being kept within the school.
=== Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) ===
Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts for their second year, which proves to be more challenging than the last. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, leaving students and ghosts petrified by an unleashed monster. Harry must face up to claims that he is the heir of Salazar Slytherin (founder of the Chamber), learn that he can speak Parseltongue, and also discover the properties of a mysterious diary, only to find himself trapped within the Chamber itself.
=== Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ===
Harry's third year sees the boy wizard, along with his friends, attending Hogwarts School once again. Professor R. J. Lupin joins the staff as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, while convicted murderer Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban. The Ministry of Magic entrusts the Dementors to guard Hogwarts from Black. Harry learns more about his past and his connection with the escaped prisoner.
=== Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ===
During Harry's fourth year, Hogwarts plays host to the Triwizard Tournament. Three European schools participate in the tournament, with three 'champions' representing each school in the deadly tasks. The Goblet of Fire chooses Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Cedric Diggory to compete against each other. However, Harry's name is also produced from the Goblet thus making him a fourth champion, which leads to a terrifying encounter with a reborn Lord Voldemort.
=== Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ===
Harry's fifth year begins with him being attacked by Dementors in Little Whinging. Later, he finds out that the Ministry of Magic is in denial of Lord Voldemort's return. Harry is also beset by disturbing and realistic nightmares, while Professor Umbridge, a representative of Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry becomes aware that Voldemort is after a prophecy which reveals: "neither can live while the other survives". The rebellion involving the students of Hogwarts, secret organisation Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic, and the Death Eaters begins.
=== Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) ===
In Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are increasing their terror upon the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore persuades his old friend Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts as a professor as there is a vacancy to fill. There is a more important reason, however, for Slughorn's return. While in a Potions lesson, Harry takes possession of a strangely annotated school textbook, inscribed as belonging to the 'Half-Blood Prince'. Draco Malfoy struggles to carry out a mission presented to him by Voldemort. Meanwhile, Dumbledore and Harry secretly work together to discover how to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all.
=== Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) ===
After unexpected events at the end of the previous year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are entrusted with a quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's secret to immortality – the Horcruxes. It is supposed to be their final year at Hogwarts, but the collapse of the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort's rise to power prevents them from attending. The trio undergo an arduous journey with many obstacles in their path including Death Eaters, Snatchers, the mysterious Deathly Hallows, and Harry's connection with the Dark Lord's mind becoming stronger.
=== Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) ===
After destroying a Horcrux and discovering the significance of the three Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron and Hermione continue to seek out the other Horcruxes in an attempt to destroy Voldemort, who has now obtained the powerful Elder Wand. The Dark Lord discovers Harry's hunt for his Horcruxes and launches an attack on Hogwarts, where the trio return for one last stand against the dark forces that threaten both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.
=== Future ===
In July 2016, Warner Bros. Entertainment applied to purchase the rights to the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, leading to speculation that it was going to become a film, despite earlier claims, most notably from Rowling, that a film adaptation was not being made.
In November 2021, Chris Columbus, who previously directed the first two installments of the film series, expressed interest in directing a film adaptation of The Cursed Child, with the intent of having the main cast members reprise their roles. When The New York Times asked Daniel Radcliffe in 2022 if he would be ready to reprise his role as Harry Potter, he replied that he was not interested in it at the moment, but did not deny the possibility of returning sometime in the future.
In a Sunday Times interview in August 2025, Columbus confirmed that he maintains close relationships with the original cast but has not spoken to Rowling in "a decade or so". He went on to state that Rowling's anti-trans views mean that a movie version of The Cursed Child with the original cast is "never going to happen". In a recent interview with Variety, Columbus spoke of "separating the artist from the art" and described the controversy around Rowling as "just sad, it's very sad", while noting that he does not agree with her views.
== Release ==
The rights to the first four novels in the series were sold to Warner Bros. for £1,000,000 by J.K. Rowling. After the release of the fourth book in July 2000, the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was released on 16 November 2001. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $90 million in the United States alone, which set a record opening worldwide. The succeeding three motion picture adaptations followed suit in financial success, while garnering positive reviews from fans and critics. The fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released by Warner Bros. on 11 July 2007 in English-speaking countries, except for the UK and Ireland, which released the movie on 12 July. The sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released on 15 July 2009 to critical acclaim and finished its theatrical run ranked as the number two grossing film of 2009 on the worldwide charts.
The final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was split into two cinematic parts: Part 1 was released on 19 November 2010, and Part 2, the conclusion of the series, was released on 15 July 2011. Part 1 was originally scheduled to be released in 3D and 2D, but due to a delay in the 3D conversion process, Warner Bros. released the film only in 2D and IMAX cinemas. However, Part 2 was released in 2D and 3D cinemas as originally planned.
The television broadcast rights for the series in the US are currently held by NBCUniversal, which typically airs the films on USA Network and Syfy. The film series has accrued nearly 1.3 billion viewings since its television debut—the highest-watched franchise in television broadcast history. All eight films became available to stream on HBO Max on 27 May 2020, the launch date of the service.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of Philosopher's Stone, in November 2021, it was announced that the entire film series would be relaunched in cinemas in Brazil, as well as a special edition of Philosopher's Stone on HBO Max. Much of the original cast and crew reunited for an HBO Max retrospective special titled Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which was released on 1 January 2022.
== Reception ==
The Harry Potter films have been top-rank box office hits, with all eight releases on the list of highest-grossing films worldwide. Philosopher's Stone was the highest-grossing Harry Potter film up until the release of the final instalment of the series, Deathly Hallows Part 2, while Prisoner of Azkaban grossed the least. As well as being a financial success, the film series has also been a success among film critics. Opinions of the films are generally divided among fans, with one group preferring the more faithful approach of the first two films, and another group preferring the more stylised character-driven approach of the later films. Rowling has been consistently supportive of all the films and evaluated Deathly Hallows as her "favourite one" in the series.
=== Critical response ===
All the films have been a success financially and critically, making the franchise one of the major Hollywood "tent-poles" akin to James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean. The series is noted by audiences for growing visually darker and more mature as each film was released. However, the films have generally divided fans of the books, with some preferring the more faithful approach of the first two films and others preferring the more stylised character-driven approach of the later films.
Some have also felt the series has a "disjointed" feel due to the changes in directors, as well as Michael Gambon's portrayal of Albus Dumbledore differing from that of Richard Harris. Author J. K. Rowling has been consistently supportive of the films, and evaluated the two parts of Deathly Hallows as her favourite of the series. She wrote on her website of the changes in the book-to-film transition, "It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long. Obviously films have restrictions – novels do not have constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers' imaginations."
=== Accolades ===
At the 64th British Academy Film Awards in February 2011, J. K. Rowling, David Heyman, David Barron, David Yates, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson collected the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema for the series.
In addition, the American Film Institute recognised the entire series with a Special Award at the American Film Institute Awards in 2011. Special awards "are given to outstanding achievements in the moving image that do not fit into AFI's criteria for the other honorees". In its press release, the Institute referred to the films as "a landmark series; eight films that earned the trust of a generation who wished for the beloved books of J.K. Rowling to come to life on the silver screen. The collective wizardry of an epic ensemble gave us the gift of growing older with Harry, Ron and Hermione as the magic of Hogwarts sprung from the films and into the hearts and minds of Muggles around the world."
Harry Potter was also recognised by the BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards, with David Yates winning the Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing for his four Harry Potter films.
==== Academy Awards ====
Six of the eight films were nominated for a total of 12 Academy Awards.
Some critics, fans, and general audiences have expressed disappointment over the Harry Potter series not winning any Oscars for its achievements. However, others have pointed out that certain films in the series had uneven reviews, in contrast to the three films of The Lord of the Rings, for example, which were all critically acclaimed. This has been partly attributed to the Harry Potter series going through several directors each with their own directorial style in contrast to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was filmed in one massive undertaking by the same director, writer, and producer. An observer noted that "cinematically, the Potter franchise-starter was marked by its commercial caution: its imagination was safely limited, its storytelling by-the-book in all senses, its budget spent to yield more value than magic" in contrast with how "Fellowship of the Ring, by comparison, was a reckless, wondrous extravagance".
Although not successful at the Oscars, the Harry Potter series has gained success in many other award ceremonies, including the annual Saturn Awards and Art Directors Guild Awards. The series has also gained a total of 24 nominations at the British Academy Film Awards presented at the annual BAFTAs, winning several, and 5 nominations at the Grammy Awards.
Philosopher's Stone achieved seven BAFTA Award nominations, including Best British Film and Best Supporting Actor for Robbie Coltrane. The film was also nominated for eight Saturn Awards and won for its costumes design. It was also nominated at the Art Directors Guild Awards for its production design and received the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Live Action Family Film along with gaining two other nominations.
Chamber of Secrets won the award for Best Live Action Family Film in the Phoenix Film Critics Society. It was nominated for seven Saturn Awards, including Best Director and Best Fantasy Film. The film was nominated for four BAFTA Awards and a Grammy Award for John Williams's score. Prisoner of Azkaban won an Audience Award, as well as Best Feature Film, at the BAFTA Awards. The film also won a BMI Film Music award along with being nominated at the Grammy Awards, Visual Effect Society Awards, and the Amanda Awards. Goblet of Fire won a BAFTA award for Best Production Design as well as being nominated at the Saturn Awards, Critic's Choice Awards, and the Visual Effects Society Awards.
Order of the Phoenix picked up three awards at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards. At the Empire Awards, David Yates won Best Director. Composer Nicholas Hooper received a nomination for a World Soundtrack Discovery Award. The film was nominated at the BAFTA Awards, but did not win for Best Production Design or Best Special Visual Effects. Half-Blood Prince was nominated for BAFTA Awards in Production Design and Visual Effects, and it was in the longlists for several other categories, including Best Supporting Actor for Alan Rickman. Amongst other nominations and wins, the film also achieved Best Family Movie at the National Movie Awards as well as Best Live Action Family Film at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, along with being nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Satellite Awards.
Deathly Hallows – Part 1 gained two nominations at the BAFTA Awards for Best Make-Up and Hair and Best Visual Effects, along with receiving nominations for the same categories at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards. Eduardo Serra's cinematography and Stuart Craig's production design were also nominated in various award ceremonies, and David Yates attained his second win at the Empire Awards, this time for Best Fantasy Film. He also obtained another Best Director nomination at the annual Saturn Awards, which also saw the film gain a Best Fantasy Film nomination. Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was released to critical acclaim, gaining a mix of audience awards. Part 2 of Deathly Hallows was also recognised at the Saturn Awards as well as the BAFTA Awards, where the film achieved a win for Best Special Visual Effects.
=== Box office performance ===
As of 2022, the Harry Potter film series is the fourth highest-grossing film franchise of all time, with the eight films released grossing over $7.7 billion worldwide. Without adjusting for inflation, this is higher than the first 22 James Bond films and the six films in the Star Wars original and prequel trilogies. Chris Columbus's Philosopher's Stone became the highest-grossing Harry Potter film worldwide upon completing its theatrical run in 2002, but it was eventually topped by David Yates's Deathly Hallows – Part 2, while Alfonso Cuarón's Prisoner of Azkaban grossed the least.
Six films in the Harry Potter franchise — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 & 2 — have to date grossed around $216 million in IMAX theaters worldwide.
=== All-time rankings ===
== Legacy ==
The Harry Potter films and their success have been retrospectively considered to have had a significant impact on the film industry. They are credited with helping redefine the Hollywood blockbuster in the 21st century by initiating a shift toward established media franchises forming the basis of successful films. In the wake of the final film's release, Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote that the films "inspired every major studio to try to capture [its] alchemic formula, spawning a range of copycats and wannabes" and "also have shown Hollywood how to make a glossy blockbuster with an eye toward keeping costs down". A 2009 article from The Economist argued that the films were "in the vanguard" of adaptations of established properties being the modern film franchise model, citing The Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Trilogy as examples of successful film series that followed Harry Potter's suit. Furthermore, the practice of splitting the finale of a film series into two back-to-back films began with the success of Deathly Hallows, and it would soon be replicated by The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 and 2, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2.
The films are also credited with signalling the popularity of films based on children's and young adult literature in the 2000s and 2010s, correlating with the book series' own literary influence. Costance Grady and Aja Romano, commenting on the whole Harry Potter franchise's legacy for Vox in light of its 20th anniversary, wrote that youth-targeted literature has since become "a go-to well of ideas for Hollywood", pointing to the successes of The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games.
The series has spawned a vast volume of fan fiction, with nearly 600,000 inspired stories catalogued, and an Italian fan film, Voldemort: Origins of the Heir, which received over twelve million views in ten days on YouTube.
The success of the film series, combined with that of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, inspired Nickelodeon's production of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, with the network seeking to emulate the two successful properties with an action-adventure series with magic elements. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina_at_the_FIFA_World_Cup#:~:text=Argentina%20is%20one%20of%20the,in%201930%2C%201990%20and%202014. | Argentina at the FIFA World Cup#:~:text=Argentina is one of the,in 1930, 1990 and 2014. | This is a record of Argentina's results at the FIFA World Cup. Argentina is one of the most successful teams in the tournament's history, having won three World Cups: in 1978, 1986, and 2022. Argentina has also been runner-up three times: in 1930, 1990 and 2014. In 18 World Cup tournaments, Argentina has 47 victories in 88 matches. The team was present in all but four of the World Cups, being behind only Brazil and Germany in number of appearances.
== World Cup record ==
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
=== World Cup Finals ===
=== All matches ===
== World Cup Finals ==
=== 1930 v Uruguay ===
The inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament culminated with Argentina facing hosts and current Olympic champions Uruguay. The match was turned twice: Argentina went into half-time with a 2–1 lead in spite of an early goal for Uruguay, but the hosts ultimately won 4–2. Guillermo Stábile, one of Argentina's scorers, became the tournament's top striker with 8 goals total.
=== 1978 v the Netherlands ===
Argentina hosted the 1978 edition of the World Cup and reached the final. The Netherlands had already played the previous final in West Germany 1974 - and also lost to the hosts.
Diego Maradona was 17 years old at this point and already a star in his home country, but did not make the squad as coach César Luis Menotti felt he was too inexperienced to handle the pressure of this major tournament. The playmaker position was instead filled by Mario Kempes, who ended up becoming the first Argentinian to win the Golden Ball in addition to being the tournament's top scorer with 6 goals.
The Dutch side was missing a superstar of their own: Johan Cruyff did not join the 1978 World Cup squads due to the aftermath of a kidnapping attempt which occurred in 1977. He only disclosed this information 30 years later.
The closely contested match was influenced by a hostile atmosphere and ended with the Dutch players refusing to attend the award ceremony after Argentina grabbed the title in extra time.
=== 1986 v West Germany ===
Eight years after the victory on home soil, Argentina won the World Cup title for the second time. Diego Maradona was voted Best Player of the tournament after scoring five goals and assisting the decisive 3-2 by Jorge Burruchaga in the 84th minute of the final. The match was played in front of a record attendance of 114,600 people.
=== 1990 v West Germany ===
In 1990, Argentina faced West Germany in a repeat of the 1986 edition. Pedro Monzón became the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup final, but was later joined by teammate Gustavo Dezotti. The match was decided by a penalty kick in favour of Germany.
=== 2014 v Germany ===
In 2014, Argentina reached the final for the fifth time and for a third time had to face the German team, making it the most recurrent meeting for a final. In spite of a number of chances on both sides, regular time finished goalless. In the second half of extra time, substitute striker Mario Götze scored the decisive goal for Germany.
=== 2022 v France ===
Argentina opened up the scoring when Messi scored a penalty kick, and doubled their lead with a Di Maria goal in the 36th minute. France made two substitutions in the first half, but went into half-time trailing 0–2. Despite not having a shot until after the 80th minute, France were awarded a penalty as Randal Kolo Muani was brought down in the penalty area. Mbappé scored the penalty, and added a second goal less than two minutes later to equalise the scores. With the scores tied, the match went to extra time. Messi again scored for Argentina in the second extra time half. Mbappé was awarded a second penalty in the 118th minute after his initial shot hit the arm of Gonzalo Montiel. Mbappé scored his third goal, becoming the second player to score a hat-trick in the final of a men's World Cup. With the scores tied at 3–3, the match was completed by a penalty shootout. Argentina won the final after scoring all of their penalties, winning 4–2.
=== Record by opponent ===
Argentina have played a total of 88 FIFA World Cup games through 18 tournaments, facing 39 rivals.
Teams in bold denote world cup winners, teams in italics show teams which played its first match ever in a World Cup against Argentina.
Teams with a * mark no longer exist. East Germany was annexed to Germany. Soviet Union now plays as Russia.
+ Played as Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.
== Head coaches ==
Through Argentinian team history, several coaches had trained it with different football styles from offensive to defensive tactics. There are two predominant 'football schools' about world champions coaches César Menotti who propagates possession and well-look play and Carlos Bilardo who prioritize results and tactical order. These head coaches divides Argentine fans kindly. Other managers such as Marcelo Bielsa has got his own football style. In another way this list shows records in World Cups and in qualifying stages excluding friendlies.
From 1994 towards, three points are given for a win. Previously were two.
== Against conferences ==
FIFA delegates regional qualification and other organization affairs to continental conferences, so it divides into six differents of them grouped by geographical location. Argentina plays in CONMEBOL conference in South America. Due to World Cup rules that two teams of same confederation can not play in the same group in first round except for UEFA, it commonly faces teams which plays outside its continent most recently from Africa and Asia. Argentine national has never played versus an Oceanian (OFC) squad.
=== Against debutants ===
'Albiceleste' has played against first-world-cup teams more than other, doing so 17 times, 7 of them being the first World Cup match ever. This list shows records versus those selections including all-debutants 1930 edition. Curiously, Argentina's debut was versus France which previously had played before.
Sweden, Bulgaria, Greece, Japan, Ivory Coast, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland played its first time against Argentina.France, Mexico, Chile, United States, Uruguay, Northern Ireland, Haiti, East Germany, Jamaica and Croatia played in its first world cup but after first game.
== Records and statistics ==
=== Most appearances ===
Lionel Messi has captained the team in 19 matches.
Lionel Messi's total of 26 matches is a record for the side and the most for a player at the FIFA World Cup.
=== Top goalscorers ===
=== Goalscoring by tournament ===
== Awards ==
=== Team ===
World Champions 1978
World Champions 1986
World Champions 2022
2nd Place 1930
2nd Place 1990
2nd Place 2014
Fair Play Award 1978
=== Individual ===
Golden Ball 1978: Mario Kempes
Golden Ball 1986: Diego Maradona
Golden Ball 2014: Lionel Messi
Golden Ball 2022: Lionel Messi
Silver Ball 1930: Guillermo Stábile
Bronze Ball 1990: Diego Maradona
Golden Boot 1930: Guillermo Stábile
Golden Boot 1978: Mario Kempes
Silver Boot 1986: Diego Maradona
Silver Boot 1998: Gabriel Batistuta
Silver Boot 2006: Hernán Crespo
Silver Boot 2022: Lionel Messi
Golden Glove 1978: Ubaldo Fillol
Golden Glove 1990: Sergio Goycochea (shared with Luis Gabelo Conejo)
Golden Glove 2022: Emiliano Martínez
Best Young Player 2022: Enzo Fernández
Most Player of the Match Awards 2014 (4) and 2022 (5): Lionel Messi
Most Player of the Match Awards over various World Cups by a single player (11): Lionel Messi
José Pékerman won the FIFA Fair Play Trophy as a coach with Colombia in 2014.
=== Standing alone ===
Most played final against the same team: 3 times versus Germany in 1986, 1990 and 2014.
Most played against the same team in same stage: 5 times versus Nigeria in 1994, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018 all in group stage. Last three of them make most times consecutive, too. All won by Argentina by one goal difference.
Most played semifinals without losses: 6 times won in 1930, 1986 and 2022 while drawn in 1990 and 2014. Although in 1978 there weren't semi-finals, Argentina won second round group ahead of Brazil, which disputed the match for third place against Italy. Even more, game against Brazil ended in a 0–0 draw.
Most played penalty shoot-outs: 7 (twice in 1990, 1998, 2006, 2014 and twice in 2022).
Fewest goals for a finalist: 1990 (5).
Youngest coach: Juan José Tramutola aged 27 years and 267 days in 1930.
Most hat-tricks scored in multiple editions: Gabriel Batistuta in 1994 against Greece and in 1998 against Jamaica.
=== Shared ===
Most played against the same team: 7 times versus Germany in 1958, 1966, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2010 and 2014. Shared with Germany vs Yugoslavia/Serbia and Brazil vs Sweden.
Most won penalty shoot-outs: 6 times (twice in 1990, 1998, 2014 and twice in 2022).
Most coached finals: 2 times by Carlos Bilardo in 1986 and 1990. Shared with Italian Vittorio Pozzo (1934-1938), German Helmut Schön (1966-1974), Brazilian Mário Zagallo (1970-1998) German Franz Beckenbauer who faced Bilardo in both 1986 and 1990, and French Didier Deschamps (2018-2022).
== Miscellaneous ==
Argentina's game versus West Germany in 1958 featured a yellow jersey instead of the traditional light blue and white colors or blue as alternate. This was because both teams wore white jerseys, creating confusion. As the South American side forgot to bring an alternate one, they decided to borrow jerseys from local team club Malmö. Germany won 3–1.
In the 1978 France - Hungary match something similar occurred. Both teams arrived to the match with white jerseys, so France was forced to borrow jerseys from Mar del Plata's local club Kimberley. France wore striped green and white keeping the traditional blue shorts and red socks. France won 3–1.
The stadium José María Minella is the southernmost World Cup venue located at 38°0′0″S 57°33′0″W. Including France vs. Hungary, several matches of the 1978 World Cup were played in this stadium. Mar del Plata is in the south of Buenos Aires Province.
== Referees ==
As a major CONMEBOL member, Argentina has been represented by match officials in nearly every tournament. In 2006, Horacio Elizondo refereed the final between France and Italy, where he sent off Zinedine Zidane after a headbutt to an opponent. In 2018, Néstor Pitana did it when France played versus Croatia. They are also the only two who refereed the opening game in the same tournament. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot | George Eliot | Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–1863), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–1872) and Daniel Deronda (1876). Like Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, she emerged from provincial England, where most of her works are set. Her novels are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place, and detailed depiction of the countryside. Middlemarch was described by the novelist Virginia Woolf as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people" and by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language.
Scandalously and unconventionally for the era, she lived with the married George Henry Lewes as his conjugal partner, from 1854 to 1878, and called him her husband. He remained married to his wife, Agnes Jervis, and supported their children, even after Jervis left him to live with another man and have children with him. In May 1880, 18 months after Lewes's death, Eliot married her longtime friend John Cross, a man much younger than she, and changed her name to Mary Ann Cross.
== Life ==
=== Early life and education ===
Mary Ann Evans was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, at South Farm on the Arbury Hall estate. She was the third child of Robert Evans (1773–1849), manager of the Arbury Hall estate, and Christiana Evans (née Pearson, 1788–1836), daughter of a local mill-owner. Her full siblings were: Christiana, known as Chrissey (1814–1859), Isaac (1816–1890), and twin brothers who died a few days after birth in March 1821. She also had a half-brother, Robert Evans (1802–1864), and half-sister, Frances "Fanny" Evans Houghton (1805–1882), from her father's previous marriage to Harriet Poynton (1780–1809). In early 1820, the family moved to a house named Griff House, between Nuneaton and Bedworth.
The young Evans was a voracious reader and obviously intelligent. Because she was not considered physically beautiful, Evans was not thought to have much chance of marriage, and this, coupled with her intelligence, led her father to invest in an education not often afforded to women. From ages five to nine, she boarded with her sister Chrissey at Miss Latham's school in Attleborough, from ages nine to thirteen at Mrs. Wallington's school in Nuneaton, and from ages thirteen to sixteen at Miss Franklin's school in Coventry. At Mrs. Wallington's school, she was taught by the evangelical Maria Lewis—to whom her earliest surviving letters are addressed. In the religious atmosphere of the Misses Franklin's school, Evans was exposed to a quiet, disciplined belief opposed to evangelicalism.
After age sixteen, Evans had little formal education. Thanks to her father's important role on the estate, she was allowed access to the library of Arbury Hall, which greatly aided her self-education and breadth of learning. Her classical education left its mark; Christopher Stray has observed that "George Eliot's novels draw heavily on Greek literature (only one of her books can be printed correctly without the use of a Greek typeface), and her themes are often influenced by Greek tragedy". Her frequent visits to the estate also allowed her to contrast the wealth in which the local landowner lived with the lives of the often much poorer people on the estate, and different lives lived in parallel would reappear in many of her works. The other important early influence in her life was religion. She was brought up within a low church Anglican family, but at that time the Midlands was an area with a growing number of religious dissenters.
=== Move to Coventry ===
In 1836, her mother died and Evans (then 16) returned home to act as housekeeper, though she continued to correspond with her tutor Maria Lewis. When she was 21, her brother Isaac married and took over the family home, so Evans and her father moved to Foleshill near Coventry. The closeness to Coventry society brought new influences, most notably those of Charles and Cara Bray. Charles Bray had become rich as a ribbon manufacturer and had used his wealth in the building of schools and in other philanthropic causes. Evans, who had been struggling with religious doubts for some time, became intimate friends with the radical, free-thinking Brays, who had a casual view of marital obligations and the Brays' "Rosehill" home was a haven for people who held and debated radical views. The people whom the young woman met at the Brays' house included Robert Owen, Herbert Spencer, Harriet Martineau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Through this society Evans was introduced to more liberal and agnostic theologies and to writers such as David Strauss and Ludwig Feuerbach, who cast doubt on the literal truth of Biblical texts. In fact, her first major literary work was an English translation of Strauss's Das Leben Jesu kritisch bearbeitet as The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined (1846), which she completed after it had been left incomplete by Elizabeth "Rufa" Brabant, another member of the "Rosehill Circle".
The Strauss book had caused a sensation in Germany by arguing that the miracles in the New Testament were mythical additions with little basis in fact. Evans's translation had a similar effect in England, with the Earl of Shaftesbury calling her translation "the most pestilential book ever vomited out of the jaws of hell." Later she translated Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity (1854). The ideas in these books would have an effect on her own fiction.
As a product of their friendship, Bray published some of Evans's own earliest writing, such as reviews, in his newspaper the Coventry Herald and Observer. As Evans began to question her own religious faith, her father threatened to throw her out of the house, but his threat was not carried out. Instead, she respectfully attended church and continued to keep house for him until his death in 1849, when she was 30. Five days after her father's funeral, she travelled to Switzerland with the Brays. She decided to stay on in Geneva alone, living first on the lake at Plongeon (near the present-day United Nations buildings) and then on the second floor of a house owned by her friends François and Juliet d'Albert Durade on the rue de Chanoines (now the rue de la Pelisserie). She commented happily that "one feels in a downy nest high up in a good old tree". Her stay is commemorated by a plaque on the building. While residing there, she read avidly and took long walks in the beautiful Swiss countryside, which was a great inspiration to her. François Durade painted her portrait there as well.
=== Move to London and editorship of the Westminster Review ===
On her return to England the following year (1850), she moved to London with the intent of becoming a writer, and she began referring to herself as Marian Evans. She stayed at the house of John Chapman, the radical publisher whom she had met earlier at Rosehill and who had published her Strauss translation. She then joined Chapman's ménage-à-trois along with his wife and mistress. Chapman had recently purchased the campaigning, left-wing journal The Westminster Review. Evans became its assistant editor in 1851 after joining just a year earlier. Evans's writings for the paper were comments on her views of society and the Victorian way of thinking. She was sympathetic to the lower classes and criticised organised religion throughout her articles and reviews and commented on contemporary ideas of the time. Much of this was drawn from her own experiences and knowledge and she used this to critique other ideas and organisations. This led to her writing being viewed as authentic and wise but not too obviously opinionated. Evans also focused on the business side of the Review with attempts to change its layout and design. Although Chapman was officially the editor, it was Evans who did most of the work of producing the journal, contributing many essays and reviews beginning with the January 1852 issue and continuing until the end of her employment at the Review in the first half of 1854. Eliot sympathized with the 1848 Revolutions throughout continental Europe, and even hoped that the Italians would chase the "odious Austrians" out of Lombardy and that "decayed monarchs" would be pensioned off, although she believed a gradual reformist approach to social problems was best for England.
In 1850–51, Evans attended classes in mathematics at the Ladies College in Bedford Square, later known as Bedford College, London.
=== Relationship with George Henry Lewes ===
The philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes (1817–1878) met Evans in 1851, and by 1854 they had decided to live together. Lewes was already married to Agnes Jervis, although in an open marriage. In addition to the three children they had together, Agnes also had four children by Thornton Leigh Hunt. In July 1854, Lewes and Evans travelled to Weimar and Berlin together for the purpose of research. Before going to Germany, Evans continued her theological work with a translation of Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity, and while abroad she wrote essays and worked on her translation of Baruch Spinoza's Ethics, which she completed in 1856, but which was not published in her lifetime because the prospective publisher refused to pay the requested £75. In 1981, Eliot's translation of Spinoza's Ethics was finally published by Thomas Deegan, and was determined to be in the public domain in 2018 and published by the George Eliot Archive. It has been re-published in 2020 by Princeton University Press.
The trip to Germany also served as a honeymoon for Evans and Lewes, who subsequently considered themselves married. Evans began to refer to Lewes as her husband and to sign her name as Mary Ann Evans Lewes, legally changing her name to Mary Ann Evans Lewes after his death. The refusal to conceal the relationship was contrary to the social conventions of the time, and attracted considerable disapproval.
=== Career in fiction ===
While continuing to contribute pieces to the Westminster Review, Evans resolved to become a novelist, and set out a pertinent manifesto in one of her last essays for the Review, "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" (1856). The essay criticised the trivial and ridiculous plots of contemporary fiction written by women. In other essays, she praised the realism of novels that were being written in Europe at the time, an emphasis on realistic storytelling confirmed in her own subsequent fiction. She also adopted a nom-de-plume, George Eliot; as she explained to her biographer J. W. Cross, George was Lewes's forename, and Eliot was "a good mouth-filling, easily pronounced word". Although female authors were published under their own names during her lifetime, she wanted to escape the stereotype of women's writing being limited to lighthearted romances or other lighter fare not to be taken very seriously. She also wanted to have her fiction judged separately from her already extensive and widely known work as a translator, editor, and critic. Another factor in her use of a pen name may have been a desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny, thus avoiding the scandal that would have arisen because of her relationship with Lewes, who was married.
In 1857, when she was 37 years of age, "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton", the first of the three stories included in Scenes of Clerical Life, and the first work of "George Eliot", was published in Blackwood's Magazine. The Scenes (published as a 2-volume book in 1858) was well received, and was widely believed to have been written by a country parson, or perhaps the wife of a parson.
Eliot was profoundly influenced by the works of Thomas Carlyle. As early as 1841, she referred to him as "a grand favourite of mine", and references to him abound in her letters from the 1840s and 1850s. According to University of Victoria professor Lisa Surridge, Carlyle "stimulated Eliot's interest in German thought, encouraged her turn from Christian orthodoxy, and shaped her ideas on work, duty, sympathy, and the evolution of the self." These themes made their way into Evans's first complete novel, Adam Bede (1859). It was an instant success, and prompted yet more intense curiosity as to the author's identity: there was even a pretender to the authorship, one Joseph Liggins. This public interest subsequently led to Mary Anne Evans Lewes's acknowledgment that it was she who stood behind the pseudonym George Eliot. Adam Bede is known for embracing a realist aesthetic inspired by Dutch visual art.
The revelations about Eliot's private life surprised and shocked many of her admiring readers, but this did not affect her popularity as a novelist. Her relationship with Lewes afforded her the encouragement and stability she needed to write fiction, but it would be some time before the couple were accepted into polite society. Acceptance was finally confirmed in 1877 when they were introduced to Princess Louise, the daughter of Queen Victoria. The queen herself was an avid reader of all of Eliot's novels and was so impressed with Adam Bede that she commissioned the artist Edward Henry Corbould to paint scenes from the book.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Eliot expressed sympathy for the Union cause, something which historians have attributed to her abolitionist sympathies. In 1868, she supported philosopher Richard Congreve's protests against governmental policies in Ireland and had a positive view of the growing movement in support of Irish home rule.
She was influenced by the writings of John Stuart Mill and read all of his major works as they were published. In Mill's The Subjection of Women (1869) she judged the second chapter excoriating the laws which oppress married women "excellent." She was supportive of Mill's parliamentary run, but believed that the electorate was unlikely to vote for a philosopher and was surprised when he won. While Mill served in parliament, she expressed her agreement with his efforts on behalf of female suffrage, being "inclined to hope for much good from the serious presentation of women's claims before Parliament." In a letter to John Morley, she declared her support for plans "which held out reasonable promise of tending to establish as far as possible an equivalence of advantage for the two sexes, as to education and the possibilities of free development", and dismissed appeals to nature in explaining women's lower status. In 1870, she responded enthusiastically to Lady Amberley's feminist lecture on the claims of women for education, occupations, equality in marriage, and child custody. It would be wrong to assume that the female protagonists of her works can be considered "feminist", with the sole exception perhaps of Romola de' Bardi, who resolutely rejects the State and Church obligations of her time.
After the success of Adam Bede, Eliot continued to write popular novels for the next fifteen years. Within a year of completing Adam Bede, she finished The Mill on the Floss, dedicating the manuscript: "To my beloved husband, George Henry Lewes, I give this MS. of my third book, written in the sixth year of our life together, at Holly Lodge, South Field, Wandsworth, and finished 21 March 1860." Silas Marner (1861) and Romola (1863) soon followed, and later Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) and her most acclaimed novel, Middlemarch (1871–1872). Her last novel was Daniel Deronda, published in 1876, after which she and Lewes moved to Witley, Surrey. By this time Lewes's health was failing, and he died two years later, on 30 November 1878. Eliot spent the next six months editing Lewes's final work, Life and Mind, for publication, and found solace and companionship with longtime friend and financial adviser John Walter Cross, a Scottish commission agent 20 years her junior, whose mother had recently died.
=== Marriage to John Cross and death ===
On 16 May 1880, eighteen months after Lewes' death, Eliot married John Walter Cross (1840–1924) and again changed her name, this time to Mary Ann Cross. While the marriage courted some controversy due to the 21 year age differences, it pleased her brother Isaac that she was married in this relationship. He had broken off relations with her when she had begun to live with Lewes, and now sent congratulations. While the couple were honeymooning in Venice, Cross, in a suicide attempt, jumped from the hotel balcony into the Grand Canal. He survived, and the newlyweds returned to England. They moved to a new house in Chelsea, but Eliot fell ill with a throat infection. This, coupled with the kidney disease with which she had been afflicted for several years, led to her death on 22 December 1880 at the age of 61.
Due to her denial of the Christian faith and her relationship with Lewes, Eliot was not buried in Westminster Abbey. She was instead interred in Highgate Cemetery (East), Highgate, London, in the area reserved for political and religious dissenters and agnostics, beside the love of her life, George Henry Lewes. The graves of Karl Marx and her friend Herbert Spencer are nearby. In 1980, on the centenary of her death, a memorial stone was established for her in the Poets' Corner between W. H. Auden and Dylan Thomas, with a quote from Scenes of Clerical Life: "The first condition of human goodness is something to love; the second something to reverence".
=== Personal appearance ===
George Eliot was considered by contemporaries to be physically unattractive; she herself knew this and made jokes about her appearance in letters to friends. Despite this, numerous acquaintances found that the force of her personality overcame their impression of her appearance. Of his first meeting with her on 9 May 1869, Henry James wrote:
... To begin with she is magnificently ugly — deliciously hideous. She has a low forehead, a dull grey eye, a vast pendulous nose, a huge mouth, full of uneven teeth & a chin & jawbone qui n'en finissent pas ["which never end"] ... Now in this vast ugliness resides a most powerful beauty which, in a very few minutes steals forth & charms the mind, so that you end as I ended, in falling in love with her.
=== Spelling of her name ===
She spelled her name differently at different times. Mary Anne was the spelling used by her father for the baptismal record and she uses this spelling in her earliest letters. Within her family, however, it was spelled Mary Ann. By 1852, she had changed to Marian, but she reverted to Mary Ann in 1880 after she married John Cross. Her memorial stone reads Here lies the body of'George Eliot'Mary Ann Cross
== Memorials and tributes ==
Several landmarks in her birthplace of Nuneaton are named in her honour. These include the George Eliot Academy, Middlemarch Junior School, George Eliot Hospital (formerly Nuneaton Emergency Hospital), and George Eliot Road, in Foleshill, Coventry. Also, The Mary Anne Evans Hospice in Nuneaton. A statue of Eliot is in Newdegate Street, Nuneaton, and Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery has a display of artefacts related to her.
A tunnel boring machine constructing the Bromford Tunnel on High Speed 2 was named in honour of her.
In 2015, a new residence hall was named after Evans at Royal Holloway University of London, successor to Bedford College, which Evans attended in 1850-1.
== Literary assessment ==
Throughout her career, Eliot wrote with a politically astute pen. From Adam Bede to The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner, Eliot presented the cases of social outsiders and small-town persecution. Felix Holt, the Radical and The Legend of Jubal were overtly political, and political crisis is at the heart of Middlemarch, in which she presents the stories of a number of inhabitants of a small English town on the eve of the Reform Bill of 1832; the novel is notable for its deep psychological insight and sophisticated character portraits. The roots of her realist philosophy can be found in her review of John Ruskin's Modern Painters in Westminster Review in 1856. Eliot also expresses proto-Zionist ideas in Daniel Deronda.
Readers in the Victorian era praised her novels for their depictions of rural society. Much of the material for her prose was drawn from her own experience. She shared with Wordsworth the belief that there was much value and beauty to be found in the mundane details of ordinary country life. Eliot did not, however, confine herself to stories of the English countryside. Romola, an historical novel set in late fifteenth century Florence, was based on the life of the Italian priest Girolamo Savonarola. In The Spanish Gypsy, Eliot made a foray into verse, but her poetry's initial popularity has not endured.
Working as a translator, Eliot was exposed to German texts of religious, social, and moral philosophy such as David Friedrich Strauss's Life of Jesus and Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity; also important was her translation from Latin of Spinoza's Ethics. Elements from these works show up in her fiction, much of which is written with her trademark sense of agnostic humanism. According to Clare Carlisle, who published a new biography on George Eliot in 2023, the overdue publication of Spinoza's Ethics was a real shame, because it could have provided some illuminating cues for understanding the more mature works of the writer. She had taken particular notice of Feuerbach's conception of Christianity, positing that our understanding of the nature of the divine was to be found ultimately in the nature of humanity projected onto a divine figure. An example of this philosophy appeared in her novel Romola, in which Eliot's protagonist displayed a "surprisingly modern readiness to interpret religious language in humanist or secular ethical terms." Though Eliot herself was not religious, she had respect for religious tradition and its ability to maintain a sense of social order and morality.
The religious elements in her fiction also owe much to her upbringing, with the experiences of Maggie Tulliver from The Mill on the Floss sharing many similarities with the young Mary Ann Evans. Eliot also faced a quandary similar to that of Silas Marner, whose alienation from the church simultaneously meant his alienation from society. Because Eliot retained a vestigial respect for religion, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche excoriated her system of morality for figuring sin as a debt that can be expiated through suffering, which he demeaned as characteristic of "little moralistic females à la Eliot."
She was at her most autobiographical in Looking Backwards, part of her final published work Impressions of Theophrastus Such. By the time of Daniel Deronda, Eliot's sales were falling off, and she had faded from public view to some degree. This was not helped by the posthumous biography written by her husband, which portrayed a wonderful, almost saintly woman totally at odds with the scandalous life people knew she had led. In the 20th century she was championed by a new breed of critics, most notably by Virginia Woolf, who called Middlemarch "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". In 1994, literary critic Harold Bloom placed Eliot among the most important Western writers of all time. In a 2007 authors' poll by Time, Middlemarch was voted the tenth greatest literary work ever written. In 2015, writers from outside the UK voted it first among all British novels "by a landslide". The various film and television adaptations of Eliot's books have reintroduced her to the wider reading public.
== Works ==
=== Novels ===
Adam Bede (1859)
The Mill on the Floss (1860)
Silas Marner (1861)
Romola (1863)
Felix Holt, the Radical (1866)
Middlemarch (1871–1872)
"Quarry for Middlemarch", MS Lowell 13, Houghton Library, Harvard University (a digital facsimile of the manuscript of research notes)
Daniel Deronda (1876)
=== Short story collection and novellas ===
Scenes of Clerical Life (1857)
The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton
Mr Gilfil's Love Story
Janet's Repentance
The Lifted Veil (1859)
Brother Jacob (1864)
Impressions of Theophrastus Such (1879)
=== Translations ===
Das Leben Jesu, kritisch bearbeitet (The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined) Volume 2 by David Strauss (1846)
Das Wesen des Christentums (The Essence of Christianity) by Ludwig Feuerbach (1854)
The Ethics of Benedict de Spinoza by Benedict de Spinoza (1856)
=== Poetry ===
Knowing That I Must Shortly Put Off This Tabernacle (1840)
In a London Drawingroom (1865)
A Minor Prophet (1865)
Two Lovers (1866)
O May I Join the Choir Invisible (1867)
The Spanish Gypsy (1868)
Agatha (1869)
Brother and Sister (1869)
How Lisa Loved the King (1869)
The Legend of Jubal (1869)
Armgart (1870)
Stradivarius (1873)
Arion (1873)
I Grant You Ample Leave (1874)
Sweet Evenings Come and Go, Love (1878)
Self and Life (1879)
A College Breakfast Party (1878)
The Death of Moses (1878)
=== Non-fiction ===
George Eliot's Nonfiction For digital copies of all George Eliot's nonfiction (approximately 70 essays), and all her published writings, see the GeorgeEliotArchive.org.
"Three Months in Weimar" (1855)
"Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" (1856)
"The Natural History of German Life" (1856)
Review of John Ruskin's Modern Painters in Westminster Review, April 1856
"The Influence of Rationalism" (1865)
== Explanatory notes == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellesmere_Port_Town_F.C. | Ellesmere Port Town F.C. | Ellesmere Port Town Football Club is a football club based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. They are currently members of the West Cheshire League Division One.
== History ==
The club was formed in 1924 as Ellesmere Port Town F.C. and joined the Cheshire County League. After three season, in which they finished bottom twice, they joined the Liverpool County Combination.
They rejoined the Cheshire County League in 1948, playing at York Road. From 1958 to 1960, the club were league champions three seasons in a row, followed by a runners-up position and another championship the following season. In 1970–71 Ellesmere Port Town, now playing at Ellesmere Port Stadium on Thornton Road, on the outskirts of the town, finished fifth in the Cheshire County League and were promoted to the Northern Premier League, where they played for two seasons before resigning at the end of 1972–73. After this the club joined the Lancashire Combination for two years before entering the Mid-Cheshire League in 1976. However they soon folded in 1978.
A new Ellesmere Port Town was formed in the 1992 and entered the North West Counties Football League Division Two. The club lasted two seasons before folding again.
In 2011 Ellesmere Port Town F.C. was once again reformed, with its home ground at the Whitby Sports and Social Club, entering the Chester and District Football League Division Three. The club gained promotion in seasons 2011–12, 2012–13 and 2013–14 as well as winning the Cayzer Shield in 2012–13. A reserve team entered Division Three in the 2013–14 season and with the restructure of the league played its fixtures in Division Two for the 2014–15 season. The youth team entered the West Cheshire AFL in season 2014-15. In the 2015–16 season the first team was elected into Division Three of the West Cheshire AFL, the reserves took their place in the C&WFL Premier Division and a third team took the reserves place in Division Two. By 2018-19 season the first team was in the first division of the West Cheshire League with the Reserves in Division Three. A vets Team was also in the C&WFL Vets division.
Ellesmere Port Town F.C. also has a junior section, ages ranging from 3 to 16 years of age, a girls section for Under 12s and Under 16s and also a Ladies Section which gained promotion to the North West Women's Regional League in 2012–13, having won all of their league games and also a cup in the Cheshire Women's and Youth League.
== Honours ==
Cheshire County League
Champions – 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62
Runners-up – 1960–61
Chester and Wirral Football League
Cayzer Shield Winners - 2012-13
West Cheshire Football League
Pyke Cup Runners-up - 2018-19
Wirral District FA
Junior Cup Runners-up 2016-17, 2018–19
Cheshire Women's and Youth League
Champions - 2012-13
Cheshire Women's and Youth League Challenge Cup
Winners - 2011-12
Cheshire Women's and Youth League, League Cup
Winners - 2012-13
Runners-up - 2011-12
North West Women's Regional Football League
South Division Runners-up - 2013-14, 2014–15
Cheshire County F.A. Ladies Cup
Runners-up - 2014–15
== Records ==
FA Cup
First Round – 1971–72
FA Trophy
Third Qualifying Round 1969–70
Manager of the Month
Steve Simmons: August West Cheshire Manager of the Month
== Players ==
1. Players that have played/managed in the Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).People that play for them.
Joe Mercer
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club.
John Fielding |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryna_Sabalenka | Aryna Sabalenka | Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles by the WTA and is a former No. 1 in doubles. Sabalenka has won 23 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including four majors – two each at the Australian Open and the US Open – as well as ten WTA 1000 events. She has also won six doubles titles, including the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open, both with Elise Mertens.
Sabalenka came to prominence in 2017 when, together with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, they led the Belarus Fed Cup team to a runner-up finish even though both were ranked outside the top 75 at the time. She finished 2018 and 2019 ranked world No. 11 in singles. Following two major singles semifinal appearances in 2021, Sabalenka rose to world No. 2 but struggled to maintain that success in 2022 consistently. In 2023, she won her first major singles title at the Australian Open, finished runner-up at the US Open, and obtained the world No. 1 ranking for the first time.
In 2024, Sabalenka defended her Australian Open title and won a third major singles title at the US Open, finishing as the year-end No. 1 for the first time. In 2025, she defended her title at the US Open and was runner-up at the Australian and French Opens, holding the No. 1 position for the entire season. In 2026, she reached an eighth major singles final at the Australian Open.
Sabalenka began playing doubles regularly in 2019. With Mertens as her partner, she found instant success by winning the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami) that same year. They won the US Open later in the season, and Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time. After she and Mertens won their second major title at the Australian Open in 2021, Sabalenka became the world No. 1 in the discipline, after which she shifted to playing exclusively singles.
== Early life and background ==
Sabalenka was born in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Her father, Sergey (died 2019), was an ice hockey player. Sabalenka started playing tennis by chance. She said, "One day, my dad was just driving me somewhere in the car, and he saw tennis courts on the way. So he took me to the courts. I liked it and enjoyed it, and that's how it was. That's how it started." She began training at the National Tennis Academy in Minsk when it opened in 2014. In 2015, the Belarusian Tennis Federation persuaded Sabalenka and her team to focus on playing low-level professional events instead of junior tournaments, even though she was still eligible to compete at the junior level.
== Career ==
=== Juniors ===
Sabalenka had a late start on the ITF Junior Circuit, instead competing on the U14 and U16 Tennis Europe tours at a younger age. She did not compete in the main draw of any ITF events until 2013 at the low-level Grade-4 Tallink Cup in Estonia at the age of 15. She never played in the junior Grand Slam tournaments or any other high-level Grade-A and Grade-1 events. Without the higher point levels from these bigger tournaments, she had a career-high ranking of just No. 225. Sabalenka won her first ITF title in doubles at the lowest-level Grade-5 Alatan Tour Cup in Belarus in late 2013 with compatriot Vera Lapko as her partner. In 2014, she excelled at Grade 4 events. She reached her first singles final at the Estonian Junior Open in June and won her first singles title at the MTV Total Junior Cup in Finland in October. At the end of the season, Sabalenka defended her Alatan Tour Cup doubles title, this time with compatriot Nika Shytkouskaya, and also won the singles title. She only played in one tournament in 2015, the European Junior Championships. As a Grade B1 event, this was the highest-level junior tournament she played in. She lost in the second round to top seed Markéta Vondroušová.
=== 2012–2016: Professional & Fed Cup debut ===
Sabalenka began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2012, even before she competed on the ITF Junior Circuit. Her first five tournaments were in her hometown of Minsk and spread out over two years, but she did not win a main draw match in any of them. She won her first professional match at the very end of 2014 in Istanbul. The following season in October, she won her first two titles in back-to-back weeks in Antalya, both at the $10k level. Sabalenka also won a $25k title the last week of the year. This title put her into the top 300 WTA rankings for the first time at the start of 2016. That year, she made her Fed Cup debut in April, losing her only match. She also won her two biggest titles to date at the $50k level. The first in Tianjin put her into the top 200 in May and the second in Toyota in November helped her finish the year ranked at No. 137 in the world.
=== 2017: WTA 125 title, top 100 ===
Despite some early season success in the Fed Cup, Sabalenka had a quiet start to the year. She played in her first WTA Tour main draw in February as a qualifier at the Dubai Open; however, she did not win her first WTA Tour match until Wimbledon in July. In her Grand Slam debut, she again reached the main draw through qualifying and defeated Irina Khromacheva in the opening round. Sabalenka followed up this achievement with another win at the Washington Open over No. 34 Lauren Davis, the 2016 runner-up and the highest-ranked player she had defeated at the time.
After losing in qualifying at the US Open, Sabalenka reached her first ever WTA semifinal at the Tashkent Open, defeating third seed and world No. 53, Tatjana Maria, along the way. A few weeks later, she entered the Tianjin Open as the 119th-ranked player in the world, but managed to reach her first WTA tournament final. There, she faced her childhood idol Maria Sharapova, but ultimately lost in two tight sets. With this performance, she rose to No. 76 in the rankings, entering the top 100 for the first time. After losing a tight Fed Cup final to the United States, Sabalenka finished the season by winning the biggest title of her career at the time at the Mumbai Open, a WTA 125 event. The title cemented her at No. 78 at the end of the year.
=== 2018: Newcomer of the Year, Premier 5 title ===
After playing relatively few WTA events in 2017, Sabalenka used her higher ranking to play exclusively on the WTA Tour 2018. She reached two quarterfinals to begin the year, but lost her opening-round match at the Australian Open to top-ranked Australian and world No. 18 Ashleigh Barty. She then won her first matches at a Premier tournament with a third-round appearance at the Indian Wells Open before the early-year hardcourt season came to a close, including a victory over No. 19, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Sabalenka began the clay-court season by reaching a second career final at the Ladies Open Lugano, where she finished runner-up to No. 20 Elise Mertens. This success put her in the top 50 for the first time. However, she did not win another match for the rest of the clay-court season; this included a first-round loss to No. 22 Kiki Bertens at the French Open. Sabalenka had stronger results on grass, playing in tune-ups during each of the three weeks before Wimbledon. She made it to the quarterfinals at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships and the final at the Premier level Eastbourne International. At the latter event, she won five consecutive three-set matches, including three over top 20 opponents and her first top-ten victory against defending champion and world No. 7 Karolína Plíšková. Sabalenka lost the final to world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki. For the third consecutive Grand Slam event, she went out in the first round at Wimbledon.
During the North American hardcourt summer season, Sabalenka rose through the rankings. At the two Premier 5 tournaments, she reached the third round at the Canadian Open and the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open. In the former, she avenged her previous loss to world No. 2, Wozniacki, for the biggest win of her career, hitting 64 winners during the match. In the latter, she recorded two more top-ten wins over No. 8 Plíšková and No. 5 Caroline Garcia before losing to world No. 1, Simona Halep. Just a week later, Sabalenka won her first WTA Tour title at the Premier-level Connecticut Open with wins over world No. 9, Julia Görges, in the semifinal, and Carla Suárez Navarro in the final. Playing a fourth consecutive week, she closed out this part of the season with her best result at a Grand Slam tournament to date, making it to the fourth round at the US Open. In particular, she upset world No. 5, Petra Kvitová, in the third round before losing to the eventual champion, Naomi Osaka. She was the only player to win a set against Osaka in the tournament.
After the US Open, Sabalenka earned her first No. 1 seed at the Tournoi de Québec but lost her opening match. Nonetheless, she followed this up by winning the Premier 5 level Wuhan Open, her biggest title so far. During the event, she upset No. 6 Elina Svitolina in the second round and did not drop a set in her last four matches. The following week, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals of the China Open, a run that included a win over defending champion and No. 4, Caroline Garcia, for her eighth top-ten victory of the season. This success in China helped her climb to No. 11 in the world. At the end of the season, Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy, where she was grouped with Garcia and Ashleigh Barty. She defeated Barty to open the group but lost to Garcia in the group's final match. Barty, having defeated Garcia with fewer games lost, advanced out of the group through the tiebreak criteria to end Sabalenka's season. Nonetheless, she was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year for her excellent performance in her first full year on the WTA Tour.
=== 2019: Singles top 10, doubles No. 2 ===
==== Singles: Elite Trophy, three titles ====
Although Sabalenka once again struggled at the Grand Slam tournaments, she ultimately finished the year with the same year-end ranking as in 2018 on the strength of three titles, all in China. She began the season by winning her third career WTA title at the Shenzhen Open, defeating Alison Riske in the final in a tight three-set match. Due to rain delays in the earlier rounds, she needed to play both the semifinal and the final on the last day of the tournament. However, she could not build on this success in the rest of the first half of the year. Sabalenka lost to 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova in straight sets at both the Australian Open and the French Open in the third and second rounds, respectively. She had been considered the third-leading favourite for the title at the Australian Open. Nonetheless, she made her top-10 debut following the event. Sabalenka fared worse at Wimbledon, losing her opening match to No. 139 Magdaléna Rybáriková. In-between the Grand Slam tournaments, Sabalenka's best result was a semifinal loss to No. 8, Kiki Bertens, at the Premier-level St. Petersburg Trophy in February. She also made the fourth round at the Indian Wells Open. Her best result on clay was a semifinal at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May.
Sabalenka had a better second half of the season. In her first tournament following Wimbledon, she finished runner-up to Zheng Saisai at the Silicon Valley Classic, a Premier-level event. She did not perform well at either Premier 5 tournament in August or the US Open, losing in the second round at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. Sabalenka returned to China following the US Open, and produced three strong results in four events. After a quarterfinal at the Zhengzhou Open, she defended her title at the Premier 5 Wuhan Open. During the event, she defeated No. 8 Kiki Bertens in the third round and No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals, her first victory over a current world No. 1 player. She won the final over Alison Riske. At the end of the season, Sabalenka qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy for the second consecutive year. She swept her round-robin group of Maria Sakkari and her doubles partner Elise Mertens. In the knockout rounds, Sabalenka defeated Karolína Muchová and Bertens for her fifth career title, and her third title of the year in China.
==== Doubles: US Open title, Sunshine Double ====
Sabalenka started the year ranked No. 73 in doubles. She began partnering with Elise Mertens in January, when the pair lost to top seeds Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the third round of the Australian Open. They had their breakthrough in March at the two Premier Mandatory tournaments. In only their second tournament together, Sabalenka and Mertens won the Indian Wells Open. They defeated three of the top five seeds in the event, including second seeds Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the first round and top seeds Krejčíková and Siniaková in the final. The pair matched this success at their next event by winning the Miami Open to complete the Sunshine Double. They defeated three of the top six seeds, including third seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová in the second round. They won the final against sixth seeds Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. With these two titles, Sabalenka rose to No. 21 in the world.
Sabalenka and Mertens continued to partner together throughout the year, entering eleven events before the year-end championships. Sabalenka did not have much success in the Grand Slam singles events, but she produced much better results in doubles. Sabalenka and Mertens reached the semifinals at the French Open, losing to second seeds Babos and Mladenovic. They then reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, losing to third seeds Hsieh and Strýcová. These were Sabalenka's first two appearances in at least the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event. Sabalenka and Mertens had their best result of the year at the US Open. As the fourth seed at the event, they made it to the final without playing another top-ten-seeded team. In the final, they faced eighth seeds Victoria Azarenka and Ashleigh Barty, the latter of whom had won the title a year earlier with CoCo Vandeweghe. Sabalenka and Mertens defeated Azarenka and Barty in straight sets for their first Grand Slam title in any discipline. With this title, Sabalenka made her top 10 debut in doubles at No. 6 in the world.
Sabalenka and Mertens made one more final during the year, finishing runner-up at the Wuhan Open, where Sabalenka won the singles title. Their three big titles helped them win the Race to Shenzhen and qualify for the WTA Finals as the top seeds. Before the event, Sabalenka and Mertens moved up to No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings, respectively, behind only world No. 1, Barbora Strýcová. At the WTA Finals, the pair were placed in a round robin group with third seeds Babos and Mladenovic, fifth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan, as well as eighth seeds Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Demi Schuurs. In their opening match, they were upset by Grönefeld and Schuurs in a match tiebreak. After defeating the Chan sisters, Sabalenka and Mertens lost to Babos and Mladenovic in another match tiebreak. They did not advance out of their group.
=== 2020: Three tour titles, top 10 ===
Sabalenka continued her late-season surge by reaching the semifinals in Adelaide. She came back from a final set deficit against Hsieh Su-wei before sliding past Bernarda Pera and shocking second seed Simona Halep, whom she had never won a set against before, in straight sets. She then lost in straight sets to eventual runner-up Dayana Yastremska. Despite her excellent start to the season, she was upset by Carla Suárez Navarro in two tie-breakers in the first round of the Australian Open. She enjoyed moderate success in doubles, with Mertens reaching the quarterfinals before losing to the Chan sisters. Her next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she made the quarterfinals with wins over Maria Sakkari and doubles partner Mertens. There she faced Simona Halep. Despite taking the first set, she could not repeat her earlier upset, falling to the eventual champion in three sets. She rebounded at the Qatar Open, reaching the final with wins over Anett Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Zheng Saisai and Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the final, she defeated Petra Kvitová in straight sets to claim her third Premier-5 title. After tennis resumed in August due to COVID-19, she was the second seed in Lexington, where she survived Madison Brengle in three sets but then fell in a three set thriller to 16-year-old Coco Gauff. Her results continued to disappoint as she seeded fifth and crashed out in the second round of Cincinnati and New York to Jessica Pegula and a resurgent Victoria Azarenka. She had moderate success in doubles, reaching the quarterfinals of both events. Her results in singles began to improve on clay as she reached the semifinals in Strasbourg and the third round of the French Open losing to Elina Svitolina and Ons Jabeur, respectively. That was Sabalenka's last loss of the season. In Ostrava, she came from behind in the decider down to avenge her Lexington loss to Gauff and lost the first ten games of her quarterfinal match against Sara Sorribes Tormo before winning the next twelve to win. In the final, she avenged her US Open loss to Azarenka, defeating her compatriot in straight sets. She then also took the Linz title by beating Elise Mertens in the final. This gave Sabalenka the first year-end top-10 finish in her career.
=== 2021: Doubles No. 1, singles No. 2 ===
Sabalenka entered 2021 on a nine-match winning streak and participated in her first tournament at the Abu Dhabi Open as the fourth seed. She defeated Polona Hercog in straight sets, coming back from a 5–2 deficit in the first set, and then defeated Ajla Tomljanović and Ons Jabeur to reach the quarterfinals, similarly in straight sets. She beat Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals, where she dropped her first set of the week before defeating Maria Sakkari in straight sets. In the final, Sabalenka defeated first-time finalist Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets, losing just four games in total. The run to the title at Abu Dhabi extended her winning streak to 15 matches and catapulted her to a new ranking of No. 7.
Sabalenka went into the Australian Open looking to make a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal for the first time in her career. In three sets, she was defeated in the fourth round by 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams. Sabalenka won the doubles competition with Elise Mertens. By winning the title, Sabalenka ascended to world No. 1 in the doubles rankings for the first time in her career on 22 February 2021.
As defending champion at the Qatar Open in Doha, and after receiving a first-round bye, Sabalenka was defeated in her first match by eventual finalist Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, in her first tournament since becoming No. 1 in doubles, Sabalenka and Mertens received a bye in the first round. They lost their opening match to Jessica Pegula and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Sabalenka cruised through to the quarterfinals in the singles event, defeating 15th seed Anett Kontaveit along the way, before losing to Muguruza for the second time in as many weeks, again in three sets.
Sabalenka won the title at the Madrid Open, facing Ashleigh Barty in the championship match. It was a rematch of the 2021 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final, two week earlier, as Sabalenka faced her vanquisher, world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. As a result of her fourth WTA 1000 title, she entered the top 5 rankings in singles at world No. 4.
Sabalenka and compatriot Victoria Azarenka won the doubles event at the German Open, defeating the top-seeded pair of Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar.
Seeded second at Wimbledon, Sabalenka reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and semifinal, defeating 18th seed Elena Rybakina and 21st seed Ons Jabeur in straight sets, respectively. She then lost her semifinal match against Karolína Plíšková in three sets. As a result of her performance at Wimbledon, she reached a career-high ranking in the world No. 3 in the WTA singles rankings. Sabalenka became the third Belarusian woman to reach the last four of Wimbledon following Natasha Zvereva in 1998 and Victoria Azarenka in 2011 and 2012.
Sabalenka continued her season at the Canadian Open in Montreal. She reached the semifinals but lost to Karolína Plíšková, in straight sets. She then lost her opening-round match against Paula Badosa at the Cincinnati Open. Despite the loss, Sabalenka reached a career-high ranking of world No. 2.
At the US Open, Sabalenka reached her second consecutive (and second overall) major semifinal following wins over Danielle Collins, Elise Mertens, and Barbora Krejčíková. In the semifinal, she lost to Leylah Fernandez in three sets.
Due to a positive COVID-19 test, Sabalenka was not able to play at Indian Wells.
=== 2022: WTA Finals runner-up, US Open semifinal ===
Sabalenka began her season at the 2022 Adelaide International 1 as the second seed. After a first-round bye, Sabalenka lost in the second round in straight sets to Kaja Juvan. Sabalenka served 18 double faults to five aces. Next, Sabalenka received a wildcard to enter the Adelaide International 2 and was seeded top, but lost her first round to a qualifier, world No. 93 Rebecca Peterson, in three sets. Once again, Sabalenka struggled with her serve, recording 21 double faults for the match.
She entered the Australian Open as the second seed.
Sabalenka's serving struggles continued, but she managed to dig out three-set wins against world No. 128 Storm Sanders, No. 100 Wang Xinyu, and No. 41 Markéta Vondroušová to advance to the fourth round for the second time in her career. She faced off against giant-killer Kaia Kanepi, who had defeated the 16th seed Angelique Kerber in the first round. Kanepi prevailed in a tight three-set match, which ended in a third-set super-tiebreak. Sabalenka managed to save four match points during the match, but also served 15 double faults to Kanepi's four.
She found her form, reaching the quarterfinals at the Qatar Ladies Open, beating Alizé Cornet and Jil Teichmann, before losing to the eventual champion Iga Świątek in the semifinals. Following early exits in Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, she reached her first final of 2022 at the Stuttgart Open, defeating Bianca Andreescu, world No. 6 Anett Kontaveit and Paula Badosa, the new world No. 2, eventually losing to world No. 1, Świątek, again. Entering as the defending champion at the Madrid Open, Sabalenka was knocked out by Amanda Anisimova in the first round. At the Italian Open, after defeating Zhang Shuai, Amanda Anisimova, and Jessica Pegula, she lost to Świątek in the semifinals for the third time in 2022. At the French Open, Sabalenka lost in the third round to Camila Giorgi in three sets.
Sabalenka began the grass-court season at the Libéma Open as the top seed, where she made the final, losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova. She then entered the German Open as the third seed but lost in the first round to Veronika Kudermetova. Due to Wimbledon's ruling on Russian and Belarusian players, Sabalenka was banned from participating in the event due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, cutting her grass season short.
She opened the US hardcourt swing in Silicon Valley Classic, losing to Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinals. She then played the Canadian Open, losing to Coco Gauff in the third round. Her best result since Stuttgart came at Cincinnati Open, where as the sixth seed, she made the semifinals, defeating Anna Kalinskaya, Shelby Rogers, and Zhang Shuai before losing to eventual champion Caroline Garcia in three sets. She then made her best run of the season at the US Open. Seeded sixth, she defeated Catherine Harrison, Kaia Kanepi, Clara Burel, 19th seed Danielle Collins, and 22nd seed & former world No. 1 Karolína Plíšková to reach the semifinals, matching her previous best result from 2021. In her second-round match against Kanepi, Sabalenka came back from a set and behind in the second to win in three sets, saving two match points in the process. In the semifinals, she was defeated by world No. 1, Iga Świątek, for the fourth time this season.
At the San Diego Open, Sabalenka defeated Sloane Stephens in three sets before losing to Donna Vekić in the quarterfinals. In receipt of a first-round bye in Guadalajara, she lost to Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. However, she managed to qualify for the WTA Finals for a second straight year. There, she reached the final, defeating world No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 2 Ons Jabeur in the round-robin stage, and No. 1 Iga Świątek in the semifinals, but lost to Caroline Garcia in straight sets. She became the fourth woman to defeat the top 3 players at the same tournament, joining Steffi Graf (1999 French Open), Serena Williams (2002 Miami Open), and Venus Williams (2008 WTA Finals).
=== 2023: Australian Open champion, No. 1 ===
Sabalenka entered Adelaide 1 as the second seed. She reached her first final of the season by defeating Liudmila Samsonova, Markéta Vondroušová, Irina-Camelia Begu en route. Then she defeated Czech teenage qualifier Linda Nosková to win her first title since Madrid 2021 and 11th career title without dropping a single set.
Sabalenka entered the Australian Open as the fifth seed and one of the title contenders. She defeated Tereza Martincová, Shelby Rogers, former doubles partner and 26th seed Elise Mertens, and the previous week's Adelaide 2 champion and world no. 10 Belinda Bencic to reach her first-ever Australian Open quarterfinal. She then beat Donna Vekić to reach her fourth Grand Slam semifinal, and won her tenth consecutive match by beating Magda Linette in the semifinal to make her first ever major final. In the final, she defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in three sets to win her first major title. She became the second Belarusian to ever win a major singles title, and the first since Victoria Azarenka a decade earlier. After winning the title in Melbourne, Sabalenka rose back to No. 2 in the WTA rankings.
In Dubai, Sabalenka defeated Lauren Davis and Jeļena Ostapenko to reach the quarterfinals, where she fell to the eventual champion Barbora Krejčíková in three sets. She then participated in Indian Wells, where she defeated Evgeniya Rodina and took revenge on Krejčíková for her last defeat in three sets. Then she beat Coco Gauff and Maria Sakkari to reach her first Indian Wells final, where she lost to Elena Rybakina in a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open final. In Miami, Sabalenka defeated Shelby Rogers, Marie Bouzková, and Krejčíková each in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by Sorana Cîrstea.
Sabalenka started her clay court season in Stuttgart, where she defeated Krejčíková, Paula Badosa, and Anastasia Potapova to reach her fourth final of the year. In the final, a rematch of last year's final, she was defeated by world No. 1, Iga Świątek, in straight sets for the second consecutive year. In Madrid, Sabalenka reached her second final at this tournament, defeating Sorana Cîrstea, Camila Osorio, Mirra Andreeva, Mayar Sherif, and Maria Sakkari, dropping just one set en route to the final. In the final, she once again faced Świątek, and won her third title of the year in three sets. In Rome, Sabalenka suffered her first early defeat of the year, losing in straight sets to former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin. At the French Open, she reached the semifinals without dropping a set, defeating Marta Kostyuk, Iryna Shymanovich, Kamilla Rakhimova, Sloane Stephens, and Elina Svitolina. In the semifinals, she lost to Karolína Muchová in three sets, despite leading 5–2 and holding match point.
Sabalenka began her grass court season in Berlin, defeating Vera Zvonareva before losing to Veronika Kudermetova. Sabalenka next competed at Wimbledon, where she reached her fourth straight major semifinal. Sabalenka defeated Panna Udvardy, Varvara Gracheva, Anna Blinkova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Madison Keys, before losing to Ons Jabeur, despite leading by a set and a break.
Her next tournament was Montréal, where she defeated Petra Martić, before losing in three sets to eventual runner-up Liudmila Samsonova. She next reached the semifinals in Cincinnati, defeating Ann Li, Daria Kasatkina, and Ons Jabeur, before falling once again in three sets to Karolína Muchová. At the US Open, Sabalenka reached the semifinals by defeating Maryna Zanevska, Jodie Burrage, Clara Burel, Daria Kasatkina, and Zheng Qinwen in straight sets, dropping just 21 games in all five matches. Following these wins, Sabalenka became the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the semifinals of all four major events in one year. She faced Madison Keys in the semifinals, recovering from a set and break deficit and serving to stay in the match four times in the final two sets. In her second major final of the year, Sabalenka faced Coco Gauff, and lost in three sets. Due to the loss of No. 1 Iga Świątek in the fourth round, Sabalenka became, for the first time, the world No. 1 tennis player at the conclusion of the tournament. Sabalenka became the 29th player to be ranked No. 1 in the world on the WTA Tour, and the second Belarusian, after Victoria Azarenka. She was also just the eighth female player to have been ranked No. 1 in the Open Era in both singles and doubles at some point in their careers.
After the US Open, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals of the China Open, losing to Rybakina. At the WTA Finals, she defeated Rybakina and Sakkari and lost to Pegula in the group stage. Sabalenka then lost in the semifinals to Świątek, who would go on to win the event. As a result, Świątek reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking and Sabalenka finished as year-end No. 2. In December, Sabalenka was named the ITF World Champion.
=== 2024: Two major titles, year-end No. 1 ===
In January, Sabalenka reached the final of the Brisbane International, defeating Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals, before losing the championship match to Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka won the Australian Open without losing a set and became the first woman to successfully defend her title there since Victoria Azarenka in 2013. She defeated 12th seed Zheng Qinwen in the final, having overcome Ella Seidel, Brenda Fruhvirtová, 28th seed Lesia Tsurenko, Amanda Anisimova, ninth seed Barbora Krejčíková and fourth seed Coco Gauff in the earlier rounds.
She reached the quarterfinals at Stuttgart, where she was eliminated by Markéta Vondroušová. As the defending champion in Madrid, she defeated Magda Linette, Robin Montgomery, Danielle Collins and Mirra Andreeva, before edging an epic three-set semifinal victory over world No. 4, Elena Rybakina. In total, she played four three-set matches to reach the final, dropping 60 games in the process, the most to reach the women's singles final in Madrid. In a rematch of the previous year's final, she faced Iga Świątek. Sabalenka had three championship points during the match, but eventually lost. In Rome, she saved three match points in her fourth-round match against Elina Svitolina and endured a lower-back injury before defeating her opponent in three sets. In the quarterfinal, she earned her third WTA top-10 win of the year by defeating Jeļena Ostapenko. It was followed by a semifinal victory over Danielle Collins, before Sabalenka fell again to Iga Świątek in the final, this time in straight sets.
She entered the French Open as the second seed, and defeated Erika Andreeva, Moyuka Uchijima, Paula Badosa and 22nd seed Emma Navarro in straight sets. In the quarterfinal, she was hampered by stomach issues and lost to Mirra Andreeva in three sets. With this loss, she fell in the WTA ranking to No. 3.
Sabalenka suffered a right shoulder injury that forced her to retire during her quarterfinal match against Anna Kalinskaya at the Berlin Ladies Open in June and she withdrew from the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, having failed to recover in time to play. She won the Cincinnati Open in August, with victories over Iga Świątek in the semifinals and Jessica Pegula in the final.
In September, Sabalenka won the US Open, overcoming qualifier Priscilla Hon, Lucia Bronzetti, 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, former doubles partner Elise Mertens, Olympic champion and seventh seed Zheng Qinwen and 13th seed Emma Navarro, before defeating sixth seed Jessica Pegula in straight sets in the final to claim her third major title.
Sabalenka continued her great form at the China Open in Beijing, where she defeated Mananchaya Sawangkaew, Ashlyn Krueger and Madison Keys all in straight sets to increase her winning streak to 15 matches. Sabalenka lost in the quarterfinals to Karolína Muchová in three sets.
At the Wuhan Open, where she won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, before the tournament was suspended due to COVID-19 from 2020 until 2023, Sabalenka defeated Kateřina Siniaková in straight sets in her opening match. In the next round, she came back from a set down against Yulia Putintseva to advance to the quarterfinals, where she defeated Magdalena Fręch. Sabalenka faced fourth seed Coco Gauff in the semifinals, mounting a comeback from a set and a break down to the reach final for the third time. In the final, she defeated fifth seed Zheng Qinwen in three sets to lift her third Wuhan Open title and her second WTA 1000 for the 2024 season.
After 11 months off the top in October, she regained the WTA world No.1 ranking. Following wins against Zheng Qinwen and Jasmine Paolini in her first two group matches at the WTA Finals, combined with Świątek's loss to Coco Gauff, Sabalenka for the first time would finish the year as No. 1. Sabalenka lost her last group match to Elena Rybakina and was defeated by Gauff in the semifinals.
In December, Sabalenka was named WTA Player of the Year.
=== 2025: US Open title, year-end No. 1 ===
Sabalenka started 2025 by winning the Brisbane International, defeating Renata Zarazúa, Yulia Putintseva, Marie Bouzková, and Mirra Andreeva to reach the final, where she came back from a set down against Polina Kudermetova to claim the 18th singles title of her career.
Sabalenka started her quest for a three-peat at the Australian Open by defeating former world No. 3, Sloane Stephens, in straight sets in the first round. In the second and third rounds, she defeated Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro and Clara Tauson, respectively, both matches ending in straight sets. Sabalenka then continued her journey at the Australian Open by defeating Mirra Andreeva, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Paula Badosa to advance to the final for the third time in a row. In the final, Sabalenka lost in three sets to Madison Keys, who won her first major title.
At the Qatar Ladies Open she lost in the first round to Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets.
At the Dubai Championships, Sabalenka defeated Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets. In the round of 16, she faced Clara Tauson, whom she played at the Australian Open earlier in the year but this time Sabalenka lost in straight sets.
After her loss in Dubai, Sabalenka played at Indian Wells where she defeated McCartney Kessler in straight sets. She then defeated Bronzetti and in the fourth round, Sabalenka took on lucky loser Sonay Kartal and recorded again a straight set win. She advanced to the semifinals after defeating Liudmila Samsonova. Her next opponent was Madison Keys, who defeated her at the Australian Open earlier in the year, but this time Sabalenka took her revenge to reach the final, where she lost to Mirra Andreeva in three sets.
Sabalenka then played at the Miami Open. In the second round, Sabalenka defeated Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets to advance to the third round. Next Sabalenka faced Elena-Gabriela Ruse and won the match as Ruse retired injured. In the fourth round, Sabalenka defeated defending champion Danielle Collins. She continued with straight-set victories over Qinwen Zheng and Jasmine Paolini to reach the final. There, Sabalenka defeated Pegula in straight sets to claim her first Miami Open title.
At the Stuttgart Open Sabalenka was supposed to face Anastasia Potapova but Potapova withdrew after winning her first match. Sabalenka defeated Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals and fifth seed Jasmine Paolini in the semifinals to reach her fifth final of the season. She lost the championship match for the fourth time at the tournament to unseeded Jeļena Ostapenko.
In the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open, Sabalenka defeated Anna Blinkova in straight sets. She came back from one set down against Elise Mertens to advance to the fourth round. Following straight sets victories over Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk she advanced to the semifinals, where she defeated Elina Svitolina to reach her fourth Madrid final. With her win over Coco Gauff in the final, Sabalenka claimed her third Madrid Open title and became the third woman to surpass 11,000 points in the WTA ranking.
In Rome, Sabalenka won her second-round match against Anastasia Potapova in straight sets. In the third round against Sofia Kenin she came back from a set down to win. In the fourth round she faced Marta Kostyuk, whom she had played earlier in Madrid; Sabalenka defeated Kostyuk in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinal, where she lost to Zheng Qinwen.
At the French Open, Sabalenka defeated in straight sets Kamilla Rakhimova, Jil Teichmann, Olga Danilović and Amanda Anisimova to reach the quarterfinals where she faced Zheng Qinwen and avenged her Italian Open loss to this player. Sabalenka defeated the defending champion Iga Świątek in the semifinals
and lost to Coco Gauff in the final.
Sabalenka then played at the Berlin Open. She won in straight sets in her second-round match against Rebeka Masarova. In the quarterfinal, she faced Elena Rybakina; Sabalenka came back from 2-6 down in the final-set tiebreak and saved 4 match points to defeat Rybakina and advance to the semifinal, where she lost to Markéta Vondroušová in straight sets.
After Berlin, Sabalenka played at the Wimbledon Championship. Sabalenka beat Carson Branstine, Marie Bouzkova, Emma Raducanu, Elise Mertens, and Laura Siegemund to advance to the semifinal. In the semifinal, Sabalenka lost to Amanda Anisimova.
Sabalenka withdrew from the National Bank Open due to fatigue.
Sabalenka then played at the Cincinnati Open. Sabalenka played Markéta Vondroušová in the second round, where she won in straight sets. In the third round, Sabalenka played Emma Raducanu, and Sabalenka won in three sets. In the fourth round, Sabalenka defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight set to advance to the quarterfinal where she faced Elena Rybakina. Sabalenka lost to Rybakina in straight set in the quarterfinal.
After Cincinnati, Sabalenka played at the US Open. She defeated Rebeka Masarova, Polina Kudermetova, Leylah Fernandez, and Cristina Bucșa to reach her twelfth consecutive major quarterfinal. Her quarterfinal opponent Markéta Vondroušová withdrew with an injury, and Sabalenka received a walkover into the semifinal. In the semifinal, Sabalenka faced Jessica Pegula in a rematch of the 2024 final, winning in three sets and reaching her third consecutive US Open final. Sabalenka faced Amanda Anisimova in the final, in a rematch of their Wimbledon semifinal. Sabalenka went on to win the final in straight sets, winning her fourth major title and second consecutive US Open title. With her win, she became the first singles player to defend a US Open title since Serena Williams won the 2014 US Open.
Sabalenka withdrew from Beijing due to injury.
Sabalenka then played at the Wuhan Open, where she is a three-time defending champion. In the second round, Sabalenka beat Rebecca Sramkova from a set down to advance into the third round, and defeated Liudmila Samsonova in straght set. Then, in the quarterfinal, Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina in straight set to advance to the semifinal. Sabalenka lost to Jessica Pegula in the semifinal, and ended her 20 matches winning streak in Wuhan.
After Wuhan, Sabalenka played at the WTA Finals. Sabalenka won three matches in her group stage by beating Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula, and Coco Gauff, and advance to the semifinal, where she faced Amanda Anisimova. In the semifinal, Sabalenka defeated Anisimova in three sets and advanced to the final where she took on Elena Rybakina. In the final, Sabalenka lost to Rybakina in straight sets.
At the conclusion of the 2025 season, Sabalenka finished as year-end world no. 1 for the second consecutive time, and was also named WTA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
On 28 December 2025, Sabalenka (women's singles world No. 1) and Nick Kyrgios (men's singles world No. 671) contested an exhibition match promoted as the Battle of the Sexes at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. The event was organized by their shared management agency, Evolve. The match was played as a three-set contest under modified rules: the dimensions of Sabalenka's side of the court were reduced by 9%, and both players were restricted to a single serve per point. In the event of a tie, a 10-point match tiebreak would have been played. According to Evolve, the court-size adjustment was intended to "reflect average movement-speed differences between men and women". Kyrgios defeated Sabalenka in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3.
=== 2026: Fourth consecutive Australian Open final, Indian Wells champion ===
Sabalenka began her 2026 season by successfully defending her Brisbane International title, defeating Cristina Bucșa, Sorana Cîrstea, Madison Keys,
and Karolína Muchová to reach the final, where she defeated Marta Kostyuk. During her run in Brisbane, Sabalenka did not drop a set.
At the Australian Open, Sabalenka defeated Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Bai Zhuoxuan, Anastasia Potapova, and Victoria Mboko to reach her 13th consecutive major quarterfinal. She defeated Iva Jovic in the quarterfinal and Elina Svitolina in the semifinal, reaching her fourth consecutive Australian Open final and seventh consecutive hardcourt major final. Sabalenka was defeated by Elena Rybakina in three sets in the final, in a rematch of their 2023 Australian Open and 2025 WTA Finals finals.
Following the Australian Open, Sabalenka skipped the Middle East swing, missing the Qatar Open and Dubai Open for fatigue-related reasons. She returned to play at the Indian Wells Open, where Sabalenka received a bye into the second round and eventually reached the final by defeating Himeno Sakatsume, Jaqueline Cristian, Naomi Osaka, Victoria Mboko, and Linda Nosková. In the final, Sabalenka faced Elena Rybakina in a rematch of their Australian Open final and the 2023 Indian Wells Open final. She defeated Rybakina in a third set tiebreak, saving one match point in the process.
== National representation ==
=== Fed Cup ===
==== Early appearances ====
Sabalenka represented Belarus at the Junior Fed Cup in 2014, with the team finishing in sixth place. She then made her senior Fed Cup debut for Belarus in April 2016, losing a dead rubber doubles match against Russia. Nonetheless, the Belarusian team led by Victoria Azarenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich won the tie to qualify for the top-tier World Group the following season for the first time in their history.
==== 2017: Surprise runner-up in World Group debut ====
The Belarus Fed Cup team made their debut in the World Group and ultimately reached the final, despite being the underdogs in all three ties. Little was expected from the team because they were without their veteran leader Azarenka, who missed the first two ties on maternity leave and the last because of a custody battle. Without her, Belarus was led by Sabalenka and Sasnovich, neither of whom had ever been ranked above No. 76 by the time of the final. However, they did have the advantage of playing all of their ties at home in Minsk.
The ties in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands in February and the semi-finals against Switzerland in April both played out in the same way. While Sabalenka lost her opening matches to their opponents' respective top-ranked players of Kiki Bertens and Timea Bacsinszky, Sasnovich was able to give Belarus a 2–1 lead in each instance. Sabalenka then clinched both ties, with wins over Michaëlla Krajicek and No. 54 Viktorija Golubic, respectively. She was only ranked No. 125 at the time of the semifinal, with no career tour match wins outside of Fed Cup.
On the opening day of the final against the United States, Sabalenka upset the reigning US Open champion and world No. 13, Sloane Stephens, to level the tie after Sasnovich lost her first rubber to No. 10, CoCo Vandeweghe. The next day began with Sabalenka losing to Vandeweghe, before Sasnovich again levelled the tie by defeating Stephens. Sabalenka and Sasnovich were then selected for the decisive doubles rubber for the Fed Cup crown, but the duo were comprehensively defeated by Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers.
Despite finishing as runner-up, Belarus's Fed Cup success helped popularize women's tennis in Belarus, and vaulted Sabalenka and Sasnovich into international prominence. Sasnovich said, "When we played the quarterfinals and semi-finals in Minsk, a lot of people were coming to see our matches. They finally saw tennis in life, and it's like a popularization... I want my country to improve even more in tennis, because I think we can have even more from Belarus."
==== 2018–19: Avoiding demotion, another semifinal ====
Belarus was unable to repeat their 2017 Fed Cup success in 2018. Their quarterfinal tie was held in Minsk against Germany. Although Sabalenka won both of her singles rubbers, Sasnovich and Vera Lapko lost each of theirs to set up a decisive doubles rubber. Sabalenka and doubles specialist Lidziya Marozava were selected for the match, with Sabalenka playing on short rest directly after her last singles match. After taking the first set against Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Tatjana Maria, they ultimately lost the rubber and the tie.
Their next tie was again contested in Minsk as part of the World Group play-offs, with Slovakia competing to take Belarus's place in the World Group the following season. Sabalenka and Sasnovich each split their two singles rubbers, with Sabalenka being upset by Viktória Kužmová. Doubles specialists Lapko and Marozava were chosen for the final rubber and the pair won the match to keep Belarus in the World Group for 2019.
In the 2019 Fed Cup, Belarus were drawn against Germany in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. After Sasnovich won the opening rubber against Maria, Sabalenka won both of her singles rubbers against Andrea Petkovic and Laura Siegemund to clinch the tie. They advanced to face Australia in the semi-finals. Only two players from each team participated: Sabalenka and Azarenka for Belarus, and Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur for Australia. Both Sabalenka and Azarenka defeated Stosur, but lost to Barty. In the decisive doubles rubber, Barty and Stosur won in three sets to eliminate Belarus.
== Rivalries ==
=== Elena Rybakina ===
Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have met 16 times since 2019, with Sabalenka leading 9–7 in the head-to-head. Sabalenka defeated Rybakina in three sets at the 2023 Australian Open final to win her first Grand Slam title. They met again at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open, where Rybakina won a contested final 7–6(11), 6–4 to secure her first WTA 1000 title. Rybakina won their match in the 2025 Cincinnati Open quarterfinals where Sabalenka was the defending champion. Sabalenka then defeated Rybakina at the 2025 Wuhan Open quarterfinals. Rybakina and Sabalenka would face off again in the finals of the 2025 WTA Finals where Rybakina defeated Sabalenka 6–3, 7–6(0). They would encounter each again at the 2026 Australian Open final, with Rybakina winning in three sets. The two would face off once again at the 2026 Indian Wells Open final, where Sabalenka would save championship point before winning 3–6, 6–3, 7–6(6).
=== Iga Świątek ===
Sabalenka and Iga Świątek have met 13 times since 2021, with Świątek in control of the head-to-head at 8–5. Their rivalry has been seen as becoming one of the greatest in women's tennis. Their most praised matches include the 2024 Madrid Open final, where Świątek defeated defending champion Sabalenka in three sets in 3 hours and 11 minutes, saving three championship points in the process, and the 2023 Madrid Open final, where Sabalenka won in three sets in 2 hours and 25 minutes against Świątek to claim her second Madrid title. Sabalenka and Świątek played each other at the 2025 French Open, which Sabalenka won in three sets.
=== Coco Gauff ===
Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have met 12 times since 2020, with their head-to-head record tied at 6–6. They have played each other multiple times at majors, the first being the 2023 US Open final. Sabalenka lost that match despite winning the first set. Sabalenka defeated Gauff at the 2024 Australian Open semifinals on her way to defending the title. Sabalenka and Gauff faced off again in the final of the 2025 French Open, with Gauff overtaking Sabalenka for her first French Open Major Championship win and second Grand Slam overall. Sabalenka would avenge that loss by knocking Gauff out of the 2025 WTA Finals where Gauff was the defending champion.
== Playing style ==
Sabalenka is an aggressive baseliner whose game is characterised by a powerful serve and equally powerful groundstrokes. Her game is based around taking control of points, with a knack for turning defensive positions into offensive opportunities. Due to her aggression, she usually hits a high number of both winners and unforced errors off her groundstrokes, which are hit with relentless pace and depth. At the 2024 US Open, she struck her forehand at an average speed of 129 km/h (80 mph). Sabalenka's big serve is central to her game: in 2024 she won 62.7% of points on her serve, ranking fifth among the players on tour, and won 78.5% of her service games.
Sabalenka's improved consistency on serve was the key which allowed her to ascend to the top of the WTA rankings. In the past, she struggled with an inconsistent serve, leading to a high double fault count; she served 166 double faults in 2020, the most of any player. She notably suffered from the yips from the 2021 WTA Finals and into 2022, serving 152 double faults in 11 matches, an average of 14 double faults a match. Following the 2022 Canadian Open, she hired biomechanics expert Gavin Macmillan to revamp her serve. Sabalenka served a total of 440 double faults in 2022, but her serve quickly saw improvements in 2023 under Macmillan's guidance, and has since become a reliable weapon.
As Sabalenka's game has matured, she has also developed better shot selection and more variety. When she first arrived on tour, she was sometimes described as a player who hit everything as hard as she could. In the summer of 2018, her coach Dmitry Tursunov said her game was already evolving, and, "The major thing is she stopped trying [to] hit a winner with every shot." Sabalenka has become increasingly willing to experiment with variety on her groundstrokes, and with finishing more points at the net. During the 2024 clay season, she began to incorporate more drop shots into her game, which pair well with her power from the baseline.
Sabalenka is primarily known for her success on hardcourt. Nineteen of her twenty-two singles titles, including all four of her major titles, have been won on hardcourt, which suits her game due to its consistent bounce and fast-paced play. However, she is also recognised as a consistent contender in the late stages of grass and clay court tournaments. She has been particularly successful on faster clay courts, such as the Madrid Open, where she won the title in 2021, 2023, and 2025. She also reached her first major final on clay at the French Open in 2025.
Sabalenka has become increasingly notable for her ability to win tiebreaks. In 2025, she set an Open Era record for most tiebreaks won by a woman in a single season, winning 22 out of 25 played. This included a streak of nineteen consecutive tiebreaks won between February and October. In 2026, Sabalenka won her twentieth consecutive tiebreak at the majors to break the record held by Novak Djokovic across both tours. While Sabalenka is known for her clutch factor in tiebreaks, she has also lost a large number of closely-contested prominent matches, such as the 2025 French Open final and 2026 Australian Open final, and holds a 22–20 (52%) record in singles finals overall.
Sabalenka frequently accompanies her shots with loud grunting. She said, "Honestly, I don't even hear myself when I am playing." She expressed her hope that her grunting does not disturb her opponents. At the Australian Open in 2018, the crowd mocked her habit in a match against Ashleigh Barty. She is an expressive personality on court. Former player and professional commentator Mary Carillo has praised her powerful game along with her fierce attitude, describing her game as "big babe tennis personified".
== Coaches ==
Sabalenka had worked with Khalil Ibrahimov for two years up until early 2018. At this point, she began working with Swedish former professional tennis players Magnus Norman and Magnus Tideman. Dmitry Tursunov became her primary coach in time for the grass court season in 2018. Sabalenka briefly split with Tursunov after the 2019 US Open. Although they reunited later in the year, she made the split permanent at the end of the season. Sabalenka briefly worked with Dieter Kindlmann before switching coaches to her longtime hitting partner and compatriot Anton Dubrov, aged 25 at the time. In 2025, Belarusian former professional tennis player and 10-time major doubles champion Max Mirnyi joined Sabalenka's coaching team as a consultant.
As of 2025, her coaching team includes Dubrov; Mirnyi; fitness trainer Jason Stacy, a martial arts expert; and hitting partner Andrei Vasilevski.
== Sponsorships ==
Sabalenka has been endorsed by Nike for apparel and shoes since the beginning of her professional career. Nike began to design custom garments for Sabalenka starting from the 2023 US Open. She is also endorsed by Wilson, specifically using the Wilson Blade range of racquets.
In June 2025, Sabalenka became a global ambassador and minority shareholder of IM8, a health‑supplement brand co‑founded by former footballer David Beckham.
== Personal life ==
Sabalenka has a tiger tattoo on her left arm that has earned her the nickname "The Tiger", which she has used to refer to herself. She studied at the Belarusian State University in a sports-related program. Her tennis idols growing up were Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Her father Sergey, a former ice hockey player, died suddenly in 2019 at age 43. He had meningitis.
Sabalenka's ex-boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov, died of an apparent suicide in March 2024 at age 42. She became engaged to Brazilian entrepreneur Georgios Frangulis on March 3, 2026.
=== Political views ===
In August 2020, during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, Sabalenka criticised the government of Alexander Lukashenko for its dispersal of peaceful protests and called for no violence, but was criticised by members of the Belarusian opposition for not using her platform to advocate the protest movement's goals. She separately praised the Belarusian government for "everything that is done for the country in general and for sports in particular". In 2020, during widespread protests after the disputed election, Sabalenka signed an open letter that said that sport should remain outside of politics. Belarusian media considered the letter supportive of Lukashenko, as it followed an open letter by Belarusian sporting figures demanding the election be invalidated.
Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sabalenka expressed support for the Ukrainian people and the use of Ukraine-coloured ribbons: "I feel like people need our support. I just hope they understand that we're all really concerned. I think even 'sad' isn't even the right word." In January 2023, with regard to the war and the banning of Russian and Belarusian players from the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Sabalenka said, "I just understand that it's not my fault." Her comments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the situation of Ukrainian tennis players were criticised by Lesia Tsurenko's coach Nikita Vlasov and former Ukrainian player Sergiy Stakhovsky for lacking substance and compassion. Sabalenka later indicated support for ending the war in Ukraine, saying: "If I could stop the war I would do it but unfortunately that doesn't lie in my hands. I just hope for peace."
During a press conference at the 2023 French Open, when asked about the war by Ukrainian journalist Daria Meshcheriakova, she said: "Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war. Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody, normal people will never support it." She later said: "I don't want my country to be in any conflict, I don't support war, meaning I don't support Lukashenko right now."
=== Television and film ===
Sabalenka appears in the tennis docuseries Break Point, which premiered on Netflix on 13 January 2023.
== Career statistics ==
=== Grand Slam tournament performance timelines ===
=== Singles ===
* Received a walkover in the quarterfinals match, which does not count as a win or loss.
==== Doubles ====
=== Grand Slam tournament finals ===
==== Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups) ====
==== Doubles: 2 (2 titles) ====
=== Year-end championship finals ===
==== Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups) ====
=== Records and achievements ===
==== Open Era records ====
This record was attained in the Open Era of tennis.
Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagoon_(amusement_park) | Lagoon (amusement park) | Lagoon is a family owned amusement park in Farmington, Utah, located about 18 miles north of Salt Lake City. Lagoon is divided into five main areas: The Midway, containing the majority of the rides; Pioneer Village, which has several exhibits displaying pioneer buildings and artifacts; Lagoon-A-Beach, a water park; Kiddie Land, an area with several rides for small children; and X-Venture Zone, featuring more extreme upcharge rides. Lagoon also offers an RV park, a campground, and a walking trail outside the park that stays open all year. Every autumn, the park offers Halloween-themed shows and attractions, collectively known as Frightmares.
Lagoon has eleven roller coasters, six of which are unique: Colossus the Fire Dragon, one of two remaining Schwarzkopf Double Looping coaster still in operation in the United States; Roller Coaster, one of the oldest coasters in the world, operating since 1921; Wicked, designed by Lagoon's engineering department and Werner Stengel in cooperation with ride manufacturer Zierer; BomBora, a family coaster designed in-house; Cannibal, built in-house with one of the world's steepest drops; and Primordial, an interactive dark ride coaster/3-D shooter game attraction inside an artificial mountain.
== History ==
=== 1886–1939 ===
In 1886, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad built a resort called Lake Park on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It was one of several resorts built along the lake throughout the late 1800s. In the following years, however, the lake level receded drastically until Lake Park was far from the lake, and the park closed by the end of the 1895 season.
Simon Bamberger, who was building his Salt Lake & Ogden Railroad line from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Utah, was vice president of Lake Park. To increase passenger traffic on his line, he bought most of the original Lake Park buildings from the D&RGW and moved them about 3 miles (5 km) east near Farmington, Utah. The resort was named Lagoon for the small body of water located on the original forty acres (162,000 m2) of the park. The original lagoon was enlarged to 9 acres (36,000 m2) by clearing some swampland.
Lagoon opened in Farmington on July 12, 1896, and featured live music and restaurants. In 1900, guests began swimming and rowing boats in Lagoon Lake. Over time, rides were added, such as the authentic Herschell–Spillman carousel and Cagney miniature railroad. In 1901, the park hosted a minor league baseball team in the Inter-Mountain League and in 1902, a team in the Utah State League.
Lagoon's wooden coaster, Roller Coaster, was designed by John Miller and constructed in 1921. Its highest height is 57 feet (17 m), and it has 2,500 feet (760 m) of track. The ride lasts just under two minutes, and reaches speeds up to 45 mph (72 km/h).
In 1927, a 1.5×10^6 US gal (5.7×10^6 L) swimming pool was built north of Lagoon Lake. It was one of the first filtered swimming pools in western North America, and was a cleaner alternative than swimming in the briny Great Salt Lake.
Lagoon's popularity grew during the 1920s and 1930s. The park's first Fun House was built in 1929, along with many other midway shows, rides, and games. During the "Big Band" era, many notable musicians played on Lagoon's stage, including Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller.
=== 1940–1970 ===
The park was closed for three seasons during World War II. By 1946, the park was in bad condition and on the brink of permanent closure. The Bamberger family considered razing it. However, Ranch S. Kimball and Robert E. Freed convinced the Bamberger family to lease the park to their newly formed Utah Amusement Corporation. Kimball served as president while Freed served as secretary and assistant manager. The Freed family's Lagoon Corporation later bought the resort outright from the Bamberger family in 1983.
When the Utah Amusement Corporation took over the lease of Lagoon, a Farmington town ordinance prohibited African-Americans from using the swimming pool and the ballroom. By the end of the 1940s, Robert Freed had fully opened Lagoon to the black community, and further extended this policy to the Terrace Ballroom (formerly the Rainbow Gardens) in Salt Lake City.
The Freed family made several improvements, including an overhaul of the swimming pool in 1949, a rebuilt fun house, the introduction of the "Dodgem Cars" and the "Lakeshore Express" miniature railway in 1951, and a new Ferris wheel in 1953.
In November 1953, a fire damaged much of the park, including the fun house, dance pavilion, and the front portion of the Roller Coaster. The Roller Coaster was rebuilt and reopened for the 1954 season. Many rides were restored, rebuilt, or replaced, and a few new rides were added in 1955. In 1956, Mother Gooseland, Lagoon's first themed section, was opened between the Midway and the swimming pool. It featured rides only for children.
From the mid-1950s into the 1960s, Lagoon made many improvements. A showboat was added to the lake, and a new fun house was built, which featured such attractions as a multi-lane giant slide, mazes, mirrors, obstacle courses, and mystery rooms. There was also a mini-car ride added in 1960, followed by the "Space Scrambler", spook house, I.Q. Zoo, and shooting gallery in 1961. A Wild Mouse coaster opened in 1965.
On the Midway, musicians including the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Kingston Trio, and Johnny Cash performed on the bandstand throughout the 1960s. The Beach Boys made mention of the park in the song "Salt Lake City" on their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).
The 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge Animaland Train began circling Lagoon Lake in 1967. In 1975, authentic steam locomotives built by Crown Metal Products were put into operation around the lake instead, and the railway's name was changed to the Wild Kingdom Train Zoo.
=== 1971–1997 ===
The Opera House Square opened in 1968 and showcased melodramas, musicals, and silent movies. In 1976, Lagoon expanded east by purchasing Pioneer Village, an old west town complete with several historic structures. The buildings were moved to Lagoon and the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge "Pioneer Village Railroad" (featuring "Old Ironsides", a Crown Metal Products locomotive) circled the town. In addition, the "Lagoon Miniature Railroad" looped around the residential area of Pioneer Village using an original miniature gauge steam locomotive acquired in the early 1900s. A log flume ride was brought in from the defunct Pixieland Park in Oregon.
In 1976, the Jet Star 2 roller coaster was added. Before Lagoon purchased it, it was an attraction at Spokane, Washington's Expo '74.
Colossus the Fire Dragon came to Lagoon in 1983. It was selected by People magazine in 1984 as one of the top 10 coasters in the country. Colossus was Lagoon's first coaster to feature inversions, with a top speed of 55 mph (89 km/h). With its double inverted loops, Colossus had the most inversions of any coaster at Lagoon for 32 years until the opening of Cannibal in 2015.
In the late 1980s, both the old fun house and the "Haunted Shack", a walk-through dark attraction, were closed due to escalating maintenance costs and safety concerns. The swimming pool closed after its fifth decade in 1987. This made way for the $5.5 million Lagoon-A-Beach water park, which was completed in 1989. Its construction required the closure of miniature railroad operations in Pioneer Village, as some of the supports stood in the way of the track.
=== 1997–2009 ===
In 1997, in a major expansion of Pioneer Village, Lagoon added Rattlesnake Rapids, a river rapids ride located in the new Rattlesnake Plaza. In 1998, Lagoon added the Maurer AG Wild Mouse coaster. This ride replaced the wooden Wild Mouse coaster that had been demolished 5 years prior. In 1999, Lagoon opened its first attraction above the height of 200-foot (61 m): The Rocket, an S&S space shot tower with two different ride towers. In 2000, Samurai, a Mondial Top Scan, was built, as well as Double Thunder Raceway. In 2001, a Mondial Top Spin called Cliffhanger was opened. In 2002, Lagoon expanded its X-Venture Zone by adding Catapult, a reverse bungee ride. Spider, a Maurer AG steel spinning coaster, opened in 2003. In 2004, Lagoon revamped Kiddieland, giving it a garden theme and adding two new rides, Kontiki and Dragon Fly. In 2005, The Bat, an inverted coaster manufactured by Vekoma, was constructed near Lagoon-A-Beach. It is a family-friendly coaster with a minimum height requirement of 42 inches. In 2006, Lagoon expanded Kiddieland further by adding two new rides, Dinosaur Drop and Lady Bug Bop, both of which are Zierer Family Drop Towers.On June 1, 2007, a $10 million roller coaster named Wicked opened. Wicked is a Zierer tower launch coaster, and is powered by linear synchronous motors that launch riders up a 100-foot (30 m) tower at 55 mph (89 km/h) in 2.5 seconds. It has several elements, including an Immelmann turn, a heartline roll, two half-pipe turns, and the signature "lake turn" into a final tunnel before returning to the station. Several improvements were made to the park in 2007 as well. On April 5, 2008, Lagoon opened OdySea, a Zierer "Flying Fish" ride with aquatic theming. OdySea is an interactive ride with a joystick to control the vehicle's height. Arrows blink to direct the rider to dodge jets of water from the sea creatures that attempt to soak the rider as accompanying audio tells a story. On April 4, 2009, Lagoon opened "Jumping Dragon", a Zierer "Dragon Roundabout" ride.
=== 2010–present ===
In 2010, Lagoon revamped its Ferris wheel, Sky Scraper. It was dismantled after the 2009 season, and reopened with a new coat of paint in April 2010. As a result of the economic crisis, Lagoon did not install a new ride that season. Instead, the park improved its entertainment division with several new shows. In 2011, Lagoon installed another family roller coaster, named BomBora. The coaster was created by a group of manufacturers and Lagoon itself, and has a height of 45 feet (14 m), as well as a theme based on 1960s surfing. In 2012, Lagoon installed a ride called Air Race. In 2013, Lagoon began work on a new coaster at the site of the former Top Eliminator. Two new family rides opened for the 2013 season, Tipsey Tea Cups and Red Rock Rally, both of which were manufactured by Zamperla. In 2014, Lagoon continued work on a new coaster, building vertically throughout the entire operating season. With much of its focus on the new coaster, no new rides were added this year. Due to maintenance problems, Lagoon-A-Beach's old Rip-Curl slide was replaced with a new slide of the same name. At a press conference on September 4, 2014, Lagoon officially announced Cannibal, a new roller coaster for the 2015 season. On July 2, 2015, Cannibal opened, featuring a 208-foot (63 m) elevator lift hill, a 116° beyond vertical drop, three inversions, and a top speed of 70 mph.
Shortly after Cannibal's opening, the park began the early planning stages of Primordial. In 2016, Lagoon did not add any attractions. However, extensive work was done on Spider. In 2017, a mural by Sril Art was created at the park. Two new rides were added to Kiddieland: Flying Tigers and Ruka Safari. In 2018, the Roller Coaster was re-tracked. A new ride opened in Kiddieland called Engine 86 in 2020. On December 18, 2021, a fire broke out at the Carousel Candy shop. The fire rekindled that evening and subsequently destroyed the candy shop and the adjacent Scamper, a miniature bumper cars ride. In 2023, Lagoon opened Primordial, a 4D interactive dark ride roller coaster, after eight years of development and construction. The attraction is located inside an artificial mountain and includes multiple ride endings. In late 2024, construction fences were put in place on the site of the former Log Flume attraction, featuring a banner for a new themed area entitled The District. In November 2024, Lagoon announced that The District would include three new rides when it opened. One of these rides was announced on November 21st in a social media post as SteamWorx, an ART Wild Swing. This was followed by a second announcement on November 26th of a Zamperla NebulaZ titled Time Tinker. On January 3, 2025, Lagoon announced that the third ride would be a "reimagining" of an existing ride, with the former Helicopters attraction being rethemed as Rivets and Rotors. Cliffhanger was also removed.
In March 2025 the park announced it would be phasing out its zoo by the end of the year. The stated reason was to free up space for future expansion. The zoo's big cats were moved to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado On May 24th, 2025, the new themed area, The District, opened to the public. On October 10th, 2025, Lagoon announced the addition of Nutcracker, an S&S Screamin' Swing thrill ride, which will open in 2026. On October 22nd, 2025, Lagoon announced that Jet Star 2 had reached the end of its service life and would be retired. The attraction closed on November 9th, 2025, coinciding with the end of the 2025 season.
== Attractions ==
=== Roller coasters ===
Lagoon features ten different roller coasters. The oldest, Roller Coaster, was built in 1921 and is an American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) Roller Coaster Landmark.
=== Thrill rides ===
=== Dark rides ===
=== Water rides ===
=== Family rides ===
=== Children's rides ===
All of these attractions are located in the park's Kiddieland section.
=== X-Venture Zone ===
Each ride in the X-Venture Zone is an upcharge attraction.
=== Lagoon A Beach ===
=== Additional Rider Requirements ===
== Controversy ==
In 2012, Lagoon became the focus of animal welfare groups' protests which called for a boycott of the park, citing USDA inspection reports that suggested poor care of animals in the Wild Kingdom Train Zoo. The Utah Animal Rights Coalition and PETA pointed to a range of USDA citations over a 15-year span that included insufficient living space for and unexplained deaths of animals. While admitting to some problems, a Lagoon spokesman denied any abuse taking place and said veterinarians and staff regularly monitored the animals. It was announced in March 2025 that the zoo was being phased out to free up space for expansion.
== Notable incidents ==
On August 20, 1934, 20-year-old Ernest Henry Howe of Ogden died after attempting to stand up while riding Roller Coaster, and subsequently falling out of the train.
On August 31, 1946, 23-year-old James Young Hess of Farmington, an employee at the park, was thrown to the ground while repairing scaffolding on Roller Coaster. It was reported that he may have been attempting to grab onto the car and ride it back down to the station, but he instead lost his grip and fell 18 feet to the ground. Hess died from his injuries the next day in a Salt Lake City hospital.
On June 10, 1983, 16-year-old Shauna Bingham was working at the Colossus the Fire Dragon roller coaster. While attempting to run electrical wire inside the ride enclosure as the ride was operating, she was struck by an oncoming train, losing her left arm at the shoulder.
On April 30, 1989, six-year-old Ryan Beckstead of Bountiful was struck and killed on Puff the Little Fire Dragon after he fell off the ride and stood up in between the track, before being hit in the head by the oncoming train. At the time, park representatives stated that this was the first accidental death in Lagoon's history, having lost the records of the previous incidents that occurred decades earlier under different ownership.
On June 9, 1989, 13-year-old Kilee King of Bountiful slipped out from the restraints of Roller Coaster and fell 35 feet to her death. Lagoon made safety adjustments to the trains before reopening the ride, and new restraints were added the following year.
On August 14, 2021, a 32-year-old man fell 50 feet after dangling from the park's Sky Ride, a chairlift-like ride which transports people from one end of the amusement park to the other. The man succumbed to his injuries in the hospital the next day.
== In popular culture ==
The Beach Boys reference Lagoon by name in the song Salt Lake City on their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!).
The opening scenes of the 1969 film Mirror, Mirror: You and Your Self Image were filmed at Lagoon.
Lagoon was one of many parks featured in the first roller coaster documentary, America Screams in 1978.
An episode of the Werewolf TV series was filmed at Lagoon in fall of 1987, featuring scenes in and around the Dracula's Castle attraction.
Some scenes in the 1996 TV movie, Terror in the Family, were filmed on Roller Coaster and Centennial Screamer.
In My Sister's Shadow, a 1997 TV movie, featured a scene on the North Midway.
The Luck of the Irish, a 2001 Disney Channel original movie. A few scenes were filmed on the North Midway of Lagoon. The dance festival scene was shot in front of the entrance to the Sky Scraper.
Wieners, a movie released in 2008, had a montage featuring scenes filmed at Lagoon in 2007. The name of the park was changed in the film.
An episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! featured brief and edited shots of Lagoon.
In 2015, Christmas Land was filmed in the Pioneer Village section of the park.
Season 3, episode 12 of Andi Mack featured brief and edited shots of Lagoon, including Paratrooper, Cannibal, and Sky Scraper. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_at_the_Olympics | South Korea at the Olympics | The Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea) first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for 1980 which they boycotted. South Korea has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1948, except for the 1952 games.
The first ethnic Korean athletes to win medals did so at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, when Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong won gold and bronze respectively in the men's marathon as members of the Japanese team. As Korea was under Japanese rule at that time, making them both Japanese subjects, the IOC credits both medals to Japan.
South Korea won its first medals as an independent nation at its first appearance in 1948, and won its first gold medal in 1976. South Korean athletes have won a total of 287 medals at the Summer Games, with the most gold medals won in archery, and 79 medals at the Winter Games, a majority in short track speed skating. The nation has won more medals in this winter sport than any other nation since it was introduced to the Olympic program in 1992.
The National Olympic Committee for Korea is the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, which was founded in 1946 and recognized in 1947.
During the Sunshine Policy era, South Korea and North Korea symbolically marched as one team at the opening ceremonies of the 2000, 2004 and 2006 Olympics, but competed separately. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, North Korean and South Korean athletes unified to form the Korea women's national ice hockey team.
== Hosted games ==
South Korea has hosted the Games on two occasions:
=== Unsuccessful bids ===
== Medals ==
== Most successful Olympians ==
=== Notes ===
On 11 February 2014, Lee Sang-hwa won the gold medal for the women's 500m longtrack speedskating race at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, having previously won the one at the 2010 Games. She became the third woman and first Korean woman to win back-to-back golds at the 500m.
== Participated event by competition ==
=== Summer Olympics ===
d : demonstration sports
e : exhibition sports
=== Winter Olympics ===
d : demonstration sports
== Hosted Olympic logos and mottos ==
=== 1988 Summer Olympics ===
The 1988 Summer Olympics, held in the capital of Seoul, marked the first time the Olympics were held in South Korea.
The logo consists of a rounded tricolor which represents the Olympic rings. The motto of the games was Harmony and Progress (화합과 전진).
=== 2018 Winter Olympics ===
The 2018 Winter Olympics saw the Olympics return to Korea when it was held in Pyeongchang.
The logo consists of five intertwined wings which represent the continents (Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania). The motto of the games was Passion. Connected. (하나된 열정; Hanadoen, Yeoljeong). |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Family_Field, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoanDepot_Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Life_Field, | American Family Field, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoanDepot Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe Life Field, | |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goku | Goku | Son Goku is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is based on Sun Wukong (known as Son Gokū in Japan and the Monkey King in the West), a main character of the classic 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, combined with influences from the Hong Kong action cinema of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. Goku made his debut in the first Dragon Ball chapter, Bulma and Son Goku, originally published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 3, 1984.
Goku is introduced as an eccentric, monkey-tailed boy who practices martial arts and possesses superhuman strength. He meets Bulma and joins her on a journey to find the seven wish-granting Dragon Balls. Along the way, he finds new friends who follow him on his journey to become stronger. As Goku grows up, he becomes the Earth's mightiest warrior and battles a wide variety of villains with the help of his friends and family, while also gaining new allies in the process. Born under the name Kakarot, as a member of the Saiyan race on Planet Vegeta, he is sent to Earth as an infant prior to his homeworld's destruction at the hands of Frieza. Upon his arrival on Earth, the infant is discovered by Son Gohan, who becomes the adoptive grandfather of the boy and gives him the name Goku. The boy is initially full of violence and aggression due to his Saiyan nature, until an accidental head injury turns him into a cheerful, carefree person. Grandpa Gohan's kindness and teachings help to further influence Goku, who later on names his first son Gohan in honor of him.
As the protagonist of Dragon Ball, Goku appears in most of the episodes, films, television specials and OVAs of the manga's anime adaptations (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z) and sequels (Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Daima), as well as many of the franchise's video games. Due to the series' international popularity, Goku became one of the most recognizable and iconic manga/anime characters worldwide. Outside the Dragon Ball franchise, Goku has made cameo appearances in Toriyama's self-parody series Neko Majin Z, has been the subject of other parodies, and has appeared in special events. Most Western audiences were introduced to the adult version of Goku featured in the Dragon Ball Z anime, which adapted the final 26 Dragon Ball manga volumes, as opposed to his initial appearance as a child due to the limited success of the first anime series overseas.
== Conception and creation ==
Goku, and Dragon Ball in general, evolved from one of Akira Toriyama's earlier one-shot series called Dragon Boy. In this story, the protagonist looks similar to Goku, but has a pair of wings. The original inspiration were Hong Kong action cinema, including those by Bruce Lee such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and by Jackie Chan such as Drunken Master (1978); Toriyama said he had a young Chan in mind for a live-action Goku, stating that "nobody could play Goku but him." Goku uses a variety and hybrid of East Asian martial arts styles, including Karate and Wing Chun (Kung fu).
Bulma and Goku were the first pair of characters which were introduced in the manga and Toriyama stated that he subsequently introduced other characters in pairs because "that way, I'm able to explain the characters and their relationship to each other through their interactions. In my case, I feel that it isn't good to insert too much narration. I suppose Goku and Bulma are representative of that." He further added that "as a child, Goku doesn't know anything [of the world], so without Bulma, he'd be a character who didn't say anything." Toriyama mentioned Torishima wanted Goku to form a relationship with Bulma, but this was never applied to the series. With the conclusion of the Cell arc, Gohan was intended to replace his father as the protagonist, but Toriyama later decided that Gohan was unsuitable for the role. According to Toriyama, Goku is more of a selfish person than a hero as his main interest in the story is to fight strong opponents rather than protecting the innocent. As a result, Toriyama was angered when the anime adaptations of Dragon Ball started portraying Goku as more heroic than his manga counterpart. Toei kept portraying Goku as a more heroic figure, especially in the anime sequel Dragon Ball GT where he often rescues his granddaughter Pan as producer Kōzō Morishita was influenced by the 1997 film Titanic.
=== Design ===
The character Goku is based on Sun Wukong (Son Goku in Japanese), the central character of the Chinese novel Journey to the West. To be creative with the idea of Sun Wukong, Toriyama designed Goku as a human boy with a monkey's tail, rather than a complete simian, because the tail would give the character a distinguishing feature. He later stated that the tail was a pain to draw, hence why he had it get cut off early on. Toriyama did not initially plan to make Goku an alien, it was not until the introduction of fighters from other planets that he established him as a Saiyan. Goku was given the ability to teleport to any planet in seconds, so that Toriyama could increase the pace of the story.
Wanting the series to have a Chinese appearance, Toriyama used the color of the robes worn by Buddhist monks for Goku's dōgi. During the early chapters of the manga, Toriyama's editor Kazuhiko Torishima commented that Goku looked rather plain. Toriyama had given him simple clothes on purpose because it was a fighting manga, so to combat this he added several characters like Master Roshi and Krillin, and created the Tenkaichi Budōkai to focus the storyline on fighting. To defy the assumption that Goku would win the tournaments, Toriyama made him lose the first and second but win the third.
Toriyama's editor was initially against having Goku grow up, saying it was uncommon to have the protagonist drastically change in manga, however, he gave in when Toriyama threatened that he would not be able to continue the series if the character did not. Toriyama later stated he had him grow up as a means to make drawing the fight scenes easier.
When Toriyama thought up the Super Saiyan concept during the Frieza arc, he felt the only way to show Goku's massive power-up was to have him transform. Initially he was concerned that the facial expression looked like that of a villain, but felt it was acceptable since the transformation was brought about by anger. The Super Saiyan form spared the trouble of coloring Goku's hair all the time for the standard black-and-white manga pages. This was the reason for the Super Saiyan form having blonde hair, because it was easier to draw for Toriyama's assistant who spent a lot of time blacking in Goku's hair. Goku's piercing eyes in Super Saiyan form were inspired by Bruce Lee's paralyzing glare. For the Dragon Ball Z anime adaptation, character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro used Lee as a reference, stating that, when he "first becomes a Super Saiyan, his slanting pose with that scowling look in his eyes is all Bruce Lee."
Dragon Ball GT chief character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru said he agonized over designing Goku's Super Saiyan 4 appearance, which was the idea of the show's producers, questioning whether it was necessary to go further with the transformations. Because Super Saiyan 4 is brought about while in a Saiyan's Ōzaru form, he made the hair more "wild" and covered Goku's body in red fur. There was only a single final draft of the character, although Nakatsuru did consider making the hair blonde, he ended up choosing black as it provides more contrast with the red fur.
During the plans of the final story arc of Dragon Ball Super, it was decided that Goku should have another transformation: The Ultra Instinct. The concept was that the Ultra Instinct would be completely different from Goku's previous Super Saiyan transformations.
=== Voice actors ===
In the Japanese version of every Dragon Ball anime series and subsequent related media, Goku has been voiced by Masako Nozawa. Toriyama selected Nozawa upon hearing her audition sample, remarking that only Goku could sound like that. Nozawa stated that she was ecstatic when she got the role because she had always wanted to be in one of Toriyama's works. She said she had to be mindful of the fact that Goku grew up in the mountains and did not know much of the world. Despite having to voice Goku, Gohan, Goten and Bardock, Nozawa says she is able to instantly get into the respective character upon seeing their image.
Nozawa explained that she did not read the manga so that she would not know what was coming in the story until recording, making her reactions the same as Goku's. Nozawa said that she liked young Goku with his tail because he was cute, and stated that the character was still the same even at the end of the series.
In the numerous English versions, Goku has been played by different actors because different companies produced the dubs, by reason of changes of automated dialogue replacement companies and recording studios, or due to actors quitting:
In Harmony Gold's very brief dub of the original Dragon Ball series, along with the movies Curse of the Blood Rubies and Mystical Adventure, Goku was voiced by Barbara Goodson.
In Funimation's initial dub of the anime, Goku was voiced by Saffron Henderson in the first 13 episodes of the original Dragon Ball series (produced in association with BLT Productions) and the movie Curse of the Blood Rubies, and by Ian James Corlett and Peter Kelamis in the first 67 episodes of Dragon Ball Z (edited into 53 episodes, produced in association with Saban and Ocean Productions) and the movies Dead Zone, The World's Strongest, and The Tree of Might.
In Funimation's in-house dub, Goku as an adult has been consistently voiced by Sean Schemmel throughout the entire Dragon Ball franchise, while Kid Goku was voiced by Ceyli Delgadillo in the movies Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle and Mystical Adventure, by Stephanie Nadolny in the original Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Daima, the movie The Path to Power, and various video games, and by Colleen Clinkenbeard in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super, the movies Curse of the Blood Rubies, Broly, and Super Hero, and various video games.
In AB Groupe's dub of the anime produced for Canadian and European broadcast (initially also in association with Ocean Productions and later with Blue Water Studios), Goku was voiced by Peter Kelamis again and later by Kirby Morrow in episodes 123-291 of Dragon Ball Z, by Zoe Slusar as a child in both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, by Jeffrey Watson as an older teen in Dragon Ball, and by Jeremiah Yurk as an adult and Super Saiyan 4 in GT.
In Bang Zoom's dub of the first 27 episodes of Dragon Ball Super produced for Toonami Asia's broadcast, Goku was voiced by Lex Lang as an adult and Philece Sampler as a child.
== Appearances ==
=== In Dragon Ball ===
Goku first appears in Dragon Ball as a monkey-tailed child adopted by the hermit martial artist Gohan. Before the series' narrative begins, he accidentally and unknowingly kills Gohan when he temporarily transforms into the mighty Ōzaru after staring at a full moon. Goku loses the ability when his friends cut off his tail.
Living alone with an item known as a Dragon Ball which he keeps as a memento of Gohan, Goku befriends a teenage girl named Bulma. He joins her to find the seven Dragon Balls, which, when gathered, summon the wish-granting dragon Shenron. They encounter the desert bandit Yamcha and two shapeshifters named Oolong and Puar, who join their quest. Goku is later trained by the martial artist Master Roshi, alongside a monk named Krillin, who later becomes his best friend. It is Roshi who gives Goku the magic cloud Kinto'un, as a reward for saving his pet sea turtle, which becomes Goku's primary source of flight travel across the world.
Goku's first shown martial arts attack as a child is Jan ken, three physical blows modeled after the hand signs in rock-paper-scissors. As a child, he wields the Nyoi-bō, a magic staff that extends and retracts on command, given to him by his grandfather.
Goku's signature attack is the Kamehameha (named after King Kamehameha I of Hawai'i), which he learned from Roshi. The Kamehameha is a concentration of energy, released as a concussive beam. Roshi spent about 50 years developing and perfecting the technique, but, as a child, Goku is able to understand and copy the technique immediately after only one demonstration. After training with the Earth's Guardian, Kami, Goku learns to fly by virtue of the technique Bukū-jutsu and uses the Nimbus cloud less frequently for flight travel.
While participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament that attracts the most powerful fighters in the world, Goku battles foes, later turned allies, such as Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu, as well as the Namekian Piccolo. After becoming the runner-up champion of the 21st and 22nd tournaments, Goku wins in the 23rd with Piccolo's defeat, and marries Chi-Chi soon after to fulfill a promise he made to her years ago despite not knowing what marriage was.
Five years later, Goku meets his evil older brother Raditz and learns about his heritage. Goku comes from a race of nearly extinct extraterrestrials called Saiyans, himself having been sent from their home planet to prepare Earth for sale on the intergalactic market by destroying all its life (at least according to Raditz, who was absent at the time of his planet's destruction, when Goku was sent to Earth as an infant by Bardock and Gine to protect their son from Frieza). While Grandpa Gohan was taking care of him, Goku accidentally fell into a deep ravine and suffered a severe head injury, which caused him to forget his mission and drastically altered his personality.
After Raditz kidnaps Goku's son Gohan, he forms a truce with Piccolo in order to defeat Raditz. After sacrificing his life during the battle, Goku trains with King Kai in the Other World. He teaches Goku the Kaiō-ken, which multiplies his energy and strength but with possible strain to the body. It is from King Kai that Goku learns his most powerful attack: the Genki-Dama, an energy sphere created by gathering energy from surrounding animals, nature and humans.
After being revived by the Dragon Balls, Goku faces off with the Saiyan prince Vegeta, who eventually becomes his greatest rival and another ally. On his journey to Planet Namek in order to aid his friends in gathering the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive those killed by the Saiyans, Goku fights the galactic tyrant Frieza, who destroyed the Saiyans' home planet and nearly the entire race. During his epic battle with Frieza, Goku becomes the first Saiyan in a thousand years to transform into a fabled Super Saiyan.
After defeating Frieza and escaping the destruction of Namek, Goku learns a teleportation skill called Shunkan Idō, taught by the inhabitants of the planet Yardrat. Goku contracts a heart virus whereof the time-traveler Trunks warns him, but recovers after taking medicine provided by Trunks. Goku trains Gohan to be his successor and sacrifices himself again during the battle against the evil bio-android Cell. Goku is temporarily resurrected on Earth seven years later and meets his second son Goten.
Goku battles Vegeta again after Vegeta willingly falls under the control of the wizard Babidi in order to gain power. Shortly after, he is drawn into a battle for the universe against the monster Majin Buu. Despite having mastered two new Super Saiyan transformations, Goku prepares Goten and Trunks to take his place as Earth's defender. After his life is fully restored, Goku attempts to fuse with Gohan in order to defeat Buu, but this fails when the latter is temporarily absorbed by Buu and so he persuades the newly arrived Vegeta to fuse with him, creating Vegito. Later when the Fusion technique is abandoned on both sides, Goku destroys Buu with a Spirit Bomb attack. Ten years later, during another World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku meets Uub, Buu's human reincarnation, and leaves with him, intending to train him as the new protector of Earth.
=== In Dragon Ball Super ===
After defeating Majin Buu, Goku meets a new opponent known as Beerus, the God of Destruction in the film Battle of Gods. An alternative, more innately powerful form known as the Super Saiyan God is reached by Goku during this film. Though the temporary transformation wears off, Goku manages to harness its godly powers. In its sequel film Resurrection 'F', Goku manages to achieve a blue-haired evolution of Super Saiyan God under Whis's tutelage, known as the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, or "Super Saiyan Blue" for short, which Goku uses to battle the newly revived Frieza. These forms appear in Dragon Ball Super and its manga tie-in, which expand upon the stories from the two films.
Afterwards, Goku and his friends participate in a fighting tournament set between Beerus and his brother Champa, who is Universe 6's God of Destruction, facing the best warriors from Champa's universe. During this tournament, Goku reveals that he has learned to combine the perfect energy control of his Super Saiyan Blue form with his older technique, the Kaiō-ken. After meeting with the omnipotent being known as Grand Zeno, Goku encounters an evil alternate version of himself called "Goku Black", who is terrorizing Future Trunks' timeline. Black is eventually revealed to be a rogue Supreme Kai in training named Zamasu, who has stolen Goku's body from yet another alternate timeline and teamed up with the Zamasu of Future Trunks' timeline to fulfill their "Zero Mortals Plan". After Zamasu and Black become even more dangerous by undergoing Potara Fusion during the battle in Future Trunks' timeline, Goku ultimately summons the future version of Grand Zeno who erases Zamasu.
Goku causes the Zenos to decide to hold a multi-universal martial arts tournament with the losing universes wiped from existence; the Tournament of Power. Throughout the tournament, Goku faces multiple opponents but finds his toughest in Jiren. It is during his fights with Jiren that Goku acquires a temporary transformed state using a divine technique known as Migatte no Goku'i. Ultimately, Goku and Frieza manage to work together to force Jiren out of bounds in a triple elimination, leaving Android 17 as the winner who uses his wish on the Super Dragon Balls to restore the erased universes.
Goku's origin story from the Dragon Ball Minus manga chapter is retold in the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. His birth parents are Bardock, a low-class Saiyan mercenary, and Gine, the owner of a butcher shop. Bardock has a strong suspicion that Frieza is up to something when he receives an order on his scouter for all Saiyans to return home, so he convinces Gine to send their infant son in a space pod to Earth. In the present, following the events of the Tournament of Power, Goku and Vegeta encounter another Saiyan survivor named Broly, whom Frieza has recruited to defeat them. When Broly proves to be too powerful for either of them to handle individually, Goku and Vegeta use the Metamoran Fusion Dance, which creates Gogeta. Gogeta almost defeats his opponent, but Broly's allies teleport him back to the barren planet he grew up on. Goku teleports to this planet as well to provide Broly and his two friends with survival supplies, hoping to be able to spar with Broly again someday.
In the manga, directly after the final scene of Broly, Goku and Vegeta meet Galactic Patrol by Jaco and a mysteriously highly skilled agent named Merus in order to help stop an ancient warlock called Moro. With Moro headed to New Namek to use the Namekian Dragon Balls, the two Saiyans travel to the planet to stop him, where they are defeated by him using his magic to drain their life essences until near death. Once recovered, they attempt to go after Moro again, but he escapes from them, Merus and (the also conscripted) Majin Buu with the help of his accomplice Cranberry (who he kills) in order to wish upon the Dragon Balls to free all the Galactic Prison prisoners. After a few days, Goku hears from Merus that Moro has grown even stronger and is unstoppable. This leads to Goku asking Merus to help train him to master the Ultra Instinct technique so he can defeat Moro. Goku helps his friends take out Moro's forces before he comes face-to-face with Moro again. When Moro fuses with Seven-Three, he and his allies are soundly defeated and mortally wounded. Goku achieves the full power of "Ultra Instinct" once more, which he uses to debilitate Moro to near-death. Even after healing him with a Senzu bean, he is unfazed by his ensuing sneak attack, unsuccessfully attempting to convince him to reconsider his ways and go back to prison, and him using a stray severed arm with Merus's copied power to obtain Ultra Instinct for himself, Goku continuously outmatches Moro. Ultimately, with the help of his friends and family, along with key assistance from Buu/Grand Supreme Kai and Uub unknowingly contributing divine power, Goku manages to finish off Moro and save the Earth once more. He, Vegeta, Buu and Jaco then reunite with a now-mortal Merus to be honoured as heroes by the Galactic Patrol.
Much later, Goku and Vegeta are contacted by a group of beings called the Heeters, on a seemingly imperative mission to defeat a surviving member of the now-extinct sharpshooting Cerealean race; Granolah. Blinded by his desire for revenge, Granolah confronts Goku and defeats him, as Goku's Ultra Instinct turns out to be taxing to his body and loses its accuracy as he keeps fighting. The fight is later revealed to be a ruse by the Heeters to eliminate Granolah and the Saiyans from the Heeters' plot to assassinate Frieza and achieve universal conquest. He is later rescued by the last Namekian on the planet Cereal, Monaito, who hides them in his home after a disastrous battle with the Heeter warrior Gas, who wishes absolute power using the planet's Dragon Balls. Monaito reveals the identity of his father, Bardock, and the story of his actions in keeping him and the young Granolah safe from the Heeters a long time ago. Moved by the story, Goku and Vegeta finally find resolve about the meaning of the Saiyan race's pride, and later confront Gas for a second round. Goku stalls him by teleporting across random locations within the cosmos via Shunkan Idō with Gas tailing him, in an effort to give Granolah time to regain his power. Remembering Whis' advice about finding one's true and personal Ultra Instinct, Goku later molds his own version of the technique, using his emotions as freely as he pleases. Despite this, he and Vegeta are ultimately bested, even after Granolah inflicted his deadliest sniping shot towards the villain with Goku's assistance, but are saved by Frieza's unexpected arrival. Frieza kills Gas and Elec, the Heeter leader and mastermind of the coup, in swift succession, before unveiling a new transformation and demonstrating his new powers by knocking Goku and Vegeta out of their empowered forms in one quick strike. He spares the duo before making his leave.
In the film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Goku does not play the role of protagonist, as he and Vegeta train on Beerus' domain, accompanied by newcomer Broly, and his companions from the previous film. He spars with Vegeta without any transformations or ki techniques except for flight. Back on Earth, Piccolo is forced to deal with the reinvigorated Red Ribbon Army with Gohan as his only best defense for Earth against the army's threat, as Bulma is unable to contact Goku and Vegeta because Beerus' ice cream container accidentally obstructed Whis' angelic staff. In the post-credits scene, tired and exhausted, Goku falls down from Vegeta's weak last punch, admitting defeat as his rival celebrates his triumph. In the manga's aftermath of the film, Goku teleports Gohan, Goten, and Trunks to Beerus' planet in order to test out Gohan's new Beast transformation. This results in an epic battle royale between Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Vegeta, and Broly.
=== In other media ===
In the anime-only sequel series Dragon Ball GT, Goku is transformed back into a child by an accidental wish made by his old enemy Pilaf using the Black Star Dragon Balls while Pilaf was about to wish to take over the world. Goku, Trunks and his own granddaughter Pan travel the universe to search for the Black Star Dragon Balls and return them to Earth to prevent its destruction. After acquiring the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, Goku battles the evil Tuffle Baby, Super Android 17, and the evil Shadow Dragons. His final challenge is against Omega Shenron, whom he destroys using the Spirit Bomb. Goku leaves with the original form of Shenron, but not before saying his goodbyes to his friends on Earth. He appears 100 years later at the next World Martial Arts Tournament as an adult, where he watches a battle between Goku Jr., his descendant, and Vegeta Jr., Vegeta's descendant. An elderly Pan sees him, but he quickly departs.
In the latest anime-only sequel series Dragon Ball Daima, Goku is again transformed back into a child, along with the rest of his friends and family, by a wish to the Earth's Dragon Balls made by King Gomah of the Demon Realm. Goku later travels to the Demon Realm with the Supreme Kai and the Majin known as Glorio, later joined by Princess Panzy of the Third Demon World as well as Piccolo, Vegeta, and Bulma. During the final battle against Gomah, Goku unlocks an alternate version of the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, while Glorio uses the Demon Realm Dragon Balls to restore Goku and his allies back to their normal sizes.
Goku has appeared in various other media including an unofficial Taiwanese live-action film and an unofficial Korean live-action film. He was portrayed by Justin Chatwin in the 2009 20th Century Fox feature Dragonball Evolution. Goku has appeared in almost every Dragon Ball licensed video game, including crossover games such as Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars and Battle Stadium D.O.N. In 1992, Goku was featured in the interactive game Dragon Ball Z: Get Together! Goku World, in which Goku and his gang travel back in time to review events in the Dragon Ball timeline and interacts with his younger self. In December 2007, Goku made a guest appearance in avatar form in the MMORPG Second Life for a Jump Festa promotion titled Jumpland@Second Life. Goku appears in the Dr. Slump and Arale-chan video game for the Nintendo DS.
Goku has been the subject of, and is mentioned in, various songs. "Son Goku Song" and "Gokū no Gokigen Jānī" feature Goku as a child singing about himself. During his adult years, the song "Aitsu wa Son Gokū" by Hironobu Kageyama, where Kageyama praises everything about Goku, and the duet "Ore-tachi no Energy" feature words spoken by the character. For the release of the single of the Dragonball Evolution international theme song "Rule", Toriyama supplied CD artwork of singer Ayumi Hamasaki dressed as Goku.
Goku has been used in Japanese public service announcements aimed at children. In June 1988, Goku and other Dragon Ball characters were featured in two PSA short films. The first, in which Goku is taught the importance of obeying traffic safety by others, is entitled Goku's Traffic Safety. The second is called Goku's Fire Fighting Regiment, in which he teaches two children the importance of fire safety.
Goku has made guest appearances in various Japanese television shows and manga. In 2005, Goku appeared in the Toriyama parody manga Neko Majin Z where he is the sensei of the main character Z. On September 15, 2006, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, the special manga Super Kochikame was released. The chapter entitled This is the Police Station in front of Dragon Park on Planet Namek has Ryotsu Kankichi travel to planet Namek and try to issue Freeza a citation and scold both he and Goku for parking their ships illegally.
Goku and other Dragon Ball characters joined the cast of One Piece in the 2006 crossover manga Cross Epoch. He appears in a single panel of Toriyama's 2013 manga Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, which is set before the events of Dragon Ball. The collected tankōbon volume of Jaco features the bonus story Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child, depicting how and why Goku's parents sent him to Earth.
Goku has been the subject of various parodies. In the episode "Career Day" of Takeshi's Castle, known in the United States as MXC, the hosts Beat Takeshi and Sonomanma Higashi dressed as popular anime characters, one as Goku as a child, the other as Doraemon. Weekly Shōnen Jump's Gag Special 2005 issue, released on November 12, 2004, featured a Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo one-shot Dragon Ball parody manga, a retelling of the first fight between Goku and Vegeta. In chapter #179 of the Yakitate!! Japan manga, Kawachi executes a Genki-Dama parody called a Shinrai-Dama on the character Katsuo. In the manga and anime series Blood Lad, the character Staz performs the gestures for Goku's Kamehameha, having learned it from his favorite manga superhero, but it has no actual effect.
Goku regularly appears on Fuji TV. In 2003, Goku appeared in the interactive feature Orb's Panic Adventure!, which was featured at the Fuji TV headquarters in the orb section. In this, Freeza attacks a visiting tourist, blasting the orb section free from the rest of the Fuji TV building. Goku fights Freeza over the real life aqua city of Odaiba. In 2004, a sequel called Orb's Panic Adventure Returns! was produced. On March 25, 2006, Goku and Freeza appeared in an original animated short film in the IQ Mirror Mistake 7 segment of the Japanese game show IQ Supplement.
On April 7, 2007, Goku and Fuji TV announcer Masaharu Miyake were commentators on the anime segment in the Japan Great Man Awards titled Who is the Strongest Hero?. The segment featured a special tournament to decide who was the greatest person in Japanese history. During the intermission, Goku promoted the coming release of R2 Dragon Ball DVDs.
Since the U.S. debut of Dragon Ball Z in 1996, Goku has appeared in American pop culture. He was featured in an issue of Wizard magazine in which he and Superman fought a hypothetical battle and won. In the Codename: Kids Next Door episode "Operation: R.E.P.O.R.T", Numbuh Four's version of the story is a parody of the Goku and Freeza's battle in Dragon Ball Z. Goku appears in Robot Chicken in a sketch entitled A Very Dragon Ball Z Christmas, where Goku and Gohan fight an evil Mrs. Claus with Santa's reindeer, in an attempt to save Christmas.
The Saturday Night Live sketch TV Funhouse titled Kobayashi depicts real-life hot-dog-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi as able to transform into a Super Saiyan as he prepares to eat hot dogs; Goku appears briefly near the end. Goku is referenced in the songs "Goku" and "Anime" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, where he brags that he looks and feels like Goku.
Goku appears in a parody of the film Moneyball on an episode of Mad entitled Money Ball Z, in which Billy Beane drafts Goku and a couple of other Dragon Ball characters into the Oakland A's. In 2013, he and Superman fought in a "Death Battle" episode of the Rooster Teeth web series ScrewAttack and lost. The episode "Goku vs. Superman" in the web series Epic Rap Battles of History won a Streamy Award for Best Music Video.
The use of the Kamehameha attack became an Internet meme which started with Japanese schoolgirls photographing themselves apparently using, and being affected by, this attack. It has attracted considerable media attention in France, Germany, as well as in many Spanish-speaking countries in South America.
== Cultural impact ==
A number of notable public figures have commented on their feelings towards Goku or his status in popular culture. For example, Jackie Chan has gone on record stating that Goku is his favorite Dragon Ball character. The German rock band Son Goku takes their name from the Dragon Ball protagonist. The band's lead singer Thomas D chose the name because Goku embodies the band's philosophy, saying he was "fascinated by Goku's naïveté and cheerfulness, yet, at the same time, a great warrior saving the world."
In 2010, a fiberglass statue of Goku was created by Canadian-born Hong Kong artist Edison Chen, with Chen's facial features instead of Goku's, as part of Chen's collection that was displayed at the "Treacherous Treis" exhibition in Singapore's Museum of Art and Design. CNN released an article explaining how Goku was Spanish professional tennis player Rafael Nadal's childhood inspiration, and called Nadal "the Dragon Ball of tennis" due to his unorthodox style "from another planet."
One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda and Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto said that Goku inspired their protagonists as well as series structure, with Tekken's Lars Alexandersson showing traits of a hero through his design inspired by Goku alongside Marvel Comic's Thor. Commenting on Goku's popularity, Kishimoto stated that when people hear the name "Son Goku", no longer do they think of the Journey to the West character, but instead Dragon Ball's protagonist comes to mind. Additionally, for the second half of the series, Kishimoto created an ape named Son Goku in reference to Toriyama's character to the point the ape has four tails just like the four-star Dragon Ball Goku earned from his grandfather.
In his book about Akira Toriyama published in 2004, Julius Weideman said Goku's journey and ever-growing strength resulted in the character winning "the admiration of young boys everywhere." Jason Thompson stated that unlike the "manly" heroes of other popular shōnen manga of the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as City Hunter and Fist of the North Star, Toriyama made his protagonist (Goku) cartoonish and small, thus starting a trend that Thompson says continues to this day. In 2015, the Japan Anniversary Association officially declared May 9 as "Goku Day". Goku is the first manga character to have a balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with his first appearance at the 2018 parade.
=== Merchandise ===
Several pieces of merchandising based on Goku have been released, including action figures, plushes, and keychains.
=== Reception ===
Goku has appeared in several "top" character lists. He was ranked number one in IGN's 2009 list of Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time and reappeared on the same list in 2014, however, on this occasion they ranked him third, with Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel and Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji Ikari placed above him, saying that "He was, in many ways, a character that bucked the trends of his time and defined the direction of shonen manga/anime for decades." In Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes, Thomas Zoth commented that "Goku and Dragon Ball completely revolutionized shōnen manga."
In a Newtype poll from March 2010, Goku was voted the fifth most popular male character from the 1980s. Goku ranked consistently high in the Anime Grand Prix poll in the category of "best male character" in the late 1980s and early 1990s, appearing seventeenth in the 1987 poll, fifteenth in the 1988 poll, second in the 1989 poll, fourth in the 1990 poll, third in the 1991 poll, fourth in the 1992 poll, thirteenth in 1993 poll, and twelfth in 1994 poll.
In a 1993 character popularity poll for the series, Weekly Shōnen Jump readers voted Goku second, after his son Gohan. He came in first in the magazine's 1995 poll, as well as in a 2004 poll amongst fans of the series for the book Dragon Ball Forever. In a 2005 The Daily Reader article entitled "The Greatest Geek Movie Heroes of All Time", Goku is the only animated character listed, and is ranked tenth. In a survey of 1,000 people, conducted by Oricon in 2007, Goku ranked first place as the "Strongest Manga character of all time."
In the survey "Friendship" developed by rankingjapan.com, in which people chose which anime character they would like as a friend, Goku ranked fifth. In 2000, Goku placed third in an Animax poll of favorite anime characters. In 2011, readers of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition voted Goku as the 41st-top video game character of all time. NTT customers voted him as their third favorite black haired male anime character in a 2014 poll.
Game designer Hiroshi Matsuyama from CyberConnect2 said that while Goku is an appealing character readers could root for during the manga, he was hard to relate and, thus, instead preferred other characters like Krillin or Bulma. However, during the manga's final story arc, Matsuyama recalls being overjoyed when Goku says that Mr. Satan, a comic relief character with no superextraordinary skills, was the real hero of mankind as the Earthlings found him as the saviour of mankind when Buu was about win the final fight.
Goku's characterization has been well received by publications for manga, anime and other media. Anime News Network noted Goku as a good source of comedy and remarked that after everything he experiences, he still remains a naïve character. Tim Jones from THEM Anime Reviews noted that Goku is not an omnipotent character in the first anime series, unlike Dragon Ball Z, and does not disappear for long periods of time between sagas. Jones also liked the way the series' depict his entire adventures, making him a good main character. Voice actor Mamoru Miyano said that Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation in the manga was his favorite part from the series as Goku not only changed visually but his personality changes into a "classic, prototypical hero".
Rationalmagic.com praised Goku's innocence as one of the funniest parts of the series. In January 2017, Nozawa won two Guinness World Records for her longevity as Goku; she has been the sole voice actor for the role for over 23 years. According to Screen Rant, Goku's origin story has some similarities to that of Superman. On the other hand, Collider was more critical to Goku's actions in the series most notably when Gohan becomes an active character who goes through several character's arcs yet he is constantly overshadowed by his father to the point Akira Toriyama refrained from turning Gohan into his successor following the Cell Games and Goku once again took over Gohan's role in the final arc of Dragon Ball Z.
Despite his predominantly positive reception, Goku has received some negative feedback, in particular for his characterization in Dragon Ball Super due to how his constant desires for fighting stronger enemies resulted in setting up a story where all universes could be destroyed. While Anime Now's Richard Eisenbeis believes Goku is determined to protect his universe, the fact that he does not seemingly care about other loser universes being destroyed has been criticized.
Monique Jones from Syfy panned the character's relationship dynamic with his wife, as well as his perceived incompetency and irresponsibility as a father, drawing attention to the "tons of memes and fan chatter about Piccolo actually being the best dad Gohan's ever had". Sam Leach from Anime News Network agreed that fans of the series tend to joke about Piccolo being a better paternal figure to Gohan than his actual father, Goku, and felt that Dragon Ball Super emphasized this more when Piccolo started training him again.
The same site also criticized Goku often being busy in the narrative, most notably in Frieza's resurrection, as the supporting characters have some extra scenes only to have their spotlight stolen by Goku and Vegeta. His rematch with Frieza was criticized for how overpowered the character has become and how much back up his allies can provide in the battle, ruining the tension the film was supposed to generate. Despite enjoying his rematch with Frieza, DVD Talk expressed similar responses in the handling of these characters.
IGN noted that Goku has a tendency to show enemies mercy, including Vegeta, Piccolo, Cell and Moro. His decision to let Cell have a senzu bean without informing his allies in particular was considered to be infamous, which affected Gohan's confidence and led to his defeat. La Tercera went to call Goku irresponsible and immature to the character for helping Moro as a result of this show of mercy and the consequences. Both Goku and Vegeta were criticized for being too overpowered in Super to the point they steal the series' spotlight to the supporting cast while their strategies either lack complexity or create a plothole such as the time limit to the fusion Vegito. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States | List of presidents of the United States | The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
The first president, George Washington, won a unanimous vote of the Electoral College. The incumbent president is Donald Trump, who assumed office on January 20, 2025. Since the office was established in 1789, 45 men have served in 47 presidencies. The discrepancy is due to the nonconsecutive terms of Grover Cleveland (counted as the 22nd and 24th president) and Trump (counted as the 45th and 47th president).
The presidency of William Henry Harrison, who died 31 days after taking office in 1841, was the shortest in American history. Franklin D. Roosevelt served the longest, over twelve years, before dying early in his fourth term in 1945. He is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected president more than twice, and no one who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected more than once.
Four presidents died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy), and one resigned (Richard Nixon, facing impeachment and removal from office). John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency during a presidential term, setting the precedent that a vice president who does so becomes the fully functioning president with a new, distinct administration.
Throughout most of its history, American politics has been dominated by political parties. The Constitution is silent on the issue of political parties, and at the time it came into force in 1789, no organized parties existed. Soon after the 1st Congress convened, political factions began rallying around dominant Washington administration officials, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Concerned about the capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together, Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his eight-year presidency. He remains the only U.S. president who never affiliated with a political party.
== Presidents == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Venezuela_1970 | Miss Venezuela 1970 | Miss Venezuela 1970 was the 17th edition of Miss Venezuela pageant held at Teatro Nacional in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 1, 1970. The winner of the pageant was Bella La Rosa, Miss Carabobo, who entered the contest by chance because her twin sister Linda La Rosa, who was originally competing, had to quit after having a horse fall.
The pageant was broadcast live by RCTV.
== Results ==
=== Placements ===
Miss Venezuela 1970 - Bella La Rosa (Miss Carabobo)
1st runner-up - Tomasita de las Casas (Miss Miranda)
2nd runner-up - Sonia Ledezma (Miss Monagas)
3rd runner-up - Peggy Romero (Miss Departamento Vargas): first Afro-descendant in the history of the competition
4th runner-up - Marisela Berti (Miss Nueva Esparta)
=== Special awards ===
Miss Fotogénica (Miss Photogenic) - Marlene Agreda (Miss Aragua)
Miss Amistad (Miss Friendship) - Reyna Noguera (Miss Guárico)
Miss Cortesía (Miss Courtesy) - Peggy Romero (Miss Departamento Vargas)
Miss Sonrisa (Best Smile) - Maigualida Leandro (Miss Bolívar)
== Contestants == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_teething | Puppy teething | Puppies first start with sucking from the time of being a newborn up to the time they start teething. Puppies around the age of two weeks old start to experience teething. Teething is the process by which a puppy's deciduous teeth come in and then fall out to make way for their permanent teeth. By 5–6 weeks of life, all of the deciduous teeth have come in, puppies will grow in a set of 28 deciduous teeth or needle teeth. Permanent teeth will start coming in around 12–16 weeks, and puppies will eventually end up with 42 permanent teeth. The process of teething is painful to puppies much like babies. During this process puppies will experience increased salivation, loss of appetite, and extreme irritability when the teeth do erupt from the gums. The gums will swell and become tender to palpation just prior to the tooth coming in. Puppies may exhibit excessive chewing, nipping, and drooling. If there is an extreme change in behavior, it is recommended to visit the veterinarian as soon as possible for an exam. Owners that would like to do an oral exam on their own must be prepared for potential aggressive behavior.
Some ways that dog owners can help their puppies during this painful teething stage is to ensure that your puppy has something to chew on that is soothing for them. Large carrots are recommended for puppies to teethe on and also are nutritious. Oftentimes pet owners will freeze teething toys to soothe their dogs irritated gums. Veterinarians do recommend chew toys help relieve teething pain. It is important that puppies get durable toys so that they can not accidentally swallow plastic or large pieces of fabric since puppy teeth are very sharp and durable. As your puppy's adult teeth start to grow in it is important to start maintaining the dog's dental health. It is recommended to brush your puppy's teeth every day and work with a veterinarian to schedule yearly dental exams and cleanings. If teething turns into aggressive biting, it is not advised to remove healthy canine teeth due to the fact that this does not address the actual problem at hand. Additionally, this could cause oral pathologic conditions that can be expensive to treat and require anesthesia. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Observatory | Lowell Observatory | Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. In 2011, the Observatory was named one of "The World's 100 Most Important Places" by Time magazine. It was at the Lowell Observatory that the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
The observatory was founded by astronomer Percival Lowell of Boston's Lowell family and is overseen by a sole trustee, a position historically handed down through the family. The first trustee was Lowell's third cousin Guy Lowell (1916–1927). Percival's nephew Roger Putnam served from 1927 to 1967, followed by Roger's son Michael (1967–1987), Michael's brother William Lowell Putnam III (1987–2013), and current trustee W. Lowell Putnam.
Multiple astronauts attended the Lowell Observatory in 1963 while the Moon was being mapped for the Apollo Program.
== History ==
In 1877 the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli purported to have discovered a series of Martian canals. Percival Lowell had seen these drawings and was fascinated by the idea of artificial canals in Mars. In the winter of 1893, he devoted to use his wealth and connections to establish an observatory in the US. His wealth stemmed from his connection to the influential Boston Lowell family and his successful career as an investment banker. Lowell hired American astronomer Andrew E. Douglas to find a suitable location for the observatory and in 1894 they agreed to build it in Flagstaff, Arizona due to its elevation, dark night skies, and proximity to the railroad. The materials for the construction of the observatory were all sourced locally, but the Clark Refracting Telescope was assembled in Boston.
The observatory has carried out a wide array of research. One of its programs was the measurement of the variability of solar irradiance. When Harold L. Johnson took over as the director in 1952, the stated objective became to focus on light from the Sun reflecting from Uranus and Neptune. In 1953, the current 53 cm (21-inch) telescope was erected. Beginning in 1954, this telescope began monitoring the brightness of these two planets, and comparing these measurements with a reference set of Sun-like stars.
Self-taught astronomer Robert Burnham Jr. was an employee at Lowell observatory from 1958 to 1979, being known for his Celestial Handbook.
Beginning in 2012, Lowell Observatory began offering camps for children known as LOCKs (Lowell Observatory Camps for Kids). The first camp was established for elementary students. Later on, in 2013, they added an additional camp program for preschool children. The following year they added another program for middle school students. ("Kelly", Manager at Lowell Observatory). Kids have the opportunity to learn hands-on about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through a variety of activities that include games, experiments, story time, art, music, and more.
In 2016, Kevin Schindler published Lowell Observatory, a 128-page book containing over 200 captions and pictures. Arcadia Publishing's Images of America included it in their series, which increased the enthusiasm of space in the public. The book itself features the popular reputation of Lowell Observatory, encompassing the revolutionary research of scientists and how they contributed to the field of astronomy.
== Exhibits ==
The Rotunda Museum: Built in 1916, it is used by the observatory as a library and collection area for artifacts. It features displays that discuss the Lowell family history and the discoveries made at the observatory. It also houses many different measuring tools including Thatcher's Calculating Instrument.
Putnam Collection Center/ Lowell's Lunar Legacy: When the Rotunda Museum is closed, the Putnam Collection Center and Lowell's Lunar Legacy, are open to the public. The Center highlights the Observatories history and features artifacts from Lowell's past and other scientific discoveries.
The Giovale Open Deck Observatory: It is the newest addition to the Lowell observatory that allows guests to learn astronomy during the day and night. It features six telescopes, six plinths on the deck's circumference, and an APS spectrum display. The six telescopes on the deck are a 5.5-inch TEC wide-field refractor, an 8-inch Moonraker Victorian refractor, a 32-inch Starstructure Dobsonian reflector, a 16-inch Meade ACF catadioptric reflector, a 17-inch PlaneWave CDK catadioptric reflector, and a 14-inch PlaneWave CDK catadioptric reflector.
== Telescopes and interior ==
=== Lowell Discovery Telescope ===
Lowell Observatory owns and operates the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT, formerly the Discovery Channel Telescope) located near Happy Jack, Arizona. This 4.3-meter reflecting telescope is the fifth-largest telescope in the contiguous United States and one of the most powerful in the world, thanks to a unique instrument cube that can accommodate up to five instruments at the Ritchey-Chrétien focus, four via fold mirrors and another at the bore sight. The LDT can switch between any of these instruments in about a minute by placing or removing these fold mirrors in the optical path of the instrument cube, making it uniquely suited for time-domain programs as well as opportunity targets such as gamma ray bursts and supernovae.
The 6700-pound primary mirror measures 4.3 m (170 in) in diameter yet only about 10 cm (3.9 in) in thickness. This finely figured, thin meniscus mirror, held in shape by a 156-element active optics system, 120 lateral pistons and 36 lateral supports, regularly delivering sub-arcsecond seeing. The mirror was ground and polished into its hyperbolic shape at the Optical Fabrication and Engineering Facility of the College of Optical Sciences of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
The LDT is housed in a 73-foot-tall, 62-foot-diameter metal dome located at an elevation of 7,800 feet (2,400 m) and about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Flagstaff. Groundbreaking for the facility occurred on July 11, 2005. A little over six years later, the first image from just the primary mirror was recorded, using a small test camera mounted where the secondary mirror would eventually go. The secondary mirror was installed in January 2012. To celebrate first light, Lowell hosted a gala celebration on July 21, 2012, featuring a keynote address by Neil Armstrong. This was his final public appearance before his death several weeks later.
The telescope is named for the Discovery Channel television network. Discovery founder and CEO John Hendricks has long been a member of Lowell Observatory's Advisory Board, and Discovery and John and his wife Maureen made gifts of $16 million toward the $53 million cost of the project. These were gifts, not purchases: Discovery has no ownership in the telescope, nor any direction of the research conducted with it. In return for their contributions, they received naming rights and first right of refusal for use of images in educational broadcasts. Research use proceeds as it would at any other professional telescope.
Boston University, the University of Maryland, the University of Toledo, Northern Arizona University, and Yale University have joined Lowell as partners with access to DCT.
=== Other ===
The observatory operates several telescopes at three locations in the Flagstaff area. The main facility, located on Mars Hill just west of downtown Flagstaff, houses the original 61-centimeter (24-inch) Clark Refracting Telescope, which is now used for public education, with 85,000 annual visitors. The telescope, built in 1896 for $20,000, was assembled in Boston by Alvan Clark & Sons and then shipped by train to Flagstaff. Also located on the Mars Hill campus is the 33-centimeter (13-inch) Pluto Discovery Telescope, used by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 to discover the dwarf planet Pluto.
In 2014, the 8,000 square feet (740 m2) Putnam Center was opened. This observatory included many rooms with tools that were useful to observers including a library for research, a room for processing photographic glass plates, multiple antique instruments used by previous astronomers, and many artifacts. The observatory does contain areas that are closed to the public view, although there are multiple places that tourists are welcome to visit.
Lowell Observatory currently operates four research telescopes at its Anderson Mesa dark-sky site, located 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Flagstaff, including the 180-centimeter (72-inch) Perkins Telescope (in partnership with Boston University) and the 110-centimeter (42-inch) John S. Hall Telescope. Lowell is a partner with the United States Naval Observatory and Naval Research Laboratory in the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer (NPOI) also located at that site. The Observatory also operates smaller research telescopes at its historic site on Mars Hill and in Australia and Chile.
Past Anderson Mesa, on the peak of Happy Jack, Lowell Observatory built the 4.28-meter (169-inch) Lowell Discovery Telescope in partnership with Discovery Communications, Inc.
== Current research ==
Lowell Observatory's astronomers conduct research on a wide range of solar system and astrophysical topics using ground-based, airborne, and space-based telescopes. Among the many current programs are a search for near-Earth asteroids, a survey of the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, a search for extrasolar planets, a decades-long study of the brightness stability of the Sun, and a variety of investigations of star formation and other processes in distant galaxies. In addition, the Observatory staff designs and builds custom instrumentation for use on Lowell's telescopes and elsewhere. For example, Lowell staff built a sophisticated high-speed camera for use on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and DLR, the German space agency, and consists of a 2.5-meter (8.2-foot) telescope on board a Boeing 747 SP.
Lowell astronomers, Nick Moskovitz, Brian Skiff, and Tom Polakis also contributed observations in NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) using both the 1.1-meter John Hall Telescope and 4.3-meter Lowell Discovery Telescope. This experiment is the world's first full-scale planetary defense test.
=== Notable discoveries ===
The dwarf planet Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930
Large recessional velocities of galaxies by Vesto Melvin Slipher between 1912 and 1914 (that led ultimately to the realization our universe is expanding)
Co-discovery of the rings of Uranus in 1977
The periodic variation in the activity of Comet Halley during the 1985/1986 apparition
The three largest known stars
The atmosphere of Pluto
Accurate orbits for two of Pluto's moons: Nix and Hydra
Oxygen on Jupiter's satellite Ganymede
Carbon dioxide ice on three Uranian satellites
The first Trojan of Neptune
Evidence that the atmosphere of HD 209458 b contains water vapor |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Fryman | Pamela Fryman | Pamela Gail Fryman (born August 19, 1959) is an American sitcom director and producer. She was the principal director of the television series How I Met Your Mother, directing 196 of the show's 208 episodes.
== Biography ==
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fryman got her first job on The John Davidson Show as an assistant to the talent coordinator, and went on to be a booth production assistant and secretary on Santa Barbara, eventually moving up to assistant director (AD), and director. In 1993, producer Peter Noah, with whom she had worked on the game show Dream House, gave Fryman a chance to direct an episode of the short-lived sitcom Café Americain. These would be the first stepping stones toward a long and successful career.
Before her directing career blossomed, Fryman pursued stage directing. On the set of Frasier, rehearsal resembled a play staging, which is exactly what creator and executive producer David Lee had in mind when he hired her. Fryman directed 34 episodes of the show from seasons four through eight.
She also became main director on Just Shoot Me!, directing 94 out of the 148 episodes the show aired.
Fryman directed the majority of the episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Show creator Craig Thomas praised her communication skills, saying, "She makes everyone feel they've been heard and respected and she can connect with anyone."
Though Fryman's original career plan did not include directing (she figured she would "follow in her father's footsteps in merchandising"), she has grown to realize that directing is her forte and passion. In Variety magazine, Fryman said that continuing to direct How I Met Your Mother is her fantasy realized. In 2014, she officiated the wedding of How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, who played a side role in the show.
She also directed 19 out of the 30 episodes of How I Met Your Father.
She achieved the milestone of directing her 500th episode of television in 2016 with the third episode of the third season of The Odd Couple.
== Awards ==
Fryman has received recognition from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences also known as the (ATAS), the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Directors Guild of America, Goldderby.com, the Online Film & Television Association also known as the (OFTA), and the Women in Film organization.
1990 Won - Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team (Santa Barbara)
1991 Won - Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team (Santa Barbara)
1998 Nominated - Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series ("Halloween (Part 1)") (Frasier)
1999 Nominated - Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series ("Two Girls for Every Boy") (Just Shoot Me!)
2000 Nominated - Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series ("The Flight Before Christmas") (Frasier)
2001 Nominated - Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series ("And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon (Part 1 & 2)") (Frasier)
2009 Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (How I Met Your Mother)
2011 Nominated - Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Direction in a Comedy Series (How I Met Your Mother)
2011 Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series ("Subway Wars") (How I Met Your Mother)
2011 Won - Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Award, Dorothy Arzner Directors Award
2020 Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special (Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times") (shared with Andy Fisher)
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshin_Racecourse | Hanshin Racecourse | Hanshin Racecourse (阪神競馬場, Hanshin-keibajō) is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and is used for horse racing.
The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After World War II, GHQ ordered the company to stop manufacturing combat planes, which led to the closure of the factory. In 1949, Keihanshin Keiba K.K. built the Hanshin Racecourse. The racecourse was transferred to Japan Racing Association in 1955.
A major reconstruction was completed in 1991, and another in 2006. Beginning May 2024, the racecourse was closed for a year due to a grandstand renovation. The track's biggest events, the Takarazuka Kinen in June and the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December were both relocated to Kyoto Racecourse during the construction.
== Physical attributes ==
Hanshin Racecourse has two turf courses, a dirt course, and a jump course.
The turf's outer oval (外回り, sotomawari) measures 2089m (11⁄4 miles + 254 feet), and the inner oval (内回り, uchimawari) measures 1689m (1 mile + 261 feet). Two chutes allow races to be run at 1800m/1400m and 2600m/2200m, respectively. Races can be run on the "A Course" rail setting (on the hedge), or the "B Course" setting (rail out 4 meters).
The dirt course measures 1518 meters (7/8 mile + 360 feet), with a 1400m chute.
The 2089m-long outer oval turf course was part of a major construction in 2006, and was a 400m-long extension. This would eventually remove two old chutes previously used, including a 1600m chute used for the currently-used 1689m-long inner oval course. The reconstruction (until the course was completely reconstructed) forced stakes races held in Hanshin during the second reconstruction period to be held in other racecourses, including Chukyo Racecourse and Kyoto Racecourse.
Hanshin Racecourse hosted the Japan Cup Dirt from 2008; races prior to that were held in Tokyo Racecourse. It has since been moved to Chukyo since 2015 and is now known as the Champions Cup.
== Notable races ==
== Track records ==
Source：レコードタイム表 (Record time table) -> 阪神競馬場 (Hanshin Racecourse)
† Reference Time.
Last updated on September 24, 2023.
=== Turf course (2yo) ===
=== Turf course (3yo+) ===
=== Dirt course (2yo) ===
=== Dirt course (3yo+) === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serene_(yacht) | Serene (yacht) | Serene is one of the world's largest private superyachts.
Built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri with interior design by Reymond Langton Design, Serene was delivered to her owner in August 2011. At delivery, she was one of the 10 largest yachts in the world with an overall length of 133.9 m (439 ft 4 in) and a beam of 18.5 m (60 ft 8 in).
== Ownership ==
The ship was built for Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler for $330m. In the summer of 2014, Bill Gates leased the yacht for US$5 million per week.
In 2014, while vacationing in the south of France, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia bought the vessel from Yuri Shefler for approximately €500 million.
== Incident at sea ==
In August 2017, Serene ran aground on a shallow rock reef in the Red Sea, 37 km (20 nautical miles) off the coast of Sharm El Sheikh. She sustained significant damage to her hull at the bow. The cause was reported to be a combination of navigational error and propulsion failure.
== Trivia ==
The Leonardo da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi was reported to be on board the yacht from some time in 2019 to late 2020. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet | Halley's Comet | Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after 75–77 years. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061. Officially designated 1P/Halley, it is also commonly called Comet Halley, or sometimes simply Halley.
Halley's periodic returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers around the world since at least 240 BC, but it was not until 1705 that the English astronomer Edmond Halley understood that these appearances were re-appearances of the same comet. As a result of this discovery, the comet is named after Halley.
In March 1986, during its latest visit to the inner Solar System, Halley's Comet became the first comet to be observed in detail by a spacecraft, ESA's Giotto mission, providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation. These observations supported several longstanding hypotheses about comet construction, particularly Fred Whipple's "dirty snowball" model, which correctly predicted that Halley would be composed of a mixture of volatile ices—such as water, carbon dioxide, ammonia—and dust.
The missions also provided data that substantially reformed and reconfigured these ideas; for instance, it is now understood that the surface of Halley is largely composed of dusty, non-volatile materials, and that only a small portion of it is icy. It was also visited by the two spacecrafts of the Vega program, Vega 1 & 2, on 6 and 9 March, respectively. They went as close as 8,890 km (5,520 mi), and 8,030 km (4,990 mi), providing data on Halley's dimensions, shape, temperature, and surface properties.
== Pronunciation ==
Comet Halley is usually pronounced , rhyming with valley, or sometimes , rhyming with daily. As to the surname Halley, Colin Ronan, one of Edmond Halley's biographers, preferred , rhyming with crawly.
Spellings of Halley's name during his lifetime included Hailey, Haley, Hayley, Halley, Haly, Hawley, and Hawly, so its contemporary pronunciation is uncertain, but the version rhyming with valley seems to be preferred by modern bearers of the surname.
== Computation of orbit ==
Halley was the first comet to be recognised as periodic. Until the Renaissance, the philosophical consensus on the nature of comets, promoted by Aristotle, was that they were disturbances in Earth's atmosphere. This idea was disproven in 1577 by Tycho Brahe, who used parallax measurements to show that comets must lie beyond the Moon. Many were still unconvinced that comets orbited the Sun, and assumed instead that they must follow straight paths through the Solar System. In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in which he outlined his laws of gravity and motion. His work on comets was decidedly incomplete. Although he had suspected that two comets that had appeared in succession in 1680 and 1681 were the same comet before and after passing behind the Sun (he was later found to be correct; see Newton's Comet), he was initially unable to completely reconcile comets into his model.
Ultimately it was Newton's friend, editor and publisher, Edmond Halley, who, in his 1705 Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets, used Newton's new laws to calculate the gravitational effects of Jupiter and Saturn on cometary orbits. Having compiled a list of 24 comet observations, he calculated that the orbital elements of a second comet that had appeared in 1682 were nearly the same as those of two comets that had appeared in 1531 (observed by Petrus Apianus) and 1607 (observed by Johannes Kepler). Halley thus concluded that all three comets were the same object returning about every 76 years, a period that has since been found to vary between 72 and 80 years. After a rough estimate of the perturbations the comet would sustain from the gravitational attraction of the planets, he predicted its return for 1758. He personally observed the comet around perihelion in September 1682, but died in 1742 before he could observe its predicted return.
Halley's prediction of the comet's return proved to be correct, although it was not seen until 25 December 1758, by Johann Georg Palitzsch, a German farmer and amateur astronomer. Other observers from throughout Europe and its colonies sent confirmations to Paris after the comet brightened early the following year. In the Americas, John Winthrop lectured at Harvard University to explain the implications of the comet's reappearance for Newtonian mechanics and natural theology.
Another independent recognition that the comet had returned was made by the Jamaican astronomer Francis Williams, but his observations did not reach Europe. A unique portrait commissioned by Williams demonstrates the impact of the comet's return on period astronomers. Williams' hand rests on page 521 of the third edition of Newton's Principia with procedures to predict comet sightings. The white smudge in the sky is probably a depiction of Halley's comet relative to the constellations in March 1759, and the chord hanging above the book likely represents the comet's orbit. In 2024, using X-ray imaging, the painting was shown to depict the field of stars in which the comet would have been visible in 1759. Williams likely commissioned the portrait to commemorate his observations.
The comet did not pass through its perihelion until 13 March 1759, the attraction of Jupiter and Saturn having caused a delay of 618 days. This effect was computed before its return (with a one-month error to 13 April) by a team of three French mathematicians, Alexis Clairaut, Joseph Lalande, and Nicole-Reine Lepaute. The confirmation of the comet's return was the first time anything other than planets had been shown to orbit the Sun. It was also one of the earliest successful tests of Newtonian physics, and a clear demonstration of its explanatory power. The comet was first named in Halley's honour by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1759.
Some scholars have proposed that first-century Mesopotamian astronomers already had recognised Halley's Comet as periodic. This theory notes a passage in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Horayot that refers to "a star which appears once in seventy years that makes the captains of the ships err". It has also been suggested that the passage may have referred to the variable star Mira, whose brightness oscillates with a period of sixty years.
Researchers in 1981 attempting to calculate the past orbits of Halley by numerical integration starting from accurate observations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries could not produce accurate results further back than 837 owing to a close approach to Earth in that year. It was necessary to use ancient Chinese comet observations to constrain their calculations.
== Orbit and origin ==
Halley's orbital period has varied between 74 and 80 years since 240 BC. Its orbit around the Sun is highly elliptical, with an orbital eccentricity of 0.967 (with 0 being a circle and 1 being a parabolic trajectory). The perihelion, the point in the comet's orbit when it is nearest the Sun, is 0.59 au (88 million km). This is between the orbits of Mercury and Venus. Its aphelion, or farthest distance from the Sun, is 35 au (5.2 billion km), roughly the orbital distance of Pluto. Unlike the overwhelming majority of objects in the Solar System, Halley's orbit is retrograde; it orbits the Sun in the opposite direction to the planets, or, clockwise from above the Sun's north pole. The orbit is inclined by 18° to the ecliptic, with much of it lying south of the ecliptic. This is usually represented as 162°, to account for Halley's retrograde orbit. The 1910 passage was at a relative velocity of 70.56 km/s (157,800 mph). Because its orbit comes close to Earth's in two places, Halley is associated with two meteor showers: the Eta Aquariids in early May, and the Orionids in late October.
Halley is classified as a periodic or short-period comet: one with an orbit lasting 200 years or less. This contrasts it with long-period comets, whose orbits last for thousands of years. Periodic comets have an average inclination to the ecliptic of only ten degrees, and an orbital period of just 6.5 years, so Halley's orbit is atypical. Most short-period comets (those with orbital periods shorter than 20 years and inclinations of 30 degrees or less) are called Jupiter-family comets. Those resembling Halley, with orbital periods of between 20 and 200 years and inclinations extending from zero to more than 90 degrees, are called Halley-type comets. As of 2024, 105 Halley-type comets have been observed, compared with 816 identified Jupiter-family comets.
The orbits of the Halley-type comets suggest that they were originally long-period comets whose orbits were perturbed by the gravity of the giant planets and directed into the inner Solar System. If Halley was once a long-period comet, it is likely to have originated in the Oort cloud, a sphere of cometary bodies around 20,000–50,000 au from the Sun. Conversely the Jupiter-family comets are generally believed to originate in the Kuiper belt, a flat disc of icy debris between 30 au (Neptune's orbit) and 50 au from the Sun (in the scattered disc). Another point of origin for the Halley-type comets was proposed in 2008, when a trans-Neptunian object with a retrograde orbit similar to Halley's was discovered, 2008 KV42, whose orbit takes it from just outside that of Uranus to twice the distance of Pluto. It may be a member of a new population of small Solar System bodies that serves as the source of Halley-type comets.
Halley has probably been in its current orbit for 16,000–200,000 years, although it is not possible to numerically integrate its orbit for more than a few tens of apparitions, and close approaches before 837 AD can only be verified from recorded observations. The non-gravitational effects can be crucial; as Halley approaches the Sun, it expels jets of sublimating gas from its surface, which knock it very slightly off its orbital path. These orbital changes cause delays in its perihelion passage of four days on average.
In 1989 Boris Chirikov and Vitold Vecheslavov performed an analysis of 46 apparitions of Halley's Comet taken from historical records and computer simulations, which showed that its dynamics were chaotic and unpredictable on long timescales. Halley's projected dynamical lifetime is estimated to be about 10 million years. The dynamics of its orbit can be approximately described by a two-dimensional symplectic map, known as the Kepler map, a solution to the restricted three-body problem for highly eccentric orbits. Based on records from the 1910 apparition, David Hughes calculated in 1985 that Halley's nucleus has been reduced in mass by 80 to 90% over the last 2,000 to 3,000 revolutions, and that it will most likely disappear completely after another 2,300 perihelion passages. More recent work suggests that Halley will evaporate, or split in two, within the next few tens of thousands of years, or will be ejected from the Solar System within a few hundred thousand years.
== Structure and composition ==
The Giotto and Vega missions gave planetary scientists their first view of Halley's surface and structure. The nucleus is a conglomerate of ices and dust, often referred to as a "dirty snowball". Like all comets, as Halley nears the Sun, its volatile compounds (those with low boiling points, such as water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other ices) begin to sublimate from the surface. This causes the comet to develop a coma, or atmosphere, at distances up to 230,000 kilometres (140,000 mi) from the nucleus. Sublimation of this dirty ice releases dust particles, which travel with the gas away from the nucleus. Gas molecules in the coma absorb solar light and then re-radiate it at different wavelengths, while dust particles scatter the solar light, making the coma visible. As a fraction of the gas molecules in the coma are ionised by the solar ultraviolet radiation, pressure from the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, pulls the coma's ions out into a long tail, which may extend more than 100 million kilometres into space. Changes in the flow of the solar wind can cause disconnection events, in which the tail completely breaks off from the nucleus.
Despite the vast size of its coma, Halley's nucleus is relatively small: barely 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide and perhaps 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) thick. Based on a reanalysis of images taken by the Giotto and Vega spacecraft, Lamy et al. determined an effective diameter of 11 kilometres (6.8 mi). Its shape has been variously compared to that of a peanut, a potato, or an avocado. Its mass is roughly 2.2 × 1014 kg, with an average density of about 0.55 grams per cubic centimetre (0.32 oz/cu in). The low density indicates that it is made of a large number of small pieces, held together very loosely, forming a structure known as a rubble pile. Ground-based observations of coma brightness suggested that Halley's rotation period was about 7.4 days. Images taken by the various spacecraft, along with observations of the jets and shell, suggested a period of 52 hours. Given the irregular shape of the nucleus, Halley's rotation is likely to be complex. The flyby images revealed an extremely varied topography, with hills, mountains, ridges, depressions, and at least one crater.
Halley's day side (the side facing the Sun) is far more active than the night side. Spacecraft observations showed that the gases ejected from the nucleus were 80% water vapour, 17% carbon monoxide and 3–4% carbon dioxide, with traces of hydrocarbons although more recent sources give a value of 10% for carbon monoxide and also include traces of methane and ammonia. The dust particles were found to be primarily a mixture of carbon–hydrogen–oxygen–nitrogen (CHON) compounds common in the outer Solar System, and silicates, such as are found in terrestrial rocks. The dust particles ranged in size down to the limits of detection (≈0.001 μm). The ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in the water released by Halley was initially thought to be similar to that found in Earth's ocean water, suggesting that Halley-type comets may have delivered water to Earth in the distant past. Subsequent observations showed Halley's deuterium ratio to be far higher than that found in Earth's oceans, making such comets unlikely sources for Earth's water.
Giotto provided the first evidence in support of Fred Whipple's "dirty snowball" hypothesis for comet construction; Whipple postulated that comets are icy objects warmed by the Sun as they approach the inner Solar System, causing ices on their surfaces to sublime (change directly from a solid to a gas), and jets of volatile material to burst outward, creating the coma. Giotto showed that this model was broadly correct, though with modifications. Halley's albedo, for instance, is about 0.04, meaning that it reflects only 4% of the sunlight hitting it – about what one would expect for coal. Thus, despite astronomers predicting that Halley would have an albedo of about 0.17 (roughly equivalent to bare soil), Halley's Comet is in fact pitch black. The "dirty ices" on the surface sublime at temperatures between 170 K (−103 °C) in sections of higher albedo to 220 K (−53 °C) at low albedo; Vega 1 found Halley's surface temperature to be in the range 300–400 K (27–127 °C). This suggested that only 10% of Halley's surface was active, and that large portions of it were coated in a layer of dark dust that retained heat. Together, these observations suggested that Halley was in fact predominantly composed of non-volatile materials, and thus more closely resembled a "snowy dirtball" than a "dirty snowball".
== History ==
=== Before 1066 ===
Due to its intrinsic brightness, about one eighth of all comet sightings mentioned in historic records belong to Halley's Comet. The first certain appearance of Halley's Comet in the historical record is a description from 240 BC, in the Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji, which describes a comet that appeared in the east and moved north. The only surviving record of the 164 BC apparition is found on two fragmentary Babylonian tablets, which were rediscovered in August 1984 in the collection of the British Museum.
The apparition of 87 BC was recorded in Babylonian tablets which state that the comet was seen "day beyond day" for a month. This appearance may be recalled in the representation of Tigranes the Great, an Armenian king who is depicted on coins with a crown that features, according to Vahe Gurzadyan and R. Vardanyan, "a star with a curved tail [that] may represent the passage of Halley's Comet in 87 BC." Gurzadyan and Vardanyan argue that "Tigranes could have seen Halley's Comet when it passed closest to the Sun on August 6 in 87 BC" as the comet would have been a "most recordable event".
The apparition of 12 BC was recorded in the Book of Han by Chinese astronomers of the Han dynasty who tracked it from August through October. It passed within 0.16 au of Earth. According to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, a comet appeared suspended over Rome for several days portending the death of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in that year. Halley's appearance in 12 BC, only a few years distant from the conventionally assigned date of the birth of Jesus Christ, has led some theologians and astronomers to suggest that it might explain the biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem. There are other explanations for the phenomenon, such as planetary conjunctions, and there are also records of other comets that appeared closer to the date of Jesus's birth.
If Yehoshua ben Hananiah's reference in the Talmud to "a star which arises once in seventy years and misleads the sailors" refers to Halley's Comet, he can only have witnessed the 66 AD appearance. Another possible reference to the same apparition is also found in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, who described several portents visible over Jerusalem shortly before the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War. He reported that "there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year," events that were interpreted as omens of the city's destruction in 70 AD.
The 141 AD apparition was recorded in Chinese chronicles, with observations of a bluish white comet on 27 and 16 March, 22 April and 23. The early Tamil bards of southern India (c. 1st - 4th century CE) also describe a certain relatable event.
The 374 AD and 607 approaches each came within 0.09 au of Earth. The 451 AD apparition was said to herald the defeat of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons.
The 684 AD apparition was reported in Chinese records as the "broom star".
The 760 AD apparition was recorded in the Zuqnin Chronicle's entry for iyyōr 1071 SE (May 760 AD), calling it a "white sign":
The year [SE] one thousand seventy one (AD 759/760).
In the month of iyyōr (May) a white sign was seen in the sky,
before early twilight, in the north-east [quarter],
in the Zodiac [sign] which is called Aries, to the north from these three stars in it, which are very shining.
And it resembled in its shape a broom [...]
And the sign itself remained for fifteen nights, until dawn of the feast of Pentecost.
In 837 AD, Halley's Comet may have passed as close as 0.03 astronomical units (2.8 million miles; 4.5 million kilometres) from Earth, by far its closest approach. Its tail may have stretched 60 degrees across the sky. It was recorded by astronomers in China, Japan, Germany, the Byzantine Empire, and the Middle East; Emperor Louis the Pious observed this appearance and devoted himself to prayer and penance, fearing that "by this token a change in the realm and the death of a prince are made known."
In 912 AD, Halley is recorded in the Annals of Ulster, which states "A dark and rainy year. A comet appeared."
=== 1066 ===
In 1066, the comet was seen in England and thought to be an omen: later that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror claimed the throne. The comet is represented on the Bayeux Tapestry and described in the tituli as a star. Surviving accounts from the period describe it as appearing to be four times the size of Venus, and shining with a light equal to a quarter of that of the Moon. Halley came within 0.10 au of Earth at that time.
This appearance of the comet is also noted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Eilmer of Malmesbury may have seen Halley in 989 and 1066, as recorded by William of Malmesbury:
Not long after, a comet, portending (they say) a change in governments, appeared, trailing its long flaming hair through the empty sky: concerning which there was a fine saying of a monk of our monastery called Æthelmær. Crouching in terror at the sight of the gleaming star, "You've come, have you?", he said. "You've come, you source of tears to many mothers. It is long since I saw you; but as I see you now you are much more terrible, for I see you brandishing the downfall of my country."
The Irish Annals of the Four Masters recorded the comet as "A star [that] appeared on the seventh of the Calends of May, on Tuesday after Little Easter, than whose light the brilliance or light of The Moon was not greater; and it was visible to all in this manner till the end of four nights afterwards." Chaco Native Americans in New Mexico may have recorded the 1066 apparition in their petroglyphs.
The Italo-Byzantine chronicle of Lupus the Protospatharios mentions that a "comet-star" appeared in the sky in the year 1067 (the chronicle is erroneous, as the event occurred in 1066, and by Robert he means William).
The Emperor Constantine Ducas died in the month of May, and his son Michael received the Empire. And in this year there appeared a comet star, and the Norman count Robert [sic] fought a battle with Harold, King of the English, and Robert was victorious and became king over the people of the English.
The Armenian chronicler, Matthew of Edessa also noted the appearance of the comet, and its coincidence with a Turkic invasion saying:
"At the beginning of the year 515 of the Armenian era [March 5, 1066 – March 4, 1067] a comet appeared out of the eastern portion of the sky and traveled in a westerly direction. It appeared for one month and then disappeared. A number of days after this, it reappeared for one month and then disappeared. A number of days after this, it reappeared in the western portion of the sky at night; many who saw it said that it was the same comet which had appeared in the eastern portion before. During these times, the infidels marched forth and ravaged all of Armenia, consuming all the faithful by the sword and enslavement."
=== 1145–1378 ===
The 1145 apparition may have been recorded by the monk Eadwine.
According to legend, Genghis Khan was inspired to turn his conquests toward Europe by the westward-seeming trajectory of the 1222 apparition. In Korea, the comet was reportedly visible during the daylight on 9 September 1222. In Vietnam, the comet was recorded visible in the south-west direction in August (September in solar calendar).
The 1301 apparition was visually spectacular, and may be the first that resulted in convincing portraits of a particular comet. The Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani wrote that the comet left "great trails of fumes behind", and that it remained visible from September 1301 until January 1302. It was seen by the artist Giotto di Bondone, who represented the Star of Bethlehem as a fire-coloured comet in the Nativity section of his Arena Chapel cycle, completed in 1305. Giotto's depiction includes details of the coma, a sweeping tail, and the central condensation. According to the art historian Roberta Olson, it is much more accurate than other contemporary descriptions, and was not equaled in painting until the 19th century. Olson's identification of Halley's Comet in Giotto's Adoration of the Magi is what inspired the European Space Agency to name their mission to the comet Giotto, after the artist.
Halley's 1378 appearance is recorded in the Annales Mediolanenses as well as in East Asian sources.
=== 1456 ===
In 1456, the year of Halley's next apparition, the Ottoman Empire invaded the Kingdom of Hungary, culminating in the siege of Belgrade in July of that year. In a papal bull, Pope Callixtus III ordered special prayers be said for the city's protection. In 1470, the humanist scholar Bartolomeo Platina wrote in his Lives of the Popes that,
A hairy and fiery star having then made its appearance for several days, the mathematicians declared that there would follow grievous pestilence, dearth and some great calamity. Calixtus, to avert the wrath of God, ordered supplications that if evils were impending for the human race He would turn all upon the Turks, the enemies of the Christian name. He likewise ordered, to move God by continual entreaty, that notice should be given by the bells to call the faithful at midday to aid by their prayers those engaged in battle with the Turk.
Platina's account is not mentioned in official records. In the 18th century, a Frenchman further embellished the story, in anger at the Church, by claiming that the Pope had "excommunicated" the comet, though this story was most likely his own invention.
Halley's apparition of 1456 was also witnessed in Kashmir and depicted in great detail by Śrīvara, a Sanskrit poet and biographer to the Sultans of Kashmir. He read the apparition as a cometary portent of doom foreshadowing the imminent fall of Sultan Zayn al-Abidin (AD 1418/1420–1470).
After witnessing a bright light in the sky which most historians have identified as Halley's Comet, Zara Yaqob, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1434 to 1468, founded the city of Debre Berhan (tr. City of Light) and made it his capital for the remainder of his reign.
=== 1531–1759 ===
In the Sikh scriptures of the Guru Granth Sahib, the founder of the faith Guru Nanak makes reference to "a long star that has risen" at Ang 1110, and it is believed by some Sikh scholars to be a reference to Halley's appearance in 1531.
Halley's periodic returns have been subject to scientific investigation since the 16th century. Petrus Apianus and Girolamo Fracastoro described the comet's visit in 1531, with the former even including graphics in his publication. Through his observations, Apianus was able to prove that a comet's tail always points away from the Sun. The three apparitions from 1531 to 1682 were noted by Edmond Halley, enabling him to predict it would return. One key breakthrough occurred when Halley talked with Newton about his ideas of the laws of motion. Newton also helped Halley get John Flamsteed's data on the 1682 apparition. By studying data on the 1531, 1607, and 1682 comets, he came to the conclusion these were the same comet, and presented his findings in 1696. He predicted that the comet would return in 1758, and it did appear again in December 1758 and remained visible into 1759.
One difficulty was accounting for variations in the comet's orbital period, which was over a year longer between 1531 and 1607 than it was between 1607 and 1682. Newton had theorised that such delays were caused by the gravity of other comets, but Halley found that Jupiter and Saturn would cause the appropriate delays. In the decades that followed, more refined mathematics would be worked on, notable by Paris Observatory; the work on Halley also provided a boost to Newton and Kepler's rules for celestial motions. (See also computation of orbit.)
=== 1835 ===
At Markree Observatory in Ireland, Edward Joshua Cooper used a Cauchoix of Paris lens telescope with an aperture of 340 millimetres (13.3 in) to sketch Halley's comet in 1835. The same apparition was sketched by German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. Observations of streams of vapour prompted Bessel to propose that the jet forces of evaporating material could be great enough to significantly alter a comet's orbit.
An interview in 1910, of someone who was a teenager at the time of the 1835 apparition had this to say:
When the comet was first seen, it appeared in the western sky, its head toward the north and tail towards the south, about horizontal and considerably above the horizon and quite a distance south of the Sun. It could be plainly seen directly after sunset every day, and was visible for a long time, perhaps a month ...
They go on to describe the comet's tail as being more broad and not as long as the comet of 1843 they had also witnessed.
Famous astronomers across the world made observations starting August 1835, including Struve at Dorpat observatory, and Sir John Herschel, who made of observations from the Cape of Good Hope. In the United States telescopic observations were made from Yale College. The new observations helped confirm early appearances of this comet including its 1456 and 1378 apparitions.
At Yale College in Connecticut, the comet was first reported on 31 August 1835, by astronomers D. Olmstead and E. Loomis. In Canada reports were made from Newfoundland and also Quebec. Reports came in from all over by later 1835, and often reported in newspapers of this time in Canada.
Several accounts of the 1835 apparition were made by observers who survived until the 1910 return, where increased interest in the comet led to them being interviewed.
The time to Halley's return in 1910 would be only 74.42 years, one of the shortest known periods of its return, which is calculated to be as long as 79 years owing to the effects of the planets.
At Paris Observatory Halley's Comet 1835 apparition was observed with a Lerebours telescope of 24.4 cm (9.6 in) aperture by the astronomer François Arago. Arago recorded polarimetric observations of Halley, and suggested that the tail might be sunlight reflecting off a sparsely distributed material; he had earlier made similar observations of Comet Tralles of 1819.
=== 1910 ===
The comet's 1910 approach brought it into naked-eye view around 10 April, and it reached perihelion on 20 April. This was the first approach of which photographs exist, and the first for which spectroscopic data were obtained. Furthermore, the comet made a relatively close approach of 0.15 au, making it obvious to the naked eye. On 19 May, Earth passed through the tail of the comet. One of the substances discovered in the tail by spectroscopic analysis was the toxic gas cyanogen, which led to press speculation that life on Earth could be endangered. Despite reassurances from scientists that the gas would not present any danger, public panic buying of gas masks was recorded, and quack "anti-comet pills" were sold.
The comet added to the unrest in China on the eve of the Xinhai Revolution that would end the last dynasty in 1911. James Hutson, a missionary in Sichuan at the time, recorded:
"The people believe that it indicates calamity such as war, fire, pestilence, and a change of dynasty. In some places on certain days the doors were unopened for half a day, no water was carried and many did not even drink water as it was rumoured that pestilential vapour was being poured down upon the earth from the comet."
The comet was also fertile ground for hoaxes. One that reached major newspapers claimed that the Sacred Followers, a supposed Oklahoma religious group, attempted to sacrifice a virgin to ward off the impending disaster, but were stopped by the police.
American satirist and writer Mark Twain was born on 30 November 1835, exactly two weeks after the comet's perihelion. In his autobiography, published in 1909, he said,
I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: "Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together."
He died on 21 April 1910, the day after the comet's perihelion passage. The 1985 fantasy film The Adventures of Mark Twain was inspired by the quotation.
Halley's 1910 apparition occurred a few months after the Great Daylight Comet of 1910, which surpassed Halley in brilliance and was visible in broad daylight for a short period.
=== 1986 ===
The 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet was the least favourable on record. In February 1986, the comet and the Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun, creating the worst possible viewing circumstances for Earth observers during the previous 2,000 years. Halley's closest approach was 0.42 au. Additionally, increased light pollution from urbanisation caused many people to fail in attempts to see the comet. With the help of binoculars, observation from areas outside cities was more successful. Further, the comet appeared brightest when it was almost invisible from the northern hemisphere in March and April 1986, with best opportunities occurring when the comet could be sighted close to the horizon at dawn and dusk, if not obscured by clouds.
The approach of the comet was first detected by astronomers David C. Jewitt and G. Edward Danielson on 16 October 1982, using the 5.1 m Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar and a CCD camera.
The first visual observation of the comet on its 1986 return was by an amateur astronomer, Stephen James O'Meara, on 24 January 1985. O'Meara used a home-built 610-millimetre (24 in) telescope on top of Mauna Kea to detect the magnitude 19.6 comet. The first to observe Halley's Comet with the naked eye during its 1986 apparition were Stephen Edberg (then serving as the coordinator for amateur observations at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Charles Morris on 8 November 1985.
The 1986 apparition gave scientists the opportunity to study the comet closely, and several probes were launched to do so. The Soviet Vega 1 probe began returning images of Halley on 4 March 1986, captured the first-ever image of its nucleus, and made its flyby on 6 March. It was followed by the Vega 2 probe, making its flyby on 9 March. On 14 March, the Giotto space probe, launched by the European Space Agency, made the closest pass of the comet's nucleus. There also were two Japanese probes, Suisei and Sakigake. Unofficially, the numerous probes became known as the Halley Armada.
Based on data retrieved by the largest ultraviolet space telescope of the time, Astron, in December 1985, a group of Soviet scientists developed a model of the comet's coma. The comet also was observed from space by the International Cometary Explorer (ICE). Originally launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3, the spacecraft was renamed, and departed the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrangian point in 1982 to intercept the comets 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and Halley. ICE flew through the tail of Halley's Comet, coming within about 40.2 million km (25.0 million mi) of the nucleus on 28 March 1986.
Two U.S. Space Shuttle missions—STS-51-L and STS-61-E—had been scheduled to observe Halley's Comet from low Earth orbit. The STS-51-L mission carried the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (Spartan Halley) satellite, also called the Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable (HCED). The mission to capture the ultraviolet spectrum of the comet ended in disaster when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated in flight, killing all seven astronauts onboard. Scheduled for March 1986, STS-61-E was a Columbia mission carrying the ASTRO-1 platform to study the comet, but the mission was cancelled following the Challenger disaster and ASTRO-1 would not fly until late 1990 on STS-35.
In Japan, the comet was observed by Emperor Hirohito, who was 84. He had already seen it in 1910 when he was 8.
=== After 1986 ===
On 12 February 1991, at a distance of 14.3 au (2,140 million km) from the Sun, Halley displayed an outburst that lasted for several months. The comet released dust with a total mass of about 108 kg, which spread into an elongated cloud roughly 374,000 km (232,000 mi) by 269,000 km (167,000 mi) in size. The outburst likely started in December 1990, and then the comet brightened from about magnitude 25 to magnitude 19. Comets rarely show outburst activity at distances beyond 5 au from the Sun. Different mechanisms have been proposed for the outburst, ranging from interaction with the solar wind to a collision with an undiscovered asteroid. The most likely explanation is a combination of two effects, the polymerisation of hydrogen cyanide and a phase transition of amorphous water ice, which raised the temperature of the nucleus enough for some of the more volatile compounds on its surface to sublime.
Halley was most recently observed in 2003 by three of the Very Large Telescopes at Paranal, Chile, when Halley's magnitude was 28.2. The telescopes observed Halley, at the faintest and farthest any comet had ever been imaged, to verify a method for finding very faint trans-Neptunian objects. Astronomers are now able to observe the comet at any point in its orbit.
On 9 December 2023, Halley's Comet reached the farthest and slowest point in its orbit from the Sun when it was travelling at 0.91 km/s (2,000 mph) with respect to the Sun.
=== 2061 ===
The next perihelion of Halley's Comet is predicted for 28 July 2061, when it will be better positioned for observation than during the 1985–1986 apparition, as it will be on the same side of the Sun as Earth. The closest approach to Earth will be one day after perihelion. It is expected to have an apparent magnitude of −0.3, compared with only +2.1 for the 1986 apparition. On 9 September 2060, Halley will pass within 0.98 au (147,000,000 km) of Jupiter, and then on 20 August 2061, will pass within 0.0543 au (8,120,000 km) of Venus.
=== 2134 ===
Halley will come to perihelion on 27 March 2134. Then on 7 May 2134, Halley will pass within 0.092 au (13,800,000 km) of Earth. Its apparent magnitude is expected to be −2.0.
=== List of apparitions ===
Halley's calculations enabled the comet's earlier appearances to be found in the historical record. The following table sets out the astronomical designations for every apparition of Halley's Comet from 240 BC, the earliest documented sighting.
In the designations, "1P/" refers to Halley's Comet; the first periodic comet discovered. The number represents the year, with negatives representing BC. The letter-number combination indicates which it was of the comets observed for a given segment of the year, divided into 24 equal parts. The Roman numeral indicates which comet past perihelion it was for a given year, while the lower-case letter indicates which comet it was for a given year overall. The perihelion dates farther from the present are approximate, mainly because of uncertainties in the modelling of non-gravitational effects. Perihelion dates of 1531 and earlier are in the Julian calendar, while perihelion dates 1607 and after are in the Gregorian calendar. The perihelion dates for some of the early apparitions (particularly before 837 AD) are uncertain by a couple of days. While Halley's Comet usually peaks at around 0th magnitude, there are indications that the comet got considerably brighter than that in the past. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Metal_Performance | Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance | The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where honors in several categories are presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". The ceremony was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.
The Recording Academy recognized heavy metal music artists for the first time at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards (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, which were expected to win with the album ...And Justice for All. This choice led to widespread criticism of The Recording Academy, as journalists suggested that the music of Jethro Tull did not belong in the hard rock or heavy metal genres. In response, The Recording Academy created the categories Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, separating the genres.
The Best Metal Performance category was first presented at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, and was again the subject of controversy when rock musician Chris Cornell (lead vocalist for the band Soundgarden) was perplexed by the academy's nomination of the band Dokken in this category. Metallica won in the first three years. The awards were presented for the song "One", a cover version of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy", and the album Metallica. During 2012–2013, the award was temporarily discontinued in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; all solo or duo/group performances in the hard rock and metal categories were shifted to the newly formed Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category. However, in 2014, the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category was split, returning the Best Metal Performance category and recognizing quality hard rock performances in the Best Rock Performance category.
The award goes to the artist. The producer, engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.
Metallica holds the record for the most wins in this category, with a total of seven. Tool has received the award three times. Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne and Slayer have each received the award twice. The band Ministry holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with six, while the band Megadeth holds the record for most nominations before their first win, winning on their 10th nomination. Poppy became the first solo female musician to receive a nomination in this category in 2021, 31 years after the establishment of the category. Marina Viotti is the first female recipient in this category, winning in 2025.
== 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/Golden_Globe_Award_for_Best_Screenplay | Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay | The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award first given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, now awarded by Dick Clark Productions since 2023.
== Winners and nominees ==
† marks the winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Motion Picture Story
‡ marks the winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
=== 1940s ===
=== 1950s ===
=== 1960s ===
=== 1970s ===
=== 1980s ===
=== 1990s ===
=== 2000s ===
=== 2010s ===
=== 2020s ===
== Multiple wins and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_der_Luftwaffe | General der Luftwaffe | General der Luftwaffe (English: General of the air force) was a General of the branch rank of the Deutsche Luftwaffe (English: German Air Force) in Nazi Germany. Until the end of World War II in 1945, this particular general officer rank was on three-star level (OF-8), equivalent to a US Lieutenant general.
The "General of the branch" ranks of the Luftwaffe were in 1945:
General of parachute troops
General of anti-aircraft artillery
General of the aviators
General of air force communications troops
General of the air force
The rank was equivalent to the General of the branch ranks of the Heer (army) as follows:
Heer
General of artillery
General of mountain troops
General of infantry
General of cavalry
General of the communications troops
General of panzer troops (armoured troops)
General of engineers
General of the medical corps
General of the veterinary corps
Other services
The rank was also equivalent to the German three-star ranks:
Admiral of the Kriegsmarine, equivalent to (US Vice admiral) and
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in the Waffen-SS.
== Officers in this rank == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Gwynn | Tony Gwynn | Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hitting Gwynn won eight batting titles in his career, which is tied for the most in National League (NL) history. He was a 15-time All-Star and won seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards. Gwynn stayed with the Padres his entire career and played in the only two World Series appearances in San Diego franchise history. Having hit over .300 for 19 straight seasons, Gwynn retired with a .338 career batting average, the highest mark since Ted Williams retired in 1960; Gwynn also holds the highest adjusted batting average of all time at .342. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 in his first year of eligibility, and is widely considered the best pure hitter of his generation.
Gwynn attended San Diego State University (SDSU), where he played both college baseball and basketball for the Aztecs. He was an all-conference player in both sports in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and was also honored as an All-American in baseball. Gwynn was selected by the Padres in the third round of the 1981 MLB draft as the 58th overall pick. He made his major-league debut the next year and won his first batting title in 1984, when San Diego advanced to its first-ever World Series. Gwynn was a poor fielder in college and the minor leagues, but improved over time and received his first Gold Glove in 1986. The next year, he won the first of three consecutive batting titles. From 1990 to 1994, Gwynn endured four injury-shortened seasons, then had four straight batting titles starting in 1994, when he batted a career-high .394 in a strike-shortened season. Gwynn played in his second World Series in 1998 and reached the 3,000-hit milestone the following year. He played two more seasons, hampered by injuries in both, and retired after the 2001 season with 3,141 career hits.
A contact hitter, Gwynn frequently hit the ball to the opposite field. After first meeting Hall of Famer Ted Williams in 1992, Gwynn modified his hitting approach and became more adept at pulling the ball and using the entire field, as well as hitting for more power. In his early career years, he was also a threat to steal bases. In an era before MLB teams used video for scouting, Gwynn pioneered the practice of recording and studying video to improve his hitting, for which he received the nickname "Captain Video". Widely considered the greatest player in Padres history, Gwynn regularly accepted less money to remain with the small-market team; he became a civic icon for the city of San Diego.
During his later playing years and throughout retirement, Gwynn was an outspoken critic of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. After he retired from playing, the Padres retired his No. 19 in 2004. Gwynn became the head baseball coach at his alma mater university and also spent time as a baseball analyst. Gwynn developed a decades-long addiction to smokeless tobacco as a young adult, and was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer in 2010; Gwynn died of the cancer in 2014 at the age of 54. His death increased awareness regarding tobacco usage in MLB, leading to the 2016 league-wide ban on the substance for new players.
== Early life and family ==
=== Family background ===
Gwynn was born in Los Angeles, California, to Charles and Vendella Gwynn, who originated from Gallatin, Tennessee. Charles excelled at sports, preferring football and baseball which he played in high school, and was also very passionate about history and politics; he spent the majority of his young adulthood in the 1950s serving for the U.S. Army. Vendella grew up in a large family and house upon several acres of land that functioned as a small farm; she was also athletically inclined, particularly in basketball and volleyball. The pair met and married in the mid-1950s. In 1958, Gwynn's older brother Charles Jr. was born and sometime thereafter, Charles was discharged from the Army. In 1959, Charles decided to move the family west from Tennessee under the belief that doing so would provide additional economic opportunity for a young black family.
=== Childhood ===
The family's first residence in California was a two-bedroom apartment and they had one car, a Chrysler 300. Gwynn's favorite meals were Friday dinner because he'd get to eat fish, and any meals on Saturday and Sunday because that's when the whole family was together. Shortly after younger brother Chris was born in late 1964, the family moved to a larger apartment, a second-floor duplex that included a small grass backyard unlike the previous apartment. In the yard, Gwynn and Charles Jr. frequently played basketball games such as "Twenty-one" and "H-O-R-S-E" using a trash can against the building's back wall as the basket. Gwynn's "big thrill" was regularly going to the store to get RC Cola for his father using the latter's borrowed money. On one of these occasions when Gwynn returned from the store with the cola, he was also chewing a wad of gum; his father noticed this and asked Gwynn where the gum came from, and he confessed to shoplifting the gum. His father responded by taking Gwynn downstairs to a bush out in front of the apartment building, and pulling a switch from it to punish him with.
Gwynn's favorite time of year was the annual summer family vacation to go visit his grandparents in Tennessee for six days, traveling in the family car. He personally liked his paternal grandparents more, but preferred to stay with his maternal grandparents because their residence (where his mother grew up) had acres of open land and a farm, which Gwynn said was "like a paradise". He gathered eggs from the chicken coop every morning and cooked breakfast with them, and also played baseball using black walnuts that had fallen. Through these visits, Gwynn grew an affinity for his grandmother Callie's Southern cooking.
At age nine, Gwynn received a Sting-Ray bike with a banana seat from his parents coupled with the expectation that he was to use it to fetch groceries from the store. Gwynn refused to have a bicycle basket installed, insisting that it was only for "sissies", so he hauled groceries home using his arms. He was also allowed to use the bike for play; one time while doing so near the family's parked car, he crashed the bike into Chris who appeared out of nowhere. Chris bled from his face from hitting the cement, and had to get hospitalized with five stitches. Gwynn's parents initially threatened to whip Gwynn upon learning about the incident, but later changed their minds after discussing it with Chris, believing it was impossible for the boys to see each other before the crash.
A few weeks after the bike crash, his parents decided they would move from their apartment and buy a house in nearby Long Beach, a location they chose because of its schools, parks, and youth sports options throughout the year. Gwynn joined a Little League team in Long Beach at the age of nine. When the coach asked him which position he wished to play, Gwynn indicated that he wanted to be the first baseman since he was left-handed, but the coach said that spot was occupied by a returning left-handed player, and instead offered the center fielder position to Gwynn. Gwynn's parents were civil servants and tag-team parents. Gwynn's father worked at a warehouse from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and he also coached Pop Warner football and Little League Baseball; his mother worked at the post office from 5:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. His mother and father instilled in him the value of being prepared. He played mostly basketball, then his favorite sport. Gwynn seldom played tennis, but readily defeated his older brother Charles Jr. (who regularly practiced the sport) when challenged.
Gwynn's father encouraged his sons to play ball in the makeshift baseball field that he assembled in their backyard. The setup was a narrow strip of grass that was longer than it was wide. Pulling the ball too much resulted in it being lost over the neighbor's fence, but left field being short ruled out hitting it to the opposite field. Once the brothers' supply of wiffle balls was out, they resorted to using a sock rolled in rubber bands, a wad of tape, or a hardened fig from a neighbor's tree. Gwynn could pull the ball in his backyard, but he would naturally hit it the other way during regular games. Growing up, he attended Los Angeles Dodgers games and watched his hero, Willie Davis; the Dodgers outfielder had twice as many stolen bases as home runs (398 SB, 182 HR) in his career. Gwynn admired Davis for being black, left-handed, and "aggressive but under control"; he respected Davis' work habits as well. Unlike other kids who tracked home run hitters, Gwynn checked the box scores in the newspaper every morning to follow high-average hitters like Pete Rose, George Brett, and Rod Carew. By age thirteen, Gwynn had joined an adult baseball league.
=== High school years ===
Gwynn attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, a high-profile sports school. In high school, Gwynn considered himself to be "kind of a nerd" and also shy, particularly with girls. His friends often attended parties with drugs and alcohol on Friday nights, but Gwynn abstained from such activities to avoid disappointing his parents and squandering future opportunities. Gwynn worked during the summers. One year, he got a job as a softball coach at Silverado Park after his name was chosen in a lottery drawing for the position; some of his responsibilities included managing the field, painting the foul lines, and picking up trash from the field. Another year, he was on a crew that painted athletic facilities in Long Beach public schools. Gwynn also played summer baseball for the Long Beach Jets (coached by 1964 Olympic high jumper John Rambo) in the Joe DiMaggio Summer League at Blair Field. Gwynn was the center fielder and his younger brother Chris was on the team. One year, Gwynn and the Jets won the local league and advanced to the state tournament in San Rafael of Northern California; they were defeated in the championship game.
He was a two-sport star in basketball and baseball. In his final two years, his Jackrabbits baseball team was a combined 3–25–2 in the league, while his basketball team went a combined 53–6 and twice reached the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)'s Southern Section 4A championship game. Gwynn had considered quitting baseball as a senior to concentrate on basketball, but his mother talked him out of it. "She said it might be something down the road and that I might be sorry later if I didn't play," recalled Gwynn.
As a junior, he was the starting point guard on Poly's basketball team, which went 30–1 and won the Southern Section 4A title that year. The final was played for more than 10,000 fans at the Long Beach Arena, where Gwynn scored 10 points in the 69–50 victory over Buena of Ventura. His teammates included Michael Wiley, who became a professional player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In Gwynn's senior year, Poly was 23–7, and again advanced to the championship round, despite finishing third in the Moore League. Their bid for a second straight title ended with a 57–50 loss to Pasadena. Gwynn averaged 10.3 points and totaled 178 assists for the season, and he was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Second Team. After the season, he switched to baseball, which was already well underway for the year. Despite his shortened season, he earned first-team All-Southern Section honors after batting .563. Poly's baseball team's struggles taught him to remain focused, continue executing, and stay productive.
Gwynn received scholarship offers to play college basketball but none for college baseball. He also went unselected in the 1977 MLB draft, which Gwynn attributed to his limited playing time. He wanted to play both sports for Cal State Fullerton, which was fine with basketball coach Bobby Dye, but baseball coach Augie Garrido did not believe that an athlete could handle both sports in college. San Diego State basketball coach Tim Vezie wanted Gwynn to commit to two years of basketball before playing baseball. Gwynn also had an offer from Texas Christian University (TCU), but he was told that he would be their first black player in 30 years, which ruled them out from his consideration. He chose to attend SDSU, calling it "the best option I had."
== College career ==
Gwynn was a two-sport star with San Diego State, playing three seasons of baseball and four of basketball. He was a recreation major. He was an All-American outfielder in his final two seasons, when he led the team in hitting. A skilled playmaker in basketball, he set multiple school records for assists. He was the first player in the history of the WAC to earn all-conference honors in basketball and baseball. Gwynn was not allowed to play baseball as a freshman. He was overweight at 205 pounds (93 kg), and Vezie wanted him to get in shape for the next basketball season.
By the following season in 1979, Gwynn still had not heard from Aztecs baseball coach Jim Dietz about joining the team after the basketball season. However, an opportunity arose after two outfielders riding bicycles were struck by an automobile and injured, leaving Dietz in need of replacements. Freshman shortstop Bobby Meacham, who played against Gwynn in high school, convinced the coach to give Gwynn a chance. Dietz had never seen Gwynn play but contacted him mostly because he trusted Meacham. Vezie by then had been fired, and his successor, Smokey Gaines, allowed Gwynn to play baseball. Were it not for the accident, Gwynn doubted he would have ever played baseball with SDSU. "Knowing what I now do about Coach Dietz ... [h]e's too loyal to his athletes to have allowed me to walk over after basketball season and join the team," remarked Gwynn.
In baseball, Gwynn was primarily a left fielder and designated hitter (DH) at San Diego State. He hit .301 in his first season but said he "stunk defensively." After his first season of baseball with the Aztecs, Gwynn played collegiate summer baseball for the Boulder Collegians while also enrolling in 10 transferable summer school units at the University of Colorado Boulder. During a game with the Collegians, he tripped while rounding first base trying to stretch a single into a double, and went down in pain having dislocated his ankle. Coach Jim Dietz chose to pop Gwynn's ankle back into place, because Dietz believed that having surgery done instead would've harmed Gwynn's chances of playing professional baseball; Gwynn was sent home for the remainder of the summer. In 1980, Gwynn hit .423 with six home runs and 29 runs batted in (RBI), and was named third-team All-American by Baseball News. The following season, he was a first-team All-American after batting .416 with 11 home runs and 62 RBI. He also was named a first-team All-WAC outfielder. In his three years, he had a career average of .398, and the team went 146–61–4.
Playing basketball, Gwynn set Aztecs basketball records for assists in a game (18), season (221), and career (590). He was twice named to the All-WAC Second Team, and he averaged 8.8 points per game his senior year. Playing point guard developed Gwynn's baseball skills, as the dribbling strengthened his wrists—avoiding what he called "slow bat syndrome"—and basketball taught him to be quick, which improved his baserunning. He could dunk a basketball, though he was unable to palm the ball with his small hands. He had a quick first step in either sport and was able to run 60 yards (55 m) in 6.7 seconds.
Gwynn indirectly received exposure from scouts who were interested in Meacham, who would become a first-round pick in 1981. Gwynn had started the baseball season late in 1981, as the basketball team was still competing, and some scouts had already seen enough of Meacham and stopped following SDSU. Also on the Aztecs baseball team was Casey McKeon, son of Jack McKeon, who was the San Diego Padres general manager at the time. Given his son's involvement, McKeon often went to Aztec games. He was initially interested in seeing Meacham but became more impressed by Gwynn after seeing him at an exhibition game between the Aztecs and Padres; Gwynn had re-joined the baseball team five days earlier.
== Professional career ==
=== Draft and minor leagues (1981–1982) ===
The Padres selected Gwynn in the third round of the 1981 MLB draft with the 58th pick. The Padres scout credited for discovering Gwynn was Cliff Ditto from the Los Angeles area; his scouting report was the only one the Padres had for Gwynn. The Houston Astros had also scouted Gwynn and wanted to select him, but since the team had no picks in the first two rounds, their first possible chance was in the third round after the Padres' third-round pick when Gwynn was taken. He had attended Padres games while he was at San Diego State and thought they had the "ugliest uniforms I've ever seen in my life." Those uniforms again came to his mind after he was drafted. McKeon had wanted to take Gwynn with the Padres' first pick, but they chose two other players in the first round and another in the second. McKeon threatened to walk out of the draft room had San Diego not selected him in the third. Later that day, Gwynn was also selected by the San Diego Clippers in the 10th round of the NBA draft. According to then-Clippers general manager Ted Podleski, Gwynn might have gone as high as the sixth round if he was not a baseball player. Gwynn chose to play baseball with the Padres in what he termed a "practical" decision, citing his physical battles pushing and fighting against larger players, such as Charles Bradley, while playing WAC basketball.
Coming out of college, Gwynn was initially worried about the transition from using an aluminum bat to a wooden one, but his concerns were allayed once he found a bat comparable to the size he had used with the Aztecs. He led the Northwest League with a .331 batting average, and added 12 homers and 17 stolen bases in just 42 games for the Walla Walla Padres, San Diego's Class A minor league affiliate, earning him the league's most valuable player (MVP) award in 1981. In his professional debut on Opening Day, Gwynn went 3-for-5 with a triple, a walk, two steals, two runs, and a strikeout. His salary in Walla Walla was $500 per month. In the summer of 1981, Gwynn was promoted to the Padres' Reno affiliate but was unable to travel there due to the ongoing air traffic controller strike, so he got sent to Amarillo instead. He finished the season in Class AA with the Amarillo Gold Sox for 23 games, while batting .462.
=== San Diego Padres (1982–2001) ===
==== 1982–1983 ====
Gwynn participated at spring training with San Diego in 1982 and hit .375. However, the Padres were set in the outfield with veterans Gene Richards, Ruppert Jones, and Sixto Lezcano, and Gwynn began the season with the Hawaii Islanders of Triple-A. He was batting .328 in 93 games with the Islanders when he was promoted and debuted for the Padres on July 19, 1982. He started in center field against the Philadelphia Phillies in place of a slumping Jones. In his fourth at-bat, Gwynn got his first major league hit—a double—against reliever Sid Monge. Pete Rose, the Phillies' first baseman who later became the major-league all-time hit leader, told Gwynn, "Congratulations. Don't catch me in one night." Five weeks later against Pittsburgh, Gwynn injured his left wrist after diving for a ball and hitting the hard artificial turf at Three Rivers Stadium, and missed three weeks while on the disabled list (DL). He finished his rookie season batting .289 in 54 games, the only season he hit below .300. His 15-game hitting streak was the longest on the team that season.
Gwynn reinjured his wrist playing winter ball in Puerto Rico and started 1983 on the DL. He missed the first two months of the season and struggled after his return. His average fell as low as .229 by July 29. He asked his wife to record the games before a road trip, and he began using video recording to review his at-bats. After looking at the tapes and correcting his swing during batting practice, Gwynn became a believer in using video. He said video "turned around my career". He heated up to a .309 average for his shortened season, and his 25-game hitting streak set a Padres record. For the second straight season, San Diego finished with a .500 record.
==== 1984–1986 ====
In his first full season in 1984, San Diego won their first NL West title. Gwynn was elected to start in his first All-Star Game, and he won his first batting title with a .351 average along with 71 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases; he had only 23 strikeouts in 606 at-bats. He finished third in the balloting for the National League MVP behind Chicago Cubs winner Ryne Sandberg and runner-up Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets. He had 213 hits, breaking the Padres record of 194 set by Gene Richards in 1980. Gwynn hit second in the Padres batting order behind Alan Wiggins, and benefited from the higher number of fastballs opposing pitchers threw in response to the speedy leadoff hitter (70 SB) being on base. Wiggins' speed also disrupted the defense and opened up holes that Gwynn was able to exploit for hits. He hit above .400 when Wiggins was on base ahead of him. "Anybody can hit a fastball", said Gwynn. The duo was one of the biggest reasons behind San Diego's success. They could score fast with Wiggins getting on first, stealing second, and Gwynn singling him home. Gwynn batted .410 with runners in scoring position, and manager Dick Williams said his records indicated that Gwynn had the best "RBI percentage" on the team.
In the playoffs, the Padres won the first NL pennant in its team history, defeating the Cubs in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) before losing the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. Gwynn batted .368 in the NLCS, and his one-out single in the bottom of the ninth in Game 4 set up Steve Garvey's game-winning homer. Gwynn hit .263 (5-for-19) in the World Series, and flied out to Tigers left fielder Larry Herndon for the final out of the fall classic. During the offseason, Gwynn took less money to stay in San Diego by signing a six-year, $4.6 million contract with the Padres. Still, his new salary of more than $500,000 salary for 1985 represented a sizable raise over the $180,000 he would have received, or the $100,000 he had received in 1984.
Wiggins entered drug rehab in 1985 and was traded later in the season to the Baltimore Orioles, resulting in Gwynn seeing fewer fastballs and more breaking balls. Gwynn said it took him a month to realize the opponents' strategy change and a while to adjust. His average was under .300 into June when he got hot but then sprained his wrist on June 27 in a collision with Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia. Still, Gwynn was named with seven other Padres to the 1985 All-Star Game. San Diego then led the NL West but finished the season in third place. After Gwynn's wrist healed, he hit .339 after the start of August and finished the season with the fourth-highest average in the NL (.317). Without an adequate replacement for Wiggins batting leadoff, his RBIs fell to 46.
Gwynn played a career-high 160 games in 1986, when he led NL position players in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). He scored 100 runs for the first time and tied for the NL lead (107). He set then-career highs for doubles (33), homers (14), and steals (37). On September 20 against the Houston Astros, he had four hits and became the fifth NL player that century with five stolen bases in a game. He finished third in hitting (.329) after leading for most of the season. He hit only .296 in September, and he regretted paying too much attention to Tim Raines and Steve Sax, who were previously trailing him. Gwynn won his first Gold Glove after leading the league in total chances and putouts (337). His 19 outfield assists that year—one short of the league-high—were highlighted by the three Mets he threw out in one game.
==== 1987–1989 ====
Despite his financial problems and bankruptcy in 1987, Gwynn remained unfazed on the field. In the Padres' home opener, Marvell Wynne, Gwynn, and John Kruk hit back-to-back-to-back homers to start the game for San Diego, the first time an MLB team had led off a game with three consecutive home runs. In June, he had 44 hits in 93 at-bats for a .473 average, the best month in his career. He finished fifth among NL outfielders voting for the All-Star Game, which Padres manager Larry Bowa called "a joke". However, Gwynn was unperturbed: "People put a premium on the home-run hitters. I know what I am. I'm a contact hitter and not a home-run hitter ... I'm not going to try to be something I'm not."
That year, Gwynn had two five-hit games, the first of eight in his career. He won his second batting title that season after hitting .370. It was the highest average in the NL since Stan Musial hit .376 in 1948. He also stole 56 bases and became the first NL player to hit .370 and steal 50 bases. Gwynn never went more than eight at-bats without recording a hit, and he had a hit in 82 percent of the 155 games he batted. His 218 hits also led the league. He led the league in WAR, and was second in stolen bases, triples (13), and on-base percentage (OBP) (.447); he also ranked fourth in runs scored (119) and 10th in walks with a career-high 82. His average, hits, runs, and triples were all Padre records. Although he only hit seven homers, Gwynn was second in the league with 26 intentional walks. He finished eighth in the voting for NL MVP but resisted altering his hitting style to hit more home runs to earn more respect. The same year, Wade Boggs in the American League (AL) won his fourth batting title in five years, hitting .363 with 24 home runs, but finished ninth in MVP voting. Fox Sports baseball writer Rob Neyer believes that Gwynn may have been MLB's best player during his 1987 season, and sportswriter Joe Posnanski called Gwynn's 1987 season "otherworldly" while opining that "he probably should have won the MVP award".
During the last three months of the 1987 season, a finger on Gwynn's left hand would lock when he gripped a bat. It would open barely enough for the bat to slip out of his grip. He had surgery on the hand during spring training the following season. Early in 1988, Gwynn was on the DL for 21 days after spraining his thumb after tripping rounding first base in Pittsburgh. He hit .246 as late as July 2, 1988, but won the batting title with a .313 average. Gwynn batted .406 in July and .367 in the last 73 games of the season. He denied that injuries impacted his hitting, instead attributing his struggles to "mechanics". He struck out a career-high 40 times that season, while his .313 average was the lowest to win a title in NL history. In the 112 years before, only nine batting leaders hit below .330, the previous low being Larry Doyle's .320 in 1915. For the 25 years ending in 1988, batting leaders averaged .343. Gwynn hit 119 points higher with runners on base (.382) than with the bases empty (.263), the largest differential in the NL that season. He tied Pedro Guerrero for the highest average with runners in scoring position (.371). During the season, McKeon replaced Bowa as Padres manager and moved Gwynn from right to center field. Gwynn also reached 1,000 career hits on April 22 with a single off Nolan Ryan of the Astros. On September 17, he passed Dave Winfield as the Padres' career leader in hits with his 1,135th off Jim Acker of the Atlanta Braves.
In the 1989 season, he was hurting in September while in the race for another batting title. His right toe made it hard for him to put a shoe on, and his left Achilles tendon was sore, preventing him from pushing off properly when swinging. His batting average dropped, but he insisted on playing until his manager forced him to sit out for two games. The Padres were battling the San Francisco Giants for the division title in September, but they were eliminated from contention the game before hosting a season-ending three-game series with the Giants. Although the race for the division was over, Gwynn was still trailing San Francisco's Will Clark for the batting title, .333 to .332. Gwynn went 3-for-4 in the last two games, finishing at .336 to claim his third title. "I lost to the best", Clark said. Gwynn became the first NL player to win three consecutive batting titles since Musial (1950–1952). In December 1989, Gwynn fell to being the seventh-highest-paid Padre at $1 million a year and questioned the team's salary structure. He felt he deserved more money than players like Jack Clark, who signed a lucrative deal with the New York Yankees before being traded to San Diego. Gwynn's request for a contract renegotiation was denied.
==== 1990–1992 ====
Gwynn in 1990 was accused by some teammates of being selfish and caring more about his batting average than winning. First baseman Jack Clark, most notably, stated that Gwynn should be swinging with runners in scoring position instead of bunting and protecting his batting average. Clark did not approve of Gwynn bunting with runners on first and second with nobody out, believing he was trying to either bunt for a hit or get credit for a sacrifice if he failed. On the other hand, Gwynn felt he was advancing runners for the team's "game changers"—Clark and Joe Carter—which was consistent with McKeon's style. Gwynn said he resorted to bunting to advance the runners because he was not a good pull hitter. "No one bothers Tony Gwynn because he wins batting titles, but the Padres finish fourth or fifth every year", said Clark, who also stirred controversy on his prior teams. Teammates Mike Pagliarulo and Garry Templeton sided with Clark, who also said Gwynn was "50 pounds [23 kg] overweight", leading to his lower stolen base total.
Stung by the criticism, Gwynn was miserable the rest of the season and became withdrawn and distrustful among his teammates. Conscious of being perceived as selfish, he altered his hitting style by attempting to pull the ball to move runners in situations where he would normally hit to the opposite field. Rumors that he might be traded affected his play. In September, Gwynn was upset when a figurine of his likeness was hanging in effigy in the Padres' dugout, and race became an issue due to the undercurrent of lynchings being evoked with Gwynn being African-American and Clark being Caucasian. The Padres said a groundskeeper was responsible, but Gwynn believed it was a cover-up. Clark denied any involvement. After breaking his right index finger mid-month in Atlanta while trying to make a catch at the wall, Gwynn missed the final 19 games of the season. He left the team for the season to avoid contact with the media and teammates. He was further upset that neither management nor other teammates came to his defense at the time. He later regretted saying he wanted to avoid his teammates in general instead of being more specific which ones he was referring to. "It just involved one great guy, and that's Tony Gwynn, and anything they want to say about Tony Gwynn is going to be news. It got all blown out of proportion", Carter said. Gwynn countered, "I've been doing the same things my whole career, playing the same way. Now, why is it an issue? Because Jack Clark says it is." Gwynn finished the season batting .309, ranking sixth in the league but the lowest average of any full season in his career; he had entered the season with a .332 career average. However, his 72RBI that season were a then-career high. He also began experiencing soreness and swelling in his left knee. The cartilage under his kneecap was wearing out, which doctors attributed to his playing basketball and baseball year-round for seven years from high school through college.
Gwynn and Clark said they could continue to play together, but Clark signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in the offseason. Gwynn felt appreciated after he was signed to a three-year contract extension for $12.25 million, including a $1 million signing bonus. McKeon praised Gwynn, saying, "He's one of the most unselfish players I've ever managed. In '89, when he was going for a batting title, he was giving himself up to move runners along." Dick Williams, who managed Gwynn from 1982 through 1985, said of Gwynn, "I don't think I've ever had a player who worked harder, cared more and was more deserving of his awards." Clark continued criticizing him, which Gwynn attributed to jealousy. In response, Gwynn knocked Clark: "Let's talk about him walking 104 times, being a No. 4 hitter. Let's talk about his not flying on team flights. Let's talk about him getting booted out of games on a called strike three." In 1992, Gwynn sympathized with Clark, who filed for bankruptcy after bad loans by his agent. "I really appreciated the things Tony said about my situation", Clark said.
Gwynn, in 1991, passed Gene Richards as the Padres' all-time leader in steals and triples. He reached a season-high batting average of .373 in June, and late in the month was among the league leaders in RBIs. His left knee began causing him problems before the All-Star break, and he had been suffering from shin splints as well. He injured his left knee on August 5 at Houston while sliding into second base. He played through the injury, missing just one game over the next 3+1⁄2 weeks. He had fluid drained from his knee on August 31 and played just once in the week that followed while surgery was discussed. He attempted to finish the season but lasted just five more games. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean out the knee and smooth the articular cartilage, missing the final 21 games of the year. Gwynn led the league in hitting at .326 late in August and had enough plate appearances already to qualify for the title, when many people—including his father and Padres announcer Jerry Coleman—advised him to take care of his knee and secure another batting title. However, Gwynn was still reeling from Clark's criticism of his conditioning and selfishness and wanted to continue playing. Gwynn finished the season ranked third in batting at .317, behind Terry Pendleton (.319) and Hal Morris (.318). After the All-Star Game, he hit just .243.
In 1992, Gwynn ended the season on the DL for the third straight year. On September 8, in a 16-inning game in San Francisco, he had the third five-hit game of his career and his first since 1987. In the same game, he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and played just four more innings the rest of the season. He required arthroscopic surgery on the knee. Gwynn met Hall of Famer Ted Williams for the first time during the 1992 All-Star Game, which was hosted at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium (known later as Qualcomm Stadium). At the time, Gwynn considered himself to be an accomplished hitter, content to hit singles and doubles. Williams called Gwynn "a big guy" and challenged him to hit for more power. He chided Gwynn for using a "toothpick" for a bat. His encounter with Williams spurred him to think more about hitting, and he began to hit for more power. "I've never been a home run guy, never been a big RBI guy, but from that point to the end of my career, I was much better at it", said Gwynn.
==== 1993–1997 ====
Gwynn entered the 1993 season anticipating that he would be better after his past two surgeries, and he had also incorporated Williams' advice into his swing. The Padres lost 101 games that year for the team's worst record during his career. They finished last in the division, behind even the Colorado Rockies, who were an expansion team in their inaugural season. San Diego that season had traded most of its star players—including Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, and Tony Fernández—in fire sales. Gwynn finished with a .358 average, the then-second best average of his career, but Colorado's Andrés Galarraga won the title at .370. Gwynn batted .587 on pulled balls, compared to his .315 in 1991 before Williams' pointers. He was affected early in the season by a sprained thumb, but he hit .400 (76-for-190) over the second half of the season. On June 10, Gwynn missed the opportunity to hit for the cycle when manager Jim Riggleman replaced him in the seventh inning of a 14–2 rout against the Dodgers after he had hit for a home run, double, and triple in his three prior at-bats. Riggleman was not aware that he needed a single to complete the cycle. Still wary of Clark's earlier criticism that he was selfish, Gwynn did not contest his removal, which angered his manager when he found out after the game. On August 4 against the Giants, Gwynn had the only six-hit game of his career. He might have gone 7–for–7 if not for an excellent play at first base by Will Clark. Gwynn recorded his 2,000th hit with a single off Colorado lefthander Bruce Ruffin on August 6. His last game was September 5 before undergoing arthroscopic surgery to clear "loose bodies" from his knee. It was the fourth consecutive year his season ended early, and the third straight season it was due to left knee surgery.
After the season, Gwynn's father, Charles, died of heart problems at the age of 57. Two days earlier, Charles had argued with Gwynn that he should leave San Diego, questioning the Padres' commitment to winning. Gwynn eventually concluded, "No, I like it here, I should stay." He contemplated leaving baseball after his father's death; however, he recalled his father always telling him to "never be a quitter, work hard".
For years during Gwynn's career, media preseason predictions declared that "this season" he would become the first player to hit .400 since Williams in 1941. Relatively healthy in 1994, Gwynn batted .394, his career-high and the highest in the National League since Bill Terry hit .401 in 1930. He also had a league-leading .454 OBP. From April 22 through the 24 against Philadelphia, he had eight consecutive hits and reached base nine straight times, tying Padres records held by Winfield and Bip Roberts, respectively. Gwynn was batting .383 at the All-Star break; however, talk of a strike by the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) was looming, and he wanted to get to .400 before that date. At the 1994 All-Star Game in front of the national television audience, Gwynn scored the game-winning walk-off run for the NL during the bottom of the 10th inning to seal the 8–7 victory, sliding into home plate from first base to barely beat the throw and tag following a Moises Alou double. He hit .423 over 28 games in the second half, and heated up to .475 through 10 games in August, when the season ended prematurely on August 11 due to the baseball strike. He was 6-for-9 in the last two games and 3-for-5 in the eventual finale, falling short of batting .400 by three hits. Fans were awaiting an end to the strike and for Gwynn to resume his quest for .400, but hopes of the season restarting were dashed when the World Series was canceled. He later commented, "I'm not unhappy or bitter that the strike came. I look at it this way: I would have sooner fell short due to the strike than if I would have hit .400 and then the strike came. Then people would have thought I would have collapsed down the stretch, instead of being at .390 when the strike came and being so close." That year, Gwynn pulled the ball with greater regularity. He was 10th in the league with a slugging percentage of .568, which was also his career-high. His 12 homers in 419 at-bats was a higher rate than in 1986, when he hit a then-career high 14 homers in 642 at-bats. He won another batting title (.368) in 1995. For the second straight year, he did not go longer than two games without a hit. He led the NL in batting with runners in scoring position (.394), and he had a then-career high 90 RBI. Gwynn hit in 15 straight games in July, his longest hitting streak since his 18-game run in 1988. He hit 28-for-65 (.431) with 15 RBI during the streak. Although he missed batting .400 in 1994, he batted .403 during a 179-game stretch between July 3, 1993, and May 9, 1995.
In 1996, the Padres won the division with 91 wins and returned to the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Gwynn called it the worst injury season of his career. His hurt heel in April was diagnosed as an inflamed bursa sac. He tried multiple shoes to alleviate the pain, and was on the DL for a month at midseason. He played the rest of the year in pain, and surgery after the season revealed a 40 percent tear (or fraying) at the top of his right Achilles' tendon. On September 28, Gwynn hit a patented single between third base and shortstop to score two runs and break a 2–2 tie in the eighth against the Dodgers, clinching a playoff berth for the Padres. He called it his most memorable regular-season hit until his 3,000th career hit. Gwynn's brother, Chris, also played for San Diego that season and hit the game-winner in the season finale in extra innings, completing a three-game sweep over Los Angeles to win the division. Chris had only hit .169 entering the game, and some fans were convinced that he was on the team only because of his brother. Earlier in the week, Gwynn had criticized fans for booing his brother. "Today, I'm just Chris Gwynn's anonymous brother," said Gwynn, who also won his seventh batting title that day. Although he was four plate appearances (PAs) short of the minimum to qualify for the title, MLB Rule 10.22(a)—which also came to be known as the Tony Gwynn rule—allowed hitless at-bats to be added to his record to qualify. Gwynn, who batted .353 in 498 PAs, would have dropped to .349 with the extra at-bats, still five points better than second-place Ellis Burks' .344. In the postseason, the Padres were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening round.
In April 1997, Gwynn signed a three-year contract extension for $12.6 million. Recovered from his Achilles problem the year before, he was able to plant his front foot to pull inside pitches. That season, Gwynn reached career highs with 17 home runs and 119 RBIs. He batted .372 for his eighth batting title, second only to Ty Cobb (12). He led the NL in hits for the seventh time, tying Rose's record. The 220 hits led the majors and was a new team record. Gwynn led the majors with a .459 average with runners in scoring position. In his 16th season, he became the oldest major leaguer at age 37 to reach 100 RBIs for the first time. His RBI total was the second-highest in club history. He also hit a Padres record of 49 doubles, ranking second in the league, and established a career-best of 324 total bases. On June 7, Gwynn hit his 100th career home run off of Donne Wall of Houston, becoming the third Padre to reach the mark. He was batting .402 on July 14, the latest in the season he had ever been at .400. However, his average tailed off as he suffered from kidney stones later in the month, and he also battled problems with his left knee that required postseason surgery.
==== 1998–2001 ====
In 1998, Gwynn batted .321 and helped the Padres win a franchise-record 98 games and their second pennant. He began the year with his first-ever opening-day home run, and continued his trend of hitting for more power with 16 homers for the season. The Padres reached the World Series in 1998 after defeating Houston and Atlanta in the playoffs. However, the Padres lost to the Yankees in a four-game sweep, despite Gwynn hitting .500 (8-for-16) in the series; the rest of the team batted only .203. Gwynn hit a two-run home run off the second-deck facade in the opening game at Yankee Stadium against pitcher David Wells, which he called his favorite hit and highlight of his career. "That's the biggest game in the world, a World Series game. And the fact that it was in New York in Yankee Stadium. I'll remember that forever", he proclaimed.
Calf injuries forced Gwynn to miss 44 games in the first half of 1999. At the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston, he escorted Williams to the mound, and steadied his friend in throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. It was Gwynn's most memorable All-Star moment in his career. As he approached 3,000 career hits in July, two unidentified Padres said there was too much focus on reaching the milestone. Additionally, Jim Leyritz, after being traded from the Padres to the Yankees, said Gwynn lacked the "intangibles" of a team player. In the next game in San Diego, Padres fans gave Gwynn a standing ovation after he was removed for a pinch runner following his 2,994th hit. He approached 3,000 hits on the road, first playing in a series against the Cardinals. On August 4, he collected three hits, including a grand slam, to reach 2,998 hits, receiving a standing ovation from the St. Louis crowd after each hit. The following day, Gwynn collected hit number 2,999 in the same game that the Cardinals' Mark McGwire hit his 500th home run. Gwynn got his 3,000th hit on August 6 with a single in the first inning off Montreal Expos pitcher Dan Smith. He had four hits in the game. His 2,000th hit was also on August 6, which is also the birthday of Gwynn's mother. He was the 11th player to collect all 3,000 hits with one team. George Brett of the Kansas City Royals and Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers had been last to achieve the milestone with a single team in 1992. Gwynn's chase was prolonged by a left calf injury that season which sent him to the DL twice, forcing him to miss 44 games. He reached 3,000 in 2,284 games, the third-fewest games among the 22 players to reach the mark behind Ty Cobb (2,135) and Nap Lajoie (2,224). No player born after 1900 got there in fewer games or at-bats (8,874) than Gwynn.
Gwynn, who turned 40 in 2000, had a left knee injury that required his knee to be drained seven times before he underwent season-ending surgery. He was limited to playing just 36 of the Padres' first 71 games, and he started only 26 games in right field. He batted .408 from May 19 to June 23 to raise his average from .196 and finish the season at .323. Gwynn had microfracture surgery performed on his knee, which involved tiny holes being created to promote cartilage growth.
The Padres bought out their $6 million option on Gwynn for 2001, paying him $2 million instead, and he became a free agent for the first time. Gwynn received offers from a few different teams, and he was pressured by his son Tony Jr. to sign with a team that had a strong chance of winning a World Series championship, which included the Cleveland Indians. After weeks of negotiation that were at times bitter, Gwynn re-signed with the Padres for 2001, agreeing to a one-year, $2 million contract with a chance to earn another $3.7 million in performance incentives. However, he was hampered that season by problems to his right leg, which had been his "good leg", and was limited to just 17 games on the field. In the first half of the season, he missed 64 games due to a right hamstring that resulted in two stints on the DL. After returning, he began having problems with his right knee. He was limited to pinch-hitting duties and started only one game after mid-July due to a torn meniscus in the right knee. Gwynn formally announced on June 28 that he would retire at the end of the season, and subsequently received an ovation at each stadium the Padres visited. He was honored as a non-playing squad member at the 2001 All-Star Game. During the game, he and Cal Ripken, who had announced his retirement nine days before Gwynn, were presented the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award by Commissioner Bud Selig. On October 6, 2001, at Qualcomm Stadium, Gwynn had a pinch-hit RBI double off Gabe White of Colorado for the final hit of his career. He considered starting the next day in the final game of the season, but he was not confident he could handle a fly ball. In his final appearance, he pinch hit in the ninth inning, grounding out to shortstop; earlier in the same game, teammate Rickey Henderson joined Gwynn in the 3,000 hit club. Although he was limited to only 112 plate appearances, Gwynn finished the season with a .324 average, his 19th consecutive season batting at least .300.
== Player profile ==
=== Batting style ===
Gwynn was an aggressive hitter who was able to expand his hitting zone and frequently hit bad balls that were out of the strike zone. He rarely struck out and generally did not draw many walks. His philosophy was to "see the ball and react". He was less concerned with getting a hit in a particular at-bat and was more focused with being comfortable at the plate, having a fluid swing, and making solid contact. Over the course of the season, he figured it would result in success. Gwynn was known for his pitch recognition and ability to adjust his hitting based on defensive alignments, using his peripheral vision to anticipate plays. He would identify gaps in the defense based on where fielders were positioned, and then wait for a pitch which allowed him to hit the ball where he wanted. Gwynn particularly enjoyed hitting with a runner on first base because it meant the second baseman or shortstop had to play closer to second base to prepare for a double play or stolen base attempt, thereby opening a larger gap between infielders that Gwynn was more easily able to exploit. Gwynn's eye and pitch recognition also contributed to a low amount of times being hit by a pitch in his career (24) because he was usually able to dodge incoming pitches quickly enough.
Among Gwynn's primary strengths was his patience in allowing the ball to reach the strike zone before starting his swing. His bats were as small as anyone used during his career, and their lightness allowed him to wait longer before committing to his swing; he was rarely fooled by a pitch. According to Adam Dunn, Gwynn was the only left-handed batter who could successfully hit Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson's slider. Gwynn started with a 34-inch (86 cm), 32-ounce (910 g) aluminum bat in college. As a junior, he had to replace it after it got dented, and came across a 32-inch (81 cm), 31-ounce (880 g) model that was more to his liking. At his first minor league stop at Walla Walla, the shortest bat they had was 34 inches (86 cm). To Gwynn's surprise, he uncharacteristically started hitting home runs. On their first road trip to Eugene, Oregon, he acquired a couple of 32-inch (81 cm) bats that he could better handle. In the first 12 years of his MLB career, Gwynn used a 32+1⁄2-inch (83 cm), 31-ounce (880 g) bat. In his final eight years, he employed a 33-inch (84 cm), 30+1⁄2-ounce (860 g) bat, adding the 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) to improve his coverage on the outside of the plate. Gwynn's preferred bat material was wide-grain ash wood. He wanted his wooden bats light like his aluminum ones in college. Instead of having the barrel of his bats shaved, as many batters do, he had them "cupped", with the end of the barrel hollowed out like the bottom of a wine bottle. His small hands required that he use thin-handled bats. His bat control made him a good hit-and-run batter, although some former teammates complained he would swing for a hit even when a player was trying to steal, depriving his teammate of a stolen base.
Gwynn was able to hit the ball to all fields, but liked to hit balls the opposite way to the left, between third base and shortstop. He dubbed it the "5.5 hole", since baseball scorekeeping designates third base using a 5 and shortstop with a 6. Gwynn preferred an outside pitch, waiting as long as possible and using his strong wrists to quickly hit the ball. He was not considered a home run hitter, reaching double-figures just five times, but he was a gap hitter with power to drive hits between outfielders. Opposing outfielders typically played him deep. Gwynn became a complete hitter after following Ted Willams' advice to drive inside pitches instead of finessing them, which Gwynn learned he could do without sacrificing his average. He initially thought that home runs were "boring", and he concentrated on his craft of making contact. However, Williams said Gwynn was "wasting an opportunity", and convinced him to turn on inside fastballs more and capitalize on his strength and power pitchers pitching him inside. Applying Williams' approach, Gwynn employed the entire field, and was no longer satisfied with mostly hitting to left field. His home runs increased, and he drove in more runs. Forty-three of his 135 career home runs were in his final three full seasons (1997–1999). Gwynn credited his later improvement to Williams and his book The Science of Hitting, which he said that he read "four or five times a year". He and Williams became friends, and they often talked for hours about hitting. Gwynn lamented not having met Williams earlier and possibly adjusting his hitting approach sooner. Gary Sheffield, who was traded to the Padres in 1992, credited Gwynn's hitting instruction for raising his season batting average to .330 (up from a previous high of .294) and hence winning a batting title over his teammate Gwynn that year.
=== Physique ===
Gwynn's physical appearance belied his athleticism. He stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), thick around the middle and thighs. His weight was listed as 180 pounds (82 kg) during his junior year of college, and 185 pounds (84 kg) when he was in the minor leagues in 1981. Even at his athletic prime when he could really run, he weighed around 200 pounds (91 kg) and was considered pudgy. His roly-poly frame was a self-described "body by Betty Crocker", a reference to the food product brand. Towards the end of his breakout season in 1984, he conceded that his "extra weight hasn't helped me. My bat's slower than it has been all year." At the time, he attributed his weight gain to soft drinks: "It's killing me. It's always been a weakness. I've gotta cut down on the soda pop." Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times opined in 1993 that Gwynn's "deceptive" looks and failing to "look the part" contributed to his regularly being overlooked in the voting for league MVP.
Gwynn was sensitive about his weight, sometimes getting angry when a reporter discussed or asked about it. His knee injuries over his career prompted the Padres organization, media, and fans to question his weight, conditioning, and eating habits. However, he rejected the notion that his weight led to his injuries. Gwynn contended that his weight was only a topic when he was struggling, and not when he was performing. He also believed that the criticism stemmed mainly from his not fitting people's profile of what an athlete should look like. He said he had "a football player's body", with his father, grandfather and brothers also being big. Gwynn said his hitting style put a lot of torque on his knees. He started experiencing problems with his legs in 1986, when he suffered from shin splints. In his career, he had 13 operations, including eight involving his knees. Padres hitting coach Merv Rettenmund blamed the fields at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati (which he said were "like cement") for causing extreme swelling on Gwynn's left knee which necessitated draining gallons of cartilage liquid. Citing discussions with people in the sports medical community, San Diego sportswriter Tom Krasovic believed that the health problems on Gwynn's legs caused by the heavy bodyweight load were an obstacle to greater success; Krasovic posited that if Gwynn had sustained his lower early career weight, he would've challenged Pete Rose's career hits record. Limited by injuries, he played over 135 games just once in his final 11 seasons. Towards the end of his career, Gwynn had to have his knee drained twice per week to be in a condition to play. Gwynn used to run a great deal to keep in shape, but his last five years were mostly limited to working out in the gym. His actual weight is generally thought to have been under-reported during the latter part of his career, when it was officially listed between 215 and 220 pounds (98–100 kg).
=== Base stealing and fielding ===
Gwynn was a leading base stealer in the first half of his career. He was also able to hit triples, reaching double figures four times. As he became slower in later years while his body grew and his injuries mounted, Gwynn would anticipate pitchers' moves and would sometimes steal bases by breaking for second base before the pitcher started delivering the ball to the hitter. Defensively, he improved considerably and was among the best right fielders at quickly going to the line, cutting the ball off, and throwing to second base. He worked on his defense, constantly checking right field walls in ballparks to study how balls bounced off them. His running ability also helped him on defense. When he entered the majors, Gwynn was not a very good right fielder nor an accurate thrower; in college, he could not even throw the ball from center field to second base without it hopping first. Dave Dravecky, Gwynn's teammate in the Padres minor league farm system, said that when Gwynn began his tenure with the Double-A Amarillo Gold Sox, he had "some of the worst throwing mechanics I have ever seen", and that "his throws from the outfield were limp balloons." For a long time, he worked on his defense harder than he did his hitting. Early on in Gwynn's major league tenure, Clyde McCullough coached Gwynn on fielding every night to strengthen his arm; McCullough repeatedly had Gwynn practice picking up the ball in right field and throwing it to second base. Pitching coach Tom House taught Gwynn the proper grip and throwing motion, and Rob Picciolo hit several ground balls and fly balls to Gwynn. While with the Padres, Gwynn returned to SDSU in the fall every offseason to work on his fielding with an emphasis on foot positioning; he had the assistant coaches hit fly balls to him in the outfield, and he also fielded from the outfield during the team's live batting practice. He was most proud of his five Gold Gloves, calling his first one from 1986 his most treasured piece of memorabilia. He became a perennial leader in outfield assists. Although his arm was not particularly strong, Gwynn learned to use his body to build momentum into his throws.
=== Work ethic ===
Gwynn was hard-working and known for his work ethic and devotion to extra batting practice; on the day of a night game, Gwynn would commence batting practice at the ballpark in the early afternoon between twelve and two o'clock, and also do batting practice in the batting cage after the game. On the road, he stayed in his hotel room, studying video of his at-bats or playing video games. In an era before laptops and tablets, Gwynn bought his own video equipment and lugged it from town to town along with tapes of his games. His wife traveled with a Betamax video cassette recorder that was the size of a suitcase to tape his at-bats. Still, the Padres were the last MLB team to hire a video coordinator. Gwynn later invested in close to $100,000 in video equipment that he shared with his teammates. Few hitters were as meticulous as Gwynn with his detailed notebooks and videotape, which he spent hours studying. He studied pitchers, watching them in the bullpen and on television or video, to learn their tendencies on every count. Gwynn spent hours watching video and analyzing his swing frame by frame. He had one tape of each team, which included his at-bats against that team in the season. Gwynn also used video to scout umpires, studying the size and shape of each individual umpire's strike zone. "Tony taught me more about hitting than I ever taught him", said Merv Rettenmund, his hitting coach for nine years with the Padres. Gwynn was also not averse to lending advice to opponents, as Hall of Fame player Todd Helton remarked how Gwynn guided him during his second year with the Colorado Rockies, about the ideal way to look for the ball being thrown by the pitcher; similarly, after Gwynn's former teammate John Kruk was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, when the Padres and Phillies faced each other and Gwynn reached base with the opportunity to chat with Kruk (who was the first baseman), Gwynn offered Kruk verbal scouting reports for new pitchers on Kruk's NL East divisional opponents. Gwynn was also involved in the Padres' front office affairs as a player; general manager Kevin Towers usually consulted Gwynn for input on potential trades, particularly regarding whether the incoming players' character would be a good fit for the team. In this capacity, Gwynn researched and interviewed people as necessary.
=== Personality ===
Gwynn was friendly and accessible to both the media and fans. Even on the occasions that he began an interview tight-lipped, he almost inevitably opened up and offered abundant material. He spoke with a twang in his high-pitched voice, often filled with loud, infectious, childlike laughter; Chris Berman of ESPN called Gwynn's laugh the "best sound I've ever heard in my life". Gwynn possessed a cheerful personality, being friendly towards others while being critical of himself. He considered himself "a good player ... but I knew my place. I was not a game-changer. I was not a dominant player". His demeanor was even-keeled; Rettenmund said, "You couldn't tell if [Gwynn had] gone 3-for-3 or 0-for-3." Gwynn disliked arrogant people, and was uncomfortable with receiving praise and flattery. Gwynn was unimpressed by other people's social standing, wealth, or fame; he received offers to appear on Jay Leno's talk show on several occasions and declined all of them. Another time, he was invited to a White House dinner with the President and personally didn't care to attend, only obliging at his wife Alicia's insistence because she really wanted to go. After his father died in 1993, Gwynn followed his advice and became more outspoken and more of a team leader.
=== Views on performance-enhancing drugs ===
In 1989, Gwynn first expressed his concerns regarding the increasing usage of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in baseball with Bob Nightengale, the Padres reporter for the Los Angeles Times. In 1995 when very few in the baseball world were outspoken about the matter, Gwynn went public with his opposition to PEDs, and consequently received pushback for doing so from veteran players, including his own teammates. In 2003, Gwynn stated that half of position players in the league used amphetamines; this influenced MLB and the players' union to add "greenies" (a type of amphetamine) to their list of banned substances in 2005. In 2013, Gwynn also advocated harsher penalties for players caught using PEDs, saying that first-time offenders should have their contracts fully voided instead of merely receiving a 50-game suspension; he believed that such punishments would act as a deterrent to curb PED use around the league. Gwynn however, supported Mark McGwire's inclusion into the Hall of Fame, defending his stance with the rationale that the league had "no rules" regarding the use of PEDs throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s; he also said that McGwire "dominated an era" from an on-field standpoint.
== Legacy ==
Gwynn was a 15-time All-Star, voted 11 times by fans to be a starter, the most by an NL outfielder, and tied with Reggie Jackson for the most among MLB outfielders. Gwynn accumulated 3,141 hits and a career batting average of .338, and hit .371 in two World Series. He was lauded for his artistry at the plate, and his Hall of Fame plaque refers to him as "an artisan with the bat". Jayson Stark labeled Gwynn as "the greatest bat artiste of his generation" and remarked that Gwynn achieving a .338 lifetime batting average during his era is "the equivalent of bicycling to the moon". Walter Leavy called Gwynn a "legendary artist", likening him to Pablo Picasso, and offered serious consideration of Gwynn as the greatest hitter ever. Jason Quick recalled that in an interview with Gwynn about hitting, the latter was "describing art in the most passionate and beautiful way possible…It was like hearing Picasso talk about art...And Maya Angelou about poetry." Tim Kurkjian referred to Gwynn as an artist and said "his bats were his magic brushes". David Jones stated Gwynn had "unmatched hitting prowess,” comparing it to the artistry of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Claude Monet; Troy Renck said that when he encountered Gwynn practicing, "it was as if I had stumbled into the recording studio to find Mozart."
Gwynn has the highest adjusted batting average of all-time with .342. Barry Bonds, MLB's all-time home run leader, called Gwynn "the best hitter of my generation"; similar sentiments were echoed by Jayson Stark, The Oklahoman sportswriter Berry Tramel, The Holland Sentinel sportswriter Dan D'Addona, and Esquire news editor Ben Collins. The Associated Press called him "arguably the best pure hitter of his generation". Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, against whom Gwynn had more hits than any other pitcher, called him "the best pure hitter...Easily". A 1997 Sports Illustrated cover declared Gwynn as "The Best Hitter Since Ted Williams".
Gwynn won eight NL batting titles, tying him with Honus Wagner for the league record— second to all-time major league leader Ty Cobb, who won 12 AL titles. Gwynn and Cobb are the only MLB players with two separate runs of three or more straight batting titles. Gwynn finished in the top 10 in batting for 15 consecutive seasons. From 1984 though 1997, Gwynn finished in the top five in all but one season (1990), when he missed it by one hit. He recorded five of the 14 highest season averages since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Gwynn hit above .300 in an NL-record 19 consecutive seasons, exceeded only by Cobb (23). The only season Gwynn failed to bat .300 was his first, when he hit .289 in 54 games. Seven times he batted over .350, the most of any player since World War II. He was the fourth player in MLB history to hit above .350 for five consecutive years. During that span (1993–1997), which was preceded by his first meeting with Williams, Gwynn averaged .368 while leading the league each season except 1993, when he hit .358 to finish second. The four consecutive NL batting titles he won starting in 1994 had not been matched since Rogers Hornsby won six straight beginning in 1920. Gwynn is the only major leaguer to win four batting titles each in two separate decades, and he batted .351 over his final 10 seasons. Six times he led the NL in both batting average and hits in a season, and five times he reached the 200-hit milestone.
Gwynn placed in the top 10 in voting for the National League MVP seven times in his career, including his only top-five finish in 1984, when he ended up third. In 2005, Sporting News ranked Gwynn No. 57 on the list of their 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2019, he was listed at No. 95 on writer Joe Posnanski's list of the 100 greatest baseball players, published by The Athletic. Using a methodology that combined "career WAR, Hall of Fame status, peak performance, and overall contributions to the game", ESPN ranked Gwynn No. 44 on its list of "Top 100 MLB players of all time" in 2022. Gwynn's significance is muted by the non-traditional measurements in sabermetrics, which tends to favor power and the ability to get on base over batting average. As of 2014, his career 65.0 WAR ranked 34th among outfielders, and a few above him had not yet been voted into the Hall of Fame. While he had an on-base percentage of .388, he was one of only four players to hit .335 or more who did not have career .400 OBP. During his career, he finished in the top-10 in the NL in OBP 10 times. Gwynn's run production was another rap against him. He exceeded 90 RBIs in a season just once, when he had 119 in 1997, but he batted .349 in his career with runners in scoring position. "He was devastating with runners in scoring position. Impossible", former player Eric Davis said.
Gwynn's .338 career average ranks 17th all-time. It is the highest of any player who began his career after World War II, and the highest since Williams retired in 1960 with a .344 career average. They are the only ones of the top-17 to play after 1938. Gwynn had the fourth-highest career average of any player with 3,000 hits, and the highest of anyone who was born after 1900. Ever since MLB began tracking the statistic in the early 1990s, Gwynn holds the highest two-strike batting average at .302, which is 40 points above second-place Wade Boggs with .262. Playing in an era when around 75 batters struck out 100 times in a season, Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times a year. He had eight seasons, including six consecutive, when he had fewer than 20 strikeouts. Ten times in his career he finished the season as the hardest player in the NL to strike out. Since 1975, Gwynn is one of only two players that batted .300 in a season while striking out at most once every 25 at-bats. He struck out only 434 times in his whole career, which averaged out to just once every 21 at-bats, or 29 times per 162 games. He became more difficult to strike out later in his career, even as pitchers were growing bigger and stronger and throwing harder. He struck out three times in a game just once in his career, compared to his 297 career three-hit games. Gwynn is one of five players with more than 500 doubles and fewer than 500 strikeouts in their career and the only Hall of Famer since 1965 to finish his career with more doubles than strikeouts. He did not draw many walks, but drew more walks than strikeouts in every season but his rookie year. Though he was not considered a power hitter, opposing managers chose to intentionally walk him nonetheless. He drew 203 intentional passes during his career, which was 50 percent more than his career home run total.
On defense, Gwynn won five Gold Gloves in a six-year span. He stole 318 bases in his career, with a high of 56 and a four-year stretch when he averaged 40. Only four players in MLB history had 300 steals and a career batting average of at least .338; Gwynn was the only one of the four to have played since 1928. He was also just the 10th player to retire with over 3,000 hits and 300 steals. Gwynn in 1999 was the first National League player to reach 3,000 hits since Lou Brock in August 1979. Seven American Leaguers reached the mark after Brock and before Gwynn; all but one played at least 400 games as a designated hitter. An NL player could not be a DH until 1997, when it was allowed for the few interleague games that were played in AL parks. Just six of Gwynn's first 3,000 hits came as a designated hitter. "If you want to do it in the National League, you have to play a position", he said. "It's been 20 years since anybody has been able to do it. That tells you how tough it is to do it in this league."
Gwynn played his entire career for San Diego, a rarity for his generation in an era of free agency, and earned the nickname "Mr. Padre". "In this era it doesn't happen. It takes a little bit of loyalty and luck. It also takes the organization wanting a player to stay with the club", said Gwynn. He regularly took less money to keep his family rooted in San Diego, which prompted criticism from the MLBPA for his setting a lower market value for other star hitters. Gwynn earned $47 million as player, but never received more than $6.3 million in a season, nor signed a contract valued over $12.25 million. Only 17 MLB players have played at least 20 seasons with one club. He is widely considered the greatest Padres player ever. "There's simply no bigger figure in baseball that San Diego's ever had", said former teammate Trevor Hoffman. The San Diego Union-Tribune placed Gwynn No. 1 in their 2014 ranking of the city's most influential sports figures. He eschewed the added fame that might have come from playing elsewhere, opting instead to stay with the small-market team that had just seven winning seasons and three playoff appearances during his two decades with them. Gwynn became a civic icon. "It's rare, and becoming rarer, that one man is so identified with a franchise and a city as Tony is with San Diego and the Padres", said political columnist and baseball writer George Will. Grantland called him "quite simply, one of the most beloved figures in the history of the city of San Diego."
Gwynn's career paralleled that of Wade Boggs, who also debuted in the major leagues in 1982. Gwynn and Boggs were the premier contact hitters in an era dominated by home runs. They both won multiple batting titles—Gwynn's eight to Boggs' five—and each won four straight to join Cobb, Hornsby, and Carew as the only players to do so. Gwynn and Boggs each hit over .350 in four straight seasons, the only players to do so since 1931. They joined Brock and Carew as the only players whose careers ended after World War II who finished with 3,000 hits and fewer than 160 home runs. Gwynn, though, had a career slugging percentage of .459, higher than comparable contemporaries such as Boggs, Brock, Carew, and Rose. Among that group, he had more RBIs (1,138) than everyone but Rose.
Nicknamed "Captain Video", Gwynn used video to study his swing before it became common in baseball. When he began the practice in 1983, MLB teams were years away from using video for scouting. Hoffman said that Gwynn "revolutionized video in baseball"; likewise, Padres manager and general manager Jack McKeon called Gwynn the "father of the video in baseball". Gwynn prospered during the steroid era of baseball. While other players were transforming their physiques over a single offseason, his body grew pudgier and rounder. Though no longer the base stealer or defensive player he was early in his career, he continued to excel as a hitter. From 1995 through 2001, Gwynn hit a major league leading .350 while power hitters were recording the six highest single-season home run totals in MLB history.
Gwynn was known for his dignity and modesty. He received the 1995 Branch Rickey Award, the 1998 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and the 1999 Roberto Clemente Award, which USA Today called "baseball's Triple Crown of humanity and kindness". Tom Verducci of SI.com called Gwynn "an ambassador not just for the game of baseball but for mankind". Commissioner Selig called Gwynn "the greatest Padre ever and one of the most accomplished hitters that our game has ever known, whose all-around excellence on the field was surpassed by his exuberant personality and genial disposition in life". Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux referred to Gwynn as "the greatest ambassador baseball ever had".
=== National Baseball Hall of Fame ===
On January 9, 2007, Gwynn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, being selected on 532 out of 545 ballots (97.61%), the seventh highest percentage in Hall of Fame voting history. Upon receiving the news of being elected, Gwynn broke down into tears; his wife Alicia said this was the first time she ever saw him cry. He was relieved that he did not exceed Tom Seaver's record of 98.8 percent. Gwynn considered his selection to be validation for the value of contact hitters, who are not as celebrated as power hitters. He was inducted alongside Cal Ripken Jr. on July 29, 2007. Ripken and Gwynn are two of the 46 players in the Hall of Fame who played their entire major league career for only one team. Both were elected almost unanimously in their first year of eligibility.
The Gwynn-Ripken induction weekend set a number of attendance records, which were announced during the ceremony. About 14,000 people visited the Hall of Fame Museum on July 28, a record number for a single-day. Baseball attendance for all games played on July 28 also set a single-day record. The induction ceremony also had the greatest collection of Hall of Famers present, 53 of the 61 living members. A record crowd estimated at 75,000 attended the induction ceremony, shattering the previous record of 25,000 in 1999. A week before his induction, Gwynn appeared on a Wheaties box. Additionally, a giant 1984 replica Tony Gwynn Padres jersey measuring 35 feet (11 m) tall and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide was draped on the tower of the San Diego County Administration Building to commemorate the occasion.
=== Other honors and tributes ===
In 1989, Gwynn was inducted into the San Diego State Aztecs Hall of Fame. In 1997, SDSU's baseball facility, Smith Stadium, was extensively renovated with $4 million from Padres owner John Moores. At Moores' request, the stadium was renamed Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Gwynn was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame in 2002, and the team retired his No. 19 in 2004. In 2002, Gwynn was also inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame, which honors athletes in San Diego. He was posthumously inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2016.
In 2007, a 9½-foot (2.9 m), 1,200-pound (540 kg) bronze statue of Gwynn was unveiled in the park just beyond Petco Park's outfield in an area named Tony Gwynn Plaza. The address of Petco Park is 19 Tony Gwynn Drive.
In 2014, the Mountain West Conference posthumously renamed its baseball Player of the Year Award to the Tony Gwynn Award. In 2015, a segment of Interstate 15 in San Diego County was designated with road signage as "Tony Gwynn Memorial Freeway". At the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego, MLB announced that the annual winner of the NL batting title would be known henceforth as the "Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion". On May 9, 2017, a memorial statue in his honor was unveiled at Lake Poway.
== Post-playing career ==
Following his playing career, Gwynn was the baseball head coach at SDSU for 12 seasons, compiling a 363–363 record including three Mountain West Conference championships and three NCAA tournament appearances. During his last season playing for the Padres in 2001, he lobbied for the coaching position after Jim Dietz announced he would step down after the 2002 season. In September 2001, Gwynn signed a three-year contract with his alma mater to be an unpaid volunteer coach for 2002 with a base salary of $100,000 starting in 2003. Gwynn successfully lobbied for the SDSU Aztecs to play the first baseball game at Petco Park after the ballpark opened in 2004. The opponent was the Houston Cougars as a homage to the alma mater of Padres owner John Moores. The game drew a crowd of over 40,000 which set a record for the most attendees at a college baseball game; the Aztecs won.
In the five-year period 2007–2011, the baseball team was penalized with a reduction in scholarships for failing to meet the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate. However, Gwynn's teams improved their academic performance for the five years ending in 2012. The Aztecs finished .500 or better in five of Gwynn's final seven seasons, and they qualified for the NCAA tournament three times in his final six seasons. As the Aztecs' coach, Gwynn oversaw the development of future major leaguers such as Justin Masterson and Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2009; under Gwynn's coaching, Strasburg won the 2009 Dick Howser Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation's best college baseball player. During his coaching tenure, Gwynn attracted uncharacteristically large crowds to games and other events, with most people coming mainly to see Gwynn (rather than the team and players) and possibly seek out his autograph; for this, San Diego Union-Tribune sportswriter Kirk Kenney said that Gwynn had "rock star status".
Gwynn's bout with cancer caused him to miss time intermittently. He missed the start of the 2012 season after undergoing surgery, and missed games in 2013 while involved with a clinical trial. Days before his death in June 2014, he was given a one-year contract extension although he had been on a leave of absence since March while recovering from cancer treatment.
Gwynn was also a broadcaster, working as a game and studio analyst for ESPN. He also worked postseason games on TBS, and served as an expert analyst for Yahoo! Sports. He also served as color analyst for Padres games on Channel 4 in San Diego and later Fox Sports San Diego.
In May 2012, Gwynn joined a group led by movie producer Thomas Tull to bid on purchasing the Padres from Moores. Gwynn had no financial stake in the group, and Tull withdrew his bid in June.
=== Head coaching record ===
Source:
== Personal life ==
Despite being born and raised in Southern California, Gwynn's family was from Tennessee, and his voice was characterized as having a "country accent", "Southern-esque drawl", and "Arkansas accent". Gwynn (along with his father) was fond of jazz music; he regularly listened to the genre prior to his baseball games, as well as during his 2010 radiation treatments to soothe his fear, anxiety, and unease. Kirk Whalum and Boney James were among the specific musicians he listened to. When Gwynn and Darrin Jackson were teammates on the Padres between 1989 and 1992, the pair frequently did golfing, fishing, and ping-pong together. Gwynn had vanity plates printed with "TGwynn" and "Padre19". Gwynn had a fear of flying.
Gwynn married Alicia Cureton on June 6, 1981, at a small Baptist church in Long Beach. Alicia grew up in Southern California after having been born in Beaufort, South Carolina. When Gwynn played for the Padres, she frequently cooked her homemade family fried chicken recipe which the team ate in the clubhouse. When he coached at SDSU, she also cooked some for the fans, among whom it was popular. She later launched a food truck brand called "Gwynn Foods" centered around that recipe. Gwynn was the father of R&B singer Anisha Nicole and major league outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., whose major league debut (with the Milwaukee Brewers) and first major league hit on July 19, 2006, came 24 years to the day after his father's first major league hit—each Gwynn hit a double. Gwynn's brother, Chris, was also a major league outfielder. Both Chris and Tony Jr. played with the Padres during their careers.
Gwynn and his wife moved to Poway, California, in the mid-1980s. In 1991, they moved to a home in northern Poway, where he lived until his death. In 1993, they bought a home in Fishers, Indiana, a suburb in Indianapolis where they lived during the baseball offseason for over a decade. Alicia owned Steady Play, a sportswear business based in Fishers, and Studio 815, a recording studio in Indianapolis. Gwynn enjoyed the relative obscurity he had in Indiana where he could live an ordinary life while virtually nobody in public knew or recognized him. He was a fan of the Indiana Pacers professional basketball team, often attending their games; he first got season tickets for them in the mid-1990s, two rows behind the Pacers bench. On August 13, 1999, days after he collected his 3,000th career hit, Gwynn became the 3,000th season ticket holder of the Indiana Fever, a new women's basketball franchise.
In 1997, Gwynn noticed forgeries of his signature on Padres memorabilia in an official team store in Encinitas, California. After alerting MLB management, he assisted the FBI in verifying his signature and identifying fake autographs during their nationwide Operation Bullpen, which hunted down rings of memorabilia forgers.
=== Tobacco usage and health problems ===
While he was a member of the SDSU Aztecs baseball team, Gwynn started using smokeless tobacco (particularly dipping tobacco) on a regular basis, marking the beginning of his long-term addiction. The Gwynn family's legal case asserted that Gwynn was "deluged" with free samples from tobacco company campus sales representatives throughout his college baseball tenure. Over the next three decades, he consumed approximately two tins of the substance per day; the National Institutes of Health stated that Gwynn's tobacco usage was equivalent to smoking roughly four or five cigarette packs per day.
Gwynn had three procedures to remove noncancerous growths from his parotid gland beginning in 1997. In 2010, he was diagnosed with cancer of a salivary gland and had lymph nodes and tumors from the gland removed; the cancerous location was the spot where Gwynn had placed his dipping tobacco daily for the prior three decades. The operation left his face partially paralyzed on the right side, leaving him unable to smile. Later that year, he underwent eight weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He was declared cancer-free afterwards, and also regained his ability to smile. Additional surgery was performed in 2012 to remove more cancerous growth and address nerve damage. Gwynn and his family attributed the cancer to his long-term dipping tobacco habit. A few doctors stated that studies had not linked parotid cancer with use of chewing tobacco.
After his playing career ended, Gwynn's weight peaked at 330 pounds (150 kg), and he underwent adjustable gastric banding surgery in 2009, in an attempt to lose weight. He did not closely adhere to the diet, and his weight loss began to stall. In 2010, his weight problem led to a slipped disc in his back that affected a nerve down his leg. He needed a walker before he had the damaged disc removed to cure the pain while walking. Later, he experienced a loss of taste for food during radiation therapy for his cancer. During that time, he was limited to a liquid diet and lost 80 pounds (36 kg), all of which he regained after he resumed eating solid foods.
=== Death ===
During another round of cancer treatments in April 2014, a mishap occurred in which Gwynn lost oxygen and was barely able to move. He was sent to rehabilitation to learn how to walk again. On June 16, 2014, Gwynn died at Pomerado Hospital in Poway of complications from his cancer. He was 54 years old. The night before, on Father's Day, he had gone into cardiac arrest, and he was rushed from his home to the hospital.
A public memorial service was held for Gwynn at Petco Park on June 26, 2014. The service was attended by 23,229 fans, who heard tributes to Gwynn from baseball and civic leaders, and from Gwynn's family. He was interred at Dearborn Memorial Park in Poway.
In 2018, Gwynn's family reached a confidential settlement with the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the company in 2016, charging that Gwynn had become "hopelessly addicted" to its products.
==== Impact on tobacco usage in MLB ====
Gwynn was referred to as the "poster player for banning smokeless tobacco." Weeks before he died, Gwynn authored and endorsed a video message addressed to major and minor league players that warned of the health dangers of smokeless tobacco and urged them to quit or refrain from using the substance; Gwynn wanted to speak the part, but was physically unable to use his voice due to his cancer condition, so someone else spoke the message on his behalf. Gwynn's death brought the previously obscure issue of ubiquitous tobacco usage in MLB to the forefront of public awareness, prompting calls for a league-wide ban on the substance. A total of nine major anti-tobacco health organizations co-wrote a letter to MLB commissioner Bud Selig and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) executive director Tony Clark; the letter included the following statements: "As so many in baseball and in the media have expressed, Tony Gwynn was a true hero. We are deeply saddened that his life was ended far too soon by cancer that he attributed to his longtime use of chewing tobacco.""There could be no better way to honor Tony Gwynn than to prohibit tobacco use throughout Major League Baseball." This ultimately led to a prohibition on smokeless tobacco for incoming players being written into the 2016 labor agreement, with existing players receiving a grandfather exemption. Of the change, Gwynn's widow Alicia said, "I think it's a victory, and a positive step in the right direction." Additionally, veteran players Addison Reed and Stephen Strasburg (who were both coached by Gwynn at SDSU), and Chris Sale all chose to quit using tobacco upon learning about Gwynn's death.
== Baseball achievements ==
=== Awards and honors ===
=== Records ===
== Career statistics ==
Bold indicates Padres all-time leader
Source:
== Publications ==
Gwynn, Tony; Geschke, Jim (1986). Tony!. Contemporary Books. ISBN 0-8092-5034-9.
Gwynn, Tony; Rosenthal, Jim (1992). Gwynn's Total Baseball Player. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-07097-7.
Gwynn, Tony; Vaughan, Roger (1998). The Art of Hitting. GT Pub. ISBN 1-57719-347-4.
== Filmography ==
Tony Gwynn: Mr. Padre. Major League Baseball Network. 2018. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1995_box_office_number-one_films_in_the_United_States | List of 1995 box office number-one films in the United States | This is a list of films which have placed number one at the weekend box office in the United States during 1995.
== Number-one films ==
== Highest-grossing films ==
=== Calendar Gross ===
Highest-grossing films of 1995 by Calendar Gross
=== In-Year Release === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_Benson | Olivia Benson | Olivia Margaret "Liv" Benson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay. Benson holds the rank and pay-grade of Captain and is the Commanding Officer of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, which operates out of the 16th Precinct. She investigates sexual offenses such as rape and child sexual abuse.
When the series began, Benson held the rank of detective. Benson was partnered with Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), serving as the junior member of the pair. Following Stabler's departure at the end of the 12th season after a deadly shootout in the precinct, she is partnered with Detective Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) and becomes the senior member. During the 15th season, Benson is promoted to sergeant and appointed as squad supervisor in the wake of the retirement of Sergeant John Munch (Richard Belzer). Soon afterward, Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) retires, and appoints Benson acting commanding officer of SVU until Lieutenant Declan Murphy (Donal Logue) comes to the squad. In Season 17, she is promoted to Lieutenant and becomes the squad's official commanding officer. She is promoted to captain in the 21st season.
The character first appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit pilot episode, "Payback", which aired September 20, 1999. Hargitay remains the only original cast member on the series. As of season 24, Benson has been credited in 573 episodes of SVU (599 in the franchise/universe). With the premiere of season 21, Hargitay's Benson became the longest running prime-time live-action character of all time, surpassing the 20-season record, as well as Belzer's John Munch, who was a regular character for 22 seasons (7 on Homicide: Life on the Street and 15 on SVU).
== Character overview ==
Series creator Dick Wolf named his two lead detectives after his son, Elliot, and his daughter, Olivia. Wolf conceived Benson as a detective in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. For the first 12 seasons of the show, she is partnered with Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni); after he resigns (offscreen) at the beginning of season 13, she is partnered with Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) until season 15, where Benson becomes the commanding officer of Manhattan SVU; first as Sergeant, then Lieutenant, and finally Captain.
=== Personality ===
Benson is tough but empathetic, getting emotionally involved in cases. Executive producer and head writer Neal Baer has explained that Benson is "the empathetic, passionate voice for these victims," in contrast to Stabler, who embodies "the rage we feel, the 'How can this happen?' feeling." Of their partnership, Baer assessed that: "They both represent the feelings that we feel simultaneously when we hear about these cases. That's why they work so well together."
=== Family ===
Born February 7, 1968, Benson was conceived by her mother's rape. Her mother's rapist, Joseph Hollister, later committed suicide. Benson's mother, Serena (Elizabeth Ashley), an English professor, was an alcoholic who abused Olivia emotionally and physically. In the season 2 episode "Taken", Serena dies falling down a flight of subway stairs outside the entrance to a bar.
In a later episode, "Intoxicated", Benson mentions being engaged briefly when she was 16 to one of her mother's students; when her mother found out, she broke a bottle of vodka and went after her with it. Benson fought back, kicked her mother twice, and ran out of the house. Years later, Benson reunites with her former fiancé, true crime podcaster Burton Lowe (Aidan Quinn), while they are both investigating a cold case, and they sleep together. When Lowe is accused of taking advantage of several young women, Benson gradually comes to believe that despite its consensual nature, their relationship was actually sexual abuse, due to the power differential and age difference. A woman later reports to Benson that Lowe, who is in a 12-step program for his alcoholism, tried to make amends to her for drunkenly raping her six months earlier. Benson helps Lowe accept responsibility for what he did, and he pleads guilty to sexual misconduct to spare his victim the trauma of a trial.
Benson is a graduate of Siena College. While there, she held a membership in a sorority. In addition to English, Benson speaks some Italian, Russian, some Spanish and French, and is able to recite the Miranda warnings in at least two other languages. She owns a black 1965 Ford Mustang convertible, but rarely drives it.
Benson had a younger half-brother named Simon Marsden (Michael Weston). Simon, whom she found by illegally running her DNA through the system, was a suspect in a rape case. However, his name was cleared after it is revealed that he was framed by Captain Julia Millfield (Kim Delaney), who believed (incorrectly) that he sexually assaulted her sister when they were in high school. In the season 13 episode "Child's Welfare", Simon reveals to Benson that he is planning to marry a woman named Tracy (Nicole Beharie), with whom he has a daughter and a stepson; he named his daughter Olivia after Benson. When the children are taken by the City because of Simon's criminal background, Benson calls defense attorney Bayard Ellis (Andre Braugher), an old friend of hers, to help Simon and Tracy get the children back. When a judge denies the Marsdens custody of their children, Simon panics and kidnaps them. Ellis makes a deal to have Simon serve a 60-day sentence, knocking his charge down from kidnapping to a misdemeanor, custodial interference. One of the conditions of the reduced charges is that he must give up his custody petition and agree to visit his daughter only in a supervised setting for the next three years. Simon is reluctant, but Benson tells him that the deal is better than his daughter visiting him in jail.
In the season 21 episode "Murdered at a Bad Address", Simon reaches out to Benson for the first time in years as his only remaining family, Tracy having left him and taken their children. She hesitantly agrees to meet with him, but when he doesn't show up, she leaves him a voicemail cutting him out of her life for good. Shortly afterward, he is found dead of a heroin overdose; she feels responsible, believing that he overdosed out of despair after she disowned him. A year later, however, she learns that he was in fact murdered by a gang of prostitutes who rob and kill their clients with heroin and fentanyl, which happened before Benson left that voicemail.
In season 12, Benson is named the legal guardian of a young boy named Calvin Arliss (Charlie Tahan). Calvin's mother, Vivian (Maria Bello), abandons him and flees when Benson's investigation uncovers that Vivian (also a child of rape) may have killed her mother's rapist, Walter Burlock (R. Lee Ermey). Vivian names Benson as Calvin's legal guardian. Calvin lives with her for a while, until she finds Vivian and her lover Sara Hoyt (Kat Foster) have relapsed into drug use. Sara confesses to murdering Burlock before she is herself murdered by Calvin's father. Vivian revokes Benson's guardianship and sends Calvin to live with his grandparents in Vermont. Both Calvin and Benson are devastated by the separation. In season 13, she is seen with Calvin and his grandparents during or right before Halloween.
At the conclusion of the season 15 finale, Benson becomes the court-appointed custodial guardian of Noah Porter, an orphaned baby (twins Bradley and Skyler Dubow). The appointment is for a trial period of one year, with the option to apply for legal adoption at the end of that period. Although the year is rocky due to Noah's health issues and the demands of her job, Benson grows to love Noah and begins formal adoption proceedings a year later. After taking custody of Noah, Benson learns that Noah's biological father is a pimp and serial rapist named John "Johnny D" Drake (Charles Halford), who trafficked and raped Noah's mother, Ellie Porter (Emma Greenwell). Ellie was later sold to another sex trafficker, Angel Perez (Manny Pérez), who had her killed when she was going testify against him. Upon learning of his son, Drake sues for custody as a ploy to get out of prison, imperiling Benson's chances of adopting Noah. Benson's problems are solved when Drake is killed during a courtroom shootout, but she still occasionally worries that Noah has inherited his father's violent tendencies.
At the end of the season 19 premiere "Gone Fishin'" (first of ongoing appearance of Ryan Buggle as an older Noah, following Jack Nawada-Braunwart in seasons 17–18), Benson learns that she is being investigated by the DA's office on suspicions of abusing Noah. The investigation is dropped in "Mood". In "Contrapasso", her lawyer Trevor Langan (Peter Hermann, Hargitay's real-life husband) returns to tell her that Noah has a grandmother, Sheila Porter (Brooke Shields), Ellie's mother. In "No Good Reason", Sheila brings Benson to family court, accusing her of being an unfit parent; the case is dismissed, but Benson agrees that it's in Noah's best interest that they stop fighting. In "Unintended Consequences", Benson lets Porter visit and spend time with Noah. At the end of "Intent", Benson gets a call from Sheila telling her that Noah has been kidnapped in the mall. In "Gone Baby Gone", it is revealed that Sheila was behind the kidnapping, and that she intends to take Noah to live with her in Derry, New Hampshire. Benson goes to Sheila's cabin in Franconia, New Hampshire to rescue Noah. When Sheila attacks her, Benson subdues her, arrests her, and takes Noah home.
In the season 23 episode "Burning with Rage Forever", Noah tells her that he stood up to a bully who was picking on him and a non-binary classmate. Benson tells Noah she is proud of him for standing up for himself and his friend.
=== Relationships ===
==== Elliot Stabler ====
Benson's partnership with Elliot Stabler is a major focal point of her character. The relationship has gone through many stages that have been major plot points of both Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Hargitay has characterized Benson and Stabler's relationship as "very complicated". Her assessment is that:
Sometimes it's very much like brother and sister, and I think the reason that they're so close is that they share a passion for their jobs and for the people. They have a mutual respect for one another. I think that the average lifespan of an SVU detective is four years because of the difficulty and stress involved. They've been doing it for longer than that, so they feel like they're in their own world almost. There's also sexual chemistry between them, it's so loaded and layered. People ask me if they'll ever get together—and people want that, and sometimes I think even Olivia wants that—but I don't think that will ever happen.
Baer agrees that a romantic relationship between the two is unlikely, though commented: "You never can say never".
Hargitay has stated that her favorite SVU scene occurs in the season 7 episode "Fault", when Benson is faced with the possibility of losing Stabler: "Lou Diamond Phillips [a murderous kidnapper] has a gun to Elliot's head. I'm negotiating [with him to drop the gun]. It was a painful, high-stakes scene. Elliot and I have to admit what we mean to each other... He is everything that [my character] Olivia has. So this was where we really got that to pay off." In an episode in which Stabler goes undercover to catch an animal-smuggling ring, Benson shows up at his house and tries to talk him out of it; when they are interrupted by Stabler's targets, she undresses and pretends to be a prostitute.
Benson takes it hard when Stabler resigns from SVU (offscreen) in the 13th season opener, "Scorched Earth", and takes a while to warm up to her new partner, Nick Amaro. Benson frequently mentions Stabler in both a professional and personal context; she tells the squad's newer detectives what Stabler would do in a given situation, and says more than once that she is "getting over someone". In the Season 22 episode "Return of the Prodigal Son", Benson and Stabler see each other again for the first time in 10 years when Stabler's wife Kathy (Isabel Gillies) is severely injured in a car bombing apparently meant for Stabler. Benson is forced to keep Stabler, who is now working in Rome in an organized crime task force, out of the investigation. They have a brief, quietly emotional conversation in which Benson tells him how hurt she was over the way he left SVU. When Kathy dies of her injuries, however, Benson puts her resentment aside to help her grieving friend get justice for his late wife.
Upon renewing her relationship with Stabler, Benson recognizes that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the bombing and Kathy's death. When she tries to talk to him about it, however, he becomes defensive and tells her to "back off". She ultimately joins Stabler's children in staging an intervention for him. He again rejects Benson's attempt to help him, but first blurts out that he loves her in front of his children.
==== Romantic relationships ====
In season 1, Benson has a drunken one-night stand with one of her SVU colleagues, Detective Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters). Comments in the episode "Disrobed" imply that the relationship continued. Cassidy leaves the precinct at the end of that episode. In the season 5 episode "Lowdown", it is revealed Benson had a relationship with a murder victim who turned out to be gay and HIV positive. Medical Examiner Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie) immediately tests Benson and the results come back negative. In the season 9 episode "Closet", the SVU squad are surprised to find out that Benson has been in a relationship with journalist Kurt Moss (Bill Pullman) for several months. It comes out only because Internal Affairs is investigating Benson and Stabler in a case in which the department accidentally outed a professional football player. By the end of the episode, she breaks up with Moss.
While Benson has only been portrayed in relationships with men, she has, according to lesbian entertainment website AfterEllen.com, "attracted a large lesbian following". Fan speculation exists over alleged sexual tension between Benson and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), which Baer admits to indulging: "We read the fan sites. We know that people are into the Alex-Olivia thing. All the codes are in there." Though never shown to have any confirmed romance, it was noted by 2012 that Benson's relationship with Amanda Rollins could be seen as a potential lesbian romance.
In the middle of season 13, Benson enters into a relationship with a new prosecutor to the District Attorney's Office, Executive ADA David Haden (Harry Connick Jr.). Hargitay has said that Connick, who is a friend of hers, improved the show to a more romantic advanced stance. "This is a home run on so many levels," she said. "The show is very fortunate to have Harry's extraordinary talent, and I'm lucky because I get to work with my friend. I think Olivia couldn't have asked for a better companion to take her through a new stage in her life and career." Haden and Benson begin their relationship at the end of the episode, "Official Story". In the episode "Hunting Ground", she decides to take it slow with Haden, claiming she needs time to see if their relationship will last. That night, they end up sleeping together in her apartment. This makes her late for a case, which is frowned upon in the NYPD. In the episode "Justice Denied", Benson and Haden end their relationship due to a conflict of interest.
In the season 14 premiere, Benson shares a kiss with Cassidy after she tells him she is not the same person from 13 years before, when they had a brief sexual relationship. Later that season, in the episode "Undercover Blue", it is revealed that Cassidy and Benson had been seeing each other for quite some time. Their relationship hits a rough patch in the episode when Cassidy is accused of rape, which results in their relationship becoming public. The charges against Cassidy are later dropped when the SVU detectives discover that he was being set up. In season 15, Benson stays with Cassidy as she recovers from her imprisonment by a serial rapist. A few months after she returns to work, they get a new apartment together. They break up in the episode "Downloaded Child", however, upon realizing that they want different things. They nevertheless remain on good terms, especially after Benson gives him the courage to testify against Gary Dolan (William Sadler), the man who sexually abused him as a child.
In "Chicago Crossover" and "They'll Have to Go Through Me", Benson strikes up a friendship with Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) of the Chicago Police Department, despite their differing methodologies when it comes to solving crime. Upon the conclusion of their joint operation, the two share drinks before Benson returns to New York.
It is suggested throughout season 17 that Benson is in a relationship with Capt. Ed Tucker (Robert John Burke) of Internal Affairs. In "Manhattan Transfer", they are forced to confirm their relationship when Tucker is accused – by his own cousin, a priest – of being complicit with a sex trafficking ring that has ties to Vice and the Catholic Church. Tucker is eventually cleared, and he continues his relationship with Benson. In season 18, Tucker tries to convince Benson to retire with him, though at the conclusion of the episode "Next Chapter", Benson realizes she is not ready to do so, as being a cop and a mother are parts of who she is. As a result, Benson breaks up with Tucker at the end of the episode "Chasing Theo". Even though their relationship does not work out, however, Benson is still saddened when Tucker commits suicide after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.
=== Sexual assault storylines ===
In the season 9 episode "Undercover", Benson poses as an inmate in a women's prison to investigate an alleged rape by a corrections officer. While there, the corrections officer in question, Captain Lowell Harris (Johnny Messner), attacks her and attempts to force her to perform oral sex on him. She is rescued by SVU colleague Fin Tutuola (Ice-T), who gets there just in time to stop Harris from raping her. Later, Benson helps convict Harris by questioning his earlier victim about distinguishing features on his penis, prompting the victim to recall a mole on it, which Benson later explains to medical examiner Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie) that she had also seen. When Warner asks Benson if she had been raped, she replies, "It was the closest I've ever come."
In season 10, Benson is seen struggling with now being a victim of sexual assault herself. She is attending group therapy, something she has not shared with anyone but Tutuola. In the episode "PTSD," while investigating the rape and murder of a female Marine, she is pushed against a wall while trying to break up a fight between suspect Master Sergeant Dominic Pruitt (Ryan Kwanten) and Lieutenant Gary Rosten (Dominic Fumusa), who is eventually revealed to be the killer. She subsequently breaks up the fight by holding her weapon to the back of Pruitt's head. Later, as he is being interrogated, Rosten tells Tutuola that, "That broad [Benson] has PTSD, I would know that glassy-eyed look anywhere." At the end of the episode, after Rosten is imprisoned, Benson apologizes to Pruitt, admitting that she was a victim of sexual assault.
In the season 11 episode "Perverted", Benson becomes the prime suspect in the sexual mutilation and murder of a biker gang member. As more evidence is found linking her to the crime, an Internal Affairs detective insinuates that she may have committed it while suffering from a flashback to the assault. The other detectives eventually discover that Benson has been framed by Brady Harrison (Patrick Heusinger), a rapist she sent to prison years earlier.
==== William Lewis storyline ====
At the end of the season 14 finale "Her Negotiation", Benson is kidnapped by serial rapist/murderer William Lewis (Pablo Schreiber). During the season 15 premiere "Surrender Benson", Lewis makes her watch while he rapes and tortures the mother of his own attorney and kills a police officer who attempted to pull him over. He then holds her hostage for four days, burning her with cigarettes and wire hangers. Just as he is about to rape her, she breaks free, handcuffs him, and holds him at gunpoint. When he taunts her that she doesn't "have the balls" to kill him, she loses control and beats him within an inch of his life with an iron rod. She is rescued by her fellow detectives moments later, and Cragen puts her on mandatory leave so she can recover. She returns to work in the following episode, "Imprisoned Lives", which takes place two months later, but is still haunted by the experience. She begins seeing a therapist, Dr. Peter Lindstrom (Bill Irwin), to cope with the trauma. It is later revealed that Lewis survived and is in prison awaiting trial.
In "Psycho/Therapist", a visibly injured and still-recovering Lewis fires his new attorney and chooses to represent himself. He calls Benson as a witness and accuses her of assaulting him because he rejected her sexual advances. She vehemently denies it, and lies under oath that he had broken free of his restraints and lunged at her. Lewis is found guilty of kidnapping and assaulting a police officer, but the jury voices doubts about Benson's story and acquits him of attempted rape. The episode closes with Benson weeping on the courthouse stairs and, four months later, Lewis being wheeled away on a stretcher.
In "Beast's Obsession", Lewis uses the distraction caused by his (self-induced) cardiac incident to escape from prison. He then rapes a teenage girl, kidnaps her younger sister, and threatens to kill her unless Benson tells the truth about her testimony. Benson holds a press conference and admits that she lied on the witness stand. When Lewis does not release the girl, Benson tracks him down and surrenders to him. With his hostage watching, Lewis at first attempts to rape Benson, but changes his mind when she refuses to show him fear; instead, he forces her to play Russian roulette with him. As a police squad closes in, Lewis shoots himself in the head right in front of her, while making it look like she killed him in cold blood. In "Post-Mortem Blues", she is brought before a grand jury to explain her admission and Lewis' death. Her career is threatened until SVU's temporary commanding officer, Lt. Declan Murphy (Donal Logue), tells the grand jury that he instructed Benson to lie in her press conference, thus clearing her of Lewis' death and possible perjury charges. Murphy then makes Benson his second-in-command up until his transfer to an undercover assignment.
In subsequent seasons, Lewis' name becomes a kind of code for an intensely dangerous situation, and Benson admits that her trauma and ordeal with him will always be a part of her. During a heated exchange with Amaro, he pointedly asks her whether she can ever forgive Lewis; she does not answer, and he apologizes.
=== Character development ===
Hargitay has deemed the storyline which saw Benson find her paternal family "probably the biggest thing that's ever happened to Olivia". She feels her character is a role model for teenage girls, revealing:
I get letters saying, 'I want to do the right thing like Olivia. I want to be strong like Olivia. My friend did this, but I didn't do it because of Olivia.' For me, when a television show has that kind of positive effect on young people, it is great. I think it is a good thing that we are shedding light on darkness. I think it is a good thing to make teenage girls aware.
== Service ==
Benson joined the NYPD in 1992, and was trained by Sergeant Karen Smythe (Khandi Alexander) at the 55th Precinct in the Bronx. After completing her probationary period, Smythe recommended that Benson be transferred to the Sex Crimes Unit (later renamed the Special Victims Unit) because of her talent for dealing with victims. From 1992 to May 1998, she was partnered with older officer Patrick Griffin (Anthony Edwards), who in 1992 testified on her behalf when she was accused of taking money and drugs during her first bust. However, he lied for her, as he had not actually been with her in the same room at the time.
By May 1998, she had received her detective's shield and was assigned to the 16th Precinct as a Detective 3rd Grade, and was partnered with Det. Elliot Stabler. She is promoted to Detective 2nd Grade in 2001, and Detective 1st Grade in 2011. In 2006, she is temporarily reassigned to the Computer Crimes Unit; later that year, she does a stint undercover for the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Unit at the request of her friend, Special Agent Dana Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden).
Benson and Stabler work together for over 12 years, until Stabler quits SVU in 2011 after he is forced to kill a 16-year-old girl who shot up the SVU squad room. Following Stabler's resignation, she is partnered with Det. Nick Amaro.
Cragen asks Benson to take the Sergeant's exam following the retirement of Sgt. John Munch (Richard Belzer), and she gets the promotion soon afterward; Cragen congratulates her for placing 48th out of 8,000 applicants. Cragen announces that Benson has been approved to remain at SVU (it was feared she would be reassigned); at the end of the episode, Cragen reveals his impending retirement from the NYPD, making Benson SVU's acting commanding officer. Benson remains in command until Lieutenant Declan Murphy (Donal Logue) takes over the squad; he makes her his second-in-command. When Murphy returns to undercover work, he appoints her acting commander.
Lt. Ed Tucker (Robert John Burke), representing 1 Police Plaza, asks Benson to take the Lieutenant's exam in order to officially take command of SVU before the NYPD appoints another officer to the position. She passes the Lieutenant's exam with flying colors, and is officially promoted to Lieutenant after some politicking by her boss, Deputy Chief William Dodds (Peter Gallagher). Benson had wanted Detective Fin Tutuola as her second-in-command, but Dodds arranges for the politically unsavvy Benson to be assigned a Sergeant who does know how to play the game – his own son, Mike (Andy Karl).
Following the events of "Manhattan Transfer", Benson is relieved of her duties as Commanding Officer of SVU, largely due to her (personal) involvement with now-Captain Tucker, who becomes a person of interest in a complex sex trafficking case SVU stumbled upon. Mike Dodds is made Acting Commanding Officer. In spite of this, Benson quietly continues to run SVU, as Dodds disagrees with her suspension and continues to seek her advice in secret. Benson is reinstated after SVU breaks up the sex trafficking ring and Tucker is cleared.
In "Heartfelt Passages", Benson and Mike Dodds, on the latter's last day at SVU, are involved in a hostage situation involving corrupt Rikers Island corrections officer Gary Munson (Brad Garrett) holding his wife hostage. Benson takes Munson's children out of the house and Dodds tried to resolve the situation, but Munson shoots Dodds while the latter is trying to take his weapon. Dodds suffers a stroke after surgery and dies. Benson blames herself for Dodds' death because she did not initially search Munson for a weapon.
Benson is promoted to captain in the episode "I'm Going to Make You a Star", Deputy Chief Dodds' final official act before he is transferred to Staten Island.
As commanding officer, Benson has worked cases frequently with each of the detectives under her command: Tutuola, Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano) as of 2021.
Benson is forced to kill a suspect on four separate occasions during her tenure on the show: in season 1's "Disrobed", she shoots and kills domestic abuser Roger Silver (Jack Gwaltney) in self-defense during a hostage situation; in season 3's "Wrath", serial killer Eric Plummer (Justin Kirk) commits suicide by cop by attacking a woman and forcing Benson to shoot him; in season 18's "Next Chapter", she shoots and kills rapist (and retired corrections officer) Tom Cole (Chris Bauer) during a hostage situation when Cole attacks her SVU colleague Detective Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino); and in season 23's "Silent Night, Hateful Night", she shoots and kills white supremacist Robert Paul Byers (Michael Laurence) to stop him from detonating a bomb in Washington Square Park. In the Law & Order: Organized Crime episode "With Many Names", she shoots and kills an assassin hired by Kyle Wilkie (Winter Andrews), the mastermind of the "revenge rape" website Shadowërk, to kill her and Stabler. Also, in "Rage", a season 6 episode of SVU, she shoots and wounds serial killer Gordon Rickett (Matthew Modine) to prevent Stabler from killing him in cold blood. She has also been stalked by several of the rapists and child molesters she has investigated over the years, which complicates her role as a mother after she adopts Noah.
== List of assignments ==
Patrol Officer, NYPD 55th Precinct (1992) 16th Precinct (1993)
Junior Detective, NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (May 1998 – May 18, 2011)
Senior Detective, NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (September 21, 2011 – January 15, 2014)
Acting Commanding Officer (Sergeant), NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (January 22, 2014 – April 9, 2014)
Sergeant—Supervisor Detective Squad, NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (April 9, 2014 – May 21, 2014)
Acting Commanding Officer (Sergeant), NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (May 21, 2014 – October 7, 2015)
Lieutenant—Commander Detective Squad, NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (October 7, 2015 – September 26, 2019)
Captain, Commanding Officer, NYPD 16th Precinct (Special Victims Unit) (September 26, 2019 – present)
=== Temporary assignments ===
Detective, NYPD Computer Crimes Unit (May 2, 2006 – May 9, 2006)
Undercover operative, FBI Domestic Terrorism Unit (September 19, 2006 – October 31, 2006)
Special Deputy United States Marshal for the Eastern District of New York (October 6, 2010)
Public Relations Officer, NYPD One Police Plaza (Public Relations) (March 2, 2016 – March 23, 2016)
=== Ranks ===
Officer
Detective 3rd Grade
Detective 2nd Grade
Detective 1st Grade (Shield number 40115)
Sergeant (Shield number 01139)
Lieutenant
Captain
=== Partners ===
Sergeant Karen Smythe, NYPD (Khandi Alexander) – Training officer (1992–1993)
Detective Patrick Griffin, NYPD (Anthony Edwards) – First partner (1993–98)
Detective Elliot Stabler, NYPD Special Victims Unit (Christopher Meloni) (1998–2011)
Detective Nick Amaro, NYPD Special Victims Unit (Danny Pino) (2011–2014)
None (Squad Supervisor) (2014–15)
None (Commanding Officer) (2015–present)
=== Awards and decorations ===
==== As a sergeant ====
The following are the medals and service awards worn by then-Sergeant Benson, as seen in "Betrayal's Climax" and "Beast's Obsession".
==== As a lieutenant ====
The following are the medals and service awards worn by then-Lieutenant Benson, as seen in "Heartfelt Passages".
== Development and casting ==
Casting for the lead characters on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit occurred in spring 1999. Dick Wolf, along with officials from NBC and Studios USA, were at the final auditions for the two leads at Rockefeller Center. The last round had been narrowed down to six finalists. For the female lead – Benson – Samantha Mathis, Reiko Aylesworth, and Hargitay were being considered. For the male role – Stabler – the finalists were Tim Matheson, John Slattery, and Christopher Meloni. Meloni and Hargitay had auditioned in the final round together and after the actors left, there was a moment of dead silence, after which Wolf blurted out, "Oh well. There's no doubt who we should choose – Hargitay and Meloni." The duo, who Wolf believed had the perfect chemistry from the first time he saw them together, were his first choice. Garth Ancier, then head of NBC Entertainment, agreed, and the rest of the panel assembled voiced their assent. Hargitay trained as a rape crisis advocate to prepare for the role of Benson.
During the last months of her pregnancy in 2006, Hargitay took maternity leave from SVU, and was temporarily replaced by Connie Nielsen.
In May 2009, after the show's tenth season, Hargitay and Meloni's contracts expired when they were reportedly making $375,000–$385,000 per episode. During negotiations in April for a new contract, the duo attempted to receive a percentage of the show's profits as other high-profile Law & Order actors had done in the past. It was rumored that NBC threatened to replace Hargitay and Meloni if they persisted in their demands. However, two months later it was officially reported that both their contracts had been renewed for two more years. When the thirteenth season was about to air, initial reports indicated that Hargitay would appear in only the first 13 episodes. However, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt later clarified that she would be in every episode of the season.
Since 2012, Hargitay earns approximately $400,000 to $500,000 per episode.
== Reception ==
Hargitay has won a number of awards for her role as Benson: 'Individual Achievement for Best Female Lead' and 'Outstanding Female Lead' Gracie Awards in 2004 and 2009 respectively, an Emmy for 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series' in 2006, a Prism Award for 'Performance in a Drama Series Episode' in 2006, and a Golden Globe for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series' in 2005. Of her Emmy win, Hargitay commented: "It makes me only want to be better. Now I'm an Emmy winner. I have to step it up."
The San Francisco Chronicle's John Carman called Hargitay "the show's weakest performer" when the series originally premiered in 1999. In 2006, however, fellow San Francisco Chronicle writer Jean Gonick deemed Benson a suitable role model for teenage girls, calling her "courageous and strong, and unspeakably gorgeous", and writing that "Olivia Benson is our own special hero. She battles evil, avenges her mother, faces her demons but refuses to date them." In 2001, Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker criticized Benson and Stabler as "the most naive, bleeding heart molester busters in America."
A poll on the Hallmark Channel voted her second-greatest detective in the Law & Order franchise, only being beaten by Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio). Benson appeared in Comcast's list of TV's Most Intriguing Characters and also in the website's list of TV's Top Cops. She was included in TV Guide's list of "TV's Sexiest Crime Fighters". UGO Networks placed "the hard-charging detective" among the "fifty greatest fictional detectives of all time". A 2015 poll released by Trailer Park, Inc. in conjunction with QC Strategy ranked Benson as the No. 1 "favourite female television character".
== Appearances on other shows ==
Benson appears on seven episodes of Law & Order, one episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, three episodes of Chicago P.D. and one episode of Chicago Fire.
Law & Order: "Entitled: Part 2" (February 18, 2000)
Law & Order: "Fools for Love" (February 23, 2000)
Law & Order: Trial by Jury: "Day" (May 3, 2005)
Law & Order: "Flaw" (September 28, 2005)
Chicago P.D.: "They'll Have to Go Through Me" (November 12, 2014)
Chicago Fire: "We Called Her Jellybean" (April 28, 2015)
Chicago P.D.: "The Number of Rats" (April 29, 2015)
Chicago P.D.: "The Song of Gregory William Yates" (February 10, 2016)
Law & Order: "Black and Blue" (May 19, 2022)
Law & Order: "Gimme Shelter – Part Three" (September 22, 2022)
Law & Order: "The Perfect Man" (October 10, 2024)
Law & Order: "Play with Fire Part 1" (April 17, 2025)
=== Law & Order: Organized Crime ===
To date, Benson further appears recurringly as a special guest in fourteen episodes of the spin-off Law & Order: Organized Crime:
"What Happens in Puglia" (April 1, 2021)
"Not Your Father's Organized Crime" (April 8, 2021)
"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" (April 22, 2021)
"An Inferior Product" (May 13, 2021)
"Forget It Jake; It's Chinatown" (June 3, 2021)
"The Outlaw Eddie Wagner" (September 30, 2021)
"The Good, The Bad, and The Lovely" (October 14, 2021)
"The Christmas Episode" (December 9, 2021)
"Takeover" (March 10, 2022)
"Lost One" (May 5, 2022)
"Gimme Shelter – Part One" (September 22, 2022)
"Shadowërk" (May 11, 2023)
"With Many Names" (May 18, 2023)
"Dante's Inferno" (April 17, 2025) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_Montpellier | William II of Montpellier | William II (or in Occitan: Guilhem II) was the second Lord of Montpellier. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Sturgeon | Nicola Sturgeon | Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, firstly as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region, and then as the member for Glasgow Southside (formerly Glasgow Govan) from 2007.
Born in Ayrshire, Sturgeon is a law graduate of the University of Glasgow. She worked as a solicitor in Glasgow before her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. She served successively as the SNP's shadow minister for education, health, and justice. Sturgeon entered the leadership of the SNP but later withdrew from the contest in favour of Alex Salmond, standing instead as depute leader on a joint ticket with Salmond. Both were subsequently elected; as Salmond was still an MP, Sturgeon led the SNP in the Scottish Parliament from 2004 to 2007. The SNP emerged as the largest party following the 2007 election and Salmond headed the first SNP minority government, with Sturgeon as his deputy. From 2007 to 2012, she served as health secretary, overseeing the scrapping of prescription charges and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Following the SNP's landslide majority in 2011, she was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities, which saw her in charge of the legislative process for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign resulted in Salmond's resignation as SNP leader.
Sturgeon was elected unopposed as SNP leader in November 2014 and was subsequently appointed as first minister, becoming the first woman to hold either position. She entered office amid a rapid surge in membership of the SNP, which was reflected in the party's performance in the 2015 general election, winning 56 of the 59 Scottish seats and replacing the Liberal Democrats as the third-largest party in the House of Commons. The SNP continued to enjoy electoral successes throughout Sturgeon's eight years in office, but lost 21 seats in the 2017 general election. Despite losing her majority, Sturgeon secured a second term in office in 2016, forming a minority government.
Sturgeon led the Scottish Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing a series of restrictions on social gatherings and the rollout of the vaccine programme. A seat short of a majority in 2021, Sturgeon became the only first minister to serve a third term, and she subsequently entered a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. The calls from Sturgeon's government and the wider independence movement for a second referendum were unsuccessful, as successive Conservative prime ministers refused to grant a Section 30 order. From 2022, Sturgeon received heavier criticism for her positions on gender reforms. On 15 February 2023, Sturgeon resigned the leadership of the SNP claiming occupational burnout; she was succeeded by her health secretary, Humza Yousaf, the following month. In March 2025, she announced she would stand down as an MSP at the next Scottish Parliament election, expected to be held in 2026.
== Early life and education ==
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon was born in Ayrshire Central Hospital in Irvine on 19 July 1970. She is the eldest of two daughters born to Joan Kerr Sturgeon, a dental nurse, and Robin Sturgeon (born 28 September 1948), an electrician. Her younger sister, Gillian Sturgeon, is an NHS worker. Her family has some roots in North East England; her paternal grandmother, Margaret Sturgeon (née Mill), was from Ryhope in what is now the City of Sunderland. Sturgeon grew up in Prestwick and in the village of Dreghorn, in a terraced council house, which her parents bought through the right-to-buy scheme.
Sturgeon was a quiet child and has been described by her younger sister as "the sensible one" of the two. Sturgeon was shy and has said that she "much preferred to sit with my head in a book than talking to people". She developed a passion for books and reading which continued into adult life. She has described herself as being an "austere" teen whose style tended towards goth, adding that "if you see pictures of me back then, you would struggle to know whether I was a boy or a girl". Sturgeon was a fan of Wham! and Duran Duran, and enjoyed spending Saturday nights at Frosty's Ice Disco in Irvine.
Sturgeon attended Dreghorn Primary School from 1975 to 1982 and Greenwood Academy from 1982 to 1988. She later studied law at the University of Glasgow School of Law, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) in 1992 and a Diploma in Legal Practice the following year. During her time at the University of Glasgow she was active as a member of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association and the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council.
== Legal career ==
Following her graduation, Sturgeon completed her legal traineeship at McClure Naismith, a Glasgow firm of solicitors, in 1995. After qualifying as a solicitor, she worked for Bell & Craig, a firm of solicitors in Stirling, and later at the Drumchapel Law Centre and a Money Advice Centre in Glasgow from 1997 until her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
== Early parliamentary career ==
=== Early political years ===
In her early teens, Sturgeon joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and in 1986, at the age of 16, she became a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), quickly becoming the party's Youth Affairs Vice Convener and Publicity Vice Convener. She joined the SNP following an assumption by her English teacher, who was a Labour councillor, she would be a Labour supporter. In the 1987 UK General election, Sturgeon got her first taste of campaigning, going door-to-door to get her local SNP candidate, Kay Ullrich, elected to Westminster. Despite Ullrich failing to win the seat, Sturgeon ploughed her political energy into the Young Scottish Nationalists (now Young Scots for Independence), joining its national executive when she was 17.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Sturgeon revealed that it was Margaret Thatcher who inspired her to enter politics, because, due to rising unemployment in Scotland at the time, she developed "a strong feeling that it was wrong for Scotland to be governed by a Tory government that we hadn't elected".Thatcher was the motivation for my entire political career. I hated everything she stood for.
Sturgeon became the youngest ever parliamentary candidate in Scotland in the 1992 general election. Aged 21, Sturgeon was selected as the SNP candidate in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency. She was unsuccessful, having been beaten by almost 15,000 votes by Labour. Sturgeon also stood unsuccessfully as the SNP candidate for the Irvine North ward on Cunninghame District Council in May 1992, for the Baillieston/Mount Vernon ward on Strathclyde Regional Council in 1994, and for the Bridgeton ward on Glasgow City Council in 1995.
In the mid-1990s Sturgeon and Charles Kennedy went together on a political study visit to Australia.
The 1997 general election saw Sturgeon selected to fight the Glasgow Govan seat for the SNP. Boundary changes meant that the notional Labour majority in the seat had increased substantially. However, infighting between the two rival candidates for the Labour nomination, Mohammed Sarwar and Mike Watson, along with an energetic local campaign, resulted in Glasgow Govan being the only Scottish seat to see a swing away from Labour in the midst of a Labour landslide nationwide. Sarwar did, however, win the seat with a majority of 2,914 votes. Shortly after this, Sturgeon was appointed as the SNP's spokesperson for energy and education matters.
=== SNP in opposition ===
Sturgeon stood for election to the Scottish Parliament in the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999 as the SNP candidate for Glasgow Govan. Although she failed to win the seat, she was placed first in the SNP's regional list for the Glasgow region, and was thus elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. The SNP emerged as the second largest party and sat in opposition to the Labour-Lib Dem coalition. In Alex Salmond's shadow cabinet, she served as Shadow Minister for Children and Education from 1999 to 2000.
As Shadow Education minister, Sturgeon backed Labour's efforts to repeal Section 28 – a Westminster law that banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools. There was, however, significant public opposition to repeal and an unscientific postal vote on the issue – organised by SNP donor Brian Souter – suggested most Scots wanted to keep the clause. Acknowledging this, Sturgeon suggested: "That is why the SNP have urged a policy for many months that we believe can provide people with the necessary reassurance, by providing a statutory underpinning to the guidelines, and resolve this difficult debate. We believe that the value of marriage should be clearly referred to in the guidelines, without denigrating other relationships or children brought up in other kinds of relationship." The compromise had the support of Souter but an amendment to that effect was voted down by MSPs who expressed concerns it would stigmatise children from single parent and unmarried families.
Sturgeon served as Shadow Minister for Health and Community Care from 2000 to 2003, and Shadow Minister for Justice from 2003 to 2004. She also served as a member of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and the Health and Community Care Committee.
=== 2004 SNP leadership election ===
On 22 June 2004, John Swinney resigned as Leader of the SNP following poor results in the European Parliament election. His then-depute, Roseanna Cunningham, immediately stood for the leadership. The previous leader, Alex Salmond, at the time refused to stand. On 24 June 2004, Sturgeon also entered the leadership contest, with Kenny MacAskill as her running mate. The political columnist Iain Macwhirter declared that while she "didn't inspire great warmth", she was "quick on her feet, lacks any ideological baggage and has real determination – unlike... Roseanna Cunningham".
However, once Cunningham emerged as the favourite to win, Salmond entered the contest and Sturgeon subsequently withdrew from the contest and declared her support for Salmond, standing instead as his running mate for the depute leadership. It was reported that Salmond had privately supported Sturgeon in her leadership bid, but decided to run for the position himself as it became apparent she was unlikely to beat Cunningham. The majority of the SNP hierarchy lent their support to the Salmond–Sturgeon bid for the leadership, although MSP Alex Neil backed Salmond as leader, but refused to endorse Sturgeon as depute.
On 3 September 2004, the leadership contest resulted in Salmond and Sturgeon elected as Leader and Depute Leader respectively. As Salmond was still an MP in the House of Commons, Sturgeon led the SNP at the Scottish Parliament until the 2007 election, when Salmond was elected as an MSP.
=== Leader of the largest opposition party; 2004–2007 ===
Sturgeon served as leader of the largest opposition party in the Scottish Parliament, and became a high-profile figure in Scottish politics, often clashing with First Minister Jack McConnell at First Minister's Questions. This included rows over the House of Commons' decision to replace the Trident nuclear weapon system, and the SNP's plans to replace council tax in Scotland with a local income tax. Sturgeon quickly grew a reputation in Holyrood as opposition leader, becoming known as "nippy sweetie" – Scottish slang for the "sharp-tongued and strong-minded".
== Deputy First Minister of Scotland (2007–2014) ==
=== Appointment ===
In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Sturgeon defeated Gordon Jackson QC with a 4.7% swing to the SNP in the Glasgow Govan constituency. This was one of many swings to the SNP, as the party emerged as the largest party, winning one seat more than the governing Scottish Labour Party. Although the SNP was recognised as the winners of the election, it failed to obtain a majority and Labour was not willing to allow the SNP to enter government. Sturgeon led coalition negotiation talks between the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens, but these talks failed to reach an agreement, with the Lib Dems backing out and the Greens instead supporting a 'confidence and supply' agreement. Ultimately, Salmond formed a minority government and he was appointed First Minister of Scotland. He appointed Sturgeon as Deputy First Minister and tasked her with the Cabinet position of Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.
=== Health Secretary (2007–2012) ===
Sturgeon served as Health Secretary in Salmond's first, and for a year, in his second cabinet. She was supported in her role as Health Secretary by Shona Robison, the Minister for Public Health and Sport, and by Alex Neil, the Minister for Housing and Communities. She launched her programme for government, the Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan, which settled a new vision for NHS Scotland. She reversed the decision to close casualty units at University Hospital Ayr and University Hospital Monklands. Sturgeon oversaw the scrapping of prescription charges In Scotland, an election pledge by the SNP originally for the chronically ill and those with cancer.
==== Health policy ====
Sturgeon also outlined a guaranteed maximum 18-week wait for patients after they had seen their GP and vowed to do away with deferred or "hidden" waiting lists. She ordered a review of the issue of hospital car parking charges – as high as £7 in some areas – and launched an inquiry into the infection of NHS patients with Hepatitis C and HIV from tainted blood products.
==== 2009 swine flu pandemic ====
As Health Secretary, Sturgeon became more widely known internationally for her handling of the 2009 flu pandemic.
On 26 April 2009, the Scottish Government confirmed that two people who had returned from Mexico had been admitted to Monklands Hospital in Airdrie after experiencing "mild flu-like symptoms". Sturgeon stated that there was "no immediate threat to public health in Scotland", but added, "monitoring of those who have been in close contact with the two people is also being carried out as an additional precaution." The following day, she confirmed that these were cases of the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus. Authorities in both Scotland and England stated that there were no plans to trace the fellow airline passengers who may have travelled alongside the couple, since the authorities do not classify them as "close contacts".
On 11 June, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the influenza virus a pandemic. Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that containment of the virus had failed and that the Scottish Government was taking steps to mitigate the spread of the virus. "We have seen a rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases in Scotland over the past 10 days", she told Parliament. "Based on this experience, Health Protection Scotland has expressed the view that sustained community transmission appears to be taking place." Four days later, a Scottish woman with underlying health conditions died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley. This marked the first death in Scotland and Europe.
==== Minimum pricing unit ====
To tackle Scotland's poor relationship with alcohol, Sturgeon passed legislation to increase the price of alcohol per unit to help reduce sales, in particular, for those addicted. In June 2012, the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 was passed after receiving support from the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Greens. Labour refused to support the bill as they claimed it failed to tackle windfall profit from alcohol retailers.
=== Infrastructure Secretary (2012–2014) ===
At the 2011 election, the SNP won a large overall majority. Sturgeon was retained as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing until a reshuffle one year later, when she was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities and an additional role overseeing the referendum on Scottish independence, essentially putting her in charge of the SNP's referendum campaign.
In 2012 she pledged to build a high-speed railway line between Glasgow and Edinburgh by 2024, cutting journey times between the two cities to under 30 minutes. Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would "not wait" for Westminster to build a high-speed line to Scotland. However, in 2016 the plan was abandoned and the Scottish Government blamed Westminster.
=== 2014 Scottish independence referendum ===
Salmond put Sturgeon in charge of the Scottish Government's legislative process for a referendum on Scottish Independence and she was essentially in charge of the SNP's referendum campaign.
In December 2012, Sturgeon said that she believed that independence would allow Scotland to build a stronger and more competitive country, and would change spending priorities to address "the scandal of soaring poverty in a country as rich as Scotland".
While campaigning for a Yes vote in August 2013, she told The Guardian that if Scots voted for the Union: "Will there be another referendum round the corner? No. We can't bind our successors, but we've made very clear our belief that constitutional referenda are once-in-a-generation events."
In November 2013, Sturgeon joined Salmond to launch Scotland's Future – the Scottish Government's prospectus for independence. Sturgeon was one of the white paper's most high-profile media champions and frequently debated its contents with opposition politicians and sceptical Scots. When the British Government turned down the Scottish Government's idea of a formal currency union – on the grounds that the rationale for sharing a currency with a foreign country was "not clear" – Sturgeon accused Westminster of trying to "bully Scotland" and said it would "cost their own businesses hundreds of millions in transaction costs".
During the campaign, the European Commission said that if Scots decided to leave the United Kingdom, it would also mean leaving the European Union. Scotland would then have to reapply for EU membership and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso predicted this would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible". In July 2014 Sturgeon said this would put at risk the right of EU citizens to continue living in Scotland: "There are 160,000 EU nationals from other states living in Scotland, including some in the Commonwealth Games city of Glasgow. If Scotland was outside Europe, they would lose the right to stay here."
On 19 September 2014, independence was rejected in the Scottish independence referendum, with 55.3% of the voters voting no and 44.7% voting yes. Following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign, Salmond resigned as First Minister and Leader of the SNP. Sturgeon immediately entered the election to replace him, and received huge support from the SNP hierarchy. Sturgeon said that there would be "no greater privilege" than to lead the SNP. On Salmond's resignation, Sturgeon said:
The personal debt of gratitude I owe Alex is immeasurable. He has been my friend, mentor and colleague for more than 20 years. Quite simply, I would not have been able to do what I have in politics without his constant advice, guidance and support through all these years. [...] I can think of no greater privilege than to seek to lead the party I joined when I was just 16. However, that decision is not for today.
Following the referendum defeat, Sturgeon said that "further devolution is the route to independence". She also opined that Scottish independence was a matter of "when, not if".
=== Leadership of the Scottish National Party ===
On 24 September 2014, Sturgeon officially launched her campaign bid to succeed Salmond as Leader of the Scottish National Party at the November leadership election. It quickly became apparent that no other candidate would be able to receive enough required nominations to run a credible leadership campaign. Upon launching her campaign, Sturgeon also resigned as Depute Leader, triggering a concurrent depute leadership election; the MSPs Angela Constance and Keith Brown and the MP Stewart Hosie all nominated themselves to succeed Sturgeon as Depute Leader.
Nominations for the SNP leadership closed on 15 October, with Sturgeon confirmed as the only candidate. SNP convener Derek Mackay publicly congratulated Sturgeon as de facto leader in waiting, saying that she would be "a fantastic new leader" for both the SNP and for Scotland. On this date, Sturgeon also came out on top in a trust rating opinion poll, conducted for the SNP, which indicated that 54% of the Scottish population trusted her to "stand up for Scotland's interests".
At a speech in Dundee's Caird Hall on 7 November, Sturgeon pledged to be "the most accessible First Minister ever" when she took over. She also promised to hold a monthly Facebook question and answer session with members of the public, regular town hall meetings and that the Scottish Cabinet would meet outside Edinburgh once every two months.
Sturgeon was formally acclaimed as the first female Leader of the SNP on 14 November 2014 at the Autumn Conference in Perth, with Hosie as her depute. This also made her First Minister-Designate, given the SNP's absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament. In her first speech as leader, Sturgeon said that it was "the privilege of her life" to lead the party she joined as a teenager.
Although Salmond officially tendered his resignation as First Minister on 18 November 2014, Sturgeon was not sworn in until two days later. From 18 November until her official appointment on 20 November, she served as the acting First Minister, essentially the First Minister-elect.
== First Minister of Scotland (2014–2023) ==
=== First term (2014–2016) ===
On 20 November 2014, Sturgeon was sworn into office at the Court of Session in a ceremony presided by Lord Gill, after receiving the royal warrant of appointment by Queen Elizabeth II. She became the first woman to hold office. During her first First Minister's Questions after being sworn in, Sturgeon tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying that she came into her new post "with an open mind and a willingness to hear proposals from all sides of the chamber."
==== First cabinet ====
Sturgeon began making appointments to her first cabinet on 21 November 2014, beginning with the appointment of finance secretary John Swinney to become her Deputy First Minister. Shona Robison, a close ally to Sturgeon, became the health secretary, while Keith Brown and Angela Constance, who were both unsuccessful in their bids for the deputy leadership of the SNP, were appointed infrastructure secretary and education secretary, respectively. Michael Matheson was promoted as justice secretary.
The departure of Kenny MacAskill and Michael Russell signalled a generational shift away from the "79 group". Alex Neil, who many speculated would be dismissed, remained in cabinet but in a "less prominent portfolio" of social justice, communities and pensioners' rights. Roseanna Cunningham, who had difficult relationship with Sturgeon, was surprisingly promoted to cabinet as the fair work secretary. Fiona Hyslop and Richard Lochhead remained in their portfolios of culture secretary and rural affairs secretary, respectively.
Sturgeon's cabinet was 50/50 gender balance, with five men and five women, including herself.
==== 2015 Westminster landslide ====
Sturgeon led the Scottish National Party through a landslide victory in the 2015 UK general election, winning 56 out of 59 Scottish seats at Westminster, the party's best ever performance. The party received 50% of the vote share in Scotland and replaced the Liberal Democrats as the third largest party in the British House of Commons. Sturgeon had stated that the party's success in the election was not a mandate for another independence referendum, but primarily for a stronger voice for Scotland in London.
In the run-up to the elections, Sturgeon took part in several Scottish and UK-wide TV election debates and according to opinion polls was regarded to have had a successful performance. As part of the election campaign, Sturgeon indicated that the SNP would hold another independence referendum if it won the upcoming 2016 Scottish Parliament election.
==== 2016 Scottish Parliament election ====
Sturgeon launched, in what she claimed, as the most "bold, ambitious and reforming" SNP manifesto for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. She set out the party's plans to increase income tax by freezing tax thresholds, reversing her previous policy of cutting taxes for higher earners. The manifesto also included a commitment to increase NHS funding by £500 million, "baby boxes" full of essentials to newborn parents, and an ambitious new target to cut emissions by 50% by 2020 as of the party's effort to tackle climate change. Sturgeon also hinted if re-elected she would hold a second referendum on Scottish independence.
Despite losing her majority, Sturgeon claimed a "historic victory" after the SNP won a third consecutive term in government and sought a second term in office as a minority government.
=== Second term (2016–2021) ===
==== 2016 EU membership referendum ====
In 2016, the European Union membership referendum to decide the future of the UK's European Union membership resulted in 52% of voters in the UK voting for Brexit (leaving the EU), with 48% voting to remain; all council areas in Scotland voted by a majority for the UK to remain a member of the EU. Across Scotland, 62% of voters backed the UK remaining a member of the EU, with 38% voting for the UK to leave.
In response to the result, on 24 June 2016, Sturgeon said that Scottish Government officials would begin planning for a second independence referendum. Sturgeon claimed that it was "clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union" and that Scotland had "spoken decisively" with a "strong, unequivocal" vote to remain in the European Union. Sturgeon said it was "democratically unacceptable" that Scotland could be taken out of the EU "against its will". An emergency Scottish cabinet meeting on 25 June agreed that the Scottish Government would seek to enter negotiations with the EU and its member states, to explore options to protect Scotland's place in the EU. Sturgeon later said that while she believed in Scottish independence, her starting point in these discussions was to protect Scotland's relationship with the EU.
==== Future referendum on independence ====
Sturgeon confirmed in June 2016 that the Scottish government had formally agreed to draft legislation to allow a second independence referendum to take place. As the constitution is a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998, for a future referendum on Scottish independence to be legal under UK law, it would need to receive the consent of the British Parliament to take place.
Prior to the day the Prime Minister triggered Article 50, formally allowing the process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, the Scottish Parliament voted 69 to 59 in favour of another independence referendum. By the end of that week, on 30 March 2017, Sturgeon wrote to the Prime Minister requesting a Section 30 order, formally devolving the responsibility and power to the Scottish Government to plan for and hold another referendum on Scottish independence. Previously, May and David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland, had both highlighted that as the negotiations began with the European Union on the United Kingdom's withdraw, it was important for Scotland to work with the UK Government to get the best exit deal for both the United Kingdom and Scotland, stating that "now is not the time for another referendum".
Following the 2017 UK general election, Sturgeon's government postponed legislation pertaining to the proposed second referendum on Scottish independence until at least autumn 2018. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, all plans for another referendum were put on hold.
==== Alex Salmond sexual harassment case ====
In January 2019, Sturgeon referred herself to an independent ministerial ethics body, which led to an investigation into her actions with respect to a sexual harassment case concerning allegations against Salmond. This followed her admitting that she had had a secret meeting and subsequent phone call with Salmond about the Scottish government's allegations against him. She raised these with the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, Leslie Evans, two months later, rather than reporting them immediately, as she should have done if they constitute government matters (as per the ministerial code). Sturgeon argued that the meetings were SNP party matters, and thus not covered. The investigating panel consisted of Dame Elish Angiolini, a former Solicitor General for Scotland and lord advocate, and James Hamilton, a former director of public prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland.
On 15 January 2019, the Scottish Parliament agreed to hold its own inquiry into the matter, the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, to investigate how the Government breached its own guidelines in its original investigation into the harassment claims against Salmond, and then lost a judicial review into their actions and had to pay over £500,000 to Salmond for legal expenses. Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, was called to this inquiry to give evidence on 8 December 2020. Opposition parties criticised Sturgeon on disparity and contradictions between the narratives of Murrell and herself.
On 4 March 2021, Sturgeon answered questions over a period of eight hours from members of the committee. Two of the civil servants who made complaints about Salmond later said they felt they had been "dropped" by the Scottish Government after it lost the judicial review against him, adding they feared their experiences would make it less likely people would make complaints in the future. Labour MP Jess Phillips, a former employee of Women's Aid, accused Sturgeon of being "unprofessional with those women's lives" and said there had been a "litany of failures in professionalism and decency."
Sturgeon survived a motion of no confidence lodged by former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson over the issue in late March 2021. Davidson lodged the motion after a majority of the members on the committee investigating the government's handling of the harassment complaints found that they believed Sturgeon had misled them in the evidence she had given. Only the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles, and Reform UK MSP Michelle Ballantyne voted in favour of the motion. The Labour Party and the remaining Liberal Democrat MSPs abstained, claiming that the Conservatives were playing party politics with the issue. The motion was therefore defeated by a majority of 34 (with the Scottish Greens voting alongside the SNP). This was the first no confidence vote brought against a serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament.
==== COVID-19 pandemic ====
The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 began during Sturgeon's second term as First Minister. The first case of the virus in Scotland was confirmed on 1 March 2020, when a resident in Tayside had tested positive.
Initially, the Scottish Government resisted banning public events and on 12 March allowed 47,000 fans to attend a Rangers match at Ibrox, insisting that, "stopping mass gatherings [is] not the best way to contain this virus." However, Sturgeon's government ordered all schools and nurseries in Scotland closed on 20 March to try to limit the spread of the virus. On 23 March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sturgeon ordered Scotland into "lockdown", limiting the reasons why people may leave their homes in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, to protect the health of the population, and to ease the pressure the virus placed on NHS Scotland services and workforce. Subsequently, the restrictions were repeatedly tightened, loosened and adapted in parts or all of Scotland in response to developments in the situation.
During the early stages of the pandemic, 1,300 elderly hospital patients were transferred into care homes without receiving a negative coronavirus test result. Many had been infected with the virus and ended up passing it on to other care home residents. Over three thousand care home residents died from COVID-19 and Gary Smith, Scotland Secretary of the GMB, said the policy had turned "care homes into morgues". When asked by the BBC if the policy had been a mistake, Sturgeon said: "Looking back on that now, with the knowledge we have now and with the benefit of hindsight, yes." In April 2020 whistle-blowers in the NHS came forward to reveal that staff were being made to reuse dirty personal protective equipment (PPE) while at work. One nurse told STV, "[When we hear the government say supplies are fine] it's not frustrating, it's crushing. It is absolutely crushing. We feel we are being lied to." Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament in July, "At no point within this crisis has Scotland run out of any aspect of PPE. We have worked hard to make sure that supplies are there, we've worked hard overcoming challenges that we have faced along the way."
In July 2020, Sturgeon advocated that the leaders of the four UK nations adopt a coordinated Zero-COVID strategy. In February 2021, Audit Scotland published a report that concluded the Scottish government had not prepared adequately for a pandemic. While it commended the authorities for preventing hospitals from becoming overwhelmed during the crisis, the watchdog also noted that recommendations from pandemic planning exercises in 2015, 2016 and 2018 had not been fully implemented. One particular problem it highlighted was that not enough had been done to ensure Scottish hospitals and care homes had enough personal protective equipment. Overall, it concluded that ministers "could have been better prepared to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic". Sturgeon said there were "lots of lessons to learn".
In March 2021, the Court of Session declared that the Scottish government's prohibition on communal worship, imposed during the pandemic, was unlawful. This followed an open letter two months earlier, written by 200 church leaders to Sturgeon, warning her that the prohibition could be unlawful. In April 2021, Scotland's death toll from COVID-19 passed 10,000. At a session of First Minister's Questions in June 2021, Sturgeon was asked about mistakes made early on in the pandemic, and she replied: "If I could turn the clock back, would we go into lockdown earlier than we did? Yes, I think that is true."
In April 2022, Sturgeon demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson resign after police fined him for breaking lockdown rules in 2020. "The basic values of integrity and decency – essential to the proper working of any parliamentary democracy – demand that he go", she tweeted. The following week, Sturgeon received an official reprimand from Police Scotland after a video emerged of her campaigning in a barber shop without a mask. Sturgeon – who had previously apologised to the Scottish Parliament after she was caught breaking the same law in December 2020 – apologised once more and said the police had been "absolutely right to treat me no differently to any other citizen."
=== Third term (2021–2023) ===
Sturgeon led the SNP into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election on a manifesto promise to hold a second independence referendum after the COVID-19 pandemic was over. In the election, the SNP won 64 of the 129 seats contested. The SNP won a fourth consecutive election, albeit short of an overall majority, with a record number of votes on both the constituency and regional vote as well as increasing their share of the constituency vote and making a net gain of one seat.
Sturgeon was nominated for the post of First Minister by a vote of the Scottish Parliament on 18 May, defeating Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie by 64 votes to 31 and 4 respectively. This win resulted in Sturgeon becoming the first First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament to form a third government. Shortly after being elected, Sturgeon appointed John Swinney to the newly created position of Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery.
==== Power-sharing agreement ====
In August 2021, Sturgeon and Scottish Green Party co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater reached a power-sharing agreement between their parties. There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration, but the government now argued that it had a stronger case for a national independence referendum. As part of the agreement, the Green Party co-leaders would be nominated to serve as ministers.
==== Climate crisis ====
In August 2021, confronted by climate activist Lauren Macdonald about the Cambo oil field west of Shetland, Sturgeon refused to take a position on whether its development should go ahead. A video of the interaction went viral and a few days later, Sturgeon wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking that the development of Cambo should be "reassessed in light of the severity of the climate emergency". The letter represented a significant shift in policy for the SNP, which had historically been a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry; the party's blueprint for an independent Scotland in 2013 was predicated on tax revenue earned from domestic oil production, while Sturgeon had predicted in the run-up to the referendum that, "We're on the verge of another North Sea bonanza".
This shift in position was welcomed by the Scottish Green party but Greenpeace criticised Sturgeon for not coming out more strongly against the oil field. "The First Minister must stop hiding behind Boris Johnson", a spokesperson for the organisation said. "If she wants to show leadership on climate she must clearly say: stop Cambo." In November 2021, although no assessment had taken place, Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament she believed the oilfield "should not get the green light".
==== Caledonian MacBrayne ferry delay ====
In the late 2010s, Scottish islanders began to complain that the ageing ferry fleet that connected them to the mainland had become increasingly unreliable. During the winter of 2022 only one in three sailings to the island of Coll went ahead; Hebridean shopkeepers kept receiving deliveries of rotten food;
while other islanders said they had missed doctors' appointments, funerals and even the chance to say goodbye to dying loved ones because of cancelled sailings.
The Scottish Government had commissioned two new ferries for £97m from Ferguson's shipyard in 2015, but the construction of the two vessels was beset by delays and complications. In 2022 Audit Scotland concluded that the final price tag for the vessels would be somewhere between £250m and £400m once the ships were finished in 2023. Furthermore, they concluded that the Scottish Government had awarded the contracts without normal financial safeguards and presided over a "multitude of failings".
Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament of her "deep regret" that islanders were enduring such chaos, and said that the government was "learning lessons from this experience". Key documentation, which might have explained why ministers signed the contracts without appropriate safeguards to protect taxpayers' money, was lost and Sturgeon later said this too was "regrettable" and that "the government will learn lessons."
==== Second independence referendum proposals ====
In June 2022, Sturgeon officially unveiled plans for Scottish independence once again. She argued that her government had an "indisputable mandate" for a second Scottish independence referendum. She argued that independence would allow Scotland to set out "a different and better vision" and claimed that there is a legally secure path to get a referendum without permission from the cabinet. This plan was met with condemnation from various opposing parties, with the Prime Minister rejecting her plan.
Sturgeon scheduled the referendum for 19 October 2023. She sought the Prime Minister to consent to the vote by signing a section 30 order, a move that Downing Street has refused to comply. She asked Scotland's Lord Advocate to consider referring the matter to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to rule if the Scottish Government has the power to host a referendum without the Government of the United Kingdom's approval, this request has since been granted.
In October 2022, Sturgeon launched her government's third independence paper, which outlines the currency in an independent Scotland and joining the EU. She proposed the Scottish Government would use the pound sterling for a brief period before transitioning to a new currency known as the 'Scottish Pound'. She argued independence would be "essential" for economic prosperity for Scotland as she claimed the economic climate throughout the UK does not offer strength, stability or security.
On the day the Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate a referendum on independence, Sturgeon declared the next democratic election in Scotland - in this case a UK general election expected to be held in 2024 - would be campaigned by the SNP as a de facto referendum. Unionist parties have rejected this characterisation. Some SNP members urged Sturgeon to call an early election at Holyrood to speed up the process for a de facto referendum.
==== Resignation ====
On 15 February 2023, Sturgeon resigned as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, pending a leadership election. At a press conference in Bute House, Sturgeon insisted that her resignation was not due to "short term pressures" and stated that the job "takes its toll on you". Sturgeon stated that she believed that her successor would lead Scotland to independence and that she would look on with pride whoever takes on the role.
While appearing on a podcast for BBC Scotland, Sturgeon would later say that internet speculation about her life was a part of the reason she decided to stand down from her position as first minister, specifically referring to rumours regarding her sexuality, love life and property portfolio as being wildly inaccurate.
=== Domestic issues ===
==== Drugs deaths crisis ====
In 2016, the Scottish Government cut direct funding to drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes from £69.2 million to £53.8 million – a drop of 22%. At the time, Scottish Drugs Forum Chief Executive David Liddell said he was concerned that the cuts had "the potential to increase harm and drug-related deaths." That year 867 Scots lost their lives to drugs – an increase of 23% on the previous year's figure – and the SNP insisted it was part of a trend seen across much of Europe. In December 2020, figures were released revealing that 1,264 people in Scotland had died from drug overdoses in 2019 – the highest number in Europe per head and more than double the number in 2014. Sturgeon sacked her Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick, and in April 2021 said of the crisis: "I think we took our eye off the ball."
The crisis has particularly impacted the homeless in Scotland: 216 homeless people died in Scotland in 2019 – an increase of 11% on the previous year; over half (54%) of these deaths were drug-related. Per head, Scotland's death rate among the homeless is the highest in Britain.
In August 2021, the Scottish Government announced there had been 1,339 drug deaths in the previous year – a new record high. Sturgeon tweeted that the figures were "unacceptable, each one a human tragedy", while the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: "It was Nicola Sturgeon's choice to ignore this unfolding epidemic. Issuing apologies now is too late for thousands of people. The victims of drugs and their families were failed. It is a scar on the conscience of this Scottish Government."
In July 2022, the figures for 2021 were released, revealing that 1,330 had died – nine fewer than in 2020. Annemarie Ward, chief executive at the FAVOR Scotland charity, said: "Nicola Sturgeon said she would make it her national mission to save lives – but we're still losing more than 1000 people a year. The national mission is failing."
==== Education performance ====
In 2015, Sturgeon said that she planned to make education her "defining priority" while in office. In particular, she said she hoped to focus on closing the attainment gap between the richest and poorest children in Scottish schools, telling journalists: "Let me be clear – I want to be judged on this. If you are not, as First Minister, prepared to put your neck on the line on the education of our young people then what are you prepared to. It really matters."
In 2021, Audit Scotland concluded: "Progress on closing the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least deprived school pupils has been limited" and fell short of the Government's aims. In some local authorities, the attainment gap between the richest and poorest students had widened.
=== International relations ===
While foreign policy remains a reserved matter, Sturgeon has undertaken a number of visits to Europe, North America and Asia to promote Scotland as a place of investment and Scottish businesses to trade and do business with. Sturgeon has committed to strengthening links between Scotland and Africa.
==== European Union ====
In response to the Brexit vote, to discuss Scotland's interests, Sturgeon travelled to Brussels to meet with both Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission as well as Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament. In response to the UK-wide vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, the Scottish Government, headed by Sturgeon, launched the Scotland's Place in Europe document, a white paper setting out the Scottish government's aims and wishes of Scotland's role in Europe post-Brexit. The paper was sent to the central British Government to be read by Prime Minister Theresa May.
In June 2017, Sturgeon criticised the approaches taken by both Theresa May and the British Government towards the Brexit approach, claiming that May "will struggle" as she is a "difficult person to build a rapport with". In the same interview, Sturgeon committed to no independence referendum being held prior to the terms of a UK wide Brexit deal being agreed and presented.
With a view towards Brexit, Sturgeon demanded greater powers for the Scottish Parliament, arguing that Brexit is threatening Scotland's devolution settlement. With London seeking to restrict immigration to the United Kingdom, she asserted that Scotland should be able to set its own immigration policy, as well as policies relating to employment and trade.
==== United States ====
Sturgeon was highly critical of Donald Trump and his policies during the 2016 United States presidential election and had publicly backed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Sturgeon highlighted her disapproval of his language and views relating to sexism and misogyny, and stated upon Trump's victory that she hopes "Trump turns out to be a president different to the one he was during his campaign and reaches out to those who felt vilified by his campaign".
Sturgeon had previously stripped Trump of his ambassadorial role for Scottish businesses with the Scottish government in the aftermath of Trump's views of an outright ban of Muslims from entering the United States. Sturgeon claimed following comments made by Trump in relation to Muslims entering the United States that he was "not fit" for the ambassadorial role with the Scottish government.
In May 2022, Sturgeon made a trip to the United States and met with controversial Republican member of Congress Robert Aderholt, a prominent anti-abortion supporter.
==== Spain ====
In the run up to the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, Nicola Sturgeon offered her own personal backing and that of the Scottish Government to Catalonia in the holding of a referendum. The Government of Spain criticised Sturgeon, claiming she had "totally misunderstood" the situation in Spain and Catalonia. Sturgeon highlighted that Spain should follow "the shining example" that was created as part of the Edinburgh Agreement between the Scottish and British governments that allowed Scotland to hold a legally binding referendum.
== Political positions ==
=== Constitutional affairs ===
An advocate for Scottish independence, Sturgeon has campaigned for Scotland to regain its independence from the United Kingdom since her late teens. She was categorised in 2015 as part of the SNP's gradualist wing, which believed in achieving independence through accumulating the Scottish Parliament's powers from the UK Parliament over time. In recent years, following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in 2014 Scottish Independence referendum, Sturgeon has aligned herself with the new gradualist wing, who believe in only holding a second referendum if there is clear public support, such as polling being over 60%, or if there is a material change in circumstances.
Sturgeon is a constitutional monarchist, telling journalists that it is "a model that has many merits". On the day that Elizabeth II became Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Sturgeon travelled with her to open the Borders Railway and told a crowd of well-wishers: "She [The Queen] has carried out her duties with dedication, wisdom and an exemplary sense of public service. The reception she has received today, demonstrates that that admiration and affection is certainly felt here in Scotland."
Following the death of the Elizabeth II, Sturgeon led tributes to the Queen. She described the Queen as the "greatest constant in our national life" and added her death was "a day for reflection and remembrance" and "a day for giving thanks to The Queen for her devotion to duty and the decades of public service she gave to the people of Scotland."
=== Economic policy ===
She has at times been a critic of austerity, saying that the UK government's "austerity economics" is "morally unjustifiable and economically unsustainable". However, in 2018, she endorsed her party's Growth Commission report that pledged to reduce an independent Scotland's budget deficit as a percentage of GDP – something the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded meant "continued austerity".
=== Social issues ===
Sturgeon campaigned on women's rights and gender equality, and is a self-described feminist; she has argued that Scotland's feminist movement is not simply symbolic, but "sends a powerful signal about equality". She has hailed Scottish feminist economist Ailsa McKay as one of her inspirations. She has at various points commented on the behaviour or attitudes of men towards women; publicly condemning Donald Trump, Tony Abbott and former Labour MSP Neil Findlay. However, she defended her party's leader Alex Salmond from accusations of sexism. After Salmond had told Conservative MP Anna Soubry, "Behave yourself, woman" in 2015, Sturgeon said: "The fundamental question, 'does that language indicate that Alex Salmond is sexist?' Absolutely not, there's no man I know who is less sexist."
Commenting on the need for men to challenge their friends' misogynistic behaviour, Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament in 2021: "I would say to all men in this chamber and all men across the country — challenge it [misogyny] if it's on the part of other men you may know, challenge your own behaviour and then let's collectively, as a society, turn the page and turn the corner so that women can live free of the fear of harassment, abuse, intimidation, violence and, in the worst cases, death."
Ahead of the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Sturgeon pledged to voters that she would review and reform the way that transgender people change their legal gender. The SNP did the same as part of the SNP's 2016 manifesto policy. However, the policy divided the party and the bill was delayed during Sturgeon's second term in office because of opposition to the policy and the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2021 SNP manifesto, Sturgeon committed the party once again to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004 of the UK Parliament and in August that year included the commitment in her agreement with the Scottish Greens on power-sharing. Proposed changes to the Act that would have allowed people to change their identity through self-identification, rather than a medical process, were paused in June 2019. Critics of the changes within the SNP had accused Sturgeon of being "out of step" on the issue, and expressed concerns that the reforms would be open to abuse and allow predatory men into women's spaces. The Scottish Government said it had paused the legislation in order to find "maximum consensus" on the issue and commentators described the issue as having divided the SNP like no other, with many dubbing the debate a "civil war". In April 2020, the reforms were again delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January 2021, a former trans officer in the SNP's LGBTQ wing, Teddy Hope, quit the party, claiming it was one of the "core hubs of transphobia in Scotland". Large numbers of LGBTQ activists followed suit and Sturgeon released a video message in which she said that transphobia is "not acceptable" and said she hoped they would re-join the party. In the 2021 SNP manifesto, Sturgeon committed the party once again to reform the Gender Recognition Act and in August that year included the commitment in her agreement with the Scottish Greens on power-sharing. In September 2021, Sturgeon was accused of shutting down debate about gender reforms after she described concerns about gender recognition reform as "not valid" and campaign groups and analysts complained that their concerns were being ignored.
On 22 December 2022, the Scottish Parliament voted 86 to 39 to pass the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill which was introduced by Sturgeon's government. However, on 17 January 2023, the UK Government decided to invoke, for the first time, section 35 of the Scottish Act 1998, to make an order which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining Royal Assent. She opposed the decision made and criticised Scottish Secretary Alister Jack for blocking the bill and said that the decision was an attack on the Scottish Parliament and Scottish democracy as a whole and said that the matter would be brought to the courts.
In 2023, Sturgeon was criticised in connection with the Isla Bryson case, in which a trans woman had raped two women prior to her transition. Bryson was initially sent to a women's prison before being moved to a men's prison. Sturgeon refused to say if she regards Bryson as a man or woman, though she used female pronouns when talking about Bryson.
=== Nuclear weapons ===
Sturgeon has campaigned against replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.
=== Views on Conservative government policies ===
At the SNP's 2022 annual party conference in Aberdeen, Sturgeon stated: "I detest the Tories and everything they stand for" in an interview on the BBC. She was accused of using "dangerous language" and when asked if she regretted the comments, Sturgeon simply replied "no" and emphasised the point she detested Tory policies and not supporters or voters.
Sturgeon has been highly critical towards the leadership of Boris Johnson's government. Following Johnson's appointment as British prime minister, she claimed he "rambled" in his first speech outside 10 Downing Street and suggested he was "blame shifting". In July 2019, the prime minister met Sturgeon at her official residence, Bute House, where Johnson was "booed and heckled" by protesters. This was the only occasion when he made a formal visit to Edinburgh, as he declined future invites by the first minister. Sturgeon claimed Johnson's "fragile male ego" stopped him from meeting her. Sturgeon's attempts to request approval for a second referendum on Scottish independence were declined by the Johnson administration. Speaking after Johnson had resigned in 2022, Sturgeon said that he was the only prime minister she had worked with who was "a disgrace to the office".
== Post–premiership (2023–present) ==
Upon her resignation as First Minister, Sturgeon returned to the backbench, where she continues to serve as the MSP for Glasgow Southside. On 7 September 2023, she made her first speech in parliament since her arrest.
=== SNP finance fraud inquiry, arrest and clearance ===
In the latter half of Sturgeon's leadership of the SNP, a Police Scotland fraud inquiry was launched to investigate the spending of money that was raised specifically for independence campaigning. She dismissed claims the investigation was a result of her resignation as party leader and first minister. On 5 April 2023, Sturgeon's husband and the party's former chief executive, Peter Murrell, was arrested at their Glasgow residence and their home was searched amid the ongoing investigation. The SNP's HQ in Edinburgh and several other addresses related to party officials were also searched by police. Murrell was later released without charge and Sturgeon pulled out of a UN climate event.
On 16 April, a meeting of the party's ruling body in March 2021 was leaked by a member to the Daily Mail, which showed Sturgeon warning members to be "very careful" about suggesting claims there were financial problems within the SNP. The following day, it was revealed Sturgeon would work remotely from parliament as a spokesperson stated: "in order to ensure the focus of this week is on the new First Minister setting out his priorities for the people of Scotland, Ms Sturgeon has always intended to participate remotely and intends to return to Holyrood in the near future.". In that same week, the SNP's treasurer, Colin Beatie, was arrested and later released without charge. Beatie subsequently resigned from the role. Sturgeon's successor, Humza Yousaf, had calls by opposition for her party membership to be suspended, however, he has rejected these calls.
Widespread speculation that Sturgeon could be arrested for police questioning amid the ongoing inquiry came to fruition when, on 11 June 2023, Sturgeon was arrested by Police Scotland over the investigation into the finances of her SNP party, which reportedly diverted £600,000 meant for the Scottish Independence campaign elsewhere. She was released without charge pending further investigation later that day. On 23 May 2024 Police Scotland handed a prosecution report in relation to Peter Murrell to the Crown Office who confirmed that a "53 year-old woman" also remained under investigation.
In March 2025, Sturgeon was cleared by Police Scotland, who said she was no longer under investigation and would not be facing any charges.
=== Death of Alex Salmond ===
Alex Salmond, Sturgeon's predecessor as first minister and whom Sturgeon described as her "political mentor", died on 12 October 2024 whilst in North Macedonia. Following the announcement of his death, Sturgeon claimed that both she and Salmond "formed one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics". In the years prior to Salmond's death, both individuals became embroiled in a public feud and their relationship broke down significantly, becoming the subject of the BBC Scotland documentary Salmond and Sturgeon: A Troubled Union which was first broadcast on 12 September 2024, exactly one month prior to Salmond's death.
As a result of their deteriorated relationship, Sturgeon was not invited to Salmond's funeral which was held in Strichen in Aberdeenshire on 29 October 2024. It was later confirmed by the Scottish Government that Sturgeon and incumbent first minister John Swinney (who served in Salmond's government cabinets alongside Sturgeon) were not invited to the funeral upon the wishes of Salmond's family. Sturgeon did not attend the memorial service to Salmond in the Scottish Parliament on 30 October, claiming it would "not feel right to attend" and she would honour him in private.
=== Publication of memoir ===
In 2025, Sturgeon published her memoir Frankly through Pan Macmillan. Written over a period of two years, the book was developed during the period in which she was under investigation as part of Operation Branchform. Sturgeon stated that the writing process was both "therapeutic" and challenging, allowing her to reflect on her career, political legacy, and the personal cost of public service. The memoir debuted at number two in The Sunday Times Bestseller List.
== Public image and legacy ==
At the beginning of Sturgeon's political career, she was often regarded as a "nippy sweetie", Scottish slang for the "sharp-tongued and strong-minded". The term was used to describe Sturgeon's "fierce" attitude. Conversely, newspapers ideologically opposed to the SNP, such as the Daily Express, The Scottish Sun, and The Spectator have repeatedly and derogatorily compared Sturgeon to "Wee Jimmy Krankie", a character from Scottish comedy duo the Krankies.
Sturgeon was elected leader of the SNP at a time in which the party enjoyed a surge in membership. In 2015, Sturgeon was described in a Daily Mail headline as the "most dangerous woman in Britain". It followed her party's unprecedented gains in the 2015 general election, which questioned the future of the union.
Sturgeon and her party experienced a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to her willingness to communicate with the public and the Press through regular, televised briefings, and her willingness to take responsibility for her government's mistakes. This contrasted to then-PM Boris Johnson's approach, who was "less proactive and more evasive when it came to dealing with the press".
The circumstances of Sturgeon's resignation in 2023, as well as her appearances at the 2024 UK COVID-19 Inquiry left a question mark over her political legacy. A wide range of media outlets were quick to condemn her reputation, including Politico Europe, The Times, BBC News, The Spectator, The Week and the i.
Nonetheless, public polling shows that Sturgeon remains a popular figure in Scottish and wider UK politics, with 46% of Scots having a favourable opinion of her in 2023 YouGov polling and 50% seeing her as having "been a good leader for Scotland". On leaving office, she was the most popular party leader in the UK according to Ipsos polling. Her popular reputation suffered following her appearance at the 2024 COVID-19 inquiry and revelations she had deleted WhatsApp messages; however, polling has differed and there is still evidence of high trust towards her, usually along partisan lines.
There is evidence that Nicola Sturgeon's popularity had an effect on the 2023 SNP leadership race which saw Humza Yousaf elected as leader of the SNP and First Minister of Scotland. Yousaf was widely regarded as Sturgeon's "continuity candidate", having previously worked as Sturgeon's Cabinet Secretary for Justice (2018–2021) and for Health (2021–2023). Hence, SNP members with a favourable view of Sturgeon were more likely to elect Yousaf, whereas those more critical of the outgoing FM were more likely to vote for his opponents, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
Sturgeon won the Scottish Politician of the Year Award in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2019. Forbes magazine ranked Sturgeon as the 50th–most powerful woman in the world in 2016, and the second-most in the United Kingdom. She was recognised as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2014. In 2015, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour assessed Sturgeon to be the most powerful and influential woman in the United Kingdom.
== Personal life ==
Sturgeon lived in Broomhouse, Glasgow, with her husband, Peter Murrell, who is a former chief executive officer of the SNP. On 13 January 2025, Sturgeon announced in a post on Instagram that she and Murrell had separated and are to divorce. The couple were in a relationship from 2003, having met in 1988 at a SNP youth event, he proposed to her on Hogmanay in 2009, and they were married on 16 July 2010 at Òran Mór in Glasgow.
Sturgeon is known for her love of fiction and says reading "gives me a lot of joy and helps with the stresses and strains of work". Her mother Joan was the SNP Provost of North Ayrshire council, where she was councillor for the Irvine East ward from 2007 until 2016.
In 2016, Sturgeon disclosed that she had miscarried five years previously. In May 2022, Sturgeon tested positive for COVID-19. In line with Government guidance, she completed a self-isolation period. In her 2025 memoir Frankly, Sturgeon wrote: "I have never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary." |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Weekend | Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend is an American rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, and bassist Chris Baio. Batmanglij departed the group in early 2016 but has continued to occasionally contribute to subsequent albums as a songwriter, producer, and musician.
The band's debut album, Vampire Weekend (2008), incorporated elements of indie pop, Afropop, and chamber music. Featuring charting singles "A-Punk" and "Oxford Comma", it was acclaimed by critics and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. Their second album, Contra (2010), was similarly acclaimed and garnered strong commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200, and featuring well-received singles including "Holiday". Their subsequent studio albums Modern Vampires of the City (2013) and Father of the Bride (2019) continued the band's success, with each album receiving widespread critical acclaim, topping US charts and winning the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in their respective years. They released their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us, in April 2024. The album, similar to previous releases, received critical acclaim.
== History ==
=== Formation and Vampire Weekend (2006–2009) ===
The band members met while enrolled at Columbia University, beginning with a rap collaboration between Koenig, Tomson, and Koenig's roommate Andrew named "L'Homme Run". They bonded over a shared love of punk rock and African music. Koenig toured with Dirty Projectors during a period of experimentation with African music, inspiring the band to incorporate world sounds into their earliest work. The band chose the name "Vampire Weekend" from the title of a short film project Koenig worked on during the summer between freshman and sophomore years in college. While home for the summer, Koenig watched the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys and was inspired to make a Northeastern version of the film in which a man named Walcott travels to Cape Cod to warn the mayor that vampires are attacking the United States. Koenig abandoned the project after two days before editing the footage into a two-minute trailer during his senior year. The band began playing shows around Columbia University, starting with a battle of the bands at Lerner Hall in 2006. After graduating from college, the band self-produced their debut album while simultaneously working full-time jobs, Tomson as a music archivist and Koenig as a middle school English teacher.
In 2007, Vampire Weekend's song "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Best Songs of the Year". In November 2007, they toured the UK with The Shins.
The then-nascent influence of blog hype and internet buzz played a role in their success and led to a large prerelease following sufficient to support them performing on three tours before their debut album was released. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" by Spin magazine in the March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album. The band made a television appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on February 1, 2008, and on March 8, 2008, performed on Saturday Night Live. Four songs from the band's first album also made the Triple J Hottest 100, 2008. The internet hype had its backlash, however, as critics reacted against a perceived image of Vampire Weekend as privileged, upper-class Ivy League graduates stealing from foreign musicians. One critic went so far as to call Vampire Weekend the "whitest band in the world", to which they took exception, given their Ukrainian, Persian, Italian, and Hungarian heritages. Koenig responded in a November 2009 interview by saying: "Nobody in our band is a WASP." Saying the backlash involving their social backgrounds was largely unfounded, Koenig claimed he paid for Columbia with a scholarship and student loans; he himself was still paying off student loans in 2009.
Self-titled Vampire Weekend, the band's first album, was released on January 29, 2008. It received contemporary critical acclaim, being ranked number 430 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. It featured a blend of Afropop influences, indie pop, and chamber music elements. A success in the US and UK, it peaked at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 17 on the Billboard 200 and had been certified Platinum in both countries. Four singles were released from the album; while "A-Punk" peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Modern rock chart and number 55 on the UK Singles Chart, "Oxford Comma" peaked at number 38 in the UK. "A-Punk" was ranked the 4th on Rolling Stone' Readers' Rock List: Best Songs of 2008. "A-Punk" was also used to open the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly feature Step Brothers, and featured in the UK television show The Inbetweeners and the video games Guitar Hero 5, Just Dance 2 and Lego Rock Band.
=== Contra (2009–2010) ===
The band's second album, Contra, was released on January 11, 2010, in the UK and the following day in the US, after being pushed back from the original release date for the fall of 2009. The album's first single, "Horchata", was released on October 5, 2009. The album's second single, "Cousins", was released as a single on November 17, 2009. Initial copies of the CD and LP sold at independent record stores in the US included a three-track bonus CD containing two "melts", which featured bits of album tracks and a remix.
It was the band's first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200, and the 12th independently distributed album in history to reach the number one spot on the Billboard 200 since Nielsen Soundscan began recording data in 1991, while also being the first independent artist to have done so without ever having signed with a major label, after already established rock bands Radiohead and Pearl Jam and before Arcade Fire's The Suburbs. The album sold 124,000 copies in its first week and was awarded Gold by the RIAA on November 21, 2011, which means it has sold more than 500,000 units in the US alone and more than one million copies Worldwide. In 2010, it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, indicating sales of at least 250,000 copies throughout Europe.
On January 9, 2010, the band did an acoustic show for MTV Unplugged. The following month, the band toured Europe and Canada with Canadian electro duo Fan Death as their support. The video for their next single "Giving Up the Gun" was also released on February 18, 2010, which included cameos from Joe Jonas, Lil Jon, RZA, and Jake Gyllenhaal. They also played festivals across the USA such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits Music Festival, All Points West, and the Groovin' The Moo festival in Australia. Their third single, "Holiday", was released on June 7, 2010. On June 25, 2010, the band played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival, in Pilton, Somerset, UK. The band were also on the main stage at T in the Park 2010 at Balado Kinross, Scotland, on June 8, and played the Oxegen Festival in Ireland on July 9. They also headlined the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, UK on July 18. On July 16, the band headlined the Main Stage at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim. In the summer of 2010 the band played at the Utopia stage on Peace and Love, Sweden's biggest Festival. On July 30, 2010, the band played at Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea. In 2010, Vampire Weekend embarked on a North American tour with Beach House and Dum Dum Girls. The tour started off on August 27, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia at the Malkin Bowl. Koenig mentioned to the audience that before this concert, the band had the longest "vacation period" that they had had in a while. Contra was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album, but lost to The Black Keys's Brothers.
=== Modern Vampires of the City (2010–2014) ===
On November 11, 2011, the band revealed it was working on a new album. In January 2012, President Barack Obama added Vampire Weekend to a short list of musical artists that he sought support from for his re-election campaign. Vampire Weekend made it onto this list with Jay-Z, John Legend, and Alicia Keys.
The band's third album, Modern Vampires of the City was released in May 2013, and written and recorded in various locations including SlowDeath Studios in New York, Echo Park "Back House" in Los Angeles, Vox Recording Studios in Hollywood, Rostam Batmanglij's New York apartment and a guest house on Martha's Vineyard. The album was co-produced by Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid. After Batmanglij produced the first two albums himself, this marked the first time the band worked with an outside producer on any of their records.
In an interview for the February 2013 edition of Q (released in mid-January), Koenig described the album as "darker and more organic" and "very much the last of a trilogy." Said Koenig, "Things that we might have found boring in the past, we've started to find more fresh. This album has more piano and acoustic guitar and organ." Modern Vampires of the City also continued the use of digital voice modulation as heard in the songs "Diane Young" and "Ya Hey", a technique first used in the song "California English" on Contra The album was recorded and co-produced by Ariel Rechtshaid in his Los Angeles Studio (alongside Batmanglij). The band discussed the album with The FADER and appeared on the cover of the magazine's 84th issue. On March 16, 2013, the band played the closing show at Stubbs on the last day of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. In the show they played two new songs from the upcoming album: "Diane Young" and "Ya Hey". On March 18, 2013, Vampire Weekend released a double-sided single, "Diane Young"/"Step". On May 11, 2013, Vampire Weekend were featured as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live with Kristen Wiig hosting, their third time on the show.
Released on May 14, 2013, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, marking the second time Vampire Weekend achieved the feat: its second album Contra also debuted at No. 1 in 2010, making them the first independent rock band to enter the charts at No. 1 with two consecutive releases. Modern Vampires of the City also shattered the previous record for first week vinyl sales, moving nearly 10,000 units on vinyl alone and debuting at No. 1 on the Soundscan Vinyl Charts. Additionally, the band charted #1 at Indie, Alternative, Digital and the top 200. In 2014, Modern Vampires of the City won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.
To promote the album, XL Recordings released "Diane Young" and "Step" as a double A-sided single on March 19, 2013. Modern Vampires of the City was released by XL on May 14. and Vampire Weekend played several concerts and music festivals shortly after, eventually embarking on a larger supporting tour throughout late 2013, beginning with a show at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on September 19. John Gentile of Rolling Stone reported that the band headlined "some of their largest venues to date" on the tour.
In the album's first week of release, it debuted number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 134,000 copies in the United States. It was Vampire Weekend's second consecutive number-one record on the chart, as well as the nineteenth independently distributed album to top the Billboard 200 in the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present). The record entered the British album charts at number three, with first-week sales of 27,805 copies, becoming the group's third consecutive top-twenty album in the United Kingdom. By December 2014, it had been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 505,000 copies in the US. In 2014, it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, which indicated sales of at least 250,000 copies throughout Europe and has sold more than one million copies worldwide. In September 2020, Modern Vampires of the City was put by Rolling Stone in their new list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, ranking at position 328.
=== Departure of Batmanglij and Father of the Bride (2014–2021) ===
After concluding their Modern Vampires tour in September 2014, Vampire Weekend went silent until January 26, 2016, when it was announced that Rostam Batmanglij had left the band. Despite his departure, he and Ezra Koenig planned to continue collaborating. On the same day, Koenig revealed the band was in the studio working on their fourth album, at the time titled, Mitsubishi Macchiato, with Batmanglij contributing to it. In late January 2016, the band supported Bernie Sanders by performing at an Iowa rally just before the primaries. Filling in for Batmanglij and Chris Baio, who was touring for his solo project, the band performed with members David Longstreth and Nat Baldwin of Dirty Projectors, Jake Longstreth, the comedy duo the Lucas Brothers, and an all-female a cappella group from the University of Iowa. Koenig, a vocal Sanders supporter, also promoted the candidate on social media and his Beats 1 radio show, Time Crisis. In April 2016, the band briefly performed at another Sanders rally in Washington Square Park, marking their debut as a trio, joined again by Longstreth.
In late 2016, Koenig was reportedly in talks to sign the band with Columbia Records, as he reportedly "hit it off" with executive Rob Stringer. Initially, this news was regarded a rumor, until the band's website revamp in 2018, in which a Sony Music copyright appeared on the site.
In March 2017, Koenig revealed in an elaborate Instagram update that during 2016 he had spent countless hours researching and writing music in libraries with grad students. Additionally, he revealed that the album, given the working title of "Mitsubishi Macchiato", would feature a more 'spring-time' vibe and one of the songs would be entitled Flower Moon. Koenig revealed that LP4 would be partially inspired by the songwriting of country singer, Kacey Musgraves, after he attended one of her shows in September 2016. In an interview with Stereogum, he stated, "I'm the type of person who has spent hours poring over the avant-garde poetic lyrics of certain songwriters, and there was something that felt so good [about Musgraves' songs and how] from the first verse, you knew who was singing, who they were singing to, what kind of situation they were in. After the show I realized there's not a ton of Vampire Weekend songs where you could listen to the first verse and immediately answer the question of who's singing and who are they singing to." Furthermore, in a September 2017 interview with Zane Lowe, Ezra briefly spoke about LP4 and stated that it was "about 80% done." He mentioned that the album would feature lead producer Ariel Rechtshaid with additional "guest appearances", one of which being Batmanglij. Lowe pushed Koenig for a release date, citing Q1 2018 as a likely candidate. In a December 2017 interview, Koenig noted that Batmanglij was involved in a few songs, some of which was material that they had started working on long ago, and that their method of collaboration had not changed despite the latter's departure from the band.
Vampire Weekend's first gigs since the hiatus took place in Ojai, California, on June 16 and 17. On January 31, 2018, it was announced that the band would be headlining the UK music festival End of the Road. The festival ran from August 31 to September 3 and marked Vampire Weekend's first return to a festival stage in four years. On July 21, they performed in Byron Bay for the Australian festival, Splendour in the Grass. Additionally, it was announced that they would headline the 2018 Fuji Rock Festival, scheduled for July 27 to 29. For their live shows, the core trio of Koenig, Baio, and Tomson has been augmented by Greta Morgan on keyboards, guitar, and vocals, Brian Robert Jones on guitar, Garrett Ray on percussion, drums, and vocals, and Will Canzoneri on keyboards and vocals. During their August 4, 2018 performance at Lollapalooza, where the band played fan favorite "A-Punk" three times in a row, Koenig announced that Vampire Weekend's fourth album was done.
On January 17, 2019, Koenig announced the abbreviation of the band's fourth album title as FOTB, and revealed that the album would consist of 18 songs, running at approximately 59 minutes. Additionally, he announced that the album would be promoted by three monthly two-song releases, beginning the following week. On January 24, the songs "Harmony Hall" and "2021" were released, and Koenig confirmed the title of the album as Father of the Bride. He also said that the record would feature an array of collaborators, including Batmanglij, marking the first time the band has included guest vocalists in an album. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Koenig said: "We've had three albums of the same voice over and over again. I like the idea of opening up our world a little bit." He also confirmed that "2021" features a Haruomi Hosono sample, and said that he planned to start work on Vampire Weekend's fifth album. The band's current touring approach is influenced by Phish, the Grateful Dead and other jam bands. Contemporary fans mirror these influences in their Deadhead inspired creation of unofficial merchandise including shirts, shorts, tie-dyes, and bucket hats. Father of the Bride became the band's third consecutive album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, the band received three nominations: Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Album for Father of the Bride and Best Rock Song for "Harmony Hall". They won for Best Alternative Music Album (their second win in the category). In 2020, the Live in Florida EP featuring songs from the Father of the Bride Tour was released. On February 4, 2021, Vampire Weekend released the 40:42 EP featuring reinterpretations of their song '2021' from Father of the Bride. American saxophonist, Sam Gendel, and Connecticut-based jam band, Goose, were commissioned to expand the song into twenty-minute and twenty-one-second versions.
=== Only God Was Above Us (2021–present) ===
In late 2021, during an interview with Mark Hoppus, Ezra Koenig gave an update on the follow-up to Father of the Bride, stating that the band had been recording in England and Los Angeles. “Sometimes I oversell how close we are with the record because who really knows?” Koenig said, “But we almost have an album’s worth of songs." On June 7, 2023, Vampire Weekend released Frog on the Bass Drum Vol. 1, a live album recorded in Indianapolis during the band's Father of the Bride Tour in 2019. The record was announced to be the first installment in a vinyl-exclusive series of live albums. The release was accompanied by a newsletter written by Chris Tomson which revealed that the band's new studio album is partly inspired by the Indian classical music tradition, raga, after Koenig had taken a singing lesson in the style with Terry Riley in rural Japan. He then added that the album is "close to done" and more news will follow at the end of the year. On December 14, Frog on the Bass Drum Vol. 2 was released, a live show recorded in Milan in July 2019 which features the band playing their song, 'Bambina', twice in a row. Another newsletter was released alongside it, this time written by Chris Baio. He teased that the band had big plans for 2024 and concluded the newsletter: "LP5 IS DONE."
On February 8, 2024, the band announced their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us, released on April 5, 2024. The album was preceded by double A-side single, "Capricorn" and "Gen-X Cops" on February 16, with the third, follow-up single, "Classical" released on March 14, 2024 respectively. On March 28, 2024, "Mary Boone" was released as the fourth and last single before the album. To further promote the album, the group officially launched a podcast titled Vampire Campfire on March 7, 2024 via Swedish hosting company Acast. The podcast consisted of Koenig, Baio and Tomson gathered around an ignited fire pit in an empty lot detailing various topics and subjects relevant to the band including the making of the new album and forthcoming world tour. The band performed "Gen-X Cops" and "Capricorn" on the May 11, 2024 episode of Saturday Night Live.
The Only God Was Above Us tour began on April 8, 2024 in Austin, Texas. The band was a last-minute addition to the first weekend Coachella lineup on April 13, where they invited Paris Hilton onstage to play cornhole. Their only European date of the leg was a May 30 headlining set at Primavera Sound in Barcelona. During the tour, the band performed partial covers of unrehearsed songs per audience request. Vampire Weekend played two hometown shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden on October 5 and 6; the latter was an afternoon matinee show.
== Contra lawsuit ==
In 2010, the band, along with their record company XL Recordings and photographer Tod Scott Brody, were sued by Kirsten Kennis, the model on the cover of Contra, over the use of her image. Kennis's accusations were that the band used her image without her permission. Vampire Weekend settled with Kennis in 2011.
== Other contributions ==
Vampire Weekend contributed a cover of "Exit Music (For a Film)" for Stereogum Presents... OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer (2007), a free tribute album celebrating 10 years of Radiohead's album OK Computer. In 2014, the band contributed a cover of "Con te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli on the Valentine's Day compilation, Sweetheart 2014, as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm Goin' Down" for the Girls Vol. 2 Soundtrack. They have also covered "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac, "Ça Plane Pour Moi" by Plastic Bertrand, "Have I the Right?" by The Honeycombs, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, "Fight For This Love" by Cheryl Cole, and "Ruby Soho" by Rancid.
The band also contributed the song "Ottoman" to the soundtrack to the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. That song was then sampled by alternative hip-hop artist Kid Cudi. Two tracks from their debut record also appeared in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man. A new song, "Jonathan Low", was released on June 8, 2010, appearing on the soundtrack to the third installment of the Twilight Saga films, Eclipse. Their song "Worship You" appeared as a soundtrack in EA Sports football video game, FIFA 14.
== Band members ==
=== Current members ===
Ezra Koenig – lead vocals, guitars, piano, occasional saxophone (2006–present)
Chris Baio – bass, backing vocals, occasional piano (2006–present)
Chris Tomson – drums, percussion, occasional guitars, backing vocals (2006–present)
==== Current touring musicians ====
Will Canzoneri – keyboards, harmonica, backing vocals (2018–present)
Garrett Ray – percussion, drums, backing vocals (2018–present)
Colin Killalea – guitar, keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals (2024–present)
Brian Robert Jones – guitar, backing vocals (2018–2022; guest appearance in 2024; 2025–present)
Isabel Hagen – violin, backing vocals (2025–present)
=== Former members ===
Rostam Batmanglij – keyboards, programming, guitars, percussion, backing and occasional lead vocals (2006–2016)
==== Former touring musicians ====
Greta Morgan – keyboards, guitar, percussion, backing vocals (2018–2022)
Ray Suen – guitar, keyboards, violin, pedal steel, backing vocals (2024-2025)
== Discography ==
=== Studio albums ===
Vampire Weekend (2008)
Contra (2010)
Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
Father of the Bride (2019)
Only God Was Above Us (2024)
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Ronald_Reagan | Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan | On March 30, 1981, Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States, was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., as Reagan was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton hotel. Hinckley believed the attack would impress the actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had developed an erotomanic obsession after viewing her in the 1976 film Taxi Driver.
Reagan was seriously wounded by a revolver bullet that ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit him in the left underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, and causing serious internal bleeding. He underwent emergency exploratory surgery at George Washington University Hospital, and was released on April 11. No formal invocation of sections 3 or 4 of the U.S. Constitution's Twenty-fifth Amendment (concerning the vice president assuming the president's powers and duties) took place, though Secretary of State Alexander Haig stated that he was "in control here" at the White House until Vice President George H. W. Bush returned to Washington from Fort Worth, Texas. Haig was fourth in the line of succession after Bush, Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and President pro tempore of the Senate Strom Thurmond.
White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. All three survived, but Brady suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled; he died in 2014 as a result of his injury.
On June 21, 1982, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of attempting to assassinate the president. He remained confined to St. Elizabeths Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Washington, D.C. In 2015, federal prosecutors announced that they would not charge Hinckley with Brady's death, despite the medical examiner's classification of his death as a homicide. Hinckley was discharged from his institutional psychiatric care in 2016.
== Background ==
John Hinckley Jr. had erotomania and his motivation for the attack was born of his obsession with the actress Jodie Foster. While living in Hollywood in the late 1970s, he saw the film Taxi Driver at least 15 times, apparently identifying strongly with its protagonist, Travis Bickle, portrayed by the actor Robert De Niro. The story involves Bickle's attempts to save a child prostitute played by Foster. Toward the end of the film, Bickle attempts to assassinate a United States senator who is running for president. Over the following years, Hinckley trailed Foster around the country, going so far as to enroll in a writing course at Yale University in 1980 after reading in People magazine that she was a student there. He wrote numerous letters and notes to her in late 1980. He called her twice and refused to give up when she indicated that she was not interested in him.
Hinckley was convinced that he would be Foster's equal if he became a national figure. He decided to emulate Bickle and began stalking President Jimmy Carter. He was surprised at how easy it was to get close to the president—he was only a foot away at one event—but was arrested in October 1980 at Nashville International Airport and fined for illegal possession of a firearm. Carter had made a campaign stop there, but the FBI did not connect this arrest to the president and did not notify the Secret Service. His parents briefly placed him under the care of a psychiatrist. Hinckley turned his attention to Ronald Reagan, whose election, he told his parents, would be good for the country. He wrote three or four more notes to Foster in early March 1981. Foster gave these notes to a Yale dean, who gave them to the Yale police department, who sought but failed to track Hinckley down.
== Attempted assassination ==
On March 21, 1981, Reagan and his wife, Nancy, visited Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., for a fundraising event. In his autobiography An American Life, Reagan recalled,
I looked up at the presidential box above the stage where Abe Lincoln had been sitting the night he was shot and felt a curious sensation ... I thought that even with all the Secret Service protection we now had, it was probably still possible for someone who had enough determination to get close enough to the president to shoot him.
=== Speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel ===
On March 28, Hinckley arrived in Washington, D.C., by bus and checked into the Park Central Hotel. He originally intended to continue on to New Haven in another attempt to infatuate Foster. He noticed Reagan's schedule that was published in The Washington Star and decided it was time to act. Hinckley knew that he might be killed during the assassination attempt, and he wrote but did not mail a letter to Foster about two hours prior to his attempt on the president's life. In the letter, he said that he hoped to impress her with the magnitude of his action and that he would "abandon the idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you."
On March 30, Reagan delivered a luncheon address to AFL–CIO representatives at the Washington Hilton. The Secret Service was very familiar with the hotel, having inspected it more than 100 times for presidential visits since the early 1970s. The Hilton was considered the safest venue in Washington because of its secure, enclosed passageway called "President's Walk", built after the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. Reagan entered the building through the passageway at about 1:45 p.m., waving to a crowd of news media and citizens. The Secret Service had required him to wear a bulletproof vest for some events, but Reagan was not wearing one for the speech, because his only public exposure would be the 30 feet (9 m) between the hotel and his limousine, and the agency did not require vests for agents that day. No one saw Hinckley behaving in an unusual way. Witnesses who reported him as "fidgety" and "agitated" apparently confused Hinckley with another person that the Secret Service had been monitoring.
=== Shooting ===
At 2:27 p.m., Reagan exited the hotel through "President's Walk" on Florida Avenue, where reporters waited. He left the T Street NW exit toward his waiting limousine as Hinckley waited in the crowd. The Secret Service had extensively screened those attending the president's speech, but allowed an unscreened group to stand within 15 ft (4.5 m) of him, behind a rope line. The agency uses multiple layers of protection. Local police in the outer layer briefly check people, Secret Service agents in the middle layer check for weapons and more agents form the inner layer immediately around the president. Hinckley had penetrated the first two layers.
As several hundred people applauded Reagan, the president unexpectedly passed right in front of Hinckley. Reporters standing behind a rope barricade 20 feet (6 m) away asked questions. As Mike Putzel of the Associated Press shouted "Mr. President—", Hinckley assumed a crouch position and rapidly fired a Röhm RG-14 .22 LR blue steel revolver six times in 1.7 seconds, missing the president with all six shots.
The first shot hit White House press secretary James Brady in the head above his left eye, passing through underneath his brain and shattering his brain cavity. The bullet had a small explosive charge within it which exploded on impact. District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty recognized the sound as a gunshot and turned his head sharply to the left to identify the shooter. As he did so, he was struck in the back of his neck by the second shot, the bullet ricocheting off his spine. Delahanty fell on top of Brady, screaming "I am hit!"
Hinckley now had a clear shot at the president, but Alfred Antenucci, a labor official from Cleveland who was standing nearby, and saw Hinckley fire, struck him on the head, and began to wrestle him from behind. Upon hearing the shots, Special Agent in Charge Jerry Parr almost instantly grabbed Reagan by the shoulders and dove with him toward the open rear door of the limousine. Agent Ray Shaddick trailed just behind Parr to assist in throwing both men into the car. The third round overshot the president, instead hitting the window of a building across the street. Parr's actions likely saved Reagan from being hit in the head.
As Parr pushed Reagan into the limousine, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy snapped his attention toward the sound of the gunfire, pivoted to his right, and placed himself in the line of fire. McCarthy spread his arms and legs, taking a wide stance directly in front of Reagan and Parr to make himself a target. McCarthy was struck in the lower chest by the fourth round, the bullet traversing his right lung, diaphragm and right lobe of the liver. The fifth round hit the bullet-resistant glass of the window on the open rear door of the limousine as Reagan and Parr were passing behind it. The sixth and final bullet ricocheted off the armored side of the limousine, passed between the space of the open rear door and vehicle frame and hit the president in the left underarm. The round grazed a rib and lodged in his lung, causing it to partially collapse before stopping less than an inch (25 mm) from his heart.
Within moments of the first shots, Secret Service agent Dennis McCarthy (no relation to Tim McCarthy) dove across the sidewalk and landed directly on Hinckley, as others pushed Hinckley to the ground. Another Cleveland-area labor official, Frank J. McNamara, joined Antenucci and began punching Hinckley in the head, striking him so hard that he drew blood. Dennis McCarthy later reported that he had to "strike two citizens" to force them to release Hinckley. Secret Service agent Robert Wanko deployed an Uzi submachine gun concealed in a briefcase to cover the president's evacuation, and to deter a potential group attack.
The day after the shooting, Hinckley's gun was given to the ATF, which traced its origin. In just 16 minutes, agents found that the gun had been purchased at Rocky's Pawn Shop in Dallas, Texas, on October 13, 1980. It had been loaded with six Devastator brand cartridges, which contained small aluminum and lead azide explosive charges designed to explode on contact, but the bullet that hit Brady was the only one that exploded. On April 2, after learning that the others could explode at any time, volunteer doctors wearing bulletproof vests removed the bullet from Delahanty's neck.
=== George Washington University Hospital ===
After the Secret Service first announced "shots fired" over its radio network at 2:27 p.m., Reagan—codename "Rawhide"—was removed from the scene by the agents in the limousine ("Stagecoach"). No one knew that Reagan had been shot. After Parr searched Reagan's body and found no blood, he stated that "Rawhide is OK...we're going to Crown" (the White House), as he preferred its medical facilities to those of an unsecured hospital.
Reagan was in great pain from the bullet that struck his rib, and believed that his rib had cracked when Parr pushed him into the limousine. When the agent checked him for gunshot wounds, Reagan coughed up bright, frothy blood. Although the president believed that he had cut his lip, Parr assessed that the cracked rib had punctured Reagan's lung and ordered the motorcade to divert to nearby George Washington University Hospital, which the Secret Service periodically inspected for use. The limousine arrived there less than four minutes after leaving the hotel, while other agents took Hinckley to a jail, and Nancy Reagan ("Rainbow") left the White House for the hospital.
Although Parr had requested a stretcher, none was ready at the hospital, which did not normally station a stretcher at the emergency department's entrance. Reagan exited the limousine and insisted on walking. He acted casually and smiled at onlookers as he entered the hospital. While he entered the hospital unassisted, once inside, Reagan complained of difficulty breathing, his knees buckled and he fell to one knee. Parr and others assisted him into the emergency department. The physician to the president, Daniel Ruge, had been near Reagan during the shooting and arrived in a separate car. Believing that the president might have experienced a heart attack, Ruge insisted that the hospital's trauma team operate on Reagan as they would any other patient. When a hospital employee asked Reagan's aide Michael Deaver for the patient's name and address, only when Deaver stated "1600 Pennsylvania" did the worker realize that the president was in the emergency department.
The medical team, led by Joseph Giordano, cut Reagan's "thousand-dollar" custom-made suit in order to examine him. Reagan complained about the cost of the ruined suit, which was cited by an assistant in a press briefing to reassure the public that the president was in stable health. Military officers, including the one who carried the nuclear football, unsuccessfully tried to prevent Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents from confiscating the suit, Reagan's wallet and other possessions as evidence. The Gold Codes card was in the wallet, and the FBI did not return it until two days later.
The medical personnel found that Reagan's systolic blood pressure was 60 compared to the normal 140, indicating that he was in shock, and knew that most 70-year-olds in the president's condition would not survive. However, Reagan was in excellent physical health, and had been shot by a .22 (5.6 mm)-caliber bullet instead of a larger .38 (9.7 mm) as was first feared. They treated him with intravenous fluids, oxygen, tetanus toxoid and chest tubes and surprised Parr—who still believed that he had cracked the president's rib—by finding the entrance of the gunshot wound. Doctors operated on Brady and the wounded agent Tim McCarthy near the president.
When Nancy Reagan arrived in the emergency department, Reagan remarked to her, "Honey, I forgot to duck", borrowing the boxer Jack Dempsey's line to his wife from the night on which he was beaten by Gene Tunney. While intubated, he scribbled to a nurse, "All in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia", borrowing a line from W. C. Fields. Although Reagan came close to death, the team's quick action—and Parr's decision to drive to the hospital instead of the White House—likely saved the president's life. Within 30 minutes, Reagan left the emergency department for surgery, with normal blood pressure. He then underwent emergency exploratory surgery to check for organ damage and remove the bullet. The chief of thoracic surgery, Benjamin L. Aaron, performed a thoracotomy lasting 105 minutes because the bleeding persisted. Ultimately, Reagan lost over half of his blood volume in the emergency department and during surgery, but the bullet was successfully removed.
In the operating room, Reagan removed his oxygen mask to joke, "I hope you are all Republicans." The doctors and nurses laughed, and Giordano, a Democrat, replied, "Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans." Reagan's post-operative course was complicated by fever, which was treated with antibiotics. Because Reagan had entered the operating room conscious and not in shock, and the surgery was routine, his doctors and others predicted that he could leave the hospital in two weeks, return to work at the Oval Office in a month and completely heal in six to eight weeks with no long-term effects.
== Immediate response ==
National Security Advisor Richard Allen would traditionally be responsible for crisis management for the executive branch, but Secretary of State Alexander Haig wanted the role. Six days before the shooting, Vice President George H. W. Bush received the assignment instead. Allen and the National Security Council would assist him. Reagan persuaded an upset Haig not to resign. The secretary reportedly "pound[ed] the table in frustration and anger." When news of the assassination attempt reached the White House, Haig was there. He urged the vice president—visiting Texas for the first time since his and Reagan's inauguration—to return, but the voice connection to Bush aboard Air Force Two was weak, and it is unknown whether they heard each other.
By 2:35 p.m., Bush was notified of the shooting. He was leaving Fort Worth, Texas and, relying on the initial reports that Reagan was unharmed, he flew to Austin, Texas, for a speech. At 3:14 p.m., 47 minutes after the shooting, Haig sent a coded teletype message to Bush:
MR. VICE PRESIDENT: IN THE INCIDENT YOU WILL HAVE HEARD ABOUT BY NOW, THE PRESIDENT WAS STRUCK IN THE BACK AND IS IN SERIOUS CONDITION. MEDICAL AUTHORITIES ARE DECIDING NOW WHETHER OR NOT TO OPERATE. RECOMMEND YOU RETURN TO DC AT EARLIEST POSSIBLE MOMENT. SECRETARY ALEXANDER HAIG, JR.
Air Force Two refueled in Austin before returning to Washington, at what its pilot described as the fastest speed in the plane's history. The aircraft did not have secure voice communications, and Bush's discussions with the White House were intercepted and given to the press.
White House counsel Fred Fielding immediately prepared for a transfer of presidential powers under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Chief of Staff James A. Baker and Counselor to the President Edwin Meese went to Reagan's hospital still believing that he was unharmed. Within five minutes of the shooting, members of the Cabinet began gathering in the White House Situation Room. The Cabinet and the Secret Service were initially unsure whether the shooting was part of a larger attack by terrorists, or that of a foreign intelligence service such as the KGB. Tensions with the Soviet Union were high because of the Solidarity movement in communist Poland.
The Cabinet was also concerned that the Soviets would take advantage of the unstable situation to launch a nuclear attack. After the shooting, the American military detected two Soviet ballistic missile submarines patrolling unusually close to the East Coast of the United States, which could allow their missiles to reach Washington, D.C., two minutes faster than usual. Defense secretary Caspar Weinberger responded by placing the Strategic Air Command on high alert. Haig, Weinberger, and Allen discussed various issues, including the location of the nuclear football, the submarine presence, a possible Soviet invasion against the 1981 warning strike in Poland, and the presidential line of succession. Although tape recorders are not normally allowed in the Situation Room, these meetings were recorded with the participants' knowledge by Allen, and the five hours of tapes have since been made public.
The group obtained a duplicate nuclear football and Gold Codes card and kept it in the Situation Room. Reagan's football was still with the officer at the hospital, and Bush also had a card and football. The participants discussed whether to raise the military's alert status and the importance of doing so without changing the DEFCON level. They eventually determined that the number of Soviet submarines was normal. A pair of Soviet submarines was assuming the patrol area from another pair, a relief operation that routinely occurred at the end of a month. However, one of the four submarines was patrolling unusually close to the coast. In consideration of the ongoing tensions over Poland, Weinberger ordered the Strategic Air Command to be placed on alert, but he did not reveal the alert status to the public.
Upon learning that Reagan was in surgery, Haig declared, the "helm is right here. And that means right in this chair for now, constitutionally, until the vice president gets here". However, Haig was incorrect. As the sitting secretary of state, he was fourth behind Vice President Bush, Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and President pro tempore of the Senate Strom Thurmond in the line of succession. Under 3 U.S.C. § 19, O'Neill and Thurmond would have to resign their positions to become acting president. Although others in the room knew that Haig's statement was constitutionally incorrect, they did not object at the time, to avoid a confrontation. Allen later said that although Haig "constantly, incessantly drummed on some variant of 'I am in charge, I am senior'", he and Fielding "didn't give a rat's ass" as Bush would be in charge when he arrived.
At the same time, a press conference was under way in the White House Briefing Room. CBS reporter Lesley Stahl asked deputy press secretary Larry Speakes who was running the government, to which Speakes responded, "I cannot answer that question at this time". Upon hearing Speakes's remark, Haig wrote and passed a note to Speakes, ordering him to leave the dais immediately. Moments later, Haig entered the Briefing Room, where he made the following controversial statement:
Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president and the secretary of state, in that order, and should the president decide he wants to transfer the helm to the vice president, he will do so. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.
Despite his familiarity with the Briefing Room from serving as Richard Nixon's chief of staff, Stahl described Haig as "visibly shaken", and the Associated Press wrote that "his voice continually choked up and quavered with emotion, and his arms trembled". Those in the Situation Room reportedly laughed when they heard him say "I am in control here", and Allen later said "I was astounded that he would say something so eminently stupid". Haig later said,
I wasn't talking about transition. I was talking about the executive branch, who is running the government. That was the question asked. It was not "Who is in line should the President die?"
Although Haig stated in the Briefing Room that "There are absolutely no alert measures that are necessary at this time or contemplated", while he was speaking, Weinberger raised the military's alert level. After Haig returned to the Situation Room, he objected to Weinberger doing so, as it made him appear a liar, although as deputy commander-in-chief, Weinberger was outranked only by Reagan in the National Command Authority. Weinberger and others accused Haig of exceeding his authority with his "I am in control" statement, while Haig defended himself by advising the others to "read the Constitution", saying that his comments did not involve "succession" and that he knew the "pecking order".
Aboard Air Force Two, Bush watched Haig's press briefing. Meese told him that Reagan was stable after surgery to remove the bullet. The vice president arrived at Andrews Air Force Base at 6:30 p.m. and decided to not fly by helicopter to the White House. He said to a military aide "only the president lands on the South Lawn". Bush later said in an interview that landing on the South Lawn would have "made for great TV", but would have sent the wrong message to the country, and pointed out that the South Lawn was situated under the president's bedroom window, where the First Lady was waiting for news of Reagan's surgery. Marine Two instead flew to Number One Observatory Circle.
"Despite brief flare-ups and distractions", Allen recalled, "the crisis management team in the Situation Room worked well together. The congressional leadership was kept informed, and governments around the world were notified and reassured." Reagan's surgery ended at 6:20 p.m., although he did not regain consciousness until 7:30 p.m., so could not invoke Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to make Bush acting president. The vice president arrived at the White House at 7:00 p.m., and did not invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment.
Bush took charge of the Situation Room meeting, which received an update that the planned Polish national strike was cancelled. They evaluated new satellite images from Eastern Europe that showed no Soviet troop movements near Poland. They further assessed that Hinckley Jr. was likely acting alone after being informed of his October 1980 arrest record in Nashville, which suggested that he had been trailing then-President Carter. Bush stated on national television at 8:20 p.m.:
I can reassure this nation and a watching world that the American government is functioning fully and effectively. We've had full and complete communications throughout the day.
== Investigation ==
The FBI took over the investigation on Saturday. Agents obtained a warrant and searched the shooter's hotel room. Before touching anything, the entire room was filmed and photographed. Fingerprints were then sought in case there was an accomplice.
According to Agent Thomas J. Baker: "What we found in Mr Hinckley's room was bizarre. On the desk, so that we could find him, was his entire plan. He had left a map of where he was going. He had the morning paper open with the president's diary. He publicised the fact that Reagan would be speaking to a union group in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton. Strangest of all was a statement - a letter to actress Jodie Foster proclaiming that he was committing a historic act, a presidential assassination, to impress her."
The serial number of Hinckley's revolver was provided to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It quickly determined where Hinckley bought the gun. The police gathered the witnesses in the auditorium where the president had given a speech. Secret Service agents who were witnesses or had other first-hand information were identified.
According to Agent Thomas J. Baker: "Our follow-up investigation, which lasted weeks, traced Mr Hinckley's history over the previous months. We determined that he had travelled the country, gone to firing ranges and, in fact, was obsessed with Ms Foster. He had planned and committed an assassination attempt on the president. He was a mentally disturbed man.".
== Public reaction ==
The assassination attempt was captured on electronic news-gathering videotape by several cameras, including those belonging to the Big Three television networks. ABC began airing footage at 2:42 p.m. All three networks erroneously reported that Brady had died. When ABC News anchorman Frank Reynolds, a friend of Brady, was later forced to retract the report, he angrily said on-air to his staff, "C'mon, let's get it nailed down!", as a result of the miscommunication. ABC News also initially reported that President Reagan had not been injured. A network erroneously reported that he was undergoing open-heart surgery.
While CNN did not have a camera of its own at the shooting, it was able to use NBC's pool feed, and by staying on the story for 48 hours, the network, less than a year old, built a reputation for thoroughness. Shocked Americans gathered around television sets in homes and shopping centers. Some cited the alleged Curse of Tippecanoe, and others recalled the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Newspapers printed extra editions and used gigantic headlines; the United States Senate adjourned, interrupting debate of Reagan's economic proposals; and churches held prayer services.
Hinckley asked the arresting officers whether that night's ceremony for the 53rd Academy Awards would be postponed because of the shooting, and it was. The ceremony—for which Reagan, a former actor, had taped a message—occurred the next evening. The president survived surgery with a good prognosis. The NCAA championship basketball game that evening between Indiana and North Carolina was not postponed, although the audience of 18,000 in Philadelphia held a moment of silence before the game, which Indiana won. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined before the New York Stock Exchange closed early, but the index rose the next day as Reagan recovered. Beyond having to postpone its Academy Awards broadcast, ABC temporarily renamed the lead character of The Greatest American Hero, which had debuted in March, from "Ralph Hinkley" to "Hanley", and NBC postponed a forthcoming episode of Walking Tall titled "Hit Man".
== Aftermath ==
=== Jodie Foster ===
The incident was a traumatic experience for the 18-year-old Foster, who was hounded by the media and paparazzi in its aftermath. She took a semester off at Yale and had to be escorted by a bodyguard everywhere she went. This event produced other stalkers for her, including a 22-year-old man named Edward Michael Richardson, who according to the Secret Service shared a similar obsession with Foster, and carried a loaded handgun planning to kill her, but changed his mind after watching her perform in a college play.
Hinckley demanded that Foster testify at his trial. Agreement was reached between Foster's and Hinckley's lawyers that she would do so in a closed session, with only herself, the judge (Barrington D. Parker), lawyers and Hinckley present. A videotape of this session could be introduced as evidence into Hinckley's trial. This session took place in March 1982. During her testimony, Foster did not look at or acknowledge Hinckley. This caused him to throw a pen at her and shout threats, before he was surrounded and removed from the room by U.S. marshals.
Since the attempted assassination, Foster has only commented on Hinckley on four occasions: a press conference a few days after the attack, an article she wrote for Esquire magazine in 1982 after his sentencing, during an interview with Charlie Rose on 60 Minutes II in 1999, and while speaking to the comedian and actor Marc Maron on his podcast WTF with Marc Maron in 2021. She has ended or canceled several interviews if the event was mentioned, or if she felt that an interviewer was going to bring Hinckley up. To Maron, Foster said that she voluntarily chose not to speak about the incident in interviews to avoid being labelled as an actress primarily remembered for that incident, and reflected on how her mother, a former publicist, helped her in overcoming the media frenzy, and the public's obsession with her involvement.
=== Ronald Reagan ===
Reagan's staff members were anxious for the president to appear to be recovering quickly, and the morning after his operation he saw visitors and signed a piece of legislation. Reagan left the hospital on the morning of April 11. Entering the limousine was difficult, and he joked that the first thing he would do at home was "sit down".
Reagan's recovery speed impressed his doctors, but they advised the president not to work in the Oval Office for a week and avoid travel for several weeks. No visitors were scheduled for his first weekend. Initially, Reagan worked two hours a day in the White House's residential quarters. Reagan did not lead a Cabinet meeting until day 26, did not leave Washington until day 49, and did not hold a press conference until day 79. Ruge, the physician to the president, thought recovery was not complete until October. Reagan's plans for the month after the shooting were canceled, including a visit to the Mission Control Center at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in April 1981 during STS-1, the first flight of the Space Shuttle. Vice President Bush instead called the orbiting astronauts during their mission. Reagan visited Mission Control during STS-2 that November.
The events contributed to Reagan's initial popularity. Though he had enjoyed approval ratings of up to 60% until March, his ratings surged to nearly 70% in the following months. Privately, Reagan believed that God had spared his life so that he might go on to fulfill a greater purpose and, although he was not a Catholic, his meetings with Mother Teresa, Cardinal Terence Cooke, and his fellow shooting-survivor Pope John Paul II reinforced his belief.
Reagan returned to the Oval Office on April 25 and received a standing ovation from staff and Cabinet members. He referred to their teamwork in his absence and insisted, "I should be applauding you." He made his first public appearance in an April 28 speech before the joint houses of Congress. In the speech, he introduced his planned spending cuts, which had been a campaign promise. He received "two thunderous standing ovations", which The New York Times deemed "a salute to his good health" as well as his programs, which the president introduced using a medical recovery theme. Reagan installed a gym in the White House and began regularly exercising there, gaining so much muscle that he had to buy new suits. The shooting caused Nancy Reagan to fear for her husband's safety, however. She asked him not to run for reelection in 1984, and, because of her concerns, began consulting the astrologer Joan Quigley. Reagan never again walked across an airport tarmac or got out of his limousine on a public sidewalk as president.
=== Delahanty, Tim McCarthy, and Brady ===
Thomas Delahanty recovered but developed permanent nerve damage to his left arm, and was ultimately forced to retire from the Metropolitan Police Department due to his disability. Tim McCarthy recovered fully and was the first of the wounded men to be discharged from the hospital. James Brady survived, but his wound left him with slurred speech and partial paralysis that required the full-time use of a wheelchair.
Brady remained press secretary for the remainder of Reagan's administration, but this was primarily a titular role. Later, Brady and his wife Sarah became leading advocates of gun control and other actions to reduce the amount of gun violence in the United States. They became active in the lobbying organization Handgun Control, Inc.—which was eventually renamed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence—and founded the non-profit Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was passed in 1993 as a result of their work. Brady died on August 4, 2014, in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 73. Following Brady's death, the District of Columbia Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by his wounds sustained in the assassination attempt. This ruling raised the possibility that Hinckley could face additional future murder charges. However, prosecutors declined to do so for two reasons: namely, a jury had already declared Hinckley insane at the time of the shooting, and the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy would preclude overturning this ruling on account of Brady's death. Furthermore, Washington, D.C. was subject to the common law "year and a day" rule at the time of the shooting. Although the year and a day rule had been abolished in the district prior to 2014, the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto law would preclude the upgrading of charges for deaths resulting today from acts committed while the rule was in effect, and would prohibit the government from challenging Hinckley's successful insanity defense based on the current federal law.
The shooting of Reagan exacerbated the debate on gun control in the U.S., that began with the December 1980 handgun murder of John Lennon. Reagan expressed opposition to increased handgun control following Lennon's death and reiterated his opposition after his own shooting. However, in a speech at an event marking the assassination attempt's 10th anniversary, Reagan endorsed the Brady Act:
"Anniversary" is a word we usually associate with happy events that we like to remember: birthdays, weddings, the first job. March 30, however, marks an anniversary I would just as soon forget, but cannot... four lives were changed forever, and all by a Saturday-night special – a cheaply made .22 caliber pistol – purchased in a Dallas pawnshop by a young man with a history of mental disturbance. This nightmare might never have happened if legislation that is before Congress now – the Brady bill – had been law back in 1981... If the passage of the Brady bill were to result in a reduction of only 10 or 15 percent of those numbers (and it could be a good deal greater), it would be well worth making it the law of the land. And there would be a lot fewer families facing anniversaries such as the Bradys, Delahantys, [Tim] McCarthys and Reagans face every March 30.
In 1994, Reagan made numerous appeals to support the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in the House of Representatives. At least two representatives, Republican Scott L. Klug and Democrat Richard Swett, credit Reagan's efforts for their decision to vote for the bill, which eventually passed by a 216–214 margin.
=== Parr ===
After the assassination attempt, Jerry Parr was hailed as a hero. He received Congressional commendations for his actions, and was named one of four "Top Cops" in the U.S. by Parade magazine. He later wrote about the assassination attempt in his autobiography, calling it both the best and the worst day of his life. Parr came to believe that God had directed his life so that he could one day save the president's life, and became a pastor after retiring from the Secret Service in 1985.[13]:224 He died of congestive heart failure at a hospice in Washington, D.C., on October 9, 2015, aged 85.
=== Antenucci and McNamara ===
Antenucci and McNamara both became ill following the assassination attempt. McNamara died on September 18, 1981, six months after the attempted assassination at the age of 62. Antenucci died on May 9, 1984, aged 71.
=== John Hinckley ===
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 21, 1982. The defense psychiatric reports had found him to be insane while the prosecution reports declared him legally sane. Following his lawyers' advice, he declined to take the stand in his own defense. Hinckley was confined at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., full-time until 2006, at which point he began a program of spending gradually more time at his mother's home.
On September 10, 2016, Hinckley was permitted to permanently leave the hospital to live with his mother full-time, under court supervision and with mandatory psychiatric treatment. After his trial, he wrote that the shooting was "the greatest love offering in the history of the world", and did not indicate any regrets at the time.
The not-guilty verdict led to widespread dismay, and, as a result, the U.S. Congress and a number of states rewrote laws regarding the insanity defense. The old Model Penal Code test was replaced by a test that shifts the burden of proof regarding a defendant's sanity from the prosecution to the defendant. Three states have abolished the defense altogether. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_2010_Winter_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_tournament | Ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament | The men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from February 16 to February 28, 2010. Games were hosted at two venues – Canada Hockey Place (renamed from "General Motors Place" for the Olympics because IOC rules disallowed host venues to be named after non-Olympic sponsors) and UBC Thunderbird Arena. These Olympics were the first to take place in a city with a National Hockey League team since the NHL players were introduced in 1998, which meant players on the Vancouver Canucks who were competing in the Olympics were playing in their home arena: Roberto Luongo for Canada, Ryan Kesler for the United States, Pavol Demitra for Slovakia, Sami Salo for Finland, Christian Ehrhoff for Germany, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin for Sweden.
Teams from twelve national hockey associations competed, seeded into three groups for the preliminary round. The tournament consisted of 30 games: 18 in the preliminary round (teams played the other teams in their own group); 4 qualification playoff games; 4 quarterfinal games; 2 semifinal games; 1 bronze medal game; and 1 gold medal game.
During the tournament, Teemu Selänne of Finland became the all-time leader for points scored in the Olympics. He notched an assist in his second game of the tournament for 37 career points, surpassing Valeri Kharlamov of the Soviet Union, Vlastimil Bubník of Czechoslovakia, and Harry Watson of Canada. Sweden's goaltender Henrik Lundqvist set a modern-day Olympic shutout streak record of 172 minutes and 34 seconds, continuous from the final of the gold medal game of the 2006 Olympics until Sweden's quarterfinal against Slovakia.
The tournament was won by Canada for the record eighth time, who defeated the United States in overtime in the gold medal game. Finland won the bronze medal over Slovakia.
== Qualification ==
Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States qualified as the top nine teams in the IIHF World Ranking. Germany, Latvia and Norway qualified via the qualification tournament for teams ranked 10th through 30th.
== Rosters ==
== Preliminary round ==
Points to each team were awarded as follows:
3 points for a win at the conclusion of regulation time
2 points for an overtime or shootout win
1 point for an overtime or shootout loss
0 points for a loss at the conclusion of regulation
If two or more teams were tied in points, the following tiebreaker criteria were used:
points earned in games involving only tied teams
goal difference in games involving only tied teams
goals scored in games involving only tied teams
goal difference in all group games
goals scored in all group games
better 2009 IIHF World Ranking position
If a criterion left only two teams tied, then those teams were ranked based on their head-to-head result.
=== Group A ===
All times are local (UTC−8).
=== Group B ===
All times are local (UTC−8).
=== Group C ===
All times are local (UTC−8).
=== Ranking after preliminary round ===
== Playoff round ==
Following the completion of the preliminary round, all teams were ranked 1D through 12D. To determine this ranking, the following criteria were used in the order presented:
higher position in the group
higher number of points
better goal difference
higher number of goals scored for
better 2009 IIHF World Ranking.
=== Bracket ===
† Indicates overtime victory
‡ Indicates shootout victory
=== Qualification playoffs ===
The top four ranked teams (1D–4D) received byes to and were deemed the home team in the quarterfinals as they were seeded to advance, with the remaining eight teams (5D–12D) playing qualification playoff games as follows:
Czech Republic vs. Latvia (winner re-ranked as E1)
Canada vs. Germany (winner re-ranked as E2)
Slovakia vs. Norway (winner re-ranked as E3)
Switzerland vs. Belarus (winner re-ranked as E4).
If the score remained even after regulation, a 10-minute overtime period was played. If neither team scored, a shoot out of three rounds of penalty shots decided the winner. The four winners of these qualification playoff games advanced to the quarterfinal round, while the losers of the qualification playoff games received a final ranking of 9 through 12 based on their preliminary round ranking.
All times are local (UTC−8)
=== Quarterfinals ===
Teams seeded D1 to D4 were the home teams. If the teams were tied after 60 minutes of regulation, a 10-minute overtime period decided the winner immediately upon the next goal. If the game remained tied after the overtime period, a penalty shot competition determined the winning team.
Following the quarterfinal games, the winning teams were re-ranked F1 through F4, with the winner of 1D vs. E4 re-ranked as F1, the winner of 2D vs. E3 re-ranked as F2, the winner of 3D vs. E2 re-ranked as F3, and the winner of 4D vs. E1 re-ranked as F4. The losers of the quarterfinal round games received a final ranking of 5 through 8 based on their preliminary round ranking.
All times are local (UTC−8).
=== Semifinals ===
All times are local (UTC−8).
=== Bronze medal game ===
All times are local (UTC−8).
=== Gold medal game ===
All times are local (UTC−8).
The gold medal game was a rematch of the men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, United States. In addition, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur and Jarome Iginla of Team Canada were returnees from the 2002 gold-winning squad and collected their second gold medal. Brian Rafalski and Chris Drury were the only players remaining from USA's 2002 silver squad.
The final score was a 3–2 win for Team Canada. Goal scorers for Canada were Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry and Sidney Crosby, with the winning goal scored in overtime. For USA, the goal scorers were Ryan Kesler and Zach Parise, the latter tying the game with 25 seconds left, forcing it to go into sudden death.
Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal off a pass from Jarome Iginla, seven minutes and forty seconds into overtime for Canada, gaining victory over the United States. The puck has been sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto; in Canadian media, Crosby's goal has been compared in significance to the ones scored by Paul Henderson in the 1972 Summit Series and Mario Lemieux in the 1987 Canada Cup.
The referees for the final were Bill McCreary (Canada) and Dan O'Halloran (Canada), while the linesmen were Stefan Fonselius (Finland) and Jean Morin (Canada).
The gold medal game was the last competitive event at the Olympics before the closing ceremony.
==== Game summary ====
==== Television ratings ====
The gold medal game drew a big hockey audience in both Canada and the United States.
In Canada, the game drew an average 16.6 million viewers while 26.5 million Canadians watched at least part of the game. Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium claims that 22 million people – or two thirds of the Canadian population – were watching the gold medal game when Sidney Crosby scored in overtime, making the game the most-watched television broadcast in Canadian history. However, a new ratings system intended to better track out-of-home viewership was only implemented in August 2009, making it difficult to accurately compare these results with ratings prior to that date – specifically, the 2002 Canada–USA gold medal game in Salt Lake City, the record holder under the previous system. There was some speculation that the final game of the 1972 Summit Series had as many as 18 million viewers, although recently recovered Nielsen ratings archives indicate that only 4.255 million Canadians watched that game live.
In the United States, NBC said that the game was the most-watched hockey game in the U.S. in 30 years, drawing 27.6 million, the largest since the United States–Finland game that decided the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
== Final rankings ==
The final standings of the tournament according to the IIHF:
== Statistics ==
=== Average age ===
Team Finland was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 31 years and 5 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 27 years and 2 months. Gold medalists Team Canada averaged 28 years and 2 months. Tournament average was 29 years.
=== Leading scorers ===
Rankings based upon points.
=== Leading goaltenders ===
Goalkeepers with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.
Shutout posters
Henrik Lundqvist (SWE) (2)
Niklas Bäckström (FIN)
Jaroslav Halák (SVK)
Miikka Kiprusoff (FIN)
Roberto Luongo (CAN)
Ryan Miller (USA)
== Awards ==
United States' Ryan Miller was named the most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for best goaltender of the tournament. Directorate Awards also went to Brian Rafalski (United States) for best defenceman, and to Jonathan Toews (Canada) for best forward.
The tournament all-star team was voted on by the international media at the conclusion of the event. The following players were named:
Toews, along with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith would become the fourth, fifth and sixth players to win both Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup (with the Chicago Blackhawks) in the same year, following Ken Morrow 1980, and Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan (2002). Patrick Kane would become the fourth player to win both Olympic silver medal and Stanley Cup in the same year, following Red Wings Sergei Fedorov in 1998, and Chris Chelios and Brett Hull in 2002.
=== Triple Gold Club ===
The Triple Gold Club, made up of individuals who have won the Stanley Cup plus gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships, gained two new members:
Team Canada centre Eric Staal became the 23rd player to win all three competitions. He had previously won the Stanley Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes and the World Championships in 2007.
Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock became the first coach in the Triple Gold Club. He had led Team Canada to World Championships gold in 2004 and the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2008.
Later the same season, Team Canada centre Jonathan Toews would go on to become the 24th and youngest player in the Triple Gold Club, following up his Olympic gold medal with the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks just four months after winning Olympic gold. He had previously won the World Championships in 2007.
== Officials ==
Games were primarily officiated by NHL referees, a stipulation by the NHL if most Olympic players are NHLers, according to the IIHF (not NHL) rules. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Perry | Matthew Perry | Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Perry also appeared on Ally McBeal (2002) and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in The West Wing (2003) and The Ron Clark Story (2006). He played a leading role in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), and also became known for his leading film roles in Fools Rush In (1997), Almost Heroes (1998), Three to Tango (1999), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Serving Sara (2002), The Whole Ten Yards (2004), and 17 Again (2009).
Perry was the co-creator, co-writer, executive producer and star of the ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine, which ran from February to April 2011. In August 2012, he starred as sportscaster Ryan King on the NBC sitcom Go On. He co-developed and starred in a revival of the CBS sitcom The Odd Couple portraying Oscar Madison from 2015 to 2017. He had recurring roles in the legal dramas The Good Wife (2012–2013), and The Good Fight (2017). Perry portrayed Ted Kennedy in The Kennedys: After Camelot (2017) and appeared as himself in his final television appearance, Friends: The Reunion (2021). He voiced Benny in the video game Fallout: New Vegas (2010).
For most of his life, Perry suffered from severe addictions to drugs and alcohol. Through his recovery, he became an advocate for rehabilitation and a spokesperson for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. In 2013, Perry received the Champion of Recovery Award from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In 2022, he released his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
He died on October 28, 2023, at age 54, from the acute effects of ketamine use, exacerbated by accidental drowning. Five people were charged in connection with helping him acquire lethal doses of the drug. All five pleaded guilty. Salvador Plasencia, a former California physician who supplied him with ketamine, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on December 3, 2025. Mark Chavez, another former California physician involved in dealing of ketamine to Perry, was sentenced on December 16, 2025 to eight months of house arrest. The drug dealer Jasveen Sangha, who was also among those who pled guilty, is believed to have supplied Perry with the ketamine which caused his death.
== Early life and education ==
Matthew Langford Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1969. His mother, Suzanne Marie Morrison (née Langford, born 1948), is a Canadian journalist who was press secretary to Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. His father, John Bennett Perry (born 1941), is an American actor and former model.
Perry's parents separated when he was a year old and his mother married Canadian broadcast journalist Keith Morrison. Perry was mostly raised by his mother in Ottawa, Ontario, but he also lived briefly in Toronto and Montreal. He attended Rockcliffe Park Public School and Ashbury College, a boarding school in Ottawa. He had four younger maternal half-siblings—Caitlin, Emily, Will, and Madeline—as well as a younger paternal half-sister named Maria. His siblings "would stand and applaud" him for early performances.
By the age of 10, Perry started misbehaving. He stole money, smoked, let his grades slip and beat up fellow student and future Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Perry later attributed his behavior to his feeling like a family outsider who no longer belonged once his mother began having children with Morrison. He wrote, "I was so often on the outside looking in, still that kid up in the clouds on a flight to somewhere else, unaccompanied." At age 14, Perry began consuming alcohol, and was drinking every day by his 18th birthday. He practiced tennis, often for 10 hours per day, and became a top-ranked junior player in Canada with the possibility of a tennis career. However, his prospects diminished when he moved from Ottawa, at age 15, to live with his father in Los Angeles, where competition was much tougher.
At 15, Perry began studying acting at the Buckley School, a college-preparatory school in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, from which he graduated in 1987. While in high school, he took improvisational comedy classes at L.A. Connection in Sherman Oaks.
== Career ==
=== 1979–1993: Early roles ===
Perry's first credited role was a small part in 240-Robert in 1979 as a child actor. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Perry started auditioning for roles. Perry made guest appearances on Not Necessarily the News in 1983, Charles in Charge in 1985, and Silver Spoons in 1986. In 1987 and 1988, he played Chazz Russell in the television series Second Chance (later called Boys Will Be Boys). Perry made his film debut in 1988 with A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. In 1989, he had a three-episode arc on Growing Pains, portraying Carol Seaver's boyfriend Sandy, who dies in a drunk driving incident.
Perry was cast as a regular on the 1990 CBS sitcom Sydney, playing the younger brother of Valerie Bertinelli's character. In 1991, he made a guest appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210 as Roger Azarian. Perry played the starring role in the ABC sitcom Home Free, which aired in 1993.
=== 1994–2004: Breakthrough with Friends ===
Perry's commitment to a pilot for a sitcom called LAX 2194, set in the baggage handling department of Los Angeles Airport 200 years in the future, initially made him unavailable for a role in another pilot, Six of One, later called Friends. After the LAX 2194 pilot fell through, he had the opportunity to read for a part in Six of One and was cast as Chandler Bing. At age 24, he was the youngest member of the main cast. After making the pilot and while waiting for the show to air, Perry spent the summer of 1993 performing at the Williamstown Theater Festival alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.
Friends was hugely successful, and it made Perry an international celebrity. By 2002, he and his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer were making $1 million per episode. The program earned him an Emmy nomination in 2002 for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award. Perry appeared in films such as Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes, Three to Tango, The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards, and Serving Sara. In 1995, he and Jennifer Aniston appeared in a 60-minute-long promotional video for Microsoft's Windows 95, released on VHS on August 1.
For his performance as Joe Quincy in The West Wing, Perry received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. He appeared as attorney Todd Merrick in two episodes of Ally McBeal. In 2004, he made his directorial debut and acted in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy-drama Scrubs, an episode which included his father.
=== 2005–2022: Later work ===
Perry starred in the TNT movie The Ron Clark Story, which premiered August 13, 2006, and received a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for his performance. From 2006 to 2007, he appeared in Aaron Sorkin's drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Perry played Matt Albie alongside Bradley Whitford's Danny Tripp, a writer-director duo brought in to help save a failing sketch show.
In 2006, Perry began filming Numb, a film based on a man suffering from depersonalization disorder. The release was postponed several times, but it was finally released on DVD on May 13, 2008. Perry also appeared on stage in London in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago. In 2008, Perry starred in the independent film Birds of America. Showtime passed on a pilot called The End of Steve, a dark comedy starring, written, and produced by Perry and Peter Tolan.
In 2009, Perry starred in the film 17 Again playing a 37-year-old man who transforms into his 17-year-old self (Zac Efron) after an accident. The film received mixed reviews and was a box-office success. A review on WRC-TV found Perry miscast in his role, emphasizing the disbelief in Efron growing up to resemble Perry, both physically and behaviorally — a sentiment echoed by other critics.
In 2009, Perry was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, when he presented Ellen DeGeneres with an Xbox 360 video game console and a copy of the game Fallout 3. The gesture led to game studio Obsidian Entertainment casting him in Fallout: New Vegas as the voice of Benny.
Perry's new comedy pilot, Mr. Sunshine, based on his original idea for the show, was bought by ABC. He played the lead role as a middle-aged man with an identity crisis. ABC canceled the series after nine episodes in 2011.
In 2012, Perry starred in the NBC comedy series Go On, written and produced by former Friends writer/producer Scott Silveri. Perry portrayed Ryan King, a sportscaster who tries to move on after the death of his wife through the help of mandatory therapy sessions. In the same year, he guest-starred on the CBS drama The Good Wife as attorney Mike Kresteva. He reprised his role in the fourth season in 2013.
In 2014, Perry made his British television debut in the one-off comedy program The Dog Thrower, which aired on May 1 as part of Sky Arts' Playhouse Presents. He portrayed "a charismatic man" who enchanted onlookers by throwing his dog in the air. From 2015 to 2017, Perry starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of a reboot of the sitcom The Odd Couple on CBS. He played Oscar Madison opposite Thomas Lennon as Felix Unger.
Perry played the lead role in the world premiere production of his play The End of Longing, which opened on February 11, 2016 at the Playhouse Theatre in London. Its limited run proved successful despite mixed reviews. Perry restructured the play and appeared alongside Jennifer Morrison in its second off-Broadway production, which opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on June 5, 2017. It closed on July 1 after receiving poor reviews. Years later Perry described the play as "a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had something important to say to people like me, and to people who love people like me."
In March 2017, Perry again reprised his role as attorney Mike Kresteva in The Good Fight, a sequel show to the CBS drama The Good Wife. Later that year, he starred as Ted Kennedy in the mini-series The Kennedys: After Camelot.
In May 2021, he participated in the special episode Friends: The Reunion. He was meant to have a role in Don't Look Up, but withdrew in 2020 because of CPR-induced broken ribs. Perry published a memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, in October 2022. It became a bestseller on both Amazon and The New York Times charts.
== Personal life ==
Perry held American citizenship by birth and Canadian citizenship through his mother. He dated Yasmine Bleeth in 1995, Julia Roberts from 1995 to 1996, and Lizzy Caplan from 2006 to 2012. In November 2020, Perry became engaged to literary manager Molly Hurwitz. Their engagement ended in 2021.
Residences owned at some point by Perry included a condo in Sierra Towers purchased from Elton John, a house in Hollywood Hills, a house in Malibu, and a cottage in Pacific Palisades. In 2017, Perry purchased a condo occupying the top floor of The Century in Los Angeles for $20 million, selling it to Nick Molnar for $21.6 million in 2021. In June 2023, Perry purchased a mid-century modern house in Hollywood Hills.
Perry had a perfectionist and obsessive personality, spending many hours perfecting his answering machine message. He also believed in God, with whom he had "a very close relationship", calling himself "a seeker".
=== Health and addiction ===
In his memoirs, Perry wrote that by age 14, he had become an alcoholic. He became addicted to Vicodin after a jet ski accident in 1997 and completed a 28-day rehab program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that year. His weight dropped to 128 pounds (58 kg) as he took as many as 55 Vicodin pills per day. In May 2000, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with alcohol-induced pancreatitis.
Perry said in 2002 that he made an effort not to drink on the set of Friends but arrived with extreme hangovers and sometimes would shake or sweat excessively. During later seasons, he was frequently drunk or high on set. His castmates made efforts to help him, and staged an intervention, but were unsuccessful.
In February 2001, Perry paused productions of Friends and Serving Sara for two months to enter in-patient rehabilitation for his addictions to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines and alcohol. He said later that, due to his substance use disorder, he had no memory of three years of his work on Friends.
In 2018, Perry spent five months in a hospital for a gastrointestinal perforation. During the hospital stay, Perry nearly died after his colon burst from opioid abuse. He spent two weeks in a coma and used a colostomy bag for nine months. Doctors told his family that Perry had a 2% chance of survival when he was admitted. He was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine.
Perry faked pain to get a prescription for 1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone per day and was having daily ketamine infusions. He was given propofol in conjunction with a surgery, which stopped his heart for five minutes. The resulting CPR resulted in eight broken ribs. He paid $175,000 for a private jet to take him to Los Angeles to get more drugs. When doctors there refused, he booked another $175,000 private flight to fly back to Switzerland that night. In 2022, he estimated that he had spent $9 million on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries, 15 stays in rehab and therapy twice a week for 30 years and had attended approximately 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
=== Philanthropy and advocacy ===
In July 2011, Perry lobbied the United States Congress as a celebrity spokesperson for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals in support of funding for drug courts. He received a Champion of Recovery award in May 2013 from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for opening Perry House, a rehab center in his former mansion in Malibu. In 2015, Perry sold the mansion and relocated its services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched an apparel line inspired by Friends, with proceeds donated to the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund.
== Death and funeral ==
On October 28, 2023, Perry was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 4:17 pm the same day. He was 54 years old.
On November 3, 2023, Perry's funeral was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles where he was buried. His father, mother and stepfather attended, as did his five Friends co-stars. The Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song "Don't Give Up" was played; Perry was enamored with the song and referenced it in signed copies of his autobiography, released in part to help people suffering from depression or addiction issues. Following Perry's death, the National Philanthropic Trust established the Matthew Perry Foundation to support people suffering from addiction.
On December 15, 2023, Perry's death was revealed to have occurred due to acute effects of ketamine. Other circumstances that contributed to his death included the effects of buprenorphine, drowning, and coronary artery disease. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said in a statement that
...at the high levels of ketamine found in his post-mortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression... ...drowning contributes due to the likelihood of submersion into the pool as he lapsed into unconsciousness; coronary artery disease contributes due to exacerbation of ketamine induced myocardial effects on the heart.
Perry had been receiving ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions to treat anxiety. His last known session occurred the week before his death. However, the report stated that the ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion, since ketamine's half-life is 3 to 4 hours or less.
=== Investigation and guilty pleas ===
In May 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department opened an investigation to determine how Perry obtained the high dose of ketamine that caused his death. On August 15, 2024, indictments and criminal charges were filed against five individuals: Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; two physicians, Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia; and two alleged drug dealers (television director Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen"). Prosecutors alleged that the defendants were involved in the distribution of ketamine that resulted in Perry's death, as well as the death of at least one other individual.
Three of the accused - Fleming, Iwamasa, and Chavez, agreed to plead guilty. Chavez's medical license was initially reported as suspended, but was later confirmed to have been voluntarily surrendered the following month.
According to U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, Perry paid the two doctors approximately $55,000 in cash for ketamine during the two months preceding his death. Iwamasa admitted to obtaining ketamine for Perry and administering injections, while Fleming admitted to obtaining ketamine from suppliers and delivering it to Iwamasa for Perry's use. Text messages entered into evidence showed that Plasencia purchased ketamine supplied to Perry from Chavez, including one message in which Plasencia asking Chavez, "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
However, prosecutors stated that the primary supplier of the ketamine Perry used at the time of his death was Jasveen Sangha, described as a major drug dealer serving "high-end and celebrities." Sangha's North Hollywood residence, which was raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2024, was characterised as a "drug-selling emporium." In his guilty plea, Fleming admitted that he obtained 71 vials of ketamine from Sangha, which were intended for sale to Perry. Plasencia and Sangha were identified by prosecutors as the primary targets of the investigation, with Sangha becoming Perry's main supplier after Plasencia reduced his distribution of ketamine.
On August 18, 2025, Sangha, the final defendant in the case, had her guilty plea, which was signed on August 14, 2025, officially filed in court. Sangha pled guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious injury. She agreed to the plea shortly before her trial was scheduled to begin in September 2025. At the time, Sangha had been held in federal custody since her arrest in August 2024, and also admitted to selling ketamine that contributed to at least one prior fatal overdose. Sangha formally entered guilty pleas to all five counts while appearing before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on September 3, 2025.
Plasencia, who remained free on bond until sentencing, faced up to 10 years' imprisonment on each of the four charges to which he pled guilty, for a combined statutory maximum of 40 years. In September 2025, Plasencia surrendered his California medical license. On December 3, 2025, Plasencia, the first defendant in the case to be sentenced, received a sentence of 30 months's imprisonment (two and a half years), followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $5,600 fine. Following sentencing, Plasencia surrendered and was taken into federal custody.
It was later acknowledged that Chavez had relinquished his medical license, which had initially been reported as merely "suspended," after entering his guilty plea. On December 16, 2025, Chavez was sentenced to eight months of house arrest, three years of supervised released, and 300 hours of community service.
Fleming, who pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years's imprisonment. Fleming was scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2026.
Iwamasa, who pled guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine resulting in death, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment. Iwamasa was scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, 2026.
Sangha faces a statutory maximum of 45 years' imprisonment. In December 2025, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California confirmed that Sangha was at this point in time scheduled to be sentenced on February 25, 2026.
== Legacy ==
Perry's portrayal of Chandler Bing on Friends (1994–2004) became one of television's most recognizable comic performances. Critics noted his precision timing and a distinctive "could I be any more…?" cadence that was widely imitated and quoted, and that he brought a rare strain of vulnerability to the sitcom archetype.
Beyond acting, Perry advocated for addiction recovery. In 2013 he met with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to support drug courts, and that year opened Perry House, a men's sober-living facility in his former Malibu home, which operated from 2013 to 2015. He said he hoped to be remembered more for helping people achieve sobriety than for his acting career, a mission continued by the Matthew Perry Foundation, launched days after his death. Tributes reflected that impact: the main Friends cast issued a joint statement, and Max added an on-screen memorial card to the series. On August 19, 2025, Perry's Fools Rush In co-star Salma Hayek marked what would have been his 56th birthday with an Instagram tribute.
== Acting credits ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
=== Theater ===
=== Video games ===
=== Specials ===
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II | Elizabeth II | Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch, the second-longest of any sovereign state, and the longest of any queen regnant in history.
Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark. Their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021. They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth, then 25 years old, became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, as well as head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through times of significant political change such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities as well as its subsequent withdrawal. The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and as most realms became republics. As queen, Elizabeth was advised by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011; she met five popes and fourteen US presidents.
Significant events of her reign included her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees. Although there was occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family—particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana in 1997—support for the monarchy and her popularity in the United Kingdom remained consistently high. Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, and was succeeded by her eldest son as Charles III.
== Early life ==
Elizabeth was born at 2:40 am on 21 April 1926 by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London home, 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother). Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and his wife Cecilia (née Cavendish-Bentinck). She was baptised by the Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and she was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died five months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother. She was affectionately called "Lilibet" by her close family, based on what she called herself at first. She was cherished by her grandfather George V, whom she affectionately called "Grandpa England", and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.
Elizabeth's sole sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930. The two princesses were cared for by their nanny, Clara Knight, and educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years titled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility. Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant." Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved". Elizabeth's early life was spent primarily at the Yorks' residences at 145 Piccadilly (their town house in London) and Royal Lodge in Windsor.
== Heir presumptive ==
During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as Edward was still young and likely to marry and have children of his own, who would precede Elizabeth in the line of succession. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second in line to the throne, after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeth's father became king, taking the regnal name George VI. Since Elizabeth had no brothers, she became heir presumptive. If her parents had subsequently had a son, he would have been heir apparent and before her in the line of succession, which was determined by the male-preference primogeniture in effect at the time.
Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses. A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her age. Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.
In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and the United States. As in 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain since her father thought she was too young to undertake public tours. She "looked tearful" as her parents departed. They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May.
=== Second World War ===
In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Lord Hailsham suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the Luftwaffe. This was rejected by their mother, who declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave." The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk. From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they lived for most of the next five years. At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments. In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities. She stated: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well."
In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed colonel the previous year. As she approached her 18th birthday, Parliament changed the law so that she could act as one of five counsellors of state in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944. In February 1945, she was appointed an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander (female equivalent of captain at the time) five months later.
At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the streets of London. In 1985, Elizabeth recalled in a rare interview, "... we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."
During the war, plans were drawn to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales. Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war. Welsh politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the King rejected it because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a prince of Wales and the prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent. In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge:
I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it.
=== Marriage ===
Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and again in 1937. They were second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Philip, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters. She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947.
The engagement attracted some controversy. Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and his sisters had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin." Later biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about the union initially and teased Philip as "the Hun". In later life, however, she told the biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".
Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family. Shortly before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style His Royal Highness. Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world. Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown (which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war. In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding. Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII.
Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, in November 1948. One month earlier, the King had issued letters patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled, as their father was no longer a royal prince. A second child, Princess Anne, was born in August 1950.
Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near Windsor Castle, until July 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, Philip was stationed in the British Crown Colony of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten. Their two children remained in Britain.
== Reign ==
=== Accession and coronation ===
As George VI's health declined during 1951, Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events. When she visited Canada and Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC, in October 1951, her private secretary Martin Charteris carried a draft accession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour. In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of the British colony of Kenya. On 6 February, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen. She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name, and was therefore called Elizabeth II. The numeral offended some Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland. She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace.
With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed possible that the royal house would take her husband's name, in line with the custom for married women of the time. Lord Mountbatten advocated for House of Mountbatten, and Philip suggested House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title. The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary favoured the retention of the House of Windsor. Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that the royal house would continue to be Windsor. Philip complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children." In 1960, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.
Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcé 16 years Margaret's senior with two sons from his previous marriage. Elizabeth asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought—she hoped—given time, the affair would peter out." Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not permit remarriage after divorce. If Margaret had contracted a civil marriage, she would have been expected to renounce her right of succession. Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend. In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year. They divorced in 1978; Margaret did not remarry.
Despite Queen Mary's death on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested. The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey was televised for the first time, with the exception of the anointing and communion. On Elizabeth's instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries.
=== Early reign ===
From Elizabeth's birth onwards, the British Empire continued its transformation into the Commonwealth of Nations. By the time of her accession in 1952, her role as head of multiple independent states was already established. In 1953, Elizabeth and Philip embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) by land, sea and air. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations. During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen her. Throughout her reign, she made hundreds of state visits to other countries and tours of the Commonwealth; she was the most widely travelled head of state.
In 1956, the British and French prime ministers, Sir Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet, discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted, and the following year, France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union. In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal. Lord Mountbatten said that Elizabeth was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.
The governing Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for choosing a leader, meaning that it fell to Elizabeth to decide whom to commission to form a government following Eden's resignation. Eden recommended she consult Lord Salisbury, the lord president of the council. Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir, the lord chancellor, consulted the British Cabinet, Churchill, and the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, resulting in Elizabeth appointing their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan.
The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led, in 1957, to the first major personal criticism of Elizabeth. In a magazine, which he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch". Altrincham was denounced by public figures and slapped by a member of the public appalled by his comments. Six years later, in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised Elizabeth to appoint Alec Douglas-Home as the prime minister, advice she followed. Elizabeth again came under criticism for appointing the prime minister on the advice of a small number of ministers or a single minister. In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader, thus relieving the Queen of her involvement.
In 1957, Elizabeth made a state visit to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Commonwealth. On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session. Two years later, solely in her capacity as Queen of Canada, she revisited the United States and toured Canada. In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran. On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host, President Kwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins. Harold Macmillan wrote, "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through ... She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as ... a film star ... She has indeed 'the heart and stomach of a man' ... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen." Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964, the press reported that extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were plotting Elizabeth's assassination. No assassination attempt was made, but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal; her "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.
Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew, in February 1960; this was the first birth to a reigning British monarch since 1857. Her fourth child, Prince Edward, was born in March 1964.
=== Political reforms and crises ===
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. More than 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, in opposition to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence with Elizabeth as "Queen of Rhodesia". Although Elizabeth formally dismissed him, and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a decade. As Britain's ties to its former empire weakened, the British government sought entry to the European Community, a goal it achieved in 1973.
In 1966, the Queen was criticised for waiting eight days before visiting the village of Aberfan, where a mining disaster killed 116 children and 28 adults. Martin Charteris said that the delay, made on his advice, was a mistake that she later regretted.
Elizabeth toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first British monarch to visit a communist country. She was received at the airport by President Josip Broz Tito, and a crowd of thousands greeted her in Belgrade.
In February 1974, British prime minister Edward Heath advised Elizabeth to call a general election in the middle of her tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim, requiring her to fly back to Britain. The election resulted in a hung parliament; Heath's Conservatives were not the largest party but could stay in office if they formed a coalition with the Liberals. When discussions on forming a coalition foundered, Heath resigned, and Elizabeth asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour's Harold Wilson, to form a government.
A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals. As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to Elizabeth to reverse Kerr's decision. She declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the governor-general. The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.
In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with her associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations re-affirmed Elizabeth's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon. In 1978, Elizabeth endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena, though privately she thought they had "blood on their hands". The following year brought two blows: the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy and the assassination of Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
According to Paul Martin Sr., by the end of the 1970s, Elizabeth was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. Tony Benn said Elizabeth found Trudeau "rather disappointing". Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind Elizabeth's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office. In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found Elizabeth "better informed ... than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats". She was particularly interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.
=== Perils and dissent ===
During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at Elizabeth from close range as she rode down The Mall, London, on her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three. Elizabeth's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised. That October, Elizabeth was the subject of another attack while on a visit to Dunedin, New Zealand. Christopher John Lewis, who was 17 years old, fired a shot with a .22 rifle from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the parade but missed. Lewis was arrested, but instead of being charged with attempted murder or treason was sentenced to three years in jail for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. Two years into his sentence, he attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital with the intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with Diana and their son Prince William.
From April to September 1982, Elizabeth's son Andrew served with British forces in the Falklands War, for which she reportedly felt anxiety and pride. On 9 July, she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. In a serious lapse of security, assistance only arrived after two calls to the Palace police switchboard. After hosting US president Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982 and visiting his California ranch in 1983, Elizabeth was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without informing her.
Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, pioneered by The Sun tabloid. As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun, told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true—so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards." Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that Margaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth secretary-general Shridath Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation. Thatcher reputedly said Elizabeth would vote for the Social Democratic Party—Thatcher's political opponents. Thatcher's biographer John Campbell claimed "the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making". Reports of acrimony between them were exaggerated, and Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift—membership in the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter—to Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by John Major. Brian Mulroney, Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid.
In 1986, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic of China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country. The tour included the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Warriors. At a state banquet, Elizabeth joked about the first British emissary to China being lost at sea with Queen Elizabeth I's letter to the Wanli Emperor, and remarked, "fortunately postal services have improved since 1602". Elizabeth's visit also signified the acceptance of both countries that sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.
By the end of the 1980s, Elizabeth had become the target of satire. The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout in 1987 was ridiculed. In Canada, Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive constitutional amendments, prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed changes, including Pierre Trudeau. The same year, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup. As monarch of Fiji, Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic.
=== Turbulent years ===
In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress in May 1991.
In November 1992, in a speech to mark the Ruby Jubilee of her accession, Elizabeth called 1992 her annus horribilis (a Latin phrase, meaning 'horrible year'). Republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of Elizabeth's private wealth—contradicted by the Palace—and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family. In March, her second son, Prince Andrew, separated from his wife, Sarah; her daughter, Princess Anne, divorced Captain Mark Phillips in April; angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at Elizabeth during a state visit to Germany in October; and a large fire broke out at Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, in November. The monarchy came under increased criticism and public scrutiny. In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding". Two days later, John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including Elizabeth paying income tax from 1993 onwards, and a reduction in the civil list. In December, Prince Charles and his wife, Diana, formally separated. At the end of the year, Elizabeth sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before it was broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees and donated £200,000 to charity. Elizabeth's solicitors had taken successful action against The Sun five years earlier for breach of copyright after it published a photograph of her daughter-in-law the Duchess of York and her granddaughter Princess Beatrice.
In January 1994, Elizabeth broke her left wrist when a horse she was riding at Sandringham tripped and fell. In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil. In October 1995, she was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien. Elizabeth, who believed that she was speaking to Chrétien, said she supported Canadian unity and would try to influence Quebec's referendum on proposals to break away from Canada.
In the year that followed, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued. In consultation with her husband and John Major, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury (George Carey) and her private secretary (Robert Fellowes), Elizabeth wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, suggesting that a divorce would be advisable.
In August 1997, a year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Elizabeth was on holiday with her extended family at Balmoral. Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to attend church, so Elizabeth and Philip took them that morning. Afterwards, for five days, the royal couple shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private, but the royal family's silence and seclusion, and the failure to fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, caused public dismay. Pressured by the hostile reaction, Elizabeth agreed to return to London and address the nation in a live television broadcast on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral. In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana and her feelings "as a grandmother" for the two princes. As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated.
In October 1997, Elizabeth and Philip made a state visit to India, which included a controversial visit to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to pay her respects. Protesters chanted "Killer Queen, go back", and there were demands for her to apologise for the action of British troops 78 years earlier. At the memorial in the park, she and Philip laid a wreath and stood for a 30‑second moment of silence. As a result, much of the fury among the public softened, and the protests were called off. That November, the royal couple held a reception at Banqueting House to mark their golden wedding anniversary. Elizabeth made a speech and praised Philip for his role as consort, referring to him as "my strength and stay".
In 1999, as part of the process of devolution in the United Kingdom, Elizabeth formally opened newly established legislatures for Wales and Scotland: the National Assembly for Wales at Cardiff in May, and the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in July.
=== Dawn of the new millennium ===
On the eve of the new millennium, Elizabeth and Philip boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome. Before passing under Tower Bridge, she lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool of London using a laser torch. Shortly before midnight, she officially opened the Dome. During the singing of Auld Lang Syne, Elizabeth held hands with Philip and British prime minister Tony Blair. Following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Elizabeth, breaking with tradition, ordered the American national anthem to be played during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace to express her solidarity with the country.
In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of her accession. Her sister died in February and her mother in March, and the media speculated on whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure. Princess Margaret's death shook Elizabeth; her funeral was one of the rare occasions where Elizabeth openly cried. Elizabeth again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, beginning in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged King's House, the official residence of the governor-general, into darkness. As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion. One million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown for Elizabeth by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated.
In 2003, Elizabeth sued the Daily Mirror for breach of confidence and obtained an injunction which prevented the outlet from publishing information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at Buckingham Palace. The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal costs. Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 she had keyhole surgery on both knees. In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer.
In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, The Daily Telegraph reported that Elizabeth was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair. She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007. On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Elizabeth attended the first Maundy service held outside England and Wales.
Elizabeth addressed the UN General Assembly for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as Queen of all Commonwealth realms and Head of the Commonwealth. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, introduced her as "an anchor for our age". During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for British victims of the 9/11 attacks. Elizabeth's 11-day visit to Australia in October 2011 was her 16th visit to the country since 1954. By invitation of the Irish president, Mary McAleese, she made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch in May 2011.
=== Diamond Jubilee and milestones ===
The 2012 Diamond Jubilee marked 60 years since Elizabeth's accession, and celebrations were held throughout her realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond. She and Philip undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, while their children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf. On 4 June, Jubilee beacons were lit around the world. On 18 December, the Queen became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781.
Elizabeth, who opened the Montreal Summer Olympics in 1976, also opened the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries. For the London Olympics, she portrayed herself in a short film as part of the opening ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. On 4 April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA award for her patronage of the film industry and was called "the most memorable Bond girl yet" at a special presentation at Windsor Castle.
In March 2013, the Queen stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis. A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth. That year, because of her age and the need for her to limit travelling, she chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time in 40 years. She was represented at the summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles. On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth heads of government announced that Charles would succeed her as Head of the Commonwealth, which the Queen stated as her "sincere wish". She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018. In March 2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of a car accident involving her husband two months earlier.
On 21 December 2007, Elizabeth surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch, and she became the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She became the oldest living monarch after the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017. On 6 February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a sapphire jubilee, and on 20 November that year, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary. Philip had retired from his official duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017.
=== Pandemic and widowhood ===
On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle and sequestered there as a precaution. Public engagements were cancelled and Windsor Castle followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed "HMS Bubble". On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24 million viewers in the United Kingdom, Elizabeth asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again." On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of VE Day, in a television broadcast at 9 pm—the exact time at which her father had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945—she asked people to "never give up, never despair". In 2021, she received her first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April respectively.
Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021, after 73 years of marriage, making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower since Queen Victoria. She was reportedly at her husband's bedside when he died, and remarked in private that his death had "left a huge void". Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the time, Elizabeth sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world. It was later reported in the press that Elizabeth had rejected a government offer to relax the rules. In her Christmas broadcast that year, which was ultimately her last, she paid a personal tribute to her "beloved Philip", saying, "That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him."
Despite the pandemic, Elizabeth attended the 2021 State Opening of Parliament in May, the 47th G7 summit in June, and hosted US president Joe Biden at Windsor Castle. Biden was the 14th US president that the Queen had met. In October 2021, Elizabeth cancelled a planned trip to Northern Ireland and stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital for "preliminary investigations". On Christmas Day 2021, while she was staying at Windsor Castle, 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail broke into the gardens using a rope ladder and carrying a crossbow with the aim of assassinating Elizabeth in revenge for the Amritsar massacre. Before he could enter any buildings, he was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act. In February 2023, Chail pleaded guilty to attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign, and was sentenced in October to a nine-year custodial sentence plus an additional five years on extended licence. The sentencing judge also placed Chail under a hybrid order under section 45A of the Mental Health Act 1983, ordering that he remain at Broadmoor Hospital to be transferred into custody only after receiving psychiatric treatment.
=== Platinum Jubilee and beyond ===
Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations began on 6 February 2022, marking 70 years since her accession. In her accession day message, she renewed her commitment to a lifetime of public service, which she had originally made in 1947.
Later that month, Elizabeth fell ill with COVID-19 along with several family members, but she only exhibited "mild cold-like symptoms" and recovered by the end of the month. She was present at the service of thanksgiving for her husband at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was unable to attend both the annual Commonwealth Day service that month and the Royal Maundy service in April, because of "episodic mobility problems". In May, she missed the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years. (She did not attend the state openings in 1959 and 1963 as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, respectively.) Later that month she made a surprise visit to Paddington Station and officially opened the Elizabeth line, named in her honour.
The Queen was largely confined to balcony appearances during the public jubilee celebrations, and she missed the National Service of Thanksgiving on 3 June. On 13 June, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in history (among those whose exact dates of reign are known), with 70 years and 127 days on the throne—surpassing King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. On 6 September, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. This was the only occasion on which Elizabeth received a new prime minister at a location other than Buckingham Palace. No other British monarch appointed as many prime ministers. The Queen's last public message was issued on 7 September, in which she expressed her sympathy for those affected by the Saskatchewan stabbings.
Elizabeth did not plan to abdicate, though she took on fewer public engagements in her later years and Prince Charles performed more of her duties. She told Canadian governor-general Adrienne Clarkson in a meeting in 2002 that she would never abdicate, saying, "It is not our tradition. Although, I suppose if I became completely gaga, one would have to do something." In June 2022, Elizabeth met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who "came away thinking there is someone who has no fear of death, has hope in the future, knows the rock on which she stands and that gives her strength."
== Death ==
On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace stated, "Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral." Her immediate family rushed to Balmoral. She died peacefully at 3:10 pm, aged 96. Her death was announced to the public at 6:30 pm, setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn. Elizabeth was the first monarch to die in Scotland since James V in 1542. Her death certificate recorded her cause of death as "old age". According to former prime minister Boris Johnson and the biographer Gyles Brandreth, she was suffering from a form of bone marrow cancer, which Brandreth wrote was multiple myeloma.
On 12 September, Elizabeth's coffin was carried up the Royal Mile in a procession to St Giles' Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland was placed on it. Her coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, during which around 33,000 people filed past it. On 13 September, the coffin was flown to RAF Northolt in west London, before continuing its journey by road to Buckingham Palace. On 14 September, her coffin was taken in a military procession to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth's body lay in state for four days. The coffin was guarded by members of both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division. An estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did politicians and other public figures. On 16 September, Elizabeth's children held a vigil around her coffin, and the next day her eight grandchildren did the same.
Elizabeth's state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 September, marking the first time a monarch's funeral service had been held there since George II in 1760. More than a million people lined the streets of central London, and the day was declared a holiday in several Commonwealth countries. In Windsor, a final procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place and was witnessed by 97,000 people. Elizabeth's fell pony and two royal corgis stood at the side of the procession. After a committal service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Elizabeth's body was interred with her husband Philip's in the King George VI Memorial Chapel later the same day, in a private ceremony attended by her closest family members.
== Public perception and character ==
=== Beliefs, activities, and interests ===
Elizabeth rarely gave interviews, and little was known of her political opinions, which she did not express explicitly in public. It is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views. When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked her about the miners' strike of 1984–85 during a royal tour of the newspaper's offices, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed. Routledge was widely criticised in the media for asking the question and claimed that he was unaware of the protocols. After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard saying that Elizabeth was pleased with the outcome. She had arguably issued a public coded statement about the referendum by telling one woman outside Balmoral Kirk that she hoped people would think "very carefully" about the outcome. It emerged later that Cameron had specifically requested that she register her concern.
Elizabeth had a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and took her Coronation Oath seriously. Aside from her official religious role as supreme governor of the established Church of England, she worshipped with that church and with the national Church of Scotland. She demonstrated support for inter-faith relations and met with leaders of other churches and religions, including five popes: Pius XII, John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. A personal note about her faith often featured in her annual Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth. In 2000, she said:
To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.
Elizabeth was patron of more than 600 organisations and charities. The Charities Aid Foundation estimated that Elizabeth helped raise over £1.4 billion for her patronages during her reign. Her main leisure interests included equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Her lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 with Dookie, the first of many royal corgis. Scenes of a relaxed, informal home life were occasionally witnessed; she and her family, from time to time, prepared a meal together and washed the dishes afterwards.
=== Media depiction and public opinion ===
In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen". After the trauma of the Second World War, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age". Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism. In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of the monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales. Elizabeth also instituted other new practices; her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970. Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion. In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd. By the end of her reign, nearly one third of Britons had seen or met Elizabeth in person.
At Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic; but, in the 1980s, public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny. Her popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public. Although support for republicanism in Britain seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republican ideology was still a minority viewpoint, and Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings. Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of Elizabeth's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions. Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, although Elizabeth's personal popularity—as well as general support for the monarchy—rebounded after her live television broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death.
In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state. Many republicans credited Elizabeth's personal popularity with the survival of the monarchy in Australia. In 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard noted that there was a "deep affection" for Elizabeth in Australia and that another referendum on the monarchy should wait until after her reign. Gillard's successor, Malcolm Turnbull, who led the republican campaign in 1999, similarly believed that Australians would not vote to become a republic in her lifetime. "She's been an extraordinary head of state", Turnbull said in 2021, "and I think frankly, in Australia, there are more Elizabethans than there are monarchists." Similarly, referendums in both Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 saw voters reject proposals to become republics.
Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for the monarchy, and in 2012, Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 per cent. Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her son Andrew's association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre amidst accusations of sexual impropriety, and her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from the working royal family and subsequent move to the United States. Polling in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, however, showed support for maintaining the monarchy and Elizabeth's personal popularity remained strong. As of 2021 she remained the third most admired woman in the world according to the annual Gallup poll, her 52 appearances on the list meaning she had been in the top ten more than any other woman in the poll's history.
Elizabeth was portrayed in a variety of media by many notable artists, including painters Pietro Annigoni, Peter Blake, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, Terence Cuneo, Lucian Freud, Rolf Harris, Damien Hirst, Juliet Pannett and Tai-Shan Schierenberg. Notable photographers of Elizabeth included Cecil Beaton, Yousuf Karsh, Anwar Hussein, Annie Leibovitz, Lord Lichfield, Terry O'Neill, John Swannell and Dorothy Wilding. The first official portrait photograph of Elizabeth was taken by Marcus Adams in 1926.
== Titles, styles, honours, and arms ==
=== Titles and styles ===
Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, was sovereign of many orders in her own countries and received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms, she had a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories in Saint Lucia, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories in Australia, etc. She was also styled Defender of the Faith.
=== Arms ===
From 21 April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of Saint George. Upon her accession, she inherited the various arms her father held as sovereign, with a subsequently modified representation of the crown. Elizabeth also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and elsewhere. Elizabeth approved her modified British arms on 26 May 1954.
== Family tree == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Etnier | Stephen Etnier | Stephen Morgan Etnier (September 11, 1903 – November 7, 1984) was an American realist painter, and an active painter for six decades. His work is distinguished by a mixture of realism and luminism, favoring industrial and working scenes, but always imbued with atmospheric light. Geographically, his career spanned the length of the eastern Atlantic and beyond.
== Childhood and education ==
Stephen Etnier was born on September 11, 1903, in York, Pennsylvania. His grandfather was E. Morgan Smith, the founder of Vioth Hydro. He was raised in a privileged environment in Wyndham Estate (now Wyndham Hills, Pennsylvania). From 1915 to 1922 he attended the Haverford and Hill schools in Pennsylvania, and Roxbury Tutoring School in Connecticut.
He transferring to Yale School of Art in December 1922, and matriculated into Yale University class of 1926. Re-entering Yale University he was later dismissed for poor grades. He entered Haverford College in 1924. Two years later in 1926, Etnier transferred to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied for four years.
From 1925 through 1929, he studied and apprenticed under the artists Henry Breckinridge, Rockwell Kent and John Carroll.
== Early career ==
Drawing inspiration from The Moon and Sixpence, Somerset Maugham's novel based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin, Etnier pursued painting, launching his career with a solo exhibition at Dudensing Galleries, New York City in 1931. He soon moved to New York City's Milch Gallery, where he would remain until the 1960s.
Etnier's early work of 1930s and 1940s provides a record of his life at the time. His work shows street scenes in his home state of Pennsylvania, waterfronts from his travels to Haiti and the Bahamas, (and made while sailing the Eastern Seaboard aboard his 70-foot sailboat, Morgana), aerial perspectives created as he learned to fly, and dramatic Maine landscapes, painted while he renovated a stately 1862 home, "Gilbert Head".
Gilbert Head was on Long Island, Maine at the opening of the Kennebec River and across from Fort Popham and Popham Beach. Etnier and his wife Betsy lived on the Morgana for two years while they renovated the house. Her account of these years, On Gilbert Head, was published in 1937.
In 1938 he executed the mural "Waiting for the Mail," installed at the U.S. Post Office in Spring Valley, New York, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. In 1940 he painted a second mural, "Mail for New England" at the Boston, Massachusetts. Everett Branch Post Office. In 2010 this mural was restored and reinstalled at the Clarendon Street Post Office in Boston.
== Military service ==
In 1941, at the age of thirty-eight, Etnier suspended his painting career to serve in the United States Navy. In May 1942, Etnier was commissioned as a lieutenant and assigned as commanding officer of the USS Mizpah, a North Atlantic convoy escort ship. In 1944, he was reassigned to the USS Tourmaline in Boston, and later to the USS General Omar Bundy in San Francisco. He completed his tour of duty in 1945.
== Later career ==
Etnier purchased land in South Harpswell, Maine in 1948 to build "Old Cove", his dream house and studio. Designed in collaboration with Portland, Maine architect James Saunders, the home featured a porch cantilevered over the ocean, north-facing windows for his studio, and a living room overlooking the ocean and framed by Mondrian-inspired window frames. Named for the private cove it overlooked, the home served as the foundation for a productive and increasingly serene period in Etnier's career. Old Cove was sold to new owners in 2014 and subsequently demolished.
The 1950s and 1960s mark a maturing, accomplished style in Etnier's work. Although still traveling south most winters in his boat, his life took a more domestic turn as he re-adopted Maine as his permanent home and married his fourth wife, Samuella "Brownie" Brown Rose. They were married for thirty-three years and had two sons. During those years, he painted daily, exhibited widely and enjoyed popular support, artistic awards and media attention.
Etnier's work became more architectural, marked by stark geometry, light and shadow, impressionistic figures and accents of color and modern culture. He adopted an artist's discipline of rising early and painting each morning (learned first from Rockwell Kent), seeking to capture the essence of Maine waterfronts and landscapes and the effects of light. The study of sunlight and water fascinated Etnier until the end of his career.
On November 7, 1984, Stephen Etnier died at Old Cove, comforted by his two sons.
== Exhibitions and awards ==
Etnier exhibited frequently in galleries in Pennsylvania, Maine, New York and Dallas. His work appears in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and other museums across the United States. Acclaim includes his election as an academician by the National Academy of Design and a retrospective exhibit at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine in 1953; receipt of the Saltus Award by the National Academy of Design in 1955; a solo exhibition at York Junior College in York, Pennsylvania and the Samuel F. B. Morse gold medal from the National Academy of Design in 1964; and a solo exhibition at the Bristol Art Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1965.
He also began his association with Midtown Galleries at 11 East 57th Street in New York City in 1969; and by 1971, Etnier had a solo exhibition at Midtown Galleries. Posthumous retrospective exhibitions were mounted at the Portland Museum of Art in 1998; and at the Historical Society of York County in York County, Pennsylvania in 1989.
In 1969, Etnier was awarded honorary doctorates of fine arts from Bates College and Bowdoin College in Maine.
== Marriages and children ==
Etnier married Mathilde Gray in 1926 at the Christ Episcopal Church in Greenwich, she was the daughter of John Lathrop Gray, Sr. and Harriet Hamilton Tyng of Greenwich, Connecticut. They had two daughters; Suzanne Mathilde Etnier Dignan (1927–1999), and Penelope Royall Etnier Tucker Jones (1929–). The first marriage ended in divorce.
He married writer Elizabeth Morgan Jay in 1933, of Westbury, New York (the great granddaughter of U.S. Chief Justice John Jay). They had two daughters: Stephanie Jay Etnier Doane (1936–2010), and Elizabeth Victoria "Vicky" Etnier (1940–). The second marriage ended in divorce before 1948.
Etnier's third wife was Jane Walden Pearce (or Jane Walden Pierce), they were married in 1948, and she died from a bullet wound to the head in June 1949 after a domestic fight over dishes.
His fourth wife was Samuella "Brownie" Brown Rose in 1950, which ended in divorce in 1983. They had two sons; John Stephen Etnier (1953–2023), and David Morrison Etnier (1955–).
Etnier's fifth and final marriage came in the last months of his life: he married Marcia Hall of Harpswell in 1983, They later divorced after a few months. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Cherry_Blossom_Festival | Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival | The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (VCBF) is an annual spring festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to celebrate the city's cherry trees. The festival’s fundamental objectives include public education through seasonal, cherry-themed citywide viewing programs, musical performances, and fine art and craft exhibitions.
== History ==
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival was founded in 2005 by Linda Poole, its executive director, to commemorate the 800 cherry (also known as sakura in Japanese) trees gifted to the city by Japan.
Since then, Vancouver has over 40,000 cherry trees as of 2023. The festival incorporates opportunities to capture their beauty every spring, including bike rides, cherry blossom viewing tours, and traditional Japanese festivities.
In 2020, the festival went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 1 to 25 April 2021, the 15th annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival ran virtually. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brokeback_Mountain | Brokeback Mountain | Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written by Ossana and Larry McMurtry. The film stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams. Its plot depicts the complex romantic relationship between two American cowboys, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, in the American West from 1963 to 1983.
Lee became attached to the project in 2001 after previous attempts to adapt Proulx's story into a film did not materialize. Focus Features and River Road Entertainment would jointly produce and distribute the film. After Ledger and Gyllenhaal's casting was announced in 2003, filming commenced in various locations in Alberta in 2004. Brokeback Mountain premiered at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released to theaters on December 9 that year.
The film received widespread critical acclaim, with high praise for the performances of Ledger and Gyllenhaal. It emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing over $178 million worldwide against its $14 million budget, and won various accolades. At the 78th Academy Awards, Brokeback Mountain was nominated for Best Picture and won for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score. It garnered seven nominations at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Song. At the 59th British Academy Film Awards, Brokeback Mountain had nine nominations, winning Best Film, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal). It was the film that topped the best of the year lists.
Brokeback Mountain was subject to controversies; its loss to Crash (2004) for the Academy Award for Best Picture, subsequent censorship, and criticism from conservative media outlets received significant attention. The sexuality of the main characters has been subject to discussion. The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and was listed on the ballot for the American Film Institute's list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition). Since then, it has been ranked by several publications, film critics and scholars as one of the best films of the 2000s, the 21st century and of all time.
== Plot ==
In Wyoming in 1963, cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are hired by rancher Joe Aguirre to herd his sheep through the summer on grazing pastures on Brokeback Mountain. After a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a pass at Ennis. While initially reluctant, Ennis becomes receptive, and he and Jack have sex in their tent. Despite Ennis telling Jack that it was a one-time incident, they develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Near the end of their work contract, Ennis and Jack have a brawl that leaves both of them bloodied. Before parting ways, Ennis offhandedly laments that he left one of his shirts on the mountain.
Ennis marries his longtime fiancée Alma Beers and they have two daughters: Alma Jr. and Jenny. Jack returns the next summer seeking work, but Aguirre refuses him because he observed Jack and Ennis engaging in homosexual activity on the mountain. Jack moves to Texas, where he meets rodeo rider Lureen Newsome, the daughter of a wealthy agricultural machinery manufacturer. They marry and have a son.
After four years apart, Jack visits Ennis. Upon meeting, they kiss passionately, which a stunned Alma inadvertently sees. At a motel room, Jack wants them to create a life together, but Ennis refuses to abandon his family and is haunted by a childhood memory of his father showing him the body of a man who was tortured and killed for suspected homosexuality.
Ennis and Jack meet infrequently for private fishing trips, while their respective marriages deteriorate. Lureen abandons the rodeo and goes into business with her father, with Jack working in sales. Lureen's father has a strong dislike for Jack, and openly disrespects and belittles him. Alma and Ennis divorce in 1975. Upon hearing about it, Jack drives to Wyoming and tells Ennis that they should live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children.
Alma takes custody of Alma Jr. and Jenny, and marries Monroe, the manager of the grocery store where she works. Ennis is invited to Thanksgiving dinner. While alone in the kitchen, Alma confronts Ennis about Jack. The two spar, causing Ennis to storm out and cease contact with Alma.
Ennis has a brief romantic relationship with Cassie, a waitress. Jack and Lureen befriend Randall and Lashawn Malone, and it is implied that Jack and Randall have a brief affair. At the end of a tryst disguised as a fishing trip, Ennis says he cannot see Jack again for months due to work demands. The pair argue, before Jack embraces a crying Ennis.
A postcard Ennis sends Jack is returned, stamped with, "Deceased". Ennis calls Jack's phone number. Lureen answers and says Jack died when a car tire exploded in his face. While hearing what happened, Ennis envisions men fatally beating Jack with a tire iron. Lureen says Jack requested his ashes be scattered on Brokeback Mountain.
Ennis visits Jack's parents hoping to carry out his wish. Jack's father declares that Jack's ashes will be interred in a family plot. Jack's mother allows Ennis to visit Jack's old bedroom. Ennis finds the shirt he thought he left on the mountain, which Jack had secretly kept, nested inside one of Jack's shirts. Ennis embraces the shirts and silently weeps. Jack's mother allows him to keep them.
Years later, an aging Ennis lives alone and reclusive in a trailer. His grown daughter, Alma Jr., visits him to announce her engagement to Kurt, who works in the oil fields. She asks for her father's blessing and invites him to the wedding. Ennis hesitates, due to upcoming work commitments, but then agrees to attend the wedding. As Alma Jr. leaves, she forgets her jacket, so Ennis puts it into the closet where the two shirts hang, Jack's shirt now inside Ennis's. Next to them, tacked to the closet door, is a postcard of Brokeback Mountain. With tears in his eyes, he stares at the mementos, and says, "Jack, I swear..."
== Cast ==
Credits adapted from TV Guide.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Screenwriter Diana Ossana discovered Annie Proulx's short story, Brokeback Mountain, in October 1997, just days after its publication. She convinced writing partner Larry McMurtry to read it; he thought it was a "masterpiece". The pair asked Proulx if they could adapt it into a film screenplay; although she did not think that the story would work as a film, she agreed. In a 1999 interview with The Missouri Review, Proulx praised their screenplay. Ossana said that convincing a director and production company to make the film was a challenging and nonstop process. Gus Van Sant attempted to make the film, hoping to cast Matt Damon and Joaquin Phoenix as Ennis and Jack, respectively. He also considered Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Ryan Phillippe. Josh Hartnett was originally attached to the film but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Black Dahlia. Damon, who previously worked with Van Sant on Good Will Hunting, told the director, "Gus, I did a gay movie (The Talented Mr. Ripley), then a cowboy movie (All the Pretty Horses). I can't follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!" Van Sant assessed that most of the stars he approached were uncomfortable with the homosexual material. Due to the casting struggles, Van Sant went on to make the 2008 biographical film Milk, based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk. According to Ossana, Edward Norton, Joel Schumacher and dozens of others were approached to direct: "They all came back saying they loved it but no one would commit."
Focus Features CEO James Schamus optioned the film rights in 2001, but thought it was a risky project. Pedro Almodóvar was initially offered the opportunity to direct, but turned it down, citing concerns about artistic freedom. At Ossana's request, Schamus showed the story and screenplay to director Ang Lee. Lee decided to make Hulk instead; his experience of Hulk, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from two years prior left him exhausted. In 2003, he considered retirement but Brokeback Mountain came back to his mind and tempted him back into filmmaking. Lee attempted to get the film made as an independent producer. However, this did not work out, and before Lee would take a break after finishing Hulk, he contacted Schamus about Brokeback Mountain. Schamus thought Brokeback Mountain embraced the American West without being a traditional Western, and told Lee that he should consider directing it. Lee said, "Towards the end [of the script] ... I got tears in my eyes". He was particularly drawn to the authentic rural American life and repression depicted in the story. Bill Pohlad of River Road Entertainment, who had a two-year partnership with Focus Features, helped finance the film.
=== Casting ===
Casting director Avy Kaufman said Lee was very decisive about the actors for the lead roles. In 2003, screenwriters Ossana and McMurty suggested Heath Ledger (after being impressed by his performance in Monster's Ball), but the film studio thought he was not masculine enough. Regardless, Kaufman sent the script to Ledger, who thought it was "beautiful" and put himself forward. Gyllenhaal reacted to the script positively and signed on for the role; he also did not want to miss the opportunity to work with Lee and friend Ledger. Lee met with Mark Wahlberg for a role in the film, but Wahlberg declined as he was "creeped out" by the script. Gyllenhaal admired Ledger and described him as "way beyond his years as a human". Other actors were considered for the leads but Lee and Gyllenhaal said they were too afraid to take on the roles.
From the beginning, Ledger wanted to portray Ennis and not Jack. He opined that Ennis was more complex; a masculine and homophobic character. Ledger said, "The lack of words he [Ennis] had to express himself, his inability to love", made the role enjoyable. Ledger, who grew up around horses, researched his character's personal traits, and learned to speak in Wyoming and Texas accents. Lee gave Ledger and Gyllenhaal books about cowboys who were gay or shared similar experiences as the characters depicted in Proulx's story. Gyllenhaal later said:That what ties these two characters together is not just a love, but a loneliness. I think primarily it was deep loneliness. And what I always say about that movie [Brokeback Mountain], which I think maybe over time is more understood, is that this is about two people desperately looking for love. To be loved. And who were probably capable of it. And they just found it with someone of the same sex. And that does not dismiss the fact that it is about, really, primarily, the first kind of very profound gay love story. Hopefully it can create an equality of an idea: that is, it's possible that you can find love anywhere. That intimacy exists in so many places that convention and society won't always allow us to see. And we won't allow ourselves to see, because of what criticism—and danger, really—it might provoke.
Lee interviewed between 20 and 30 actresses for the roles of Alma and Lureen. Michelle Williams was one of the first to audition for the role of Alma, and Lee thought she was perfect for the part. Anne Hathaway, who was filming The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement at the time, showed up to the audition during her lunch break. She was wearing a ball gown and hairpiece "that was way over the top", but she still felt focused for the audition. At first, Lee did not think she was an obvious choice, but he was convinced with her audition and cast her as Lureen. Hathaway lied to Lee about her knowledge of horse riding in order to be cast. She took lessons for two months to prepare.
Lee was happy with Ledger and Gyllenhaal portraying Ennis and Jack, respectively, because he thought their "young innocence" will help carry a love story until the end. Lee added, "I think these two are among the best in their age group [...] Jake plays the opposite of Heath and it creates a very good couple in terms of a romantic love story. The chemistry, I think, is great." Once all four leads were cast, Lee remembered being impressed with their maturity despite their young age; "It really scared me how good they were".
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began on May 25, 2004. While the Proulx story is set in Wyoming, Brokeback Mountain was filmed almost entirely in the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta. Lee was given a tour of the locations from the story in Wyoming by Proulx, but chose to shoot in Alberta citing financial reasons. The mountain featured in the film is a composite of Mount Lougheed south of the town of Canmore, Fortress and Moose Mountain in Kananaskis Country. The campsites were filmed at Goat Creek, Upper Kananaskis Lake, Elbow Falls and Canyon Creek, also in Alberta. Other scenes were filmed in Cowley, Fort Macleod, and Calgary. Brokeback Mountain's production budget was approximately US$14 million.
Initially, Alberta's environmental department prohibited the crew from bringing domestic sheep into the Rockies, due to a risk of disease harming the local wildlife. The authorities eventually gave permission for them to shoot on one mountain, as long as they transported the domestic sheep in and out, every day. A biologist was hired to supervise this process.
Lee prefers working with cinematographers who are open minded, eager to learn, and able to show an interest in the story and content before talking about the visuals. Therefore, he selected Rodrigo Prieto for the job; saying, "I think he's versatile, and I wanted somebody who could shoot quickly [...] he was able to give me the tranquil, almost passive look I wanted for Brokeback. I believe a talent's a talent".
Ledger and Gyllenhaal, who were friends before Brokeback Mountain, were mostly unconcerned with the intimate scenes. The first sex scene between Ennis and Jack took 13 takes to meet Lee's expectation. The director would keep his distance from them during filming, allowing the actors to be free and spontaneous. Lee said, "I don't talk too much [to them] except for technical notes. So they [the intimate scenes] are a lot easier to deal with". Ledger was observant of Lee's directing style, saying, "There's two sides to Ang's direction — there's the pre-production, which is incredibly thorough and private, and then there's the shooting side, when he just doesn't say anything at all." Ledger said that this helped him try harder during takes. Gyllenhaal echoed Ledger's sentiment; "He just totally disconnects from you while you're shooting", but praised Lee's directorial skills. In regard to acting, Ledger was sometimes disrupted by Gyllenhaal's acting style; Gyllenhaal tended to improvise whereas Ledger preferred to be highly prepared. The director allowed Ledger to see his performance on the camera monitor so that he could improve.
During the last scenes where Ennis meets Jack's parents, production designer Judy Becker was tasked in finding a suitable house. Lee took inspiration from painters Andrew Wyeth and Vilhelm Hammershoi for the white interior walls. Using two cameras, Lee would capture the actors from both angles, and then change lenses and repeat. "When you edit it together, you can apply certain emphasis to certain reactions, emotions", Lee said. Ossana remembers that the last scenes were emotional for Ledger and personally affected him. The actors who played Jack's parents, Roberta Maxwell and Peter McRobbie, said Ledger was very quiet and gave a "powerful performance".
Executive producer Michael Hausman rented Airstream trailers for the cast and crew to sleep in. He created an on-set atmosphere which mimicked a summer camp, where people could bond and feel close. Hausman recalled that they would sit around the fireplaces, cook food and go fishing on the creek. The production was not without commotion; the cast suffered several injuries during filming. Williams sprained her knee in the early days of filming, therefore, her character's movements were altered to be either sitting or standing most of the time. Ledger also injured his hand when he punched a wall for a scene. During a kissing scene, Ledger almost broke Gyllenhaal's nose. The American Humane raised concerns that animals were treated improperly during filming, alleging that sheep were handled roughly and that an elk appeared to have been "shot on cue". They learned that the elk was shot with anesthetic, violating standard guidelines for animal handling in the film industry.
Production wrapped up on August 5, 2004. Two additional establishing shots were filmed in early January 2005, before the picture was locked on January 14.
During post-production, Geraldine Peroni and Dylan Tichenor served as film editors, but Peroni died in August 2004 and Tichenor took over. The pair relied on Media Composer for editing, and sound engineer Eugene Gearty used Pro Tools for the creation of sound effects. Buzz Image Group were hired to create 75 visual effect shots, including computer-generated clouds, landscapes and sheep; the work took place between September 20 and December 23, 2004. For the film's theatrical poster, Schamus took inspiration from James Cameron's Titanic, which depicts two star-crossed lovers. The sound design and editing were completed on March 9, 2005, with the final master for the film being delivered to print manufacturers on April 8.
=== Music ===
Gustavo Santaolalla scored the film's soundtrack, which consists of 17 tracks as well as songs from Bob Dylan and Roger Miller. The score was recorded on February 7, 2005, and the album was released on October 25. Based on the story and one conversation with the director, Santaolalla was able to score the music before filming began. He said, "I mean if you are connected to the story and to the director, it makes a lot of sense because somehow you know, the music then becomes a part of the fabric of that film from the very beginning." He also used a real orchestra and played his own guitar.
== Release ==
=== Box office ===
The film received a limited release in the United States on December 9, 2005, and grossed $547,425 in its first weekend. Over the Christmas weekend, and beginning of January 2006, the film expanded into more domestic theaters. On January 20, the film opened in 1,194 theaters, then 1,652 theaters on January 27, and 2,089 theaters on February 3, its widest release.
Brokeback Mountain was released in one theater in London on December 30 and received a wider release in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2006. The film was released in France on January 18, to 155 theaters, expanding to 290 by the third week. In its first week of release, Brokeback Mountain was in third place at the French box office. In Italy, the film grossed more than €890,000 in three days and was the fourth highest-grossing film in its first week. The film was released in Australia on January 26, where it ranked fourth place at the weekend box office. Brokeback Mountain was released in many other countries during the first three months of 2006. During its first week of release in Hong Kong, Brokeback Mountain was ranked first place at the box office, earning more than US$473,868 ($22,565 per theater). The film opened in Lee's native Taiwan on January 20. The film grossed $83 million in North America and $95 million internationally, for a worldwide $178 million. It is the highest-grossing release for Focus Features.
The film was re-released in theaters in June 2025, to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
=== International distribution ===
The film has been given different titles in accordance to different languages and regions. For the film's release in French, Italian and Portuguese, it was titled Le Secret de Brokeback Mountain, I segreti di Brokeback Mountain and O Segredo de Brokeback Mountain (The Secret(s) of Brokeback Mountain), respectively. In Canadian French, the title is Souvenirs de Brokeback Mountain (Memories of Brokeback Mountain). The film received two Spanish titles: Brokeback Mountain: En terreno vedado (In a forbidden terrain) for its release in Spain and Secreto en la Montaña (Secret in the mountain) for its release in Latin America. In Hungarian, the title was Túl a barátságon (Beyond friendship).The film was met with mixed responses in some regions, particularly China and Islamic nations of western Asia. According to reports, the film was not shown in theaters in China, though it was freely available in bootleg DVD and VHS. The Chinese government said the audience would have been too small; the foreign media accused the government of censorship. The word "brokeback" (Chinese: 断背; pinyin: duànbèi) also entered the Chinese lexicon as a slang for homosexuality. Brokeback Mountain was dubbed "the gay cowboy movie" by the press, a term that was propelled into the American vernacular. The film was also released in Turkey.
In the Middle East, distribution of the film became a political issue. Homosexuality is criminalized in most Islamic nations and is taboo in the few countries where it is legal. Lebanon was the only Arab country to show the film, although in a censored format. The film was officially banned from screenings in the United Arab Emirates; however, the DVD of the film was permitted to be rented from stores such as Blockbuster Video.
On December 8, 2008, the Italian state-owned television channel Rai Due aired a censored version of the film, removing all the scenes with homoerotic references. Viewers protested, saying the deletions made the plot hard to follow. The Arcigay organisation accused the channel of homophobic censorship. The state-owned television network RAI said the Italian film distributor had mistakenly censored the film. RAI showed an uncensored version of the film on March 17, 2009.
=== Home media ===
Brokeback Mountain was the first major film to be released simultaneously on both DVD and digital download via the Internet. It was released in the United States on April 4, 2006. More than 1 million copies of the DVD were sold in the first week, and it was the third-biggest seller of the week, behind Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong. Although the ranking fluctuated daily, by late March and early April 2006, Brokeback Mountain had been the top-selling DVD on Amazon.com for several days running.
The DVD in Europe was released in the UK on April 24, 2006. This was followed by France in July, and Poland in September, a considerable time after the theater release in both countries. Brokeback Mountain was re-released in a collector's edition on January 23, 2007. On the same day, it was also released in HD DVD format. The film was released on Blu-ray in the UK on August 13, 2007, and in the U.S. on March 10, 2009. The Blu-ray contains special features including interviews with the screenwriters, director and a short documentary about composer Gustavo Santaolalla. Kino Lorber released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 16, 2024.
=== Critical response ===
Brokeback Mountain was released to critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 253 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "A beautifully epic Western, Brokeback Mountain's love story is imbued with heartbreaking universality, helped by moving performances by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal." On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 87/100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
David Ansen of Newsweek gave the film a positive review, praising the faithful screenplay. He adds, "There's neither coyness nor self-importance in Brokeback Mountain—just close, compassionate observation, deeply committed performances, a bone-deep feeling for hardscrabble Western lives. Few films have captured so acutely the desolation of frustrated, repressed passion." Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw praised Ledger and Gyllenhaal for their complementary performances. Bradshaw thought the film was "extremely moving, tragic even, and sensitive towards the feelings of the simple wives who attempt to understand their troubled husbands." Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post was equally positive, opining that the two lead actors' performances were unforgettable. In particular, she thought Ledger was impressive in his portrayal of a reserved and emotionally affected Ennis. Hornaday also praised the costumes and sets, writing "The Wyoming vistas are flawlessly manicured, Ledger and Gyllenhaal perfectly costumed and coiffed; even Ennis and Alma's sad little apartment over a laundromat seems to have been designed to death."
Roger Ebert gave Brokeback Mountain a rating of four out of four stars in his review. Ebert was impressed with the level of attention to the characters, and thought that the film was as observant as the work by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, Sandra Hall praised the screenplay and called Ledger and Gyllenhaal "finely tuned". Noting that it is a slow film, Hall thought the filmmakers had adapted Proulx's story without missing any nuances. USA Today's Mike Clark observed that Brokeback Mountain was directed and photographed with restraint, and praised its old-fashioned quality, and "unassuming but people-oriented" nature. The film also received a positive reaction from Christianity Today; the reviewer gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. In a mixed review, Ed Gonzalez of Slant magazine thought the film was too long, and the critic from Time magazine felt that the story became less intense towards the end. Conservative radio host Michael Medved described it as "extremely well done" and that as a film, it was "better than the agenda".
Several conservative political pundits, including commentators Bill O'Reilly, John Gibson, and Cal Thomas, shared Medved's view of the "agenda". Gibson made jokes about the film on his Fox News Radio program for months after its release. After the death of Ledger in 2008, Gibson was criticized for mocking the deceased actor, and later apologized. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh referred to the film as "Bareback Mountain" and "Humpback Mountain". Don Imus referred to the film as "Fudgepack Mountain". Several conservative Christian groups, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Focus on the Family, criticized the film for its subject matter. Following the success of Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Transamerica at the Golden Globes Awards in 2006, Janice Crouse, a CWA member, cited these films as examples of how "the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit", and suggested they were not popular enough to warrant critical acclaim.
Film critic Gene Shalit, of The Today Show, described the character of Jack Twist as a "sexual predator" who "tracks Ennis down and coaxes him into sporadic trysts." The LGBTQ media group GLAAD said that Shalit's characterization of Twist was like calling Jack in Titanic a sexual predator due to his romantic pursuit of Rose. Shalit's openly gay son, Peter Shalit, wrote an open letter to GLAAD: "He [Gene] may have had an unpopular opinion of a movie that is important to the gay community, but he defamed no one, and he is not a homophobe." Gene Shalit later apologized for his review: "I did not intend to use a word that many in the gay community consider incendiary... I certainly had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone in the gay community or on the community itself. I regret any emotional hurt that may have resulted from my review of Brokeback Mountain."
Some commentators accused the filmmakers for hiding content about the film in advertising and in public events, such as press conferences and award ceremonies. New York Daily News writer Wayman Wong, Dave Cullen and Daniel Mendelsohn argued that the director, cast, and publicists avoided using the word gay to describe the story, and noted that the film's trailer did not show a kiss between the two men but showed a heterosexual love scene. The film's significance has been attributed to its portrayal of a same-sex relationship focused solely on the characters, as the film does not refer in any manner to the broader history of various LGBT social movements. It emphasizes the tragic love story aspect, and many critics have compared Ennis and Jack's drama to classic and modern romances such as Romeo and Juliet or Titanic, often using the term star-crossed lovers.
Proulx praised the film as "huge and powerful", adding, "I may be the first writer in America to have a piece of writing make its way to the screen whole and entire. [...] I was astonished that the characters of Jack and Ennis came surging into my mind again".
Critics' lists of 2005
Brokeback Mountain appeared on numerous American critics' lists as one of their favorite films of 2005.
The film was picked as one of the 400 nominated films for the American Film Institute list AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition). Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, best-of list. In a 2016 international poll conducted by BBC, Brokeback Mountain was ranked the 40th greatest film since 2000. In 2019, The Guardian ranked the film 66th in its 100 best films of the 21st century list. In 2025, the film ranked number 17 on The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 30 on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.
=== Legal issues ===
On January 6, 2006, Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller removed the film from theaters at the Jordan Commons entertainment complex in Sandy, Utah. Miller said the film's content had no resemblance of a traditional family, which he believed is "dangerous". Focus Features threatened legal action and announced it would no longer do business with him.
On March 23, 2006, Randy Quaid, who portrayed Joe Aguirre in the film, filed a lawsuit against Focus Features for misrepresenting Brokeback Mountain as "a low-budget, art house film with no prospect of making any money", in order to secure his role for a cheaper rate. On May 4, Quaid's publicist said he dropped the lawsuit as the company agreed to pay him a settlement; the company denies this, however.
== Accolades ==
Brokeback Mountain garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories, including for its directing, screenplay, acting, original score, and cinematography. At the 78th Academy Awards, Brokeback Mountain was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and won three awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score. The film garnered seven nominations at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards, winning four for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Song. At the 59th British Academy Film Awards, Brokeback Mountain was nominated for nine awards, winning in the categories of Best Film, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal.
=== Best Picture controversy ===
After Brokeback Mountain lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to Crash, some critics accused the Academy of homophobia and for making a non-groundbreaking choice. Commentators including Kenneth Turan and Nikki Finke derided the Academy's decision, but Roger Ebert defended the decision to award Crash Best Picture, arguing that the better film won. Proulx wrote an essay expressing disappointment in the film not winning Best Picture. She also opined that Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance in Capote required less effort than that required of the actors in Brokeback Mountain. Following the loss, more than 800 supporters raised up to $26,000 to place an advertisement in the Daily Variety. The advert thanked the filmmakers "for transforming countless lives through the most honored film of the year."
The film is one of several highly acclaimed LGBT-related films of 2005 to be nominated for critical awards; others include Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Rent, and Transamerica. It was voted the top film involving homosexual relationships by readers at TheBacklot.com. In 2010, the Independent Film & Television Alliance selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.
In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter polled Academy members on controversial past decisions, in which Brokeback Mountain won the revote for Best Picture.
== Characters' sexuality ==
Critics and the cast and crew disagreed as to whether the film's two protagonists were homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, or should be free of any sexual orientation classification. The film was frequently referred to in the media as the "gay cowboy movie", but a number of reviewers noted that both Jack and Ennis were bisexual. Sex researcher Fritz Klein said that the film was "a nice film with two main characters who were bisexual" and suggested that the character of Jack is more "toward the gay side" of the spectrum and Ennis is "a bit more toward the straight side".
Gyllenhaal said in 2006 that Ennis and Jack were straight men who "develop this love, this bond," saying in a Details interview: "I approached the story believing that these are actually two straight guys who fall in love." However, in 2015, he told The Hollywood Reporter that this was a "gay love story", and that his character was the more "overtly gay" of the two. Ledger told Time magazine in 2005: "I don't think Ennis could be labeled as gay. Without Jack Twist, I don't know that he ever would have come out. I think the whole point was that it was two souls that fell in love with each other."
Others said they felt the characters' sexuality was meant to be ambiguous. Clarence Patton and Christopher Murray of New York's Gay City News wrote that Ennis and Jack's experiences were metaphors for "many men who do not identify as gay or even queer, but who nevertheless have sex with other men". Entertainment Weekly wrote that "everyone called it 'The Gay Cowboy Movie' until they saw it. In the end, Ang Lee's 2005 love story wasn't gay or straight, just human." Tom Ciorciari of EFilmCritic.com wrote: "We later see Jack eagerly engage Lureen sexually, with no explanation as to whether he is bisexual, so in need of physical intimacy that anyone, regardless of gender, will do, or merely very adept at faking it."
LGBT non-fiction author Eric Marcus dismissed "talk of Ennis and Jack being anything but gay as box office-influenced political correctness intended to steer straight audiences to the film". Roger Ebert believed that both characters were gay, but doubted it themselves: "Jack is able to accept a little more willingly that he is inescapably gay." Producer James Schamus said, "I suppose movies can be Rorschach tests for all of us, but damn if these characters aren't gay to me." Brokeback Mountain author Annie Proulx said, "how different readers take the story is a reflection of their own personal values, attitudes, hang-ups."
When Ledger and Gyllenhaal were asked if they feared being cast in controversial roles, Ledger stated that he was not afraid of the role, but rather he was concerned that he would not be mature enough as an actor to do the story justice. Gyllenhaal has stated that he is proud of the film and his role, regardless of what the reactions would be. He considered rumors of him being bisexual flattering, stating: "I'm open to whatever people want to call me. I've never really been attracted to men sexually, but I don't think I would be afraid of it if it happened." Lee described himself as shy upon shooting the first sex scene and initially found it technically difficult but praised Ledger and Gyllenhaal for their professionalism. Ledger's performance was described by Luke Davies as a difficult and empowering portrayal given the environment of the film: "In Brokeback Mountain the vulnerability, the potential for danger, is so great – a world so masculine it might destroy you for any aberration – that [Ledger's] real brilliance was to bring to the screen a character, Ennis Del Mar, so fundamentally shut down that he is like a bible of unrequited desires, stifled yearnings, lost potential."
Author Jim Kitses quoted Diana Ossana's acknowledgment of how the film "subverts the myth of the American West and its iconic heroes." He commented: "What drives the emotional attack of the film is the inadequacy of its characters to articulate and understand, let alone control, the experience that strikes them like a storm. American cowboys—of all people—have no business falling in love with each other. Practical and conservative types of a rough and ready manhood are by no means ready for man-love."
== Legacy and impact ==
Brokeback Mountain was lauded as a landmark in LGBT cinema and credited for influencing several films and television shows featuring LGBT themes and characters. In Out at the Movies, Steven Paul Davies explains that as a result of the film's success, "most major film studios have been clamouring to get behind new, gay-themed projects... thanks to Brokeback, film financiers will continue to back scripts that don't simply rely on gay stereotypes...and that will certainly be progress." Davies cites Milk, Transamerica, and I Love You Phillip Morris as examples of such films. In 2018, Brokeback Mountain was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The February 2020 issue of New York Magazine lists Brokeback Mountain as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars." In 2021, members of Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) ranked its screenplay 13th in WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (so far).
The pair of shirts worn by Ledger's and Gyllenhaal's characters were sold on eBay on February 20, 2006, for US$101,100.51. The shirts were sold to benefit children's charity Variety. The buyer, Tom Gregory, film historian and collector, described the shirts as "the ruby slippers of our time", referring to an artifact from The Wizard of Oz film. In 2009, Gregory loaned the shirts to the Autry National Center in Los Angeles for its series, Out West, which explored the history of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people in the Old West. The series included a gallery tour, panel discussions, lectures and performances, with events held in four installments over the course of 12 months. According to the Autry, the series was the "first of its kind" for a western heritage museum.
A book, Beyond Brokeback: The Impact of a Film (2007), is a collection of personal stories of how people were influenced by the story and film, compiled from members of the Ultimate Brokeback Forum website. In an associated Out West series program, the Autry screened Brokeback Mountain in December 2010 to commemorate the film's fifth anniversary and held a staged reading of Beyond Brokeback by historian and Out West organizer Gregory Hinton. Beyond Brokeback has been presented as a staged reading at other venues, such as Roosevelt University in Chicago, on November 13, 2011, together with a panel discussion and screening of the film. An American opera, Brokeback Mountain, was composed by Charles Wuorinen with a libretto by Annie Proulx. Written in English, it premiered at the Teatro Real in Madrid on January 28, 2014. It was championed by impresario Gerard Mortier, who had commissioned it. A play, based on Annie Proulx's short story, written by Ashley Robinson with songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, opened on May 10, 2023, at @sohoplace in London's West End.
Several years after the film's release, Proulx said she regrets writing the story. She said that people have sent her too much fan fiction presenting alternative plots. Some authors, mostly men claiming to "understand men better than I do", often send their works. She said:
[The film] is the source of constant irritation in my private life. There are countless people out there who think the story is open range to explore their fantasies and to correct what they see as an unbearably disappointing story [...] They constantly send ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for "fixing" the story. They certainly don't get the message that if you can't fix it you've got to stand it. Most of these "fix-it" tales have the character Ennis finding a husky boyfriend and living happily ever after, or discovering the character Jack is not really dead after all, or having the two men's children meet and marry, etc., etc. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Summer_Olympics_medal_table | 1984 Summer Olympics medal table | The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States, from July 28 to August 12. A total of 6,829 athletes from 140 nations participated in 221 events in 21 sports.
Overall, 47 nations received at least one medal, and 25 of them won at least one gold medal. Athletes from host nation United States won the most medals overall, with 174, and the most gold medals, with 83. The former record was the largest overall medal haul for the nation since the 1904 edition; the latter record was the highest gold medal tally at a single Games in Olympic history and the most for a host nation. It marked the first time the United States led the medal count in both gold and overall medals since 1968. Sports commentators noted that the absence of the Soviet Union and various other Eastern Bloc nations stemming from a boycott contributed to the highly skewed medal results benefitting the United States and other countries. Romania won the second most gold medals (20) and the third most total medals (53), marking its highest medal tally in history. West Germany won the third most gold medals, with 17, and the second most total medals, with 59.
Runner Carl Lewis and gymnast Ecaterina Szabo won the most gold medals at the games with four each. Gymnast Li Ning won the greatest number of medals overall, winning six in total. Morocco and Portugal won their first Olympic gold medals. Algeria, Dominican Republic, Ivory Coast, Syria, and Zambia won their nation's first Olympic medals.
== Medal table ==
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. The table uses the Olympic medal table sorting method. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won, where a nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee (NOC). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals. If teams are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by their IOC country code.
In the boxing and judo events, two bronze medals are awarded in each weight class. Two gold medals (and no silver medals) were awarded for first place ties in the women's uneven bars, women's balance beam, and men's rings gymnastics events. Four silver medals (and no bronze) were awarded in the men's vault gymnastics competition. Two bronze medals were awarded for third-place ties in both the women's 100 metre hurdles and the men's pole vault competitions.
Key
‡ Changes in medal standings (see below)
* Host nation (United States)
== Changes in medal standings == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Street_Preachers | Manic Street Preachers | Manic Street Preachers (also informally referred to as the Manics) are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. Since 1995, the band has been a three-piece of Nicky Wire (bass/lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (vocals/guitar/occasional lyrics) and Sean Moore (drums). They form a key part of the 1990s Welsh Cool Cymru cultural movement. The band's early releases were in a punk vein, eventually broadening to a wider alternative rock sound. Their early combination of androgynous glam imagery and lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" gained them a loyal following.
As a four-piece with Richey Edwards (guitar/lyrics), the band's first charting single was "Motown Junk" in 1991, followed by their first two albums, Generation Terrorists in 1992 and Gold Against the Soul in 1993. 1994's The Holy Bible was the last album with Edwards, who disappeared in February 1995 and was legally presumed deceased in 2008. After a six-month hiatus, and with the blessing of Edwards' family, the remaining members chose to continue, achieving commercial success with the first post-Edwards album, 1996's Everything Must Go, which reached No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart. The follow-up album, 1998's This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, reached No. 1.
The Manics have headlined festivals including Glastonbury, T in the Park, V Festival and Reading, winning eleven NME Awards, eight Q Awards and four BRIT Awards. They were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1996 and 1999, and have had one nomination for the MTV Europe Music Awards. The band have sold more than ten million albums worldwide. All of their studio albums have made the UK Top 20, with This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours and The Ultra Vivid Lament (2021) both reaching No. 1. From 1991 to 2010, they had 34 consecutive Top 40 singles in the UK, including Top 10 hits with "Theme from M.A.S.H (Suicide Is Painless)" (1992), "A Design for Life", "Everything Must Go", "Kevin Carter", "Australia" (all 1996), their first No. 1 single "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998), "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (1999), their second No. 1 single "The Masses Against the Classes" (2000), "So Why So Sad", "Found That Soul" (both 2001), "There by the Grace of God" (2002), "The Love of Richard Nixon" (2004), "Empty Souls" (2005), "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" and "Autumnsong" (both 2007).
== History ==
=== Formation and early years (1986–1990) ===
Manic Street Preachers formed in 1986 at Oakdale Comprehensive School, Blackwood, South Wales, which all the band members attended. Their first line-up consisted of singer and guitarist James Dean Bradfield, rhythm guitarist Nicky Wire, bassist Miles "Flicker" Woodward, and drummer Sean Moore. Bradfield and the slightly older Moore are cousins and shared bunk beds in the Bradfield family home after Moore's parents divorced. During the band's early years, Bradfield, alongside the classically trained Moore, primarily wrote the music while Wire focused on the lyrics. Some of their earliest performances were held at the Blackwood Miners Welfare Institute in the town. The band's name came from Bradfield's busking when he was 16:
"I left [comprehensive school], and you've got that summer off to think about what you're gonna do in the future. And that's when I picked up a guitar and I started to go busking everyday. [...] And I had a spot in Cardiff, right next to a tramp, and I made friends with him. I'd come along everyday and I'd wake him up, and he'd say "Oh my God, it's the Manic Street Preacher again". And I just kept the name [...] I thought that's pretty cool, that's better than anything I can come up with."
Woodward left the band in early 1988, reportedly because he believed that the band were moving away from their punk roots. The band continued as a three-piece, with Wire switching from rhythm guitar to bass, and in 1988 they released their first single, "Suicide Alley". Despite its poor recording quality, this single provides an early insight into both Bradfield's guitar work and Moore's live drumming. NME gave "Suicide Alley" an enthusiastic review, citing a press release by the band's friend Richey James Edwards: "We are as far away from anything in the '80s as possible." In 1989, Edwards, who drove the band to and from gigs, joined the band as rhythm guitarist and co-lyricist alongside Wire. Edwards also designed the record sleeves, artwork and the spray stenciled jumpers the band began wearing, with slogans such as "SUICIDE SOLUTION", "GENERATION TERRORIST", "CULTURE OF DESTRUCTION" and "KILL YOURSELF".
In 1990, Manic Street Preachers signed a deal with label Damaged Goods Records for one EP. The four-track New Art Riot E.P. attracted as much media interest for its attacks on fellow musicians as for the actual music.
=== "Motown Junk" to The Holy Bible (1991–1994) ===
With the help of Hall or Nothing management, the Manics signed to indie label Heavenly Records. The band's first single for the label, "Motown Junk", released in January 1991, gave them their first chart appearance, reaching number 94 on the UK Singles Chart. Their next single, "You Love Us", opened with a sample of Krzysztof Penderecki's "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima", and closed with a sample of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life". It was during this period that the band, particularly Wire and Edwards, began to adopt an androgynous/glam rock visual aesthetic.
On 15 May 1991, during an interview with then-NME journalist Steve Lamacq following a gig at Norwich Arts Centre, Edwards carved the phrase "4REAL" into his arm with a razor blade in a bid to prove the sincerity of the band. He was taken to hospital and received seventeen stitches. NME subsequently ran a full-page story on the incident, including an interview with Edwards on his motivations for doing it. A recording of the editorial meeting discussing whether or not they could publish the photo of Edwards displaying his cutting was included as a B-side on the band's 1992 charity single "Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)", under the title "Sleeping with the NME". The recording features Lamacq (the then-editor of NME), Danny Kelly, and James Brown (who went on to edit Loaded and the British version of GQ). As a result of their controversial behaviour, as well as their penchant for giving scathing critiques of other musicians (most infamously, Wire's comments on R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe in 1992), the Manics quickly became favourites of the British music press, which helped them build a dedicated following.
In mid-1991, the band signed to Columbia Records/Sony Music UK Their debut album, Generation Terrorists, was released in 1992. The record generated six singles, including a re-recorded version of "You Love Us", and sold 250,000 copies. It reached number 13 in the UK Albums Chart. The liner notes contained a literary quote for each of the album's eighteen songs and the album lasted just over seventy minutes. The album's lyrics are politicised like those of the Clash and Public Enemy, with the songs regularly switching from a critical focus on global capitalism to more personal tales of despair and the struggles of youth. Other tracks combine personal and political themes; "Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds" was written as a critique of overseas banking credit policies, but also concerned Edwards' issues involving overdrafts and refused loans. The single "Motorcycle Emptiness" criticises consumerism as a "shallow dream" that makes human life overtly commercialised. "Little Baby Nothing", a duet between Bradfield and former porn actress Traci Lords, was described by Priya Elan of NME as a "perfect snapshot of [female] innocence bodysnatched and twisted".
In an interview with Sylvia Patterson for the early April 1992 issue of Smash Hits, Richey Edwards summed up their "two philosophies of life" as "there must be more to life than this" and "it's all fucking bollocks".
In September 1992, the band released a cover of "Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)" as a charity single in aid of the National Spastics Society, now known as Scope. The single became the band's first Top 10 hit, peaking at number 7 in the UK. The group's second album, 1993's Gold Against the Soul, had a more grunge-influenced sound. It was released to mixed reviews but performed well, reaching number 8 in the UK. The album was produced by Dave Eringa, who had already been an associate of the band for several years. In subsequent years, the band have named Gold Against the Soul as their least favourite album, and have described the period surrounding the album as being the most unfocused of their career. Bradfield said: "All we wanted to do was go under the corporate wing. We thought we could ignore it but you do get affected."
By early 1994, Edwards' mental and physical health difficulties, including anorexia, alcohol abuse, depression and self-harm, became worse. In April and May, the band played concerts in Thailand and Portugal and at a benefit concert for the Anti-Nazi League at Brockwell Park, London. Edwards was habitually cutting himself, and appeared onstage in Bangkok with self-inflicted wounds across his chest. Following their appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in June (during which, Wire called Glastonbury a "shithole" and suggested to "build a few more fucking bypasses" over it), Edwards was admitted into The Priory, and the band played a few festivals as a three-piece to pay for his treatment. These appearances included T in the Park in Scotland, the Alte Wartesaal in Cologne, the Parkpop Festival in The Hague and the Reading Festival. During the Reading show, Bradfield played Edwards' black Gibson Les Paul Studio as a mark of respect (although Bradfield later commented that he regretted playing Edwards' guitar).
The band's third album, The Holy Bible, was released in August 1994. It received critical acclaim, but sold poorly. The album displayed yet another musical change for the band, marking a shift from the modern rock sound of their first two albums towards alternative rock. The album also incorporates various elements from other musical genres, such as hard rock, British punk, post-punk, new wave, industrial, art rock and gothic rock. Lyrically the album deals with subjects including prostitution, American consumerism, British imperialism, freedom of speech, the Holocaust, serial killers, the death penalty, political revolution, childhood, fascism and suicide. According to Q: "the tone of the album is by turns bleak, angry and resigned". There was also an element of autobiographic subjects, like in the song "4st 7lb" where the lyrics clearly tackle Richey's own experience with anorexia. The song was named after 4 stones 7 pounds, or 63 pounds (29 kg), because it is the weight below which death is purported to be medically unavoidable.
The title of The Holy Bible was chosen by Edwards to reflect an idea, according to Bradfield, that "everything on there has to be perfection". Interviewed at the end of 1994, Edwards said: "The way religions choose to speak their truth to the public has always been to beat them down [...] I think that if a Holy Bible is true, it should be about the way the world is and that's what I think my lyrics are about. [The album] doesn't pretend things don't exist". Although its initial sales were poor, The Holy Bible eventually sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.
The band changed their visual aesthetic during this period, away from androgynous glam and towards an army/military look. A now infamous appearance on Top of the Pops in June 1994, where the band performed "Faster", the first single from The Holy Bible, featured Bradfield wearing a "terrorist-style" balaclava. The band were told by the BBC that the performance had received the most complaints in the BBC's history to that point.
With Edwards out of hospital, the band spent late 1994 on a headline tour of the UK and Ireland and two tours in mainland Europe with Suede and Therapy?. In December, three nights at the London Astoria ended with the band smashing up their equipment and the venue's lighting rig, causing £26,000 worth of damage.
=== Disappearance of Richey Edwards (1995) ===
Edwards disappeared on 1 February 1995, on the day when he and Bradfield were due to fly to the US on a promotional tour. In the two weeks before his disappearance, Edwards withdrew £200 a day from his bank account, which totalled £2,800 by the day of the scheduled flight. He checked out of the Embassy Hotel in Bayswater Road, London, at seven in the morning, and then drove to his apartment in Cardiff, Wales. In the two weeks that followed he was apparently spotted in the Newport passport office, and the Newport bus station. On 7 February, a taxi driver from Newport supposedly picked up Edwards from the King's Hotel in Newport, and drove him around the valleys, including Blackwood (Edwards' home as a child). The passenger got off at the Severn View service station near Aust and paid the £68 fare in cash.
On 14 February, Edwards' Vauxhall Cavalier received a parking ticket at the Severn View service station and on 17 February, the vehicle was reported as abandoned. Police discovered the battery to be flat, with evidence that the car had been lived in. Due to the service station's proximity to the Severn Bridge (which has been a prominent suicide location in the past) it was widely believed that he took his own life by jumping from the bridge.
Manic Street Preachers were put on hold for six months and disbanding the group was seriously considered, but with the blessing of Edwards' family, the other members continued. Edwards was legally "presumed dead" in 2008, to enable his parents to administer his estate. The band continue to set up a microphone for Edwards at every live performance. The band's first release following Edwards' disappearance was a cover of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the various artists charity album The Help Album, issued in September 1995 in aid of War Child.
=== Everything Must Go to Lifeblood (1996–2006) ===
The first album without Edwards, Everything Must Go, was released on 20 May 1996. The band had chosen to work with new producer Mike Hedges, mainly for his work on Siouxsie and the Banshees' single "Swimming Horses" that Bradfield rated highly. Everything Must Go debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 2. So far the album has gone Triple Platinum in the UK and is their most successful album to date, spending 103 weeks in the Top 100 with the album still in the top five a year after its release. Featuring five songs either written or co-written by Edwards, the album was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews. The number 2 hit single "A Design for Life" was the first song to be written by the band following Edwards' disappearance. Bradfield later recalled that the lyric had been a fusion of two sets of lyrics - "Design for Life" and "Pure Motive" - sent to him from Wales by Wire, while he was living in Shepherd's Bush. The band later stated that writing the song "rescued" them from the despair they felt in the aftermath of Edwards' disappearance, with Wire describing the song as "a bolt of light from a severely dark place". "A Design for Life" was followed by three more hit singles from the album, "Everything Must Go", "Kevin Carter" (one of the five songs with a writing credit to Edwards) and "Australia".
Everything Must Go was shortlisted for the 1996 Mercury Prize award for best album, and won the band two awards at the 1997 Brit Awards, for Best British Band and Best British Album. The album has sold over two million copies around the world, is still considered one of the finest albums of the 1990s, and frequently voted in polls in the category of best albums of all time by many publications. The success of Everything Must Go at the Brit Awards ensured that sales of their previous albums - Generation Terrorists, Gold Against the Soul and The Holy Bible - enjoyed a late surge (Generation Terrorists sold an extra 110,000 copies).
In 1997, the band performed a special gig at the Manchester Arena for more than 20,000 people. Wire said that was the moment he knew that the band had "made it". The recording was released on VHS on 29 September 1997.
The band's fifth album, 1998's This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, was their first number 1 in the UK, remaining at the top of the albums chart for three weeks, selling 136,000 copies in the first week and spending a total of 74 weeks in the chart. The title is a quotation taken from a speech given by Aneurin Bevan, a Labour Party politician from Wales. The cover photograph was taken on Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog, Wales. The album also peaked at number 1 in Sweden and Ireland.
The album spawned the band's first number 1 single, "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next". The song's theme is taken from the Spanish Civil War, and the idealism of Welsh volunteers who joined the left-wing International Brigades fighting for the Spanish Republic against Francisco Franco's military rebels. The song takes its name from a Republican poster of the time, displaying a photograph of a young child killed by the Nationalists under a sky of bombers with the stark warning "If you tolerate this, your children will be next" written at the bottom. The song is in the Guinness World Records as the number 1 single with the longest title without brackets. The album also included three more hit singles, "The Everlasting", "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" and "Tsunami". As with the 1997 Brit Awards, the Manics won both Best British Band and Album at the 1999 Brit Awards. This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours was also shortlisted for the 1999 Mercury Prize and the band received a further nomination in the category of Best UK & Ireland Act in the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards, where they performed "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next". At the NME Awards in 1999, the band won every major award (Best Band, Best Album, Best Live Act, Best Single and Best Video). They also won the Best Band in the World Today award at the 1998 Q Awards.
After headlining Glastonbury Festival, T in the Park and V Festival, the band played the Leaving the 20th Century concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 31 December 1999, the first concert to be held there, with 57,000 people attending and the final song being broadcast around the world by satellite as part of 2000 Today. The concert was released on VHS and DVD as Leaving the 20th Century.
In 2000, they released the limited edition single "The Masses Against the Classes". Despite receiving little promotion, the single sold 76,000 copies in its first week and reached number 1 in the UK singles chart on 16 January 2000, beating "U Know What's Up" by Donell Jones to the top. The single was deleted on the day of release, but the song nevertheless spent nine weeks in the UK chart.
In 2001, they became the first popular Western rock band to play in Cuba (at the Karl Marx Theatre) and met with President Fidel Castro. Their concert and trip to Cuba was documented and then released on DVD as Louder Than War. At this concert, they revealed many tracks from their upcoming sixth album, Know Your Enemy, which was released on 19 March 2001. The left-wing political convictions of Manic Street Preachers are apparent in many of the album's songs, such as "Baby Elián" as they comment on the strained relations between the United States and Cuba as seen in the Elián González affair, a hot topic around the album's release. The band also pays tribute to singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson in the song "Let Robeson Sing", which was issued as the album's fourth and final single. One non-political song on the album is "Ocean Spray", the album's third single, which was written entirely by Bradfield about his mother's battle with cancer. The first two singles from the album, "So Why So Sad" and "Found That Soul", were both released on the same day. The Manics headlined the 2001 Reading and Leeds Festival.
A greatest hits album, Forever Delayed, was released in 2002, featuring two new songs, "Door to the River" and the single "There by the Grace of God". A 2-CD 'Special Edition' was also issued, featuring a bonus CD of remixes. Forever Delayed debuted and peaked on the UK chart at number 4. A DVD collection of the band's promo videos and a photo book, both also titled Forever Delayed, were released at the same time.
Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers), a compilation album of B-sides, rarities, and cover versions was released in 2003, which includes the previously unreleased "Judge Yr'self", the last song the band recorded with Edwards. The album received a far more positive reception from fans than the Forever Delayed greatest hits album, which was heavily criticised for focusing the band's more commercial side. The only recurring criticism of Lipstick Traces was the exclusion of the fan favourite "Patrick Bateman", a B-side of "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)", the second single from 1993's Gold Against the Soul. The band explained that it was excluded mainly because it was almost seven minutes long and simply would not fit on the album.
The band's seventh studio album, Lifeblood, was released on 1 November 2004 and reached number 13 on the UK album chart, becoming their first studio album since their debut, Generation Terrorists, to miss the UK Top 10. Critical response to the album was mixed. The album was more introspective and more focused on the past. Wire talked about the ghosts that haunted this record and stated that the record was a retrospective: "The main themes are death and solitude and ghosts. Being haunted by history and being haunted by your own past. Sleep is beautiful for me. I hate dreaming because it ruins ten hours of bliss. I had a lot of bad dreams when Richey first disappeared. Not ugly dreams, but nagging things. Until we wrote 'Design for Life', it was six months of misery. Lifeblood doesn't seek to exorcise Edwards' ghost, though, just admits that there are no answers". Tony Visconti helped the band produce three songs on the album, which was followed by a UK arena tour in December 2004. "The Love of Richard Nixon" and "Empty Souls" were the two singles released from the album, both reaching number 2 in the UK.
A 10th Anniversary Edition of The Holy Bible was released on 6 December 2004, which included a digitally remastered version of the original album, a rare US mix (which the band themselves have admitted to preferring to the original UK mix) and a DVD of live performances and extras including a new band interview.
In April 2005, the band played several shows as the Past-Present-Future tour, announced as their last for at least two years. The band released an EP entitled God Save the Manics with only a limited number of copies available and given out to fans as they arrived at the venue. After all the copies were gone, the band made the EP available as a free download on their website. In September, the band contributed the new track "Leviathan" to the War Child charity album Help!: A Day in the Life. The band received the prize for the Q Merit Award at the 2006 Q Awards.
A 10th Anniversary Edition of Everything Must Go was released on 6 November 2006. It included the original album, demos, B-sides, remixes, rehearsals and alternate takes of the album's songs, spread out over two CDs. An additional DVD, featuring promo videos, live performances, TV appearances, a 45-minute documentary on the making of the album, and two new films by Patrick Jones, completed the three-disc set. In the documentary, the band stated they were still very proud of the album, with Wire going further and saying, "I think it's our best record, I am not afraid to say that."
=== Send Away the Tigers to National Treasures (2007–2012) ===
The band's eighth studio album, Send Away the Tigers, was released on 7 May 2007. It entered the official UK Album Charts at number 2. Critical response to the album was largely positive, with some critics hailing the album as the band's best in a decade. A free download of a song entitled "Underdogs" from the album was made available through the group's website on 19 March 2007. The first official single released from the album was "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough", featuring Cardigans vocalist Nina Persson. According to Bradfield, the title was the last line of a suicide note left by the friend of someone close to the group. The second single, "Autumnsong", and a third, "Indian Summer", were released in August. "Indian Summer" peaked at number 22, making it the first Manics single not to chart in the Top 20 since 1994's "She Is Suffering". The album sleeve features a quotation from Wyndham Lewis: "When a man is young, he is usually a revolutionary of some kind. So here I am, speaking of my revolution".
A Christmas single, "The Ghost of Christmas", was released as a free download on the band's official website throughout December 2007 and January 2008. In February 2008, the band were presented with the God-Like Geniuses Award at the NME Awards ceremony.
The ninth Manics studio album, Journal for Plague Lovers, was released on 18 May 2009 and features lyrics left behind by Edwards. Wire commented in an interview that "there was a sense of responsibility to do his words justice." The album was released to positive critical reviews and reached number 3 on the UK Album Chart. However, the cover of the album generated some controversy, with the top four UK supermarkets stocking the CD in a plain slipcase, as the cover was deemed "inappropriate". Several tracks refer to Edwards' time in a couple of hospitals in 1994. Bradfield commented that Journal for Plague Lovers was an attempt to finally secure the legacy of Edwards and the result was that, during the recording process, it was as close to feeling his presence since his disappearance: "There was a sense of responsibility to do his words justice. That was part of the whole thing of letting enough time lapse. Once we actually got into the studio, it almost felt as if we were a full band; it [was] as close to him being in the room again as possible."
The band's tenth studio album, 2010's Postcards from a Young Man, was recorded with producer Dave Eringa and was mixed in America by Chris Lord-Alge. The album cover art uses a black and white photograph of British actor Tim Roth. The first single from the album, "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love", was released on 13 September 2010. The album was supported by the Manics' most extensive tour of the UK to date, starting in Glasgow on 29 September 2010. British Sea Power were the support act for the band on the tour. Two further singles were released from the album—"Some Kind of Nothingness", featuring Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen, and the title track "Postcards from a Young Man". "Some Kind of Nothingness" peaked at number 44 in the UK, making it the first-ever Manics single to not make the Top 40 since they signed to Sony in 1991.
The compilation album National Treasures – The Complete Singles was released on 31 October 2011, preceded by the release of the single "This Is the Day", a cover of the song by the The. The album was chosen by NME magazine as the best reissue of 2011, beating Nirvana's deluxe and super deluxe edition of Nevermind to the top spot. On 17 December 2011, the group performed 'A Night of National Treasures' at O2 Arena in London to celebrate the band's 25 years to date, and enter into a period of hiatus where the eleventh studio album was written. The band performed all 38 singles, with around 20,000 people in attendance, as well as guest performers including Nina Persson from the Cardigans on "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" and Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals on "Let Robeson Sing". In April and May 2012, the band embarked on a European greatest hits tour.
A documentary about their album Generation Terrorists was screened on Saturday 20 October 2012 at Chapter Arts Centre as part of the Sŵn Festival, with all profits donated to Young Promoters Network. The film was made available in the 20th Anniversary Edition of Generation Terrorists, issued in November.
=== Rewind the Film and Futurology (2013–2016) ===
In May 2013, the band announced an Australasian tour for June and July, that would see them play their first-ever show in New Zealand. This tour coincided with the British and Irish Lions rugby tour to Australia and the Melbourne concert on the eve of the 2nd Test featured Lions' centre Jamie Roberts as a guest guitarist on "You Love Us".
In May 2013 the Manics released information about their most recent recording sessions, saying that they had enough material for two albums; the first would be almost exclusively without electric guitars. The name of the first album and title track was revealed to be Rewind the Film on 8 July. In a statement, the band announced, "(If) this record has a relation in the Manics back catalogue, it's probably the sedate coming of age that was This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours." The band also stated via Twitter, "MSP were in the great Hansa Studios in January with Alex Silva (who recorded The Holy Bible with us). Berlin was inspirational... Sean been playing a french horn in the studio today—sounding wonderful." The lead single of the album, "Show Me the Wonder", was released on 9 September 2013 to a positive critical reception. The album itself was released on 16 September 2013 and reached number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The second single from the album, "Anthem for a Lost Cause", was released on 25 November 2013.
The other album, Futurology, the band's twelfth studio album, was released on 7 July 2014 and it received immediate critical acclaim. The lead single from the album, "Walk Me to the Bridge", was released as a digital download on the day of the announcement, on 28 April. The album sold about 20,000 copies in its first week and reached number 2 in the UK. The title track, "Futurology", was the second and final single released from the album on 22 September, with the video debuted on YouTube on 10 August. The video was directed by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts winner Kieran Evans, who worked with the band on videos from Rewind the Film. The band promoted the album with a tour around the UK and Europe from March to May 2014, they also made appearances in festivals like T in the Park in Scotland and Glastonbury Festival in the summer.
In December 2014, the band toured The Holy Bible, playing it in full for the very first time, to coincide with its 20th anniversary reissue. After the tour in the UK, the Manics took The Holy Bible tour to North America, in April 2015, they played in Washington DC, Toronto, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. They also played in the Cardiff Castle on 5 June 2015 with 10,000 fans attending the gig, it was broadcast nationwide by BBC Two Wales. At the 2015 NME Awards, the album won "Reissue of the Year".
In November 2015, Manic Street Preachers announced that they were going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Everything Must Go, with their biggest headline show since 1999, in the Liberty Stadium, in Swansea on 28 May 2016, featuring special guests including Super Furry Animals. The album was performed in full, with Nicky Wire teasing "B-sides, rarities and curios, greatest hits and a few brand-new songs". Before the final show in Swansea the band played: Liverpool, Echo Arena (13 May), Birmingham, Genting Arena (14 May), London, Royal Albert Hall (16–17 May), Leeds, First Direct Arena (20 May) and Glasgow, the SSE Hydro (21 May). In early 2016, the band announced the European tour of Everything Must Go, they played across Europe, in Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.
=== Wales national team song and Resistance Is Futile (2016–2019) ===
The band announced in March 2016 that they would be releasing a theme song for the Wales national team ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament in the summer, entitled "Together Stronger (C'mon Wales)". It was released on 20 May. Featuring a video with the band and the Welsh team, the Manics tweeted: "It's with great pride we can announce the Manics are providing the official Wales Euro 2016 song – 'Together Stronger (C'mon Wales)'". All profits from the song went to the Princes Gate Trust and Tenovus Cancer Care. On 8 July the band was at the Cardiff City Stadium to give a home welcome to the Wales football national team after they were knocked out of the UEFA Euro 2016 by Portugal in the semi-finals, the band played a few songs in the stadium including the official theme song "Together Stronger (C'mon Wales)". On the next night, 9 July, the Manics headlined a night at the Cornwall's Eden Project, and later the band managed to secure a new recording studio near Newport, Wales. The city's council ensured that only the band can use the studio, there would be an increase on-site parking and a series of soundproofing measures to ensure nearby properties aren't disturbed by noise. To end the summer, the Manics went on to headline another two festivals, Wasa Open Air in Finland in mid-August and in late August the Victorious Festival in Portsmouth. The band also received a nomination in the 25th British Academy Cymru Awards for the best live outside broadcast after their 2015 gig in the Cardiff Castle, celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Holy Bible.
In February 2017, the band revealed a teaser trailer for a documentary entitled Escape from History. The documentary aired on Sky Arts on 15 April. The band also stated that they would release an album later in that year.
The band released a 10th Anniversary Edition of Send Away the Tigers on 12 May 2017, with the Manics saying it was "a very important album" in their career. The special edition featured a remastered album as well as B-sides and rarities spread over two discs, plus a DVD which features the band's 2007 Glastonbury performance, rehearsal footage, an album track-by-track, and promo videos.
On 17 November 2017, the band announced that their thirteenth studio album, Resistance Is Futile, would be released on 13 April 2018. After much delay, the band wrote in a statement: "The main themes of Resistance Is Futile are memory and loss; forgotten history; confused reality and art as a hiding place and inspiration [...] It's obsessively melodic—in many ways referencing both the naive energy of Generation Terrorists and the orchestral sweep of Everything Must Go. After delay and difficulties getting started, the record has come together really quickly over the last few months through a surge of creativity and some old school hard work." It is the first album to be recorded at the "Door to the River" studio.
The Manics launched their first single from Resistance Is Futile, "International Blue", as a download on 8 December 2017. The second single "Distant Colours" was released, also as a download, on 16 February 2018. About the first single the band said that there was certain naive energy and widescreen melancholia on the song that is reflected through the whole album, comparing it to "Motorcycle Emptiness". Furthermore, the album focused on "(...)things that make your life feel a little bit better. Rather than my internalised misery, I tried to put a sense of optimism into the lyrics by writing about things that we find really inspiring." Said Wire, taking inspiration from David Bowie and seen as almost an escape and a wave of optimism, just like the previous album was described. On the other hand, "Distant Colours" was written by James Dean Bradfield, rather than Nicky Wire, and inspired by disenchantment and Nye Bevan's old Labour. He said: "Musically, the verse is downcast and melancholic and the chorus is an explosion of disillusionment and tears." The third single "Dylan & Caitlin" was released as a download on 9 March 2018. The fourth single "Liverpool Revisited" is about a magical day in the city, Nicky added that: "It was on the Everything Must Go (anniversary) tour and I got up really early at sunrise to walk around Liverpool, polaroid camera in hand on a balmy day. It sounds clichéd I know, but Liverpool in the sun does take on a hypnotic quality, with the Mersey and the stone." The band also revealed that they were to support Guns N' Roses during their summer tour. The fifth and final single, "Hold Me Like a Heaven", was released as a download on 4 May 2018. Wire said that the song was inspired musically by David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes", something that the band wanted to write about, and Nicky thinks that this the closest that the band is going to get, sharing also that lyrics were informed by the work of Philip Larkin.
The album sold around 24,000 copies in the first week, entering the UK Albums Chart at number 2, despite being number 1 during the week. It was the highest new entry on the chart, and on physical sales the album peaked at number 1, both on CD and vinyl.
In January 2018, Manic Street Preachers signed a publishing contract with Warner/Chappell Music, leaving their longtime home Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The band announced a 20th Anniversary Edition of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours in October 2018. It was made available on digital, CD, and vinyl, with the CD edition featuring bonus demos, live rehearsal recordings, remixes, and B-sides. The album was launched on 7 December 2018 and to promote it, the band went on tour in Spring and Summer 2019, performing the album in full alongside other content.
=== The Ultra Vivid Lament and Critical Thinking (2020–present) ===
In March 2020, the Manics announced a deluxe reissue of Gold Against the Soul for release on 12 June 2020. Bonus content included previously unreleased demos, B-sides from the era, remixes, and a live recording, while the CD was released alongside a book of unseen photographs from the era with handwritten annotations and lyrics from the band. The next day, the unnamed follow-up album to Resistance Is Futile was confirmed to NME alongside Bradfield's second solo album. The group's album, including a track called "Orwellian", was described as "expansive" and is due for release in Summer 2021. On 14 May 2021, the Manics announced the title of their fourteenth studio album as The Ultra Vivid Lament. The first single from the album, "Orwellian", was released on the same day. "The Secret He Had Missed", the second single from the album, was released on 16 July 2021. The Ultra Vivid Lament was released on 10 September 2021 and received generally positive reviews from critics: on Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The album sold 27,000 copies in the first week, granting the band their second UK number 1 album, as they narrowly beat Steps to the top spot.
In May and June 2022, Manic Street Preachers opened for the Killers in some of their UK tour dates. In September 2022, the Manics announced a co-headlining tour of United States and Canada with Suede for November 2022, which would be the first time the two bands would share the stage since they toured Europe together in 1994.
On 24 June 2023, the band played the Glastonbury Festival. Speaking to the Other Stage crowd, Wire said: "The first time we played was 1994 and it was the four of us, we had the one and only Richard Edwards with us, oh yes, we had a f**king blast. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, it was f**king fun you know." All four band members were honoured with a mural in their hometown of Blackwood in April 2024, designed by street artist Paul Shepherd.
On 29 August 2024, Manics released "Decline and Fall", the lead single for their fifteenth studio album, Critical Thinking, which was announced in October that year. Critical Thinking was initially announced to be released on 7 February 2025, but was postponed due to production delays. On 31 January 2025, preceding the release of Critical Thinking, an extended play was released, titled Brushstrokes of Reunion, comprising the songs "Brushstrokes of Reunion", "People Ruin Paintings", "Hiding in Plain Sight" and "Decline and Fall" from Critical Thinking. The album was released on 14 February 2025 and reached number 2 on the Official UK album chart. The release coincides with the 30th anniversary of Richey Edwards' disappearance.
In a February 2025 interview with NME, Wire and Bradfield stated they were considering making their sixteenth album European themed.
== Collaborations and covers ==
The band released a split single in 1992 with the Fatima Mansions, a rock cover of "Suicide Is Painless", which became their first UK Top 10 hit. They have recorded many cover versions of songs by other artists, primarily as B-sides for their own singles. Bands and artists to whom the group have paid tribute in this way include the Clash, Guns N' Roses, Alice Cooper, Happy Mondays, McCarthy, Chuck Berry, Faces and Nirvana.
The band's first musical appearance since Edwards' departure was recording a cover of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for The Help Album, a charity effort in 1995 in support of aid efforts in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Lightning Seeds' song "Waiting for Today to Happen", from their fifth album, Dizzy Heights (1996), was written by Nicky Wire and Ian Broudie. That same year, James Dean Bradfield and Dave Eringa produced Northern Uproar's first single, "Rollercoaster/Rough Boys". The 808 State song "Lopez" (1997) features lyrics by Wire and vocals by Bradfield. It is featured on their greatest hits album, 808:88:98. Kylie Minogue's sixth album, Impossible Princess (1997), features two songs co-written and produced by the Manics: "Some Kind of Bliss" (Bradfield, Minogue and Sean Moore) and "I Don't Need Anyone" (Bradfield, Jones and Minogue) were produced by Bradfield and Dave Eringa. Bradfield provided backing vocals, bass guitar and production for the Massive Attack song "Inertia Creeps" (1998), which features on their successful third album, Mezzanine. Patrick Jones's album of poetry set to music, Commemoration and Amnesia (1999), features two songs with music written by Bradfield: the title track and "The Guerilla Tapestry". Bradfield plays the guitar on both songs. Furthermore, the track "Hiraeth" features a section called "Spoken Word", in which Nicky Wire talks about Welsh identity.
In February 2006, the band contributed a cover version of "The Instrumental" to the album Still Unravished: A Tribute to the June Brides.
In February 2008, the Manics covered Rihanna's hit pop song "Umbrella". Their version appeared on a CD titled NME Awards 2008 given away free with a special souvenir box-set issue of NME magazine, which went on sale 27 February. Additionally, the Manics' version of the song was made available on iTunes from 5 March 2008. Despite being chart-eligible (it reached number 47 in the UK), the release was not intended as an official single. Two further versions (the Acoustic and Grand Slam mixes) were later made available on iTunes.
James Dean Bradfield and Nicky Wire contributed an original song, "The Girl from Tiger Bay", to Shirley Bassey's 2009 studio album, The Performance.
== Musical style and influences ==
Manic Street Preachers' music has been variously described as
alternative rock, Britpop, hard rock, glam rock, pop rock, punk metal, and punk rock. Alluding to the band's early relationship with Britpop, Cam Lindsay of the Canadian music publication Exclaim! wrote that "while Britpop was rising, the Manics were offering the polar opposite: a bleak, uncompromising work (The Holy Bible) that wanted nothing to do with the party".
Though the band's first album, Generation Terrorists, was mostly politically charged glam rock mixed with punk influences, their style shifted towards a more commercial sound on Gold Against the Soul. When The Holy Bible was released, Manic Street Preachers had incorporated post-punk into their musical style, starting many songs on the album with either recordings of interviews or quotes, or guitar feedback and atonal rhythmic guitar parts. After Edwards' disappearance in 1995, the bands sound has become less dissonant and more appealing to a broader mainstream audience. Following albums have been described as string driven and slower-paced than their early work.
The band have stated that the Clash were "probably our biggest influence of all". When they saw them on television, "we thought it was fantastic and got really excited. They were the catalyst for us". Bradfield's guitar hero is John McGeoch of Magazine and Siouxsie and the Banshees: "He taught me, you can have that rock'n'roll swagger, but still build something into it that's really unsettling, and can cut like a razor blade". In addition, they have cited artists including Guns N' Roses, Alice in Chains, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, PiL, Skids, Gang of Four, Big Country, the Sex Pistols, Bruce Springsteen, the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Girls Against Boys, Anna Meredith, Wire, Julia Holter, Rush, Felt, and Simple Minds as influences on their music. ABBA, the Associates, Talk Talk, Roxy Music, R.E.M., Echo & the Bunnymen, and David Bowie were influences on the band's fourteenth album The Ultra Vivid Lament.
== Members ==
=== Timeline ===
== Discography ==
Generation Terrorists (1992)
Gold Against the Soul (1993)
The Holy Bible (1994)
Everything Must Go (1996)
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998)
Know Your Enemy (2001)
Lifeblood (2004)
Send Away the Tigers (2007)
Journal for Plague Lovers (2009)
Postcards from a Young Man (2010)
Rewind the Film (2013)
Futurology (2014)
Resistance Is Futile (2018)
The Ultra Vivid Lament (2021)
Critical Thinking (2025)
== Awards and nominations ==
Best Art Vinyl Awards
The Best Art Vinyl Awards are yearly awards established in 2005 by Art Vinyl Ltd to celebrate the best album artwork of the past year.
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music award show in the United Kingdom.
Q Awards
The Q Awards are the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine Q.
Žebřík Music Awards
7th Best Band of All Time – 1999 NME Best Ever Category
7th Best Album of All Time (The Holy Bible) – 1999 NME Best Ever Category
8th Best Single of All Time (A Design For Life) – 1999 NME Best Ever Category
The MOJO Maverick Award 2009 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaquina_Bay | Yaquina Bay | Yaquina Bay ( yə-KWIN-ə) is a coastal estuarine community found in Newport, Oregon. Yaquina Bay is a semi-enclosed body of water, approximately 8 km2 (3.2 mi2) in area, with free connection to the Pacific Ocean, but also diluted with freshwater from the Yaquina River land drainage. The Bay is traversed by the Yaquina Bay Bridge.
Two small cities border the Yaquina River and Bay: Newport (population approx. 9,989), and Toledo (population approx. 3,459). The Yaquina Bay in Newport is a popular tourist destination along the Pacific Coast Highway. It is also an important estuary for the area's ecology and economy.
== History ==
Yaquina Bay is named after the Yaquina Tribe that occupied the territory along the Yaquina River. When the railroad came to the area in the late 1880s, many thought Yaquina Bay would be the commerce center for the Pacific Northwest. Wheat, lumber, and other goods were transported to Yaquina Bay as the area began to develop. Oyster companies and other merchants were founded along the bay.
=== Exploration and settlement ===
The indigenous peoples of the region have called the Yaquina Bay area home for centuries. In 1856, the first vessel entered Yaquina Bay, carrying supplies for the Siletz Block-houses of the Coastal Indian Reservation up the Yaquina River. Bay access promised many advantages, particularly open transportation and shipping to and from San Francisco Bay. The same year, a doctor from the Willamette Valley was appointed surgeon to an Indian agency in Yaquina Bay. Following Indian trails through the Coast Range, the doctor, along with three other explorers, set out for the Coast in a quest for his new appointment.
In 1861, Captain Spencer, from the state of Washington, first settled near Yaquina Bay. Spencer, with the assistance of a local Indian guide, discovered valuable oyster beds within the bay, which would attract future businesses, particularly firms from San Francisco.
In 1866, news spread of the promises and new life Yaquina Bay had to offer, and it quickly brought a surge of settlers to the area. Newport was quickly formed and oyster companies and other industries began to take residence. The growing oyster business initiated the construction of a wagon road from Corvallis to Yaquina Bay, costing approximately $20,000 and spanning 45 miles. The road was completed in 1873 and promised continued connections between Corvallis and the Coast, and helped settlers reach their new coastal home.
With the influx of residents, seasonal visitors to the area, and booming businesses, Yaquina Bay's oyster trade quickly began to decline. In 1869, a group of oystermen formed a task force with the interest of preserving the oyster beds. To better the public's interest and their own, they worked diligently to restore and protect the oyster communities.
Shortly after the establishment of Newport, the Yaquina Bay lighthouse began construction in 1871. However, with the establishment of the Yaquina Head lighthouse to the north, the lighthouse on the bay was decommissioned in 1874.
For a long time, Yaquina Bay's port was the midpoint between the ports of San Francisco and Seattle. With increased ship and navigation traffic into the area, the number of shipwrecks increased rapidly.
== Economy ==
Yaquina Bay and its watershed have multiple uses, including fishing, tourism, recreation, and research. As of 2014, the highest percentage of the Newport workforce is employed in management, business, science, and arts (36.7%), while only 8.9% are employed in natural resources, construction, and maintenance. Agriculture is a small percentage of the economy in Lincoln County, but has increased in the past ten years. While timber harvesting has been a historic contributor to the economy, this industry has since decreased. Employment had declined by 82% between about 1980 and 2000.
=== Fisheries and aquaculture ===
In 2015, Pacific Whiting, or North Pacific Hake, was the largest source of fish caught by commercial fisheries from Newport, while Pink Shrimp brought in the greatest dollar amount. As of 2015, the value of commercial fisheries out of Newport totals approximately $33,221,009. Recreational fishing also occurs in Yaquina Bay, with perch, rockfish, herring, chinook salmon, clams, and crabs being the popular catch. Aquaculture of oysters also occurs in Yaquina Bay, totaling 1,172 pounds in 2012.
=== Recreation and tourism ===
Yaquina Bay Harbor houses commercial and recreational fishing vessels, other recreational boats, government vessels, and research vessels. Tourism represents a substantial contributor to the county economy, accounting for $133.8 million in industry income in 2012. Some tourist destinations include South Beach State Park, Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, restaurants, shops, and attractions on the Bayfront, and Hatfield Marine Science Center.
== Physical geography ==
=== Physical characteristics ===
Yaquina Bay is a characteristic estuary, with freshwater input from the Yaquina River as well as an open access to the Pacific Ocean introducing ocean saltwater. Yaquina Bay is maintained at 6.7 m (22 ft) in depth with the help of dredging, but depth decreases upstream with the occurrence of shoals, tidal flats, and other shallow zones. The estuary is about 11.6 km2 at mean tide and can decrease to 9.1 km2 at mean low tide. The North and South Yaquina Jetties, at the junction between the Pacific Ocean and Yaquina Bay, were constructed in 1888.
Predictions of tidal height and times are based on National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data with respect to Hatfield Marine Science Center's Center Dock. Yaquina Bay's high and low tidal range is approximately 2.4 m (7.9 ft). Tidal flux is typically vigorous and allows intense mixing near the mouth of the Bay. However, there is seasonal variation on mixing within the estuary. During the summer and early months, June to October, the estuary is well-mixed contrasted to the winter months, November to May, when the estuary is more stratified. Due to the variation in tides and mixing, the salinity changes drastically depending on location within the Bay. Average salinity at the mouth of the Bay is 34 psu, whereas the salinity upriver is 0.
The Yaquina River is 95 km (59 mi) long, beginning at the Central Oregon Coast Range, rounding past multiple bordered cities, and eventually opening up into Yaquina Bay. The river provides nutrients for the Bay and supports a variety of biology.
=== Sediments and deposition ===
Sediments that are found within Yaquina Bay are derived from tertiary rocks from the Central Oregon Coast Range, Pleistocene marine sediments and estuarine deposits. These sediments have three realms of deposition; marine deposition, fluviatile, and an intermediate transition state called marine-fluviatile. Marine deposition is found within the initial 2.4 km (1.5 mi) of the estuary and is associated with average ocean salinity and turbulent mixing. The sediment is similar in texture to sand and other fine grains. Fluviatile deposition extends from the point of freshwater input up to 9.7 km (6 mi) into the Bay, with its sediments more coarse. The transition stage between these two realms contains sediment mixes from the marine and fluviatile areas.
The last recorded rate of sediment deposition was in 1936, with a recorded estimate of 23 cm (9.1 in) annually. However, deposition is subject to seasonal variations. Maximum deposition takes place in the winter and early spring when river runoff is highest due to increased rain, when the longshore drift is coming from the south, and when winds are from the southwest. In the summer, deposition is low because of lower runoff, southward longshore drift and northwest winds.
Turbulent mixing within the estuary increases the amount of suspended sediment and therefore increases the turbidity within Yaquina Bay. Turbidity has been found to be most prominent when river runoff is low, typically during the summer. Chlorophyll concentrations and other measurements of water chemistry (see Chemistry section below) verify these observations.
=== Geology ===
Yaquina Bay was formed roughly 2.2 million years ago in the Oligocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era. Increased sedimentation and subsidence contributed to formation of Yaquina Bay. Sedimentary rocks in this area are mainly "sandstone, siltstone and clay-containing mudstone", as indicated in geological samples from the sediments. The oldest rocks found in the Coast Range and in Yaquina Bay date back to Paleocene and Eocene Epochs, about 40-60 million years ago. The seafloor to the west of Oregon is continually spreading and there is evidence of subduction taking place along the coast of Oregon and Washington.
== Biology ==
Yaquina Bay comprises several different habitats that provide resources for many species. These habitats include intertidal eelgrass beds, mudflats, and sandflats, and subtidal areas. Mudflats and sandflats are typically covered by water during high tide and exposed to air during low tide, while subtidal areas are covered by water almost all of the time.
=== Life in Yaquina Bay ===
Beds of native eelgrass (Zostera marina) and beds of invasive eelgrass (Zostera japonica) grow separately and provide a distinct habitat for certain organisms. Birds, including gulls, ducks, shorebirds, crows, geese, egrets, rails, pelicans and cormorants are present in Yaquina Bay using the eelgrass and mudflats as habitats. Mud shrimp also live in mudflats, and they play an important role in nutrient cycling within the estuary. Burrows in the mud made by mud shrimp pump oxygen deeper into the sediment, which makes it available for microbes to use. Mud shrimp activity has also been shown to increase the movement of carbon and dissolved inorganic nitrogen in and out of the mud. Some species of diatoms, a type of phytoplankton, can be found on the sediments of Yaquina Bay wetlands. These diatoms are also important in nutrient cycling within the estuary.
Another type of estuary habitat is formed by native Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida). These are historically abundant in Yaquina Bay, and in addition to creating hard surfaces in the estuary, oysters also filter the bay water and provide food for local people. In fact, settlement on the mouth of Yaquina Bay is attributed in part to the oyster fishery.
In subtidal areas, marine mammals such as harbor seals and California sea lions are sometimes present in Yaquina Bay. Sea lions in the estuary are mostly male. They move through the estuary, but spend a lot of time near the Bayfront or hauled out on docks, perhaps due to the additional food or safety. Some fish species present in Yaquina Bay include English sole and sculpin, in addition to river lamprey, lingcod, anchovies, Pacific herring, sturgeon, flounder, and salmon. Clams and Dungeness crabs are also present within the bay and make up a resource for recreational fishers.
=== The estuary as a nursery ===
Yaquina Bay has been shown to be a site for spawning and development of many species. Pacific Herring and bay goby larvae are abundant, but other larval fishes such as sculpin, anchovy, smelt, clingfishes, cod, stickleback, pipefish, prickleback, gunnels, sandlance, rockfish, greenlings, lumpfish, and flounder are present in the estuary. Although there are larval fish present in the estuary, the Pacific herring was found to be the only commercial species that relies on the estuary for spawning and development. Yaquina Bay also provides a nursery environment for English sole. Multiple species of juvenile salmon, including chum, coho, and chinook, also pass through Yaquina Bay during their life cycle, often transitioning from shallower to deeper waters as they grow.
== Chemistry of Yaquina Bay ==
The Yaquina Bay estuarine chemistry is influenced by daily tides, river sediment input, summer upwelling along the coast, and biological processes.
=== Tides ===
Yaquina Bay experiences mixed semidiurnal tides, ranging from 1.9 to 2.5 m (6.2-8.2 ft) daily. The influx of water from the ocean changes the salinity of the estuary, creating a salt intrusion that has been estimated to reach as far as 21.8 km (13.5 mi) upriver. Daily tidal changes affect estuary mixing and stratification. Flood tides coming from the ocean bring coastal nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus into the estuary. During mixing events, the Yaquina Bay estuary experiences changes in gradients for salinity, concentration of chemical species, and suspended sediment, which in turn influences biological productivity. The Yaquina Bay estuary has high primary productivity throughout the year due to high dissolved oxygen concentrations and cool water temperature from tidal flushing. Logging practices also occurred in the Yaquina Bay estuary from the 1920s to the 1980s.
=== Nutrients ===
==== Silicon ====
Sediment input from the Yaquina River contributes to the Yaquina Bay estuary chemistry, varying with seasonal rainfall. In the winter, when there is higher rainfall and therefore more input from the river, siliceous diatoms are more abundant and have higher species diversity. This is contrasted with fewer diatom species in seasons when there is less rainfall.
Rocks are mostly made of silica and when land weathering takes place, rocks are broken down into their smaller silica components. With increased rainfall and sediment transport, this weathering provides a source of silica for diatoms in Yaquina Bay.
The upstream Yaquina River source material is more quartz dominated (more silica) than downstream source material. Some of the heavy minerals upstream include micas (biotite and muscovite made of potassium, aluminum, and silica), hematite (iron), and limonite (iron oxides). Near the coastal shoreline and mouth of the Yaquina Bay estuary, the sand grains are mostly feldspars and chert (silica), and volcanic fragments (most likely high in silica, potassium, aluminum, sodium, and calcium). In nearshore marine deposit sediment, the source material is less quartz (less silica) compared to upriver sources; heavy minerals include pyroxene (a group of silicate minerals), hypersthene (magnesium iron silica), and diopside (magnesium calcium silica).
==== Carbon ====
Organic carbon concentrations of the Yaquina Bay estuary vary depending on depth. Concentrations are lowest in the channel (<0.2%) and highest in shallower sediments, particularly from samples collected at tidal flats (2.7%). About 1-7% of sand in the Yaquina Bay estuary is made of carbonates like mollusk shell fragments and foraminifera. Carbonate concentrations are higher in the bay channel (5%) and decrease towards the bay margin (3%).
==== Nitrogen ====
Major nitrogen sources for the Yaquina Bay estuary change with season. During drier seasons, the ocean is the major nitrogen source while the river is the major source in wetter seasons, where river discharge can be up to five times higher than drier seasons. Samples taken at the surface with varying salinities showed dissolved inorganic nitrogen is found mostly at the two salinity extremes; the mouth of the estuary and up the Yaquina River. The input at the mouth of Yaquina Bay indicates input from upwelled waters during the summer season. The nutrient flux into the estuary is enough to sustain primary productivity during the summer months.
==== Phosphorus ====
Phosphorus is generally a limiting nutrient in the ocean. In Pacific Northwest estuaries, an important source of phosphorus comes from ocean upwelling in the summer (see below). Samples taken at the surface with varying salinities showed dissolved inorganic phosphorus more prevalent in areas with higher salinities compared to lower, thus indicating the ocean as the source for this system.
==== Oxygen ====
Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration is an important water quality parameter because of its close relationship with biological activity. In the Yaquina Bay estuary, DO levels may be lower and almost hypoxic due to low DO levels with coastal upwelled water imported into the estuary. DO levels of imported ocean water are dependent on physical factors (wind stress and cool water temperature) and biological factors (association with chlorophyll a and respiration). Ocean influence of DO levels in the estuary extends to about 10 km (6.2 mi) upriver. In the upper estuary beyond ocean influence, DO levels decrease with increasing temperature.
==== Chlorophyll a ====
Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations vary seasonally with ocean water import, particularly during summer upwelling. Variation of Chl a also depends on the timing of summer upwelling each year, where upwelling could occur earlier or be delayed. Oregon estuaries typically have low median Chl a levels, about less than 5 micrograms per liter of water. When high concentrations of Chl a are advected into the estuary, there is also an increase in flood tide DO levels.
=== Upwelling ===
Summer upwelling along the Oregon coast brings nutrients from deep waters up into the Yaquina Bay estuary. This event, along with decreased rain and river input, and increased light, all contribute to the seasonal chemistry variability in the Bay.
== Environment ==
=== Coastal hazards ===
As with any coastal zone, there are inherent hazards present. Especially in the Pacific Northwest, coastlines are impacted by large waves, storm surge, strong currents, wind, and rain. Yaquina Bay is seasonally affected by these impacts, with winter typically the most intense period. Storms and rain increase, which leads to more land runoff and also causes waves and currents to reshape the coastline.
Erosion is a challenge for Yaquina Bay and the entire Oregon Coast. Yaquina Bay's sediments are made up of sandstone, siltstone and clay-containing mudstone and these soft sediments contribute to annual erosion. Waves, however, are the main proponent of erosion. Waves are parallel to the beach and as wind increases, energy is enhanced and height grows, causing a devastating effect on beaches. Also, as currents run along the coast, they move sand causing either addition or depletion of sand in some areas. This has been evident around the Yaquina Jetty. With longshore drift increased during the winter, sand is deposited and dramatically built up in this area.
In 2002, researchers, stakeholders, and policy makers organized a vulnerability assessment to assess the current state of the coast in respect to future hazards occurring. They included Yaquina Bay in their case study, as this area is heavily influenced by tourism, businesses, industries, vessels, to name a few. The assessment was able to address areas of concern and helped businesses and industries by highlighting ways to adapt to the changing conditions to prevent future damage. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Handler | Ruth Handler | Ruth Marianna Handler (née Mosko; November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American business magnate and inventor. She is best known for inventing the Barbie doll in 1959 and being co-founder of toy manufacturer Mattel with her husband Elliot, as well as serving as the company's first president from 1945 to 1975.
The Handlers were forced to resign from Mattel in 1975 after the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the company for falsifying financial documents.
Handler was prominently characterized in the 2023 film Barbie.
== Early life ==
Ruth Marianna Mosko was born on November 4, 1916 in Denver, Colorado, to Polish-Jewish immigrants Jacob Moskowicz, a blacksmith and Ida Moskowicz (née Rubenstein). She was the youngest of ten children. When she was six months old, her parents sent her to live with her older sister Sarah. She stayed with Sarah until she was 19 and developed an enthusiasm for business by working at Sarah’s drugstore/soda fountain.
In 1932, Ruth fell in love with Izzy Handler, an art student. The summer of her sophomore year at University of Denver, she went to Los Angeles and landed a job at Paramount Studio. Ruth and Izzy married in 1938 in Denver. Returning to California, Ruth encouraged her husband to become known by his middle name, Elliot. Ruth returned to work at Paramount and Elliot was employed as a lighting fixture designer.
== Mattel ==
Elliot became interested in furniture-making and decided to make furniture from two plastics, Lucite and Plexiglas. At Ruth's suggestion, they started a furniture business where Ruth was in charge of sales, and she landed contracts with businesses such as Douglas Aircraft Company.
Business executive Harold "Matt" Matson joined the Handlers' company, which they renamed Mattel by combining "Matson" and "Elliot". (Elliot later said that they were unable to think of a way to include Ruth's name.) When sales fell during World War II, Mattel began making toy furniture. Its success spurred the company's transition to toy manufacturing.
=== Barbie ===
Observing her daughter Barbara and friends having fun with paper dolls and role-play adult scenarios, Ruth noticed a market void. Dolls available at that time were mainly babies and toddlers; no dolls were available that resembled adults.
During a trip to Europe in 1956 with Barbara and her son Kenneth, Ruth came across Bild Lilli, a German doll. In an interview with Mary G. Lord, author of Forever Barbie, Handler said that she saw the doll in Lucerne, Switzerland. However, the book points out that on other occasions Handler said that she saw it in Zürich or Vienna. The adult-figured doll was exactly what Ruth had in mind. She purchased three, gave one to her daughter, and took the others to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular character in a satirical comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Bild. The Lilli doll was first sold in 1955 in Germany, and although initially sold to adults, it became popular with children who enjoyed dressing it in outfits that were available separately.
On return to the United States, Handler redesigned the doll with help from local inventor-designer Jack Ryan. She named the doll "Barbie" after her daughter Barbara, and said that "Barbie" was from Willows, Wisconsin. Premiering on March 9, 1959 at the American International Toy Fair in New York City, the first Barbie doll cost $3 and was an instant hit. In its first year, 300,000 were sold.
The Handlers and Mattel later added a boyfriend for Barbie (named Ken, after the Handlers' son). Eventually a huge range of Barbie dolls was released, portrayed with more than 125 careers, and Barbie became known for versatility and fashion. The Handlers added cars, sports gear, clothes, and doll furniture to their Barbie products.
== Later years ==
Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970. She had a modified radical mastectomy, which was often done at the time to combat the disease. She spent less time at Mattel to focus on improving her health. Her loss of self-esteem affected her leadership and she lost control of her business. In a 1980 interview, she said: "When I conceived Barbie, I believed it was important to a little girl’s self-esteem to play with a doll that [had] breasts. Now I find it even more important to return that self-esteem to women who have lost theirs.”
Due to difficulties in finding a good breast prosthesis, Handler decided to make her own. With the help of new business partner Peyton Massey and under her new company, Ruthton Corp., she manufactured a more realistic version of a woman's breast called Nearly Me, aiming to boost women's confidence regardless of their health. The invention became quite popular; first lady Betty Ford was fitted for one after a mastectomy.
Handler received various awards for her philanthropy and business activities. She was chosen Woman of the Year in Business by the Los Angeles Times, inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame by the Toy Manufacturers of America, received the Volunteer Achievement Award from the American Cancer Society and was the inaugural Woman of Distinction of the United Jewish Appeal.
Following several investigations into fraudulent financial reports, Handler resigned from Mattel in 1975. Investigations continued and she was charged with fraud and false reporting by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She pleaded no contest and was fined $57,000 (equivalent to $280,000 in 2025) and sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service. She blamed her illness for making her "unfocused" on her business.
Handler died on April 27, 2002 in California from complications during surgery for colon cancer. She was 85.
== Legacy ==
Handler is portrayed in the 2023 film Barbie by actress Rhea Perlman. In the film, the ghost of an elderly Handler resides in an office on the 17th floor of Mattel's El Segundo headquarters. There she meets the movie's stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie). Later, while advising Barbie, Handler tells her about her creation and how it related to her daughter, Barbara. Barbie then takes the name "Barbara Handler" as her own. The film stirred a wave of media coverage of Handler. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo | Battle of the Alamo | The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (now San Antonio). About one hundred Texians had been garrisoned at the mission, and they were supplemented by around a hundred subsequent reinforcements, led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian fighters withdrew into interior buildings. On the basis of “perhaps" ten sources, William C. Davis posits three separate escapes of Texian combatants from the Alamo, consisting of perhaps 80 men. Phillip Thomas Tucker also sees three discrete Texian escapes, totaling as many as 120 men. Nearly all Texian combatants were killed. Those who fled outside the walls were dispatched by Mexican lancers, who had been positioned there for that purpose.
Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the government of the new, self-proclaimed but officially unrecognized Republic of Texas fled eastward toward the U.S. ahead of the advancing Mexican Army. Santa Anna's execution of surrendering soldiers during the battle inspired many Texians and Tejanos to join the Texian Army. The Texians defeated the portion of the Mexican Army led by Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836. The capture of Santa Anna ended the war. Hardin notes that the Texians "could scarcely believe that enemy troops, the majority of whom had never known defeat in Texas, would complacently obey the orders of a captured commander." The cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal to Mexico of the divided forces led by other Mexican generals guaranteed the survival of the Republic of Texas.
Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. The Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased land and the long barracks building (the former convento) in the early part of the 20th century. The Alamo church, which had been purchased by the state in 1883, was designated an official Texas State Shrine. A roofless ruin at the time of the battle, it was intended to have three floors and a large dome framed by two tall bell towers. The gable and the pitched roof it concealed were added by the U.S. Army in 1849.
The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843. Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths and legends spread by many of the movie and television adaptations, including the 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo.
== Background ==
In 1835, following the repeal of the federalist 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Mexico adopted Las Siete Leyes (“The Seven Laws”), a new constitutional framework that replaced the First Mexican Republic with a unitary republic officially named the Mexican Republic (Spanish: República Mexicana).
New policies that entailed restricting or eliminating slavery, limiting immigration from the U.S., and increased enforcement of laws and import tariffs (tariffs had initially been waived for seven years) incited many immigrants to revolt. The border region of Mexican Texas was largely populated by immigrants from the United States, some legal but most illegal. Mexico tried to end Anglo American immigration in 1830, but their number doubled by 1834, from 10,000 to 21,000). Some immigrants had brought large numbers of slaves with them, so that by 1836, there were approximately 5,000 enslaved persons in a total non-native population estimated at 38,470. Campbell, who published the first book-length study of slavery in Texas in 1989, says that though Texas tended to be characterized as a Western state rather than a Southern one, in the 1850s more than a quarter of free Texas families owned slaves, a level comparable to that of Virginia, the oldest slave state in the U.S.
The colonists were accustomed to a federalist government that made special exemptions from Mexican law exclusively for them, and to extensive individual rights, including the right to own slaves. Mexico's shift towards centralism and its interest in enforcing its laws resulted in growing displeasure among the colonists, particularly when the centralized government ended local federal exemptions to the ban on slavery, previously negotiated by Stephen Austin and others. Already suspicious after previous United States attempts to purchase Texas, Mexican authorities blamed much of the Texian unrest on United States immigrants. Most of them had entered illegally and made little effort to adapt to the Mexican culture, and they continued the practice of slavery in violation of Mexico laws.
In October, Texians engaged Mexican troops in the first official battle of the Texas Revolution. Determined to quell the rebellion of immigrants, Santa Anna began assembling a large force, the Army of Operations in Texas, to restore order. Most of his soldiers were less-experienced recruits, many conscripted.
The Texians defeated the Mexican troops already stationed in Texas. The last group of Mexican soldiers in the region—commanded by Santa Anna's brother-in-law, General Martín Perfecto de Cos—surrendered on December 9 following the siege of Béxar. By this point, the Texian Army was dominated by very recent arrivals to the region, primarily illegal immigrants from the United States. Gary Brown says the Texian armies that fought at San Antonio and Goliad were dominated by mercenaries. He characterizes the most effective of these militias that were raised outside of Texas: "Santa Anna claimed the New Orleans Greys were mercenaries and pirates, and technically he was correct.... they were military mercenaries, not pioneers or settlers, and they came to Texas for adventure and material gain—not constitutional freedoms.”
Many of those Texian settlers who had participated in the revolt returned home, unprepared for a long campaign. Mexico's response to this violation of its sovereign rights was the Tornel Decree, a “no quarter” policy formulated by the Mexican Minister of War. Approved by the Mexican congress and issued on December 30, 1835, it defined defined irregular invaders as pirates, "being citizens of no nation presently at war with the republic, and fighting under no recognized flag.” In this historical period, captured pirates were executed immediately. Josefina Zoraida Vázquez characterizes the decree “a desperate attempt to maintain control of the territory in the face of the flagrant intervention of foreigners against Mexico’s government.” Santa Anna reiterated this message in a strongly worded letter to United States President Andrew Jackson. This letter was not widely distributed, making it likely that most of the United States recruits serving in the Texian Army were not aware there would be no prisoners of war.
When Mexican troops departed San Antonio de Béxar (now San Antonio, Texas, USA), Texian soldiers captured the Mexican garrison at the Alamo Mission, a former Spanish religious outpost which had been converted to a makeshift fort by the recently expelled Mexican Army. Described by Santa Anna as an "irregular fortification hardly worthy of the name", the Alamo had been designed to withstand an assault by Indigenous attackers, not an artillery-equipped army. The complex sprawled across 3 acres (1.2 ha), providing almost 1,320 feet (400 m) of perimeter to defend. An interior plaza was bordered on the east by the church and to the south by a one-story building known as the Low Barracks. A wooden palisade stretched between these two buildings. The two-story Long Barracks extended north from the church. At the northern corner of the east wall stood a cattle pen and horse corral. The walls surrounding the complex were at least 2.75 feet (0.84 m) thick and ranged from 9–12 ft (2.7–3.7 m) high.
To compensate for the lack of firing ports, Texian engineer Green B. Jameson constructed catwalks to allow defenders to fire over the walls; this method, however, left the rifleman's upper body exposed. Mexican forces had left behind 19 cannons, which Jameson installed along the walls. A large 18-pounder had arrived in Texas with the New Orleans Greys. Jameson positioned this cannon in the southwest corner of the compound. He boasted to Texian Army commander Sam Houston that the Texians could "whip 10 to 1 with our artillery".
== Prelude to battle ==
The Texian garrison was undermanned and underprovisioned, with fewer than 100 soldiers remaining by January 6, 1836. Colonel James C. Neill, the acting Alamo commander, wrote to the provisional government: "If there has ever been a dollar here I have no knowledge of it". Neill requested additional troops and supplies, stressing that the garrison was likely to be unable to withstand a siege lasting longer than four days. The Texian government was in turmoil and unable to provide much assistance. Four different men claimed to have been given command over the entire army. On January 14, Neill approached one of these men, Sam Houston, for assistance in gathering supplies, clothing, and ammunition.
Houston could not spare the number of men necessary to mount a successful defense. Instead, he sent Colonel James Bowie with 30 men to remove the artillery from the Alamo and destroy the complex. Bowie was unable to transport the artillery since the Alamo garrison lacked the necessary draft animals. Neill soon persuaded Bowie that the location held strategic importance. In a letter to Governor Henry Smith, Bowie argued that "the salvation of Texas depends in great measure on keeping Béxar out of the hands of the enemy. It serves as the frontier picquet guard, and if it were in the possession of Santa Anna, there is no stronghold from which to repel him in his march towards the Sabine." The letter to Smith ended, "Colonel Neill and myself have come to the solemn resolution that we will rather die in these ditches than give it up to the enemy." Bowie also wrote to the provisional government, asking for "men, money, rifles, and cannon powder". Few reinforcements were authorized; cavalry officer William B. Travis arrived in Béxar with 30 men on February 3. Five days later, a small group of volunteers arrived, including the famous frontiersman and former U.S. Congressman David Crockett of Tennessee. Although local Tejanos were not greatly supportive of the Texian’s resistance at the time, it is believed that 20 dissidents who sought greater localization of institutions of power joined the volunteer force prior to their defense of the fortress.
On February 11, Neill left the Alamo, determined to recruit additional reinforcements and gather supplies. He transferred command to Travis, the highest-ranking regular army officer in the garrison. Volunteers comprised much of the garrison, and they were unwilling to accept Travis as their leader. The men instead elected Bowie, who had a reputation as a fierce fighter, as their commander. Bowie celebrated by getting very intoxicated and creating havoc in Béxar. To mitigate the resulting ill feelings, Bowie agreed to share command with Travis.
As the Texians struggled to find men and supplies, Santa Anna continued to gather men at San Luis Potosí; by the end of 1835, his army numbered 6,019 soldiers. Rather than advance along the coast, where supplies and reinforcements could be easily delivered by sea, Santa Anna ordered his army inland to Béxar, the political center of Texas and the site of Cos's defeat. The army began its march north in late December. Officers used the long journey to train the men. Many of the new recruits did not know how to aim their muskets, and many refused to fire from the shoulder because of the strong recoil.
Progress was slow. There were not enough mules to transport all of the supplies, and many of the teamsters, all civilians, quit when their pay was delayed. The many soldaderas – women and children who followed the army – consumed much of the already scarce supplies. The soldiers were soon reduced to partial rations. On February 12 they crossed the Rio Grande. Temperatures in Texas reached record lows, and by February 13 an estimated 15–16 inches (38–41 cm) of snow had fallen. Hypothermia, dysentery, and Comanche raiding parties took a heavy toll on the Mexican soldiers.
On February 21, Santa Anna and his vanguard reached the banks of the Medina River, 25 miles (40 km) from Béxar. Unaware of the Mexican Army's proximity, the majority of the Alamo garrison joined Béxar residents at a fiesta. After learning of the planned celebration, Santa Anna ordered General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma to immediately seize the unprotected Alamo, but sudden rains halted that raid.
== Siege ==
=== Investment ===
In the early hours of February 23, residents began fleeing Béxar, fearing the Mexican army's imminent arrival. Although unconvinced by the reports, Travis stationed a soldier in the San Fernando church bell tower, the highest location in town, to watch for signs of an approaching force. Several hours later, Texian scouts reported seeing Mexican troops 1.5 miles (2.4 km) outside the town. Few arrangements had been made for a potential siege. One group of Texians scrambled to herd cattle into the Alamo, while others scrounged for food in the recently abandoned houses. Several members of the garrison who had been living in town brought their families with them when they reported to the Alamo. Among these were Almaron Dickinson, who brought his wife Susanna and their infant daughter Angelina; Bowie, who was accompanied by his deceased wife's cousins, Gertrudis Navarro and Juana Navarro Alsbury, and Alsbury's young son; and Gregorio Esparza, whose family climbed through the window of the Alamo church after the Mexican army arrived. Other members of the garrison failed to report for duty; most of the men working outside Béxar did not try to sneak past Mexican lines.
By late afternoon Béxar was occupied by about 1,500 Mexican soldiers. When the Mexican troops raised a blood-red flag signifying no quarter, Travis responded with a blast from the Alamo's largest cannon. Believing that Travis had acted hastily, Bowie sent Jameson to meet with Santa Anna. Travis was angered that Bowie had acted unilaterally and sent his own representative, Captain Albert Martin. Both emissaries met with Colonel Juan Almonte and José Bartres. According to Almonte, the Texians asked for an honorable surrender but were informed that any surrender must be unconditional. On learning this, Bowie and Travis mutually agreed to fire the cannon again.
=== Skirmishes ===
The first night of the siege was relatively quiet. Over the next few days, Mexican soldiers established artillery batteries, initially about 1,000 feet (300 m) from the south and east walls of the Alamo. A third battery was positioned southeast of the fort. Each night the batteries inched closer to the Alamo walls. During the first week of the siege more than 200 cannonballs landed in the Alamo plaza. At first, the Texians matched Mexican artillery fire, often reusing the Mexican cannonballs. On February 26 Travis ordered the artillery to conserve powder and shot.
Two notable events occurred on Wednesday, February 24. At some point that day, Bowie collapsed from illness, leaving Travis in sole command of the garrison. Late that afternoon, two Mexican scouts became the first fatalities of the siege. The following morning, 200–300 Mexican soldiers crossed the San Antonio River and took cover in abandoned shacks near the Alamo walls. Several Texians ventured out to burn the huts while Texians within the Alamo provided cover fire. After a two-hour skirmish, the Mexican troops retreated to Béxar. Six Mexican soldiers were killed and four others were wounded. No Texians were injured.
A blue norther blew in on February 25, dropping the temperature to 39 °F (4 °C). Neither army was prepared for the cold temperatures. Texian attempts to gather firewood were thwarted by Mexican troops. On the evening of February 26 Colonel Juan Bringas engaged several Texians who were burning more huts. According to historian J.R. Edmondson, one Texian was killed. Four days later, Texians shot and killed Private First-Class Secundino Alvarez, a soldier from one of two battalions that Santa Anna had stationed on two sides of the Alamo. By March 1, the number of Mexican casualties was nine dead and four wounded, while the Texian garrison had lost only one man.
=== Reinforcements ===
Santa Anna posted one company east of the Alamo, on the road to Gonzales. Almonte and 800 dragoons were stationed along the road to Goliad. Throughout the siege these towns had received multiple couriers, dispatched by Travis to plead for reinforcements and supplies. The most famous of his missives, written February 24, was addressed To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World. According to historian Mary Deborah Petite, the letter is "considered by many as one of the masterpieces of American patriotism." Copies of the letter were distributed across Texas, and eventually reprinted throughout the United States and much of Europe. At the end of the first day of the siege, Santa Anna's troops were reinforced by 600 men under General Joaquin Ramirez y Sesma, bringing the Mexican army up to more than 2,000 men.
As news of the siege spread throughout Texas, potential reinforcements gathered in Gonzales. They hoped to rendezvous with Colonel James Fannin, who was expected to arrive from Goliad with his garrison. On February 26, after days of indecision, Fannin ordered 320 men, four cannons, and several supply wagons to march towards the Alamo, 90 miles (140 km) away. This group traveled less than 1.0 mile (1.6 km) before turning back. Fannin blamed the retreat on his officers; the officers and enlisted men accused Fannin of aborting the mission.
Texians gathered in Gonzales were unaware of Fannin's return to Goliad, and most continued to wait. Impatient with the delay, on February 27 Travis ordered Samuel G. Bastian to go to Gonzales "to hurry up reinforcements". According to historian Thomas Ricks Lindley, Bastian encountered the Gonzales Ranging Company led by Lieutenant George C. Kimble and Travis' courier to Gonzales, Albert Martin, who had tired of waiting for Fannin. A Mexican patrol attacked, driving off four of the men including Bastian. In the darkness, the Texians fired on the remaining 32 men, whom they assumed were Mexican soldiers. One man was wounded, and his English curses convinced the occupiers to open the gates.
On March 3, the Texians watched from the walls as approximately 1,000 Mexicans marched into Béxar. The Mexican army celebrated loudly throughout the afternoon, both in honor of their reinforcements and at the news that troops under General José de Urrea had soundly defeated Texian Colonel Frank W. Johnson at the Battle of San Patricio on February 27. Most of the Texians in the Alamo believed that Sesma had been leading the Mexican forces during the siege, and they mistakenly attributed the celebration to the arrival of Santa Anna. The reinforcements brought the number of Mexican soldiers in Béxar to almost 3,100.
The arrival of the Mexican reinforcements prompted Travis to send three men, including Davy Crockett, to find Fannin's force, which he still believed to be en route. The scouts discovered a large group of Texians camped 20 miles (32 km) from the Alamo. Lindley's research indicates that up to 50 of these men had come from Goliad after Fannin's aborted rescue mission. The others had left Gonzales several days earlier. Just before daylight on March 4, part of the Texian force broke through Mexican lines and entered the Alamo. Mexican soldiers drove a second group across the prairie.
=== Assault preparations ===
Legend holds that at some point on March 5, Travis gathered his men and explained that an attack was imminent, and that they were greatly outnumbered by the Mexican Army. He supposedly drew a line in the ground and asked those willing to die for the Texian cause to cross and stand alongside him; only one man (Moses Rose) was said to have declined. Most scholars disregard this tale because there is no primary source evidence to support it (the story only surfaced decades after the battle in a third-hand account).
At some point prior to the final assault, Travis reportedly assembled a conference to inform the men of their dire situation, giving them the chance to either escape or stay and die for the cause. Susanna Dickinson recalled Travis announcing that any men who wished to escape should let it be known and step out of ranks. Hardin says: "Reliable Mexican accounts, however, suggest a different story."
On March 4 (according to Todish) or March 5 (according to Hardin), Santa Anna proposed an assault on the Alamo. Some senior officers recommended that they wait for two 12-pounder cannons anticipated to arrive around March 7. Mexican Lieutenant Colonel de la Peña wrote that Travis' men had been "urging him to surrender" and "on the 5th he promised them that if no help arrived on that day they would surrender the next day or would try to escape under the cover of darkness." De la Peña's sources were a woman from San Antonio, Travis' slave Ben, and women who had remained inside the Alamo.
Mexican General Vicente Filisola also also noted that Travis, through a female intermediary, proposed a surrender that would spare their lives, but Santa Anna would only accept unconditional surrender.
During the assault, Santa Anna arranged for troops from Béxar to be excused from the front lines so that they would not be forced to fight their own families.
The last Texian verified to have left the Alamo was James Allen, a courier who carried personal messages from Travis and several of the other men on March 5.
== Final assault ==
=== Exterior fighting ===
At 10 p.m. on March 5, the Mexican artillery ceased their bombardment. As Santa Anna had anticipated, the exhausted Texians soon fell into the first uninterrupted sleep many of them had since the siege began. Just after midnight, more than 2,000 Mexican soldiers began preparing for the final assault. Fewer than 1,800 were divided into four columns, commanded by Cos, Colonel Francisco Duque, Colonel José María Romero and Colonel Juan Morales. Veterans were positioned on the outside of the columns to better control the new recruits and conscripts in the middle. As a precaution, 500 Mexican cavalry were positioned around the Alamo to prevent the escape of either Texian or Mexican soldiers. Santa Anna remained in camp with the 400 reserves. Despite the bitter cold, the soldiers were ordered not to wear overcoats which could impede their movements. Clouds concealed the moon and thus the movements of the soldiers.
At 5:30 a.m. troops silently advanced. Cos and his men approached the northwest corner of the Alamo, while Duque led his men from the northwest towards a repaired breach in the Alamo's north wall. The column commanded by Romero marched towards the east wall, and Morales's column aimed for the low parapet by the church.
The three Texian sentinels stationed outside the walls were killed in their sleep, allowing Mexican soldiers to approach undetected within musket range of the walls. At this point, the silence was broken by shouts of "¡Viva Santa Anna!" and music from the buglers. The noise woke the Texians. Most of the noncombatants gathered in the church sacristy for safety. Travis rushed to his post yelling, "Come on boys, the Mexicans are upon us and we'll give them hell!" and, as he passed a group of Tejanos, "¡No rendirse, muchachos!" ("Don't surrender, boys").
In the initial moments of the assault, Mexican troops were at a disadvantage. Their column formation allowed only the front rows of soldiers to fire safely. Unaware of the dangers, the untrained recruits in the ranks "blindly fir[ed] their guns", injuring or killing the troops in front of them. The tight concentration of troops also offered an excellent target for the Texian artillery. Lacking canister shot, Texians filled their cannon with any metal they could find, including door hinges, nails, and chopped-up horseshoes, essentially turning the cannon into giant shotguns. According to the diary of José Enrique de la Peña, "a single cannon volley did away with half the company of chasseurs from Toluca". Duque fell from his horse after sustaining a wound in his thigh and was almost trampled by his own men. General Manuel Castrillón quickly assumed command of Duque's column.
Although some in the front of the Mexican ranks wavered, soldiers in the rear pushed them on. As the troops massed against the walls, Texians were forced to lean over the walls to shoot, leaving them exposed to Mexican fire. Travis became one of the first occupiers to die, shot while firing his shotgun into the soldiers below him, though one source says that he drew his sword and stabbed a Mexican officer who had stormed the wall before succumbing to his injury. Few of the Mexican ladders reached the walls. The few soldiers who were able to climb the ladders were quickly killed or beaten back. As the Texians discharged their previously loaded rifles, they found it increasingly difficult to reload while attempting to keep Mexican soldiers from scaling the walls.
Mexican soldiers withdrew and regrouped, but their second attack was repulsed. Fifteen minutes into the battle, they attacked a third time. During the third strike, Romero's column, aiming for the east wall, was exposed to cannon fire and shifted to the north, mingling with the second column. Cos' column, under fire from Texians on the west wall, also veered north. When Santa Anna saw that the bulk of his army was massed against the north wall, he feared a rout; "panicked", he sent the reserves into the same area. The Mexican soldiers closest to the north wall realized that the makeshift wall contained many gaps and toeholds. One of the first to scale the 12-foot (3.7 m) wall was General Juan Amador; at his challenge, his men began swarming up the wall. Amador opened the postern in the north wall, allowing Mexican soldiers to pour into the complex. Others climbed through gun ports in the west wall, which had few occupiers. As the Texian occupiers abandoned the north wall and the northern end of the west wall, Texian gunners at the south end of the mission turned their cannon towards the north and fired into the advancing Mexican soldiers. This left the south end of the mission unprotected; within minutes Mexican soldiers had climbed the walls and killed the gunners, gaining control of the Alamo's 18-pounder cannon. By this time Romero's men had taken the east wall of the compound and were pouring in through the cattle pen.
=== Interior fighting ===
As previously planned, most of the Texians fell back to the barracks and the church. Holes had been carved in the walls to allow the Texians to fire. Unable to reach the barracks, Texians stationed along the west wall headed west for the San Antonio River. When the cavalry charged, the Texians took cover and began firing from a ditch. Sesma was forced to send reinforcements, and the Texians were eventually killed. Sesma reported that this skirmish involved 50 Texians, but Edmondson believes that number was inflated.
The occupiers in the cattle pen retreated into the horse corral. After discharging their weapons, the small band of Texians scrambled over the low wall, circled behind the church and raced on foot for the east prairie, which appeared empty. As the Mexican cavalry advanced on the group, Almaron Dickinson and his artillery crew turned a cannon around and fired into the cavalry, probably inflicting casualties. Nevertheless, all of the escaping Texians were killed.
The last Texian group to remain in the open were Crockett and his men, defending the low wall in front of the church. Unable to reload, they used their rifles as clubs and fought with knives. After a volley of fire and a wave of Mexican bayonets, the few remaining Texians in this group fell back towards the church. The Mexican army now controlled all of the outer walls and the interior of the Alamo compound except for the church and rooms along the east and west walls. Mexican soldiers turned their attention to a Texian flag waving from the roof of one building. Four Mexicans were killed before the flag of Mexico was raised in that location.
For the next hour, the Mexican army worked to secure complete control of the Alamo. Many of the remaining occupiers were ensconced in the fortified barracks rooms. In the confusion, the Texians had neglected to spike their cannon before retreating. Mexican soldiers turned the cannon towards the barracks. As each door was blown off, Mexican soldiers would fire a volley of muskets into the dark room, then charge in for hand-to-hand combat.
Too sick to participate in the battle, Bowie likely died in bed. Eyewitnesses to the battle gave conflicting accounts of his death. Some witnesses maintained that they saw several Mexican soldiers enter Bowie's room, bayonet him, and carry him alive from the room. Others claimed that Bowie shot himself or was killed by soldiers while too weak to lift his head. According to historian Wallace Chariton, the "most popular, and probably the most accurate" version is that Bowie died on his cot, "back braced against the wall, and using his pistols and his famous knife."
The last of the Texians to die were the 11 men manning the two 12-pounder cannons in the church. A shot from the 18-pounder cannon destroyed the barricades at the front of the church, and Mexican soldiers entered the building after firing an initial musket volley. Dickinson's crew fired their cannon from the apse into the Mexican soldiers at the door. With no time to reload, the Texians, including Dickinson, Gregorio Esparza and James Bonham, grabbed rifles and fired before being bayoneted to death. Texian Robert Evans, the master of ordnance, had been tasked with keeping the gunpowder from falling into Mexican hands. Wounded, he crawled towards the powder magazine but was killed by a musket ball with his torch only inches from the powder. Had he succeeded, the blast would have destroyed the church and killed the women and children hiding in the sacristy.
As soldiers approached the sacristy, one of the young sons of occupier Anthony Wolf stood to pull a blanket over his shoulders. In the dark, Mexican soldiers mistook him for an adult and killed him. Possibly the last Texian to die in battle was Jacob Walker, who, wounded, ran to a corner and was bayoneted in front of Susanna Dickinson. Another Texian, Brigido Guerrero, also sought refuge in the sacristy. Guerrero, who had deserted from the Mexican Army in December 1835, was spared after convincing the soldiers he was a Texian prisoner.
By 6:30 a.m. the battle for the Alamo was over. Mexican soldiers inspected each corpse, bayoneting any body that moved. Even with all of the Texians dead, Mexican soldiers continued to shoot, some killing each other in the confusion. Mexican generals were unable to stop the bloodlust and appealed to Santa Anna for help. Although the general showed himself, the violence continued and the buglers were finally ordered to sound a retreat. For 15 minutes after that, soldiers continued to fire into dead bodies.
== Aftermath ==
=== Casualties ===
According to many accounts of the battle, between five and seven Texians surrendered. Incensed that his orders had been ignored, Santa Anna demanded the immediate execution of the survivors. Weeks after the battle, stories circulated that Crockett was among those who surrendered. Ben, a former United States slave who cooked for one of Santa Anna's officers, maintained that Crockett's body was found surrounded by "no less than sixteen Mexican corpses". Historians disagree on which version of Crockett's death is accurate.Santa Anna reportedly told Captain Fernando Urizza that the battle "was but a small affair". Another officer then remarked that "with another such victory as this, we'll go to the devil". In his initial report Santa Anna claimed that 600 Texians had been killed, with only 70 Mexican soldiers killed and 300 wounded. His secretary, Ramón Martínez Caro, reported 400 killed. Other estimates of the number of Mexican soldiers killed ranged from 60 to 200, with an additional 250–300 wounded. Some people, historians, and survivors such as Susanna Dickinson have estimated that over 1,000-1,600 Mexican soldiers were killed and wounded, but it is most likely that total casualties were less than 600. Texian Dr. J. H. Barnard who tended the Mexican soldiers reported 300-400 dead and 200-300 wounded. Most Alamo historians place the number of Mexican casualties at 400–600. This would represent about one quarter of the over 2,000 Mexican soldiers involved in the final assault, which Todish remarks is "a tremendous casualty rate by any standards". Most eyewitnesses counted between 182 and 257 Texians killed. Some historians believe that at least one Texian, Henry Warnell, successfully escaped from the battle. Warnell died several months later of wounds incurred either during the final battle or during his escape as a courier.Mexican soldiers were buried in the local cemetery, Campo Santo. Shortly after the battle, Colonel José Juan Sanchez Navarro proposed that a monument should be erected to the fallen Mexican soldiers. Cos rejected the idea.
The Texian bodies were stacked and burned. The only exception was the body of Gregorio Esparza. His brother Francisco, an officer in Santa Anna's army, received permission to give Gregorio a proper burial. The ashes were left where they fell until February 1837, when Juan Seguín returned to Béxar to examine the remains. A simple coffin inscribed with the names Travis, Crockett, and Bowie was filled with ashes from the funeral pyres. According to a March 28, 1837, article in the Telegraph and Texas Register, Seguín buried the coffin under a peach tree grove. The spot was not marked and remains unidentified. Seguín later claimed that he had placed the coffin in front of the altar at the San Fernando Cathedral. In July 1936 a coffin was discovered buried in that location, but according to historian Wallace Chariton, it is unlikely to actually contain the remains of the Alamo defenders. Fragments of uniforms were found in the coffin, and the Texian soldiers who fought at the Alamo were known not to wear uniforms.
=== Texian survivors ===
In an attempt to convince other slaves in Texas to support the Mexican government over the Texian rebellion, Santa Anna spared Travis' slave, Joe. The day after the battle, he interviewed each noncombatant individually. Impressed with Susanna Dickinson, Santa Anna offered to adopt her infant daughter Angelina and have the child educated in Mexico City. Dickinson refused the offer, which was not extended to Juana Navarro Alsbury although her son was of similar age. Each woman was given a blanket and two silver pesos. Alsbury and the other Tejano women were allowed to return to their homes in Béxar; Dickinson, her daughter and Joe were sent to Gonzales, escorted by Ben. They were encouraged to relate the events of the battle, and to inform the remainder of the Texian forces that Santa Anna's army was unbeatable.
=== Impact on revolution ===
During the siege, newly elected delegates from across Texas met at the Convention of 1836. On March 2, the delegates declared independence, forming the Republic of Texas. Four days later, the delegates at the convention received a dispatch Travis had written March 3 warning of his dire situation. Unaware that the Alamo had fallen, Robert Potter called for the convention to adjourn and march immediately to relieve the Alamo. Sam Houston convinced the delegates to remain in Washington-on-the-Brazos to develop a constitution. After being appointed sole commander of all Texian troops, Houston journeyed to Gonzales to take command of the 400 volunteers who were still waiting for Fannin to lead them to the Alamo.
Within hours of Houston's arrival on March 11, Andres Barcenas and Anselmo Bergaras arrived with news that the Alamo had fallen and all Texians were slain. Hoping to halt a panic, Houston arrested the men as enemy spies. They were released hours later when Susanna Dickinson and Joe reached Gonzales and confirmed the report. Realizing that the Mexican army would soon advance towards the Texian settlements, Houston advised all civilians in the area to evacuate and ordered his new army to retreat. This sparked a mass exodus, known as the Runaway Scrape, and most Texians, including members of the new government, fled east.
Despite their losses at the Alamo, the Mexican army in Texas still outnumbered the Texian army by almost six to one. Santa Anna assumed that knowledge of the disparity in troop numbers and the fate of the Texian soldiers at the Alamo would quell the resistance, and that Texian soldiers would quickly leave the territory. News of the Alamo's fall had the opposite effect, and men flocked to join Houston's army. The New York Post editorialized that "had [Santa Anna] treated the vanquished with moderation and generosity, it would have been difficult if not impossible to awaken that general sympathy for the people of Texas which now impels so many adventurous and ardent spirits to throng to the aid of their brethren".
On the afternoon of April 21 the Texian army attacked Santa Anna's camp near Lynchburg Ferry. The Mexican army was taken by surprise, and the Battle of San Jacinto was essentially over after 18 minutes. During the fighting, many of the Texian soldiers repeatedly cried "Remember the Alamo!" as they slaughtered fleeing Mexican troops. Santa Anna was captured the following day, and reportedly told Houston: "That man may consider himself born to no common destiny who has conquered the Napoleon of the West. And now it remains for him to be generous to the vanquished." Houston replied, "You should have remembered that at the Alamo". Santa Anna's life was spared, and he was forced to order his troops out of Texas, ending Mexican control of the province and bestowing some legitimacy on the new republic.
== Legacy ==
Following the battle, Santa Anna was alternately viewed as a national hero or a pariah. Mexican perceptions of the battle often mirrored the prevailing viewpoint. Santa Anna had been disgraced following his capture at the Battle of San Jacinto, and many Mexican accounts of the battle were written by men who had been, or had become, his outspoken critics. Petite and many other historians believe that some of the stories, such as the execution of Crockett, may have been invented to further discredit Santa Anna. In Mexican history, the Texas campaign, including the Battle of the Alamo, was soon overshadowed by the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.
In San Antonio de Béxar, the largely Tejano population viewed the Alamo complex as more than just a battle site; it represented decades of assistance—as a mission, a hospital, or a military post. As the English-speaking population increased, the complex became best known for the battle. Focus has centered primarily on the Texian occupiers, with little emphasis given to the role of the Tejano soldiers who served in the Texian army or the actions of the Mexican army. In the early 20th century the Texas Legislature purchased the property and appointed the Daughters of the Republic of Texas as permanent caretakers of what is now an official state shrine. In front of the church, in the center of Alamo Plaza, stands a cenotaph, designed by Pompeo Coppini, which commemorates the Texians and Tejanos who died during the battle. According to Bill Groneman's Battlefields of Texas, the Alamo has become "the most popular tourist site in Texas".
The first English-language histories of the battle were written and published by Texas Ranger and amateur historian John Henry Brown. The next major treatment of the battle was Reuben Potter's The Fall of the Alamo, published in The Magazine of American History in 1878. Potter based his work on interviews with many of the Mexican survivors of the battle. The first full-length, non-fiction book covering the battle, John Myers Myers' The Alamo, was published in 1948. In the decades since, the battle has featured prominently in many non-fiction works.
According to Todish et al., "there can be little doubt that most Americans have probably formed many of their opinions on what occurred at the Alamo not from books, but from the various movies made about the battle." Stephen L. Hardin points out that contrary to "many movies and other works of fiction.... There is simply no evidence to support the notion that the sacrifice of the Alamo garrison allowed Houston to raise and train an army."
The first film version of the battle appeared in 1911, when Gaston Méliès directed The Immortal Alamo. The battle became more widely known after it was featured in the 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett, which was largely based on myth. Within several years, John Wayne directed and starred in one of the best-known, though inaccurate, film versions, 1960's The Alamo. Another film also called The Alamo was released in 2004. CNN described it as possibly "the most character-driven of all the movies made on the subject". It is also considered more faithful to the actual events than other movies.
Several songwriters have been inspired by the Battle of the Alamo. Tennessee Ernie Ford's "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" spent 16 weeks on the country music charts, peaking at No. 4 in 1955. Marty Robbins recorded a version of the song "The Ballad of the Alamo" in 1960 which spent 13 weeks on the pop charts, peaking at No. 34. Jane Bowers' song "Remember the Alamo" has been recorded by artists including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Donovan. British hard rock band Babe Ruth's 1972 song "The Mexican" pictures the conflict through the eyes of a Mexican soldier. Singer-songwriter Phil Collins collected hundreds of items related to the battle, narrated a light and sound show about the Alamo, and has spoken at related events. In 2014 Collins donated his entire collection to the Alamo via the State of Texas.
The U.S. Postal Service issued two postage stamps in commemoration of Texas Statehood and the Battle of Alamo. The "Remember the Alamo" battle cry, as well as the Alamo Mission itself appear on the current version of the reverse side of the seal of Texas.
The battle also featured in episode 13 of The Time Tunnel, "The Alamo", first aired in 1966, and episode 5 of season one of the TV series Timeless, aired 2016.
As of 2023, the Alamo Trust (which operates the site) seeks to expand the property to build an Alamo museum. To do so, it would have to use eminent domain to seize a property containing an Alamo-themed bar called Moses Rose's Hideout (named after an Alamo deserter) that has operated for 12 years (circ. 2023). The Alamo Trust claims that if the bar owner continues to refuse to sell his property, it will put the $400 million property at stake. Conversely, the bar owner says that he wishes to participate in the economic success of adding an Alamo museum and that there is a certain unjust irony of seizing his property to expand the Alamo. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol | United States Capitol | The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although no longer at the geographic center of the national capital, the U.S. Capitol forms the origin point for the street-numbering system of the district as well as its four quadrants. Like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a neoclassical style and has a white exterior.
Central sections of the present building were completed in 1800, when the 6th U.S. Congress convened there on November 17, 1800, moving the national capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.. The building was partly destroyed in the 1814 Burning of Washington by British forces, then was fully restored within five years. The building was enlarged during the 19th century, by extending the wings for the chambers for the bicameral legislature as more states were admitted to the union, with the House of Representatives housed in the south wing and the Senate housed in the north wing. The massive dome was completed around 1866 just after the American Civil War. The east front portico was extended in 1958. The building's Visitors Center was opened in the early 21st century.
Both its east and west elevations are formally referred to as fronts, although only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors and dignitaries, while the west front is now used for presidential inauguration ceremonies. The building and grounds are overseen by the architect of the Capitol, who also oversees the surrounding Capitol Complex.
== History ==
=== 18th century ===
Prior to establishing the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., the United States Congress and its predecessors met at Independence Hall and Congress Hall in Philadelphia; Federal Hall in New York City, and five additional locations: York, Pennsylvania; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland; Nassau Hall in Princeton, New Jersey; and Trenton, New Jersey. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, which met from May 1775 to March 1781.
After adopting the Articles of Confederation in York, Pennsylvania, the Congress of the Confederation was formed and convened in Philadelphia from March 1781 until June 1783, when a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall, demanding payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War. Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21, 1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, and Trenton, New Jersey, before ending up in New York City.
The U.S. Congress was established upon ratification of the U.S. Constitution and formally began on March 4, 1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. The decision of where to locate the capital was contentious, but Alexander Hamilton helped broker a compromise in which the federal government would take on war debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War, in exchange for support from northern states for locating the capital along the Potomac River. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital for ten years (until December 1800), until the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., would be ready.
Pierre L'Enfant was charged with creating the city plan for the new capital city and the major public buildings. The Congress House would be built on Jenkins Hill, now known as Capitol Hill, which L'Enfant described as a "pedestal awaiting a monument." L'Enfant connected Congress House with the President's House via Pennsylvania Avenue with a width set at 160 feet, identical to the narrowest points of the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Westwards was a 400-foot-wide (120 m) garden-lined "grand avenue" containing a public walk (later known as the National Mall) that would travel for about one mile (1.6 km) along the east–west line.
The term "Capitol" (from Latin Capitolium) originally denoted the Capitoline Hill in Rome and the Temple of Jupiter that stood on its summit. The Roman Capitol was sometimes misconceived of as a meeting place for senators, and this led the term to be applied to legislative buildings; the first such building was the Williamsburg Capitol in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson had sat here as a member of the House of Burgesses, and it was he who applied the name "Capitol" to what on L'Enfant's plan had been called the "Congress House". "Capitol" has since become a general term for government buildings, especially in the United States. It is often confused with "capital"; the former, however, denotes a building or complex of buildings, while the latter denotes a city.
L'Enfant secured the lease of quarries at Wigginton Island and along Aquia Creek in Virginia for use in the foundations and outer walls of the Capitol in November 1791. Surveying was under way soon after the Jefferson conference plan for the Capitol was accepted. On September 18, 1793, President Washington, along with eight other Freemasons dressed in masonic regalia, laid the cornerstone, which was made by silversmith Caleb Bentley.
In early 1792, after Pierre L'Enfant was dismissed from the federal city project, Jefferson proposed a design competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the "President's House", and set a four-month deadline. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City. At least ten individuals submitted designs for the Capitol; however the drawings were regarded as crude and amateurish, reflecting the level of architectural skill present in the United States at the time.
The most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect who was a draftsman to Pierre L'Enfant on the city plan. However, Hallet's designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, and were deemed too costly.
However, the design did incorporate the concept for a "great circular room and dome" which had originated with L'Enfant. John Trumbull was given a tour of "Jenkins Hill" by L'Enfant himself and confirmed this in his autobiography years later.
On January 31, 1793, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted, and was met with praise for its "Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty" by Washington, along with praise from Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the center portion of the design. Thornton's design was officially approved in a letter dated April 5, 1793, from Washington, and Thornton served as the first architect of the Capitol (and later first superintendent of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). In an effort to console Hallet, the commissioners appointed him to review Thornton's plans, develop cost estimates, and serve as superintendent of construction. Hallet proceeded to pick apart and make drastic changes to Thornton's design, which he saw as costly to build and problematic.
In July 1793, Jefferson convened a five-member commission, bringing Hallet and Thornton together, along with James Hoban (winning architect of the "President's Palace") to address problems with and revise Thornton's plan. Hallet suggested changes to the floor plan, which could be fitted within the exterior design by Thornton. The revised plan was accepted, except that Secretary Jefferson and President Washington insisted on an open recess in the center of the East front, which was part of Thornton's original plan. The original design by Thornton was later significantly altered by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and later Charles Bulfinch. The current cast-iron dome, the House's new southern extension, and the Senate's new northern wing were designed by Thomas Ustick Walter and August Schoenborn in the 1850s, and were completed under the supervision of Edward Clark.
Construction proceeded with Hallet working under supervision of James Hoban, who was also busy working on construction of the "President's House" (also later known as the "Executive Mansion"). Despite the wishes of Jefferson and the President, Hallet went ahead anyway and modified Thornton's design for the East Front and created a square central court that projected from the center, with flanking wings which would house the legislative bodies. Hallet was dismissed by Secretary Jefferson on November 15, 1794. George Hadfield was hired on October 15, 1795, as Superintendent of Construction, but resigned three years later in May 1798, because of his dissatisfaction with Thornton's plan and quality of work done thus far.
Slave labor was extensively used in the construction of the Capitol, as Washington frequently experienced shortages of free white craftsmen. The slaves, mostly from Maryland and Virginia, were hired out by their owners to the federal government, which paid the enslavers and provided housing, rations and limited medical care to the enslaved laborers. This practice kept labor costs low, prevented the government from having to directly purchase slaves and provided between $55 and $65 annually for individual enslavers. The Polish writer Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, who visited Washington in the late 1790s, wrote about visiting the Capitol worksite:
I have seen [slaves] in large numbers and I was very glad that these poor unfortunates earned eight to ten dollars per week. My joy was not long lived: I am told that they were not working for themselves; their masters hire them out and retain all the money for themselves. What humanity! What a country of liberty.
=== 19th century ===
The Senate (north) wing was completed in 1800. The Senate and House shared quarters in the north wing until a temporary wooden pavilion was erected on the future site of the House wing which served for a few years for the Representatives to meet in, until the House of Representatives (south) wing was finally completed in 1811, with a covered wooden temporary walkway connecting the two wings with the Congressional chambers where the future center section with rotunda and dome would eventually be. However, the House of Representatives moved early into their House wing in 1807. Though the Senate wing building was incomplete, the Capitol held its first session of the U.S. Congress with both chambers in session on November 17, 1800. The National Legislature was moved to Washington prematurely, at the urging of President John Adams, in hopes of securing enough Southern votes in the Electoral College to be re-elected for a second term as president.
In March 1803, James Madison appointed Benjamin Henry Latrobe to the position of "Surveyor of Public Buildings", with the principal responsibility of completing construction of the Capitol's south and north wings. Work on the north wing began in November 1806. Although occupied for only six years, it had suffered from falling plaster, rotting floors and a leaking roof. Instead of repairing it, Latrobe demolished, redesigned and rebuilt the interiors within the existing brick and sandstone walls. Notably, Latrobe designed the Supreme Court and Senate chambers. The former was a particular architectural achievement; the size and structure of its vaulted, semi-circular ceiling was then unprecedented in the United States.
For several decades, beginning when the federal government moved to Washington in the fall of 1800, the Capitol building was used for Sunday religious services as well as for governmental functions. The first services were conducted in the "hall" of the House in the north wing of the building. In 1801 the House moved to temporary quarters in the south wing, called the "Oven", which it vacated in 1804, returning to the north wing for three years. Then, from 1807 to 1857, they were held in the then-House Chamber (now called Statuary Hall). When held in the House chamber, the Speaker's podium was used as the preacher's pulpit. According to the U.S. Library of Congress exhibit Religion and the Founding of the American Republic:
It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) and of James Madison (1809–1817) the state became the church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the chamber of the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example, although unlike Jefferson, who rode on horseback to church in the Capitol, Madison came in a coach and four. Worship services in the House – a practice that continued until after the Civil War – were acceptable to Jefferson because they were nondiscriminatory and voluntary. Preachers of every Protestant denomination appeared. (Catholic priests began officiating in 1826.) As early as January 1806 a female evangelist, Dorothy Ripley, delivered a camp meeting-style exhortation in the House to Jefferson, Vice President Aaron Burr, and a "crowded audience".
Not long after the completion of both wings, the Capitol was partially burned by the British on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812. After the fires, Latrobe was rehired as Architect of the Capitol to oversee restoration works.
George Bomford and Joseph Gardner Swift, both military engineers, were called upon to help rebuild the Capitol. Reconstruction began in 1815 and included redesigned chambers for both Senate and House wings (now sides), which were completed by 1819. During the reconstruction, Congress met in the Old Brick Capitol, a temporary structure financed by local investors. Construction continued through to 1826, with the addition of the center section with front steps and columned portico and an interior Rotunda rising above the first low dome of the Capitol. Latrobe is principally connected with the original construction and many innovative interior features; his successor Bulfinch also played a major role, such as design of the first low dome covered in copper.
By 1850, it became clear that the Capitol could not accommodate the growing number of legislators arriving from newly admitted states. A new design competition was held, and President Millard Fillmore appointed Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter to carry out the expansion. Two new wings were added: a new chamber for the House of Representatives on the south side, and a new chamber for the Senate on the north.
When the Capitol was expanded in the 1850s, some of the construction labor was carried out by slaves "who cut the logs, laid the stones and baked the bricks". The original plan was to use workers brought in from Europe. However, there was a poor response to recruitment efforts; African Americans, some free and some enslaved, along with Scottish stonemasons, comprised most of the workforce.
==== Capitol dome ====
The 1850 expansion more than doubled the length of the United States Capitol; it dwarfed the original, timber-framed, copper-sheeted, low dome of 1818, designed by Charles Bulfinch which was no longer in proportion with the increased size of the building. In 1855, the decision was made to tear it down and replace it with the "wedding-cake style" cast-iron dome that stands today. Also designed by Thomas U. Walter, the new dome would stand three times the height of the original dome and 100 feet (30 m) in diameter, yet had to be supported on the existing masonry piers.
Like Mansart's dome at Les Invalides in Paris (which he had visited in 1838), Walter's dome is double, with a large oculus in the inner dome, through which is seen The Apotheosis of Washington painted on a shell suspended from the supporting ribs, which also support the visible exterior structure and the tholos that supports the Statue of Freedom, a colossal statue that was raised to the top of the dome in 1863. The statue invokes the goddesses Minerva or Athena. The cast iron for the dome weighs 8,909,200 pounds (4,041,100 kg). The dome's cast iron frame was supplied and constructed by the iron foundry Janes, Fowler, Kirtland & Co. The thirty-six Corinthian columns that surround the base of the dome were provided by the Baltimore ironworks of Poole & Hunt.
When the Capitol's new dome was finally completed, its massive visual weight, in turn, overpowered the proportions of the columns of the East Portico, built in 1828.
=== 20th century ===
In 1904, the East Front of the Capitol building was rebuilt, following a design of the architects Carrère and Hastings, who designed the Russell Senate and Cannon House office buildings earlier that year.
In 1958, the next major expansion to the Capitol started, with a 33.5-foot (10.2 m) extension of the East Portico. In 1960, two years into the project, the dome underwent a restoration. A marble duplicate of the sandstone East Front was built 33.5 feet (10.2 m) from the old Front. In 1962, a connecting extension repurposed what had been an outside wall as an inside wall. In the process, the original sandstone Corinthian columns were removed and replaced with marble. It was not until 1984 that landscape designer Russell Page created a suitable setting for them in a large meadow at the U.S. National Arboretum in northeast Washington as the National Capitol Columns, where they were combined with a reflecting pool into an ensemble that reminds some visitors of the ruins of Persepolis, in Persia.
Besides the columns, two hundred tons of the original stone were removed in several hundred blocks, which were first stored on site at the Capitol, and then stored in an unused yard at the Capitol Power Plant until 1975. The same year, the power plant was renovated and expanded in accordance with legislation passed in 1970, and the stones fell to the Commission on the Extension of the United States Capitol. As this body was long defunct, responsibility for the material passed to the House and Senate office building commissions. These commissions then arranged for the National Park Service to store the debris at the back of a NPS maintenance yard in Rock Creek Park.
With the permission of the speaker of the House, the United States Capitol Historical Society has periodically mined the blocks for sandstone since 1975. The stone removed is used to make commemorative bookends and paperweights, which are still sold to support the Capitol Historical Society. By 1982, more than $20,000 (nearly $60,000 adjusted) had been raised through such sales. Unpursued uses for the stones proposed by the Capitol Historical Society have included their sale as cornerstones in new housing developments.
On December 19, 1960, the Capitol was declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. The building was ranked No. 6 in a 2007 survey conducted for the American Institute of Architects' "America's Favorite Architecture" list.
The Capitol draws heavily from other notable buildings, especially churches and landmarks in Europe, including the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and St. Paul's Cathedral in London. On the roofs of the Senate and House Chambers are flagpoles that fly the U.S. flag when either is in session. On September 18, 1993, to commemorate the Capitol's bicentennial, the Masonic ritual cornerstone laying with George Washington was reenacted. U.S. senator Strom Thurmond was one of the Freemason politicians who took part in the ceremony.
=== 21st century ===
On June 20, 2000, ground was broken for the Capitol Visitor Center, which opened on December 2, 2008. From 2001 through 2008, the East Front of the Capitol (site of most presidential inaugurations until Ronald Reagan began a new tradition in 1981) was the site of construction for this massive underground complex, designed to facilitate a more orderly entrance for visitors to the Capitol. Prior to the center being built, visitors to the Capitol had to line up in the basement of the Cannon House Office Building or the Russell Senate Office Building. The new underground facility provides a grand entrance hall, a visitors theater, room for exhibits, and dining and restroom facilities, in addition to space for building necessities such as a service tunnel.
A large-scale Capitol dome restoration project, the first extensive such work since 1959–1960, began in 2014, with completion scheduled before the 2017 presidential inauguration. As of 2012, $20 million in work around the skirt of the dome had been completed, but other deterioration, including at least 1,300 cracks in the brittle iron that have led to rusting and seepage inside, needed to be addressed. Before the August 2012 recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to spend $61 million to repair the exterior of the dome. The House wanted to spend less on government operations, but in late 2013, it was announced that renovations would take place over two years, starting in spring 2014.
In 2014, extensive scaffolding was erected, enclosing and obscuring the dome. All exterior scaffolding was removed by mid-September 2016.
With the increased use of technologies such as the Internet, a bid tendering process was approved in 2002 for a contract to install the multidirectional radio communication network for Wi-Fi and mobile-phone within the Capitol Building and annexes, followed by the new Capitol Visitor Center. The winning bidder was an Israeli company called Foxcom which has since changed its name and been acquired by Corning Incorporated.
== Interior ==
The Capitol building is marked by its central dome above a rotunda in the central section of the structure (which also includes the older original smaller center flanked by the two original (designed 1793, occupied 1800) smaller two wings (inner north and inner south) containing the two original smaller meeting chambers for the Senate and the House of Representatives (between 1800 and late 1850s) and then flanked by two further extended (newer) wings, one also for each chamber of the larger, more populous Congress: the new north wing is the Senate chamber and the new south wing is the House of Representatives chamber. Above these newer chambers are galleries where visitors can watch the Senate and House of Representatives. It is an example of neoclassical architecture.
Tunnels and internal subways connect the Capitol building with the Congressional office buildings in the Capitol Complex. All rooms in the Capitol are designated as either S (for Senate) or H (for House), depending on whether they are in the Senate or House wing of the Capitol.
=== Art ===
Since 1856, the Capitol has featured some the most prominent art in the United States, including Italian American artist Constantino Brumidi, whose murals are located in the hallways of the first floor of the Senate side of the Capitol. The murals, known as the Brumidi Corridors, reflect great moments and people in United States history. Among the original works are those depicting Benjamin Franklin, John Fitch, Robert Fulton, and events such as the Cession of Louisiana. Also decorating the walls are animals, insects and natural flora indigenous to the United States. Brumidi's design left many spaces open so future events in United States history could be added. Among those added are the Spirit of St. Louis, the Moon landing, and the Space Shuttle Challenger crew.
Brumidi also worked within the Rotunda. He painted The Apotheosis of Washington beneath the top of the dome, and also the Frieze of American History. The Apotheosis of Washington was completed in 11 months and painted by Brumidi while suspended nearly 180 feet (55 m) in the air. It is said to be the first attempt by the United States to deify a founding father. Washington is depicted surrounded by 13 maidens in an inner ring with many Greek and Roman gods and goddesses below him in a second ring. The frieze is located around the inside of the base of the dome and is a chronological, pictorial history of the United States from the landing of Christopher Columbus to the Wright Brothers's flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The frieze was started in 1878 and was not completed until 1953. The frieze was therefore painted by four different artists: Brumidi, Filippo Costaggini, Charles Ayer Whipple, and Allyn Cox. The final scenes depicted in the fresco had not yet occurred when Brumidi began his Frieze of the United States History.
Within the Rotunda there are eight large paintings about the development of the United States as a nation. On the east side are four paintings depicting major events in the discovery of America. On the west are four paintings depicting the founding of the United States. The east side paintings include The Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gadsby Chapman, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Walter Weir, The Discovery of the Mississippi by William Henry Powell, and The Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn. The paintings on the west side are by John Trumbull: Declaration of Independence, Surrender of General Burgoyne, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and General George Washington Resigning His Commission. Trumbull was a contemporary of the United States' founding fathers and a participant in the American Revolutionary War, as was his brother, Colonel Jonathan Trumbull, who is depicted in the painting (5th from the left on the American side).
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, an 1864 painting by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, hangs over the west staircase in the Senate wing.
The Capitol also houses the National Statuary Hall Collection, comprising two statues donated by each of the fifty states to honor persons notable in their histories. One of the most notable statues in the National Statuary Hall is a bronze statue of King Kamehameha donated by the state of Hawaii upon its accession to the union in 1959. The statue's extraordinary weight of 15,000 pounds (6,800 kg) raised concerns that it might come crashing through the floor, so it was moved to Emancipation Hall of the new Capitol Visitor Center. The 100th, and last statue for the collection, that of Po'pay from the state of New Mexico, was added on September 22, 2005. It was the first statue moved into the Emancipation Hall.
=== Crypt ===
On the ground floor is an area known as the Crypt. It was intended to be the burial place of George Washington, with a ringed balustrade at the center of the Rotunda above looking down to his tomb. However, under the stipulations of his last will, Washington was buried at Mount Vernon. The Crypt houses exhibits on the history of the Capitol. A compass star inlaid in the floor marks the point at which Washington, D.C. is divided into its four quadrants and is the basis for how addresses in Washington, D.C., are designated (NE, NW, SE, or SW).
Gutzon Borglum's massive Abraham Lincoln Bust is housed in the crypt. The sculptor had a fascination with large-scale art and themes of heroic nationalism, and carved the piece from a six-ton block of marble. Borglum carved the bust in 1908; it was donated to the Congress by Eugene Meyer Jr. and accepted by the Joint Committee on the Library the same year. The pedestal was specially designed by the sculptor and installed in 1911. The bust and pedestal were on display in the Rotunda until 1979 when, after a rearrangement of all the sculptures in the Rotunda, they were placed in the Crypt. Borglum was a patriot and believed the "monuments we have built are not our own"; he looked to create art that was "American, drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement", according to a 1908 interview article. Borglum's depiction of Lincoln was so accurate that Robert Todd Lincoln, the president's son, praised the bust as "the most extraordinarily good portrait of my father I have ever seen". Supposedly, according to legend, the marble head remains unfinished (missing the left ear) to symbolize Lincoln's unfinished life.
=== Features ===
A statue of John C. Calhoun is located at one end of the room near the Old Supreme Court Chamber. On the right leg of the statue, a mark from a bullet fired during the 1998 shooting incident is clearly visible. The bullet also left a mark on the cape, located on the back right side of the statue.
Thirteen presidents have lain in state in the Rotunda for public viewing, most recently Jimmy Carter. The tomb meant for Washington stored the catafalque which is used to support coffins lying in state or honor in the Capitol. The catafalque now on display in the Exhibition Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center was used for President Lincoln.
The Hall of Columns is located on the House side of the Capitol, home to twenty-eight fluted columns and statues from the National Statuary Hall Collection. In the basement of the Capitol building in a utility room are two marble bathtubs, which are all that remain of the once elaborate Senate baths. These baths were a spa-like facility designed for members of Congress and their guests before many buildings in the city had modern plumbing. The facilities included several bathtubs, a barbershop, and a massage parlor.
A steep metal staircase, totaling 365 steps, leads from the basement to an outdoor walkway on top of the Capitol's dome. The number of steps represents each day of the year. Also in the basement, the weekly Jummah prayer is held on Fridays by Muslim staffers.
=== Height ===
Contrary to a popular myth, building height laws have never referred to the height of the Capitol building, which rises to 289 feet (88 m). The Capitol is only the fourth-tallest structure in Washington.
=== House Chamber ===
The House of Representatives Chamber has 448 permanent seats. Unlike senators, representatives do not have assigned seats. The chamber is large enough to accommodate members of all three branches of the federal government and invited guests for joint sessions of Congress such as the State of the Union speech and other events.
The Chamber is adorned with relief portraits of famous lawmakers and lawgivers throughout Western and Near Eastern history. The United States national motto "In God We Trust" is written over the tribune below the clock and above the United States flag. Of the twenty-three relief portraits, only Moses is sculpted from a full front view and is located across from the dais where the Speaker of the House ceremonially sits.
In order, clockwise around the chamber:
There is a quote by statesman Daniel Webster etched in the marble of the chamber, as stated: "Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered."
=== Senate Chamber ===
The current Senate Chamber opened in 1859 and is adorned with white marble busts of the former Presidents of the Senate (Vice presidents).
=== Old Chambers ===
==== Statuary Hall ====
The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter. It is located immediately south of the Rotunda. It was the meeting place of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 50 years (1807–1857). After a few years of disuse, in 1864, it was repurposed as a statuary hall.
==== Old Senate and Supreme Court Chambers ====
The Old Senate Chamber is a room in the United States Capitol that was the legislative chamber of the United States Senate from 1810 to 1859, and served as the Supreme Court chamber from 1860 until 1935.
This room was originally the lower half of the Old Senate Chamber from 1800 to 1806. After division of the chamber in two levels, this room was used from 1806 until 1860 as the Supreme Court Chamber. In 1860, the Supreme Court began using the newly vacated Old Senate Chamber. In 1935, the Supreme Court vacated the Capitol Building and began meeting in the newly constructed United States Supreme Court Building across the street.
=== Floor plans ===
== Exterior ==
=== Landscaping ===
The Capitol Grounds cover approximately 274 acres (1.11 km2), with the grounds proper consisting mostly of lawns, walkways, streets, drives, and planting areas. Several monumental sculptures used to be located on the east facade and lawn of the Capitol including The Rescue and George Washington. The current grounds were designed by noted American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who planned the expansion and landscaping performed from 1874 to 1892. In 1875, as one of his first recommendations, Olmsted proposed the construction of the marble terraces on the north, west, and south sides of the building creating an enveloping base. This addressed issues with the placement of the original structure; it had been built too far westwards on the crest of the hill and gave the appearance as if the building might slide into the marshy terrain below.
Olmsted also designed the Summerhouse, an open-air brick building that sits just north of the Capitol. Three arches open into the hexagonal structure, which encloses a fountain and twenty-two brick chairs. A fourth wall holds a small window which looks onto an artificial grotto. Built between 1879 and 1881, the Summerhouse was intended to answer complaints that visitors to the Capitol had no place to sit and no place to obtain water for their horses and themselves. Modern drinking fountains have since replaced Olmsted's fountain for the latter purpose. Olmsted intended to build a second, matching Summerhouse on the southern side of the Capitol, but congressional objections led to the project's cancellation.
=== Flag ===
Up to four U.S. flags can be seen flying over the Capitol. Two flagpoles are located at the base of the dome on the East and West sides. These flagpoles have flown the flag day and night since World War I. The other two flagpoles are above the North (Senate) and South (House of Representatives) wings of the building, and fly only when the chamber below is in session. The flag above the House of Representatives is raised and lowered by House pages. The flag above the United States Senate is raised and lowered by Senate Doorkeepers. To raise the flag, Doorkeepers access the roof of the Capitol from the Senate Sergeant at Arms's office. Several auxiliary flagpoles, to the west of the dome and not visible from the ground, are used to meet congressional requests for flags flown over the Capitol. Constituents pay for U.S. flags flown over the Capitol to commemorate a variety of events such as the death of a veteran family member.
== Major events ==
The Capitol and the grounds of Capitol Hill have played host to major events, including presidential inaugurations, which are held every four years. During an inauguration, the front of the Capitol is outfitted with a platform and a grand staircase. Annual events at the Capitol include Independence Day celebrations, and the National Memorial Day Concert.
The general public has paid respect to a number of individuals lying in state at the Capitol, including numerous former presidents, senators, and other officials. Other Americans lying in honor include Officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, the two officers killed in the 1998 shooting incident. Chestnut was the first African American ever to lie in honor in the Capitol. The public also paid respect to Rosa Parks, an icon of the civil rights movement, at the Capitol in 2005. She was the first woman and second African American to lie in honor in the Capitol. In February 2018, the evangelical Rev. Billy Graham became the fourth private citizen to lie in honor in the Rotunda.
On September 24, 2015, Pope Francis gave a joint address to Congress, the first Pope to do so.
== Security ==
The U.S. Capitol is believed to have been the intended target of United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four planes that were hijacked in the September 11 attacks. The plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers tried to regain control of the plane from the hijackers.
Since the September 11 attacks, the roads and grounds around the Capitol have undergone dramatic changes. The United States Capitol Police have also installed checkpoints to inspect vehicles at specific locations around Capitol Hill, and have closed a section of one street indefinitely. The level of screening employed varies. On the main east–west thoroughfares of Constitution and Independence Avenues, barricades are implanted in the roads that can be raised in the event of an emergency. Trucks larger than pickups are interdicted by the Capitol Police and are instructed to use other routes. On the checkpoints at the shorter cross streets, the barriers are typically kept in a permanent "emergency" position, and only vehicles with special permits are allowed to pass. All Capitol visitors are screened by a magnetometer, and all items that visitors may bring inside the building are screened by an x-ray device. In both chambers, gas masks are located underneath the chairs in each chamber for members to use in case of emergency. Structures ranging from scores of Jersey barriers to hundreds of ornamental bollards have been erected to obstruct the path of any vehicles that might stray from the designated roadways.
After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, security increased again. Additional security fences were installed around the perimeter, and National Guard troops were deployed to bolster security.
=== List of security incidents ===
On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting President of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. As President Andrew Jackson was leaving the Capitol out of the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed and deranged housepainter from England, either burst from a crowd or stepped out from hiding behind a column and aimed a pistol at Jackson which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol which also misfired. It has since been postulated that the moisture from the humid weather of the day contributed to the double misfiring. Lawrence was then restrained, with legend saying that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane, prompting his aides to restrain him. Others present, including Davy Crockett, restrained and disarmed Lawrence.
On April 23, 1844, then House-Speaker John White was involved in a physical confrontation on the House floor with Democratic Congressman George O. Rathbun of New York. White was delivering a speech in defense of Senator Henry Clay, the Whig nominee for president in that year's presidential election, and objected to a ruling from the Speaker denying him time to conclude his remarks. When Rathbun told White to be quiet, White confronted him and their disagreement lead to a fistfight between the two with dozens of their colleagues rushing to break up the fight. During the disturbance, an unknown visitor fired a pistol into the crowd, wounding a police officer. Both White and Rathbun subsequently apologized for their actions.
On July 2, 1915, prior to the United States' entry into World War I, Eric Muenter, also known as Frank Holt, a German professor who wanted to stop American support of the Allies of World War I, exploded a bomb in the reception room of the U.S. Senate. The next morning he tried to assassinate J. P. Morgan Jr., son of the financier, at his home on Long Island, New York. J.P. Morgan's company served as Great Britain's principal U.S. purchasing agent for munitions and other war supplies. In a letter to the Washington Evening Star published after the explosion, Muenter, writing under an assumed name, said he hoped that the detonation would "make enough noise to be heard above the voices that clamor for war".
In the 1954 United States Capitol shooting, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on members of Congress from the visitors' gallery, injuring five representatives.
On March 1, 1971, a bomb exploded on the ground floor of the Capitol, placed by the far-left domestic terrorist group the Weather Underground. They placed the bomb as a demonstration against U.S. involvement in Laos.
On November 7, 1983, in the 1983 United States Senate bombing, a group called the Armed Resistance Unit claimed responsibility for a bomb that detonated in the lobby outside the office of Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd. Six people associated with the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee were later found in contempt of court for refusing to testify about the bombing. In 1990, three members of the Armed Resistance Unit were convicted of the bombing, which they claimed was in response to the invasion of Grenada.
In the 1998 United States Capitol shooting, Russell Eugene Weston Jr. burst into the Capitol and opened fire, killing two Capitol Police officers, Officer Jacob Chestnut and Det. John Gibson.
In 2004, the Capitol was briefly evacuated after a plane carrying the then-Governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, strayed into restricted airspace above the district.
In 2013, Miriam Carey, 34, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Connecticut, attempted to drive through a White House security checkpoint in her black Infiniti G37 coupe, struck a U.S. Secret Service officer, and was chased by the Secret Service to the United States Capitol where she was fatally shot by law enforcement officers.
In 2015, Doug Hughes, a US postal worker, landed a Gyrocopter on the West lawn of the Capitol building. His alleged goal was to deliver letters to members of Congress to convince them to reform campaign finance laws. After Hughes was detained, bomb squad confirmed that there was no explosive ordinance in the vehicle.
A shooting incident occurred in March 2016. One female bystander was wounded by police but not seriously injured; a man pointing a gun was shot and arrested, in critical but stable condition. The city police of Washington D.C. described the shooting incident as "isolated".
On January 6, 2021, during the counting of Electoral College votes for the 2020 United States presidential election, a pro-Trump rally resulted in a mob that entered the Capitol. The rioters unlawfully entered the Capitol during the joint session of Congress certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, temporarily disrupting the proceedings and triggering a lockdown in the building. Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and other staff members were evacuated, while others were instructed to barricade themselves inside offices and closets. The rioters breached the Senate Chamber and multiple staff offices, including the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. One person was shot by law enforcement, and later succumbed to the injury. President-elect Joe Biden criticized the violence as "insurrection" and said democracy was "under unprecedented assault" as a result of the attack. The attack resulted in the death of four rioters, including a woman who was shot as she attempted to breach the Capitol. The events ultimately led to the second impeachment of Donald Trump. It was the first time the Capitol had been violently seized since the Burning of Washington, during the War of 1812.
On April 2, 2021, a black nationalist rammed a car into barriers outside the Capitol, hitting several Capitol Police Officers before exiting his vehicle and attempting to attack others with a knife. An officer hit by the attacker's car died shortly thereafter. The attacker was shot by Capitol Police and later died of his injuries.
On June 13, 2025, a group of protestors broke through barriers blocking the stairway to the capitol rotunda in an effort to hold a sit-in at the capitol building as part of the ongoing protests against the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, which rapidly escalated following the events in Los Angeles. Police arrested around 60 people, including United States Military veterans.
== Capitol Visitor Center ==
The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), located below the East Front of the Capitol and its plaza, between the Capitol building and 1st Street East, opened on December 2, 2008. The CVC provides a single security checkpoint for all visitors, including those with disabilities, and an expansion space for the US Congress.
The complex contains 580,000 square feet (54,000 m2) of space below ground on three floors, and offers visitors a food court, restrooms, and educational exhibits, including an 11-foot scale model of the Capitol dome. It also features over 100,000 skylights affording views of the actual dome. Long in the planning stages, construction began in the fall of 2001, following the killing of two Capitol police officers in 1998. The estimated final cost of constructing the CVC was $621 million.
== Gallery == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Lamb | William F. Lamb | William Frederick Lamb (November 21, 1883 – September 8, 1952), was an American architect, chiefly known as one of the principal designers of the Empire State Building.
== Biography ==
William Frederick Lamb was born on November 21, 1883, in Brooklyn. His father, William Lamb, was a widely known building contractor in Brooklyn and was originally from Glasgow, Scotland. His mother, Mary Louise Lamb (née Wurster), was the sister of Frederick W. Wurster, the last mayor of Brooklyn before it was consolidated with New York City on January 1, 1898.
Lamb joined the New York architecture firm Carrère & Hastings in 1911, shortly after returning from Paris, where he earned a diploma at the École des Beaux-Arts. Lamb became a partner in 1920; the firm would be known as Shreve & Lamb from 1924 to 1929 and thereafter as Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. Lamb and the firm's notable projects included the Empire State Building, the Standard Oil Building, 521 Fifth Avenue, the Forbes Magazine Building, and the General Motors Building in New York City; the Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Company Building in Washington, D.C.; the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and academic buildings for the Connecticut College for Women, Williams College, Cornell University, and Wesleyan University. The firm also designed an addition to the Bankers Trust Company Building and worked with H. Craig Severance on 40 Wall Street in New York.
In addition to his studies at the École des Beaux Arts, Lamb received a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1904 and did graduate work at the School of Architecture, Columbia University, from 1904 to 1906. Lamb received an honorary doctorate from Williams College in 1932; other honors include two gold medals from the Fifth Avenue Association (1930, 1931), a medal from the Architectural League of New York (1931), and a medal of honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (1932).
Lamb was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Art Commission of the City of New York, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, and the Architectural League of New York. In the period preceding the 1939 New York World's Fair, Lamb served as "Coordinator of Design" for the fair's board of planners. Lamb served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1937 to 1945, including as vice chairman from 1941 to 1945. In 1942 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1950.
Lamb died in New York City on September 8, 1952, after a prolonged illness. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Allman | Duane Allman | Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock and blues guitarist and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Allman began playing the guitar at age 14. He formed the Allman Brothers Band with his brother Gregg in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. The group achieved its greatest success in the early 1970s. Allman is best remembered for his brief but influential tenure in the band and in particular for his expressive slide guitar playing and inventive improvisational skills. A sought-after session musician both before and during his tenure with the band, Duane Allman performed with King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Mann, Wilson Pickett, and Boz Scaggs. He also contributed to the only studio album by Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970).
Allman died following a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971, at the age of 24.
In 2003, he was ranked number 2 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix. In 2011, he was ranked number 9 and in 2023 he was ranked 10th. His guitar tone (achieved with a Gibson Les Paul and two 50-watt bass Marshall amplifiers) was named one of the greatest of all time by Guitar Player.
== Early years ==
Duane Allman was born on November 20, 1946, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the elder son of Willis Allman (1918–1949) who, at the time of his death, was a second lieutenant on active duty in the United States Army, having served as an Army non-commissioned officer during World War II; and Geraldine Allman (née Robbins) (1917–2015). His brother, Gregg, was born on December 8, 1947.
On December 26, 1949, when the family was living near Norfolk, Virginia, where he was stationed, Willis Allman was murdered during an armed robbery by Michael Robert "Buddy" Green (1923–2024), an Army veteran that Allman and another recruiting officer had befriended earlier that day. Green was captured, convicted, sentenced and paroled in 1972. So that she could retrain as an accountant, Geraldine "Mama A" Allman sent Duane and Gregg to Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, which they both disliked intensely. In 1957, the family moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, where the boys attended Seabreeze High School.
The boys returned to Nashville to spend summers with their grandmother, and there Gregg learned guitar basics from a neighbor. In 1960, he had saved enough money to buy his first guitar, a Japanese-made Teisco Silvertone, while Duane acquired a Harley 165 motorbike. Despite Duane being left-handed, he played the guitar right-handed. Duane began to take an interest in the guitar, and the boys would sometimes fight over it, until Duane wrecked the motorbike and traded it for a Silvertone of his own. His mother eventually bought Duane a Gibson Les Paul Junior.
It was also in Nashville that the boys became musically inspired by a rhythm-and-blues concert where they saw blues guitarist B.B. King perform. Duane told Gregg, "We got to get into this." Duane learned to play very quickly and soon became the better guitarist of the two.
== Career ==
=== 1961–1968: Allman Joys and Hour Glass ===
The brothers started playing publicly in 1961, joining or forming a number of local groups. Around this time, Duane left school to focus on his guitar playing. His early band The Escorts opened for the Beach Boys in 1965 but disbanded, some of its members eventually forming the Allman Joys. After Gregg graduated from Seabreeze High School in 1965, the Allman Joys went on the road, performing throughout the Southeast, and eventually were based in Nashville. The Allman Joys became Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles in early 1967. There Hour Glass recorded two albums for Liberty Records, but the band was unsatisfied. Liberty tried to market them as a pop band, ignoring the band's desire to play more blues-oriented material. Hour Glass broke up in early 1968. Duane and Gregg went back to Florida, where they played on demo sessions with The 31st of February, a folk rock outfit whose drummer was Butch Trucks. Gregg returned to California to fulfill Hour Glass obligations, while Duane jammed around Florida for months but did not get another band going.
Duane began to learn to play slide guitar on his birthday in 1968. He was recovering from an injury to his left elbow, suffered in a fall from a horse. Gregg brought him a birthday present, the debut album by Taj Mahal, and a bottle of Coricidin pills. He left them on the front porch and rang the bell, as Duane was angry with him about the injury. "About two hours after I left, my phone rang," Gregg recalled. "'Baby brother, baby brother, get over here now!'" Duane had poured the pills out of the Coricidin bottle, washed off the label and was using it as a slide to play along with the album track "Statesboro Blues" (on the recording, the slide guitar is played by Jesse Ed Davis). "Duane had never played slide before," Gregg later said, but "he just picked it up and started burnin'. He was a natural." The song became a part of the Allman Brothers Band's repertoire, and Duane's slide guitar became crucial to their sound. Because of his use of the early-1970s-era Coricidin medicine bottle, which is no longer manufactured, replica Coricidin bottles are now popular with slide guitar players who like its glassy feel and sound.
=== 1966–1969: Session musician ===
Allman's first major recording session occurred in early 1966 at Nashville's RCA Studio B, two years before his famed tenure at Muscle Shoals' FAME Studios. Producer Tony Moon was recording The Vogues' first album after his song "5 O'Clock World" had reached the top 5, and had been recorded in that same studio. He hired Allman to play on several sides, as he wanted a more rock sound. At the time, The Allman Joys were the house band at The Briar Patch in Nashville. Allman's playing on the two Hour Glass albums and an Hour Glass session in early 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, caught the ear of Rick Hall, owner of FAME. In November 1968 Hall bought Allman's contract for $10,000. Allman, tired of the studio limitation, was able to play on his first album as a sessions ace with Wilson Pickett. Allman's work on that album, Hey Jude (1968), got him hired as a full-time session musician at Muscle Shoals and brought him to the attention of other musicians, notably Eric Clapton, who later said, "I remember hearing Wilson Pickett's 'Hey Jude' and just being astounded by the lead break at the end. I had to know who that was immediately—right now."
Allman's performance on "Hey Jude" impressed Atlantic Records producer and executive Jerry Wexler when Hall played it over the phone for him. Wexler immediately bought Allman's recording contract from Hall and wanted to use him on sessions with Atlantic R&B artists. While at Muscle Shoals, Allman played on recordings by numerous artists, including Clarence Carter, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro, Wilson Pickett, Otis Rush, Percy Sledge, Johnny Jenkins, Boz Scaggs, Delaney & Bonnie, Doris Duke and jazz flautist Herbie Mann. For his first sessions with Franklin, Allman traveled to New York where, in January 1969, he went as an audience member to the Fillmore East to see Johnny Winter and told Muscle Shoals guitarist Jimmy Johnson that in a year he would be on that stage. That December, the Allman Brothers Band indeed played the Fillmore. Coincidentally, the Fillmore East performances recorded for the Allman Brothers album At Fillmore East in March 1971—often considered the high water mark for the band—were on the same bill as Johnny Winter.
=== 1968: Formation of the Allman Brothers Band ===
When asked how the band came together Duane stated: "Very slowly. I was in Muscle Shoals and I went down to Jacksonville and was jamming with Berry and Dickey. Jaimoe came with me from Muscle Shoals; he's originally from Macon. Gregg was in California and Butch was in Jacksonville where we all got together and jammed for a couple of months putting together songs and stuff. We just needed a singer and Gregg was the guy. Two weeks after Gregg got back from California we went up to New York and recorded there. We played live gigs before our first album was released in November [of 1969]."
While visiting St. Louis, Allman met Donna Roosman, who bore his second child, Galadrielle. The couple's relationship soon ended. He had an earlier relationship with Patti Chandlee which resulted in the birth of a daughter who was born deaf.
=== 1969–1971: Success with Layla and At Fillmore East ===
The Allman Brothers Band went on to become one of the most influential rock groups of the 1970s. George Kimball, writing in Rolling Stone in 1971, described the group as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years." After months of nonstop rehearsing and gigging without Gregg, including free shows in Central City Park in Macon and Piedmont Park in Atlanta, all they needed was a singer/organist and Duane knew who he wanted. When Gregg got back from California the group settled on the name of the band and was ready to record. Their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band, was recorded in New York in September 1969 and released a few months later. In the midst of intense touring, work began in Macon and Miami (at Atlantic South–Criteria Studios), and a little bit in New York, on the band's second album, Idlewild South. Produced mostly by Tom Dowd, Idlewild South was released in August 1970 and broke new ground for them by getting into the Billboard charts.
After a concert in Miami, in August, watched by Eric Clapton and the other members of Derek and the Dominos, the two bands went back to Criteria Studios in Miami, where the Dominoes were recording Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Members of both bands jammed, after which Allman and Clapton stayed up all night trading and showing one another favorite licks, discovering they had a deep and instinctive rapport. Allman participated in the recording of most of the album's tracks, contributing some of his best-known work. He never left the Allman Brothers Band, though, despite being offered a permanent position with Clapton. Allman never toured with Derek and the Dominos, but he did make at least two appearances with them, on December 1, 1970, at the Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa (Soulmates LP), and on the following day at Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York. It is unclear whether he also appeared with them on November 20, 1970, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium when guitarist Delaney Bramlett performed with the band.
In an interview, Allman told listeners how to tell who played what: Clapton played the Fender parts and Allman the Gibson parts. He continued by noting that the Fender had a sparklier sound, while the Gibson produced more of a "full-tilt screech". Clapton wrote later in his autobiography that he and Allman were inseparable during the sessions in Florida; he talked about Allman as the "musical brother I'd never had but wished I did."
The Allman Brothers went on to record At Fillmore East in March 1971. Meanwhile, Allman continued contributing session work to other artists' albums whenever he could. According to Skydog: The Duane Allman Story, he would spontaneously drop in at recording sessions and contribute to whatever was being taped that day. He received cash payments but no recording credits, making it virtually impossible to compile a complete discography of his works.
Allman was well known for his melodic, extended and attention-holding guitar solos. During this period two of his stated influences were Miles Davis and John Coltrane. He said that he had listened intently to Davis's Kind of Blue for two years.
As Allman's distinctive electric bottleneck sound began to mature, it evolved into the musical voice of what would come to be known as Southern rock, being picked up by other slide guitarists, including his bandmate Dickey Betts (after Allman's death), Derek Trucks, Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Joe Walsh. Duane also taught a young Joe Walsh to play slide.
== Personal life ==
Allman had a daughter, Galadrielle Allman, with Donna Roosman in 1969. In 2014, Galadrielle Allman published a reflection on her father, mother, family, and the culture of the 1960s, called Please Be with Me: A Song for My Father.
== Death ==
On October 29, 1971, while the band was on a break from touring and recording, Allman was riding his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle at high speed on Hillcrest Avenue, in the western part of Macon. As he approached Bartlett Street, a flatbed boom truck stopped suddenly in the intersection, forcing him to swerve sharply. He struck either the back of the truck or the ball on the crane and was thrown from the motorcycle, which landed on top of him and skidded another 90 feet (27 m) with him pinned underneath it, crushing his internal organs.
He was alive when he arrived at a hospital, but despite immediate medical treatment, he died several hours later from massive internal injuries. Allman's death occurred shortly after the release and initial success of At Fillmore East.
=== Memorial ===
Allman's funeral service was held on Monday, November 1, 1971, at Snow's Memorial Chapel in Macon, Georgia. In the chapel, packed with family and friends, many of the musicians who had been part of Allman's life were in attendance to mourn his death. Record producer Jerry Wexler gave the eulogy. Wexler praised Allman's musical achievements; his uncompromising dedication to Southern gospel, country, and blues music; and the place he attained alongside the great black musicians and blues singers from the South. The band, joined by others, played several tunes, concluding with a group rendition of the Southern spiritual "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", a band favorite.
== Legacy ==
After Allman's funeral and some weeks of mourning, the five surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band carried on, resuming live performances and finishing the recording work interrupted by Allman's death. They named their next album Eat a Peach for Allman's response to an interviewer's question: "How are you helping the revolution?" Allman replied, "I'm hitting a lick for peace, and every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace. But you can't help the revolution, because there's just evolution. I'm a player. And players don't give a damn for nothing but playing...." Released as a double album in February 1972, it contains a side of live and studio tracks with Allman, two sides of "Mountain Jam", recorded with Allman at the same time as At Fillmore East in March, and a side of tracks by the surviving five members of the band.
Allman Brothers Band bassist Berry Oakley died less than 13 months later, also at the age of 24, in a similar motorcycle crash with a city bus, three blocks from the site of Allman's fatal accident. Oakley was buried beside Allman in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.
The variety of Allman's session work and Allman Brothers Band bandleading can be heard to good effect on two posthumous Capricorn releases, An Anthology (1972) and An Anthology Vol. II (1974). There are also several archival releases of live Allman Brothers Band performances from what the band called "Duane's era".
Shortly after Allman's death, Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd dedicated the song "Free Bird" to Allman's memory. Van Zant would sometimes allude to this in concert; in the band's 1976 performance of "Free Bird" in Knebworth, England, Van Zant said to pianist Billy Powell, "Play it for Duane Allman." The song was written well before Allman died and was not written with him in mind. (Allen Collins wrote the song after his then girlfriend asked him the question "if I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?")
In 1973, four boys who were Hinds Junior College students living in Vicksburg, Mississippi carved the very large letters "REMEMBER DUANE ALLMAN" into a vertical excavation face beside Interstate Highway 20 between Vicksburg and the school's campus in Raymond on the route they travelled together while commuting between their homes and campus. A photograph was published in Rolling Stone magazine and in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll; the carving lasted for over 10 years.
In 1998, the Georgia State Legislature passed a resolution designating a stretch of State Highway 19, U.S. Route 41, within Macon, as Duane Allman Boulevard in his honor. The route, which passes near The Allman Brothers Band Museum (at "The Big House", where the band once lived) and the H&H Restaurant, where the band members often dined, crosses the Raymond Berry Oakley III Bridge.
Country singer Travis Tritt, in the song "Put Some Drive in Your Country" on his debut album, sings "Now I still love old country / I ain't tryin' to put it down / But damn I miss Duane Allman / I wish he was still around."
Skydog, a seven-CD box set tracing the virtuosity of Allman on the guitar, was released in 2013 with the help of his daughter, Galadrielle Allman. A March 16 interview with her on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday by Scott Simon runs over eight minutes, includes many details, and is highlighted with clips of his playing, including links to an audio file prepared for the broadcast.
Duane Allman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as a member of the Allman Brothers Band.
== Equipment ==
Allman Joys, Hour Glass
Fender Telecaster, modified with a Stratocaster neck
Marshall amplifier, with six 10-inch speakers and two horns
Early session work
1954 Fender Stratocaster, used on the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio sessions, now at the Hard Rock Cafe in London at the Vault
Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, with old 9-volt batteries for enhanced distortion
Fender Twin Reverb with JBL speakers
Maestro Echoplex
1959 Fender Bassman
Allman Brothers Band, Layla, later session work
1961 Fender Stratocaster (for early session work, overlapping with the formation of the Allman Brothers Band)
1958–1962 Gibson ES-345 semi-hollow body (first album)
1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard goldtop, serial no. 7 3312, traded on September 16, 1970, for a:
1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard cherry sunburst, except for the pickups
1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard tobacco sunburst, acquired in June 1971
1961 Gibson SG, used for slide, given by Dickey Betts
Marshall 50-watt head, two Marshall 4x12 cabinets with JBL speakers
Fender Champ combo amplifier (Layla)
Other
Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar
Fender Rock N' Roll 150 strings (Hour Glass)
Coricidin medicine bottle (slide)
== Discography ==
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
Idlewild South (1970)
At Fillmore East (1971)
Eat a Peach (1972) on tracks 4–9
Derek & the Dominos
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) on tracks 4–14 |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_airport_code:_L | List of airports by IATA airport code: L |
== L ==
The DST column shows the months in which Daylight Saving Time, a.k.a. Summer Time, begins and ends. A blank DST box usually indicates that the location stays on Standard Time all year, although in some cases the location stays on Summer Time all year. If a location is currently on DST, add one hour to the time in the Time column. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington,_Texas | Arlington, Texas | Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. The city had a population of 394,266 in 2020, making it the second-largest city in the county after Fort Worth and the third-largest city in the metropolitan area, after Dallas and Fort Worth, and thus the largest suburb in the DFW Metroplex. Arlington is the 50th-most populous city in the United States, the seventh-most populous city in the state of Texas, and the largest city in the state that is not a county seat.
Arlington is home to the University of Texas at Arlington, a major urban research university, the Arlington Assembly plant used by General Motors, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV, Texas Health Resources, Mensa International, and D. R. Horton. Additionally, Arlington hosts the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Wings at College Park Center, the International Bowling Campus (which houses the United States Bowling Congress and the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame), and the theme parks Six Flags Over Texas (the original Six Flags) and Hurricane Harbor.
== History ==
European settlement in the Arlington area dates back at least to the 1840s. After the May 24, 1841 battle between Texas General Edward H. Tarrant and Native Americans of the Village Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Marrow Bone Spring in present-day Arlington (historical marker at 32°42.136′N 97°6.772′W). The rich soil of the area attracted farmers, and several agriculture-related businesses were well established by the late nineteenth century.
Arlington was founded in 1876 along the Texas and Pacific Railway. Named after General Robert E. Lee's Arlington House in Arlington County, Virginia., Arlington grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated on April 21, 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a non-federal public school system.
From 1892 until 1951, a mineral well drilled exactly in the middle of downtown Arlington, Texas, was a key reason to visit the town. The well has been paved over and is now the site of a public memorial plaza.
In the 1920s and 1930s, life in Arlington was bustling with controversy and entertainment. In the early 1920s, a tea room known as "Top O' Hill Terrace" opened up along the now-defunct Bankhead Highway to serve dinner and tea to guests traveling through Dallas and Fort Worth. Ownership changed in the late 1920s and shortly thereafter the facilities were secretly converted into casinos and a speakeasy. Known by historians as "Vegas before Vegas", escape tunnels and secret rooms were constructed to hide the illegal gambling during police raids. However, the restaurant portion of the facility still existed as a legitimate business and a front. The nearby Triangle Inn also operated as an illegal speakeasy and gambling house.
By 1925 the city's population was estimated at 3,031—well under the population of Dallas and Fort Worth at the time. In 1929, a horse-racing track called Arlington Downs was constructed by W.T. Waggoner and Brian Nyantika close by to the speakeasy. Gambling was still illegal, but people were making bets regardless. Waggoner and his sons campaigned to make parimutuel betting legal, and in 1933 the state issued its first legal gambling permit to Arlington Downs. The track was immensely profitable at that point, making a daily average of $113,000 before inflation with a daily attendance average of 6,700 people. At the end of the 1937 season, the state legislature repealed their parimutuel gambling laws, and the Downs were sold to commercial developers.
In the 1940s, the Arlington Downs was used as a rodeo and event venue. Top O' Hill Terrace evaded the police until 1947, when famous Texas Ranger M. T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas caught the gambling operation in full-swing and had the place shut down. The 1940s brought World War II to the forefront of the United States, and many families from around Texas moved to Arlington to find jobs. Before World War II, the city's population had grown to over 4,000. The war kick-started a manufacturing revolution in Texas. Arlington was between the biggest aerospace engineering hubs in Texas at the time, Dallas and Fort Worth.
In 1956, the Top O' Hill Terrace property was purchased by the Bible Baptist Seminary and converted into what is now Arlington Baptist University. The underground tunnels and original structures are still standing. In 1958, the Arlington Downs was completely destroyed by commercial developers. All that is left is an original concrete water trough and a Texas historical landmark marker placed in 2016. Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a General Motors assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990.
Arlington became one of the "boomburbs", the extremely fast-growing suburbs of the post-World War II era. U.S. Census Bureau population figures for the city date the population boom: 7,692 (1950), 90,229 (1970), 261,721 (1990), 365,438 (2010) and almost 374,000 by 2011. Tom Vandergriff served as mayor from 1951 to 1977 during this period of robust economic development. Six Flags Over Texas opened in Arlington in 1961. In 1972 the Washington Senators baseball team relocated to Arlington and began play as the Texas Rangers and in 2009 the Dallas Cowboys also began to play at the newly constructed Cowboys Stadium, now AT&T Stadium.
On January 13, 1996, a 9-year-old girl, Amber Hagerman, was abducted in Arlington and found murdered four days later. No one has been arrested or convicted for her murder as of 2025. The case led to the creation of the Amber alert system.
In October 2019, Arlington was chosen out of several major U.S. cities to become the permanent home of the $150 million National Medal of Honor Museum. Construction of the museum is set to be completed in 2024.
== Geography ==
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Arlington has a total area of 99.7 square miles (258 km2); 96.5 square miles (250 km2) was land, and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) is water. The city lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of downtown Fort Worth and 20 miles (32 km) west of downtown Dallas.
Johnson Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River, and the Trinity River itself, flow through Arlington. Arlington borders Kennedale, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Fort Worth, and surrounds the smaller communities of Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego.
=== Climate ===
Arlington falls in the Cfa (humid subtropical) region of the Köppen climate classification system which is characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters.
The highest recorded temperature was 113 °F (45 °C) in 1980.
The lowest recorded temperature was −8 °F (−22 °C) in 1899.
The maximum average precipitation occurs in May.
Severe weather generally occurs April and May months.
The city is located in Tornado Alley.
Winters are typically mild with little to no snow.
==== 2012 Tornado ====
During the April 3, 2012 tornado outbreak, a severe thunderstorm produced an EF2 tornado in Eastern Kennedale which moved northeast across U.S. Route 287 near Stagetrail Drive and continued in a north/northeastern direction. The tornado had a maximum path width of 150 yards estimated path length of 4.6 miles, and estimated maximum wind speeds of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
The tornado caused damage to numerous businesses including the Green Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center which had a large portion of its roof torn off and sustained damage to exterior walls. Eighteen homes were destroyed, and 291 others were damaged as well. There were eight injuries which occurred due to this tornado, one of which was serious.
== Demographics ==
=== Racial and ethnic composition ===
=== 2020 census ===
As of the 2020 census, Arlington had a population of 394,266, 142,650 households, and 93,164 families residing in the city. The median age was 34.3 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.3 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0% lived in rural areas.
Of the 142,650 households in Arlington, 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 44.9% were married-couple households, 19.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 151,697 housing units, of which 6.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 54.0% were owner-occupied and 46.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.4%.
The demographic increase of American Black and American Hispanic, as well as American Asian is notable with migration patterns and fertility.
=== 2010 census ===
At the census of 2010, there were 365,438 people, 133,072 households, and 90,099 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,811 people per square mile (1,471 people/km2). There were 144,805 housing units at an average density of 1,510 per square mile (580/km2).
In 2010, there were 133,072 households, out of which 40% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 48% were married couples living together, 15% had a female householder with no father present(family units), and 32% were non-family or family-units. 25% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.7 and the average family size was 3.3.
In the city, the 2010 population was spread out, with 31% under the age of 20, 8% from 20 to 24, 30% from 25 to 44, 23% from 45 to 64, and 8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 104 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 94 males 18 and over.
=== American Community Survey ===
The median income for a household in the city was estimated to be $50,655 in 2011. Individual males working full-time year-round had a median income of $41,059 versus $35,265 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,317. About 16% of Arlington families in general and 31% of female-headed families with no husband present were living below the poverty line; 20% of the Arlington population as a whole, including 28% of individuals under age 18 and 8% of those age 65 or over were living in poverty. Approximately 43% of Arlington renters and 28% of homeowners were paying 35% or more of their household income for housing costs in 2011. Approximately 20.8% of the population were foreign-born from 2014 to 2018.
== Economy ==
=== Top employers ===
According to Arlington's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the top five employers, making up 15.5% of the total employment in the City, include:
=== Additional ===
American Excelsior Company (1888)
== Culture ==
=== Arts and entertainment ===
Arlington is home to Six Flags Over Texas, a nationwide theme park that includes many notable attractions. Six Flags also opened Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, a waterpark, after the previous location, Wet 'n Wild, was sold to them in the mid-1990s.
With the relocation of the U.S. Bowling Congress, and the Bowling Proprietors Association of America and the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, Arlington became the world headquarters for bowling.
For retail shopping, Arlington is home to the Parks Mall at Arlington, which houses numerous stores, eateries, an ice skating rink, a bowling/arcade spot, and a movie theatre. In addition, the Arlington Highlands was completed in mid-2007, serving as a shopping and entertainment hotspot. The Arlington Highlands is located on I-20 at Matlock Rd. The Lincoln Square located near the AT&T Stadium also houses several stores, restaurants, and a Studio Movie Grill.
Arlington is also home to Theatre Arlington, one of the largest community theatres in the nation, which produces quality live theatre year-round and offers theater classes for all ages. The Mainstage Theatre at UT Arlington is another well-known venue for live theatre in Arlington.
The Arlington Museum of Art in downtown and the Gallery at UT Arlington are the city's designated art venues. In 2016, the city's art museum hosted a public art project called "The Star of Texas" to promote their new slogan as the "American Dream City." Community artists were chosen to paint a large star sculpture with their interpretation of the city. Today, these stars can still be seen throughout the city – most notably in the downtown and entertainment districts. In the mid-2010's, art murals began to appear in downtown Arlington, giving the area an artistic atmosphere.
The Planetarium Dome Theater at UT Arlington is one of the largest in Texas.
Levitt Pavilion Arlington opened in 2009 and offers 50 free concerts per year in downtown Arlington featuring a diverse range of music genres. Notable performers have included Asleep at the Wheel, the Band of Heathens, the Killdares, Pentatonix, the Polyphonic Spree, the Quebe Sisters, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. The Texas Hall and AT&T Stadium are also destinations for live concerts in Arlington.
On July 4, the all-volunteer non-profit Arlington Fourth of July Parade Association puts on the annual parade through Downtown Arlington and UT Arlington's College Park District, featuring floats and entries from local schools, businesses, and organizations. The parade is broadcast on local radio stations as well as on the AISD TV station and website. The parade began in 1965 as decorated bicycles ridden through Randol Mill Park organized by citizen Dottie Lynn and Church Women United. It has grown to around 75,000 spectators a year enjoying the festivities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the parade was canceled for the first time in 55 years.
Texas Live! is a $250 million mixed-use district featuring dining, entertainment, and a 302-room hotel with a convention center. The 200,000-square-foot district is located immediately outside the new Globe Life Field. Texas Live! opened in August 2018.
=== Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau ===
The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official tourism identity for the city of Arlington, Texas. The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) is tasked with pursuing conventions, meetings, tour groups, reunions, and individual leisure travelers to increase city revenues from sale and lodging taxes. The Arlington CVB also supports local stakeholders that pursue high-profile special events and sporting events to fill hotels, Arlington Convention Center, AT&T Stadium, College Park Center, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and other venues around the city.
== Sports ==
=== Professional sports ===
Arlington has long been the home of the Texas Rangers baseball team, who made Arlington Stadium their first home upon moving to Dallas/Fort Worth from Washington, D.C., in 1972. In 1994, the Rangers built a new stadium, The Ballpark in Arlington (renamed Choctaw Stadium in 2021). The Rangers made trips to the 2010 World Series, 2011 World Series, and 2023 World Series, winning in 2023 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2016, residents voted to construct a new stadium and by 2017, construction began on the $1.1 billion Globe Life Field across the street from Choctaw Stadium. Globe Life Field serves as the new home of the Texas Rangers; however, the debut of the park was delayed by the postponement of the 2020 season. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arlington became the first city since 1944 to hold every World Series game in a single venue at Globe Life Field. In October 2023, the Rangers defeated the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series, and won the 2023 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dallas Cowboys football team moved from Texas Stadium in Irving in 2009 to the $1.3 billion AT&T Stadium, which is within walking distance of the Rangers Ballpark. Completed in 2009, it has attracted high-profile sporting events to Arlington, including the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV in 2011, the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball South Regional Championships, and the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final Four; the stadium was also the site of the first College Football Championship Game in January 2015 (covering the 2014 season). The Dallas Cowboys rent AT&T Stadium from the City of Arlington for $167,500 per month over a thirty-year period, a sum far less than market value; in exchange, the Cowboys have complete control over the facility's calendar and the revenues collected therefrom, including naming rights, billboard advertising, concession sales and most of the surrounding parking.
The Dallas Wings became the first Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise in North Texas in 2015. They were known as the Tulsa Shock while based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but reinvented their brand after relocating to North Texas. The Wings play home games at the College Park Center in Arlington.
The Arlington Renegades is a UFL football team that played in Arlington from 2023 to 205. The team was established in 2019 and played in the renovated Choctaw Stadium. The inaugural home opener drew 17,026 fans. They moved to Toyota Stadium in Frisco in 2026.
The North Texas SC of MLS Next Pro also calls Arlington and Choctaw Stadium home since May 2020.
AT&T Stadium will host the most matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
=== College sports ===
The UT Arlington Mavericks are the athletic teams representing The University of Texas at Arlington. The Mavericks compete in the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Conference in 15 varsity sports.
UTA was a founding member of the Southland Conference in 1963 and participated in the league until the end of the 2011–12 athletic year. They joined the Western Athletic Conference for one year before moving to the Sun Belt Conference for several years then moving back to the Western Athletic Conference in July 2022.
A new arena called the College Park Center is now the host facility for basketball and volleyball home games as well as other university activities. The arena opened February 1, 2012, and seats approximately 7,000 people. Baseball home games are held at the Clay Gould Ballpark and softball home games are at the Allan Saxe Field; both facilities completed $5.5 million in upgrade cost in early 2015.
The Mavericks' team name selection was made in 1971, predating the National Basketball Association's expansion franchise Dallas Mavericks' starting choice in 1980.
Arlington Baptist College also competes in a number of sports. They are known as the Patriots and is an active member in the National Christian College Athletic Association, Southwest Region, Division II, and is a member of the Association of Christian College Athletics. The sports Arlington Baptist competes in range from: basketball (men and women's), golf (men and women's), cross country (men and women's), Track & Field (men), volleyball (women), softball (women), and baseball (men).
=== Arlington athletes ===
Arlington is the home of several notable athletes. 1998 American League Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve graduated from Martin High School in 1994. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Vernon Wells grew up in Arlington and attended Bowie High School, San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence attended Arlington High School and played collegiate baseball at The University of Texas at Arlington, and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher John Lackey also played for UTA. Lamar High School alumnus Jeremy Wariner won two gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the 2005 world championship in the 400 meters in Rome.
UTA also produced Doug Russell, who won two gold medals in swimming at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 and for whom a park on campus is named. Champion bodybuilder (Mr. Olympia 1998–2005) Ronnie Coleman resides in Arlington. Houston Comets Guard Erin Grant grew up in Arlington and attended Mansfield high school. NFL wide receiver Mark Clayton, now with the St. Louis Rams, graduated from Sam Houston High School in 2000 and was part of the University of Oklahoma's 2001 national championship team. Jared Connaughton, sprinter for the 2008 Canada Olympic team, was a sprinter for the UT Arlington team. Myles Garrett, defensive end for the Cleveland Browns and 1st overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, graduated from Martin High School in 2014.
=== Motorsports ===
In 2026, IndyCar will contest the first ever Grand Prix of Arlington around the AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, in collaboration with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers.
== Government ==
=== Local ===
The Arlington City Council has been presided over by Mayor Jim Ross since June 2021, following the 6-year incumbency of Mayor Jeff Williams. The Arlington City Council is composed of the Mayor and eight City Council members. Elections are conducted every May with runoffs in June, with an exception for a November and December election and runoff in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. City Officials are officially elected non-partisan, although many are affiliated with political parties outside of official capacity. The Mayor/Council Members are subject to a combined maximum of three 2-year terms.
City Council Members as of August 2024:
District 1: Mauricio Galante; first elected May 2024; term ends May 2027
District 2: Raul H. Gonzalez; first elected November 2020; term ends May 2027
District 3: Nikkie Hunter; first elected June 2021; term ends May 2026
District 4: Andrew Piel; first elected May 2019; term ends May 2026
District 5: Rebecca Boxall; first elected May 2021; term ends May 2026
District 6: Long Pham (at-large); first elected June 2022; term ends May 2027
District 7: Dr. Bowie Hogg (at-large); first elected May 2022; term ends May 2027
District 8: Dr. Barbara Odom-Wesley (at-large); first elected May 2019; term ends May 2026
According to Arlington's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ended in September 2022, the city's various funds had $731.306 million in revenues, $678.643 million in expenditures, $4.995 billion in total assets, $1.970 billion in total liabilities, and $528.568 million in cash in investments.
The Arlington Police Department had 871 employees and a budget of $118 million as of 2020.
Fire protection is provided by the Arlington Fire Department, and emergency medical services are provided by American Medical Response, which also provides medical support to AT&T Stadium.
The city of Arlington is a voluntary member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments association, the purpose of which is to coordinate individual and collective local governments and facilitate regional solutions, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and enable joint decisions.
==== List of mayors ====
=== State representation ===
Arlington is home to the following State House districts: the 92nd represented by Salman Bhojani (D), the 94th represented by Tony Tinderholt (R), the 95th represented by Nicole Collier (D), the 96th represented by David Cook (R), and the 101st represented by Chris Turner (D).
Arlington is also represented in the following State Senate districts: Kelly Hancock (R) of the 9th, Phil King (R) of the 10th, Brian Birdwell (R) of the 22nd, and Royce West (D) of the 23rd.
It is represented in the Texas State Board of Education by Brandon Hall (R) and Tiffany Clark (D) of the 11th and 13th districts.
=== Federal representation ===
Four US House of Representatives districts go through Arlington: Texas' 6th represented by Jake Ellzey (R), Texas’ 25th represented by Roger Williams (R), Texas’ 30th represented by Jasmine Crockett (D), and Texas' 33rd represented by Marc Veasey (D).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains the Arlington Ecological Services Field Office (ARLES) on Northeast Green Oaks Boulevard in far northeastern Arlington. While it is one of the oldest Ecological Services Field Stations in the United States, today its activities are focused primarily on the illegal trafficking of exotic species through Dallas/Fort-Worth International Airport. The office is not staffed or funded for nor active on the protection and enhancement of local urban-area endangered species habitat, nor on the enforcement of the related provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) operates the Arlington Main Post Office. Other post offices operated by the USPS include Bardin Road, East Arlington, Great Southwest, Oakwood, Pantego, and Watson Community.
The National Transportation Safety Board operates the Arlington Aviation field office in Arlington.
== Education ==
=== Colleges and universities ===
Arlington is home to several public and private colleges and universities.
==== Public institutions ====
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is one of the largest universities in Texas. The university has over 40,000 students and is a valuable asset to the city of Arlington and its economy. Buildings within the academic core of the UT Arlington campus are among the oldest structures in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, including Preston Hall, Ransom Hall, College Hall, and the original Arlington High School.
The Southeast Campus of Tarrant County College is located in Arlington.
==== Private institutions ====
Arlington Baptist University (ABU) is a private 4-year Bible college affiliated with the World Baptist Fellowship that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. ABU traces its founding to J. Frank Norris, the controversial Independent Baptist minister.
A branch of University of Phoenix is located in Arlington, as well as the flagship campus of Ogle School, a cosmetology school.
=== Primary and secondary schools ===
Arlington's residents live in five independent school districts (ISDs): Arlington ISD, Mansfield ISD, Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD, Kennedale ISD, and Fort Worth ISD. In Texas, school district boundaries do not always follow city and county boundaries because all aspects of school district government apparatus, including district boundaries, are separated from city and county governments. Not all city of Arlington residents is in the AISD, and not all AISD students are residents of Arlington.
There are currently ten AISD high schools.
Arlington has dozens of private schools, including Merryhill Preschool, Elementary & Middle School. The city also has public charter schools not affiliated with any ISDs.
== Transportation ==
On July 2, 1902, the first Dallas/Fort-Worth "Interurban" electric trolley came to Arlington; this popular service ran between those three cities and points in between until Christmas Eve, 1934, providing easy transportation for both business and pleasure. The track ran through Arlington along what is now Abram Street.
In the era of private operation of passenger trains prior to the Amtrak era, Texas and Pacific Railway trains such as the Texas Eagle and the Louisiana Eagle made stops in Arlington, on trips between Fort Worth and Dallas. Amtrak's Texas Eagle (Chicago-San Antonio) makes stops at Fort Worth Central Station 14 miles to the west and Dallas Union Station 18 miles to the east.
Arlington Municipal Airport (GKY) is located entirely within Arlington and is a public use airport owned by the City of Arlington. It serves as a reliever airport for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field. Several companies operate aircraft services on the airport property, including the Bell Helicopter division of Textron.
For many years, Arlington had the distinction of being the largest city in the United States that was not served by a public transportation system. Between 1980 and 2013, voters rejected three separate ballot proposals to bring public transportation to the city, though certain political and economic realities particular to North Texas made successful passage of those measures arguably more difficult in Arlington than in other parts of the state or country. On August 19, 2013, the two-year pilot project known as the Metro Arlington Xpress (MAX) bus began offering weekday bus service between College Park Center (on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington) and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) CentrePort Station near DFW Airport, with a single stop near the Arlington Entertainment District. From the TRE station, riders could take the TRE to Fort Worth, Dallas and points in between, all of which are served by comprehensive public transit systems.
On its first year, the MAX program logged 64,600 one-way rides and cost $1.4 million. The service was run through a tri-party agreement between the City of Arlington, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit. City Council extended the MAX bus service beyond the original two-year pilot timeframe through annual contracts until December 31, 2017. The MAX was officially shut down on December 29, 2017, a few weeks after Via debuted in Arlington. The City of Arlington has a lower than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, just 4.7 percent of Arlington households lacked a car, which dropped to 3.7 percent in 2016. The national average is 8.7 percent in 2016. Arlington averaged 1.89 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.
In January 2017, Arlington was part of a Texas state-wide designation as an Automated Vehicle Proving Ground by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In August 2017, Arlington launched the first autonomous vehicle shuttle service in the United States offered by a municipal government to the general public on a continuous basis. Named Milo, the autonomous electric shuttles provide service during major events at Globe Life Park and AT&T Stadium, connecting remote parking areas to the stadiums.
Arlington also offers Via Arlington, a public, on-demand, shared transportation service in partnership with the TransitTech company Via, which began in December 2017. Riders can request a pickup from a six-passenger van within a designated service area, which covers key destinations within Arlington as well as connecting to the Trinity Railway Express CentrePort Station. Beginning January 19, 2021, this service was expanded citywide. Arlington also partners with Via and autonomous vehicles provider May Mobility to operate Arlington RAPID, which provides on-demand autonomous vehicle rides in Downtown Arlington and on the University of Texas at Arlington's campus and is one of the first services of its kind in the United States.
Additionally, Arlington has four transit services targeting individual demographic groups: "Handitran" serves senior citizens and disabled people; Arlington hotels pay for a tourist-oriented shuttle-bus system for their guests; The University of Texas at Arlington runs a limited shuttle service for college students; and lastly Mission Arlington, an Arlington-run charity serving the severely indigent, has a bus service that circulates people needing social services or transportation to employment.
The city is served by two Interstate Highways, I-20, also known as Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway, and I-30, also named Tom Landry Memorial Highway. Other limited-access freeways include State Highway 360, which is named for the founder of Six Flags Over Texas, Angus G. Wynne, running along the eastern border, and U.S. Highway 287, which traverses the southwestern portion of the city. In most cases, the memorial names are not used in reference to these roadways. The city also has a tollway, The 360 Tollway, which connects Mansfield to Arlington and Grand Prairie. The tollway is also known as the Rosa Parks Memorial Parkway, named after the civil rights activist. Near US-287, where the tollway ends, the tollway is also named "Senator Chris Harris Memorial Highway" after the local legislator who aided the extension.
The Union Pacific Railroad now owns and operates the original Texas and Pacific (later Missouri Pacific) transcontinental right-of-way and rail route through Arlington (parallel to which the Interurban originally ran); it offers no passenger stops in Arlington, its Arlington freight service is primarily to the local General Motors assembly plant, and most of its lengthy and numerous freight trains are merely passing through town to and from points far away.
== Notable people == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006–07_FA_Premier_League | 2006–07 FA Premier League | The 2006–07 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclays Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the FA Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 August 2006 and concluded on 13 May 2007. Chelsea were the two-time defending champions.
On 12 February 2007, the FA Premier League renamed itself simply to the Premier League. The change introduced a new logo, sleeve patches and typeface. The sponsored name remains the Barclays Premier League.
The 2006–07 season was the lowest-scoring season in Premier League history, with only 931 goals (with a 2.45 goals per match ratio, the poorest in the history of Premier League).
Manchester United won their first Premiership title since 2003, following Chelsea's 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 6 May 2007. The result left the defending champions seven points behind United with two games left. It was their ninth title in fifteen seasons.
The three relegation spots were occupied by Watford and Sheffield United who each lasted one season in the league, along with Charlton Athletic who went down after seven seasons.
== Teams ==
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Football League Championship. The promoted teams were Reading (playing in the top flight for the first time ever), Sheffield United (playing top flight football for the first time in twelve years) and Watford (returning to the Premier League after a six-year absence). They replaced Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland, who were relegated to the Championship after their top flight spells of four, two and one year respectively.
=== Stadiums and locations ===
=== Personnel and kits ===
(as of 13 May 2007)
=== Managerial changes ===
== League table ==
== Results ==
== Season statistics ==
=== Scoring ===
Biggest win: 6 goals – Reading 6–0 West Ham United (1 January 2007)
Highest scoring match: 8 goals – Arsenal 6–2 Blackburn Rovers
First goal: Rob Hulse for Sheffield United against Liverpool (19 August 2006)
Last goal: Harry Kewell (pen.) for Liverpool against Charlton Athletic (13 May 2007)
=== Overall ===
Most wins: 28 – Manchester United
Fewest wins: 5 – Watford
Most losses: 21 – West Ham United
Fewest losses: 3 – Chelsea
Most goals scored: 83 – Manchester United
Fewest goals scored: 29 – Manchester City and Watford
Most goals conceded: 60 – Fulham and Charlton Athletic
Fewest goals conceded: 24 – Chelsea
=== Home ===
Most wins: 15 – Manchester United
Fewest wins: 3 – Watford
Most losses: 10 – Wigan Athletic
Fewest losses: 0 – Chelsea
Most goals scored: 46 – Manchester United
Fewest goals scored: 10 – Manchester City
Most goals conceded: 30 – Wigan Athletic
Fewest goals conceded: 7 – Liverpool
=== Away ===
Most wins: 13 – Manchester United
Fewest wins: 1 – Fulham and Charlton Athletic
Most losses: 14 – Sheffield United
Fewest losses: 3 – Manchester United and Chelsea
Most goals scored: 37 – Manchester United
Fewest goals scored: 8 – Sheffield United
Most goals conceded: 42 – Fulham
Fewest goals conceded: 13 – Chelsea
== Statistics ==
=== Top scorers ===
=== Historic goals ===
==== 15,000th goal ====
The Premier League expected to have the league's 15,000th goal scored at some point in the period between Christmas and New Year. The target was reached on 30 December when Moritz Volz scored for Fulham against Chelsea. Barclays, the Premiership's sponsor, donated £15,000 to the Fulham Community Sports Trust in Volz' name. Additionally, a fan who correctly predicted that Volz would score the historic goal in a contest presented the player with a special award prior to Fulham's game against Watford at Craven Cottage on 1 January. The honour of scoring the 15,000th goal led to Volz being nicknamed "15,000 Volz".
==== Goalkeeper scores ====
On 17 March 2007, Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson scored against Watford from an 83-yard free kick, which bounced over his England teammate Ben Foster, who was in goal for the Hornets, leading Spurs to a 3–1 win at White Hart Lane. This was the third goal scored by a goalkeeper in Premiership history. The other two were scored by Peter Schmeichel, for Aston Villa against Everton on 21 October 2001, and Brad Friedel, for Blackburn Rovers against Charlton Athletic on 21 February 2004. In those two cases, the teams they played for lost. Robinson became the first keeper to score for the winning team in a Premiership match.
== Relegation controversy ==
West Ham escaped relegation on the final day of the season with a 1–0 win over Manchester United, with Carlos Tevez scoring the winner. Sheffield United were relegated, along with Charlton and Watford. Tevez was subsequently found to have been ineligible to play, as he was not owned by West Ham, but by a third party. Sheffield United sued to keep their Premier League status and, when that failed, went to an FA arbitration panel seeking up to £30m compensation. The arbitration panel found in favour of Sheffield United. The two clubs subsequently settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
== Monthly awards ==
== Annual awards ==
This season's awards were dominated by Manchester United, who, as a team, picked up a total of eight individual awards, five of which went to Cristiano Ronaldo. They also had eight players in the Team of the Year.
=== PFA Players' Player of the Year ===
The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2007 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo. He had won the PFA Young Player of the Year award earlier on in the awards ceremony, making him the first player to win both awards in the same year since Andy Gray managed the same feat in 1977. Didier Drogba came second, while Paul Scholes was third.
The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
=== PFA Young Player of the Year ===
The PFA Young Player of the Year award was also won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United. Cesc Fàbregas came in second place, and Aaron Lennon was third. Wayne Rooney was going for a hat-trick of Young Player of the Year awards, having won this award for both of the two preceding seasons, but did not feature in the top three for the 2006–07 season.
The shortlist for the award was as follows:
Kevin Doyle (Reading)
Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur)
Micah Richards (Manchester City)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
=== PFA Team of the Year ===
The Team of the Year featured eight Manchester United players.
Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United)
Defence: Gary Neville, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (all Manchester United)
Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo (all Manchester United)
Attack: Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur)
=== PFA Merit Award ===
The PFA Merit Award was awarded to Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, for his commitment to the club, the Premier League, and in recognition of the 19 major trophies he had won in his time in England.
=== PFA Fans' Player of the Year ===
This award was voted for in an online poll run by the PFA on their website. With four days of voting left before the closing date of midnight on 15 April, the five players with the most votes in the poll were Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, Dimitar Berbatov, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard, but it was Ronaldo who managed to fend off the challenges of the other four.
=== FWA Footballer of the Year ===
The FWA Footballer of the Year award for 2007 was also won by Cristiano Ronaldo. The award is presented by the Football Writers' Association and voted for by its members. This year, Didier Drogba came second and Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes came third and fourth respectively.
=== Premier League Manager of the Season ===
The Premier League Manager of the Season award was presented to Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson before the club's final game of the season against West Ham United.
=== Premier League Player of the Season ===
The Premier League Player of the Season award was also presented before Manchester United's game with West Ham United on the last day of the season, and was awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo, granting him the sextuple of PFA Players' Player, Young Player, Fans' Player of the Year, Barclays Premiership Player of the Season, Football Writers' Association Player of the Year and a place in the Team of the Year.
=== Premier League Merit Award ===
Ryan Giggs was presented with this special award at the same time as the Manager and Player of the Season Awards were given out, in recognition of his record of nine Premier League titles.
=== Premier League Golden Glove ===
The Premier League Golden Glove award was presented to Liverpool's Pepe Reina for the second successive season after keeping 19 clean sheets, ahead of Tim Howard of Everton (14) and Marcus Hahnemann of Reading (13).
== Attendances == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin) | Nickel (United States coin) | A nickel is a five-cent coin struck by the United States Mint. Composed of cupronickel (75% copper and 25% nickel), the piece has been issued since 1866. Its diameter is 0.835 inches (21.21 mm) and its thickness is 0.077 inches (1.95 mm). It is the second-lowest face-value physical unit of U.S. currency, after the penny.
The silver half dime, equal to five cents, was issued from 1792 to 1873 before today's cupronickel version. The American Civil War caused economic hardship, driving gold and silver from circulation; in response, in place of low-value coins, the government at first issued paper currency. In 1865, Congress abolished the five-cent fractional currency note after Spencer M. Clark, head of the Currency Bureau (today the Bureau of Engraving and Printing), placed his own portrait on the denomination. After the successful introduction of two-cent and three-cent pieces without precious metal, Congress also authorized a five-cent piece consisting of base metal; the Mint began striking this version in 1866. The initial design of the Shield nickel was struck from 1866 until 1883, then was replaced by the Liberty Head nickel. The Buffalo nickel was introduced in 1913 as part of a drive to increase the beauty of American coinage.
The nickel is minted in its modern form as the modification of the Jefferson nickel, which was first introduced in 1938. In 2004 and 2005, special Jefferson nickel designs in honor of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were issued. In 2006, the Mint reverted to using Jefferson nickel designer Felix Schlag's original reverse (or "tails" side), although a new obverse, by Jamie Franki, was substituted.
As of 2024, nickels cost $0.1378 per coin to produce and distribute. The 2024 production of nickels was 112,800,000, resulting in an annual cost to taxpayers of $17.7 million. The current purchasing power of a nickel is also well below that which the last remaining lowest-denomination coin (the penny) held at the time of the half-cent's elimination in 1857. This has led to proposals to eliminate the nickel along with the penny.
== Silver half dime ==
The silver half disme (as the half dime, pronounced the same, was first called) was one of the denominations prescribed by the Mint Act of 1792; its weight and fineness were set by law. The first pieces under federal authority were half dimes, struck in 1792 in the cellar of John Harper, a saw maker; as the first federal mint was still under construction in Philadelphia, this took place locally at Sixth and Cherry Streets. The dies were engraved by Adam Eckfeldt, who a half-century later recalled that the silver for the half dimes was supplied by President George Washington, and that the 1,500 coins struck from the bullion were given to Washington's Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, for distribution to important people, both in the US and overseas. By legend, President Washington supplied silverware from his home, Mount Vernon, to provide bullion for the coins. In his annual message to Congress in late 1792, Washington noted the ongoing construction of a mint building and stated: "There has also been a small beginning in the coinage of half dimes, the want of small coins in circulation calling the first attention to them."
In 1793, the newly established Philadelphia Mint began striking cents and half cents. Coinage of precious metal was delayed; Congress required the assayer and chief coiner to each post a security bond of $10,000, a huge sum in 1793. In 1794, Congress lowered the chief coiner's bond to $5,000, and the assayer's to $1,000; President Washington's appointees to those positions were thus able to qualify and take office. Subsequently, silver coinage began that year.
The half dime was originally struck from 1794 until 1805, though none were dated 1798, 1799, or 1804. By 1804, silver US coins were heavily exported, as they could be exchanged at par in the West Indies with heavier Spanish coins, which were then imported as bullion and deposited at the Mint for melting and restriking. In response, in 1804 the US stopped striking silver dollars; issuance of the half dime was discontinued from 1805 until 1829. In 1807, mint Director Robert Patterson in a letter explained to Jefferson (by then president) "nearly the whole of our Silver Bullion (chiefly Spanish dollars) come through the Banks, and it is very seldom that they will consent to take any coin less than half dollars."
Beginning in 1829, the silver five-cent piece was again struck; beginning in 1837, its fineness was increased from .8924 to .900. Also in 1837, the half dime's obverse design changed from one by William Kneass, depicting a bust of Liberty, to one that featured a seated Liberty by Christian Gobrecht; until its abolition in 1873, the half dime would bear modifications of this design. In 1851, it ceased to be the smallest US silver coin as a three cent piece was issued by the Mint.
== Birth of the nickel ==
The Civil War caused most American coins to vanish from circulation, with the gap filled by such means as merchant tokens, encased postage stamps, and United States fractional currency, issued in denominations as low as three cents. Although specie (gold or silver coins) was hoarded or exported, the copper-nickel cent, then the only base metal denomination being struck, also vanished. In 1864, Congress began the process of restoring coins to circulation by abolishing the three-cent note and authorizing bronze cents and two-cent pieces, with low intrinsic values, to be struck. These new coins initially proved popular, though the two-cent piece soon faded from circulation. On March 3, 1865, Congress passed legislation authorizing the Mint to strike three-cent pieces of 75% copper and 25% nickel.
In 1864, Congress authorized a third series of fractional currency notes. The five-cent note was to bear a depiction of "Clark", but Congress was appalled when the issue came out not with a portrait of William Clark, the explorer, but Spencer M. Clark, head of the Currency Bureau. According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, Congress's "immediate infuriated response was to pass a law retiring the five-cent denomination, and another to forbid portrayal of any living person on federal coins or currency." Clark kept his job only because of the personal intervention of Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.
Mint Director James Pollock had been opposed to striking coins containing nickel, but in view of the initial success of the copper-nickel three-cent piece, he became an advocate of striking five-cent pieces in the same metals. In his 1865 report, Pollock wrote, "From this nickel alloy, a coin for the denomination of five cents, and which would be a popular substitute for the five cent note, could easily be made ... [The five-cent coin should be struck in base metal] only until the resumption of specie payments ... in time of peace ... coins of inferior alloy should not be permitted to take the place permanently of silver in the coinage of pieces above the denomination of three cents."
Industrialist Joseph Wharton had a near-monopoly on the mining of nickel in the United States, and sought to promote its use in coinage. He was also highly influential in Congress. His friends there, though they had failed to obtain the metal's use for the two-cent piece, had been more successful with the base-metal three-cent coin. Pollock prepared a bill authorizing a five-cent coin of the same alloy as the three-cent piece, with a total weight not to exceed 60 grains (3.9 g). At the committee stage in the House of Representatives, the weight was amended to 77.19 grains (5.00 g), ostensibly to make the weight equal to five grams in the metric system but more likely so that Wharton could sell more nickel. This made the new coin heavy, in terms of weight per $.01 of face value, compared to the three-cent copper-nickel coin. The bill passed without debate on May 16, 1866. The new copper-nickel coin was legal tender for up to one dollar and would be paid out by the Treasury in exchange for coin of the United States, excluding the half cent, cent and two-cent. It was redeemable in lots of $100 for banknotes. Fractional currency in denominations of less than ten cents was withdrawn.
== Shield nickel (1866–1883) ==
In anticipation of the approval of the new five-cent coin, the Mint's chief engraver, James B. Longacre, had begun preparing designs and pattern coins in 1865. After rejecting pieces showing deceased presidents George Washington (see Washington nickel) and Abraham Lincoln, Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch decided on a design similar to Longacre's two-cent piece, with a shield on the obverse and a numeral 5 surrounded by stars and rays on the reverse. This has come to be known as the Shield nickel.
The new coins proved difficult to produce; owing to the hardness of the planchet, the coins were not of high quality and the life of the striking dies was brief. The design was widely criticized; Wharton described the obverse as suggesting "a tombstone surmounted by a cross and overhung by weeping willows." The American Journal of Numismatics described the Shield nickel as "the ugliest of all known coins". The rays were eliminated from the reverse design in 1867, in the hope of eliminating some of the production problems. The design change created confusion among the population—many people assumed that one design or the other was a counterfeit—and the Mint briefly considered abandoning the shield design entirely. After heavy production in its first years, by late 1869, enough nickels had been struck to meet the needs of commerce; fewer were coined in the following years.
The new coins tended to accumulate in the hands of merchants beyond the legal tender limit, but banks refused to accept them beyond the one-dollar maximum. Storeowners were forced to discount the coins to brokers. Postmasters, compelled by law to accept the coins, found that the Treasury would not accept them as deposits except in lots of $100, in accordance with the authorizing statute. In 1871, Congress alleviated the problem by passing legislation allowing the Treasury to redeem unlimited quantities of nickels and other low-denomination coins when presented in lots of not less than $20. It was not until 1933, long after the shield design passed from the scene, that the nickel was made legal tender without limit.
Half dimes continued to be struck, at both the Philadelphia and the San Francisco Mint, until the series was ended by the Coinage Act of 1873. Despite the abolition, the silver pieces continued to circulate in the West, where silver or gold coins were preferred, throughout the remainder of the 19th century. Improved economic conditions, combined with low silver prices, brought large quantities of hoarded silver coinage, including half dimes, into circulation beginning in April 1876. In late 1876, production of the Shield nickel was halted. No Shield nickels were struck in 1877 or 1878, excepting proof specimens for collectors. As the Treasury had a large stock of nickels in storage, only small numbers were struck over the next few years; full-scale production did not resume until December 1881.
== Liberty Head or "V" nickel (1883–1913) ==
With production of nickels lagging in the late 1870s, and with minimal strikings of the copper-nickel three-cent piece, Wharton sought to increase the use of nickel at the Mint. The bronze cent represented a major portion of the Mint's production, and Wharton began to lobby for the piece to be struck in copper-nickel, as it had been from 1857 until 1864. In 1881, this lobbying led Philadelphia Mint Superintendent Archibald Loudon Snowden to order Mint Engraver Charles Barber to produce uniform designs for a new cent, three-cent piece, and five-cent piece. Snowden required that the new coins depict the head of Liberty with the legend LIBERTY and the date, with the nickel's reverse to have a wreath of wheat, cotton, and corn around a Roman numeral "V" for "5", to denote the denomination. Under the proposal, the nickel would retain its weight of 5 grams (0.18 oz), but its diameter would be increased to 22 millimetres (0.87 in).
Barber duly produced the required designs. Snowden eventually decided against a new cent or three-cent piece, but Barber continued work on the nickel, with the size adjusted to 21.21 millimetres (0.835 in). When specimens were sent to Washington for routine approval by Treasury Secretary Charles J. Folger, to Snowden's surprise, they were rejected. The secretary, on review of the coinage statutes, had realized that the laws required "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" to appear on the reverse, not the obverse where Barber had placed it. Barber modified his design accordingly, and the coin was ready for striking in early 1883. However, by then, Shield nickels dated 1883 had already been coined. To ensure proof Shield pieces would not be hoarded for their rarity, Mint officials allowed their continued production for several months.
Criminals soon realized that the new nickel, which lacked the word "CENTS", was close in size to the five-dollar gold piece, and if they were to plate the nickel with gold, it might be passed for five dollars. Some coins were even given a reeded edge by fraudsters, making them appear more like the gold coins. The Mint halted production of the new coins; production of Shield nickels continued. Barber was told to modify his work, which he did, moving other design elements to accommodate the word "CENTS" at the bottom of the reverse. The revised nickel was issued on June 26, 1883, the date on which production of the Shield nickel was finally stopped. The public promptly hoarded the "centless" nickels, believing the Treasury Department intended to recall them, and that they would become rare.
The Liberty Head nickel was heavily struck during its 30-year run, except during economic downturns in 1885–1886 and in 1894, when only small numbers were struck. In 1890, Congress ended production of the three-cent piece, leaving the five-cent coin as the only one in copper nickel. That year, Congress also allowed the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize the redesign of United States coins, if the former design had been struck for at least 25 years. Although the nickel and silver dollar had been redesigned within the previous quarter-century, a provision in the latter act made them eligible for immediate redesign. In 1896, pattern nickels were struck for the first time since 1885, when experimental, holed coins had been tested; however, no redesign took place.
=== Growth of the nickel in commerce ===
Coin-operated machines to vend food, for amusement, and for gambling became popular in the 1890s. Such machines could be placed on otherwise unused floor space in businesses, required little maintenance, and brought in money for owners. Beginning about 1898, coin-operated mechanical pianos also became popular. The Mills Novelty Company was a leading producer of such devices; by 1906 it was producing machines ranging from a mechanically played violin to fortune-telling devices. While some machines took cents or other denominations, the nickel was the coin of choice for these machines.
Among the innovations in business caused by the use of the nickel in coin-operated machines was the automat, in which patrons would serve themselves by inserting a coin (initially a nickel, though by the 1950s a higher denomination was needed) into a mechanism, turning a handle, and removing a sandwich or dessert. These restaurants were first established in Germany, but were popularized in the United States by, among other firms, Horn & Hardart. A type of business which took its name from the coin was the nickelodeon cinema, where a nickel bought admission to view a series of one-reel short films, generally about 12 minutes in length, which ran continuously from early afternoon until late at night, with the patron free to remain as long as he liked. Although another denomination gave the penny arcade its name, the nickel was commonly used there as well.
Few nickels had circulated in the western states before the 1880s (people there preferred silver and gold coins); interest in the new Liberty Head design had led to increasing use of nickels there. Good economic conditions and high demand for nickels for use in coin-operated devices caused the piece to circulate throughout the nation by 1900. That year, Mint Director George E. Roberts called on Congress to quintuple the Mint's appropriation to purchase base metals for striking into nickels and cents. At the time, statutory restrictions permitted production of cents and nickels only at Philadelphia; Roberts' request that Congress allow striking at the other mints was granted in 1906. The Denver and San Francisco Mints began striking nickels in 1912.
=== 1913 Liberty Head nickel rarity ===
The Liberty Head nickel was replaced after 1912, and initially there was no indication that 1913-dated pieces with that design existed. In December 1919, a coin dealer, Samuel W. Brown, placed advertisements in coin publications, offering to buy 1913 Liberty Head nickels. The following August, Brown appeared at the annual American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention bearing such a piece. Brown claimed that a master die had been prepared for 1913 and that these pieces had been run off to test it. As it turned out, Brown possessed five coins, which he eventually sold. After spending fifteen years in the hands of the eccentric Col. E.H.R. Green, the famous Fort Worth, Texas, area collector, the coins were finally dispersed in 1943. Since then, they have had several owners each. Today, two are on public display—at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and the ANA's Money Museum in Colorado Springs, while three are owned privately. The most recent sale of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel was in October 2022, when one sold for $4,200,000 in an auction.
It is uncertain how the 1913 nickels came to be made. The Mint's records show no production of 1913 Liberty head nickels, and none were authorized to be made. Dies were prepared in advance and sent to California for a 1913-S Liberty Head nickel coinage, but upon orders from Mint Director Roberts in December 1912 to end the old design, they were returned to Philadelphia. They were received by December 23, and were almost certainly destroyed routinely by early January. Brown had been an employee at the Philadelphia Mint (although this was not known until 1963) and many theories focus suspicion on him.
== Buffalo or Indian Head (1913–1938) ==
In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt expressed his dissatisfaction with the artistic state of American coins, and hoped to hire sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to beautify them. Saint-Gaudens, before his death in 1907, designed a new eagle and double eagle, which entered circulation that year; the cent, quarter eagle, and half eagle were redesigned by other artists and were released into circulation by 1909. That year, Mint Director Frank Leach instructed Barber to make pattern coins for new nickels. Most of these coins featured the first president, George Washington. However, the project was discontinued when Leach left office on November 1, 1909, to be replaced by Abram Andrew.
On May 4, 1911, Eames MacVeagh, son of Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh wrote to his father:
A little matter that seems to have been overlooked by all of you is the opportunity to beautify the design of the nickel or five cent piece during your administration, and it seems to me that it would be a permanent souvenir of a most attractive sort. As possibly you are aware, it is the only coin the design of which you can change during your administration, as I believe there is a law to the effect that the designs must not be changed oftener than every twenty-five years. I should think also it might be the coin of which the greatest numbers are in circulation.
Soon after the MacVeagh letter, Andrew announced that the Mint would solicit new designs for the nickel. Sculptor James Earle Fraser, who had been an assistant to Saint-Gaudens, approached the Mint, and rapidly produced concepts and designs. Mint Director George Roberts, who had returned to office in place of Andrew, initially favored a design featuring Lincoln, but Fraser soon developed a design featuring a Native American on one side and a bison on the other. Secretary MacVeagh wrote, "Tell him that of the three sketches which he submitted we would like to use the sketch of the head of the Indian and the sketch of the buffalo." In July 1912, news of the new nickel became public, and coin-operated machine manufacturers sought information. Clarence Hobbs of the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, maker of counterfeit detectors, feared the new nickel would not be passed by his devices. Hobbs demanded various changes to the design, to which the artist was reluctant to agree.
The Hobbs Company continued to interpose objections in 1913. On February 3, Hobbs sent Roberts a lengthy list of changes that he wanted in the coin, and the sculptor was required to attend a conference with Hobbs representatives. On the fifth, following the conference, which ended with no agreement, Fraser sent MacVeagh a ten-page letter, complaining that his time was being wasted by the Hobbs Company, and appealing to the Secretary to bring the situation to a close. Secretary MacVeagh agreed to hold a meeting at his office in Washington on February 14. Barber prepared patterns showing what the nickel would look like if the changes demanded by Hobbs were made. MacVeagh conducted the meeting much like a legal hearing, and issued a letter the following day. The secretary noted that no other firm had complained, that the Hobbs mechanism had not been widely sold, and that the changes demanded—a clear space around the rim and the flattening of the Native American's cheekbone—would affect the artistic merit of the piece. MacVeagh concluded, "You will please, therefore, proceed with the coinage of the new nickel."
The coins were officially released to circulation on March 4, 1913, and quickly gained positive comments for depicting truly American themes. However, The New York Times stated in an editorial that "The new 'nickel' is a striking example of what a coin intended for wide circulation should not be ...[it] is not pleasing to look at when new and shiny, and will be an abomination when old and dull." The Numismatist, in March and May 1913 editorials, gave the new coin a lukewarm review, suggesting that the Native American's head be reduced in size and the bison be eliminated from the reverse.
Dies for the new design proved to break quickly. Barber made proposed revisions, which Fraser approved after being sent samples. These changes enlarged the legend "FIVE CENTS" and changed the ground on which the bison stands from a hill to flat ground. According to data compiled by numismatic historian David Lange from the National Archives, the changes to what are known as Type II nickels (with the originals Type I) actually decreased the die life. A problem not addressed was the exposure of the date to wear; many Buffalo nickels today have the date worn away.
In January 1938, the Mint announced an open competition for a new nickel design, to feature early president Thomas Jefferson on the obverse, and Jefferson's home, Monticello on the reverse. The last Buffalo nickels were struck in April 1938 at the Denver Mint, the only mint to strike them that year.
=== Design and name ===
The identities of the models for the Native American on the obverse and for the bison on the reverse are not known with certainty. Fraser stressed that the Native American was a type, rather than based on a specific individual, and identified various Native Americans as models, not always consistently, including Iron Tail, (Oglala Lakota) Two Moons, (Northern Cheyenne) and Big Tree (of the Kiowa people). There have been other claimants, the most prominent being John Big Tree, a Seneca, who made many public appearances as the "nickel Indian" until his death in 1967. Fraser recounted that the animal on the reverse was an American bison, Black Diamond, whom he stated lived at the Bronx Zoo, and also described the model simply as a bison at the Bronx Zoo. However, Black Diamond was never at the Bronx Zoo, but instead lived at the Central Park Zoo (both facilities are in New York City) until the animal was sold and slaughtered in 1915. The placement of the horns on the still-extant mounted head of Black Diamond differs from that of the bison on the nickel.
From its inception, the coin was referred to as the "Buffalo nickel", reflecting the common name for the bison. The numismatic publication with the greatest circulation, Coin World, calls it an Indian head nickel, while R.S. Yeoman's Red Book refers to it as "Indian Head or Buffalo".
== Jefferson nickel (1938–present) ==
When the Buffalo nickel had been struck for 25 years and could be replaced without an act of Congress, the Mint moved quickly to replace it. Although the Fraser design is popular today among numismatists, it did not enjoy that status in 1938, and there was no public outcry at the decision. In January 1938, the Mint announced an open competition for the new nickel design, with the winner to receive a prize of $1,000, equal to $22,872 today. Anticipating the 1943 bicentennial of Jefferson's birth, competitors were to place his portrait on the obverse, and a depiction of his house Monticello on the reverse.
On April 24, Felix Schlag was announced as the winner. His design featured the portrayal of Jefferson which would be used on the nickel until 2004, closely conforming to the former president's bust by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, which is to be found in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. However, the model differs from the nickel that was struck for circulation because it featured a view of Monticello from an angle, and a style of lettering officials did not like; Schlag was required to change both. Either through a misunderstanding or an oversight, Schlag did not include his initials in the design; they would not be added until 1966. Production began on October 3, 1938; they were released into circulation on November 15. According to contemporary accounts, the Jefferson nickel was initially hoarded, and it was not until 1940 that it was commonly seen in circulation.
With the entry of the United States into World War II, nickel became a critical war material, and the Mint sought to reduce its use of the metal. On March 27, 1942, Congress authorized a nickel made of 50% copper and 50% silver, but gave the Mint the authority to vary the proportions, or add other metals, in the public interest. The Mint's greatest concern was in finding an alloy that would use no nickel, but still satisfy counterfeit detectors in vending machines. An alloy of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese proved suitable, and this alloy began to be coined into nickels from October 1942. In the hope of making them easy to sort out and withdraw after the war, the Mint struck all "war nickels" with a large mint mark appearing above Monticello. The mint mark P for Philadelphia was the first time that mint's mark had appeared on a U.S. coin. The pre-war composition returned in 1946; all nickels struck since then have been in 75% copper and 25% nickel.
In 1966, a small change was made to the design to add the initials of the designer (FS) to the obverse, underneath Jefferson's portrait. In commemoration of that change, two specimen 1966 nickels with the initials were struck and presented to him. Coins struck at any mint between 1965 and 1967 lack mint marks, which were omitted as the Mint replaced the silver circulating coins with copper-nickel. Beginning in 1968, mint marks were again used, and on the nickel were moved to the lower part of the obverse, to the right of Jefferson's bust. From 1971, no nickels were struck for circulation in San Francisco—the 1971-S was the first nickel struck in proof only since 1878.
=== Westward Journey commemoratives (2004–2005) ===
The Mint had struck circulating commemorative coins for the United States Bicentennial, giving quarters, half dollars, and dollars struck in 1975 and 1976 a dual date, "1776–1976". After Canada issued a successful series of quarters in 1992 honoring its provinces and territories, the Mint obtained congressional permission to issue a series of US quarters honoring American states; they began to be issued in 1999. In 2002, the Mint began to consider redesigning the nickel in honor of the upcoming bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) did not wish to see Monticello (located in his home state) moved permanently off the nickel. The resultant "American 5-Cent Coin Design Continuity Act of 2003", was signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 23, 2003. Under its terms, the Treasury Secretary could vary the nickel's designs in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Expedition and of the Louisiana Purchase, but the nickel would again feature Jefferson and Monticello beginning in 2006. Unless Congress acts again, every future five-cent coin will feature Jefferson and Monticello.
The Mint used Schlag's obverse in 2004, with two new reverse designs. Mint sculptor-engraver Norman E. Nemeth's adaptation of an Indian Peace Medal struck for Jefferson was the first new design, followed by a depiction by Mint sculptor-engraver Al Maletsky of a keelboat like that used by the Expedition. The 2005 obverse was struck during that year only, with a design by sculptor Joe Fitzgerald based on Houdon's bust of Jefferson. The legend "LIBERTY" on the obverse was traced from Jefferson's handwriting in drafting the Declaration of Independence; as the word is never capitalized in that document, Fitzgerald borrowed a capital L from Jefferson's other writings. The reverse for the first half of the year depicted an American bison, recalling the Buffalo nickel and designed by Jamie Franki. The reverse for the second half showed a coastline and the words "Ocean in view! O! The Joy!", from a journal entry by William Clark, co-leader of the Expedition. Clark had actually written the word as "ocian", but the Mint modernized the spelling.
Another Franki design has, since 2006, been used for the obverse, depicting a view of Jefferson from the front (rather than in profile) based on an 1800 study by Rembrandt Peale, and includes "Liberty" in Jefferson's script. According to Acting Mint Director David Lebryk, "The image of a forward-facing Jefferson is a fitting tribute to [his] vision." The reverse beginning in 2006 was again Schlag's Monticello design, but newly sharpened by Mint engravers. As Schlag's obverse design, on which his initials were placed in 1966, is no longer used, his initials were placed on the reverse to the right of Monticello.
=== Increase in metal values ===
In the first decade of the 21st century, commodity prices for copper and nickel, which make up the five-cent coin, rose dramatically, pushing the cost of manufacturing a nickel from 3.46 cents in fiscal year 2003 to 10.09 cents in fiscal year 2012. By comparison, a Canadian nickel (which is primarily made of steel) still costs less than its face value to produce as of 2019. In response, Mint Director Henrietta Fore in 2004 asked Congress to fund research into lower-cost alternatives to present coinage metals. Although the initiative lapsed when she left office in 2005, in 2010, Congress passed the Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act (CMOCA), directing the Mint to explore alternatives to the present compositions of the six denominations, from cent to dollar. In 2011, the Mint awarded a contract to study the issue to Concurrent Technologies Corporation of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The report in response to the legislation declared that there is no material that would reduce the one-cent coin's manufacturing cost to below one cent, so it was removed from consideration. The report requested additional time to study the issue, ensuring the continuation, for the present, of the existing coinage metals. The Mint expected demand for nickels in commerce to increase from 840 million needed in Fiscal Year 2011 to 1.08 billion in 2015.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to avoid losing large quantities of circulating nickels to melting, the United States Mint introduced new interim rules on December 14, 2006, that criminalized the melting and export of pennies (which as of 2013 cost 1.83 cents to produce) and nickels. Violators of these rules can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000, five years imprisonment, or both. The rules were finalized on April 17, 2007. The melt value of a nickel for some time was more than five cents, including nearing over one-and-a-half times its face value in May 2007. Since then, the supply and demand of the coin's composition metals have stabilized. A nickel's melt value fell below its face value from late 2008 through mid-2010, and more recently again from late mid-2012. In February 2014, it was reported that the Mint was conducting experiments to use copper-plated zinc (the same composition used for the United States 1 cent coin) for the nickel.
In December 2014, the Mint released its next Biennial report in response to the CMOCA. In it, the Mint declared that plated zinc products did not hold up to steam/wear tests and were rejected for U.S. coins other than the penny. Materials considered "feasible" for the 5-cent coin were nickel-plated steel, multi-ply-plated steel, and potentially another copper/nickel alloy, this time with ~77% copper, ~20% nickel, and ~3% manganese. Further testing was recommended to explore even less expensive alloys that would not require changes to vending machines (as the steel-based materials would require). In February 2023, the melt value of a nickel coin exceeded 135% of its face value.
== Proposals for abolition ==
Due to its low value, the inconvenience of carrying and counting, and the fact that it costs more to make than it is worth, various public figures have proposed eliminating the nickel along with the penny. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson | Michael Jackson | Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, his musical achievements broke American racial barriers and made him a dominant figure worldwide. Through his songs, concerts, and fashion, he proliferated visual performance for artists in popular music, popularizing street dance moves such as the moonwalk, the robot, and the anti-gravity lean. Jackson is often deemed the greatest entertainer of all time.
The eighth child of the Jackson family, Jackson made his public debut at age six as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, one of Motown's most successful acts. He rose to solo stardom with the album Off the Wall (1979) and achieved unprecedented global success with Thriller (1982), the best-selling album in history. Its short film-style music videos for "Thriller", "Beat It", and "Billie Jean" redefined the medium as an art form. Jackson followed it with Bad (1987), the first album to produce five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". His albums Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995) spawned the respective number-one songs "Black or White" and "You Are Not Alone". He then released his final album, Invincible (2001).
From the mid-1980s, Jackson came under public scrutiny due to changes in his appearance, relationships, behavior, and lifestyle. He was accused of sexually abusing the child of a family friend in 1993. In 2005, Jackson was tried and acquitted of further such allegations and other charges. In 2009, while preparing for This Is It, a series of comeback concerts, he died from an overdose of propofol administered by his personal physician Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011. Jackson's death triggered global reactions, creating unprecedented surges of internet traffic and a spike in his music sales. His televised memorial service, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, is estimated to have been viewed by more than 2.5 billion people.
Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 500 million records. He holds a joint-record for a male solo artist with 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and is the only artist to have a top-ten single in six decades. One of the most-awarded music artists in history, Jackson received 13 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Legend Award, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; 26 American Music Awards; 12 World Music Awards; 8 MTV Video Music Awards; 6 Brit Awards; and 3 presidential honors. He was inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Dance Hall of Fame. Having donated an estimated $500 million, Jackson is credited with setting a standard for celebrity charity. In 2024, half of his music catalogue was sold to Sony for $600 million, the largest music acquisition for a single artist.
== Life and career ==
=== Early life and the Jackson 5 (1958–1975) ===
Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958. He was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, a working-class African-American family living in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street. His mother, Katherine Jackson (née Scruse), played clarinet, cello, and piano, had aspired to be a country-and-western performer, and worked part-time at Sears. She was a Jehovah's Witness. His father, Joe Jackson, was a former boxer, crane operator at US Steel, and guitarist for local rhythm and blues band the Falcons. Michael grew up with three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet) and five brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy). A sixth brother, Marlon's twin Brandon, died shortly after his birth.
In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by their father which included Jackie, Tito and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. Michael said his father physically and emotionally abused him during rehearsals; he recalled that Joe often sat in a chair with a belt in his hand, ready to punish any mistakes. Joe acknowledged that he regularly whipped Michael. Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon denied that their father was abusive and said that the whippings, which had a deeper impact on Michael because he was younger, kept them disciplined and out of trouble. Michael said that during his youth he was lonely and isolated.
Later in 1965, Michael began sharing lead vocals with Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to the Jackson 5. In 1965, the group won a talent show; Michael performed the dance to Robert Parker's 1965 song "Barefootin'" and sang the Temptations' "My Girl". From 1966 to 1968, the Jacksons 5 toured the Midwest; they frequently played at a string of black clubs known as the Chitlin' Circuit as the opening act for artists such as Sam & Dave, the O'Jays, Gladys Knight and Etta James. The Jackson 5 also performed at clubs and cocktail lounges, where striptease shows were featured, and at local auditoriums and high school dances. In August 1967, while touring the East Coast, they won a weekly amateur night concert at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs for a Gary record label, Steeltown Records; their first single, "Big Boy", was released in 1968. Bobby Taylor of Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers brought the Jackson 5 to Motown after they opened for Taylor at Chicago's Regal Theater in 1968. Taylor produced some of their early Motown recordings, including a version of "Who's Lovin' You". After signing with Motown, the Jackson family relocated to Los Angeles. In 1969, Motown executives decided Diana Ross should introduce the Jackson 5 to the public—partly to bolster her career in television—sending off what was considered Motown's last product of its "production line". The Jackson 5 made their first television appearance in 1969 in the Miss Black America pageant, performing a cover of "It's Your Thing". Rolling Stone later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts" who "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer".
In January 1970, "I Want You Back" became the first Jackson 5 song to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100; it stayed there for four weeks. Three more singles with Motown topped the chart: "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There". In May 1971, the Jackson family moved into a large house at Hayvenhurst, a 2-acre (0.81 ha) estate in Encino, California. During this period, Michael developed from a child performer into a teen idol. Between 1972 and 1975, he released four solo studio albums with Motown: Got to Be There (1972), Ben (1972), Music & Me (1973) and Forever, Michael (1975). "Got to Be There" and "Ben", the title tracks from his first two solo albums, sold well as singles, as did a cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".
Michael maintained ties to the Jackson 5. The Jackson 5 were later described as "a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists". They were frustrated by Motown's refusal to allow them creative input. Jackson's performance of their top five single "Dancing Machine" on Soul Train popularized the robot dance.
=== Move to Epic and Off the Wall (1975–1981) ===
The Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975, signing with Epic Records and renaming themselves the Jacksons. Their younger brother Randy joined the band around this time; Jermaine stayed with Motown and pursued a solo career. The Jacksons continued to tour internationally, and released six more albums between 1976 and 1984. Michael, the group's main songwriter during this time, wrote songs such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1978), "This Place Hotel" (1980), and "Can You Feel It" (1980).
In 1977, Jackson moved to New York City to star as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, a musical film directed by Sidney Lumet, alongside Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross which was a box-office failure. The film's score was arranged by Quincy Jones, who later produced three of Jackson's solo albums. During his time in New York, Jackson frequented the Studio 54 nightclub, where he heard early hip-hop; this influenced his beatboxing on future tracks such as "Working Day and Night".
Jackson's fifth solo album and first album as an adult, Off the Wall (1979), established him as a solo performer and helped him move from the bubblegum pop of his youth to more complex sounds. It produced four top 10 entries in the US: "Off the Wall", "She's Out of My Life", and the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You". The album reached number three on the US Billboard 200 and sold over 20 million copies worldwide. He also won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for 1979 with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". At the American Music Awards during the 1980s, he won Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and two consecutive awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Album as well as Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist. In 1981, Jackson was the American Music Awards winner for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.
Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release. In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.
=== Thriller, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever and Pepsi incident (1981–1984) ===
From 1981 to 1983, Jackson recorded demos of "State of Shock", "Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This" with Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury planned for a duet album. The project was never completed; "State of Shock" was later recorded with Mick Jagger for the Jacksons' album Victory (1984), and "There Must Be More to Life Than This" was released posthumously in 2014. In 1982, Jackson contributed "Someone in the Dark" to the audiobook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Jackson's sixth studio album, titled Thriller, was released on November 29, 1982. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983; it eventually became the best-selling album of all time in the US and the best-selling album in history worldwide, selling an estimated 70 million copies. It topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to produce seven Billboard Hot 100 top-10 singles, including the number-one songs "Billie Jean" and "Beat It".
On March 25, 1983, Jackson reunited with his brothers for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, an NBC television special. The show aired on May 16 to an estimated audience of 47 million, and featured the Jacksons and other Motown stars. Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean" earned him his first Emmy Award nomination. Wearing a glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his moonwalk dance, which Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years earlier, and it became his signature dance in his repertoire. Jackson had originally turned down the invitation to the show, believing he had been doing too much television. At the request of Motown founder Berry Gordy, he performed in exchange for an opportunity to do a solo performance. His performance was heavily praised: Rolling Stone's Mikal Gilmore called the performance "extraordinary"; Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times praised the perfect timing and technique involved in the dance; and Gordy was "mesmerized" by the performance.
At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, Jackson received 12 nominations, the most in a single night (later tied with Babyface), and won 8 awards, breaking the record for most wins in a single night (later tied by Santana). Thriller received 13 nominations, the most for any album, and won 8 awards, including Best Engineered Recording (Non-Classical) for Bruce Swedien's work. Jackson won seven awards related to the album, including Album of the Year for Thriller and Record of the Year for "Beat It", and also won an award for the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook. At the 11th Annual American Music Awards, Jackson won another eight awards and became the youngest artist to win the Award of Merit. He also won Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Artist, and Favorite Pop/Rock Artist. "Beat It" won Favorite Soul/R&B Video, Favorite Pop/Rock Video and Favorite Pop/Rock Single. The album won Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. Thriller's sales doubled after the release of an extended music video for its title track, which sees Jackson dancing with a horde of zombies.
The success transformed Jackson into a dominant force in global pop culture, and the album "conquered racial divides". He had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point, with about $2 for every album sold (equivalent to $6 in 2025), and was making record-breaking profits. In the same year, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, a documentary about the music video, won a Grammy for Best Music Video (Longform). Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too." The New York Times wrote "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".
In November 1983, Jackson and his brothers partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal that broke records for a celebrity endorsement (equivalent to $16.2 million in 2025). The first Pepsi campaign, which ran in the US from 1983 to 1984 and launched its "New Generation" theme, included tour sponsorship, public relations events, and in-store displays. Jackson helped to create the advertisement, and suggested using his song "Billie Jean", with revised lyrics, as its jingle.
On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi commercial overseen by Phil Dusenberry, a BBDO ad agency executive, and Alan Pottasch, Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. During a simulated concert before a full house of fans, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire, causing second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson underwent treatment to hide the scars and had his third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter. Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated the $1.5 million (equivalent to $4.6 million in 2025) settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California; its now-closed Michael Jackson Burn Center was named in his honor. Jackson signed a second agreement with Pepsi in the late 1980s for $10 million (equivalent to $28.3 million in 2025). The second campaign covered 20 countries and provided financial support for Jackson's Bad album and 1987–1988 world tour. Jackson had endorsements and advertising deals with other companies, such as LA Gear, Suzuki, and Sony, but none were as significant as his deals with Pepsi.
The Victory Tour of 1984 headlined the Jacksons and showcased Jackson's new solo material to more than two million Americans. It was the last tour he did with his brothers. Following controversy over the concert's ticket sales, Jackson donated his share of the proceeds, an estimated $3 to 5 million, to charity. During the last concert of the Victory Tour at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Jackson announced his split from the Jacksons during "Shake Your Body".
=== "We Are the World" and other commercial activities (1985) ===
With Lionel Richie, Jackson co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" (1985), which raised money for the poor in the US and Africa. It earned $63 million (equivalent to $189 million in 2025), and became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with 20 million copies sold. It won four Grammy Awards in 1985, including Song of the Year for Jackson and Richie. Jackson, Jones, and the promoter Ken Kragen received special awards for their roles in the song's creation.
Jackson collaborated with Paul McCartney in the early 1980s, and learned that McCartney was making $40 million a year from owning the rights to other artists' songs. By 1983, Jackson had begun buying publishing rights to others' songs, but he was careful with his acquisitions, only bidding on a few of the dozens that were offered to him. Jackson's early acquisitions of music catalogs and song copyrights such as the Sly Stone collection included "Everyday People" (1968), Len Barry's "1-2-3" (1965), and Dion DiMucci's "The Wanderer" (1961) and "Runaround Sue" (1961). In 1984, Robert Holmes à Court announced he was selling the ATV Music Publishing catalog comprising the publishing rights to nearly 4,000 songs, including most of the Beatles' material. In 1981, McCartney had been offered the catalog for £20 million ($40 million) (equivalent to $142 million in 2025). Jackson submitted a bid of $46 million (equivalent to $143 million in 2025) on November 20, 1984. When Jackson and McCartney were unable to make a joint purchase, McCartney did not want to be the sole owner of the Beatles' songs, and did not pursue an offer on his own. Jackson's agents were unable to come to a deal, and in May 1985 left talks after having spent more than $1 million and four months of due diligence work on the negotiations.
In June 1985, Jackson and Branca learned that Charles Koppelman's and Martin Bandier's The Entertainment Company had made a tentative offer to buy ATV Music for $50 million; in early August, Holmes à Court contacted Jackson and talks resumed. Jackson's increased bid of $47.5 million (equivalent to $142 million in 2025) was accepted because he could close the deal more quickly, having already completed due diligence. Jackson agreed to visit Holmes à Court in Australia, where he would appear on the Channel Seven Perth Telethon. His purchase of ATV Music was finalized on August 10, 1985.
=== Increased tabloid speculation (1986–1987) ===
Jackson's skin had been medium-brown during his youth, but from the mid-1980s gradually grew paler. The change drew widespread media coverage, including speculation that he had been bleaching his skin. His dermatologist, Arnold Klein, said he observed in 1983 that Jackson had vitiligo, a condition characterized by patches of the skin losing their pigment. He also identified discoid lupus erythematosus in Jackson. He diagnosed Jackson with lupus that year, and with vitiligo in 1986. Vitiligo's drastic effects on the body can cause psychological distress. Jackson used fair-colored makeup, and possibly skin-bleaching prescription creams, to cover up the uneven blotches of color caused by the illness. The creams would depigment the blotches, and, with the application of makeup, he could appear very pale. Jackson said he had not purposely bleached his skin and could not control his vitiligo, adding, "When people make up stories that I don't want to be who I am, it hurts me." He became friends with Klein and Klein's assistant, Debbie Rowe. Rowe later became Jackson's second wife and the mother of his first two children.
In his 1988 autobiography and a 1993 interview, Jackson said he had had two rhinoplasty surgeries and a cleft chin surgery but no more than that. He said he lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet to achieve a dancer's body. Witnesses reported that he was often dizzy, and speculated he was suffering from anorexia nervosa. Periods of weight loss became a recurring problem later in his life. After his death, Jackson's mother said that he first turned to cosmetic procedures to remedy his vitiligo, because he did not want to look like a "spotted cow". She said he had received more than the two cosmetic surgeries he claimed and speculated that he had become addicted to them.
In 1986, it was reported that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow aging. He denied the story, although it was alleged that Jackson leaked an image of him sleeping in a glass chamber (according to Jackson, this was a promotional shot from an upcoming space opera featuring himself) to The National Enquirer. It was also reported that Jackson took female hormone shots to keep his voice high and facial hair wispy, proposed to Elizabeth Taylor and possibly had a shrine of her, and had cosmetic surgery on his eyes. Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo denied all of them, except for Jackson having a chamber. DiLeo added "I don't know if he sleeps in it. I'm not for it. But Michael thinks it's something that's probably healthy for him. He's a bit of a health fanatic."
When Jackson took his pet chimpanzee Bubbles to tour in Japan, the media portrayed Jackson as an aspiring Disney cartoon character who befriended animals. It was also reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick (the "Elephant Man"). In June 1987, the Chicago Tribune reported Jackson's publicist bidding $1 million for the skeleton to the London Hospital Medical College on his behalf. The college maintained the skeleton was not for sale. DiLeo said Jackson had an "absorbing interest" in Merrick, "purely based on his awareness of the ethical, medical and historical significance".
Jackson worked with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on a 17-minute $30 million 3D film, Captain EO, which ran from 1986 at Disneyland and Epcot, and later at Tokyo Disneyland and Euro Disneyland. After having been removed in the late 1990s, it returned to the theme park for several years after Jackson's death. As a Jehovah's Witness, Jackson would evangelize door-to-door while donning a disguise.
In 1987, Ebony reported that Jackson had disassociated himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Katherine Jackson said this might have been because some Witnesses strongly opposed the Thriller video, which Michael denounced in a Witness publication in 1984. While former members are usually shunned by their families, Jackson's mother kept in contact with him. In 2001, Jackson told an interviewer he was still a Jehovah's Witness.
=== Bad, autobiography and Neverland (1987–1990) ===
Following high anticipation, Jackson released his seventh studio album, titled Bad, on August 31, 1987. Bad sold over 2.25 million copies in its first week in the US, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200; it remained atop the chart for six weeks. It became the first album to produce five US number-one singles: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". Another single, "Smooth Criminal", peaked at number seven.
Bad won the 1988 Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone". Jackson won an Award of Achievement at the American Music Awards in 1989 after Bad generated five number-one singles, became the first album to top the charts in 25 countries and the best-selling album worldwide in 1987 and 1988. The Bad tour ran from September 12, 1987, to January 27, 1989. In Japan, it had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record for a single tour. The 504,000 people who attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium set a new Guinness World Record. Bad cemented Jackson's status as a dominant music force; the album has sold over 35 million copies worldwide, which ranks it amongst the best-selling albums of all time.
In 1988, Jackson released his autobiography, Moonwalk, with input from Stephen Davis and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It sold 200,000 copies, and reached the top of The New York Times Best Seller list. Jackson discussed his childhood, the Jackson 5, and the abuse from his father. He attributed his changing facial appearance to three plastic surgeries, puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hairstyle, and stage lighting. In June, Jackson was honored with the Grand Vermeil Medal of the City of Paris by the then Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac during his stay in the city as part of the Bad tour. On July 20, he became the first commoner in history to enter London's Guildhall through the building's Royal Entrance. In October, Jackson released a film, Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short films starring Jackson and Joe Pesci. In the US it was released direct-to-video and became the best-selling video cassette in the country. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it as eight times Platinum in the US.
In March 1988, Jackson purchased 2,700 acres (11 km2) of land near Santa Ynez, California, to build a new home, Neverland Ranch, at a cost of $17 million (equivalent to $46 million in 2025). He installed a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a movie theater and a zoo. A security staff of 40 patrolled the grounds. Shortly afterwards, he appeared in the first Western television advertisement in the Soviet Union. Around this time, Jackson became known as the "King of Pop", a nickname that his publicists embraced. When Elizabeth Taylor presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, she called him "the true king of pop, rock and soul". President George H. W. Bush designated him the White House's "Artist of the Decade". At the 38th BMI Awards in 1990, Jackson was the first person to be honored with an award named after its recipient. From 1985 to 1990, Jackson donated $455,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity. His rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration won Jackson a second Emmy nomination. Jackson was the best-selling artist of the 1980s.
=== Dangerous and public social work (1991–1993) ===
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million (equivalent to $154 million in 2025), a record-breaking deal at the time. He released his eighth studio album, Dangerous, on November 21, 1991, co-produced with Teddy Riley. It was certified eight times platinum in the US, and by 2018 had sold 32 million copies worldwide. In the US, the first single, "Black or White", was the album's highest-charting song; it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and achieved similar chart performances worldwide. The second single, "Remember the Time" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. At the end of 1992, Dangerous was the best-selling album of the year worldwide and "Black or White" the best-selling single of the year worldwide at the Billboard Music Awards. In 1993, he performed "Remember the Time" at the Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying he twisted his ankle during dance rehearsals. In the UK, "Heal the World" made No. 2 on the charts in 1992.
Jackson founded Heal the World Foundation in 1992. The charity brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to use the theme park rides, and sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war, poverty, and disease. That July, Jackson published his second book, Dancing the Dream, a collection of poetry. In support of Dangerous, Jackson embarked on his second world tour, the Dangerous World Tour, to raise money for his Heal the World Foundation. The tour ran from June 1992 to November 1993, grossing $100 million (equivalent to $220 million in 2025) from 69 concerts outside the US, attracting over 3.5 million people. Jackson sold the broadcast rights for his October 1, 1992, concert in Bucharest to HBO for $20 million (equivalent to $46 million in 2025), then the highest fee ever paid for a concert performer to appear on television. He donated a portion of the fee to aid Romanian children.
Following the death of HIV/AIDS spokesperson and friend Ryan White, Jackson pleaded with the Clinton administration at Bill Clinton's inaugural gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research and performed "Gone Too Soon", a song dedicated to White, and "Heal the World" at the gala. Jackson visited Africa in early 1992; on his first stop in Gabon he was greeted by more than 100,000 people, some of them carrying signs that read "Welcome Home Michael", and was awarded an Officer of the National Order of Merit from President Omar Bongo. During his trip to Ivory Coast, Jackson drew larger crowds than Pope John Paul II on his previous visits. He was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief in the Ivorian village of Krindjabo, where he thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed documents formalizing his kingship, and sat on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.
In January 1993, Jackson performed at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in Pasadena, California. The National Football League (NFL) sought a big-name artist to keep ratings high during halftime following dwindling audience figures. With 133.4 million viewers, it was the first Super Bowl whose halftime show drew greater audience figures than the game. Jackson played "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White", and "Heal the World". Dangerous rose 90 places in the US albums chart after the performance.
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey on February 10, 1993. He spoke of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood, and said that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or bleached his skin, and stated for the first time that he had vitiligo. After the interview, Dangerous re-entered the US albums chart in the top 10, more than a year after its release. The interview became the most-watched television interview in US history to date, with more than 90 million viewers.
In January 1993, Jackson won three American Music Awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Dangerous), Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Remember the Time"), and was the first to win the International Artist Award of Excellence. In February, he won the "Living Legend Award" at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. He attended the award ceremony with Brooke Shields. Dangerous was nominated for Best Vocal Performance (for "Black or White"), Best R&B Vocal Performance ("Jam") and Best R&B Song ("Jam"), and Bruce Swedien and Teddy Riley won the Grammy for Best Engineered – Non Classical. In the decades since, Dangerous has been lauded as arguably Jackson's greatest artistic achievement.
=== First child sexual abuse accusations and first marriage (1993–1995) ===
In the second half of 1993, Jackson experienced significant controversy on allegations that he was sexually abusing 13-year-old Jordan Chandler, whom he met that year. On July 8, Jordan's father, Evan Chandler, was recorded threatening to ruin Jackson's career with a "carefully planned plot." The following day, Jackson's investigator, Anthony Pellicano, met Jordan, who denied any abuse or inappropriate touching by Jackson. After a letter from pshychiatrist Dr. Mathis Abrams that states sexual abuse may have occurred, Chandler allegedly received a confession from his son Jordan, and demanded $20 million from Jackson on August 4, 1993, before the latter declined. From August 9–13, 1993, Evan Chandler and his legal team made various counter-offers to secure a settlement from Jackson, escalating their financial demands after his refusal to pay the initial $20 million, with Evan later filing a lawsuit in September demanding $30 million for alleged damages. Jackson denied all of these, prompting Chandler to go public with the claims of child molestation.
Prosecutors raided Neverland Ranch and other places of residency while Jackson was on tour in August, with no child pornography or other incriminating evidence found. In December 1993, Prosecutor Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. filed a court order to conduct a strip search of Jackson, based on a drawing provided by the accuser and submitted to authorities. According to Reuters and USA Today, the description of Jackson's genitalia did not match the photographs taken during the police investigation. The grand jury subsequently subpoenaed Jackson's mother, reportedly to assess whether there were any physical alterations compared to the description. In November 1993, Jackson requested that the civil trial be postponed until after the criminal hearing was completed due to a violation of his civil rights, under the circumstances of having to defend himself under double jeopardy. This motion was denied and in January 1994, the civil lawsuit was settled for $15,331,250, with separate payments of $1.5 million for Evan and June Chandler coming out to a total of $18.3 million allocated to the Chandler family, lower than the initial demand of $20–30 million requested by Evan. The document shows that the Chandlers dropped the child molestation allegations from their complaint with Jackson's settlement being filed over claims of negligence. It was later revealed that this settlement did not prevent the Chandlers from testifying in the criminal case. The police never pressed criminal charges. The prosecution continued to investigate Jackson from January to June 1994 with Jordan Chandler continuing to co-operate with investigators. By July 1994 multiple grand juries had been called; jurors remarked that no damaging evidence was heard against Jackson. On September 21, 1994, after 400 witnesses had been investigated with another 30 called in front of the grand juries, the investigation was closed. A few potential leads had been found but all of them turned out to be false.
Jackson had been taking painkillers for his reconstructive scalp surgeries, administered due to the Pepsi commercial accident in 1984, and became dependent on them to cope with the stress of the sexual abuse allegations. On November 12, 1993, Jackson canceled the remainder of the Dangerous World Tour due to health problems, stress from the allegations and painkiller addiction. He thanked his close friend Elizabeth Taylor for support, encouragement and counsel. The end of the tour concluded his sponsorship deal with Pepsi.
In late 1993, Jackson proposed to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, over the phone. They were married in La Vega, Dominican Republic, in May 1994 by civil judge Hugo Francisco Álvarez Pérez. The tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a publicity stunt to deflect away from Jackson's sexual abuse allegations and jump-start Presley's career as a singer. Their marriage ended little more than a year later, and they separated in December 1995. Presley cited "irreconcilable differences" when filing for divorce the next month and only sought to reclaim her maiden name as her settlement. She later mentioned they had attempted to reconcile intermittently for four years following their divorce, and traveling the world to be with him.
Jackson composed music for the Sega Genesis video game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994), but left the project around the time the sexual abuse allegations surfaced and went uncredited. Jackson's involvement was the subject of fan speculation for decades until Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka confirmed it in 2022. Sega Technical Institute director Roger Hector and Sonic co-creator Naoto Ohshima said that Jackson was terminated and his music reworked following the allegations. However, Jackson's musical director Brad Buxer and other members of Jackson's team said he went uncredited because he was unhappy with how the Genesis replicated his music. The game's credits theme served as the basis for Jackson's 1996 song "Stranger in Moscow".
=== HIStory, second marriage, fatherhood and Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1995–1997) ===
In June 1995, Jackson released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The first disc, HIStory Begins, is a greatest hits album (reissued in 2001 as Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I). The second disc, HIStory Continues, contains 13 original songs and two cover versions. The album debuted at number one on the charts and has been certified for eight million shipments in the US. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide. HIStory received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. The New York Times reviewed it as "the testimony of a musician whose self-pity now equals his talent".
The first single from HIStory was "Scream/Childhood". "Scream", a duet with Jackson's youngest sister Janet, protests the media's treatment of Jackson during the 1993 child abuse allegations against him. The single reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals". The second single, "You Are Not Alone", holds the Guinness world record for the first song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance" in 1995.
In 1995 the Anti-Defamation League and other groups complained that "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me", the original lyrics of "They Don't Care About Us", were antisemitic. Jackson released a revised version of the song. In late 1995, Jackson was admitted to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised performance, caused by a stress-related panic attack. In November, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's music publishing division, creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. He retained ownership of half the company, earning $95 million up front (equivalent to $201 million in 2025) as well as the rights to more songs.
"Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995. It became the 87th-best-selling single in the UK. At the 1996 Brit Awards, Jackson's performance of "Earth Song" was disrupted by Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker, who was protesting what Cocker saw as Jackson's "Christ-like" persona. Jackson said the stage invasion was "disgusting and cowardly".
In 1996, Jackson won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form, for "Scream" and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. In July 1996, Jackson performed for Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's fiftieth birthday at Jerudong Park Amphitheater, which was specifically built for that birthday concert. Jackson was reportedly paid $17 million (equivalent to $35 million in 2025). Jackson promoted HIStory with the HIStory World Tour, from September 7, 1996, to October 15, 1997. He performed 82 concerts in five continents, 35 countries and 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, his most attended tour. It grossed $165 million (equivalent to $331 million in 2025). During the tour, in Sydney, Australia, Jackson married Debbie Rowe, a dermatology assistant, who was six months pregnant with his first child.
Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (commonly known as Prince) was born on February 13, 1997. His sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born on April 3, 1998. Jackson and Rowe divorced in 2000, Rowe conceded custody of the children, with an $8.5 million settlement (equivalent to $15.9 million in 2025). In 2004, after the second child abuse allegations against Jackson, she returned to court to reclaim custody. The suit was settled in 2006.
In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of singles from HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies, making it the best-selling remix album. It reached number one in the UK, as did the single "Blood on the Dance Floor". In the US, the album reached number 24 and was certified platinum.
=== Label dispute and Invincible (1997–2002) ===
From October 1997 to September 2001, Jackson worked on his tenth solo album, Invincible, which cost $30 million (equivalent to $54.5 million in 2025) to record, making it the most expensive album of all time. In June 1999, Jackson joined Luciano Pavarotti for a War Child benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show raised a million dollars for refugees of the Kosovo War, and additional funds for the children of Guatemala. Later that month, Jackson organized a series of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana, Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Red Cross and UNESCO. In 1999, Jackson was presented with the "Outstanding Humanitarian Award" at Bollywood Movie Awards in New York City where he noted Mahatma Gandhi to have been an inspiration for him. From August 1999 to 2000, he lived in New York City at 4 East 74th Street. At the turn of the century, Jackson was awarded with the Artist of the 1980s Decade Award at the 27th American Music Awards, and the Best Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium Award at the 12th World Music Awards. In 2000, Guinness World Records recognized him for supporting 39 charities, more than any other entertainer.
In September 2001, two concerts were held at Madison Square Garden to mark Jackson's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson performed with his brothers for the first time since 1984. The show also featured Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, Destiny's Child, Monica, Liza Minnelli and Slash. The first show was marred by technical lapses, and the crowd booed a speech by Marlon Brando. 45 million people watched the television broadcast of the shows in November according to Nielsen Media Research. After the September 11 attacks (in which Jackson narrowly avoided death by oversleeping and missing a scheduled meeting at the World Trade Center), Jackson helped organize the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., on October 21, 2001. Jackson performed "What More Can I Give" as the finale.
The release of Invincible was preceded by a dispute between Jackson and his record label, Sony Music Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him in the early 2000s, after which he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and keep the profits, but clauses in the contract set the revert date years into the future. Jackson sought an early exit from his contract. Invincible was released on October 30, 2001. It was Jackson's first full-length album in six years, and the last album of original material he released in his lifetime. It debuted at number one in 13 countries, and went on to sell eight million copies worldwide, receiving double-platinum certification in the US.
On January 9, 2002, Jackson won his 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century. Later that year, an anonymous surrogate mother gave birth to his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket"), who had been conceived by artificial insemination. On November 20, Jackson briefly held Blanket over the railing of his Berlin hotel room, four stories above ground level, prompting widespread criticism in the media. Jackson apologized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake". On January 22, promoter Marcel Avram filed a breach of contract complaint against Jackson for failing to perform two planned 1999 concerts. In March, a Santa Maria jury ordered Jackson to pay Avram $5.3 million (equivalent to $9.5 million in 2025). On December 18, 2003, Jackson's attorneys dropped all appeals on the verdict and settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.
On April 24, 2002, Jackson performed at Apollo Theater. The concert was a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee and former President Bill Clinton. The money collected would be used to encourage citizens to vote. It raised $2.5 million (equivalent to $3.9 million in 2025). The concert was called Michael Jackson: Live at the Apollo and was one of Jackson's final on-stage performances.
In July 2002, at Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem, Jackson called the Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola "a racist, and very, very, very devilish", and accused him of exploiting black artists for his own gain. The accusation prompted Sharpton to form a coalition investigating whether Mottola exploited black artists. Jackson charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger". Sony issued a statement calling the accusations "ludicrous, spiteful, and hurtful" and said Mottola had championed Jackson's career for years. Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract and said that a $25 million (equivalent to $44.8 million in 2025) promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the US for Invincible.
=== Documentary, Number Ones, second child abuse allegations and acquittal (2002–2005) ===
Beginning in May 2002, a documentary film crew led by Martin Bashir followed Jackson for several months. The documentary, broadcast in February 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, showed Jackson holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with a twelve-year-old boy. He discussed seeing nothing wrong with having sleepovers with minors and sharing his bed and bedroom with various people, which aroused controversy. He insisted that the sleepovers were not sexual and that his words had been misunderstood.
In October 2003, Jackson received the Key to the City of Las Vegas from Mayor Oscar Goodman. On November 18, 2003, Sony released Number Ones, a greatest hits album. It was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, and ten times platinum in the UK, for shipments of at least 3 million units.
On December 18, 2003, Santa Barbara authorities charged Jackson with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of intoxicating a minor with alcoholic drinks. Jackson denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. The People v. Jackson trial began on January 31, 2005, in Santa Maria, California, and lasted until the end of May. Jackson found the experience stressful and it affected his health. If convicted, he would have faced up to twenty years in prison. On June 13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted on all counts. FBI files on Jackson, released in 2009, revealed the FBI's role in the 2005 trial and the 1993 allegations, and showed that the FBI found no evidence of criminal conduct on Jackson's behalf.
=== Final years, financial problems, Thriller 25 and This Is It (2005–2009) ===
After the trial, Jackson became reclusive. In June 2005, he moved to Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah. In early 2006, it was announced that Jackson had signed a contract with a Bahrain startup, Two Seas Records. Nothing came of the deal, and the Two Seas CEO, Guy Holmes, later said it was never finalized. Holmes also found that Jackson was on the verge of bankruptcy and was involved in 47 ongoing lawsuits. By September 2006, Jackson was no longer affiliated with Two Seas.
In April 2006, Jackson agreed to use a piece of his ATV catalog stake, then worth about $1 billion, as collateral against his $270 million worth of loans from Bank of America. Bank of America had sold the loans to Fortress Investments, an investment company that buys distressed loans, the year before. As part of the agreement, Fortress Investments provided Jackson a new loan of $300 million with reduced interest payments (equivalent to $480 million in 2025). Sony Music would have the option to buy half of his stake, or about 25% of the catalog, at a set price. Jackson's financial managers had urged him to shed part of his stake to avoid bankruptcy. The main house at Neverland Ranch was closed as a cost-cutting measure, while Jackson lived in Bahrain at the hospitality of Abdullah. At least thirty of Jackson's employees had not been paid on time and were owed $306,000 in back wages. Jackson was ordered to pay $100,000 in penalties. Jackson never returned to Neverland after his acquittal.
In mid-2006, Jackson moved to Grouse Lodge, a residential recording studio near Rosemount, County Westmeath, Ireland, where he began work on a new album with the American producers will.i.am and Rodney Jenkins. That November, Jackson invited an Access Hollywood camera crew into the studio in Westmeath. On November 15, Jackson briefly joined a performance of "We Are the World" at the World Music Awards in London, his last public performance, and accepted the Diamond Award for sales of 100 million records. He returned to the US in December, settling in Las Vegas. That month, he attended James Brown's funeral in Augusta, Georgia, where he gave a eulogy calling Brown his greatest inspiration.
In 2007, Jackson and Sony bought another music publishing company, Famous Music LLC, formerly owned by Viacom. The deal gave Jackson the rights to songs by Eminem and Beck, among others. In a brief interview, Jackson said he had no regrets about his career despite the "deliberate attempts to hurt me". That March, Jackson visited a US Army post in Japan, Camp Zama, to greet more than 3,000 troops and their families. As of September, Jackson was still working on his next album, which he never completed.
In 2008, for the 25th anniversary of Thriller, Jackson and Sony released Thriller 25, with two remixes released as singles: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008". For Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of greatest hits albums, King of Pop, with different tracklists for different regions. That July, Fortress Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which he had used as collateral for his loans. Fortress sold Jackson's debts to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. The deal earned him $35 million. In 2009, Jackson arranged to sell a collection of his memorabilia of more than 1,000 items through Julien's Auction House, but canceled the auction in April.
In March 2009, amid speculation about his finances and health, Jackson announced a series of comeback concerts, This Is It, at a press conference at the O2 Arena. The shows were to be his first major concerts since the HIStory World Tour in 1997. Jackson suggested he would retire after the shows. The initial plan was for ten concerts in London, followed by shows in Paris, New York City and Mumbai. Randy Phillips, the president and chief executive of AEG Live, predicted the first ten dates would earn Jackson £50 million.
The London residency was increased to fifty dates after record-breaking ticket sales; more than one million were sold in less than two hours. The concerts were to run from July 13, 2009, to March 6, 2010. Jackson moved to Los Angeles, where he rehearsed in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of the choreographer Kenny Ortega, whom he had worked with during his previous tours. Rehearsals took place at the Forum and the Staples Center owned by AEG. By this point, Jackson's debt had grown to almost $500 million. By the time of his death, he was three or four months behind payments on his home in San Fernando Valley. The Independent reported that Jackson planned a string of further ventures designed to recoup his debts, including a world tour, a new album, films, a museum and a casino.
== Death ==
On June 25, 2009, less than three weeks before his concert residency was due to begin in London, with all concerts sold out, Jackson died from cardiac arrest, caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose. Conrad Murray, his personal physician, had given Jackson various medications to help him sleep at his rented mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Paramedics received a 911 call at 12:21 pm Pacific time (19:21 UTC) and arrived at the property four minutes later. Jackson was not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts continued en route to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after Jackson's arrival, but were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm Pacific time (21:26 UTC). Murray had administered propofol, lorazepam, and midazolam; Jackson's death was caused by a propofol overdose.
News of his death spread quickly online, causing websites to slow down and crash from user overload, and it put unprecedented strain on many services and websites including Google, AOL Instant Messenger, Twitter and Wikipedia. Overall, web traffic rose by between 11% and 20%. MTV and BET aired marathons of Jackson's music videos, and Jackson specials aired on television stations around the world. MTV briefly returned to its original music video format, and they aired hours of Jackson's music videos, with live news specials featuring reactions from MTV personalities and other celebrities. US President Barack Obama sent a letter of condolence to the Jackson family, and the House of Representatives observed a moment of silence.
=== Memorial service ===
Jackson's memorial was held on July 7, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Over 1.6 million fans applied for tickets to the memorial; the 8,750 recipients were drawn at random, and each received two tickets. The memorial service was one of the most watched events in streaming history, with an estimated US audience of 31.1 million and a worldwide audience of an estimated 2.5 to 3 billion.
Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Hudson, and Shaheen Jafargholi performed at the memorial, and Smokey Robinson and Queen Latifah gave eulogies. Al Sharpton received a standing ovation with cheers when he told Jackson's children: "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway." Jackson's 11-year-old daughter Paris Katherine, speaking publicly for the first time, wept as she addressed the crowd. Lucious Smith provided a closing prayer. On September 3, 2009, the body of Jackson was entombed at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
=== Criminal investigation and prosecution of Conrad Murray ===
In August 2009, the Los Angeles County Coroner ruled that Jackson's death was a homicide. Law enforcement officials charged Murray with involuntary manslaughter on February 8, 2010. In late 2011, he was found guilty of said charge and held without bail to await sentencing. Murray was sentenced to four years in prison, but was released after one year and eleven months.
=== Posthumous sales ===
At the 2009 American Music Awards, Jackson won four posthumous awards, including two for his compilation album Number Ones, bringing his total American Music Awards to 26. In the year after his death, more than 16.1 million copies of Jackson's albums were sold in the US alone, and 35 million copies were sold worldwide, more than any other artist in 2009. He became the first artist to sell one million music downloads in a week, with 2.6 million song downloads. Thriller, Number Ones and The Essential Michael Jackson became the first catalog albums to outsell any new album. Jackson also became the first artist to have four of the top-20 best-selling albums in a single year in the US. Within the year following his death, Jackson sold over 75 million records worldwide. By the end of 2013, Jackson had sold over 50 million albums worldwide since his death.
Following the surge in sales, in March 2010, Sony Music signed a $250 million deal (equivalent to $370 million in 2025) with the Jackson estate to extend their distribution rights to Jackson's back catalog until at least 2017; it had been due to expire in 2015. It was the most expensive music contract for a single artist in history. They agreed to release ten albums of previously unreleased material and new collections of released work. The deal was extended in 2017. That July, a Los Angeles court awarded Quincy Jones $9.4 million of disputed royalty payments for Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. In July 2018, Sony/ATV bought the estate's stake in EMI for $287.5 million.
In 2015, Thriller became the first album to be certified for 30 million shipments by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A year later, it was certified 33× platinum after Soundscan added streams and audio downloads to album certifications.
In February 2024, Sony Music acquired half of Michael Jackson's publishing rights and recording masters for $600 million. The deal includes assets from Jackson's Mijac publishing catalog, but excludes royalties from several Jackson-related productions, such as the MJ Broadway musical and the Michael biopic. This transaction is possibly the largest for a single musician's work.
=== Posthumous releases and productions ===
Jackson's posthumous releases and productions are administered by the estate of Michael Jackson, which owns Jackson's trademarks and rights to his name, image and likeness. The first posthumous Jackson song, "This Is It", co-written in the 1980s with Paul Anka, was released in October 2009. The surviving Jackson brothers reunited to record backing vocals. It was followed by a documentary film about the rehearsals for the canceled This Is It tour, Michael Jackson's This Is It, and a compilation album. Despite a limited two-week engagement, the film became the highest-grossing documentary or concert film ever, with earnings of more than $260 million worldwide. Jackson's estate received 90% of the profits. In late 2010, Sony released the first posthumous album, Michael, and the lead single "Hold My Hand", a duet with Akon. The Jackson collaborator will.i.am expressed disgust, saying that Jackson would not have approved the release.
The video game developer Ubisoft released a music game featuring Jackson for the 2010 holiday season, Michael Jackson: The Experience. It was among the first games to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the motion-detecting camera systems for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively.
In October 2011, the theater company Cirque du Soleil launched Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, a $57 million production in Montreal. A larger and more theatrical Cirque show, Michael Jackson: One, designed for residency at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, opened on May 23, 2013, in a renovated theater.
In 2012, in an attempt to end a family dispute, Jackson's brother Jermaine retracted his signature on a public letter criticizing executors of Jackson's estate and his mother's advisors over the legitimacy of his brother's will. T.J. Jackson, the son of Tito Jackson, was given co-guardianship of Michael Jackson's children after false reports of Katherine Jackson going missing. Xscape, an album of unreleased material, was released on May 13, 2014. The lead single, a duet between Jackson and Justin Timberlake, "Love Never Felt So Good", reached number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making Jackson the first artist to have a top-10 single on the chart in five different decades.
Later in 2014, Queen released a duet recorded with Jackson in the 1980s. A compilation album, Scream, was released on September 29, 2017. A jukebox musical, MJ the Musical, premiered on Broadway in 2022. Myles Frost won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Jackson. On November 18, 2022, Epic released a 40th-anniversary edition reissue of Thriller. A biographical film based on Jackson's life, Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, is scheduled for release in April 2026. Jackson is played by his nephew Jaafar Jackson. Deadline Hollywood reported that the film "will not shy away from the controversies of Jackson's life". Since Jackson's death, his estate has grossed $2 billion in ticket revenue from MJ the Musical, Michael Jackson's This Is It and two Cirque du Soleil productions.
=== Posthumous child sexual abuse allegations ===
In 2013, choreographer Wade Robson filed a lawsuit alleging that Jackson had sexually abused him for seven years, beginning when he was seven years old (1989–1996). In 2014, a case was filed by James Safechuck, alleging similar sexual abuse over a four-year period starting when Safechuck was ten (1988–1992). Both had previously testified in Jackson's defense during the 1993 allegations; Robson did so again in 2005. In 2015, Robson's case against Jackson's estate was dismissed as it had been filed too late. Safechuck's claim was also time-barred.
In 2017, it was ruled that Jackson's corporations could not be held accountable for his alleged past actions. The rulings were appealed. On October 20, 2020, Safechuck's lawsuit against Jackson's corporations was again dismissed. The judge ruled that there was no evidence that Safechuck had had a relationship with Jackson's corporation, nor was it proven that there was a special relationship between the two. On April 26, 2021, Robson's case was dismissed because of a lack of supporting evidence that the defendants exercised control over Jackson.
Robson and Safechuck's allegations were the subject of the documentary film Leaving Neverland, released in March 2019. Radio stations in New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands removed Jackson's music from their playlists. Jackson's family condemned the film as a "public lynching", and the Jackson estate released a statement calling the film a "tabloid character assassination [Jackson] endured in life, and now in death". Close associates of Jackson, such as Corey Feldman, Aaron Carter, Brett Barnes, and Macaulay Culkin, defended Jackson in the wake of the documentary's release, saying that Jackson had never molested them.
Documentaries such as Square One: Michael Jackson, Neverland Firsthand: Investigating the Michael Jackson Documentary and Michael Jackson: Chase the Truth, presented information countering the claims suggested by Leaving Neverland. Jackson's album sales increased following the documentary screenings. Billboard senior editor Gail Mitchell said she and a colleague interviewed about thirty music executives who believed Jackson's legacy could withstand the controversy. In late 2019, some New Zealand and Canadian radio stations re-added Jackson's music to their playlists due to "positive listener survey results".
On February 21, 2019, the Jackson estate sued HBO for breaching a non-disparagement clause from a 1992 contract. The suit sought to compel HBO to participate in a non-confidential arbitration that could result in $100 million or more in damages awarded to the estate. HBO said they did not breach a contract and filed an anti-SLAPP motion against the estate. In September 2019, Judge George H. Wu denied HBO's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the Jackson estate to arbitrate. HBO appealed, but in December 2020 the appeals court affirmed Wu's ruling.
In 2020, a state law passed in California which granted plaintiffs in child sex abuse cases an additional period to file lawsuits. In October 2020 and again in April 2021, the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled in Safechuck v. MJJ Productions that MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc. employees were not legally obligated to protect the two men from Jackson. In August 2023, California's Second District Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, and the case was approved to move forward to trial court.
In 2026, three male and one female adult siblings of the Cascio family filed a federal lawsuit against Jackson's estate alleging sexual abuse that spanned from childhood to adulthood. A fourth male sibling, the eldest, is involved in litigation with the estate relating to purported sexual abuse. Lawyers for the estate claim that the family is engaged in an extortion plot.
== Legacy ==
Jackson has been referred to as the "King of Pop" for having transformed the art of music videos and paving the way for modern pop music. For much of Jackson's career, he had an unparalleled worldwide influence over the younger generation. His influence extended beyond the music industry; he impacted dance, led fashion trends, and raised awareness for global affairs. Jackson's music and videos fostered racial diversity in MTV's roster and steered its focus from rock to pop music and R&B, leading to the discontinuation of the album-oriented rock format previously dominant on the channel. In songs such as "Black or White", "Heal the World", "Earth Song" and "They Don't Care About Us", Jackson's music emphasized racial integration and environmentalism and protested injustice. He is considered one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century, and his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.
Jackson's meteoric rise in the 1980s catapulted him to global stardom, and his influence transcended borders. In Africa, his influence was compared to Nelson Mandela for his ability to inspire and unite diverse audiences through his music. Similarly, in India, Jackson was likened to Mahatma Gandhi, with his art championing themes of social justice and humanitarianism, and his influence extending to Bollywood where it was said that anyone who danced well was compared to Jackson. In Europe, Jackson's impact was compared to that of the Pope; huge crowds gathered to see him in public and even more attended his concerts, which spread messages of love and healing during rough economic and political times. His presence in the Middle East was considered as widespread as Coca-Cola, symbolizing a shared global culture through his music. Additionally, Jackson is considered the backbone of the K-pop industry in South Korea, influencing countless artists and shaping the genre's development. So vast, far-reaching and was his impact—particularly in the wake of Thriller's colossal and heretofore unmatched commercial success—that there weren't a whole lot of artists who weren't trying to mimic some of the Jackson formula.Danyel Smith, chief content officer of Vibe Media Group and the editor-in-chief of Vibe, described Jackson as "the greatest star". Steve Huey of AllMusic called him "an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the skills to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility and loads of sheer star power". BET said Jackson was "quite simply the greatest entertainer of all time" whose "sound, style, movement and legacy continues to inspire artists of all genres". In 1984, Time pop critic Jay Cocks wrote that Jackson was the biggest phenomenon since the Beatles and Elvis Presley, while possibly "the most popular black singer ever". Cocks declared him a "star of records, radio, rock video" and the "dancer with the fanciest feet". In 2003, The Daily Telegraph writer Tom Utley described Jackson as "extremely important" and a "genius". At Jackson's memorial service on July 7, 2009, Motown founder Berry Gordy called Jackson "the greatest entertainer that ever lived". Jackson is recognized as the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" by Guinness World Records. He has also appeared on Rolling Stone's lists of the "Greatest Singers of All Time".
Craig Glenday, the editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, called Jackson the most famous person in the world in 2006. Following Jackson's death, Glenday wrote in an obituary that Jackson had maintained this status up until his death, later remarking that his fame had exceeded that of Confucius. The Guardian wrote that he was in a league of his own in terms of fame, noting that Jackson had become so famous that the number of people who might not know who he was had become statistically insignificant. Due to his unprecedented influence, Jackson is widely recognized as one of the most famous and globally renowned figures in history. Reports of his fame extend from the Middle East, Africa, India, and China to tribes in the Amazon. His influence even reached remote corners of the world such as São Tomé and Príncipe, or Tristan da Cunha, where tribute artists keep his legacy alive by celebrating his music.
In 2018, the National Portrait Gallery named Jackson the most depicted cultural figure of the century, later stating that Jackson's influence on art rivaled that of Jesus Christ. Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery and curator of the Michael Jackson: On the Wall exhibition, described Jackson's impact on art as unprecedented and claimed in 2018 that Jackson was the most depicted figure in the history of contemporary art. In 2014, a comprehensive study conducted by researcher Young-Ho Eom at the University of Toulouse identified Jackson as one of the most influential people of all time. The study utilized advanced ranking methods, including 2D Rank and PageRank algorithms, to analyze the impact of historical figures. Jackson was prominently placed on the list of top influencers, alongside Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Adolf Hitler, and Jesus Christ. Another study conducted in 2013 also identified Jackson as one of the most influential people of all time. This study ranked Jackson at the top of the list, alongside Napoleon Bonaparte, highlighting the extraordinary influence and global recognition that Jackson achieved throughout his career. Numerous publications and academic studies have noted his impact beyond music in fields such as psychology, law, chemistry, and engineering.
== Philanthropy ==
Jackson is well known for his prolific philanthropy and humanitarianism. Jackson's early charitable work has been described by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as having "paved the way for the current surge in celebrity philanthropy", and by the Los Angeles Times as having "set the standard for generosity for other entertainers". By some estimates, he donated over $500 million, not accounting for inflation, to various charities over the course of his life. In 1992, Jackson established his Heal the World Foundation, to which he donated several million dollars in revenue from his Dangerous World Tour.
Jackson's philanthropic activities went beyond just monetary donations. He also performed at benefit concerts, some of which he arranged. He gifted tickets for his regular concert performances to groups that assist underprivileged children. Jackson visited sick children in hospitals around the world. He donated valuable, personal and professional paraphernalia for numerous charity auctions. He received various awards and accolades for his philanthropic work, including two bestowed by American presidents. The vast breadth of Jackson's philanthropic work has earned recognition in the Guinness World Records.
On May 14, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave Jackson an award recognizing his support of alcohol and drug abuse charities, and in recognition of his support for the Ad Council's and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Drunk Driving Prevention campaign. Jackson allowed the campaign to use "Beat It" for its public service announcements.
== Artistry ==
=== Vocal style ===
Jackson was known as an expressive vocalist with absolute pitch. Critics describe his vocal theatricality as having a range from clear and soft to harsh and aggressive, depending on the genre sung. Principally in history, Jackson is the sole recipient to receive Grammy Awards for three different genres of vocal performance (as a soloist), winning Pop Vocal for "Thriller", Rock Vocal for "Beat It", and Rhythm and Blues Vocal with both "Billie Jean" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Bruce Swedien, his long-time sound engineer, emphasized that a critical element of their vocal recordings are of him and Jackson trying numerous approaches to rhythmic, emotional and technical distinctions to consummate a "sonic character". His stylings, such as common use of staccato, legato, falsetto as well as vocal hiccups, adlibs, wailings and growls, are all signature to his sound.
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed. Between 1971 and 1975, it descended from boy soprano to lyric tenor. He was known for his intonation and vocal range. Through each music release, his vocal development and changes were positively narrated by music journalists. With Off the Wall in the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities in his coming-of-age period had Rolling Stone comparing his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder, and wrote that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor [was] extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly." When Thriller was released in the early 1980s, Rolling Stone wrote that Jackson was singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness". With the release of the introspective album Dangerous, The New York Times wrote that on some tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or drops to a desperate whisper, hissing through clenched teeth" and he had a "wretched tone". When singing of brotherhood or self-esteem the musician would return to "smooth" vocals. Of Invincible, Rolling Stone wrote that, even at age 43, Jackson still performed "exquisitely voiced rhythm tracks and vibrating vocal harmonies". Joseph Vogel noted Jackson's ability to use non-verbal sounds to express emotion. Neil McCormick wrote that Jackson's unorthodox singing style "was original and utterly distinctive".
=== Influences ===
Jackson was influenced by musicians including James Brown, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis Jr., Gene Kelly, and David Ruffin. Little Richard had a substantial influence on Jackson, but Brown was his greatest inspiration. When Jackson was a small child, his mother would wake him whenever Brown appeared on television. Jackson described being "mesmerized".
Jackson's vocal technique was influenced by Diana Ross; his use of the oooh interjection from a young age was something Ross had used on many of her songs with the Supremes. She was a mother figure to him, and he often watched her rehearse. He said he had learned a lot from watching how she moved and sang, and that she had encouraged him to have confidence in himself.
Choreographer David Winters, who met Jackson while choreographing the 1971 Diana Ross TV special Diana!, said that Jackson watched the musical West Side Story almost every week, and it was his favorite film; he paid tribute to it in "Beat It" and the "Bad" video.
=== Musicianship ===
Jackson had no formal music training and could not read or write music notation. He is credited for playing guitar, keyboard, and drums, but was not proficient in them. When composing, he recorded ideas by beatboxing and imitating instruments vocally. Describing the process, he said: "I'll just sing the bass part into the tape recorder. I'll take that bass lick and put the chords of the melody over the bass lick and that's what inspires the melody." These were shown in his demos for "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" where he vocalized the melody, bass instrumentals as well as lead and backing vocals by overlaying each component. The engineer Robert Hoffman recalled that after Jackson came in with a song he had written overnight, Jackson sang every note of every chord to a guitar player. Hoffman also remembered Jackson singing string arrangements part by part into a cassette recorder.
=== Dance ===
Jackson danced from a young age as part of the Jackson 5, and incorporated dance extensively in his performances. According to Sanjoy Roy of The Guardian, Jackson would "flick and retract his limbs like switchblades, or snap out of a tornado spin into a perfectly poised toe-stand". The moonwalk, taught to him by Jeffrey Daniel, was Jackson's signature dance move and one of the most famous of the 20th century. Jackson is credited for coining the name "moonwalk" for this street dance move, previously known as the "backslide". His other moves included the robot, crotch grab, and the "anti-gravity" lean of the "Smooth Criminal" video.
=== Themes and genres ===
Jackson explored genres including pop, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, rock, disco, post-disco, dance-pop, and new jack swing. Steve Huey of AllMusic wrote that Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful. Its tracks included the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human Nature", and "The Girl Is Mine", the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".
With Off the Wall, The Guardian's Tom Ewing wrote that Jackson's "vocal tics – the gasps and shudders that punctuate almost every song" evoke "a singer desperate to cut loose and express himself in movement." Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone commented that, with Thriller, Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted this on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". In "Billie Jean", Jackson depicts an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered her child, and in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the media. "Beat It" decried gang violence in a homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey. He observed that "Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he revisited in subsequent years. In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity anthem "We Are the World"; humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona.
In Bad, Jackson's concept of the predatory lover is seen on the rock song "Dirty Diana". The lead single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, and "Man in the Mirror" is a ballad of confession and resolution. "Smooth Criminal" is an evocation of bloody assault, rape and likely murder. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that Dangerous presents Jackson as a paradoxical person. The first half of the record is dedicated to new jack swing, including songs like "Jam" and "Remember the Time". It was the first Jackson album in which social ills became a primary theme; "Why You Wanna Trip on Me", for example, protests world hunger, AIDS, homelessness and drugs. Dangerous contains sexually charged songs such as "In the Closet". The title track continues the theme of the predatory lover and compulsive desire. The second half includes introspective, pop-gospel anthems such as "Will You Be There", "Heal the World", and "Keep the Faith". In the ballad "Gone Too Soon", Jackson gives tribute to Ryan White and the plight of those with AIDS.
HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia. In the new jack swing-funk rock tracks "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", and the R&B ballad "You Are Not Alone", Jackson retaliates against the injustice and isolation he feels, and directs his anger at the media. In the introspective ballad "Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments his "fall from grace"; "Earth Song", "Childhood", "Little Susie", and "Smile" are operatic pop songs. In "D.S.", Jackson attacks lawyer Thomas W. Sneddon Jr., who had prosecuted him in both child sexual abuse cases; he describes Sneddon as a white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive". Invincible includes urban soul tracks such as "Cry" and "The Lost Children", ballads such as "Speechless", "Break of Dawn", and "Butterflies", and mixes hip-hop, pop, and R&B in "2000 Watts", "Heartbreaker", and "Invincible".
=== Music videos and choreography ===
Jackson released "Thriller", a 14-minute music video directed by John Landis, in 1983. The zombie-themed video "defined music videos and broke racial barriers" on MTV, which had launched two years earlier. Before Thriller, Jackson struggled to receive coverage on MTV, allegedly because he was African American. Pressure from CBS Records persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", which led to a lengthy partnership with Jackson, and helped other black music artists gain recognition. The popularity of his videos on MTV helped the relatively new channel's viewing figures, and MTV's focus shifted toward pop and R&B. His performance on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever changed the scope of live stage shows, making it acceptable for artists to lip-sync to music video on stage. The choreography in Thriller has been copied in Indian films and prisons in the Philippines. Thriller marked an increase in scale for music videos, and was named the most successful music video ever by the Guinness World Records.
In "Bad"'s 19-minute video—directed by Martin Scorsese—Jackson used sexual imagery and choreography, and touched his chest, torso and crotch. When asked by Winfrey in the 1993 interview about why he grabbed his crotch, he said it was spontaneously compelled by the music. Time magazine described the "Bad" video as "infamous". It featured Wesley Snipes; Jackson's later videos often featured famous cameo roles. For the "Smooth Criminal" video, Jackson experimented with leaning forward at a 45-degree angle, beyond the performer's center of gravity. To accomplish this live, Jackson and designers developed a special shoe to lock the performer's feet to the stage, allowing them to lean forward. They were granted U.S. patent 5,255,452 for the device. The video for "Leave Me Alone" was not officially released in the US, but in 1989 was nominated for three Billboard Music Video Awards and won a Golden Lion Award for its special effects. It won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form.
He received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1988; in 2001 the award was renamed in his honor. The "Black or White" video simultaneously premiered on November 14, 1991, in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million people, the largest audience ever for a music video at the time. Along with Jackson, it featured Macaulay Culkin, Peggy Lipton, and George Wendt. It helped introduce morphing to music videos. It was controversial for scenes in which Jackson rubs his crotch, vandalizes cars, and throws a garbage can through a storefront. He apologized and removed the final scene of the video.
"In the Closet" featured Naomi Campbell in a courtship dance with Jackson. "Remember the Time" was set in ancient Egypt, and featured Eddie Murphy, Iman, and Magic Johnson. The video for "Scream", directed by Mark Romanek and production designer Tom Foden, gained a record 11 MTV Video Music Award Nominations, and won "Best Dance Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction". The song and its video are Jackson's response to being accused of child molestation in 1993. A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form. It has been reported as the most expensive music video ever made, at $7 million; Romanek has contradicted this. The "Earth Song" video was nominated for the 1997 Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form.
Michael Jackson's Ghosts, a short film written by Jackson and Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston, premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. At over 38 minutes long, it held the Guinness world record for the longest music video until 2013, when it was eclipsed by the video for the Pharrell Williams song "Happy". The 2001 video for "You Rock My World" lasts over 13 minutes, was directed by Paul Hunter, and features Chris Tucker and Marlon Brando. It won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Music Video in 2002.
In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected "Thriller" as the only music video to be preserved in the National Film Registry, as a work of "enduring importance to American culture". Huey wrote that Jackson transformed the music video into an artform and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameos, while breaking down racial barriers.
== Honors and awards ==
Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists in history, with worldwide record sales estimated from 500 million to more than 1 billion.[Note 2] He had 13 number-one singles in the US over his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era at the time of his death. He was invited and honored by a president of the US at the White House three times. In 1984, he was honored with a "Presidential Public Safety Commendation" award by Ronald Reagan for his humanitarian endeavors. In 1990, he was honored as the "Artist of the Decade", which was awarded by the National Children's Museum, by George H. W. Bush. In 1992, he was honored as a "Point of Light Ambassador" by Bush for inviting disadvantaged children to his Neverland Ranch.
Jackson won hundreds of awards and is one of the most-awarded artists in popular music. His awards include 39 Guinness World Records, including the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time, 13 Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and 26 American Music Awards, including the Artist of the Century and Artist of the 1980s. He also received the World Music Awards' Best Selling Male Artist of the Millennium and the Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award.
Jackson was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1980 as a member of the Jacksons, and in 1984 as a solo artist. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1997 and 1999, respectively, and again as a solo artist in 2001. In 2002, he was added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2010, he became the first recording artist to be inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame, and in 2014, he was posthumously inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame. In 2021, he was among the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
In 1988, Fisk University honored him with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. In 1992, he was invested as a titular king of Sanwi, a traditional kingdom located in the south-east of Ivory Coast. In July 2009, the Lunar Republic Society named a crater on the Moon after Jackson. In August, for what would have been Jackson's 51st birthday, Google dedicated their Google Doodle to him. In 2012, the extinct hermit crab Mesoparapylocheles michaeljacksoni was named in his honor. In 2014, the British Council of Cultural Relations deemed Jackson's life one of the 80 most important cultural moments of the 20th century. World Vitiligo Day has been celebrated on June 25, the anniversary of Jackson's death, to raise awareness of the auto-immune disorder that Jackson suffered from.
== Earnings ==
In 1989, Jackson's annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts were estimated at $125 million. Forbes placed Jackson's annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997. Jackson has been one of the wealthiest celebrities and musical artists; estimates of Jackson's net worth during his life range from negative $285 million to positive $350 million for 2002, 2003 and 2007. Forbes reported in August 2018 that Jackson's total career pretax earnings in life and death were $4.2 billion. Sales of his recordings through Sony's music unit earned him an estimated $300 million in royalties. He may have earned another $400 million from concerts, music publishing (including his share of the Beatles catalog), endorsements, merchandising and music videos.
In 2013, the executors of Jackson's estate filed a petition in the United States Tax Court as a result of a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over estate taxes. The executors claimed that it was worth about $7 million, while the IRS that it was worth over $1.1 billion. In February 2014, the IRS reported that Jackson's estate owed $702 million; $505 million in taxes, and $197 million in penalties. In 2021, the Tax Court issued a ruling in favor of the estate, ruling that the estate's total combined value was $111.5 million and that the value of Jackson's name and likeness was $4 million.
In 2016, Forbes estimated annual gross earnings by the Jackson estate at $825 million, the largest ever recorded for a celebrity, mostly due to the sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. In 2018, the figure was $400 million, and by 2024, it rose to $600 million, bringing Jackson's postmortem total to $3.3 billion. Forbes has consistently recognized Jackson as one of the top-earning dead celebrities, placing him at the top spot from 2010 to 2024, except for 2012, 2021, and 2022.
== Discography ==
Got to Be There (1972)
Ben (1972)
Music & Me (1973)
Forever, Michael (1975)
Off the Wall (1979)
Thriller (1982)
Bad (1987)
Dangerous (1991)
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)
Invincible (2001)
== Filmography ==
The Wiz (1978)
Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983)
Captain EO (1986)
Moonwalker (1988)
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues (1989)
Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1997)
Men in Black II (2002)
Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls (2004)
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
Bad 25 (2012)
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (2016)
Thriller 40 (2023)
== Tours ==
Bad World Tour (1987–1989)
Dangerous World Tour (1992–1993)
HIStory World Tour (1996–1997) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Come_Come_Baby | Come Come Come Baby | Come Come Come Baby is the third Korean-language studio album by South Korean girl group Baby V.O.X. It was released on July 21, 1999, by DR Music and Synnara. The album earned them the Top Excellency Award at the 1999 Seoul Music Awards. The album sold over 200,000 copies in South Korea. The album sold 218,946 copies, putting them next to girl groups like S.E.S. and Fin.K.L in terms of popularity. On August 3, 1999 the group received its first music show win on KBS music bank. Their popularity greatly increased, getting many more opportunities like commercials, interviews, appearances and so on.
== Recording and production ==
In April 1999, an open audition was held to find a new member to fill the void left by Lee Gai. Yoon Eun-hye, then a third-year middle school student, was cast in this audition, ultimately completing the lineup that had been shaky during the first and second albums. With Yoon Eun-hye joining, Baby V.O.X. made a comeback in July 1999 with the single "Get Up" from their third album, Come Come Come Baby.
== Music and lyrics ==
"Get Up" is a funk pop dance-pop track written by Park Jin-young and composed by Kim Hyung-suk. During the first broadcast, Kim E-Z's revealing outfit and leg-sweeping choreography became a major topic of discussion on online communities. The catchy melody and addictive lyrics greatly appealed to the public and became a success in the market.
The song "Get Up" by Baby VOX seems to convey a message of longing and desire for someone to take action and make a move in a romantic relationship. The lyrics express frustration and confusion about why the other person is not approaching or coming closer despite the singer's evident interest. The singer questions why they are constantly being tormented and why the other person hesitates and overthinks things. They emphasize that their eyes and smiles are trying to convey their feelings and urge the other person to come closer. The repeated phrase "Get Up" serves as a rallying cry, encouraging both the singer and the other person to take action and seize the opportunity. It suggests that they no longer want to wait indefinitely and be left with unanswered questions. The phrase "Move Me Tonight" implies a desire for a physical and emotional connection. Towards the end of the song, the lyrics express a sense of urgency and impatience. The singer implores the other person to take them away and not keep them waiting any longer. They want to be with the other person before the night is over, pleading for them to forget any cruel thoughts or words and make a move. Overall, "Get Up" portrays the yearning for reciprocated feelings, urging the other person to seize the moment and embrace the opportunity for a deeper connection.
== Release and promotion ==
On August 3, 1999, less than three weeks after the album's release, the group won first place on KBS's Music Bank for the first time in two years since their debut.
During the promotion of "Get Up", controversy arose over the lyricist. Some broadcasting stations listed the lyricist as "Seo Yoon-jung", while Baby V.O.X.'s interview introduced it as "Park Jin-young", sparking a debate among netizens. Ultimately, Baby V.O.X. claimed that Park Jin-young had registered the copyright under his wife, Seo Yoon-jung, and that the actual lyrics were written by Park Jin-young.
The follow-up song "Killer" ranked 7th on SBS Inkigayo just two weeks after its release and quickly gained popularity, reaching 1st place on SBS Inkigayo and KM Show Music Tank, solidifying their position as a top girl group by ranking first for three weeks. At the time, Baby V.O.X.’s popularity was so high that it was difficult to secure a schedule. In the winter after finishing their "Killer" promotions, they released the ballad song "Missing You", which also achieved excellent results by entering the top 10 of the music charts, successfully completing promotions for their third album. Their third album was a monumental achievement, establishing them as another popular girl group, following S.E.S. and Fin.K.L. During this period, they signed four advertising contracts, including one for the ice cream brand "Wa" and the hamburger brand "Hardy's," and served as promotional ambassadors for the Korean-Japanese joint animation "Gundress". In December, they began their overseas activities, announcing their entry into China.
== Commercial performance ==
After completing promotions for their third album, they signed a licensing agreement with a Chinese record label and released the album in China. They officially entered the Chinese market in December, beginning promotions for the third album "Come Come Come Baby"
== Accolades ==
== Legacy ==
The album opened the doors for mature, sexy and bold concepts for girl groups. Throughout the 90s and 00s, girl groups were often viewed as ‘less than’ or as a ‘joke’. The fact that most girl groups at that time were mainly cute and innocent, often having male rappers featuring on their songs. Baby V.O.X was greatly criticized for rapping, but never stopped. The title song "Get Up", has been covered many times by groups like Brave Girls, Weki Meki, Blackswan and KAACHI. Melon chart ranked it 38 on the greatest K-pop songs of all time.
== Censorship ==
The music video for "Get Up" was seemingly pulled of broadcast due to the videos sexual content. However, there seems to be no surviving article that confirms that it was actually banned. The only evidence is mentions by Baby V.O.X. and the 2 different music videos.
== Anti-fans and hate train ==
It was in 1999 that the massive hate train towards Baby V.O.X started. "There will be a separate article dedicated to their anti fans".
== Track listing ==
"Intro" – 1:19
"Get Up" – 3:37 (Park Jin Young, Seo Yoon-gyeong)
"Missing You" – 3:52 (Kim Jong-sook)
"Killer" – 3:43 (Kim Jong-sook)
"꽃무늬 비키니" (Floral Bikini) – 3:33 (Kim Jong-sook)
"사랑해요" (I Love You) – 3:28 (Kim Jong-sook)
"Mask" – 3:07 (Kim Nam-hee)
"하늘과 함께한 사랑" (In Love With The Sky) – 3:59 (Kim Nam-hee)
"Summer Story" – 3:42 (Kim Nam-hee)
"웃어요" (Smile) – 3:30 (Heo In-chang)
"Love and Ecstasy" – 4:02 (Won Sang-woo)
"Get Up" (MR) – 3:37
Notes
Cover of the original sung by Kim Hyun Sung on Kim Hyun Sung 2nd Solo Album.
== Personnel ==
Kim E-Z
Shim Eun-Jin
Kan Mi-Youn
Yoon Eun-Hye
Lee Hee-Jin
== Charts ==
== Release history == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria | Queen Victoria | Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.
Victoria married her maternal first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII.
== Early life ==
=== Birth and ancestry ===
Victoria's father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Until 1817, King George's only legitimate grandchild was Edward's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV). Charlotte's death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on Edward and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818, the Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen. Her brother Leopold was Charlotte's widower and later the first king of Belgium. Victoria was born at 4:15 am on Monday, 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London and was the Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child.
Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Prince Regent.
At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so the two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children. William married in 1818, in a joint ceremony with his brother Edward, but both of William's legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on 27 March 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria's father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth, lived, from 10 December 1820 to 4 March 1821.
=== Heir presumptive ===
Frederick died in 1827, followed by George IV in 1830; their next surviving brother succeeded to the throne as William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive. The Regency Act 1830 made special provision for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William died while Victoria was still a minor. King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided.
Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy". Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called "Kensington System", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by the Duchess and her ambitious and domineering comptroller, Sir John Conroy, who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover. The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them. The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William's illegitimate children. Victoria shared a bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel, Dash. Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin, but she spoke only English at home. At age ten, she wrote and illustrated a children's story, The Adventures of Alice Laselles, which was eventually published in 2015.
In 1830, the Duchess and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the Malvern Hills, stopping at towns and great country houses along the way. Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To the King's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops. William compared the journeys to royal progresses and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heir presumptive. Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there was little time for her to rest. She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy and forced Victoria to continue the tours. At Ramsgate in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever, which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence. While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her private secretary. As a teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff. Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household.
By 1836, Victoria's maternal uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry her to Prince Albert, the son of his brother Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with the purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, second son of the Prince of Orange. Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After the visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain".
Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her "best and kindest adviser", to thank him "for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see." However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake a formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time.
== Accession and early reign ==
Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and thus a regency was avoided. Less than a month later, on 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen." Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again. Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with Hanover in Germany, but under Salic law, women were excluded from the Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited the British throne, her father's unpopular younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, became King of Hanover. He was Victoria's heir presumptive until she had a child.
At the time of Victoria's accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne. He at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced monarch, who relied on him for advice. Charles Greville supposed that the widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure. Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey. Over 400,000 visitors came to London for the celebrations. She became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace and inherited the revenues of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall as well as being granted a civil list allowance of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts.
At the start of her reign Victoria was popular, but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings, developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy. Victoria believed the rumours. She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora", because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess in the Kensington System. At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to an intimate medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually acquiesced, and was found to be a virgin. Conroy, the Hastings family, and the opposition Tories organised a press campaign implicating the Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora. When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen. At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered at as "Mrs. Melbourne".
In 1839, Melbourne resigned after Radicals and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica. The bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with the abolition of slavery. The Queen commissioned a Tory, Robert Peel, to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the Royal Household, who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's ladies of the bedchamber were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as the "bedchamber crisis", Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office.
== Marriage and public life ==
Although Victoria was now queen, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother's continued reliance on Conroy. The duchess was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to see her. When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother's proximity promised "torment for many years", Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a "schocking [sic] alternative". Victoria showed interest in Albert's education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock.
Victoria continued to praise Albert following his second visit in October 1839. They felt mutual affection and the Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor. They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, London. Victoria was love-struck. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary:
I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before—was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!
Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion, replacing Melbourne as the dominant influential figure in the first half of her life. Victoria's mother was evicted from the palace, to Ingestre House in Belgrave Square. After the death of Victoria's aunt Princess Augusta in 1840, the duchess was given both Clarence House and Frogmore House. Through Albert's mediation, relations between mother and daughter slowly improved.
During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, in the first few months of the marriage, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her mother. Oxford fired twice, but either both bullets missed or, as he later claimed, the guns had no shot. He was tried for high treason, found not guilty by reason of insanity, committed to an insane asylum indefinitely, and later sent to live in Australia. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis. Her daughter, also named Victoria, was born on 21 November 1840. The Queen hated being pregnant, viewed breast-feeding with disgust, and thought newborn babies were ugly. Nevertheless, over the following seventeen years, she and Albert had a further eight children: Albert Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice.
The household was largely run by Victoria's childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover. Lehzen had been a formative influence on Victoria and had supported her against the Kensington System. Albert, however, thought that Lehzen was incompetent and that her mismanagement threatened his daughter Victoria's health. After a furious row between Victoria and Albert over the issue, Lehzen was pensioned off in 1842, and Victoria's close relationship with her ended.
On 29 May 1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London, when John Francis aimed a pistol at her, but the gun did not fire. The assailant escaped; the following day, Victoria drove the same route, though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to bait Francis into taking a second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was seized by plainclothes policemen, and convicted of high treason. On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life, John William Bean also tried to fire a pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco and had too little charge. Edward Oxford felt that the attempts were encouraged by his acquittal in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In a similar attack in 1849, unemployed Irishman William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage as it passed along Constitution Hill, London. In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate. As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. Both Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years' transportation.
Melbourne's support in the House of Commons weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the Whigs were defeated. Peel became prime minister, and the ladies of the bedchamber most associated with the Whigs were replaced. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight. In the next four years, over a million Irish people died and another million emigrated in what became known as the Great Famine. In Ireland, Victoria was labelled "The Famine Queen". In January 1847 she personally donated £2,000 (equivalent to between £230,000 and £8.5 million in 2022) to the British Relief Association, more than any other individual famine relief donor, and supported the Maynooth Grant to a Roman Catholic seminary in Ireland, despite Protestant opposition. The story that she donated only £5 in aid to the Irish, and on the same day gave the same amount to Battersea Dogs Home, was a myth generated towards the end of the 19th century. By 1846, Peel's ministry faced a crisis involving the repeal of the Corn Laws. Many Tories—by then known also as Conservatives—were opposed to the repeal, but Peel, some Tories (the free-trade oriented liberal conservative "Peelites"), most Whigs and Victoria supported it. Peel resigned in 1846, after the repeal narrowly passed, and was replaced by Lord John Russell.
Internationally, Victoria took a keen interest in the improvement of relations between France and Britain. She made and hosted several visits between the British royal family and the House of Orleans, who were related by marriage through the Coburgs. In 1843 and 1845, she and Albert stayed with King Louis Philippe I at Château d'Eu in Normandy; she was the first British or English monarch to visit a French monarch since the meeting of Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France on the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. When Louis Philippe made a reciprocal trip in 1844, he became the first French king to visit a British sovereign. Louis Philippe was deposed in the revolutions of 1848, and fled to exile in England. At the height of a revolutionary scare in the United Kingdom in April 1848, Victoria and her family left London for the greater safety of Osborne House, a private estate on the Isle of Wight that they had purchased in 1845 and redeveloped. Demonstrations by Chartists and Irish nationalists failed to attract widespread support, and the scare died down without any major disturbances. Victoria's first visit to Ireland in 1849 was a public relations success, but it had no lasting impact or effect on the growth of Irish nationalism.
Russell's ministry, though Whig, was not favoured by the Queen. She found particularly offensive the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, who often acted without consulting the cabinet, the prime minister, or the Queen. Victoria complained to Russell that Palmerston sent official dispatches to foreign leaders without her knowledge, but Palmerston was retained in office and continued to act on his own initiative, despite her repeated remonstrances. It was only in 1851 that Palmerston was removed after he announced the British government's approval of President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte's coup in France without consulting the prime minister. The following year, President Bonaparte was declared Emperor Napoleon III, by which time Russell's administration had been replaced by a short-lived minority government led by Lord Derby.
In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold, with the aid of the new anaesthetic, chloroform. She was so impressed by the relief it gave from the pain of childbirth that she used it again in 1857 at the birth of her ninth and final child, Beatrice, despite opposition from members of the clergy, who considered it against biblical teaching, and members of the medical profession, who thought it dangerous. Victoria may have had postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies. Letters from Albert to Victoria intermittently complain of her loss of self-control. For example, about a month after Leopold's birth Albert complained in a letter to Victoria about her "continuance of hysterics" over a "miserable trifle".
In early 1855, the government of Lord Aberdeen, who had replaced Derby, fell amidst recriminations over the poor management of British troops in the Crimean War. Victoria approached both Derby and Russell to form a ministry, but neither had sufficient support, and Victoria was forced to appoint Palmerston as prime minister. Napoleon III, Britain's closest ally as a result of the Crimean War, visited London in April 1855, and from 17 to 28 August the same year Victoria and Albert returned the visit. Napoleon III met the couple at Boulogne and accompanied them to Paris. They visited the Exposition Universelle (a successor to Albert's 1851 brainchild the Great Exhibition) and Napoleon I's tomb at Les Invalides (to which his remains had only been returned in 1840), and were guests of honour at a 1,200-guest ball at the Palace of Versailles. This marked the first time that a reigning British monarch had been to Paris in over 400 years.
On 14 January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate Napoleon III with a bomb made in England. The ensuing diplomatic crisis destabilised the government, and Palmerston resigned. Derby was reinstated as prime minister. Victoria and Albert attended the opening of a new basin at the French military port of Cherbourg on 5 August 1858, in an attempt by Napoleon III to reassure Britain that his military preparations were directed elsewhere. On her return Victoria wrote to Derby reprimanding him for the poor state of the Royal Navy in comparison to the French Navy. Derby's ministry did not last long, and in June 1859 Victoria recalled Palmerston to office.
Eleven days after Orsini's assassination attempt in France, Victoria's eldest daughter married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in London. They had been betrothed since September 1855, when Princess Victoria was 14 years old; the marriage was delayed by the Queen and her husband Albert until the bride was 17. The Queen and Albert hoped that their daughter and son-in-law would be a liberalising influence in the enlarging Prussian state. The Queen felt "sick at heart" to see her daughter leave England for Germany; "It really makes me shudder", she wrote to Princess Victoria in one of her frequent letters, "when I look round to all your sweet, happy, unconscious sisters, and think I must give them up too – one by one." Almost exactly a year later, the Princess gave birth to the Queen's first grandchild, Wilhelm, who would become the last German emperor.
== Widowhood and isolation ==
In March 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria at her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" estranging her from her mother. To relieve his wife during her intense and deep grief, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with chronic stomach trouble. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who was attending army manoeuvres near Dublin, and spent a few days holidaying in Killarney. In November, Albert was made aware of gossip that his son had slept with the actress Nellie Clifden in Ireland. Appalled, he travelled to Cambridge, where his son was studying, to confront him.
By the beginning of December, Albert was very unwell. He was diagnosed with typhoid fever by William Jenner, and died on 14 December 1861. Victoria was devastated. She blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering. He had been "killed by that dreadful business", she said. She entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London in the following years. Her seclusion earned her the nickname "widow of Windsor". Her weight increased through comfort eating, which reinforced her aversion to public appearances.
Victoria's self-imposed isolation from the public diminished the popularity of the monarchy, and encouraged the growth of the republican movement. She did undertake her official government duties, yet chose to remain secluded in her royal residences—Windsor Castle, Osborne House, and the private estate in Scotland that she and Albert had acquired in 1847, Balmoral Castle. In March 1864, a protester stuck a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace that announced "these commanding premises to be let or sold in consequence of the late occupant's declining business". Her uncle Leopold wrote to her advising her to appear in public. She agreed to visit the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kensington and take a drive through London in an open carriage.
Through the 1860s, Victoria relied increasingly on a manservant from Scotland, John Brown. Rumours of a romantic connection and even a secret marriage appeared in print, and some referred to the Queen as "Mrs. Brown". The story of their relationship was the subject of the 1997 movie Mrs. Brown. A painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting the Queen with Brown was exhibited at the Royal Academy, and Victoria published a book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, which featured Brown prominently and in which the Queen praised him highly.
Palmerston died in 1865, and after a brief ministry led by Russell, Derby returned to power. In 1866, Victoria attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time since Albert's death. The following year she supported the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which doubled the electorate by extending the franchise to many urban working men, though she was not in favour of votes for women. Derby resigned in 1868, to be replaced by Benjamin Disraeli, who charmed Victoria. "Everyone likes flattery," he said, "and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with a trowel." With the phrase "we authors, Ma'am", he complimented her. Disraeli's ministry only lasted a matter of months, and at the end of the year his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone, was appointed prime minister. Victoria found Gladstone's demeanour far less appealing; he spoke to her, she is thought to have complained, as though she were "a public meeting rather than a woman".
In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain, fed by the Queen's seclusion, was boosted after the establishment of the Third French Republic. A republican rally in Trafalgar Square demanded Victoria's removal, and Radical MPs spoke against her. In August and September 1871, she was seriously ill with an abscess in her arm, which Joseph Lister successfully lanced and treated with his new antiseptic carbolic acid spray. In late November 1871, at the height of the republican movement, the Prince of Wales contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father, and Victoria was fearful her son would die. As the tenth anniversary of her husband's death approached, her son's condition grew no better, and Victoria's distress continued. To general rejoicing, he recovered. Mother and son attended a public parade through London and a grand service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral on 27 February 1872, and republican feeling subsided.
On the last day of February 1872, two days after the thanksgiving service, 17-year-old Arthur O'Connor, a great-nephew of Irish MP Feargus O'Connor, waved an unloaded pistol at Victoria's open carriage just after she had arrived at Buckingham Palace. Brown, who was attending the Queen, grabbed him; O'Connor was later sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and a birching. As a result of the incident, Victoria's popularity recovered further.
== Empress of India ==
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British East India Company, which had ruled much of India, was dissolved, and Britain's possessions and protectorates on the Indian subcontinent were formally incorporated into the British Empire. The Queen had a relatively balanced view of the conflict, and condemned atrocities on both sides. She wrote of "her feelings of horror and regret at the result of this bloody civil war", and insisted, urged on by Albert, that an official proclamation announcing the transfer of power from the company to the state "should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence and religious toleration". At her behest, a reference threatening the "undermining of native religions and customs" was replaced by a passage guaranteeing religious freedom.
In the 1874 general election, Disraeli was returned to power. He passed the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874, which removed Catholic rituals from the Anglican liturgy and which Victoria strongly supported. She preferred short, simple services, and personally considered herself more aligned with the presbyterian Church of Scotland than the episcopal Church of England. Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877.
On 14 December 1878, the anniversary of Albert's death, Victoria's second daughter Alice, who had married Louis of Hesse, died of diphtheria in Darmstadt. Victoria noted the coincidence of the dates as "almost incredible and most mysterious". In May 1879, she became a great-grandmother (on the birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen) and passed her "poor old 60th birthday". She felt "aged" by "the loss of my beloved child".
Between April 1877 and February 1878, she threatened five times to abdicate while pressuring Disraeli to act against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War, but her threats had no impact on the events or their conclusion with the Congress of Berlin. Disraeli's expansionist foreign policy, which Victoria endorsed, led to conflicts such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War. "If we are to maintain our position as a first-rate Power", she wrote, "we must ... be Prepared for attacks and wars, somewhere or other, CONTINUALLY." Victoria saw the expansion of the British Empire as civilising and benign, protecting native peoples from more aggressive powers or cruel rulers: "It is not in our custom to annexe countries", she said, "unless we are obliged & forced to do so." To Victoria's dismay, Disraeli lost the 1880 general election, and Gladstone returned as prime minister. When Disraeli died the following year, she was blinded by "fast falling tears", and erected a memorial tablet "placed by his grateful Sovereign and Friend, Victoria R.I."
On 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean, a disgruntled poet apparently offended by Victoria's refusal to accept one of his poems, shot at the Queen as her carriage left Windsor railway station. Gordon Chesney Wilson and another schoolboy from Eton College struck him with their umbrellas, until he was hustled away by a policeman. Victoria was outraged when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but was so pleased by the many expressions of loyalty after the attack that she said it was "worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved".
On 17 March 1883, Victoria fell down some stairs at Windsor, which left her lame until July; she never fully recovered and was plagued with rheumatism thereafter. John Brown died 10 days after her accident, and to the consternation of her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, Victoria began work on a eulogistic biography of Brown. Ponsonby and Randall Davidson, Dean of Windsor, who had both seen early drafts, advised Victoria against publication, on the grounds that it would stoke the rumours of a love affair. The manuscript was destroyed. In early 1884, Victoria did publish More Leaves from a Journal of a Life in the Highlands, a sequel to her earlier book, which she dedicated to her "devoted personal attendant and faithful friend John Brown". On the day after the first anniversary of Brown's death, Victoria was informed by telegram that her youngest son, Leopold, had died in Cannes. He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented. The following month, Victoria's youngest child, Beatrice, met and fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg at the wedding of Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine to Henry's brother Prince Louis of Battenberg. Beatrice and Henry planned to marry, but Victoria opposed the match at first, wishing to keep Beatrice at home to act as her companion. After a year, she was won around to the marriage by their promise to remain living with and attending her.
Victoria was pleased when Gladstone resigned in 1885 after his budget was defeated. She thought his government was "the worst I have ever had", and blamed him for the death of General Gordon during the Siege of Khartoum. Gladstone was replaced by Lord Salisbury. Salisbury's government only lasted a few months, however, and Victoria was forced to recall Gladstone, whom she referred to as a "half crazy & really in many ways ridiculous old man". Gladstone attempted to pass a bill granting Ireland home rule, but to Victoria's glee it was defeated. In the ensuing election, Gladstone's party lost to Salisbury's and the government switched hands again.
== Golden and Diamond Jubilees ==
In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee. She marked the fiftieth anniversary of her accession on 20 June with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. The following day, she participated in a procession and attended a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey. By this time, Victoria was once again extremely popular. Two days later on 23 June, she engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters, one of whom was Abdul Karim. He was soon promoted to "Munshi": teaching her Urdu and acting as a clerk. Her family and retainers were appalled, and accused Abdul Karim of spying for the Muslim Patriotic League and biasing the Queen against Hindus and in favour of Muslims. Equerry Frederick Ponsonby (the son of Sir Henry) discovered that the Munshi had lied about his parentage, and reported to Lord Elgin, Viceroy of India, "the Munshi occupies very much the same position as John Brown used to do." Victoria dismissed their complaints as racial prejudice. Abdul Karim remained in her service until he returned to India with a pension, on her death.
Victoria's eldest daughter became empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she was widowed a little over three months later, and Victoria's eldest grandchild became German Emperor as Wilhelm II. Victoria and Albert's hopes of a liberal Germany would go unfulfilled, as Wilhelm was a firm believer in autocracy. Victoria thought he had "little heart or Zartgefühl [tact] – and ... his conscience & intelligence have been completely wharped [sic]".
Gladstone returned to power after the 1892 general election; he was 82 years old. Victoria objected when Gladstone proposed appointing the Radical MP Henry Labouchère to the Cabinet, so Gladstone agreed not to appoint him. In 1894, Gladstone retired and, without consulting the outgoing prime minister, Victoria appointed Lord Rosebery as prime minister. His government was weak, and the following year Lord Salisbury replaced him. Salisbury remained prime minister for the remainder of Victoria's reign.
On 23 September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. The Queen requested that any special celebrations be delayed until 1897, to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee, which was made a festival of the British Empire at the suggestion of the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain. The prime ministers of all the self-governing Dominions were invited to London for the festivities. One reason for including the prime ministers of the Dominions and excluding foreign heads of state was to avoid having to invite Victoria's grandson Wilhelm II, who, it was feared, might cause trouble at the event.
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee procession on 22 June 1897 followed a route six miles long through London and included troops from all over the empire. The procession paused for an open-air service of thanksgiving held outside St Paul's Cathedral, throughout which Victoria sat in her open carriage, to avoid her having to climb the steps to enter the building. The celebration was marked by vast crowds of spectators and great outpourings of affection for the 78-year-old Queen.
== Declining health and death ==
Victoria regularly holidayed in mainland Europe. In 1889, during a stay in Biarritz, she became the first reigning monarch from Britain to visit Spain by briefly crossing the border. By April 1900, the Boer War was so unpopular in mainland Europe that her annual trip to France seemed inadvisable. Instead, the Queen went to Ireland for the first time since 1861, in part to acknowledge the contribution of Irish regiments to the South African war.
In July 1900, Victoria's second son, Alfred ("Affie"), died. "Oh, God! My poor darling Affie gone too", she wrote in her journal. "It is a horrible year, nothing but sadness & horrors of one kind & another."
Following a custom she maintained throughout her widowhood, Victoria spent the Christmas of 1900 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Rheumatism in her legs had rendered her disabled, and her eyesight was clouded by cataracts. Through early January, she felt "weak and unwell", and by mid-January she was "drowsy [...] dazed, [and] confused". Her favourite pet Pomeranian, Turi, was laid on her bed as a last request. Victoria died at 6:30 pm on 22 January 1901, aged 81, in the presence of her eldest son, Albert Edward, and grandson, Wilhelm II. Albert Edward succeeded immediately as Edward VII.
In 1897, Victoria had written instructions for her funeral, which was to be military as befitting a soldier's daughter and the head of the army, and white instead of black. On 25 January, Edward VII and Wilhelm II, together with Prince Arthur, helped lift her body into the coffin. She was dressed in a white dress and her wedding veil. An array of mementos commemorating her extended family, friends and servants were laid in the coffin with her, at her request, by her physician and dressers. One of Albert's dressing gowns was placed by her side, with a plaster cast of his hand, while a lock of John Brown's hair, along with a picture of him, was placed in her left hand concealed from the view of the family by a carefully positioned bunch of flowers. Items of jewellery placed on Victoria included the wedding ring of Brown's mother, which Brown gave Victoria in 1883. Her funeral took place on Saturday, 2 February, in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Following two days of lying-in-state, she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, within Home Park, Windsor.
With a reign of 63 years, seven months, and two days, Victoria was the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history, until her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II surpassed her on 9 September 2015. She was the last monarch of Britain from the House of Hanover; her son Edward VII belonged to her husband's House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
== Legacy ==
=== Reputation ===
According to one of her biographers, Giles St Aubyn, Victoria wrote an average of 2,500 words a day during her adult life. From July 1832 until just before her death, she kept a detailed journal, which eventually encompassed 122 volumes. After Victoria's death, her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, was appointed her literary executor. Beatrice transcribed and edited the diaries covering Victoria's accession onwards, and burned the originals in the process. Despite this destruction, much of the diaries still exist. In addition to Beatrice's edited copy, Lord Esher transcribed the volumes from 1832 to 1861 before Beatrice destroyed them. Part of Victoria's extensive correspondence has been published in volumes edited by A. C. Benson, Hector Bolitho, George Earle Buckle, Lord Esher, Roger Fulford, and Richard Hough among others.
In her later years, Victoria was stout, dowdy, and about five feet (1.5 metres) tall, but she projected a grand image. She was unpopular during the first years of her widowhood, but was well liked during the 1880s and 1890s, when she embodied the empire as a benevolent matriarchal figure. Only after the release of her diary and letters did the extent of her political influence become known to the wider public. Biographies of Victoria written before much of the primary material became available, such as Lytton Strachey's Queen Victoria of 1921, are now considered out of date. The biographies written by Elizabeth Longford and Cecil Woodham-Smith, in 1964 and 1972 respectively, are still widely admired. Stanley Weintraub's from 1987 is considered one of the gold-standard biographies of Victoria, and was the first to be written by an American. They, and others, conclude that as a person Victoria was emotional, obstinate, honest, and straight-talking.
Through Victoria's reign, the gradual establishment of a modern constitutional monarchy in Britain continued. Reforms of the voting system increased the power of the House of Commons at the expense of the House of Lords and the monarch. In 1867, Walter Bagehot wrote that the monarch only retained "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn". As Victoria's monarchy became more symbolic than political, it placed a strong emphasis on morality and family values, in contrast to the sexual, financial and personal scandals that had been associated with previous members of the House of Hanover and which had discredited the monarchy. The concept of the "family monarchy", with which the burgeoning middle classes could identify, was solidified.
=== Descendants and haemophilia ===
Victoria's links with Europe's royal families earned her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe". Of the grandchildren of Victoria and Albert, 34 survived to adulthood.
Victoria's youngest son, Leopold, was affected by the blood-clotting disease haemophilia B and at least two of her five daughters, Alice and Beatrice, were carriers. Royal haemophiliacs descended from Victoria included her great-grandsons, Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia; Alfonso, Prince of Asturias; and Infante Gonzalo of Spain. The presence of the disease in Victoria's descendants, but not in her ancestors, led to modern speculation that her true father was not the Duke of Kent, but a haemophiliac. There is no documentary evidence of a haemophiliac in connection with Victoria's mother, and as male carriers always had the disease, even if such a man had existed he would have been seriously ill. It is more likely that the mutation arose spontaneously because Victoria's father was over 50 at the time of her conception and haemophilia arises more frequently in the children of older fathers. Spontaneous mutations account for about a third of cases.
== Titles, styles, honours, and arms ==
=== Titles and styles ===
She was born Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, with a style of Her Royal Highness. At the end of her reign, her full style was: "Her Majesty Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India".
=== Honours ===
==== British honours ====
Royal Family Order of George IV, 1826
Founder of the Victoria Cross 5 February 1856
Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Star of India, 25 June 1861
Founder and Sovereign of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, 10 February 1862
Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Crown of India, 1 January 1878
Founder and Sovereign of the Order of the Indian Empire, 1 January 1878
Founder and Sovereign of the Royal Red Cross, 27 April 1883
Founder and Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order, 6 November 1886
Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1887
Founder and Sovereign of the Royal Victorian Order, 23 April 1896
==== Foreign honours ====
=== Arms ===
As Sovereign, Victoria used the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. As she could not succeed to the throne of Hanover, her arms did not carry the Hanoverian symbols that were used by her immediate predecessors. Her arms have been borne by all of her successors on the throne.
== Family ==
=== Issue ===
=== Ancestry ===
=== Family tree ===
Red borders indicate British monarchs
Bold borders indicate children of British monarchs |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margin_Call | Margin Call | Margin Call is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor in his feature directorial debut. The principal story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the 2008 financial crisis. It focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The title comes from the finance term for when an investor must increase the securities or other assets used as collateral for a loan when their value falls below a certain threshold. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci.
The film was produced by Myriad Pictures, Benaroya Pictures and Before the Door Pictures. It was produced in association with Washington Square Films. Theatrically, it was distributed by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions in North America, with Myriad handling international distribution through independent distributors. The director and screenwriter, J. C. Chandor, is the son of an investment banker; the screenplay was partially informed by Chandor's own foray into real estate investments in New York City shortly before the financial crash. The score was composed by Nathan Larson.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2011, and opened in theaters nationwide in the United States on October 21, 2011. It received positive critical reviews, and was nominated for several awards for its screenplay and direction, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It won best first film at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and best original screenplay at the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards in 2011. It grossed $2.5 million in domestic ticket sales after expanding to 178 theaters, and the film had a day-and-date release with video-on-demand sales that, based on early indicators, were comparable to theatrical ticket sales. The DVD and Blu-ray editions were released in the U.S. on December 20, 2011.
== Plot ==
In 2008, an investment bank begins laying off a large number of employees, among them Eric Dale, the head of risk management. Dale's attempts to speak about the implications of a model he is working on are ignored. On his way out, he gives a flash drive containing his work to Peter Sullivan, an analyst in his department, warning him to "be careful". Sullivan, intrigued, works after hours to complete Dale's model.
Sullivan discovers that the assumptions underpinning the firm's risk profile are wrong; historical volatility levels in mortgage-backed securities are being exceeded, so the firm's position in those assets is over-leveraged and the debt incurred from those over-leveraged assets could bankrupt the company. Sullivan calls his colleague, junior analyst Seth Bregman, to return to work with the head of credit trading, Will Emerson. Emerson in turn summons Sam Rogers, his boss, after reviewing Sullivan's findings. They are unable to contact Dale because his company phone has been disabled. Sullivan and Bregman go out to find Dale, while Rogers and Emerson inform the company's senior management of the situation.
A meeting of division head Jared Cohen, chief risk management officer Sarah Robertson, and other senior executives concludes that Sullivan's findings are accurate, and CEO John Tuld is called. Upon Tuld's arrival, and after Sullivan explains the problem, Rogers, Cohen, and Tuld spar regarding a course of action: Cohen's plan, favored by Tuld, is a fire sale of the problematic assets. Rogers disagrees, pointing out that the sale will damage the firm's relationships and reputation within the industry and cause major instability in the markets. Tuld stresses that his desire to avoid the firm's bankruptcy is worth that cost.
After the meeting with Tuld, Emerson learns from Dale's wife that he has returned home. Emerson travels to Dale's residence with Bregman and attempts to persuade him to return to the firm, but he refuses. During the drive back, Bregman asks if he will lose his job; Emerson responds that he likely will but, philosophizing on the nature of the financial markets, tells him not to lose faith and that his work is necessary.
Tuld tells Robertson that he will assign the blame to her in front of the traders and the board of directors; Robertson argues that she warned Tuld and Cohen about the situation over a year ago, and that both acknowledged the risks, but fails to persuade him. Meanwhile, Dale is bribed and forced into cooperating with Cohen's plan, with the firm threatening to cut his benefits and severance if he refuses. He spends the day commiserating with Robertson.
Despite his misgivings, Rogers rallies his traders and informs them of the fire sale. He acknowledges the damage likely to be done to their reputations and careers but tells them that they will receive seven-figure bonuses if most of the traders' assigned assets are sold by day's end. As trading progresses, the firm elicits suspicion and eventually anger from their counterparties and incurs heavy losses, but they manage to sell off most of the bad assets.
Another round of layoffs begins; Rogers, upon finding out that he was spared, confronts Tuld and submits his resignation. Tuld dismisses Rogers' view of the situation by recalling past economic crises, arguing that such events always happen and that Rogers should not feel guilty for acting in his and the firm's interests. Tuld asks Rogers to stay on for two more years, and Rogers reluctantly accepts, citing his personal financial need. Tuld also informs Rogers that Sullivan will be promoted.
Finally, Rogers buries his euthanized dog in his ex-wife's front yard during the night.
== Cast ==
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Chandor wrote the screenplay in a borrowed office at Washington Square Films on the Bowery, which he described as "a home for homeless film makers". While his family lived in Providence, he slept on the couch until production budget allowed him to rent a nearby apartment. He kept pictures of the actors on the wall to track eyelines for the multi-character conference room scenes.
=== Filming ===
Myriad Pictures first introduced the project at the Cannes Film Market in May 2010. Principal photography began on June 21, 2010, in New York City and was shot in 17 days. More than 80% of the action was shot on the 42nd floor of One Penn Plaza, which had recently been vacated by a trading firm. Jeremy Irons joined the cast during the third week of filming to play the firm's chief executive.
At the American Film Market in November 2010, Myriad president Kirk D'Amico showed footage to international buyers for the first time, closing deals in Germany, China, Canada, Australia, Italy, Russia, Scandinavia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Latin America.
The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Following the screening, multiple distributors competed to acquire the film. After all-night negotiations, Lionsgate partnered with Roadside Attractions to acquire North American distribution rights. IFC Films was reportedly among the top bidders, offering a seven-figure sum. Myriad Pictures retained international distribution rights.
The film also played in Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear. The film was produced by Zachary Quinto's production company, Before the Door Pictures, with Quinto and his two producing partners and Carnegie Mellon University classmates, Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa.
=== Inspirations ===
The film does not depict any real Wall Street firm, and the fictional firm is unnamed, but the plot has similarities to some events during the 2008 financial crisis: Goldman Sachs similarly moved early to hedge and reduce its position in mortgage-backed securities, at the urging of two employees, which essentially mirrors Tuld's comment about the advantage of moving first. Lehman Brothers moved second and went bankrupt. John Tuld's name is said to be a combination of Merrill Lynch's ex-CEO John Thain and Lehman Brothers' ex-CEO Richard Fuld. Director J. C. Chandor wrote the film in the days after Lehman Brothers failed.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
Margin Call grossed $5.4 million domestically (United States and Canada), and $14.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $19.5 million, against a budget of $3.5 million.
=== Critical reception ===
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 170 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Smart, tightly wound, and solidly acted, Margin Call turns the convoluted financial meltdown of '08 into gripping, thought-provoking drama." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
The New Yorker film critic David Denby said it was "easily the best Wall Street movie ever made". Philip French of The Guardian called it the "best fictional treatment" of the 2008 financial crisis. Justin Chang of Variety described it as "a methodical, coolly absorbing boardroom thriller". Jake Bernstein of ProPublica said that Chandor "used the financial crisis as a springboard to create the most insightful Wall Street movie ever filmed". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and half stars out of four, noting that it "employs an excellent cast who can make financial talk into compelling dialogue." In 2022, Bloomberg News financial columnist Matt Levine described Margin Call as "the best finance movie". Film critic Bill Wine rated it 3 out of 4 stars, noting in a review for CBS: "Chandor takes a gamble with a screenplay that some might see as repetitive, but works nicely to make dense material clear and understandable." Chris Knight of the National Post described it as "clearly a cautionary tale" but "also a crackling good thriller." Dylan Matthews of Vox wrote in 2022: "To a large degree, my love for Margin Call boils down to it being the one film that, more than any other, seems to understand the modern workplace (or at least the office workplace), and the moral compromises involved in living and thriving in that world."
A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "It is hard to believe that Margin Call is Mr. Chandor's first feature. His formal command – his ability to imply far more than he shows or says and to orchestrate a large, complex drama out of whispers, glances, and snippets of jargon – is downright awe inspiring." He continued: "Margin Call is a thriller, moving through ambient shadows to the anxious tempo of Nathan Larson's hushed, anxious score. It is also a horror movie, with disaster lurking like an unseen demon outside the skyscraper windows and behind the computer screens. It is also a workplace comedy of sorts. The crackling, syncopated dialogue and the plot, full of reversals and double crosses, owe an obvious debt to David Mamet's profane fables of deal-making machismo. Hovering over all of it is the dark romance of capital: the elegance of numbers; the kinkiness of money; the deep, rotten, erotic allure of power." Michael M. Grynbaum of The New York Times described it as "one of the quietest films about Wall Street ever made."
Mike Russell of The Oregonian rated it C+, noting that Chandor downplayed "everything to the point of mild sleepiness" and wrote "far too many variations of that Hollywood device where a character asks for a spreadsheet or highly technical financial concept to be explained to them 'in plain English, please.'"
Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Technical credits are top-notch. Frank DeMarco's sleek cinematography of the Manhattan skyline effectively immerses us in the soulless but inviting universe where these financial dramas played out. Sadly, the script doesn't burrow as rewardingly beneath the glittering surfaces."
=== Accolades === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z_season_3 | Dragon Ball Z season 3 | The third season of Dragon Ball Z anime series contains the Frieza arc, which comprises Part 2 of the Frieza Saga. The episodes are produced by Toei Animation, and are based on the final 26 volumes of the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama.
The 33-episode season originally ran from January to September 1991 in Japan on Fuji Television. The first English airing of the series was on Cartoon Network where Funimation Entertainment's dub of the series ran from September to November 1999.
Funimation released the season in a box set, and in June 2009, announced that they would be re-releasing Dragon Ball Z in a new seven volume set called the "Dragon Boxes". Based on the original series masters with frame-by-frame restoration, and is uncut. The first set was released November 10, 2009.
== Episode list == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_Technologies | Zebra Technologies | Zebra Technologies Corporation is an American multinational technology company, specializing in smart data capture systems. The company manufactures and sells marking, tracking, and computer printing technologies. Its products include mobile computers and tablets, software, thermal barcode label and receipt printers, RFID smart label printers/encoders/fixed & handheld readers/antennas, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) & machine vision (MV), and fixed industrial scanning hardware & software.
== History ==
Zebra was incorporated in 1969 as Data Specialties Incorporated, a manufacturer of high-speed electromechanical products. The company changed its focus to specialty on-demand labeling and ticketing systems in 1982 and became Zebra Technologies Corporation in 1986. Zebra became a publicly traded company in 1991.
In 1986, Zebra (then Data Specialties Incorporated) acquired Qwint Systems (formerly Martin Research), an early microcomputer pioneer which had restructured as a teletypewriter manufacturer at the beginning of the 1980s.
In 1998, Zebra Technologies merged with Eltron International, Inc. In 2000, Comtec Information Systems was acquired by Zebra Technologies, followed in 2003 by the acquisition of Atlantek, Inc., which was a manufacturer of photo ID printers.
In 2004, the company expanded into RFID smart label manufacturing. In the following years, Zebra also acquired Swecoin, WhereNet Corp, Proveo AG, and Navis Holdings (later divested in 2011).
The company bought the Enterprise Solutions Group (ESG) in 2008 and renamed the group Zebra Enterprise Solutions in 2009. In the same year, Multispectral Solutions, Inc. was acquired. In 2012, the companies LaserBand, and StepOne Systems were purchased with a cash price of $1.5 million.
In 2013, the company acquired Hart Systems for $94 million in cash from the private equity firm Topspin Partners LBO.
In 2014, Zebra acquired Motorola Solutions' Enterprise Division in a $3.45 billion transaction, providing mobile computing and advanced data capture communications technologies and services. Zebra's acquisition of the Enterprise Division included the Symbol Technologies and Psion product lines. Also in 2014, Zebra provided its real-time location system (RTLS) in NFL stadiums to track players and officials and provide location-based data for the NFL's Next Gen Stats program. Zebra’s partnership with the NFL extends through the 2025 football season.
In 2018, the company acquired Xplore Technologies, a maker of ruggedized tablets and other hard-wearing hardware.
In 2019, Zebra acquired Temptime Corporation, a provider of temperature monitoring devices to the healthcare industry. That same year, Zebra also acquired Profitect, a retail software company that developed a product line used for tracking and identifying inventory losses.
In 2020, Zebra acquired Reflexis Systems, a provider of workforce scheduling and task management software to the retail, food service, hospitality, and banking industries for $575 Million.
In 2021, Zebra acquired Adaptive Vision (provider of graphical Machine Vision software), Fetch Robotics (manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots) and Antuit.ai (provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions specific to forecasting and merchandising for the retail and CPG industries).
In 2022, Zebra acquired Matrox Imaging, a developer of machine vision components and systems.
In December 2023, Zebra partnered with Verizon Business to create a software package that will allow for a faster private 5G network. Zebra tablets and computers will work on Verizon's private network, allowing for more network capacity and fast communication.
In 2023, Zebra unveiled Zebra Workcloud - its purpose-built suite of enterprise software applications, primarily serving in retail, banking and healthcare industries. Zebra also introduced the WS50 powered by Workcloud, the first wearable Android touch computer.
In 2025, Zebra acquired Elo Touch Solutions for $1.3 billion in cash
== Locations ==
Zebra Technologies has more than 128 offices in 55 countries, including Australia, Poland, Czech Republic, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The company also has over 10,000+ partners across 180 countries. In the 2021 annual report, Zebra stated that it traded in 180 countries, with approximately 128 facilities and 9,800 employees.
== Reception ==
Newsweek included Zebra on its 2023 America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity list. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_on_the_Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame | List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame | The following list includes the names, locations, and categories of all the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The categories are motion pictures, television, recording, radio, live performance, and sports entertainment. The list does not include a star's name until his or her award ceremony has taken place, not at the time of nomination or an accepted nomination.
The stars are ordered alphabetically by surname, and all names are shown as they appear on the stars. A performer can have more than one star, recognising their separate achievements in more than one category. While the first seven honorees received their temporary stars in 1958, the list had grown by February 8, 1960, when the first 1,563 permanent stars were placed in the sidewalks along Hollywood Boulevard, already including 199 performers with repeat recognitions, such as the first three (of four) stars for Bob Hope and the first four (of five) stars for Gene Autry. All entries can be found on the Hollywood Walk of Fame website maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (see the External links section below). As of March 3, 2026, with a ceremony honoring Gabriel Iglesias, there are 2,838 stars embedded along the boulevard.
== A ==
== B ==
== C ==
== D ==
== E ==
== F ==
== G ==
== H ==
== I ==
== J ==
== K ==
== L ==
== M ==
== N ==
== O ==
== P ==
== Q ==
== R ==
== S ==
== T ==
== U ==
== V ==
== W ==
== X ==
== Y ==
== Z == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_It | Cut It | "Cut It" is a song by American rapper O.T. Genasis featuring fellow American rapper Young Dolph. Produced by ITrezBeats, the song was released on September 25, 2015 by Conglomerate and Atlantic Records, as a single from O.T.'s mixtape Rhythm & Bricks. The song was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) November 17, 2016, for selling over 2,000,000 digital copies in the United States.
== Music video ==
The song's accompanying music video premiered on October 9, 2015 on O.T. Genasis's YouTube account. Since its release, the music video has received over 220 million views on YouTube.
== Live performances ==
In 2016 Young Dolph performed his hit single "Cut It" live at the Royal South Central in Atlanta along with Solo Lucci and more to promote his debut album "King of Memphis". The performance was filmed by StayOnGrindTV's Director LookImHD.
== Commercial performance ==
"Cut It" debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the chart dated March 12, 2016 and eventually peaked at number 35, becoming O.T. Genasis's second top 40 hit, after his song "CoCo", which peaked at number 20 in 2014. The song also became Young Dolph's first top 40 entry. "Cut It" was certified platinum by the RIAA on November 17, 2016.
== Remixes ==
The official remix entitled "Cut It Remix: Part One" features Young Thug and Kevin Gates. The second remix entitled "Cut It Remix: Part Two" features Lil Wayne and T.I.
== Charts ==
== Certifications == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Nathan_Lane | List of awards and nominations received by Nathan Lane | This article is a List of awards and nominations received by Nathan Lane.
Nathan Lane is an American actor and comedian known for his roles on stage and screen. He has received several awards including three Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, which includes the Hal Prince Lifetime Achievement Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards.
Lane has received six Tony Award nominations receiving three wins for his performances as Pseudolus in the Stephen Sondheim musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996), Max Bialystock in the Mel Brooks satirical musical The Producers (2001), and Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner epic play Angels in America (2018). Lane has received eleven Drama Desk Award nominations receiving seven wins, which includes the Harold S. Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as two Obies, the Lucille Lortel Award and six Outer Critics Circle Awards. He also won the Laurence Olivier Award his performance on the West End stage in The Producers in London.
For his film work he has received two Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in Mike Nichols' The Birdcage (1996) and the film adaptation of the Mel Brooks Broadway musical The Producers.He received one Screen Actors Guild Award winning for Outstanding Ensemble for The Birdcage (1996) and the National Board of Review Award, also winning for Outstanding Ensemble for Nicholas Nickleby.
Lane has also received various awards for his work on television including a Primetime Emmy Award, and a record breaking eight nominations in the guest actor category. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Teddy Dimas in the Hulu mystery-comedy series Only Murders in the Building in 2022. He was Emmy-nominated for playing a thief in Frasier (1995), a former lover in Mad About You (1998), and Pepper Saltzman in Modern Family (2011-2014). He also received two Daytime Emmy Awards for voicing Timon in Timon & Pumbaa (1996) and Spot Helperman / Scott Leadready II in Teacher's Pet (2001).
== Major associations ==
=== Emmy Awards ===
=== Golden Globe Award ===
=== Screen Actors Guild Award ===
=== Olivier Awards ===
=== Tony Awards ===
== Theatre awards ==
== Miscellaneous awards ==
== Honorary awards == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush | Klondike Gold Rush | The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of Yukon in northwestern Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896; when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in films, literature, and photographs.
To reach the gold fields, most prospectors took the route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway in southeast Alaska. Here, the "Klondikers" could follow either the Chilkoot or White Pass trail to the Yukon River and sail down to the Klondike. The Canadian authorities required each person to bring a year's supply of food in order to prevent starvation. In all, the Klondikers' equipment weighed close to a ton, which most carried themselves in stages. Performing this task and contending with the mountainous terrain and cold climate meant that most of those who persisted did not arrive until the summer of 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed.
To accommodate the prospectors, boom towns sprang up along the routes. At their terminus, Dawson City was founded at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers. From a population of 500 in 1896, the town grew to house approximately 17,000 people by summer 1898. Built of wood, isolated, and unsanitary, Dawson suffered from fires, high prices, and epidemics. Despite this, the wealthiest prospectors spent extravagantly, gambling and drinking in the saloons. The indigenous Hän, on the other hand, suffered from the rush; they were forcibly moved into a reserve to make way for the Klondikers, and many died.
Beginning in 1898, the newspapers that had encouraged so many to travel to the Klondike lost interest in it. In the summer of 1899, gold was discovered around Nome in west Alaska, and many prospectors left the Klondike for the new goldfields, marking the end of the Klondike Rush. The boom towns declined, and the population of Dawson City fell. Gold mining production in the Klondike peaked in 1903 after heavier equipment was brought in. Since then, the Klondike has been mined on and off, and its legacy continues to draw tourists to the region and contribute to its prosperity. An estimated 14,000,000 oz (400,000,000 g) of gold has been taken from the area (until 2013), of which half came from Bonanza Creek and a quarter from Hunker Creek.
== Background ==
The indigenous peoples in north-west America had traded in copper nuggets prior to European expansion. Most of the tribes were aware that gold existed in the region, but the metal was not valued by them. The Russians and the Hudson's Bay Company had both explored the Yukon in the first half of the 19th century, but ignored the rumours of gold in favour of fur trading, which offered more immediate profits.
In the second half of the 19th century, American prospectors began to spread into the area. Making deals with the Native Tlingit and Tagish tribes, the early prospectors opened the important routes of Chilkoot and White Pass and reached the Yukon valley between 1870 and 1890. Here, they encountered the Hän people, semi-nomadic hunters and fishermen who lived along the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. The Hän did not appear to know about the extent of the gold deposits in the region.
In 1883, Ed Schieffelin identified gold deposits along the Yukon River, and an expedition up the Fortymile River in 1886 discovered considerable amounts of it and founded Fortymile City. The same year gold had been found on the banks of the Klondike River, but in small amounts and with no claims being made. By late 1886, several hundred miners were working their way along the Yukon valley, living in small mining camps and trading with the Hän. On the Alaskan side of the border, Circle City, a logtown, was established in 1893 on the Yukon River. In three years it grew to become "the Paris of Alaska", with about 1,200 inhabitants, saloons, opera houses, schools, and libraries. In 1896, it was so well-known that a correspondent from the Chicago Daily Record came to visit. At the end of the year, it became a ghost town, when large gold deposits were found upstream on the Klondike.
== Discovery (1896) ==
On August 16, 1896, an American prospector named George Carmack and two Tagish men, Skookum Jim (Keish), and Tagish Charlie (K̲áa Goox̱) were travelling south of the Klondike River. Following a suggestion from Robert Henderson, a Canadian prospector, they began looking for gold on Bonanza Creek, then called Rabbit Creek, one of the Klondike's tributaries. It is not clear who discovered the gold: George Carmack or Skookum Jim, but the group agreed to let George Carmack appear as the official discoverer because they feared that authorities would not recognize an indigenous claimant.
In any event, gold was present along the river in huge quantities. Carmack measured out four strips of ground for mining along the river, two for himself as the discoverer and one each for Jim and Charlie. These claims were registered the next day at the police post at the mouth of the Fortymile River and news spread rapidly from there to other mining camps in the Yukon River valley.
By the end of August, all of Bonanza Creek had been claimed by miners. A prospector then advanced up into one of the creeks feeding into the Bonanza, later to be named Eldorado Creek. He discovered new sources of gold there, which would prove to be even richer than those on the Bonanza. Claims began to be sold between miners and speculators for considerable sums. Just before Christmas, word of the gold reached Circle City. Despite the winter, many prospectors immediately left for the Klondike by dog-sled, eager to reach the region before the best claims were taken. The outside world was still largely unaware of the news, and although Canadian officials had managed to send a message to their superiors in Ottawa about the finds and influx of prospectors, the government did not give it much attention. The winter prevented river traffic, and it was not until June 1897 that the first boats left the area, carrying the freshly mined gold and the full story of the discoveries.
== Beginning of the stampede (July 1897) ==
In the resulting Klondike stampede, an estimated 100,000 people tried to reach the Klondike goldfields, though only around 30,000 to 40,000 eventually did. The height of the Klondike gold rush was from the summer of 1897 to the summer of 1898.
It began on July 14, 1897, in San Francisco and was spurred further three days later in Seattle, when the first of the early prospectors returned from the Klondike, bringing with them large amounts of gold on the ships Excelsior and Portland. The press reported that a total of $1,139,000 (equivalent to $1 billion at 2010 prices) had been brought in by these ships, although this proved to be an underestimate. The migration of prospectors caught so much attention that it was joined by outfitters, writers and photographers.
Various factors lay behind this sudden mass response. Economically, the news had reached the US at the height of a series of financial recessions and bank failures in the 1890s. The gold standard of the time tied paper money to the production of gold and shortages towards the end of the 19th century meant that gold dollars were rapidly increasing in value ahead of paper currencies and being hoarded. This had contributed to the Panic of 1893 and Panic of 1896, which caused unemployment and financial uncertainty. There was a huge, unresolved demand for gold across the developed world that the Klondike promised to fulfil and, for individuals, the region promised higher wages or financial security.
Psychologically, the Klondike, as historian Pierre Berton describes, was "just far enough away to be romantic and just close enough to be accessible". Furthermore, the Pacific ports closest to the gold strikes were desperate to encourage trade and travel to the region. The mass journalism of the period promoted the event and the human interest stories that lay behind it. A worldwide publicity campaign engineered largely by Erastus Brainerd, a Seattle newspaperman, helped establish that city as the premier supply centre and the departure point for the gold fields.
The prospectors came from many nations, although an estimated majority of 60 to 80 percent were Americans or recent immigrants to America. Most had no experience in the mining industry, being clerks or salesmen. Mass resignations of staff to join the gold rush became notorious. In Seattle, this included the mayor, twelve policemen, and a significant percentage of the city's streetcar drivers.
Some stampeders were famous: John McGraw, the former governor of Washington, joined, together with the prominent lawyer and sportsman A. Balliot. Frederick Burnham, a well-known American scout and explorer, arrived from Africa, only to be called back to take part in the Second Boer War. Among those who documented the rush was the Swedish-born photographer Eric Hegg, who took some of the iconic pictures of Chilkoot Pass, and reporter Tappan Adney, who afterwards wrote a first-hand history of the stampede. Jack London, later a famous American writer, left to seek for gold but made his money during the rush mostly by working for prospectors. Friedrich Trump, grandfather of later US president Donald Trump, had arrived in the U.S. in 1885. He joined the gold rush as a provider.
Seattle and San Francisco competed fiercely for business during the rush, with Seattle winning the larger share of trade. Indeed, one of the first to join the gold rush was William D. Wood, the mayor of Seattle, who resigned and formed a company to transport prospectors to the Klondike.
The publicity around the gold rush led to a flurry of equipment adding "Klondike" to the name, allegedly designed for the northwest. Guidebooks offered advice about routes, equipment, mining, and costs. The newspapers of the time termed this phenomenon "Klondicitis".
== Routes to the Klondike ==
The Klondike could be reached only by the Yukon River, either upstream from its delta, downstream from its head, or from somewhere in the middle through its tributaries. River boats could navigate the Yukon in the summer from the delta until a point called Whitehorse, above the Klondike. Travel, in general, was made difficult by both terrain and climate. The region was mountainous, the rivers winding and sometimes impassable; summers, albeit short, still brought heat, while during the long winters, temperatures could drop below −50 °C (−58 °F).
Aids for the travellers to carry their supplies varied; some had brought dogs, horses, mules, or oxen, whereas others had to rely on carrying their equipment on their backs or on sleds pulled by hand. Shortly after the stampede began in 1897, the Canadian authorities introduced rules requiring anyone entering Yukon Territory to bring with them a year's supply of food; typically this weighed around 1,150 pounds (520 kg). By the time camping equipment, tools and other essentials were included, a typical traveller was transporting as much as a ton in weight. Unsurprisingly, the price of draft animals soared; at Dyea, even poor quality horses could sell for as much as $700 ($25,083 in 2025), or be rented out for $40 ($1,433 in 2025) a day.
From Seattle or San Francisco, prospectors could travel by sea up the coast to the ports of Alaska. The route following the coast is now referred to as the Inside Passage. It led to the ports of Dyea and Skagway plus ports of nearby trails. The sudden increase in demand encouraged a range of vessels to be pressed into service including old paddle wheelers, fishing boats, barges, and coal ships still full of coal dust. All were overloaded and many sank.
=== All water routes ===
It was possible to sail all the way to the Klondike, first from Seattle across the northern Pacific to the Alaskan coast. From St. Michael, at the Yukon River delta, a river boat could then take the prospectors the rest of the way up the river to Dawson, often guided by one of the Native Koyukon people who lived near St. Michael. Although this all-water route, also called "the rich man's route", was expensive and long – 4,700 miles (7,600 km) in total – it had the attraction of speed and avoiding overland travel. At the beginning of the stampede a ticket could be bought for $150 ($5,375 in 2025) while during the winter 1897–98 the fare settled at $1,000 ($38,700 in 2025).
In 1897, some 1,800 travellers attempted this route but the vast majority were caught along the river when the region iced over in October. Only 43 reached the Klondike before winter and of those 35 had to return, having thrown away their equipment en route to reach their destination in time. The remainder mostly found themselves stranded in isolated camps and settlements along the ice-covered river often in desperate circumstances.
=== Dyea/Skagway routes ===
Most of the prospectors landed at the southeast Alaskan towns of Dyea and Skagway, both located at the head of the natural Lynn Canal at the end of the Inside Passage. From there, they needed to travel over the mountain ranges into Canada's Yukon Territory, and then down the river network to the Klondike. Along the trails, tent camps sprung up at places where prospectors had to stop to eat or sleep or at obstacles such as the icy lakes at the head of the Yukon. At the start of the rush, a ticket from Seattle to the port of Dyea cost $40 ($1,433 in 2025) for a cabin. Premiums of $100 ($3,583 in 2025), however, were soon paid and the steamship companies hesitated to post their rates in advance since they could increase on a daily basis.
==== White Pass trail ====
Those who landed at Skagway made their way over the White Pass before cutting across to Bennett Lake. Although the trail began gently, it progressed over several mountains with paths as narrow as 2 feet (0.61 m) and in wider parts covered with boulders and sharp rocks. Under these conditions horses died in huge numbers, giving the route the informal name of Dead Horse Trail. The volumes of travellers and the wet weather made the trail impassable and, by late 1897, it was closed until further notice, leaving around 5,000 stranded in Skagway.
An alternative toll road suitable for wagons was eventually constructed and this, combined with colder weather that froze the muddy ground, allowed the White Pass to reopen, and prospectors began to make their way into Canada. Moving supplies and equipment over the pass had to be done in stages. Most divided their belongings into 65 pounds (29 kg) packages that could be carried on a man's back, or heavier loads that could be pulled by hand on a sled. Ferrying packages forwards and walking back for more, a prospector would need about thirty round trips, a distance of at least 2,500 miles (4,000 km), before they had moved all of their supplies to the end of the trail. Even using a heavy sled, a strong man would be covering 1,000 miles (1,600 km) and need around 90 days to reach Lake Bennett.
==== Chilkoot trail ====
Those who landed at Dyea, Skagway's neighbour town, travelled the Chilkoot Trail and crossed its pass to reach Lake Lindeman, which fed into Lake Bennett at the head of the Yukon River. The Chilkoot Pass was higher than the White Pass, but more used it: around 22,000 during the gold rush. The trail passed up through camps until it reached a flat ledge, just before the main ascent, which was too steep for animals. This location was known as the Scales, and was where goods were weighed before travellers officially entered Canada. The cold, the steepness and the weight of equipment made the climb extremely arduous and it could take a day to get to the top of the 1,000 feet (300 m) high slope.
As on the White Pass trail, supplies needed to be broken down into smaller packages and carried in relay. Packers, prepared to carry supplies for cash, were available along the route but would charge up to $1 ($35.83 in 2025) per lb (0.45 kg) on the later stages; many of these packers were natives: Tlingits or, less commonly, Tagish. Avalanches were common in the mountains and, on April 3, 1898, one claimed the lives of more than 60 people travelling over Chilkoot Pass.
Entrepreneurs began to provide solutions as the winter progressed. Steps were cut into the ice at the Chilkoot Pass which could be used for a daily fee, this 1,500 step staircase becoming known as the "Golden Steps". By December 1897, Archie Burns built a tramway up the final parts of the Chilkoot Pass. A horse at the bottom turned a wheel, which pulled a rope running to the top and back; freight was loaded on sledges pulled by the rope. Five more tramways soon followed, one powered by a steam engine, charging between 8 and 30 cents per 1 pound (0.45 kg). An aerial tramway was built in the spring of 1898, able to move 9 tonnes of goods an hour up to the summit.
==== Head of Yukon River ====
At Lakes Bennett and Lindeman, the prospectors camped to build rafts or boats that would take them the final 500 miles (800 km) down the Yukon to Dawson City in the spring. 7,124 boats of varying size and quality left in May 1898; by that time, the forests around the lakes had been largely cut down for timber. The river posed a new problem. Above Whitehorse, it was dangerous, with several rapids along the Miles Canyon through to the White Horse Rapids.
After many boats were wrecked and several hundred people died, the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) introduced safety rules, vetting the boats carefully and forbidding women and children to travel through the rapids. Additional rules stated that any boat carrying passengers required a licensed pilot, typically costing $25 ($895.80 in 2025), although some prospectors simply unpacked their boats and let them drift unmanned through the rapids with the intent of walking down to collect them on the other side. During the summer, a horse-powered rail-tramway was built by Norman Macaulay, capable of carrying boats and equipment through the canyon at $25 a time, removing the need for prospectors to navigate the rapids.
==== Parallel trails ====
There were a few more trails established during 1898 from South-east Alaska to the Yukon River. One was the Dalton trail: starting from Pyramid Harbour, close to Dyea, it went across the Chilkat Pass some miles west of Chilkoot and turned north to the Yukon River, a distance of about 350 miles (560 km). This was created by Jack Dalton as a summer route, intended for cattle and horses, and Dalton charged a toll of $250 ($9,675 in 2025) for its use.
The Takou route started from Juneau and went north-east to Teslin Lake. From here, it followed a river to the Yukon, where it met the Dyea and Skagway route at a point halfway to the Klondike. It meant dragging and poling canoes up-river and through mud together with crossing a 5,000 feet (1,500 m) mountain along a narrow trail.
Finally, there was the Stikine route starting from the port of Wrangell further south-east of Skagway. This route went up the uneasy Stikine River to Glenora, the head of navigation. From Glenora, prospectors would have to carry their supplies 150 miles (240 km) to Teslin Lake where it, like the Takou route, met the Yukon River system.
=== All-Canadian routes ===
An alternative to the South-east Alaskan ports were the All-Canadian routes, so-called because they mostly stayed on Canadian soil throughout their journey. These were popular with British and Canadians for patriotic reasons and because they avoided American customs. The first of these, around 1,000 miles (1,600 km) in length, started from Ashcroft in British Columbia and crossed swamps, river gorges, and mountains until it met with the Stikine River route at Glenora. From Glenora, prospectors would face the same difficulties as those who came from Wrangell. At least 1,500 men attempted to travel along the Ashcroft route and 5,000 along the Stikine. The mud and the slushy ice of the two routes proved exhausting, killing or incapacitating the pack animals and creating chaos amongst the travellers.
Three more routes started from Edmonton, Alberta; these were not much better – barely trails at all – despite being advertised as "the inside track" and the "back door to the Klondike". One, the "overland route", headed north-west from Edmonton, ultimately meeting the Peace River and then continuing on overland to the Klondike, crossing the Liard River en route. To encourage travel via Edmonton, the government hired T.W. Chalmers to build a trail, which became known as the Klondike Trail or Chalmers Trail. The other two trails, known as the "water routes", involved more river travel. One went by boat along rivers and overland to the Yukon River system at Pelly River and from there to Dawson. Another went north of Dawson by the Mackenzie River to Fort McPherson, before entering Alaska and meeting the Yukon River at Fort Yukon, downstream to the Klondike. From here, the boat and equipment had to be pulled up the Yukon about 400 miles (640 km). An estimated 1,660 travellers took these three routes, of whom only 685 arrived, some taking up to 18 months to make the journey.
==== "All-American" route ====
An equivalent to the All-Canadian routes was the "All-American route", which aimed to reach the Yukon from the port of Valdez, which lay further along the Alaskan coast from Skagway. This, it was hoped, would evade the Canadian customs posts and provide an American-controlled route into the interior. From late 1897 onwards 3,500 men and women attempted it; delayed by the winter snows, fresh efforts were made in the spring.
In practice, the huge Valdez glacier that stood between the port and the Alaskan interior proved almost insurmountable and only 200 managed to climb it; by 1899, the cold and scurvy was causing many deaths amongst the rest. Other prospectors attempted an alternative route across the Malaspina Glacier just to the east, suffering even greater hardships. Those who did manage to cross it found themselves having to negotiate miles of wilderness before they could reach Dawson. Their expedition was forced to turn back the same way they had come, with only four men surviving.
=== Border control ===
The borders in South-east Alaska were disputed between the US, Canada and Britain since the American purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. The US and Canada both claimed the ports of Dyea and Skagway. This, combined with the numbers of American prospectors, the quantities of gold being mined and the difficulties in exercising government authority in such a remote area, made the control of the borders a sensitive issue.
Early on in the gold rush, the US Army sent a small detachment to Circle City, in case intervention was required in the Klondike, while the Canadian government considered excluding all American prospectors from the Yukon Territory. Neither eventuality took place and instead the US agreed to make Dyea a sub-port of entry for Canadians, allowing British ships to land Canadian passengers and goods freely there, while Canada agreed to permit American miners to operate in the Klondike. Both decisions were unpopular among their domestic publics: American businessmen complained that their right to a monopoly on regional trade was being undermined, while the Canadian public demanded action against the American miners.
The North-West Mounted Police set up control posts at the borders of the Yukon Territory or, where that was disputed, at easily controlled points such as the Chilkoot and White Passes. These units were armed with Maxim guns. Their tasks included enforcing the rules requiring that travellers bring a year's supply of food with them to be allowed into the Yukon Territory, checking for illegal weapons, preventing the entry of criminals and enforcing customs duties.
This last task was particularly unpopular with American prospectors, who faced paying an average of 25 percent of the value of their goods and supplies. The Mounties had a reputation for running these posts honestly, although accusations were made that they took bribes. Prospectors, on the other hand, tried to smuggle prize items like silk and whiskey across the pass in tins and bales of hay: the former item for the ladies, the latter for the saloons.
== Mining ==
Of the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people who reached Dawson City during the gold rush, only around 15,000 to 20,000 finally became prospectors. Of these, no more than 4,000 struck gold and only a few hundred became rich. By the time most of the stampeders arrived in 1898, the best creeks had all been claimed, either by the long-term miners in the region or by the first arrivals of the year before. The Bonanza, Eldorado, Hunker, and Dominion Creeks were all taken, with almost 10,000 claims recorded by the authorities by July 1898; a new prospector would have to look further afield to find a claim of his own.
Geologically, the region was permeated with veins of gold, forced to the surface by volcanic action and then worn away by the action of rivers and streams, leaving nuggets and gold dust in deposits known as placer gold. Some ores lay along the creek beds in lines of soil, typically 15 feet (4.6 m) to 30 feet (9.1 m) beneath the surface. Others, formed by even older streams, lay along the hilltops; these deposits were called "bench gold". Finding the gold was challenging. Initially, miners had assumed that all the gold would be along the existing creeks, and it was not until late in 1897 that the hilltops began to be mined. Gold was also unevenly distributed, which made the prediction of good mining sites uncertain without exploratory digging.
=== Methods ===
Mining began with clearing the ground of vegetation and debris. Prospect holes were then dug in an attempt to find the ore or "pay streak". If these holes looked productive, proper digging could commence, aiming down to the bedrock, where the majority of the gold was found. The digging would be carefully monitored in case the operation needed to be shifted to allow for changes in the flow.
In the sub-Arctic climate of the Klondike, a layer of hard permafrost lay only 6 feet (1.8 m) below the surface. Traditionally, this had meant that mining in the region only occurred during the summer months, but the pressure of the gold rush made such a delay unacceptable. Late 19th-century technology existed for dealing with this problem, including hydraulic mining and stripping, and dredging. Still, the heavy equipment required for this could not be brought into the Klondike during the gold rush.
Instead, the miners relied on wood fires to soften the ground to a depth of about 14 inches (360 mm) and then remove the resulting gravel. The process was repeated until the gold was reached. In theory, no support of the shaft was necessary because of the permafrost although in practice sometimes the fire melted the permafrost and caused collapses. Fires could also produce harmful gases, which had to be removed by bellows or other tools. The resulting "dirt" brought out of the mines froze quickly in winter and could be processed only during the warmer summer months. An alternative, more efficient, approach called steam thawing was devised between 1897 and 1898; this used a furnace to pump steam directly into the ground, but since it required additional equipment it was not a widespread technique during the years of the rush.
In the summer, water would sluice and pan the dirt, separating the heavier gold from gravel. This required miners to construct sluices, which were sequences of wooden boxes 15 feet (4.6 m) long, through which the dirt would be washed; up to 20 of these might be needed for each mining operation. The sluices in turn required much water, usually produced by creating a dam and ditches or crude pipes. "Bench gold" mining on the hill sides could not use sluice lines because water could not be pumped that high up. Instead, these mines used rockers, boxes that moved back and forth like a cradle, to create the motion needed for separation. Finally, the resulting gold dust could be exported out of the Klondike; exchanged for paper money at the rate of $16 ($619.20 in 2025) per troy ounce (ozt)(31.1 g) through one of the major banks that opened in Dawson City, or simply used as money when dealing with local traders.
=== Business ===
Successful mining took time and capital, particularly once most of the timber around the Klondike had been cut down. A mining operation required $1,500 ($58,050 in 2025) of wood to melt the ground, around $1,000 ($38,700 in 2025) to construct a dam, $1,500 ($58,050 in 2025) for ditches and up to $600 ($23,220 in 2025) for sluice boxes, a total of $4,600 ($178,020 in 2025). The attraction of the Klondike to a prospector, however, was that when gold was found, it was often highly concentrated. Some of the creeks in the Klondike were fifteen times richer than those in California, and richer still than those in South Africa. In just two years, for example, $230,000 ($8.9 million in 2025) worth of gold was brought up from claim 29 on the Eldorado Creek.
Under Canadian law, miners first had to get a licence, either when they arrived at Dawson or en route from Victoria in Canada. They could then prospect and when they had found a suitable location, lay a claim to mining rights over it. To stake a claim, a prospector would drive stakes into the ground a measured distance apart and then return to Dawson to register the claim for $15 ($580.50 in 2025). This normally had to be done within three days, and by 1897 only one claim per person at a time was allowed in a district, although married couples could exploit a loophole that allowed the wife to register a claim in her own name, doubling their amount of land.
The claim could be mined freely for a year, after which a $100 ($3,870 in 2025) fee had to be paid annually. Should the prospector leave the claim for more than three days without good reason, another miner could make a claim on the land. The Canadian government also charged a royalty of between 10 and 20 percent on the value of gold taken from a claim.
Traditionally, a mining claim had been granted over a 500-foot (150 m) long stretch of a creek, including the land from one side of the valley to another. The Canadian authorities had tried to reduce this length to 150 feet (46 m), but under pressure from miners had been forced to agree to 250 feet (76 m). The only exception to this was a "Discovery" claim, the first to be made on a creek, which could be 500 feet (150 m) long. The exact lengths of claims were often challenged and when the government surveyor William Ogilvie conducted surveys to settle disputes, he found some claims exceeded the official limit. The excess fractions of land then became available as claims and were sometimes quite valuable.
Claims could be bought. However, their price depended on whether they had been yet proved to contain gold. A prospector with capital might consider taking a risk on an "unproved" claim on one of the better creeks for $5,000 ($193,500 in 2025); a wealthier miner could buy a "proved" mine for $50,000 ($1.94 million in 2025). The well known claim eight on Eldorado Creek was sold for as much as $350,000 ($13.5 million in 2025). Prospectors were also allowed to hire others to work for them. Enterprising miners such as Alex McDonald set about amassing mines and employees. Leveraging his acquisitions with short-term loans, by the autumn of 1897 McDonald had purchased 28 claims, estimated to be worth millions. Swiftwater Bill famously borrowed heavily against his claim on the Eldorado creek, relying on hired hands to mine the gold to keep up his interest payments.
The less fortunate prospectors soon found themselves destitute. Some sold their equipment and return south while others took manual jobs, either in mines or in Dawson. The typical daily pay of $15 ($580.50 in 2025) was high by external standards, but low compared to the local cost of living. The possibility that a new creek might produce gold, however, continued to tempt poorer prospectors and caused small stampedes around the Klondike throughout the gold rush.
== Life in the Klondike ==
The massive influx of prospectors drove the formation of boom towns along the routes of the stampede, with Dawson City in the Klondike the largest. The new towns were crowded, often chaotic and many disappeared just as soon as they came. Most stampeders were men but women also travelled to the region, typically as the wife of a prospector. Some women entertained in gambling and dance halls built by business men and women who were encouraged by the lavish spending of successful miners.
Dawson remained relatively lawful, protected by the Canadian NWMP, which meant that gambling and prostitution were accepted while robbery and murder were kept low. By contrast, especially the port of Skagway under US jurisdiction in Southeast Alaska became infamous for its criminal underworld. The extreme climate and remoteness of the region in general meant that supplies and communication with the outside world including news and mail were scarce.
=== Boomtowns ===
The ports of Dyea and Skagway, through which most of the prospectors entered, were tiny settlements before the gold rush, Skagway consisting of only a single log cabin, and Dyea comprising a handful of Tlingit houses and the Healy & Wilson trading store. Because there were no docking facilities, ships had to unload their cargo directly onto the beach, where people tried to move their goods before high tide. Inevitably cargos were lost in the process. Some travellers had arrived intending to supply goods and services to the would-be miners; some of these in turn, realizing how difficult it would be to reach Dawson, chose to do the same. Within weeks, storehouses, saloons, and offices lined the muddy streets of Dyea and Skagway, surrounded by tents and hovels.
Skagway became famous in international media; the author John Muir described the town as "a nest of ants taken into a strange country and stirred up by a stick". While Dyea remained a transit point throughout the winter, Skagway began to take on a more permanent character. Skagway also built wharves out into the bay in order to attract a greater share of the prospectors. The town was effectively lawless, dominated by drinking, gunfire and prostitution. The visiting NWMP Superintendent Sam Steele noted that it was "little better than a hell on earth ... about the roughest place in the world". Nonetheless, by the summer of 1898, with a population—including migrants—of between 15,000 and 20,000, Skagway was the largest city in Alaska.
In early 1898 Skagway fell under the control of Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith and his men, who arrived from Seattle shortly after Skagway began to expand. He was an American confidence man whose gang, 200 to 300 strong, cheated and stole from the prospectors travelling through the region. He maintained the illusion of being an upstanding member of the community, opening three saloons as well as creating fake businesses to assist in his operations. One of his scams was a fake telegraph office charging to send messages all over the US and Canada, often pretending to receive a reply. Opposition to Smith steadily grew and, after weeks of vigilante activity, he was killed in Skagway during the shootout on Juneau Wharf on July 8, 1898.
Other towns also boomed. Wrangell, port of the Stikine route and boom town from earlier gold rushes, increased in size again, with robberies, gambling and nude female dancing commonplace. Valdez, formed on the Gulf of Alaska during the attempt to create the "All-American" route to the Klondike during the winter of 1897–1898, became a tent city of people who stayed behind to supply the ill-fated attempts to reach the interior. Edmonton, Alberta (at that time, the District of Alberta in the Northwest Territories), Canada, increased from a population of 1,200 before the gold rush to 4,000 during 1898. Beyond the immediate region, cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Vancouver and Victoria all saw their populations soar as a result of the stampede and the trade it brought along.
=== Dawson City ===
Dawson City was founded in the early years of the Klondike goldrush, when prospector Joe Ladue and shopkeeper Arthur Harper decided to
make a profit from the influx to the Klondike. The two men bought 178 acres (72 ha) of the mudflats at the junction of the Klondike and Yukon rivers from the government and laid out the street plan for a new town, bringing in timber and other supplies to sell to the migrants. The Hän village of Tr'ochëk along Deer Creek was considered to be too close to the new town, and the NWMP Superintendent Charles Constantine moved its inhabitants 3 miles (4.8 km) down-river to a small reserve. The town, in the beginning simply known as "Harper and Ladue town site", was named Dawson City after the director of Canada's Geographical Survey. It grew rapidly to hold 500 people by the winter of 1896, with plots of land selling for $500 ($19,350 in 2025) each.
In the spring of 1898, the Dawson area population, including the surrounding gold fields, rose further to 30,000 as stampeders arrived over the passes. The centre of the town, Front Street, was lined with hastily built buildings and warehouses, together with log cabins and tents spreading out across the rest of the settlement. There was no running water or sewerage, and only two springs for drinking water to supplement the increasingly polluted river. In spring, the unpaved streets were churned into thick mud and in summer the settlement reeked of human effluent and was plagued by flies and mosquitoes. Land in Dawson was now scarce, and plots sold for up to $10,000 ($387,000 in 2025) each; prime locations on Front Street could reach $20,000 ($774,000 in 2025) while a small log cabin might rent for $100 ($3,870 in 2025) a month. As a result, Dawson's population spread south into the empty Hän village, renaming it Klondike City. Other communities emerged closer to the mines, such as Granville on Dominion Creek and Grand Forks on Bonanza Creek.
The newly built town proved highly vulnerable to fire. Houses were made of wood, heated with stoves and lit by candles and oil lamps; water for emergencies was wanting, especially in the frozen winters. The first major fire occurred on November 25, 1897, started accidentally by dance-hall girl Belle Mitchell. She also accidentally started a second major fire on October 14, 1898, which, in the absence of a fire brigade in Dawson, destroyed two major saloons, the post-office building and the Bank of British North America at a cost of $500,000 ($19.4 million in 2025). The worst fire occurred on April 26, 1899, when a saloon caught fire in the middle of a strike by the newly established fire brigade. Most of the major landmarks in the town were burned to the ground: 117 buildings were destroyed, with the damage estimated at over $1 million ($38.7 million in 2025).
==== Supply situation ====
The remoteness of Dawson proved an ongoing problem for the supply of food, and as the population grew to 5,000 in 1897, this became critical. When the rivers iced over, it became clear that there would not be enough food for that winter. The NWMP evacuated some prospectors without supplies to Fort Yukon in Alaska from September 30, 1897 onwards, while others made their way out of the Klondike in search of food and shelter for the winter.
Prices remained high in Dawson and supply fluctuated according to the season. During the winter of 1897 salt became worth its weight in gold, while nails, vital for construction work, rose in price to $28 ($1,084 in 2025) per lb (0.45 kg). Cans of butter sold for $5 ($193.50 in 2025) each. The only eight horses in Dawson were slaughtered for dog food as they could not be kept alive over the winter. The first fresh goods arriving in the spring of 1898 sold for record prices, eggs reaching $3 ($116.10 in 2025) each and apples $1 ($38.70 in 2025).
==== Illness ====
Scurvy, a potentially fatal illness caused by the lack of vitamin C, became a problem, particularly during the winter where fresh food was unavailable. English prospectors gave it the telling name of "Canadian black leg". It struck, among others, writer Jack London and, although not fatal in his case, brought an end to his mining career. Dysentery and malaria were also common in Dawson, and an epidemic of typhoid broke out in July and ran rampant throughout the summer. Up to 140 patients were taken into the newly constructed St Mary's Hospital and thousands were affected. Measures were taken by the following year to prevent further outbreaks, including the introduction of better sewage management and the piping in of water from further upstream. These gave improvements in 1899, although typhoid remained a problem. The new Hän reserve, however, lay downstream from Dawson City, and here the badly contaminated river continued to contribute to epidemics of typhoid and diphtheria throughout the gold rush.
==== Conspicuous consumption ====
Despite these challenges, the huge quantities of gold coming through Dawson City encouraged a lavish lifestyle amongst the richer prospectors. Saloons were typically open 24 hours a day, with whiskey the standard drink. Gambling was popular, with the major saloons each running their own rooms; a culture of high stakes evolved, with rich prospectors routinely betting $1,000 ($38,700 in 2025) at dice or playing for a $5,000 ($193,500 in 2025) poker pot. The establishments around Front Street had grand façades in a Parisian style, mirrors and plate-glass windows and, from late 1898, were lit by electric light. The dance halls in Dawson were particularly prestigious and major status symbols, both for customers and their owners. Wealthy prospectors were expected to drink champagne at $60 ($2,322 in 2025) a bottle, and the Pavilion dancehall cost its owner, Charlie Kimball, as much as $100,000 ($3.87 million in 2025) to construct and decorate. Elaborate opera houses were built, bringing singers and specialty acts to Dawson.
Tales abounded of prospectors spending huge sums on entertainment — Jimmy McMahon once spent $28,000 ($1.08 million in 2025) in a single evening, for example. Most payments were made in gold dust and in places like saloons, there was so much spilled gold that a profit could be made just by sweeping the floor. Some of the richest prospectors lived flamboyantly in Dawson. Swiftwater Bill, a gambler who rarely went anywhere without wearing silk and diamonds, was one of them. When he discovered the woman he was in love with (who liked eggs, an expensive luxury) was dining with another man, he allegedly bought all the eggs in Dawson, had them boiled and fed them to dogs. Another miner, Frank Conrad, threw a sequence of gold objects onto a ship as tokens of his esteem when his favourite singer left Dawson City. The wealthiest dance-hall girls followed suit: Daisy D'Avara had a belt made for herself from $340 ($13,158 in 2025) in gold dollar coins; another, Gertie Lovejoy, had a diamond inserted between her two front teeth. The miner and businessman Alex McDonald, despite being styled the "King of the Klondike", was unusual amongst his peers for his lack of grandiose spending.
==== Law and order ====
Unlike its American equivalents, Dawson City was a law-abiding town. By 1897, 96 members of the NWMP had been sent to the district and by 1898, this had increased to 288, an expensive commitment by the Canadian government. By June 1898, the force was headed by Colonel Sam Steele, an officer with a reputation for firm discipline. In 1898, there were no murders and only a few major thefts; in all, only about 150 arrests were made in the Yukon for serious offences that year. Of these arrests, over half were for prostitution and resulted from an attempt by the NWMP to regulate the sex industry in Dawson: regular monthly arrests, $50 ($1,935 in 2025) fines and medical inspections were imposed, with the proceeds being used to fund the local hospitals. The so-called blue laws were strictly enforced. Saloons and other establishments closed promptly at midnight on Saturday, and anyone caught working on Sunday was liable to be fined or set to chopping firewood for the NWMP. The NWMP are generally regarded by historians to have been an efficient and honest force during the period, although their task was helped by the geography of the Klondike which made it relatively easy to bar entry to undesirables or prevent suspects from leaving the region.
In contrast to the NWMP, the early civil authorities were criticized by the prospectors for being inept and potentially corrupt. Thomas Fawcett was the gold commissioner and temporary head of the Klondike administration at the start of the gold rush; he was accused of keeping the details of new claims secret and allowing what historian Kathryn Winslow termed "carelessness, ignorance and partiality" to reign in the mine recorder's office. Following campaigns against him by prospectors, who were backed by the local press, Fawcett was relieved by the Canadian government. His successor, Major James Morrow Walsh, was considered a stronger character and arrived in May 1898, but fell ill and returned east in July. It was left to his replacement, William Ogilvie, supported by a Royal Commission, to conduct reforms. The Commission, in lack of evidence, cleared Fawcett of all charges, which meant that he was not punished further than being relieved. Ogilvie proved a much stronger administrator and subsequently revisited many of the mining surveys of his predecessors.
=== News and mail ===
In the remote Klondike, there was great demand for news and contact with the world outside. During the first months of the stampede in 1897, it was said that no news was too old to be read. In the lack of newspapers, some prospectors would read can labels until they knew them by heart. The following year, two teams fought their way over the passes to reach Dawson City first, complete with printing-presses, with the aim of gaining control of the newspaper market. Gene Kelly, the editor of the Klondike Nugget arrived first, but without his equipment, and it was the team behind the Midnight Sun who produced the first daily newspaper in Dawson. The Dawson Miner followed shortly after, bringing the number of daily newspapers in the town during the gold rush up to three. The Nugget sold for $24 ($928.80 in 2025) as an annual subscription, and became well known for championing miners and for its lucid coverage of scandals. Paper was often hard to find and during the winter of 1898–99, the Nugget had to be printed on butcher's wrapping paper. News could also be told. In June, 1898, a prospector bought an edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at an auction and charged spectators a dollar($38.70 in 2025) each to have it read aloud in one of Dawson's halls.
Mail service was chaotic during the stampede. Apart from the number of prospectors, two major obstacles stood in its way. To begin with, any mail from America to Dawson City was sent to Juneau in South-east Alaska before being sent through Dawson and then down the Yukon to Circle City. From here it was then distributed by the US Post Office back up to Dawson. The huge distances involved resulted in delays of several months and frequently the loss of protective envelopes and their addresses. The second problem was in Dawson itself, which initially lacked a post office and therefore relied on two stores and a saloon to act as informal delivery points. The NWMP were tasked to run the mail system by October 1897, but they were ill-trained to do so. Up to 5,700 letters might arrive in a single shipment, all of which had to be collected in person from the post office. This resulted in huge queues, with claimants lining up outside the office for up to three days. Those who had no time and could afford it would pay others to stand in line for them, preferably a woman since they were allowed to get ahead in line out of politeness. Postage stamps, like paper in general, were scarce and rationed to two per customer. By 1899, trained postal staff took over mail delivery and relieved the NWMP of this task.
=== Role of women ===
In 1898 eight percent of those living in the Klondike territory were women, and in towns like Dawson this rose to 12 percent. Many women arrived with their husbands or families, but others travelled alone. Most came to the Klondike for similar economic and social reasons as male prospectors, but they attracted particular media interest. The gender imbalance in the Klondike encouraged business proposals to ship young, single women into the region to marry newly wealthy miners; few, if any, of these marriages ever took place, but some single women appear to have travelled on their own in the hope of finding prosperous husbands. Guidebooks gave recommendations for what practical clothes women should take to the Klondike: the female dress code of the time was formal, emphasizing long skirts and corsets, but most women adapted this for the conditions of the trails. Regardless of experience, women in a party were typically expected to cook for the group. Few mothers brought their children with them due to the risks of the travel.
Once in the Klondike, very few women—less than one percent—actually worked as miners. Many were married to miners; however, their lives as partners on the gold fields were still hard and often lonely. They had extensive domestic duties, including thawing ice and snow for water, breaking up frozen food, chopping wood and collecting wild foods. In Dawson and other towns, some women took in laundry to make money. This was a physically demanding job but could be relatively easily combined with child care duties. Others took jobs in the service industry, for example as waitresses or seamstresses, which could pay well, but were often punctuated by periods of unemployment. Both men and women opened roadhouses, but women were considered to be better at running them. A few women worked in the packing trade, carrying goods on their backs, or became domestic servants.
Wealthier women with capital might invest in mines and other businesses. One of the most prominent businesswomen in the Klondike was Belinda Mulrooney. She brought a consignment of cloth and hot water bottles with her when she arrived in the Klondike in early 1897, and with the proceeds of those sales she first built a roadhouse at Grand Forks and later a grand hotel in Dawson. She invested widely, including acquiring her own mining company, and was reputed to be the richest woman of the Klondike. The wealthy Martha Black was abandoned by her husband early in the journey to the Klondike but continued on without him, reaching Dawson City where she became a prominent citizen, investing in various mining and business ventures with her brother.
A relatively small number of women worked in the entertainment and sex industries. The elite of these women were the highly paid actresses and courtesans of Dawson; beneath them were chorus line dancers, who usually doubled as hostesses and other dance hall workers. While still better paid than white-collar male workers, these women worked very long hours and had significant expenses. The entertainment industry merged into the sex industry, where women made a living as prostitutes. The sex industry in the Klondike was concentrated in Klondike City and in a backstreet area of Dawson. A hierarchy of sexual employment existed, with brothels and parlour houses at the top, small independent "cigar shops" in the middle, and, at the bottom, the prostitutes who worked out of small huts called "hutches". Life for these workers was a continual struggle and the suicide rate was high.
The degree of involvement between Indigenous women and the stampeders varied. Many Tlingit women worked as packers for the prospectors, for example, carrying supplies and equipment, sometimes also transporting their babies as well. Hän women had relatively little contact with the white immigrants, however, and there was a significant social divide between local Hän women and white women. Although before 1897 there had been a number of Indigenous women who married western men, including Kate Carmack, the Tagish wife of one of the discoverers, this practice did not survive into the stampede. Very few stampeders married Hän women, and very few Hän women worked as prostitutes. "Respectable" white women would avoid associating with Indigenous women or prostitutes: those who did risked scandal.
=== Recreation ===
Baseball was the national pastime during the Klondike era and was a significant aspect of social life in Boomtowns. Whalers, goldrush stampeders and the first soldiers deployed as border patrol brought the game of baseball with them to Alaska. The first baseball games played in the region occurred on Herschel Island off the Yukon's Arctic Coast in December 1893 in the Arctic Whalemen’s Pennant. As early as 1900, Skagway, Alaska had three teams representing railroaders, soldiers and juniors. Teams representing cities (Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka), villages (Metlakatla, Hydaburg), Alaska Native organizations (Alaska Native Brotherhood, Auk Tlingit) and mining companies (Treadwell, Alaska Juneau) were formed up and down the coast.
== End of the gold rush ==
By 1899 telegraphy stretched from Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon, allowing instant international contact. In 1898, the White Pass and Yukon Route railway began to be built between Skagway and the head of navigation on the Yukon. When it was completed in 1900, the Chilkoot trail and its tramways became obsolete. Despite these improvements in communication and transport, the rush faltered from 1898 on. It began in the summer of 1898, when many of the prospectors arriving in Dawson City found themselves unable to make a living and left for home. For those who stayed, the wages of casual work, depressed by the number of men, fell to $100 ($3,870 in 2025) a month by 1899.
The world's newspapers began to turn against the Klondike gold rush as well. In the spring of 1898, the Spanish–American War removed Klondike from the headlines. "Ah, go to the Klondike!" became a popular phrase of disgust. Klondike-branded goods had to be disposed of at special rates in Seattle.
Another factor in the decline was the change in Dawson City, which had developed throughout 1898, metamorphosing from a ramshackle, if wealthy, boom town into a more sedate, conservative municipality. Modern luxuries were introduced, including "zinc bath tubs, pianos, billiard tables, Brussels carpets in hotel dining rooms, menus printed in French and invitational balls" as noted by historian Kathryn Winslow. Visiting Senator Jerry Lynch likened the newly paved streets with their smartly dressed inhabitants to the Strand in London. It was no longer attractive for prospectors used to a wilder way of living. Even the formerly lawless town of Skagway had become respectable by 1899.
The final trigger, however, was the discovery of gold elsewhere in Canada and Alaska, prompting a new stampede, this time away from the Klondike. In August 1898, gold had been found at Atlin Lake at the head of the Yukon River, generating a flurry of interest, but during the winter of 1898–99 much larger quantities were found at Nome. In 1899, a flood of prospectors from across the region left for Nome, about 2,500 from Dawson alone during August and September. The Klondike gold rush was over.
== Legacy ==
=== People ===
Only a few hundred of the 100,000 people who left for the Klondike during the gold rush became rich, and only a handful managed to maintain their wealth. They typically spent $1,000 ($38,700 in 2025) each reaching the region, which when combined exceeded what was produced from the gold fields between 1897 and 1901. Those who did find gold often lost their fortunes in the subsequent years and died penniless attempting to reproduce their earlier good fortune. Businessman and miner Alex McDonald, for example, continued to accumulate land after the boom until his money ran out; he died in poverty, still prospecting. Antoine Stander, who discovered gold on Eldorado Creek, abused alcohol, dissipated his fortune and ended working in a ship's kitchen to pay his way. The three discoverers had mixed fates. George Carmack left his wife Kate—who had found it difficult to adapt to their new lifestyle—remarried and lived in relative prosperity; Skookum Jim had a huge income from his mining royalties but refused to settle and continued to prospect until his death in 1916; Dawson Charlie spent lavishly and died in an alcohol-related accident. The richest of the Klondike saloon owners, businessmen and gamblers also typically lost their fortunes and died in poverty. Gene Allen, for example, the editor of the Klondike Nugget, became bankrupt and spent the rest of his career in smaller newspapers; the prominent gambler and saloon owner Sam Bonnifield suffered a nervous breakdown and died in extreme poverty.
Nonetheless, some of those who joined the gold rush prospered. Kathleen Rockwell, for example, became a famous dancer in Dawson and remained popular in America until her death. Rockwell's tales from the North invigorated readers and audience members across the United States and Canada. Becoming known as 'Klondike Kate' to those who read about her adventures, Rockwell became a star. However, her tall tales and catchy nickname were plagiarized from New Brunswicker Katherine Ryan, and one of the first individuals to arrive in the Klondike not long after gold was discovered in the area. Katherine Ryan may not have received deserving recognition in the public eye, but she is remembered as one of the first women to walk the Stikine Trail, as an early suffragette, and as an integral piece of Dawson City's culture. Dawson City was also where Alexander Pantages, the business partner and lover of Kathleen Rockwell, started his career, going on to become one of America's greatest theatre and movie tycoons. The businesswoman Martha Black, who had been abandoned by her husband on the way to the Klondike, remarried and ultimately became the second female member of the Parliament of Canada.
The impact of the gold rush on the Native peoples of the region was considerable. The Tlingit and the Koyukon peoples prospered in the short term from their work as guides, packers and from selling food and supplies to the prospectors. In the longer term, however, especially the Hän people living in the Klondike region suffered from the environmental damage of the gold mining on the rivers and forests. Their population had already begun to decline after the discovery of gold along Fortymile River in the 1880s but dropped catastrophically after their move to the reserve, a result of the contaminated water supply and smallpox. The Hän found only few ways to benefit economically from the gold rush and their fishing and hunting grounds were largely destroyed. By 1904 they needed aid from the NWMP to prevent famine.
=== Places ===
Dawson City declined after the gold rush. When journalist Laura Berton (future mother of Pierre Berton) moved to Dawson in 1907 it was still thriving, but away from Front Street, the town had become increasingly deserted, jammed, as she put it, "with the refuse of the gold rush: stoves, furniture, gold-pans, sets of dishes, double-belled seltzer bottles ... piles of rusting mining machinery—boilers, winches, wheelbarrows and pumps". By 1912, only around 2,000 inhabitants remained, compared to the 30,000 of the boom years, and the site was becoming a ghost town. By 1972, 500 people were living in Dawson, while the nearby settlements created during the gold rush had been entirely abandoned. The population has grown since the 1970s, with 1,300 recorded in 2006.
During the gold rush, transport improvements meant that heavier mining equipment could be brought in and larger, more modern mines established in the Klondike, revolutionizing the gold industry. Gold production increased until 1903 as a result of the dredging and hydraulic mining, but then declined; by 2005, approximately 1,250,000 pounds (570,000 kg) had been recovered from the Klondike area. In the 21st century, Dawson City still has a small gold mining industry, which together with tourism, taking advantage of the legacy of the gold rush, plays a role in the local economy. Many buildings in the centre of the town reflect the style of the era. The Klondike River valley was affected by the gold rush by the heavy dredging that occurred after it.
The port of Skagway also shrank after the rush, but remains a well-preserved period town, centred on the tourist industry and sightseeing trips from visiting cruise ships. The National Park Service restored Jeff Smith's Parlor, from which the famous con man "Soapy" Smith once operated, during 2010–2016. Skagway also has one of the two visitor centres forming the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park; the other is located in Seattle, and both focus on the human interest stories behind the gold rush. By contrast, Dyea, Skagway's neighbour and former rival, was abandoned after the gold rush and is now a ghost town. The railway built for prospectors through White Pass in the last year of the rush reopened in 1988 and is today only used by tourists, closely linked to the Chilkoot trail which is a popular hiking route.
The Tr’ondëk-Klondike World Heritage Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Canada, protects a series of eight properties that attest to the effects of the rapid colonization of the area, including the Gold Rush, on the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people. The World Heritage Site was designated in 2023.
=== Culture ===
The events of the Klondike gold rush rapidly became embedded in North American culture, being captured in poems, stories, photographs and promotional campaigns long after the end of the stampede. In the Yukon, Discovery Day is celebrated on the third Monday in August as a holiday, and the events of the gold rush are promoted by the regional tourist industries. The events of the gold rush were frequently exaggerated at the time and modern works on the subject similarly often focus on the most dramatic and exciting events of the stampede, not always accurately. Historian Ken Coates describes the gold rush as "a resilient, pliable myth", which continues to fascinate and appeal.
Several novels, books and poems were generated as a consequence of the Klondike gold rush. The writer Jack London incorporated scenes from the gold rush into his novels and short stories set in the Klondike, including The Call of the Wild, a 1903 novel about a sled dog. His colleague, poet Robert W. Service, did not join the rush himself, although he made his home in Dawson City in 1908. Service created well-known poems about the gold rush, among them Songs of a Sourdough, one of the bestselling books of poetry in the first decade of the 20th century, along with his novel, The Trail of '98, which was written by hand on wallpaper in one of Dawson's log cabins. The Canadian historian Pierre Berton grew up in Dawson where his father had been a prospector, and wrote several historical books about the gold rush, such as The Last Great Gold Rush. The experiences of the Irish Micí Mac Gabhann resulted the posthumous work Rotha Mór an tSaoil (translated into English as The Hard Road to Klondike in 1962), a vivid description of the period.
Some terminology from the stampede made its way into North American English like "cheechakos", referring to newly arrived miners, and "sourdoughs", experienced miners.
The photographs taken during the Klondike gold rush heavily influenced later cultural approaches to the stampede. The gold rush was vividly recorded by several early photographers, for instance Eric A. Hegg; these stark, black-and-white photographs showing the ascent of the Chilkoot pass rapidly became iconic images and were widely distributed. These pictures, in turn, inspired Charlie Chaplin to make The Gold Rush, a silent movie, which uses the background of the Klondike to combine physical comedy with its character's desperate battle for survival in the harsh conditions of the stampede. The photographs reappear in the documentary City of Gold from 1957 which, narrated by Pierre Berton, won prizes for pioneering the incorporation of still images into documentary film-making. The Klondike gold rush, however, has not been widely covered in later fictional films; even The Far Country, a Western from 1955 set in the Klondike, largely ignores the unique features of the gold rush in favour of a traditional Western plot. Indeed, much of the popular literature on the gold rush approaches the stampede simply as a final phase of the expansion of the American West, a perception critiqued by modern historians such as Charlene Porsild.
== Charts and tables ==
=== Maps of routes and goldfields ===
==== Dyea/Skagway routes and Dalton trail ====
==== Takou, Stikine and Edmonton routes ====
==== Goldfields ====
=== Gold production in Yukon, 1892–1912 ===
=== Population growth of west coast cities, 1890–1900 ===
=== Klondikers supply list ===
The list was a suggestion of equipment and supplies sufficient to support a prospector for one year, generated by the Northern Pacific Railroad company in 1897. The total weight is approximately 1 ton, and the estimated cost amounted to $140 ($5,418 in 2025).
=== Timeline ===
1896
August 16: Gold is discovered on Bonanza Creek by George Carmack and Skookum Jim.
August 31: First claim on Eldorado Creek is made by Antone Stander.
1897
January 21: William Ogilvie sends news of the Klondike gold discovery to Ottawa.
July 14: Excelsior arrives at San Francisco with the first gold from the Klondike and starts stampede.
July 15: Portland arrives at Seattle.
July 19: First ship leaves for Klondike
August 16: Ex-mayor Wood from Seattle leaves San Francisco on his ship Humboldt with prospectors for Klondike (reaches St. Michael on August 29, but is forced to spend the winter on the Yukon River).
September 11: 10% royalty is established on gold mined in Yukon.
September 27: People without supplies for the winter leave Dawson in search of food.
November 8: Work begins on Brackett wagon road through White Pass.
1898
February 25: Troops arrive at Skagway to maintain order. Collection of customs begins at Chilkoot summit.
March 8: Vigilante activity against Soapy Smith starts at Skagway.
April 3: Avalanche kills more than 60 at Chilkoot Pass.
April 24: Spanish–American War begins.
May 1: Soapy Smith stages a military parade in Skagway.
May 27: Klondike Nugget begins publication in Dawson.
May 29: Ice goes out on Yukon River and flotilla of boats sets out for Dawson.
June 8: First boat with stampeeders reaches Dawson.
June 24: Sam Steele (NWMP) arrives at Dawson.
July 8: Soapy Smith is shot to death in Skagway.
September 22: Gold found at Nome, Alaska
1899
January 27: The remnants of a relief expedition send out in winter 1897 finally reaches Dawson.
February 16: First train from Skagway reaches the White Pass summit.
April 26: Fire destroys business district in Dawson.
August: 8000 prospectors leave Dawson for Nome, ending the Klondike Gold Rush.
Source: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Nag | Sachin Nag | Sachin Nag (Bengali: শচীন নাগ; 5 July 1920 – 19 August 1987) was an Indian swimmer. He won the gold medal in men's 100 m freestyle at the 1951 Asian Games, the first ever gold medal for India at the Asian Games. It remains the only gold medal won by India in Asian Games swimming as of the conclusion of the 2022 Asian Games. He was also a member of the bronze medal-winning Indian teams in the men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and the men's 3x100 m medley relay at the 1951 Asian Games.
He competed in the men's 100 m freestyle at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He also competed in the water polo at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He scored four goals on behalf of India. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus | Calculus | Calculus is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations.
Originally called infinitesimal calculus or the calculus of infinitesimals, it has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus. Differential calculus analyses instantaneous rates of change and the slopes of curves; integral calculus analyses accumulation of quantities and areas under or between curves. These two branches are related to each other by the fundamental theorem of calculus. Calculus uses convergence of infinite sequences and infinite series to a well-defined mathematical limit.
Calculus is the "mathematical backbone" for solving problems in which variable quantities change with time or another reference value. It has also been called "the basic instrument of physical science".
In the late 17th century, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz each independently formulated infinitesimal calculus. Later work, including codifying the idea of limits, put calculus on a more solid conceptual footing. The concepts and techniques of calculus have broad applications in science, engineering, and other branches of mathematics.
== Etymology ==
In mathematics education, calculus is an abbreviation of both infinitesimal calculus and integral calculus, which denotes courses of elementary mathematical analysis.
In Latin, the word calculus means “small pebble”, (the diminutive of calx, meaning "stone"), a meaning which still persists in medicine. Because such pebbles were used for counting out distances, tallying votes, and doing abacus arithmetic, the word came to be the Latin word for calculation. In this sense, it was used in English at least as early as 1672, several years before the publications of Leibniz and Newton, who wrote their mathematical texts in Latin.
In addition to differential calculus and integral calculus, the term is also used for naming specific methods of computation or theories that imply some sort of computation. Examples of this usage include propositional calculus, Ricci calculus, calculus of variations, lambda calculus, sequent calculus, and process calculus. Furthermore, the term "calculus" has variously been applied in ethics and philosophy, for such systems as Bentham's felicific calculus, and the ethical calculus.
== History ==
Modern calculus was developed in 17th-century Europe by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (independently of each other, first publishing around the same time). Elements of it first appeared in ancient Egypt and later Greece, then in China and the Middle East, and still later again in medieval Europe and India.
=== Ancient precursors ===
==== Egypt ====
Calculations of volume and area, one goal of integral calculus, can be found in the Egyptian Moscow papyrus (c. 1820 BC), but the formulae are simple instructions, with no indication as to how they were obtained.
==== Greece ====
Laying the foundations for integral calculus and foreshadowing the concept of the limit, ancient Greek mathematician Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. 390–337 BC) developed the method of exhaustion to prove the formulas for cone and pyramid volumes.
During the Hellenistic period, this method was further developed by Archimedes (c. 287 – c. 212 BC), who combined it with a concept of the indivisibles—a precursor to infinitesimals—allowing him to solve several problems now treated by integral calculus. In The Method of Mechanical Theorems he describes, for example, calculating the center of gravity of a solid hemisphere, the center of gravity of a frustum of a circular paraboloid, and the area of a region bounded by a parabola and one of its secant lines.
==== China ====
The method of exhaustion was later discovered independently in China by Liu Hui in the 3rd century AD to find the area of a circle. In the 5th century AD, Zu Gengzhi, son of Zu Chongzhi, established a method that would later be called Cavalieri's principle to find the volume of a sphere.
=== Medieval ===
==== Middle East ====
In the Middle East, Hasan Ibn al-Haytham, Latinized as Alhazen (c. 965 – c. 1040 AD) derived a formula for the sum of fourth powers. He determined the equations to calculate the area enclosed by the curve represented by
y
=
x
k
{\displaystyle y=x^{k}}
(which translates to the integral
∫
x
k
d
x
{\textstyle \int x^{k}dx}
in contemporary notation), for any given non-negative integer value of
k
{\displaystyle k}
. He used the results to carry out what would now be called an integration of this function, where the formulae for the sums of integral squares and fourth powers allowed him to calculate the volume of a paraboloid.
==== India ====
Bhāskara II (c. 1114–1185) was acquainted with some ideas of differential calculus and suggested that the "differential coefficient" vanishes at an extremum value of the function. In his astronomical work, he gave a procedure that looked like a precursor to infinitesimal methods. Namely, if
x
≈
y
{\displaystyle x\approx y}
then
sin
(
y
)
−
sin
(
x
)
≈
(
y
−
x
)
cos
(
y
)
.
{\displaystyle \sin(y)-\sin(x)\approx (y-x)\cos(y).}
This can be interpreted as the discovery that cosine is the derivative of sine. In the 14th century, Indian mathematicians gave a non-rigorous method, resembling differentiation, applicable to some trigonometric functions. Madhava of Sangamagrama and the Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics stated components of calculus. They studied series equivalent to the Maclaurin expansions of
sin
(
x
)
{\displaystyle \sin(x)}
,
cos
(
x
)
{\displaystyle \cos(x)}
, and
arctan
(
x
)
{\displaystyle \arctan(x)}
more than two hundred years before their introduction in Europe. According to Victor J. Katz, they, however, were not able to "combine many differing ideas under the two unifying themes of the derivative and the integral, show the connection between the two, and turn calculus into the great problem-solving tool we have today."
==== Europe ====
The mathematical study of continuity was revived in the 14th century by the Oxford Calculators and French collaborators such as Nicole Oresme. They proved the "Merton mean speed theorem": that a uniformly accelerated body travels the same distance as a body with uniform speed whose speed is half the final velocity of the accelerated body.
=== Modern ===
Johannes Kepler's work Stereometria Doliorum (1615) formed the basis of integral calculus. Kepler developed a method to calculate the area of an ellipse by adding up the lengths of many radii drawn from a focus of the ellipse.
Significant work was performed in a treatise, the origin being Kepler's methods, written by Bonaventura Cavalieri, who argued that volumes and areas should be computed as the sums of the volumes and areas of infinitesimally thin cross-sections. The ideas were similar to Archimedes' in The Method, but this treatise is believed to have been lost in the 13th century and was only rediscovered in the early 20th century, and so would have been unknown to Cavalieri. Cavalieri's work was not well respected since his methods could lead to erroneous results, and the infinitesimal quantities he introduced were disreputable at first.
The formal study of calculus brought together Cavalieri's infinitesimals with the calculus of finite differences developed in Europe at around the same time. Pierre de Fermat, claiming that he borrowed from Diophantus, introduced the concept of adequality, which represented equality up to an infinitesimal error term. The combination was achieved by John Wallis, Isaac Barrow, and James Gregory, the latter two proving themselves to be predecessors to the second fundamental theorem of calculus around 1670.
The product rule and chain rule, the notions of higher derivatives and Taylor series, and of analytic functions were used by Isaac Newton in an idiosyncratic notation which he applied to solve problems of mathematical physics. In his works, Newton rephrased his ideas to suit the mathematical idiom of the time, replacing calculations with infinitesimals by equivalent geometrical arguments which were considered beyond reproach. He used the methods of calculus to solve the problem of planetary motion, the shape of the surface of a rotating fluid, the oblateness of the earth, the motion of a weight sliding on a cycloid, and many other problems discussed in his Principia Mathematica (1687). In other work, he developed series expansions for functions, including fractional and irrational powers, and it was clear that he understood the principles of the Taylor series. He did not publish all these discoveries, and at this time infinitesimal methods were still considered disreputable.
These ideas were arranged into a true calculus of infinitesimals by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was originally accused of plagiarism by Newton. He is now regarded as an independent inventor of and contributor to calculus. His contribution was to provide a clear set of rules for working with infinitesimal quantities, allowing the computation of second and higher derivatives, and providing the product rule and chain rule, in their differential and integral forms. Unlike Newton, Leibniz put painstaking effort into his choices of notation.
Today, Leibniz and Newton are usually both given credit for independently inventing and developing calculus. Newton was the first to apply calculus to general physics. Leibniz developed much of the notation used in calculus today. The basic insights that both Newton and Leibniz provided led to their development of the laws of differentiation and integration, their emphasis that differentiation and integration are inverse processes, their development of methods for calculating the second and higher derivatives, and their statement of the notion for approximating a polynomial series.
When Newton and Leibniz first published their results, there was great controversy over which mathematician (and therefore which country) deserved credit. Newton derived his results first (later to be published in his Method of Fluxions), but Leibniz published his "Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis" first. Newton claimed Leibniz stole ideas from his unpublished notes, which Newton had shared with a few members of the Royal Society. This controversy divided English-speaking mathematicians from continental European mathematicians for many years, to the detriment of English mathematics. A careful examination of the papers of Leibniz and Newton shows that they arrived at their results independently, with Leibniz starting first with integration and Newton with differentiation. It is Leibniz, however, who gave the new discipline its name. Newton called his calculus "the science of fluxions", a term that endured in English schools into the 19th century. The first complete treatise on calculus to be written in English and use the Leibniz notation was not published until 1815.
Since the time of Leibniz and Newton, many mathematicians have contributed to the continuing development of calculus. One of the first and most complete works on both infinitesimal and integral calculus was written in 1748 by Maria Gaetana Agnesi.
=== Foundations ===
In calculus, foundations refers to the rigorous development of the subject from axioms and definitions. In early calculus, the use of infinitesimal quantities was thought unrigorous and was fiercely criticized by several authors, most notably Michel Rolle and Bishop Berkeley. Berkeley famously described infinitesimals as the ghosts of departed quantities in his book The Analyst in 1734. Working out a rigorous foundation for calculus occupied mathematicians for much of the century following Newton and Leibniz.
Several mathematicians, including Maclaurin, tried to prove the soundness of using infinitesimals, but it would not be until 150 years later when, due to the work of Cauchy and Weierstrass, a way was finally found to avoid mere "notions" of infinitely small quantities. The foundations of differential and integral calculus had been laid. In Cauchy's Cours d'Analyse, we find a broad range of foundational approaches, including a definition of continuity in terms of infinitesimals, and a (somewhat imprecise) prototype of an (ε, δ)-definition of limit in the definition of differentiation. In his work, Weierstrass formalized the concept of limit and eliminated infinitesimals (although his definition can validate nilsquare infinitesimals). Following the work of Weierstrass, it eventually became common to base calculus on limits instead of infinitesimal quantities, though the subject is still occasionally called "infinitesimal calculus". Bernhard Riemann used these ideas to give a precise definition of the integral. It was also during this period that the ideas of calculus were generalized to the complex plane with the development of complex analysis.
In modern mathematics, the foundations of calculus are included in the field of real analysis, which contains full definitions and proofs of the theorems of calculus. The reach of calculus has also been greatly extended. Henri Lebesgue invented measure theory, based on earlier developments by Émile Borel, and used it to define integrals of all but the most pathological functions. Laurent Schwartz introduced distributions, which can be used to take the derivative of any function whatsoever.
Limits are not the only rigorous approach to the foundation of calculus. Another way is to use Abraham Robinson's non-standard analysis. Robinson's approach, developed in the 1960s, uses technical machinery from mathematical logic to augment the real number system with infinitesimal and infinite numbers, as in the original Newton-Leibniz conception. The resulting numbers are called hyperreal numbers, and they can be used to give a Leibniz-like development of the usual rules of calculus. There is also smooth infinitesimal analysis, which differs from non-standard analysis in that it mandates neglecting higher-power infinitesimals during derivations. Based on the ideas of F. W. Lawvere and employing the methods of category theory, smooth infinitesimal analysis views all functions as being continuous and incapable of being expressed in terms of discrete entities. One aspect of this formulation is that the law of excluded middle does not hold. The law of excluded middle is also rejected in constructive mathematics, a branch of mathematics that insists that proofs of the existence of a number, function, or other mathematical object should give a construction of the object. Reformulations of calculus in a constructive framework are generally part of the subject of constructive analysis.
=== Significance ===
While many of the ideas of calculus had been developed earlier in Greece, China, India, Iraq, Persia, and Japan, the use of calculus began in Europe, during the 17th century, when Newton and Leibniz built on the work of earlier mathematicians to introduce its basic principles. The Hungarian polymath John von Neumann wrote of this work,
The calculus was the first achievement of modern mathematics and it is difficult to overestimate its importance. I think it defines more unequivocally than anything else the inception of modern mathematics, and the system of mathematical analysis, which is its logical development, still constitutes the greatest technical advance in exact thinking.
Applications of differential calculus include computations involving velocity and acceleration, the slope of a curve, and optimization. Applications of integral calculus include computations involving area, volume, arc length, center of mass, work, and pressure. More advanced applications include power series and Fourier series.
Calculus is also used to gain a more precise understanding of the nature of space, time, and motion. For centuries, mathematicians and philosophers wrestled with paradoxes involving division by zero or sums of infinitely many numbers. These questions arise in the study of motion and area. The ancient Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea gave several famous examples of such paradoxes. Calculus provides tools, especially the limit and the infinite series, that resolve the paradoxes.
== Principles ==
=== Limits and infinitesimals ===
Calculus is usually developed by working with very small quantities. Historically, the first method of doing so was by infinitesimals. These are objects which can be treated like real numbers but which are, in some sense, "infinitely small". For example, an infinitesimal number could be greater than 0, but less than any number in the sequence 1, 1/2, 1/3, ... and thus less than any positive real number. From this point of view, calculus is a collection of techniques for manipulating infinitesimals. The symbols
d
x
{\displaystyle dx}
and
d
y
{\displaystyle dy}
were taken to be infinitesimal, and the derivative
d
y
/
d
x
{\displaystyle dy/dx}
was their ratio.
The infinitesimal approach fell out of favor in the 19th century because it was difficult to make the notion of an infinitesimal precise. In the late 19th century, infinitesimals were replaced within academia by the epsilon, delta approach to limits. Limits describe the behavior of a function at a certain input in terms of its values at nearby inputs. They capture small-scale behavior using the intrinsic structure of the real number system (as a metric space with the least-upper-bound property). In this treatment, calculus is a collection of techniques for manipulating certain limits. Infinitesimals get replaced by sequences of smaller and smaller numbers, and the infinitely small behavior of a function is found by taking the limiting behavior for these sequences. Limits were thought to provide a more rigorous foundation for calculus, and for this reason, they became the standard approach during the 20th century. However, the infinitesimal concept was revived in the 20th century with the introduction of non-standard analysis and smooth infinitesimal analysis, which provided solid foundations for the manipulation of infinitesimals.
=== Differential calculus ===
Differential calculus is the study of the definition, properties, and applications of the derivative of a function. The process of finding the derivative is called differentiation. Given a function and a point in the domain, the derivative at that point is a way of encoding the small-scale behavior of the function near that point. By finding the derivative of a function at every point in its domain, it is possible to produce a new function, called the derivative function or just the derivative of the original function. In formal terms, the derivative is a linear operator which takes a function as its input and produces a second function as its output. This is more abstract than many of the processes studied in elementary algebra, where functions usually input a number and output another number. For example, if the doubling function is given the input three, then it outputs six, and if the squaring function is given the input three, then it outputs nine. The derivative, however, can take the squaring function as an input. This means that the derivative takes all the information of the squaring function—such as that two is sent to four, three is sent to nine, four is sent to sixteen, and so on—and uses this information to produce another function. The function produced by differentiating the squaring function turns out to be the doubling function.
In Lagrange's notation, the symbol for a derivative is an apostrophe-like mark called a prime. Thus, the derivative of a function called f is denoted by f′, pronounced "f prime" or "f dash". For instance, if f(x) = x2 is the squaring function, then f′(x) = 2x is its derivative (the doubling function g from above).
If the input of the function represents time, then the derivative represents change concerning time. For example, if f is a function that takes time as input and gives the position of a ball at that time as output, then the derivative of f is how the position is changing in time, that is, it is the velocity of the ball.
If a function is linear (that is if the graph of the function is a straight line), then the function can be written as y = mx + b, where x is the independent variable, y is the dependent variable, b is the y-intercept, and:
m
=
rise
run
=
change in
y
change in
x
=
Δ
y
Δ
x
.
{\displaystyle m={\frac {\text{rise}}{\text{run}}}={\frac {{\text{change in }}y}{{\text{change in }}x}}={\frac {\Delta y}{\Delta x}}.}
This gives an exact value for the slope of a straight line. If the graph of the function is not a straight line, however, then the change in y divided by the change in x varies. Derivatives give an exact meaning to the notion of change in output concerning change in input. To be concrete, let f be a function, and fix a point a in the domain of f. (a, f(a)) is a point on the graph of the function. If h is a number close to zero, then a + h is a number close to a. Therefore, (a + h, f(a + h)) is close to (a, f(a)). The slope between these two points is
m
=
f
(
a
+
h
)
−
f
(
a
)
(
a
+
h
)
−
a
=
f
(
a
+
h
)
−
f
(
a
)
h
.
{\displaystyle m={\frac {f(a+h)-f(a)}{(a+h)-a}}={\frac {f(a+h)-f(a)}{h}}.}
This expression is called a difference quotient. A line through two points on a curve is called a secant line, so m is the slope of the secant line between (a, f(a)) and (a + h, f(a + h)). The second line is only an approximation to the behavior of the function at the point a because it does not account for what happens between a and a + h. It is not possible to discover the behavior at a by setting h to zero because this would require dividing by zero, which is undefined. The derivative is defined by taking the limit as h tends to zero, meaning that it considers the behavior of f for all small values of h and extracts a consistent value for the case when h equals zero:
lim
h
→
0
f
(
a
+
h
)
−
f
(
a
)
h
.
{\displaystyle \lim _{h\to 0}{f(a+h)-f(a) \over {h}}.}
Geometrically, the derivative is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of f at a. The tangent line is a limit of secant lines just as the derivative is a limit of difference quotients. For this reason, the derivative is sometimes called the slope of the function f.
Here is a particular example, the derivative of the squaring function at the input 3. Let f(x) = x2 be the squaring function.
f
′
(
3
)
=
lim
h
→
0
(
3
+
h
)
2
−
3
2
h
=
lim
h
→
0
9
+
6
h
+
h
2
−
9
h
=
lim
h
→
0
6
h
+
h
2
h
=
lim
h
→
0
(
6
+
h
)
=
6
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}f'(3)&=\lim _{h\to 0}{(3+h)^{2}-3^{2} \over {h}}\\&=\lim _{h\to 0}{9+6h+h^{2}-9 \over {h}}\\&=\lim _{h\to 0}{6h+h^{2} \over {h}}\\&=\lim _{h\to 0}(6+h)\\&=6\end{aligned}}}
The slope of the tangent line to the squaring function at the point (3, 9) is 6, that is to say, it is going up six times as fast as it is going to the right. The limit process just described can be performed for any point in the domain of the squaring function. This defines the derivative function of the squaring function or just the derivative of the squaring function for short. A computation similar to the one above shows that the derivative of the squaring function is the doubling function.
=== Leibniz notation ===
A common notation, introduced by Leibniz, for the derivative in the example above is
y
=
x
2
d
y
d
x
=
2
x
.
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}y&=x^{2}\\{\frac {dy}{dx}}&=2x.\end{aligned}}}
In an approach based on limits, the symbol dy/ dx is to be interpreted not as the quotient of two numbers but as a shorthand for the limit computed above. Leibniz, however, did intend it to represent the quotient of two infinitesimally small numbers, dy being the infinitesimally small change in y caused by an infinitesimally small change dx applied to x. We can also think of d/ dx as a differentiation operator, which takes a function as an input and gives another function, the derivative, as the output. For example:
d
d
x
(
x
2
)
=
2
x
.
{\displaystyle {\frac {d}{dx}}(x^{2})=2x.}
In this usage, the dx in the denominator is read as "with respect to x". Another example of correct notation could be:
g
(
t
)
=
t
2
+
2
t
+
4
d
d
t
g
(
t
)
=
2
t
+
2
{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}g(t)&=t^{2}+2t+4\\{d \over dt}g(t)&=2t+2\end{aligned}}}
Even when calculus is developed using limits rather than infinitesimals, it is common to manipulate symbols like dx and dy as if they were real numbers; although it is possible to avoid such manipulations, they are sometimes notationally convenient in expressing operations such as the total derivative.
=== Integral calculus ===
Integral calculus is the study of the definitions, properties, and applications of two related concepts, the indefinite integral and the definite integral. The process of finding the value of an integral is called integration. The indefinite integral, also known as the antiderivative, is the inverse operation to the derivative. F is an indefinite integral of f when f is a derivative of F. (This use of lower- and upper-case letters for a function and its indefinite integral is common in calculus.) The definite integral inputs a function and outputs a number, which gives the algebraic sum of areas between the graph of the input and the x-axis. The technical definition of the definite integral involves the limit of a sum of areas of rectangles, called a Riemann sum.
A motivating example is the distance traveled in a given time. If the speed is constant, only multiplication is needed:
D
i
s
t
a
n
c
e
=
S
p
e
e
d
⋅
T
i
m
e
{\displaystyle \mathrm {Distance} =\mathrm {Speed} \cdot \mathrm {Time} }
But if the speed changes, a more powerful method of finding the distance is necessary. One such method is to approximate the distance traveled by breaking up the time into many short intervals of time, then multiplying the time elapsed in each interval by one of the speeds in that interval, and then taking the sum (a Riemann sum) of the approximate distance traveled in each interval. The basic idea is that if only a short time elapses, then the speed will stay more or less the same. However, a Riemann sum only gives an approximation of the distance traveled. We must take the limit of all such Riemann sums to find the exact distance traveled.
When velocity is constant, the total distance traveled over the given time interval can be computed by multiplying velocity and time. For example, traveling a steady 50 mph for 3 hours results in a total distance of 150 miles. Plotting the velocity as a function of time yields a rectangle with a height equal to the velocity and a width equal to the time elapsed. Therefore, the product of velocity and time also calculates the rectangular area under the (constant) velocity curve. This connection between the area under a curve and the distance traveled can be extended to any irregularly shaped region exhibiting a fluctuating velocity over a given period. If f(x) represents speed as it varies over time, the distance traveled between the times represented by a and b is the area of the region between f(x) and the x-axis, between x = a and x = b.
To approximate that area, an intuitive method would be to divide up the distance between a and b into several equal segments, the length of each segment represented by the symbol Δx. For each small segment, we can choose one value of the function f(x). Call that value h. Then the area of the rectangle with base Δx and height h gives the distance (time Δx multiplied by speed h) traveled in that segment. Associated with each segment is the average value of the function above it, f(x) = h. The sum of all such rectangles gives an approximation of the area between the axis and the curve, which is an approximation of the total distance traveled. A smaller value for Δx will give more rectangles and in most cases a better approximation, but for an exact answer, we need to take a limit as Δx approaches zero.
The symbol of integration is
∫
{\displaystyle \int }
, an elongated S chosen to suggest summation. The definite integral is written as:
∫
a
b
f
(
x
)
d
x
{\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}f(x)\,dx}
and is read "the integral from a to b of f-of-x with respect to x." The Leibniz notation dx is intended to suggest dividing the area under the curve into an infinite number of rectangles so that their width Δx becomes the infinitesimally small dx.
The indefinite integral, or antiderivative, is written:
∫
f
(
x
)
d
x
.
{\displaystyle \int f(x)\,dx.}
Functions differing by only a constant have the same derivative, and it can be shown that the antiderivative of a given function is a family of functions differing only by a constant. Since the derivative of the function y = x2 + C, where C is any constant, is y′ = 2x, the antiderivative of the latter is given by:
∫
2
x
d
x
=
x
2
+
C
.
{\displaystyle \int 2x\,dx=x^{2}+C.}
The unspecified constant C present in the indefinite integral or antiderivative is known as the constant of integration.
=== Fundamental theorem ===
The fundamental theorem of calculus states that differentiation and integration are inverse operations. More precisely, it relates the values of antiderivatives to definite integrals. Because it is usually easier to compute an antiderivative than to apply the definition of a definite integral, the fundamental theorem of calculus provides a practical way of computing definite integrals. It can also be interpreted as a precise statement of the fact that differentiation is the inverse of integration.
The fundamental theorem of calculus states: If a function f is continuous on the interval [a, b] and if F is a function whose derivative is f on the interval (a, b), then
∫
a
b
f
(
x
)
d
x
=
F
(
b
)
−
F
(
a
)
.
{\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}f(x)\,dx=F(b)-F(a).}
Furthermore, for every x in the interval (a, b),
d
d
x
∫
a
x
f
(
t
)
d
t
=
f
(
x
)
.
{\displaystyle {\frac {d}{dx}}\int _{a}^{x}f(t)\,dt=f(x).}
This realization, made by both Newton and Leibniz, was key to the proliferation of analytic results after their work became known. (The extent to which Newton and Leibniz were influenced by immediate predecessors, and particularly what Leibniz may have learned from the work of Isaac Barrow, is difficult to determine because of the priority dispute between them.) The fundamental theorem provides an algebraic method of computing many definite integrals—without performing limit processes—by finding formulae for antiderivatives. It is also a prototype solution of a differential equation. Differential equations relate an unknown function to its derivatives and are ubiquitous in the sciences.
== Applications ==
Calculus is used in every branch of the physical sciences, actuarial science, computer science, statistics, engineering, economics, business, medicine, demography, and in other fields wherever a problem can be mathematically modeled and an optimal solution is desired. It allows one to go from (non-constant) rates of change to the total change or vice versa, and many times in studying a problem we know one and are trying to find the other. Calculus can be used in conjunction with other mathematical disciplines. For example, it can be used with linear algebra to find the "best fit" linear approximation for a set of points in a domain. Or, it can be used in probability theory to determine the expectation value of a continuous random variable given a probability density function. In analytic geometry, the study of graphs of functions, calculus is used to find high points and low points (maxima and minima), slope, concavity, inflection points, area under curves, and area between curves. Calculus is also used to find approximate solutions to equations; in practice, it is the standard way to solve differential equations and do root finding in most applications. Examples are methods such as Newton's method, fixed point iteration, and linear approximation. For instance, spacecraft use a variation of the Euler method to approximate curved courses within zero-gravity environments.
Physics makes particular use of calculus; all concepts in classical mechanics and electromagnetism are related through calculus. The mass of an object of known density, the moment of inertia of objects, and the potential energies due to gravitational and electromagnetic forces can all be found by the use of calculus. An example of the use of calculus in mechanics is Newton's second law of motion, which states that the derivative of an object's momentum concerning time equals the net force upon it. Alternatively, Newton's second law can be expressed by saying that the net force equals the object's mass times its acceleration, which is the time derivative of velocity and thus the second time derivative of spatial position. Starting from knowing how an object is accelerating, we use calculus to derive its path.
Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism and Einstein's theory of general relativity are also expressed in the language of differential calculus. Chemistry also uses calculus in determining reaction rates and in studying radioactive decay. In biology, population dynamics starts with reproduction and death rates to model population changes.
Green's theorem, which gives the relationship between a line integral around a simple closed curve C and a double integral over the plane region D bounded by C, is applied in an instrument known as a planimeter, which is used to calculate the area of a flat surface on a drawing. For example, it can be used to calculate the amount of area taken up by an irregularly shaped flower bed or swimming pool when designing the layout of a piece of property.
In the realm of medicine, calculus can be used to find the optimal branching angle of a blood vessel to maximize flow. Calculus can be applied to understand how quickly a drug is eliminated from a body or how quickly a cancerous tumor grows.
In economics, calculus allows for the determination of maximal profit by providing a way to easily calculate both marginal cost and marginal revenue. It also is used for the pricing of options through the Black–Scholes model. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest_animals#Fish | Fastest animals#Fish | This is a list of the fastest animals in the world, by types of animal. The peregrine falcon is the fastest bird, and the fastest member of the animal kingdom, with a diving speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph). The fastest land animal is the cheetah. Among the fastest animals in the sea is the black marlin, with uncertain and conflicting reports of recorded speeds.
When drawing comparisons between different classes of animals, an alternative unit is sometimes used for organisms: body length per second. On this basis the 'fastest' organism on earth, relative to its body length, is the Southern Californian mite, Paratarsotomus macropalpis, which has a speed of 322 body lengths per second. The equivalent speed for a human, running as fast as this mite, would be 1,300 mph (2,092 km/h), or approximately Mach 1.7. The speed of the P. macropalpis is far in excess of the previous record holder, the Australian tiger beetle Rivacindela eburneola, which is the fastest insect in the world relative to body size, with a recorded speed of 1.86 metres per second (6.7 km/h; 4.2 mph), or 171 body lengths per second. The cheetah, the fastest land mammal, scores at only 16 body lengths per second. Body mass can also be used to compare speed between species on a relative basis. Under this parameter the fastest animal for its body mass is the cheetah, followed by the pronghorn.
Through studies of pronghorn running on treadmills, it has been estimated that the maximum speed that could be achieved using mainly oxygen would be 72 km/h (45 mph) for about 10 minutes, so higher speeds such as those reported in Thomson's gazelles, springboks, pronghorn and cheetahs require adaptations for principal use of anaerobic energy sources such as glycogen and creatine phosphate, and could therefore be maintained for only 30-45 seconds when these energy sources are depleted. High acceleration also requires the use of anaerobic energy sources.
== Fastest organism ==
== Invertebrates ==
== Fish ==
Due to physical constraints, fish may be incapable of exceeding swim speeds of 36 km/h (22 mph). The larger reported figures below are therefore highly questionable:
== Amphibians ==
== Reptiles ==
== Birds ==
== Mammals == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleckvieh | Fleckvieh | The Fleckvieh (German pronunciation: [ˈflɛkfiː] , lit. 'spotted cattle') is a breed of dual-purpose cattle suitable for both milk and meat production. It originated in Central Europe in the 19th century from cross-breeding of local stock with Simmental cattle imported from Switzerland. Today, the worldwide population is 41 million animals.
== History ==
The Fleckvieh originated in the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria from cross-breeding of local stock with Simmental cattle imported from Switzerland from about 1830. The Simmental had good milk-producing and draught qualities, and the resulting crosses were triple-purpose animals with milk, meat, and draught capabilities. The Fleckvieh is now a dual-purpose breed; it may be used for the production of beef or milk, or be crossed with dairy breeds or with beef breeds.
It is reported from several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, and also, since 2009, from Switzerland; in Hungary, the Fleckvieh is present on many small farms and its importance is growing steadily. It is also reported from other countries of the world, including Australia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
== Meat production ==
A comparison was made between the rates of muscle growth and energy use of Fleckvieh bulls as compared to German Black Pied (Schwarzbunte) bulls. The Fleckvieh bulls had faster growth rates, the carcasses had a smaller proportion of fat, especially abdominal fat, and the animals could be slaughtered at an earlier date on similar diets. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brown_(wide_receiver) | Preston Brown (wide receiver) | Preston Neville Brown (born March 2, 1958) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Vanderbilt Commodores. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_Medical_Center | Quincy Medical Center | Quincy Medical Center was a small for-profit community hospital located in Quincy, Massachusetts for 124 years, from 1890 to 2014. A municipal hospital for most of its existence, it transitioned to non-profit in 1999 and then for-profit when it was purchased by Steward Health Care in 2011. It was closed in 2014 due to year of financial difficulties, though Steward's nearby Carney Hospital continued to operate the former hospital's ED as a stand-alone on the same site until 2020.
During its history, the hospital offered a varying range of services, including emergency care, behavioral health, obstetrics, surgery, and orthopedics.
In 2013, its final full fiscal year, Quincy Medical Center operated with total revenues of $79 million, at a loss of $19.7 million, and discharged 4,803 inpatients. In 2014, the year it closed, the hospital operated with total revenues of $68 million and losses of $39 million, and discharged 4,419 inpatients.
== History ==
Quincy Medical Center was founded in 1890 as Quincy Hospital, established to treat local granite workers suffering from dust inhalation. Initially operated as a private corporation, the city began assisting in the funding of the hospital in 1896, providing $1,000 to $5,000 per year. This ended in 1919, when the city took over the hospital following the ratification of Article CIII, an amendment to the Constitution of Massachusetts which prohibited the public funding of privately owned hospitals. Throughout most of the rest of the 20th century, the city provided millions in funding on reconstruction and improvement projects for the hospital.
In late 1999, amid mounting financial difficulties affecting hospitals across Massachusetts and a state legislature gridlocked over which hospitals should receive aid, Quincy Mayor James A. Sheets raised the possibility that the City may need to close the hospital. Sheets followed this by appealing to the legislature requesting they reconsider. Finally, in October, the legislature approved a bill which would provide a $12.1 million loan to save the hospital, with an additional $7 million to be placed in a fund for other struggling hospitals. Thanks to this loan, Quincy Hospital reopened as Quincy Medical Center, affiliating itself with Boston Medical Center.
The hospital's new affiliation with BMC made it a teaching hospital, and brought with it 25 clinical specialists to expand care at the facility as well as the appointment of BMC administrators as chiefs of medicine and surgery. However, the hospital's previous financial hardships remained, and the new board of trustees set out to strategize for the future of the hospital, which retained $60 million in debt. Before long, the city pledged $33 million over six years, and unions representing 1,100 hospital workers agreed to 10 percent cuts in compensation, which would lead to savings of $3.6 million annually.
Despite collective efforts, Quincy Medical Center's financial struggles continued. This led to a change in June 2011, when the hospital's board of trustees approved a deal that would see the hospital acquired by Steward Health Care, a for-profit Massachusetts health care system then owned by New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. Four days later, the hospital filed for bankruptcy, citing $50 million in debt, inability to make monthly payments to bondholders, and the unwillingness of Steward or other potential buyers the invest enough to pay off the hospital's debts. Steward received necessary approvals from state officials, including the Public Health Council and Attorney General Martha Coakley, and the acquisition was completed September 30, 2011. Coakley's approval contained several stipulations, including that the hospital remain open for 10 years (6.5 under poor financial conditions), that 18 months notice be provided to the state if the hospital is to be closed, that Steward pay off at least $35 million of the hospital's bankruptcy debt, and that they commit to spend no less than $44 million on the needs of the hospital in the first 10 years.
Despite the agreement to keep the hospital open for 6.5–10 years, Steward announced in November 2014 that the hospital would close on December 31. This not only violated the terms of their agreement with the Coakley, but also violated state law requiring that any hospital give 90 days' notice before closing. Given declining numbers in ED visits and admissions, the hospital system came to an agreement with the state which would see the hospital remain open until February 2015, and maintain a satellite emergency department (i.e., an ED independent of an inpatient hospital) in the city until the end of that year. Ultimately due to low inpatient volume, the hospital was given a waiver allowing them to close inpatient operations on December 26, 2014.
Following the closure of the main hospital, the emergency department at Quincy Medical Center was kept open as a "satellite" facility, operated under the license of Steward's nearby Carney Hospital.
In 2016, Steward sold the hospital's property to developer FoxRock Properties in a temporary sale-leaseback deal which would allow them to continue running the satellite ED. The lease arrangement, originally written to terminate in 2021, lasted until 2020 when FoxRock utilized a clause allowing for early termination. Steward reported that they had attempted to find adequate space elsewhere in the city to move the ED, but were unable to find a landlord willing to host it. While city officials criticized Steward for closing the hospital and for their failure to open another ED in the city, they conceded that "we know the marketplace will not sustain a hospital in that location or in the city."
Demolition of the hospital campus was completed by FoxRock in 2021 to make way for residential development. The only building left standing was the hospital's administrative building, which would be restored and remain as part of the development.
== Legacy ==
Quincy Medical Center grew with and helped shape the City of Quincy through the end of the 19th century and the whole of the 20th. Its establishment as a center of care for granite workers was representative of Quincy's overall history as a prominent exporter of granite. The surrounding neighborhood gained its current name, Hospital Hill, due to the prominence of the hospital, and generations of Quincy residents were born, cared for, and died at the hospital.
However, the hospital faced financial difficulty throughout its existence, escalating in the late 20th century and culminating with its closure in the new millennium - leaving Quincy as the largest city in Massachusetts without an acute care hospital or emergency department. In its later years, the saturation of the health care market took its toll on Quincy Medical Center. While it provided convenience to residents of Quincy, the hospital's deteriorating relationships with other providers left more preferable options for a wider range of care, and the presence of nearby regional competitors like South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's campus in Milton, and numerous hospitals in Boston offered more convenience and higher level of care for those not within city limits. These factors were commonly blamed for the inability of the hospital to become financially viable. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuapada_district | Nuapada district | Nuapada district is located in the Odisha state in India, with the town of Nuapada serving as the headquarters of the district. It has one subdivision: Nuapada, and five blocks: Khariar, Sinapali, Boden, Komna, and Nuapada. Nuapada District has three Notified Area Councils: Khariar, Khariar Road, and Nuapada, six tehsils in addition to villages, such as Gandabahali, Tukla, Hatibandha, Duajher, Bargaon, Tarbod, Udyanbandh, Singjhar, Brahmanpada, Karngamal, Sarabong, Dharambandha, Lakhna, Sunabeda, Beltukri, Bhela, Niljee, and Larka etc.
== History ==
The district of Nuapada was a part of Kalahandi district until early March 1993, but for administrative convenience, Kalahandi District was divided into two parts — Kalahandi and Nuapada vide State Government Notification No. DRC-44/93/14218/R dated 27 March 1993. Nuapada District now comprises one sub-division Nuapada, six tehsils (Nuapada, Komana, Khariar, Sinapalli, Boden and jonk) and five community development blocks (Khariar, Sinapalli, Boden, Nuapada and Komna).It is believed that the District of Kalahandi formed in ancient time a part of Mahakantara territory. During 4th century CE, when Samudra Gupta led his campaign through this region a king named Vyaghraraja was ruling over Mahakantara. After Vyaghraraja, the Nala kings like Bhavadatta Varman, Arthapati and Skanda Varman ruled over this region up to about 500 CE.
In the 6th century CE a new kingdom developed in the Kalahandi tract under King Tustikara, but very little is known about other kings of his family. The Nuapada area was by that time under the kings of Sarabhapuriya dynasty whose copper plate record and gold coins are available. This region came under the occupation of the Somavamsis of South Kosala during the 8th century CE when Mahaivagupta Balarjuna was ruling from his headquarters at Sripur.
In the 9th century CE when the Somavamsis were ousted from the Sripur region and organized a new kingdom in Sonepur-Sambalpur tract, the Kalahandi portion continued to be under their rule. In fact, Mahabhabagupta Janamejaya occupied the Trikalinga territory (Koraput area) through Kalahandi. In the middle of the 10th century CE the Somavamsi dominion embraced the whole of Orissa under Yayati II Mahasivagupta. His son Udyotakesari divided this dominion and placed the western part (Kosala) under the rule of a collateral branch. Kalahandi was included in the Kosala kingdom the capital of which was Jajatinagar near Sonepur.
The rule of the Somavamsis in Kosala collapsed by the invasion of Rajendra Chola in 1022 CE and after that the territory came under the rule of the Telugu Cholas. In 1038 CE Vajrahasta V of Eastern Ganga dynasty became powerful in Parlakhemundi region and after the death of Rajendra Chola in 1044 CE he assumed independence and occupied the hilly territory including Koraput and Kalahandi.
The Gangas ruled over Kalahandi for a long period. The stone inscription at Narla reveals that one Madanamahadeva was ruling over Kamalmandala in 1231 CE apparently as a feudatory of the Gangas. Tradition preserved by the Durbar of Kalahandi reveals that the Nagas commenced their rule in Kalahandi from Vikram sambat 1062 or CE 1005. If the tradition is to be believed it may be said that the Nagas ruled over Kamalmandala as feudatories of the Gangas till 14th century CE after which they owed allegiance to the Suryavamshi Gajapatis.
It is not known when Kamalmandala became known as Kalahandi. The earliest reference to the name Kalahandi is found in the Dadhivaman temple inscription dated in Yugabda 4819, i.e., CE 1718. In British records this territory was called Karond. This territory assumed independence after the downfall of the Gajapatis of Orissa in 1568 CE According to tradition the Kalahandi kingdom commanded sovereign power over eighteen garhs before it was occupied by the Bhonsles of Nagpur in the middle of the 18th century CE In 1803 when the Marathas were defeated by the British and the coastal regions of Orissa as well as the Patna-Sambalpur group of states came under the British, Kalahandi, very probably, continued under the Marathas. The Patna-Sambalpur group was subsequently restored to Raghujee Bhonsla II in 1806. The Marathas of Nagpur became subordinate to British power after the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818. But Kalahandi continued to be under Maratha rule till 1853, when the Nagpur state lapsed to the British Crown as Raghuji III died without an heir. The Chauhans were ruling over Khariar since about the time of Rama Deo, the first Chauhan king of Patna. In 1590 CE Gopal Ray, a scion of the Patna family became the king of Khariar and started a line of semi-independent kings in that territory. Khariar came under the Marathas in 1741 CE and the British occupied it in 1818. In 1905 when the District of Sambalpur and some feudatory states including Kalahandi were amalgamated with Orissa Division of Bengal, the Government of the Central Provinces opposed merger of Khariar with Sambalpur and in 1906 Khariar became a part of the Mahasamund tehsil. When the separate province of Orissa was formed in 1936, Khariar was added to Orissa and was made a sub-division (Nuapada sub-division) of Sambalpur District. On 1 January 1948, Kalahandi along with other feudatory states of Orissa except Mayurbhanj, merged with Orissa and on that date the new District of Kalahandi was formed with the ex-states of Kalahandi, Patna and Sonepur. On 1 November 1949, Patna and Sonepur together constituted a separate District and the Nuapada sub-division of Sambalpur was added to the District of Kalahandi.
== Geography ==
Nuapada district is in the western part of Odisha, lying between latitude 20° 0' N and 21° 5' and between longitude 82° 20' E and 82° 40' E. Its boundaries extend in the north, west and south to Mahasamund district in Chhattisgarh and in the east to Bargarh, Balangir and Kalahandi districts. The district has an area of 3407.5 km2 and the administrative headquarters is located at Nuapada.
The plains of Nuapada subdivision are fringed by rugged hill ranges stretching southward, which belong to the main line of the Eastern Ghats and contain extensive plateaus of about 4000 ft (1200 m) in elevation.
== Economy ==
Due to the conspicuous absence of any industry, the economy revolves around agricultural activities. Three major irrigation projects — the Upper Jonk, the Sunder dam, and the upcoming Lower Indira Irrigation Project — provide support to 45,000 acres of land. Rice is the main crop in the entire district. Other crops like corn (maize), cotton, and onion make up a major share of crops under cultivation. More than 10,000 households migrate to other states in search of better employment opportunities every year after the harvesting season is over. Though the district is tops in MGNREGS implementation, the advance provided by labor contractors before Nuakhai festival lure ignorant laborers into the plot. Due to unregistered and uninformed migration, protection of migrant laborers has become a challenge to the government. In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Nuapada one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). it is one of the 19 districts in Odisha currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
== Demographics ==
In the 2011 Indian census, Nuapada district had a population of 610,382. roughly equal to the nation of Solomon Islands or the US state of Wyoming. This gives it a ranking of 524th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 157 inhabitants per square kilometre (410/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 14.28%. Nuapada has a sex ratio of 1020 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 58.2%. 4.99% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 13.46% and 33.80% of the population respectively.
At the time of the 2011 census, 58.02% of the population in the district spoke Odia, 23.72% Sambalpuri, 15.04% Chhattisgarhi and 1.68% Hindi as their first language.
== Politics ==
=== Vidhan Sabha constituencies ===
Nuapada district is part of Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency. The MP of Kalahandi is Malvika Devi from the BJP.
The following are the two Vidhan Sabha constituencies of Nuapada district and the elected members of that area.
== Major cities, towns, and villages ==
Nuapada
Khariar
Khariar Road
Sinapali
Komna
Boden
Gandabahali
Hatibandha
Brahmanpada, Nuapada
Tukula
Udyanbandha
== Notable people ==
Rajendra Dholakia Hon’ble Member of Legislative Assembly from Nuapada
Duryodhan Majhi former Cabinet Minister Government of Odisha and former Member of Legislative Assembly Khariar
Basanta Kumar Panda Former Member Parlament Lok Sabha from Kalahandi
Prayash Singh Indian Cricketers
Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi Hon’ble Member of Legislative Assembly from Khariar
Jitamitra Singh Deo, Present Titular Raja of Khariar. He is also a Poet and Historian
Prayag Dutta Joshi, Writer And Activist
Kapil Narayan Tiwari (1929–2022), Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Khariar
Hitesh Kumar Bagartti former Member of Legislative Assembly from Khariar |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-mouth_salamander | Small-mouth salamander | The small-mouth salamander (Ambystoma texanum) is a species of mole salamander found in the central United States, from the Great Lakes region in Michigan to Nebraska, south to Texas, and east to Tennessee, with a population in Canada, in Pelee, Ontario. It is sometimes referred to as the Texas salamander, porphyry salamander, or the narrow-mouthed salamander. The Kelley's Island salamander (Ambystoma nothagenes) was synonymized with A. texanum in 1995.
== Description ==
The small-mouth salamander grows from 4.5 to 7.0 in. It is typically black or dark brown in color with light-grey or silvery-colored flecking, or grey blotching. It has a fairly small head, relative to its body, and a long tail. Males are typically smaller than females. Their bellies are black, often with tiny flecks, and have 14 to 15 costal grooves.
== Behavior ==
Small-mouth salamanders are nocturnal, often subterranean, preferring moist habitats near permanent bodies of water. Breeding occurs in the spring, with groups of salamanders congregating near the water. Females can lay up to 700 eggs, which they attach in small clumps of up to 30 eggs at a time, to rocks or vegetation under the water. Their diets include insects, slugs, and earthworms. Larvae hatch at 0.5 in (13 mm); they metamorphose in May to June at about 1.6 in (40 mm). When disturbed, the small-mouth salamander raises its tail and waves it back and forth. Being shy and sensitive, it shares breeding pools with larger spotted salamanders and marbled salamanders.
== Habitat and range ==
Small-mouth salamanders live in moist pine woodlands and deciduous forest bottomlands, tallgrass prairies, farming areas, near temporary ponds, and along streams. Their range is from western West Virginia south to the Gulf of Mexico, west to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
== Conservation ==
The only known Canadian population is on Pelee Island in Lake Erie. It is listed as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hangover | The Hangover | The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in The Hangover trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, and Jeffrey Tambor. It tells the story of Phil Wenneck (Cooper), Stu Price (Helms), Alan Garner (Galifianakis), and Doug Billings (Bartha), who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party to celebrate Doug's impending marriage. However, Phil, Stu, and Alan wake up with Doug missing and no memory of the previous night's events, and must find Doug before the wedding can take place.
Lucas and Moore wrote the script after executive producer Chris Bender's friend disappeared and had a large bill after being sent to a strip club. After Lucas and Moore sold it to the studio for $2 million, Phillips and Jeremy Garelick rewrote the script to include a tiger as well as a subplot involving a baby and a police cruiser, and also including boxer Mike Tyson. Filming took place in Nevada for 15 days, and during filming, the three main actors (Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis) formed a real friendship.
The Hangover was produced by Legendary Pictures, Green Hat Films and BenderSpink and released by Warner Bros. Pictures on June 5, 2009, and was a critical and commercial success. The film became the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2009, with a worldwide gross of over $467 million. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and received multiple other accolades. It became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States, surpassing a record previously held by Beverly Hills Cop for almost 25 years.
The film was followed by two sequels: The Hangover Part II (2011) and The Hangover Part III (2013). Both were commercial successes, but neither were well-received critically.
== Plot ==
Two days before his wedding, bachelor Doug Billings travels to Las Vegas with his best friends Phil Wenneck, a teacher, Stu Price, a dentist, and Alan Garner, his odd future brother-in-law. Sid, the father of Doug's fiancée, Tracy, lends Doug his vintage Mercedes-Benz W111 to drive to Vegas. They book a suite at Caesars Palace and celebrate by sneaking onto the hotel rooftop and drinking Jägermeister.
The next day, Phil, Stu, and Alan awaken, unable to remember the previous night. Doug is nowhere to be found, Stu's tooth is missing, the suite is a mess, a Bengal tiger is in the bathroom, and a baby is in the closet. They see Doug's mattress impaled on a statue outside, and when they ask for their Mercedes, the valet delivers a Las Vegas police cruiser.
Retracing their steps, the trio travels to a hospital, discovering they were drugged with Rohypnol, causing their memory loss, and that they went there from a chapel the previous night. At the chapel, they learn that Stu married a call girl named Jade, despite his relationship with his abusive and unfaithful girlfriend Melissa. Outside the chapel, the trio is ambushed by a gang of men demanding to know where "he" is. Bewildered, they flee and track down Jade, who is revealed to be the baby's mother.
The police arrest them for having stolen the cruiser. To get the Mercedes out of impound and an early release, the trio unwittingly volunteer to be targets for a taser demonstration. While driving the car, the trio discover a naked Chinese man in the trunk named Leslie Chow, who beats them up and flees. Alan confesses that he drugged their drinks to ensure they had a good night, believing the drug to be ecstasy.
Returning to their suite, they encounter Mike Tyson, who knocks Alan unconscious and demands they return his tiger. After Stu sedates it, they load it into the Mercedes and drive to Tyson's mansion. The tiger awakens, scratches Phil's neck and damages the car. They push the car to the mansion and deliver the tiger. Tyson shows them security camera footage of their drunken behavior from the night before, revealing they lost Doug only after returning to the hotel.
While driving back, their car is rammed by a black Cadillac Escalade manned by Chow and his gang from the chapel. Chow accuses them of kidnapping him and stealing $80,000 in poker chips. As they deny it, he tells them he has Doug and threatens to kill him if the chips are not returned. Unable to find Chow's chips, Alan, with help from Stu and Jade, uses his knowledge of card counting to win $82,400 playing blackjack.
They meet Chow in the Mojave Desert to exchange the chips for Doug, only to find that the "Doug" in question is actually a drug dealer who accidentally sold the wrong drugs to Alan earlier. With the real Doug's wedding set to occur in five hours, Phil calls Tracy to tell her they cannot find him. Simultaneously, Other Doug remarks that someone who takes roofies is more likely to end up on the floor than on the roof, causing Stu to deduce where Doug is.
The trio return to Caesars Palace to find a dazed and sunburned Doug on the roof. He was moved there as a joke and forgotten when the roofies wore off; Doug threw his mattress onto a statue to signal for help. Before leaving, Stu arranges to meet Jade for a date the following week.
With no flights, the four drive home in the damaged Mercedes, where Doug reveals he has Chow's original $80,000. Despite their late arrival, Doug and Tracy are married. At the reception, Stu gleefully breaks up with Melissa after she sees his tooth gone. Alan finds Stu's camera with photos from their Las Vegas night, and they consent to view the pictures before deleting them.
== Cast ==
Todd Phillips, the film's director, appears as Mr. Creepy, who appears briefly in an elevator. Professional skateboarder Mike Vallely portrays Neeco, the high-speed tuxedo delivery man. Las Vegas personalities Wayne Newton and Carrot Top appear as themselves in the photo slide show.
== Production ==
=== Writing ===
The plot of The Hangover was inspired by a real event that happened to Tripp Vinson, a producer and friend of executive producer Chris Bender. Vinson had gone missing from his own Las Vegas bachelor party, blacking out and waking up "in a strip club being threatened with a very, very large bill I was supposed to pay".
Jon Lucas and Scott Moore sold the original script of The Hangover to Warner Bros. Pictures for over $2 million. The story was about three friends who lose the groom at his Las Vegas bachelor party and then must retrace their steps to figure out what happened.
It was then rewritten by Jeremy Garelick and director Todd Phillips, who added additional elements such as Mike Tyson and his tiger, the baby, and the police cruiser. However, Lucas and Moore retained writing credit in accordance with the Writers Guild of America, West's screenwriting credit system.
=== Casting ===
Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Bradley Cooper were all casual acquaintances before The Hangover was filmed, which Helms said he believed helped in establishing a rapport and chemistry amongst their characters. Helms credited Phillips for "bringing together three guys who are really different, but really appreciate each others' humor and sensibilities". Helms also said the fact that the story of the three characters growing closer and bonding forged the friendship between the three actors: "As you spend 14 hours a day together for three months, you see a lot of sides of somebody. We went through the wringer together, and that shared experience really made us genuine buddies."
Lindsay Lohan was in talks with Phillips for the role of Jade in the film but was ultimately not cast due to being considered too young for what was discussed.
=== Filming ===
On a budget of $35 million, principal photography took place in Nevada for fifteen days.
The Hangover was mostly filmed on location at Caesars Palace, including the front desk, lobby, suite, entrance drive, pools, corridors, elevators, and roof, but the suite damaged in the film was built on a soundstage. While the hospital, the police station, Mike Tyson's house and several interior scenes were filmed on soundstages in the Los Angeles area, other Vegas locations included the exteriors of Atomic Liquors and the El Cortez Hotel and Casino on Fremont Street. The Bungalows Hostel (then known as Hostel Cat) featured a facade built by the production team to appear as a wedding chapel. Jade's home was depicted at the Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel, and Alan is portrayed counting cards while playing blackjack at The Riviera; both buildings have since been demolished. The scene where Mr. Chow jumps out of the trunk of the Mercedes-Benz 220SE and assaults the protagonists with a crowbar was filmed at the intersection of East Mandalay Bay Road and Haven Street, which remains a dirt lot adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip.
Since there was a piano in the real suite, Phillips allowed Helms to improvise a scene with the piano on the soundstage, which became known as "Stu's song" in the film. According to Helms in a 2011 interview on The Graham Norton Show, he had to be tutored on how to use a piano for the scene.
Helms said filming The Hangover was more physically demanding than any other role he had done, and that he lost eight pounds while making the film. He said the most difficult day of shooting was the scene when Mr. Chow rams his car and attacks the main characters, which Helms said required many takes and was very painful, such as when a few of the punches and kicks accidentally landed and when his knees and shins were hurt while being pulled out of a window. The missing tooth was not created with prosthetics or visual effects, but is naturally occurring: Helms never had an adult incisor grow, and got a dental implant as a teenager, which was removed for filming.
Jeong stated that his jumping on Cooper's neck naked wasn't a part of the script, but rather improvisation on their part. It was added with Phillips' blessing. Jeong also stated that he had to receive his wife's permission to appear nude in the film.
Phillips tried to convince the actors to allow him to use a real Taser until Warner Bros. lawyers intervened.
Regarding the explicit shots in the final photo slide show in which his character is seen receiving fellatio in an elevator, Galifianakis confirmed that a prosthesis was used for the scene, and that he had been more embarrassed than anyone else during the creation of the shot. "You would think that I wouldn't be the one who was embarrassed; I was extremely embarrassed. I really didn't even want it in there. I offered Todd's assistant a lot of money to convince him to take it out of the movie. I did. But it made it in there."
The scenes involving animals were filmed mostly with trained animals. Trainers and safety equipment were digitally removed from the final version. Some prop animals were used, such as when the tiger was hidden under a sheet and being moved on a baggage cart. Such efforts were given an "Outstanding" rating by the American Humane Association for the monitoring and treatment of the animals.
=== Music ===
The film's score was composed by Christophe Beck. The film featured 20 songs, consisting of music by Kanye West, Danzig, The Donnas, Usher, Phil Collins, The Belle Stars, T.I., Wolfmother and The Dan Band, who tend to feature in Phillips' films as the inappropriate, bad-mouthed wedding band. The Dan Band's cover of the 50 Cent single "Candy Shop" appeared in Part I. Pro-skater and punk musician Mike Vallely was invited with his band, Revolution Mother, to write a song for the film and also makes a cameo appearance as the high speed tuxedo delivery guy.
"Right Round" by Flo Rida is played over the ending credits. The film uses the Kanye West song "Can't Tell Me Nothing" for which Zach Galifianakis made an alternative music video.
== Release ==
=== Box office ===
The Hangover was a financial success. As of December 17, 2009, it had grossed $467,416,722, of which $277,322,503 was in Canada and the United States. It was the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2009 in the world, the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2009 in the United States and the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States, surpassing a record previously held by Beverly Hills Cop for almost 25 years.
Out of all R-rated films, it is the sixth-highest-grossing ever in the United States, behind The Passion of the Christ, Deadpool, American Sniper, It and The Matrix Reloaded. However, adjusted for inflation The Hangover earned less than half the total earned by Beverly Hills Cop and is out grossed by several comedies, including Porky's.
On its first day of release in the United States, the film drew $16,734,033 on approximately 4,500 screens at 3,269 sites, and exceeded the big-budgeted Land of the Lost—the other major new release of the weekend—for first day's box office takings.
Although initial studio projections had the Disney·Pixar film Up holding on to the number one slot for a second consecutive weekend, final revised figures, bolstered by a surprisingly strong Sunday showing, ultimately had The Hangover finishing first for the weekend, with $44,979,319 from 3,269 theaters, averaging $13,759 per venue, narrowly edging out Up for the top spot, and more than twice that of Land of the Lost, which finished third with $18.8 million.
The film exceeded Warner Bros.' expectations—which had anticipated it would finish third behind Up and Land of the Lost—benefiting from positive word-of-mouth and critical praise, and a generally negative buzz for Land of the Lost. It stayed at the number one position in its second weekend, grossing another $32,794,387, from 3,355 theaters for an average of $9,775 per venue, and bringing the 10-day amount to $104,768,489.
=== Home media ===
The Hangover was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD on December 15, 2009, by Warner Home Video. There is a single-disc theatrical version featuring both fullscreen and widescreen options (DVD only), as well as a widescreen two-disc unrated version of the film, also containing the theatrical version (DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD). The unrated version is approximately seven minutes longer than the theatrical version. The unrated version is on disc one and the theatrical version, digital copy, and the different features are on disc two.
The Hangover beat Inglourious Basterds and G-Force (the latter of which also starred Galifianakis) in first week DVD and Blu-ray sales, as well as rentals, selling more than 8.6 million units and making it the best-selling comedy ever on DVD and Blu-ray, beating the previous record held by My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
== Reception ==
=== Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Hangover has an approval rating of 79% based on 240 reviews with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With a clever script and hilarious interplay among the cast, The Hangover nails just the right tone of raunchy humor, and the non-stop laughs overshadow any flaw." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four and praised the film for its comedic approach. A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis for their performances in the film as well as Todd Phillips for its direction. Scott later went on to say that the film is "safe as milk". Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle also praised Phillips' direction. LaSalle also praised the film's comedic scenes and called it "the funniest movie so far this year [2009]". Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times praised the film for its perverseness. Sharkey also said that the film is "filled with moments as softhearted as they are crude, as forgiving as unforgivable". Although Joe Leydon of Variety criticized the film's trailers and TV-spots for its "beer-and-boobs, party-hearty farce", he also praised the film for its cleverness.
Conversely, Richard Corliss of Time said that "virtually every joke [in the film] either is visible long before it arrives or extends way past its expiration date" and added, "Whatever the other critics say, this is a bromance so primitive it's practically Bro-Magnon."
In his review in The Baltimore Sun, Michael Sragow called the film a "foul mesh of cheap cleverness and vulgarity." Joe Neumaier of the Daily News gave the film two-and-a-half out of five stars and noted, "Amusing as it is, it never feels real. That may not seem like a big deal—a lot of funny movies play by their own rules—except that The Hangover keeps doubling-down on the outlandishness."
Family-oriented reviewers have harangued the film, noting that Galifianakis said he tried to forbid his own mother from seeing it and that he yells at parents of kids who tell him they like the film.
Anton Trees criticised the film for what he viewed as the weak character development, especially in its female characters. Critics also focused on misogyny and stereotyping, in particular the portrayal of the Asian gangster.
Ebert, despite his praise, stated, "I won't go so far as to describe it as a character study", and said that the film is more than the sum of its parts—parts that may at first seem generic or clichéd, since similar films (such as Very Bad Things) have already explored the idea of a weekend in Vegas gone wrong. The film's premise has several similarities to Dude, Where's My Car? Both films are about "a couple guys waking up after a night of getting trashed, only to find they are missing something important", whose adventures include "a trail of clues, a missing car, dubious encounters with strippers and wild animals, a brush with the law and gangs chasing them for something they don't realize they have".
=== Accolades ===
== Impact and legacy ==
By depicting and celebrating Las Vegas as the "ultimate guys' getaway", The Hangover had a major impact on Caesars Palace and Las Vegas. It was reported in 2013 that as of that year, guests were still continuing to quote to Caesars Palace staff two lines from the film's check-in scene: "Did Caesar live here?" and "Do you know if the hotel is pager-friendly?" As a result of the film, Hangover-themed slot machines became popular at casinos throughout the Las Vegas Valley, the Caesars Palace gift shop sold tens of thousands of Hangover-related souvenirs, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority received numerous inquiries from persons interested in recreating some of the film's most wild scenes, such as those involving a tiger.
The Las Vegas branch of Madame Tussauds added Hangover-themed rooms recreating the hotel room and the wedding chapel and a tie-in rooftop cocktail bar.
In 2018, Hasbro issued a parody version of their board game Clue where players have to locate a missing friend somewhere in the city after a wild night of carousing.
In 2025, the film was among those voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 234.
== Sequels ==
Principal photography of The Hangover Part II began in October 2010, with Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, and Zach Galifianakis returning, in addition to Ken Jeong who appears in a much larger role. The film was released on May 26, 2011.
Filming of The Hangover Part III began in September 2012, and was released on May 23, 2013. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Revelations_2# | Resident Evil: Revelations 2# | Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is a 2015 episodic survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom as part of the Resident Evil series. The game is a follow-up to Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 5. It marks the return of Claire Redfield as the protagonist, and for the first time Barry Burton is a playable story character in the main series. It is also the first Resident Evil game to not feature Alyson Court as the long time voice of Claire Redfield. The first episode was released in February 2015.
The plot is set between the events of Resident Evil 5 and 6, in 2011. The story begins when Claire and her co-workers, including Barry Burton's daughter Moira Burton, are at a party in the headquarters of the NGO TerraSave, when they are attacked by unknown assailants and taken away to a deserted island in the Baltic Sea.
The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita in 2015 and for Nintendo Switch in 2017 along with the port of the first Revelations. The reviews were mixed to positive and the setting, story, characters and the co-op gameplay were praised, but the graphics and some technical issues were criticized. As of December 31, 2025, the title reached 4 million units sold.
== Gameplay ==
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is set between the events of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Claire Redfield is the main protagonist and Barry Burton's daughter, Moira, plays a supporting role. In December 2014, a new trailer revealed Barry as another playable protagonist and he is joined by Natalia Korda, a little girl with supernatural abilities. The official cinematic trailer was released in December 2014. Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is a survival horror game which supports cooperative gameplay. When played in single player mode, the player must switch characters to solve puzzles and do certain actions. The game has stealth elements as only two of the four playable characters use guns. The other two are more vulnerable, preferring to use melee weapons such as crowbars and bricks; they can also find hidden items with a flashlight or special senses.
The game features a Raid Mode, which returns from the first Revelations game with new features, more missions and new playable characters. About 200 missions and 15 characters are featured, which span the entire game series, and there are also new scenarios and enemies from Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil: Revelations. In this mode, players can customize their skills and weapons, as well as buy new ones. Some enemies in Raid Mode have special abilities like extra speed or strength. This mode can be played either solo, online or through split-screen local co-op.
== Plot ==
The storyline is composed of four episodes divided into a past scenario with Claire Redfield and Moira Burton and a present scenario with Barry Burton.
Episode 1 - Penal Colony
Claire Redfield and Moira Burton, daughter of Barry Burton, work for biohazard prevention agency TerraSave. While attending an office party, they and several other TerraSave members are captured by armed mercenaries. Claire and Moira are taken to a facility on Sein Island, where they are attacked by the "Afflicted", mutated humans driven insane by torturous experiments. An unknown woman calling herself the "Overseer" watches via cameras and tells them the bracelets on their wrists record fear, as the pair try to find safety. Upon reaching a radio tower, they call for help.
Responding to Moira's distress call, Barry tracks her to the island. He immediately meets Natalia Korda, a strange little girl with the ability to sense monsters before they become a threat. She accompanies him on the way to the radio tower, navigating through hordes of Uroboros-infected mutants. Upon reaching the tower, Barry realizes the distress call was actually made six months ago. After suffering a severe headache, Natalia claims that Moira is dead.
Episode 2 - Contemplation
Claire and Moira meet up with their co-workers, Gabriel Chavez and Pedro Fernandez, at the "Wossek", a derelict pub located in an abandoned fishing village. The Overseer explains that they have become her new test subjects for T-Phobos, a virus that responds to fear, for process of elimination. Gabe leads Claire to a broken helicopter he intends to repair in order to escape the island, but they are soon ambushed by a horde of Afflicted, separating Claire, Moira, and Pedro from Gabe and the helicopter; Pedro succumbs to fear and is transformed into a monster. Claire and Moira fend off both Pedro and the Afflicted until their boss, Neil Fisher, arrives to help them escape. They decide to make their way to the Overseer's tower, but are once again ambushed and Neil stays behind to lure the monsters away. Claire and Moira catch up to Natalia, who has been roaming the island alone, and they befriend her. Gabe fixes the helicopter and attempts to escape, but the Overseer remotely sabotages the controls, killing him. As Claire and Moira are distracted by the crash, Natalia is kidnapped and taken to the Overseer, who intends to transfer her consciousness into the little girl.
Six months later, Natalia takes Barry to the Overseer's tower, the last place she saw Moira alive. Along the way, Barry learns Natalia is an orphan whose parents died in the Terragrigia incident, the trauma having left her immune to fear. Inside the tower, they find a portrait depicting Albert Wesker and a woman who Natalia identifies as Alex Wesker. The two are then ambushed by the Overseer, a grotesque hunchbacked figure who neutralizes Barry and is revealed to be Alex herself.
Episode 3 - Judgment
Claire and Moira follow a note supposedly left by Neil to meet him at a nearby factory, only to walk into a series of traps they narrowly survive. After passing through the sewers, the pair gain access to the Overseer's tower, where they witness a meeting between Neil and Alex Wesker. It is revealed that Neil, a former member of the FBC, was behind his employees' abduction to aid Alex in exchange for a sample of the Uroboros Virus, intending to use it to restore the FBC. Alex injects Neil with Uroboros instead, causing him to mutate into a hulking monstrosity. Claire and Moira are forced to kill him.
Six months later, Barry and Natalia escape from a mutated Alex and work their way from the sewer back to the surface. As they go, Barry tells Natalia about a tragic event concerning his two daughters; Moira accidentally shot her younger sister Polly when they were playing with one of Barry's guns. Although the fault was his, Barry blamed Moira for the accident, causing a huge strain on their relationship. Polly survived, but Moira developed a fear of guns as a result of the incident. Afterwards, Barry and Natalia travel through a dilapidated mine infested with monsters. Alex ambushes them on the other side and throws Barry into a ravine, but when she tries to kill Natalia, the little girl fearlessly stares back into her eyes, causing Alex to withdraw in terror.
Episode 4 - Metamorphosis
After Neil's demise, Claire and Moira make their way up to the Monument to confront Alex, and the duo learn of her intentions to conquer fear and escape death. She shoots herself in the head, triggering a self-destruct sequence that causes Claire and Moira to flee. Unbeknownst to them, Alex experiences fear in her last living moments and begins to mutate. As they descend the crumbling tower, Moira sacrifices herself so that Claire can escape; she is rescued shortly afterwards. She regretfully tells Barry that she could not save Moira, but Barry refuses to accept his daughter's death and continues to search for her.
Six months later, Barry and Natalia pass through several toxic mine tunnels before reaching Alex's research facility, disguised as a mansion. They make their way through as Alex taunts Natalia through the girl's bracelet. When the duo confront her, Alex injects herself with an Uroboros sample and mutates a second time to fight Barry and Natalia. After feigning her own death, Alex suddenly springs to life and incapacitates Barry. She grabs Natalia and once again attempts to kill her. At this point, the story proceeds to one of two endings.
=== Endings ===
In the canon ending, where Moira overcomes her fear of guns by shooting Neil, Moira survives the tower's destruction and arrives in time to save Natalia by temporarily repelling Alex with gunshots. Barry, Moira, and Natalia escape the area before being cornered by Alex. Claire arrives in a helicopter to rescue the trio and they manage to take down Alex with a rocket launcher. As they leave the island, Barry reconciles with Moira and expresses his intention to adopt Natalia into the Burton family.
In an epilogue, Claire is heading towards Barry's home while being informed that her brother is in China, to which she responds, "tell Piers to take care of him." At the Burtons' home, Natalia is surrounded by newspapers covering the events of Resident Evil 6. As she finishes reading Franz Kafka's The Zürau Aphorisms, she smiles ominously, hinting that Alex's consciousness may still reside within her.
In the bad ending, if Claire manages to kill Neil, Moira dies after being crushed by falling debris during the tower's destruction. Alex squeezes Natalia to death, only to re-awaken as Dark Natalia (imbued with Alex's consciousness) and easily destroy her former, mutated body. She then mocks Barry, who cannot bring himself to shoot the little girl he has become attached to. Alex walks away, leaving him in despair.
=== Bonus episodes ===
==== "Little Miss" ====
In this extra episode, set just before Natalia meets Barry, Natalia wakes up in a dream-like state, being greeted by Lottie, her favorite teddy bear. She then goes on a search for Lottie throughout the island infested by "Revenants" and "Glasps". Joining her is "Dark Natalia", a manifestation of Alex's mind whose ability to sense the monsters' presence allows Natalia to sneak past them through a dark, fog-covered atmosphere. They find various postcards from Lottie scattered around and eventually find her near the seashore, but this turns out to be an attempt by Dark Natalia to take over Natalia's body. Dark Natalia tells Natalia that she will eventually be subverted, and Natalia snaps out of her lucid dream as Barry's boat approaches the island.
==== "The Struggle" ====
During the six-month gap between Claire's escape and Barry's arrival, Moira struggles to survive with the aid of an old Russian man named Evgeny Rebic, whom Moira had met once before at an underground sewer control room; Evgeny rescued her before the Overseer's tower collapsed. Despite their contentious relationship, food is very scarce, and the pair have to overcome many dangers together in order to survive. After defeating hordes of mutated monsters, they manage to find a letter from Evgeny's daughter. Upon learning of his daughter's fate, Evgeny loses his will to live and locks himself in his home to succumb to his illness, while encouraging Moira to escape the island without him. A heartbroken Moira ultimately decides to move on, and arrives in time to save her father and Natalia from Alex.
== Development ==
Capcom announced that the team responsible for Resident Evil: Revelations would be responsible for the sequel and a playable version of the game would be seen at Capcom's 2014 Tokyo Game Show booth. It was stated not only would Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine not be part of Revelations 2, but the game would also not be tied to Revelations. However, the Revelations title would be used as its own series of games, existing to fill in gaps in the mythology of the Resident Evil series and expand upon lore for the main title series. During Tokyo Game Show, Michiteru Okabe explained further that the main Resident Evil series will remain more action-oriented, keeping it aimed at a wider audience to try and interest more people in the Resident Evil world. However, Revelations as a series will be fan-driven, intending to revel in the older horror style. With the side series, they hope to aim at their long-time fans and keep them supplied with something similar to the horror experience they fell in love with. During Tokyo Game Show it was announced that Yūdai Yamaguchi, a director and writer known for his mix of horror and "goofy gore" with manga-based inspiration, was brought on to the Revelations 2 team as cutscene director.
Dai Satō, scenario writer for Resident Evil: Revelations, returned for this game. The character of Claire Redfield, who last appeared in Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (2000), was brought back for Revelations 2, due to both fan demand and because Satō was "a big fan of her personally". Claire was written as practical and aggressive to contrast with her partner, the young, immature, and easily scared Moira Burton. According to the producer Michiteru Okabe, they had not reduced the two characters to their gender, and had instead given them unique personalities, which he said reflected positively on the video-game industry's direction at the time. Alyson Court did not return to voice Claire, who was instead portrayed by an unknown woman (credited in-game as James Baker). According to Okabe, the reason for replacing Court was because they felt that her voice was too young for the older and mature Claire and could have caused confusion for players between the voices of Claire and the younger Moira.
The Czech novelist and story writer Franz Kafka was a major inspiration behind the game's plot, the idea influenced by Satō. Since the first Revelations used passages from Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, the team felt that would be a common element for the Revelations series, providing a deeper meaning for the themes explored throughout the story. Furthermore, Satō hoped it would allow players feel more immersed since a real writer became part of the setting. The titles of the game's four episodes are allusions to some of Kafka's works; referring to In the Penal Colony, Contemplation, The Judgment and The Metamorphosis, respectively.
Familiar relationships was a significant theme for the game, approaching more personal elements for the story. Barry Burton's family has a great focus throughout the game's plot; Barry acts as a father figure for Natalia, who became an orphan due to the "Terragrigia Panic" explored in the first Revelations. On the other hand, Claire can be seen as an older sister figure for Moira, who has a strained relationship with her father. The concept of sanity is also of great importance for the setting of the story, as exemplified by the wristbands the characters wear that display their level of fear, some song titles on the soundtrack (Insanity or Despair), and the name of the main enemies of the game, the Afflicted (humans driven crazy by torture and experiments).
Songwriter Kota Suzuki returned as the game's composer after working on other titles of the franchise such as Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, and Resident Evil: Revelations. According to him, for this soundtrack they decided to focus on the "duality of sound". Speaking about the concept of the sound design for Revelations 2 and his collaboration with Nima Fakhrara, he explained: "[Nima Fakhara's] productions possessed that particular element of darkness that worked perfectly with our[s]. After many brainstorming sessions, we decided to use ‘iron’ and ‘water’ as our concepts in creating new instruments. And, after recording, we edited and mixed the sound with other tracks to create a truly unique sound".
=== Release ===
Capcom released the game on February 25, 2015, in a weekly episodic format for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Once the final episode was released, a complete version was launched. Japanese rock band Dir En Grey was featured in some of the material promotion for the game. A full video of the song, Revelation of Mankind, featuring scenes of the band and the game was released in the middle of 2015. That music was also part of their last album, Arche. Sony Computer Entertainment published the PlayStation Vita version of the game. The port was developed by Frima Studio and released on August 18, 2015. The first episode of the game, Penal Colony, was made free to download for PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on November 18, 2015. After that, a collection was made for the Nintendo Switch containing both Revelations games, which launched at the end of November 2017.
== Reception ==
Reviews for the game have been mixed to positive. There was praise for the setting, story, characters and the co-op gameplay, but the graphics and some technical issues were largely criticized. According to Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer, the game has crazy plot twists, laughable dialogue, and campy moments, all of which come together in a satisfying way. She also praised the characters, as well as their unique story arcs and development throughout the game. The chaotic moments and the boss battles were also well received. On the other hand, Wallace complained about the dated puzzles and backtracking in Barry's campaign, saying that "these places lose their mystery a second time around".
Polygon commented that "Revelations 2 finds a focus that recent entries have sorely lacked", praised the game for including strong female characters, since three of the four main playable characters are female. Kollar was especially fond of newcomer Moira Burton, considering her a memorable and interesting character. However, he criticized the lack of horror, generic level design and the graphics. Destructoid's reviewer, Chris Carter, described the atmosphere of the first episode as well done, praising the creepy bloody dungeons and the dark forests of the island, they also speak well about the action and the fun co-op gameplay.
GamesRadar+ gave the game a score of 4 of 5 and spoke positively about the collaboration and teamwork, saying that both character teams are complementary and make the game a fantastic cooperative experience. However, they found the Claire/Moira campaign to have an unsatisfying ending. IGN considered the game to lack the scares for which the series is famous for, while also criticizing the graphics and considering that the game provides an unmemorable experience. They nevertheless praised the elements of action-adventure, the co-op gameplay, the implementation of traditional puzzles and the interesting plot, which in the words of the reviewer, Lucy O'Brien, "kept me hooked right up until its finale". She also praised the bonus Raid mode.
Many reviewers felt the third episode was the best one. Peter Brown from GameSpot considered the reason for this was the plot development and the presence of interesting puzzles, which were lacking in the first two episodes. IGN also had similar opinions, considering the balance between the action sequences and the puzzle solving to be exquisite.
=== Sales and accolades ===
According to Capcom, due to the variety of manners of selling, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 had a strong beginning and quickly become a million seller for the company. In Japan, in the first week of the release of the complete version, the game reached the second (PS3) and fourth position (PS4), selling 73,373 and 42,358 respectively. The PlayStation 4 hardware that week had a higher-than-normal sales, thanks to the releases of Resident Evil Revelations 2 and Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. In Brazil, the full game version became the 9th best selling game on the PS4 during the month of April 2015. As a download content, the complete season reached the 6th position on the same platform. After that, in the same year, specifically in November, the second episode alone, Contemplation, was the 8th best-selling download content for PlayStation 3. A month later, the PS Vita version reached the 5th position.
As of March 2020, the original release has reached 2.6 million units sold and, with that, Revelations 2 has possibly surpassed its predecessor and became the 26th best seller of the company. Furthermore, in the beginning of 2016, the title was selected by the readers of the Japanese game magazine Famitsu as the 9th most memorable game of the Xbox One. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Lane | Harriet Lane | Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston (May 9, 1830 – July 3, 1903) acted as first lady of the United States during the administration of her uncle, president James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. She has been described as the first of the modern first ladies, being a diplomatic hostess, whose dress-styles were copied, and who promoted deserving causes. In her will, she left funds for a new school on the grounds of Washington National Cathedral. Several ships have been named in her honor, including the cutter USCGC Harriet Lane, still in service.
== Status ==
Lane is the only person to have served as First Lady to a bachelor president, Buchanan being the only U.S. president never to have married. She is among 11 women who have served as First Lady, but were not married to the president, with most of the other women being relatives of widowed presidents.
== Early life ==
Harriet Lane's family was from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She was the youngest child of Elliott Tole Lane, a merchant, and Jane Ann Buchanan Lane. She lost her mother when she was nine; when her father's death two years later made her an orphan, she requested that her favorite uncle, James Buchanan, be appointed as her legal guardian. Buchanan, an unmarried Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, indulged his niece and her sister, enrolling them in boarding schools in Charles Town, Virginia (later for two years at the Georgetown Visitation Monastery in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.). By this time, Buchanan was Secretary of State, and, as he had promised, he introduced her to fashionable and political circles.
In 1854, she joined him in London, where he was minister to the Court of St. James's. Queen Victoria gave "dear Miss Lane" the rank of ambassador's wife; admiring suitors gave her the fame of a beauty. In appearance, "Hal" Lane was of medium height, with masses of light, almost golden-colored hair. She had eyes that were described as "violet colored".
== Acting First Lady of the United States ==
The capital welcomed its new "Democratic Queen" to the White House in 1857. Harriet was a popular hostess during the four years of the Buchanan presidency. Women copied her hair and clothing styles (especially when she lowered the neckline on her inaugural gown by 2.5 inches), parents named their daughters for her, and a popular song ("Listen to the Mockingbird") was dedicated to her. While in the White House, she used her position to promote social causes, such as improving the living conditions of Native Americans in reservations. She also made a point of inviting artists and musicians to White House functions. For both her popularity and her advocacy work, she has been described as the first of the modern first ladies, and her popularity at the time is compared to that of Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s. The presidential yacht was named for her—the first of several ships to be named after her, one of which remains in service.
As sectional tensions increased, she worked out seating arrangements for her weekly formal dinner parties with special care, to give dignitaries their proper precedence and still keep political foes apart. Her tact did not falter, but her task became impossible—as did her uncle's. Seven states had seceded by the time Buchanan retired from office and returned with his niece to his spacious country home, Wheatland, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
In the 1982 Siena College Research Institute survey asking historians to assess American first ladies, Lane and several other "acting" first ladies were included. The first ladies survey, which has been conducted periodically since, ranks first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. In the 1982 survey, out of 42 first ladies and acting first ladies, Lane was assessed as the 29th most highly regarded among historians. Acting first ladies such as Lane have been excluded from subsequent iterations of this survey.
== Romance and marriage ==
During her time in England, Sir Fitzroy Kelly, then Prime Minister Palmerston's attorney general, proposed marriage to her; Queen Victoria was strongly in favor of this match, as it would keep Lane in England.
Lane considered the advantages of a number of bachelors. Her uncle cautioned Lane against "rushing precipitately into matrimonial connections" as his ward found her potential suitors "pleasant but dreadfully troublesome". Lane eventually married Baltimore banker Henry Elliott Johnston at the age of 36. They had two sons: James Buchanan Johnston (1866–1881) and Henry Elliot Johnston (1869–1882), but within the 18 years from 1867 to 1885, her uncle, her husband, and her children all died.
== Later life and death ==
Harriet wrote her will in 1895 and lived another eight years, during which the country's general prosperity greatly increased the value of her estate. She added a codicil in 1899 directing that a school building be constructed on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral property and asked that it be called the Lane-Johnston Building "to the end that the family names of my husband and myself may be associated with the bequest made in loving memory of our sons." A codicil of 1903 increased her gift by one third but said that only half the total was to be spent on the building. The remainder was "specially to provide for the free maintenance, education and training of choirboys, primarily those in service of the Cathedral." This bequest founded the prestigious boys' school that today is called St. Albans School, which opened in October 1909.
At Harriet Lane Johnston's funeral, services were conducted by Bishop Satterlee and Canon DeVries of the Washington National Cathedral. She was buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland, her grave marked with a Celtic cross like the Peace Cross on the cathedral close. In 1905, guests were invited to see the cornerstone of the first St. Albans School building, laid for what the invitation referred to as "The Lane Johnston Choir School for Boys of the Washington Cathedral".
== Legacy ==
Lane left bequests in her will that established a children's hospital and a boys' school, and she donated her collection of artwork to the Smithsonian. Several Navy and Coast Guard ships have been named in her honor.
Her birthplace, the Lane House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
=== Hospital and school ===
She dedicated $400,000 (equivalent to $14,300,000 in 2025) to establish the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland as a memorial to two sons who had died in childhood. In October 1912 the Harriet Lane Home officially opened. It was the first children's clinic in the United States that was associated with a medical school. Eventually treating over 60,000 children a year, the Harriet Lane Home became a pioneer treatment, teaching, and research clinic.
From 1930 to 1963, Helen Taussig, who helped to develop the blue baby operation, headed the pediatric cardiac clinic. Child psychiatrist Leo Kanner did studies of autistic children. Lawson Wilkins established an endocrine clinic that developed procedures used universally to treat children with certain glandular disorders, including dwarfism. John E. Bordley and William G. Hardy broke ground in detecting hearing impairments in very young children. It became a renowned pediatric facility; the Harriet Lane Outpatient Clinics serve thousands of children today, and the widely used manual for pediatric house officers, The Harriet Lane Handbook, bears her name.
The Harriet Lane Outpatient Clinics continue to operate in countries throughout the world.
The pediatric medicine Harriet Lane Handbook series continues in print and online, with multiple titles. The original title (subtitled A Manual for Pediatric House Officers) is in its 22nd edition, published by Mosby.
=== Art collection ===
She had an art collection based on European works, which she left to the U.S. government. The Smithsonian Institution called her the "First Lady of the National Collection of Fine Arts" after her collection was accepted into public ownership.
=== Namesake ships ===
The United States Coast Guard has had three cutters named in her honor. The first was the USRC Harriet Lane, commissioned into the United States Revenue Cutter Service (predecessor of the USCG) in 1857. This cutter was transferred to the United States Navy in 1861 because of the American Civil War.
The second cutter named for Harriet Lane was the 125 foot USCGC Harriet Lane (WSC-141), commissioned in 1926 and decommissioned in 1946.
The third cutter named for Harriet Lane is the USCGC Harriet Lane (WMEC-903). The cutter was commissioned in May 1984, and as of 2021, is still in active service.
== Footnotes == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lee_(singer) | Mark Lee (singer) | |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021–22_Eredivisie | 2021–22 Eredivisie | The 2021–22 Eredivisie was the 66th season of Eredivisie, the premier football competition in the Netherlands. It began on 14 August 2021 and concluded on 15 May 2022.
Ajax became the champions in round 33, beating Heerenveen 5–0 in their own Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on 11 May 2022.
== Teams ==
Cambuur (promoted after a five-year absence), Go Ahead Eagles and NEC (both promoted after a four-year absence) were promoted from the 2020–21 Eerste Divisie. ADO Den Haag (relegated after thirteen years in the top flight), VVV-Venlo (relegated after four years in the top flight) and Emmen (relegated after three years in the top flight) have been relegated to 2021–22 Eerste Divisie.
=== Stadiums and locations ===
=== Number of teams by province ===
=== Personnel and kits ===
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
=== Managerial changes ===
== Standings ==
=== League table ===
== Results ==
=== Fixtures and results ===
=== Results by round ===
== European play-offs ==
The European play-offs were contested by the four highest ranked teams which were not yet qualified for any European tournament. The matches were played on a home-and-away basis, from 18 to 29 May. The winner received a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League.
=== Qualified teams ===
=== Bracket ===
=== Semi-finals ===
==== First legs ====
==== Second legs ====
=== Final ===
==== First leg ====
==== Second leg ====
== Promotion/relegation play-offs ==
The seeds were assigned based on the final ranking after the regular season. The best ranked team got the highest seed (lowest number). Eredivisie teams were considered to be better ranked than Eerste Divisie teams.
If a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of fifteen minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.
Seven teams, six from the Eerste Divisie and one from the Eredivisie, played for a spot in the 2022–23 Eredivisie. The remaining six teams played in the 2022–23 Eerste Divisie. The highest seeded team or the team from the Eredivisie always host the second leg.
=== Qualified teams ===
=== Bracket ===
=== First round ===
==== First legs ====
==== Second legs ====
=== Semi-finals ===
==== First legs ====
==== Second legs ====
=== Final ===
==== First leg ====
==== Second leg ====
== Statistics ==
=== Top scorers ===
=== Hat-tricks ===
=== Top assists ===
=== Clean sheets ===
=== Discipline ===
==== Player ====
Most yellow cards: 10
Matúš Bero (Vitesse)
Adam Maher (Utrecht)
Mark van der Maarel (Utrecht)
Most red cards: 2
Joris Kramer (Go Ahead Eagles)
Mike te Wierik (Groningen)
==== Club ====
Most yellow cards: 65
Vitesse
Most red cards: 6
Vitesse
Willem II
== Awards ==
=== Monthly awards ===
=== Annual awards === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven_in_film | Beethoven in film | |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Butler | Austin Butler | Austin Robert Butler (born August 17, 1991) is an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he has received a British Academy Film Award and Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two Critics' Choice Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
Butler began his career on television, appearing in sitcoms on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, most notably on Zoey 101 (2007–2008), and later in teen dramas, including recurring parts on The CW's Life Unexpected (2010–2011) and Switched at Birth (2011–2012). He went on to star in The Carrie Diaries (2013–2014) and The Shannara Chronicles (2016–2017).
Butler's film breakthrough came as Tex Watson in Quentin Tarantino's period dramedy Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). He gained wider recognition for portraying Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's biopic Elvis (2022), which earned him a BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He has since starred in the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air (2024), Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two (2024), and Darren Aronofsky's crime thriller Caught Stealing (2025).
On stage, Butler made his Broadway debut in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh (2018).
== Early life and education ==
Butler was born on August 17, 1991, in Anaheim, California, the son of Lori Anne (née Howell), an aesthetician, and David Butler who is of Irish descent. The two divorced when he was seven. He has an older sister, Ashley (b. 1986), who worked as a background actress alongside him on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. His maternal great-great-grandparents, Matti Matinpoika Sillanpää and Liisa Jaakontytär Järvelä, were Finnish immigrants from Ostrobothnia, Finland, who settled in Wisconsin.
When Butler was thirteen, he was approached by a representative from a background acting management company at the Orange County Fair who helped him get started in the entertainment industry. He found that he enjoyed it and soon began taking acting classes. Butler attended public school until the seventh grade, when he left to be homeschooled to better accommodate his work schedule. He continued his homeschooling until the tenth grade and later passed the CHSPE, the state's high school equivalency diploma exam.
== Career ==
=== 2005–2018: Career beginnings ===
In 2005, after working as an extra on several television series including Unfabulous and Drake & Josh, Butler landed his first regular job as a background actor playing the role of Zippy Brewster for two seasons on Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. His friend on the show, Lindsey Shaw, introduced him to her manager, Pat Cutler, who signed him and launched his career. From that point on, Butler began taking acting seriously as a career. In May 2007, Butler landed a guest starring role on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana playing the role of Derek Hanson opposite actress Miley Cyrus, and in September of that same year, he portrayed Jake Krandle in the episode "iLike Jake" on the Nickelodeon series iCarly.
In February 2008, Butler landed a main role on another Nickelodeon series, Zoey 101, playing James Garrett, the love interest of Jamie Lynn Spears's title character Zoey in the fourth season; previously, he guest starred on the same show playing the role of Danifer on the third-season episode "Quarantine". In March of that year, he appeared in an episode on the short-lived Cartoon Network sitcom, Out of Jimmy's Head, playing the role of Lance in the episode titled "Princess".
In July 2009, Butler starred in 20th Century Fox's family adventure film Aliens in the Attic portraying Jake Pearson, alongside Ashley Tisdale, Carter Jenkins, Robert Hoffman, Kevin Nealon and Doris Roberts. In the film, his character, along with his family, battles to save their vacation home and the world from an alien invasion. That same summer, Butler appeared in the starring role of Jordan Gallagher on the popular, but short-lived ABC Family series Ruby & the Rockits, alongside David Cassidy, Patrick Cassidy and his good friend, Alexa Vega.
In February 2010, Butler landed a recurring role as Jones on the CW series Life Unexpected, Later that year, he guest-starred in episodes of the Disney Channel sitcoms Wizards of Waverly Place and Jonas as well as on CSI: Miami and The Defenders. Also in 2010, Butler's Aliens in the Attic co-star Ashley Tisdale invited him to audition for a lead role in the film Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, a spin-off of Disney's High School Musical franchise that followed the adventures of Sharpay Evans after high school as she tries to get her big break on Broadway. In the film, Butler plays Peyton Leverette, the love interest of Sharpay. Regarding his casting, Butler told Week In Rewind, "I had worked with Ashley once, and then I heard about the movie, because she called me and said, 'Austin, I want you to come and read for the director for this—I think you'd be perfect.' So, I went and met with the director, and it went really well, and I ended up doing the movie." The film was released direct to DVD on April 19, 2011.
In 2011, he booked the recurring role of Wilke on the ABC Family series Switched at Birth, debuting on June 27, 2011. In the same year, he signed on to play the lead role of Zack Garvey in the Lifetime television film The Bling Ring, made by Dick Clark Productions and directed by Michael Lembeck, based on the burglary group of the same name who targeted the homes of Hollywood's celebrities. The film was released on September 26, 2011. In January 2012, Butler guest-starred on the NBC comedy Are You There, Chelsea?
In his early twenties, Butler continued to act in teen-oriented television series, but gained greater recognition for his starring roles in The Carrie Diaries and later The Shannara Chronicles; he also branched out into new stage and film projects. In March 2012, Butler was cast in The CW's Sex and the City prequel series The Carrie Diaries to play Sebastian Kydd, a brooding heartthrob attending the same high school as Carrie Bradshaw, played by AnnaSophia Robb. The Carrie Diaries is based on Candace Bushnell's novel by the same name and follows Bradshaw's life in the 1980s as a teenager in New York City. The show was cancelled after two seasons.
In April 2014, it was announced that Butler had joined the cast of the play Death of the Author at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. He played the role of Bradley, a pre-law student with a double major in political science and math, and is set to graduate from a wealthy university. The play was directed by Bart DeLorenzo and written by Steven Drukman. Following previews on May 20, 2014, the play ran from May 28 to June 29.
Butler then joined the cast of Arrow in the recurring role of Chase. His character was a DJ and a love interest of Willa Holland's character Thea Queen. He co-starred with Miranda Cosgrove and Tom Sizemore in the 2015 thriller film The Intruders, and appeared in Kevin Smith's 2016 horror-comedy film Yoga Hosers about 15-year-old yoga nuts Colleen Collette and Colleen McKenzie. The film also stars Johnny Depp, Lily-Rose Depp, Harley Quinn Smith and Haley Joel Osment. In 2016, he began playing the role of Wil Ohmsford in The Shannara Chronicles, MTV's television adaptation of the Terry Brooks novel The Elfstones of Shannara. The series was cancelled after two seasons.
Butler made his Broadway debut playing Don Parritt, the "lost boy" in The Iceman Cometh, which starred Denzel Washington and David Morse. Previews for the limited run began in March 2018, and the play closed in July 2018. Per Hilton Als's review of the play in The New Yorker: "Although there are many performers in George C. Wolfe's staging of Eugene O'Neill's phenomenal [...] drama, The Iceman Cometh, [...] there is only one actor, and his name is Austin Butler."
=== 2019–present: Breakthrough and stardom ===
In 2019, Butler appeared in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as a fictional version of Manson Family member Tex Watson. Though he had limited screen time, his performance has been described as "intense" and "brooding". He received numerous nominations as a member of the film's ensemble cast. In that same year, Butler was cast as Elvis Presley in the biopic Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann. The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Butler's performance received critical acclaim, as well as praise from the Presley family. He described the part as "the most intimidating thing I've ever done. I honestly didn't sleep for about two years." The role earned him several nominations for Best Actor awards, including the Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics' Choice, Golden Globe and SAG Awards, winning the BAFTA and Golden Globe. Butler hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live later that year.
In June 2023, Butler was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an actor. The 50th Telluride Film Festival marked the premiere of Jeff Nichols's 1960s-set drama The Bikeriders, in which he played a member of a motorcycle club. The following year, he portrayed Gale Cleven in the war drama miniseries Masters of the Air. He next played the villainous Feyd-Rautha in Denis Villeneuve's science fiction epic Dune: Part Two (2024). Butler received praise for his commitment to the role, physical transformation, and complex character work.
Butler next starred as radical cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak in Ari Aster's Western film Eddington, alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Pedro Pascal, and in Darren Aronofsky's crime thriller Caught Stealing as Henry "Hank" Thompson, a bartender caught up in a web of crime, alongside Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, and Bad Bunny. In May 2025, It was announced that Butler would be joining Jeremy Allen White in A24’s Henry Dunham Crime Pic Enemies.
In February 2026, it was announced that Butler would portray Lance Armstrong in Edward Berger's biopic about Armstrong.
== Personal life ==
Butler enjoys creating and recording music. He taught himself to play guitar at the age of thirteen and piano at sixteen. In 2014, his mother died of duodenal cancer, which briefly made him consider retiring. From 2011 to 2019, Butler dated actress Vanessa Hudgens. In December 2021, he began dating actress and model Kaia Gerber. They broke up at the end of 2024.
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
=== Television ===
=== Theater ===
== Discography ==
Elvis (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2022)
== Awards and nominations == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Crane_(producer) | David Crane (producer) | David Crane (born August 13, 1957) is an American writer and producer. He is best known as one of the co-creators of the television sitcoms Friends and Episodes.
== Early life ==
Crane was born in West New York, New Jersey, the son of Joan Crane and veteran Philadelphia television personality Gene Crane in a traditional Jewish household. He attended Harriton High School in Pennsylvania and graduated from there in 1975. He is a 1979 graduate of Brandeis University.
== Career ==
He and his husband, Jeffrey Klarik (creator of Half & Half, co-producer Mad About You), created the 2006 ensemble sitcom The Class.
In 2011, Crane and Klarik created a sitcom called Episodes for the UK-based BBC. Airing first in the US on Showtime on Sunday January 9, 2011 and then on BBC Two on Monday January 10, 2011, it features Friends star Matt LeBlanc and Green Wing's Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig.
== Filmography ==
=== Television === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gregor | William Gregor | William Gregor (25 December 1761 – 11 June 1817) was a British clergyman and mineralogist who discovered the elemental metal Titanium.
== Early years ==
He was born at the Trewarthenick Estate in Cornwall, the son of Francis Gregor and Mary Copley and the brother of Francis Gregor, MP for Cornwall. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School, where he became interested in chemistry, then after two years with a private tutor entered St John's College, Cambridge, graduating BA in 1784 and MA in 1787. He was ordained in the Church of England. He became vicar of St Mary's Church Diptford near Totnes, Devon. He married Charlotte Anne Gwatkin in 1790 and they had one daughter, Charlotte-Anne Gregor.
== Discovery of titanium ==
After a brief interval at Bratton Clovelly, in 1793 William and his family moved permanently to the rectory of Creed in Cornwall. Here he continued his remarkably accurate chemical analysis of minerals, most of which came from Cornwall, such as the zeolites found in gabbro on The Lizard. He also analysed wavellite, tourmaline, and the uranium minerals torbernite and autunite, the arsenate scorodite, the lead mineral mimetite and the nickel mineral niccolite, and others. But he is best known for one of his earliest discoveries: in 1791, while analysing the minerals in a black sand he had discovered in the Manaccan valley, he isolated the calx of an unknown metal which he named manaccanite. Later in 1791, Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered what is now known as the transition metal, titanium in the mineral rutile. Believing this to be a new discovery, Klaproth named it titanium after the Titans of Greek Mythology, but eventually it was clarified that Gregor made the discovery first. Gregor was credited with the discovery, but the element kept the name chosen by Klaproth. Gregor later found titanium in corundum from Tibet, and in a tourmaline from a local tin mine.
== Death and legacy ==
Gregor was made an honorary member of the Geological Society of London on its inception in 1807, and was a founding member of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall in 1814. His friends and correspondents included John Hawkins, Philip Rashleigh and John Ayrton Paris. Never letting his scientific work interfere with his pastoral duties, he was also a distinguished landscape painter, etcher and musician. He died of tuberculosis on 11 June 1817 and was buried at nearby Cornelly church. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan | Genghis Khan | Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; c. 1162 – August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongol tribes, he launched a series of military campaigns, conquering large parts of China and Central Asia.
Genghis Khan was born Temüjin between 1155 and 1167 as the eldest child of Yesugei, a Mongol chieftain of the Borjigin clan, and his wife Hö'elün. When Temüjin was eight, his father died and his family was abandoned by its tribe. Reduced to near-poverty, Temüjin killed his older half-brother Behter to secure his familial position. His charismatic personality helped to attract his first followers and to form alliances with two prominent steppe leaders named Jamukha and Toghrul; they worked together to retrieve Temüjin's newlywed wife Börte, who had been kidnapped by raiders. As his reputation grew, his relationship with Jamukha deteriorated into open warfare. Temüjin was badly defeated in c. 1187, and may have spent the following years as a subject of the Jin dynasty; upon reemerging in 1196, he swiftly began gaining power. Toghrul came to view Temüjin as a threat and launched a surprise attack on him in 1203. Temüjin regrouped and overpowered Toghrul; after defeating the Naiman tribe and executing Jamukha, he was left as the sole ruler on the Mongolian steppe.
Temüjin formally adopted the title "Genghis Khan", the meaning of which is uncertain, at an assembly in 1206. Carrying out reforms designed to ensure long-term stability, he transformed the Mongols' tribal structure into an integrated meritocracy dedicated to the service of the ruling family. After thwarting a coup attempt from a powerful shaman, Genghis began to consolidate his power. In 1209, he led a large-scale raid into the neighbouring Western Xia, who agreed to Mongol terms the following year. He then launched a campaign against the Jin dynasty, which lasted for four years and ended in 1215 with the capture of the Jin capital Zhongdu. His general Jebe annexed the Central Asian state of Qara Khitai in 1218. The following year, Genghis invaded the Khwarazmian Empire following the execution of his envoys; the campaign toppled the Khwarazmian state and devastated the regions of Transoxiana and Khorasan, while Jebe and his colleague Subutai led an expedition that reached Georgia and Kievan Rus'. In 1227, Genghis died while subduing the rebellious Western Xia; following a two-year interregnum, his third son and heir Ögedei acceded to the throne in 1229.
Genghis Khan remains a controversial figure. He was generous and intensely loyal to his followers, but ruthless towards his enemies. He welcomed advice from diverse sources in his quest for world domination, for which he believed the shamanic supreme deity Tengri had destined him. The Mongol army under Genghis killed millions of people, yet his conquests also facilitated unprecedented commercial and cultural exchange over a vast geographical area. He is remembered as a backwards, savage tyrant in Russia and the Arab world, while recent Western scholarship has begun to reassess its previous view of him as a barbarian warlord. He was posthumously deified in Mongolia; modern Mongolians recognise him as the founding father of their nation.
== Name and title ==
There is no universal romanisation system used for Mongolian; as a result, modern spellings of Mongolian names vary greatly and may result in considerably different pronunciations from the original. The honorific most commonly rendered as "Genghis" ultimately derives from the Mongolian ᠴᠢᠩᠭᠢᠰ, which may be romanised as Činggis. This was adapted into Chinese as 成吉思 Chéngjísī, and into Persian as چنگیز Čəngīz. As Arabic lacks a sound similar to [tʃ], represented in the Mongolian and Persian romanisations by ⟨č⟩, writers transcribed the name as J̌ingiz, while Syriac authors used Šīngīz.
In addition to "Genghis", introduced into English during the 18th century based on a misreading of Persian sources, modern English spellings include "Chinggis", "Chingis", "Jinghis", and "Jengiz". His birth name "Temüjin" (ᠲᠡᠮᠦᠵᠢᠨ; 鐵木真 Tiěmùzhēn) is sometimes also spelled "Temuchin" in English.
When Genghis's grandson Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in 1271, he bestowed the temple name Taizu (太祖, meaning 'Supreme Progenitor') and the posthumous name Shengwu Huangdi (聖武皇帝, meaning 'Holy-Martial Emperor') upon his grandfather. Kublai's great-grandson Külüg Khan later expanded this title into Fatian Qiyun Shengwu Huangdi (法天啟運聖武皇帝, meaning 'Interpreter of the Heavenly Law, Initiator of the Good Fortune, Holy-Martial Emperor').
== Sources ==
As the sources are written in more than a dozen languages from across Eurasia, modern historians have found it difficult to compile information on the life of Genghis Khan. All accounts of his adolescence and rise to power derive from two Mongolian-language sources—the Secret History of the Mongols, and the Altan Debter (Golden Book). The latter, now lost, served as inspiration for two Chinese chronicles—the 14th-century History of Yuan and the Shengwu qinzheng lu (Campaigns of Genghis Khan). The History of Yuan, while poorly edited, provides a large amount of detail on individual campaigns and people; the Shengwu is more disciplined in its chronology, but does not criticise Genghis and occasionally contains errors.
The Secret History survived through being transliterated into Chinese characters during the 14th and 15th centuries. Its historicity has been disputed: the 20th-century sinologist Arthur Waley considered it a literary work with no historiographical value, but more recent historians have given it much more credence. Although it is clear that its chronology is suspect and that some passages were removed or modified for better narration, the Secret History is valued highly because the anonymous author is often critical of Genghis Khan: in addition to presenting him as indecisive and as having a phobia of dogs, the Secret History also recounts taboo events such as his fratricide and the possibility of his son Jochi's illegitimacy.
Multiple chronicles in Persian have also survived, which display a mix of positive and negative attitudes towards Genghis Khan and the Mongols. Both Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani and Ata-Malik Juvayni completed their respective histories in 1260. Juzjani was an eyewitness to the brutality of the Mongol conquests, and the hostility of his chronicle reflects his experiences. His contemporary Juvayni, who had travelled twice to Mongolia and attained a high position in the administration of a Mongol successor state, was more sympathetic; his account is the most reliable for Genghis Khan's western campaigns. The most important Persian source is the Jami' al-tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) compiled by Rashid al-Din on the order of Genghis's descendant Ghazan in the early 14th century. Ghazan allowed Rashid privileged access to both confidential Mongol sources such as the Altan Debter and to experts on the Mongol oral tradition, including Kublai Khan's ambassador Bolad Chingsang. As he was writing an official chronicle, Rashid censored inconvenient or taboo details.
There are many other contemporary histories which include additional information on Genghis Khan and the Mongols, although their neutrality and reliability are often suspect. Additional Chinese sources include the chronicles of the dynasties conquered by the Mongols, and the Song diplomat Zhao Hong, who visited the Mongols in 1221. Arabic sources include a contemporary biography of the Khwarazmian prince Jalal al-Din by his companion al-Nasawi. There are also several later Christian chronicles, including the Georgian Chronicles, and works by European travellers such as Carpini and Marco Polo.
== Early life ==
=== Birth and childhood ===
The year of Temüjin's birth is disputed, as historians favour different dates: 1155, 1162 or 1167. Some traditions place his birth in the Year of the Pig, which was either 1155 or 1167. While a dating to 1155 is supported by the writings of both Zhao Hong and Rashid al-Din, other major sources such as the History of Yuan and the Shengwu favour the year 1162. The 1167 dating, favoured by the sinologist Paul Pelliot, is derived from a minor source—a text of the Yuan artist Yang Weizhen—but is more compatible with the events of Genghis Khan's life than a 1155 placement, which implies that he did not have children until after the age of thirty and continued actively campaigning into his seventh decade. 1162 is the date accepted by most historians; the historian Paul Ratchnevsky noted that Temüjin himself may not have known the truth. The location of Temüjin's birth, which the Secret History records as Delüün Boldog on the Onon River, is similarly debated: it has been placed at either Dadal in Khentii Province or in southern Agin-Buryat Okrug, Russia.
Temüjin was born into the Borjigin clan of the Mongol tribe to Yesügei, a chieftain who claimed descent from the legendary warlord Bodonchar Munkhag, and his principal wife Hö'elün, originally of the Olkhonud clan, whom Yesügei had abducted from her Merkit bridegroom Chiledu. The origin of his birth name is contested: the earliest traditions hold that his father had just returned from a successful campaign against the Tatars with a captive named Temüchin-uge, after whom he named the newborn in celebration of his victory, while later traditions highlight the root temür (meaning 'iron') and connect to theories that "Temüjin" means 'blacksmith'.
Several legends surround Temüjin's birth. The most prominent is that he was born clutching a blood clot in his hand, a motif in Asian folklore indicating the child would be a warrior. Others claimed that Hö'elün was impregnated by a ray of light which announced the child's destiny, a legend which echoed that of the mythical Borjigin ancestor Alan Gua. Yesügei and Hö'elün had three younger sons after Temüjin: Qasar, Hachiun, and Temüge, as well as one daughter, Temülün. Temüjin also had two half-brothers, Behter and Belgutei, from Yesügei's secondary wife Sochigel, whose identity is uncertain. The siblings grew up at Yesugei's main camp on the banks of the Onon, where they learned how to ride a horse and shoot a bow.
When Temüjin was eight years old, his father decided to betroth him to a suitable girl. Yesügei took his heir to the pastures of Hö'elün's prestigious Onggirat tribe, which had intermarried with the Mongols on many previous occasions. There, he arranged a betrothal between Temüjin and Börte, the daughter of an Onggirat chieftain named Dei Sechen. As the betrothal meant Yesügei would gain a powerful ally and as Börte commanded a high bride price, Dei Sechen held the stronger negotiating position, and demanded that Temüjin remain in his household to work off his future debt. Accepting this condition, Yesügei requested a meal from a band of Tatars he encountered while riding homewards alone, relying on the steppe tradition of hospitality to strangers. However, the Tatars recognised their old enemy and slipped poison into his food. Yesügei gradually sickened but managed to return home; close to death, he requested a trusted retainer called Münglig to retrieve Temüjin from the Onggirat. He died soon after.
=== Adolescence ===
Yesügei's death shattered the unity of his people, which included members of the Borjigin, Tayichiud, and other clans. As Temüjin was not yet ten and Behter around two years older, neither was considered experienced enough to rule. The Tayichiud faction excluded Hö'elün from the ancestor worship ceremonies which followed a ruler's death and soon abandoned her camp. The Secret History relates that the entire Borjigin clan followed, despite Hö'elün's attempts to shame them into staying by appealing to their honour. Rashid al-Din and the Shengwu however imply that Yesügei's brothers stood by the widow. It is possible that Hö'elün may have refused to join in levirate marriage with one, resulting in later tensions, or that the author of the Secret History dramatised the situation. All the sources agree that most of Yesügei's people renounced his family in favour of the Tayichiuds and that Hö'elün's family were reduced to a much harsher life. Taking up a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, they collected roots and nuts, hunted for small animals, and caught fish.
Tensions developed as the children grew older. Both Temüjin and Behter had claims to be their father's heir: although Temüjin was the child of Yesügei's chief wife, Behter was at least two years his senior. There was even the possibility that, as permitted under levirate law, Behter could marry Hö'elün upon attaining his majority and become Temüjin's stepfather. As the friction, exacerbated by frequent disputes over the division of hunting spoils, intensified, Temüjin and his younger brother Qasar ambushed and killed Behter. This taboo act was omitted from the official chronicles but not from the Secret History, which recounts that Hö'elün angrily reprimanded her sons. Behter's younger full-brother Belgutei did not seek vengeance, and became one of Temüjin's highest-ranking followers alongside Qasar. Around this time, Temüjin developed a close friendship with Jamukha, another boy of aristocratic descent; the Secret History notes that they exchanged knucklebones and arrows as gifts and swore the anda pact—the traditional oath of Mongol blood brothers–at eleven.
As the family lacked allies, Temüjin was taken prisoner on multiple occasions. Captured by the Tayichiuds, he escaped during a feast and hid first in the Onon and then in the tent of Sorkan-Shira, a man who had seen him in the river and not raised the alarm. Sorkan-Shira sheltered Temüjin for three days at great personal risk before helping him to escape. Temüjin was assisted on another occasion by Bo'orchu, an adolescent who aided him in retrieving stolen horses. Soon afterwards, Bo'orchu joined Temüjin's camp as his first nökor ('personal companion'; pl. nökod). These incidents, related by the Secret History, are indicative of the emphasis its author put on Genghis' personal charisma.
== Rise to power ==
=== Early campaigns ===
Temüjin returned to Dei Sechen to marry Börte when he reached the age of majority at fifteen. Delighted to see the son-in-law he feared had died, Dei Sechen consented to the marriage and accompanied the newlyweds back to Temüjin's camp; his wife Čotan presented Hö'elün with an expensive sable cloak. Seeking a patron, Temüjin chose to regift the cloak to Toghrul, khan (ruler) of the Kerait tribe, who had fought alongside Yesügei and sworn the anda pact with him. Toghrul ruled a vast territory in central Mongolia but distrusted many of his followers. In need of loyal replacements, he was delighted with the valuable gift and welcomed Temüjin into his protection. The two grew close, and Temüjin began to build a following, as nökod such as Jelme entered into his service. Temüjin and Börte had their first child, a daughter named Qojin, around this time.
Soon afterwards, seeking revenge for Yesügei's abduction of Hö'elün, around 300 Merkits raided Temüjin's camp. While Temüjin and his brothers were able to hide on Burkhan Khaldun mountain, Börte and Sochigel were abducted. In accordance with levirate law, Börte was given in marriage to the younger brother of the now-deceased Chiledu. Temüjin appealed for aid from Toghrul and his childhood anda Jamukha, who had risen to become chief of the Jadaran tribe. Both chiefs were willing to field armies of 20,000 warriors, and with Jamukha in command, the campaign was soon won. A now-pregnant Börte was recovered successfully and soon gave birth to a son, Jochi; although Temüjin raised him as his own, questions over his true paternity followed Jochi throughout his life. This is narrated in the Secret History and contrasts with Rashid al-Din's account, which protects the family's reputation by removing any hint of illegitimacy. Over the next decade and a half, Temüjin and Börte had three more sons (Chagatai, Ögedei, and Tolui) and four more daughters (Checheyigen, Alaqa, Tümelün, and Al-Altan).
The followers of Temüjin and Jamukha camped together for a year and a half, during which their leaders reforged their anda pact and slept together under one blanket, according to the Secret History. The source presents this period as close friends bonding, but Ratchnevsky questioned if Temüjin actually entered into Jamukha's service in return for the assistance with the Merkits. Tensions arose and the two leaders parted, ostensibly on account of a cryptic remark made by Jamukha on the subject of camping; in any case, Temüjin followed the advice of Hö'elün and Börte and began to build an independent following. The major tribal rulers remained with Jamukha, but forty-one leaders gave their support to Temüjin along with many commoners: these included Subutai and others of the Uriankhai, the Barulas, the Olkhonuds, and many more. Many were attracted by Temüjin's reputation as a fair and generous lord who could offer better lives, while his shamans prophesied that heaven had allocated him a great destiny.
Temüjin was soon acclaimed by his close followers as khan of the Mongols. Toghrul was pleased at his vassal's elevation but Jamukha was resentful. Tensions escalated into open hostility, and in around 1187 the two leaders clashed in battle at Dalan Baljut: the two forces were evenly matched but Temüjin suffered a clear defeat. Later chroniclers including Rashid al-Din instead state that he was victorious but their accounts contradict themselves and each other.
Modern historians such as Ratchnevsky and Timothy May consider it very likely that Temüjin spent a large portion of the decade following the clash at Dalan Baljut as a servant of the Jurchen Jin dynasty in North China. Zhao Hong recorded that the future Genghis Khan spent several years as a slave of the Jin. Formerly seen as an expression of nationalistic arrogance, the statement is now thought to be based in fact, especially as no other source convincingly explains Temüjin's activities between Dalan Baljut and c. 1195. Taking refuge across the border was a common practice both for disaffected steppe leaders and disgraced Chinese officials. Temüjin's reemergence having retained significant power indicates that he probably profited in the service of the Jin. As he later overthrew that state, such an episode, detrimental to Mongol prestige, was omitted from all their sources. Zhao Hong was bound by no such taboos.
=== Defeating rivals ===
The sources do not agree on the events of Temüjin's return to the steppe. In early summer 1196, he participated in a joint campaign with the Jin against the Tatars, who had begun to act contrary to Jin interests. As a reward, the Jin awarded him the honorific cha-ut kuri, the meaning of which probably approximated "commander of hundreds" in Jurchen. At around the same time, he assisted Toghrul with reclaiming the lordship of the Kereit, which had been usurped by one of Toghrul's relatives with the support of the powerful Naiman tribe. The actions of 1196 fundamentally changed Temüjin's position in the steppe—although nominally still Toghrul's vassal, he was de facto an equal ally.
Jamukha behaved cruelly following his victory at Dalan Baljut—he allegedly boiled seventy prisoners alive and humiliated the corpses of leaders who had opposed him. A number of disaffected followers, including Yesügei's follower Münglig and his sons, defected to Temüjin as a consequence; they were also probably attracted by his newfound wealth. Temüjin subdued the disobedient Jurkin tribe that had previously offended him at a feast and refused to participate in the Tatar campaign. After executing their leaders, he had Belgutei symbolically break a leading Jurkin's back in a staged wrestling match in retribution. This latter incident, which contravened Mongol customs of justice, was only noted by the author of the Secret History, who openly disapproved. These events occurred c. 1197.
During the following years, Temüjin and Toghrul campaigned against the Merkits, the Naimans, and the Tatars; sometimes separately and sometimes together. In around 1201, a collection of dissatisfied tribes including the Onggirat, the Tayichiud, and the Tatars swore to break the domination of the Borjigin-Kereit alliance, electing Jamukha as their leader and gurkhan (lit. '"khan of the tribes"'). After some initial successes, Temüjin and Toghrul routed this loose confederation at Yedi Qunan, and Jamukha was forced to beg for Toghrul's clemency. Desiring complete supremacy in eastern Mongolia, Temüjin defeated first the Tayichiud and then, in 1202, the Tatars; after both campaigns, he executed the clan leaders and took the remaining warriors into his service. These included Sorkan-Shira, who had come to his aid previously, and a young warrior named Jebe, who, by killing Temüjin's horse and refusing to hide that fact, had displayed martial ability and personal courage.
The absorption of the Tatars left three military powers in the steppe: the Naimans in the west, the Mongols in the east, and the Kereit in between. Seeking to cement his position, Temüjin proposed that his son Jochi marry one of Toghrul's daughters. Led by Toghrul's son Senggum, the Kereit elite believed the proposal to be an attempt to gain control over their tribe, while the doubts over Jochi's parentage would have offended them further. In addition, Jamukha drew attention to the threat Temüjin posed to the traditional steppe aristocracy by his habit of promoting commoners to high positions, which subverted social norms. Yielding eventually to these demands, Toghrul attempted to lure his vassal into an ambush, but his plans were overheard by two herdsmen. Temüjin was able to gather some of his forces, but was soundly defeated at the Battle of Qalaqaljid Sands.
Retreating southeast to Baljuna, an unidentified lake or river, Temüjin waited for his scattered forces to regroup: Bo'orchu had lost his horse and was forced to flee on foot, while Temüjin's badly wounded son Ögedei had been transported and tended to by Borokhula, a leading warrior. Temüjin called in every possible ally and swore a famous oath of loyalty, later known as the Baljuna Covenant, to his faithful followers, which subsequently granted them great prestige. The oath-takers of Baljuna were a very heterogeneous group—men from nine different tribes who included Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists, united only by loyalty to Temüjin and to each other. This group became a model for the later empire, termed a "proto-government of a proto-nation" by historian John Man. The Baljuna Covenant was omitted from the Secret History—as the group was predominantly non-Mongol, the author presumably wished to downplay the role of other tribes.
A ruse de guerre involving Qasar allowed the Mongols to ambush the Kereit at the Jej'er Heights; though the ensuing battle still lasted three days, it ended in a decisive victory for Temüjin. Toghrul and Senggum were both forced to flee, and while the latter escaped to Tibet, Toghrul was killed by a Naiman who did not recognise him. Temüjin sealed his victory by absorbing the Kereit elite into his own tribe: he took the princess Ibaqa as a wife, and married her sister Sorghaghtani and niece Doquz to his youngest son Tolui. The ranks of the Naimans had swelled due to the arrival of Jamukha and others defeated by the Mongols, and they prepared for war. Temüjin was informed of these events by Alaqush, the sympathetic ruler of the Ongud tribe. In May 1204, at the Battle of Chakirmaut in the Altai Mountains, the Naimans were decisively defeated: their leader Tayang Khan was killed, and his son Kuchlug was forced to flee west. The Merkits were decimated later that year, while Jamukha, who had abandoned the Naimans at Chakirmaut, was betrayed to Temüjin by companions who were executed for their lack of loyalty. According to the Secret History, Jamukha convinced his childhood anda to execute him honourably; other accounts state that he was killed by dismemberment.
== Early reign: reforms and Chinese campaigns (1206–1215) ==
=== Kurultai of 1206 and reforms ===
Now sole ruler of the steppe, Temüjin held a large assembly called a kurultai at the source of the Onon River in 1206. Here, he formally adopted the title "Genghis Khan", the etymology and meaning of which have been much debated. Some commentators hold that the title had no meaning, simply representing Temüjin's eschewal of the traditional gurkhan title, which had been accorded to Jamukha and was thus of lesser worth. Another theory suggests that the word "Genghis" bears connotations of strength, firmness, hardness, or righteousness. A third hypothesis proposes that the title is related to the Turkic tängiz ('ocean'), the title "Genghis Khan" would mean "master of the ocean", and as the ocean was believed to surround the earth, the title thus ultimately implied "Universal Ruler".
Genghis Khan then began a "social revolution", in May's words. As traditional tribal systems had primarily evolved to benefit small clans and families, they were unsuitable as the foundations for larger states and had been the downfall of previous steppe confederations. Genghis thus began a series of administrative reforms designed to suppress the power of tribal affiliations and to replace them with unconditional loyalty to the khan and the ruling family. As most of the traditional tribal leaders had been killed during his rise to power, Genghis was able to reconstruct the Mongol social hierarchy in his favour. The highest tier was occupied solely by his and his brothers' families, who became known as the altan uruq (lit. 'Golden Family') or chaghan yasun (lit. 'white bone'); underneath them came the qara yasun (lit. 'black bone'; sometimes qarachu), composed of the surviving pre-empire aristocracy and the most important of the new families.
To break any concept of tribal loyalty, Mongol society was reorganised into a military decimal system. Every man between the age of fifteen and seventy was conscripted into a minqan (pl. minkad), a unit of a thousand soldiers, which was further subdivided into units of hundreds (jaghun, pl. jaghat) and tens (arban, pl. arbat). The units also encompassed each man's household, meaning that each military minqan was supported by a minqan of households in what May has termed "a military–industrial complex". Each minqan operated as both a political and social unit, while the warriors of defeated tribes were dispersed to different minqad to make it difficult for them to rebel as a single body. This was intended to ensure the disappearance of old tribal identities, replacing them with loyalty to the "Great Mongol State", and to commanders who had gained their rank through merit and loyalty to the khan. This particular reform proved extremely effective—even after the division of the Mongol Empire, fragmentation never happened along tribal lines. Instead, the descendants of Genghis continued to reign unchallenged, in some cases until as late as the 1700s, and even powerful non-imperial dynasts such as Timur and Edigu were compelled to rule from behind a puppet ruler of his lineage.
Genghis's senior nökod were appointed to the highest ranks and received the greatest honours. Bo'orchu and Muqali were each given ten thousand men to lead as commanders of the right and left wings of the army respectively. The other nökod were each given commands of one of the ninety-five minkad. In a display of Genghis' meritocratic ideals, many of these men were born to low social status: Ratchnevsky cited Jelme and Subutai, the sons of blacksmiths, in addition to a carpenter, a shepherd, and even the two herdsmen who had warned Temüjin of Toghrul's plans in 1203. As a special privilege, Genghis allowed certain loyal commanders to retain the tribal identities of their units. Alaqush of the Ongud was allowed to retain five thousand warriors of his tribe because his son had entered into an alliance pact with Genghis, marrying his daughter Alaqa.
A key tool which underpinned these reforms was the expansion of the keshig ('bodyguard'). After Temüjin defeated Toghrul in 1203, he had appropriated this Kereit institution in a minor form, but at the 1206 kurultai its numbers were greatly expanded, from 1,150 to 10,000 men. The keshig was not only the khan's bodyguard, but his household staff, a military academy, and the centre of governmental administration. All the warriors in this elite corps were brothers or sons of military commanders and were essentially hostages. The members of the keshig nevertheless received special privileges and direct access to the khan, whom they served and who in return evaluated their capabilities and their potential to govern or command. Commanders such as Subutai, Chormaqan, and Baiju all started out in the keshig, before being given command of their own force.
=== Consolidation of power (1206–1210) ===
From 1204 to 1209, Genghis Khan was predominantly focused on consolidating and maintaining his new nation. He faced a challenge from the shaman Kokechu, whose father Münglig had been allowed to marry Hö'elün after he defected to Temüjin. Kokechu, who had proclaimed Temüjin as Genghis Khan and taken the Tengrist title "Teb Tenggeri" (lit. "Wholly Heavenly") on account of his sorcery, was very influential among the Mongol commoners and sought to divide the imperial family. Genghis's brother Qasar was the first of Kokechu's targets—always distrusted by his brother, Qasar was humiliated and almost imprisoned on false charges before Hö'elün intervened by publicly reprimanding Genghis. Nevertheless, Kokechu's power steadily increased, and he publicly shamed Temüge, Genghis's youngest brother, when he attempted to intervene. Börte saw that Kokechu was a threat to Genghis's power and warned her husband, who still superstitiously revered the shaman but now recognised the political threat he posed. Genghis allowed Temüge to arrange Kokechu's death, and then usurped the shaman's position as the Mongols' highest spiritual authority.
During these years, the Mongols imposed their control on surrounding areas. Genghis dispatched Jochi northwards in 1207 to subjugate the Hoi-yin Irgen, a collection of tribes on the edge of the Siberian taiga. Having secured a marriage alliance with the Oirats and defeated the Yenisei Kyrgyz, he took control of the region's trade in grain and furs, as well as its gold mines. Mongol armies also rode westwards, defeating the Naiman-Merkit alliance on the River Irtysh in late 1208. Their khan was killed and Kuchlug fled into Central Asia. Led by Barchuk, the Uyghurs freed themselves from the suzerainty of the Qara Khitai and pledged themselves to Genghis in 1211 as the first sedentary society to submit to the Mongols.
The Mongols had started raiding the border settlements of the Tangut-led Western Xia kingdom in 1205, ostensibly in retaliation for allowing Senggum, Toghrul's son, refuge. More prosaic explanations include rejuvenating the depleted Mongol economy with an influx of fresh goods and livestock, or simply subjugating a semi-hostile state to protect the nascent Mongol nation. Most Xia troops were stationed along the southern and eastern borders of the kingdom to guard against attacks from the Song and Jin dynasties respectively, while its northern border relied only on the Gobi desert for protection. After a raid in 1207 sacked the Xia fortress of Wulahai, Genghis decided to personally lead a full-scale invasion in 1209.
Wulahai was captured again in May and the Mongols advanced on the capital Zhongxing (modern-day Yinchuan) but suffered a reverse against a Xia army. After a two-month stalemate, Genghis broke the deadlock with a feigned retreat; the Xia forces were deceived out of their defensive positions and overpowered. Although Zhongxing was now mostly undefended, the Mongols lacked any siege equipment better than crude battering rams and were unable to progress the siege. The Xia requested aid from the Jin, but Emperor Zhangzong rejected the plea. Genghis's attempt to redirect the Yellow River into the city with a dam initially worked, but the poorly constructed earthworks broke—possibly breached by the Xia—in January 1210 and the Mongol camp was flooded, forcing them to retreat. A peace treaty was soon formalised: the Xia emperor Xiangzong submitted and handed over tribute, including his daughter Chaka, in exchange for the Mongol withdrawal.
=== Campaign against the Jin (1211–1215) ===
Wanyan Yongji usurped the Jin throne in 1209. He had previously served on the steppe frontier and Genghis greatly disliked him. When asked to submit and pay the annual tribute to Yongji in 1210, Genghis instead mocked the emperor, spat, and rode away from the Jin envoy—a challenge that meant war. Despite the possibility of being outnumbered eight-to-one by 600,000 Jin soldiers, Genghis had prepared to invade the Jin since learning in 1206 that the state was wracked by internal instabilities. Genghis had two aims: to take vengeance for past wrongs committed by the Jin, foremost among which was the death of Ambaghai Khan in the mid-12th century, and to win the vast amounts of plunder his troops and vassals expected.
After calling for a kurultai in March 1211, Genghis launched his invasion of Jin China in May, reaching the outer ring of Jin defences the following month. These border fortifications were guarded by Alaqush's Ongud, who allowed the Mongols to pass without difficulty. The three-pronged chevauchée aimed both to plunder and burn a vast area of Jin territory to deprive them of supplies and popular legitimacy, and to secure the mountain passes which allowed access to the North China Plain. The Jin lost numerous towns and were hindered by a series of defections, the most prominent of which led directly to Muqali's victory at the Battle of Huan'erzhui in autumn 1211. The campaign was halted in 1212 when Genghis was wounded by an arrow during the unsuccessful siege of Xijing (modern Datong). Following this failure, Genghis set up a corps of siege engineers, which recruited 500 Jin experts over the next two years.
The defences of Juyong Pass had been strongly reinforced by the time the conflict resumed in 1213, but a Mongol detachment led by Jebe managed to infiltrate the pass and surprise the elite Jin defenders, opening the road to the Jin capital Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing). The Jin administration began to disintegrate: after the Khitans, a tribe subject to the Jin, entered open rebellion, Hushahu, the commander of the forces at Xijing, abandoned his post and staged a coup in Zhongdu, killing Yongji and installing his own puppet ruler, Xuanzong. This governmental breakdown was fortunate for Genghis's forces; emboldened by their victories, they had seriously overreached and lost the initiative. Unable to do more than camp before Zhongdu's fortifications while his army suffered from an epidemic and famine—they resorted to cannibalism according to Carpini, who may have been exaggerating—Genghis opened peace negotiations despite his commanders' militance. He secured tribute, including 3,000 horses, 500 slaves, a Jin princess, and massive amounts of gold and silk, before lifting the siege and setting off homewards in May 1214.
As the northern Jin lands had been ravaged by plague and war, Xuanzong moved the capital and imperial court 600 kilometres (370 mi) southwards to Kaifeng. Interpreting this as an attempt to regroup in the south and then restart the war, Genghis concluded the terms of the peace treaty had been broken. He immediately prepared to return and capture Zhongdu. According to Christopher Atwood, it was only at this juncture that Genghis decided to fully conquer northern China. Muqali captured numerous towns in Liaodong during winter 1214–1215, and although the inhabitants of Zhongdu surrendered to Genghis on 31 May 1215, the city was sacked. When Genghis returned to Mongolia in early 1216, Muqali was left in command in China. He waged a brutal but effective campaign against the unstable Jin regime until his death in 1223.
== Later reign: western expansion and return to China (1216–1227) ==
=== Defeating rebellions and Qara Khitai (1216–1218) ===
In 1207, Genghis had appointed a man named Qorchi as governor of the subdued Hoi-yin Irgen tribes in Siberia. Appointed not for his talents but for prior services rendered, Qorchi's tendency to abduct women as concubines for his harem caused the tribes to rebel and take him prisoner in early 1216. The following year, they ambushed and killed Boroqul, one of Genghis's highest-ranking nökod. The khan was livid at the loss of his close friend and prepared to lead a retaliatory campaign; eventually dissuaded from this course, he dispatched his eldest son Jochi and a Dörbet commander. They managed to surprise and defeat the rebels, securing control over this economically important region.
Kuchlug, the Naiman prince who had been defeated in 1204, had usurped the throne of the Central Asian Qara Khitai dynasty between 1211 and 1213. He was a greedy and arbitrary ruler who probably earned the enmity of the native Islamic populace whom he attempted to forcibly convert to Buddhism. Genghis reckoned that Kuchlug could be a threat to his empire, and Jebe was sent with an army of 20,000 cavalry to the city of Kashgar; he undermined Kuchlug's rule by emphasising the Mongol policies of religious tolerance and gained the loyalty of the local elite. Kuchlug was forced to flee southwards to the Pamir Mountains, but was captured by local hunters. Jebe had him beheaded and paraded his corpse through Qara Khitai, proclaiming the end of religious persecution in the region.
=== Invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire (1219–1221) ===
Genghis had now attained complete control of the eastern portion of the Silk Road, and his territory bordered that of the Khwarazmian Empire, which ruled over much of Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan. Merchants from both sides were eager to restart trading, which had halted during Kuchlug's rule; the Khwarazmian ruler Muhammad II dispatched an envoy shortly after the Mongol capture of Zhongdu, while Genghis instructed his merchants to obtain the high-quality textiles and steel of Central and Western Asia. Many members of the altan uruq invested in one particular caravan of 450 merchants which set off to Khwarazmia in 1218 with a large quantity of wares. Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarazmian border town of Otrar, decided to massacre the merchants on grounds of espionage and seize the goods; Muhammad had grown suspicious of Genghis's intentions and either supported Inalchuq or turned a blind eye. A Mongol ambassador was sent with two companions to avert war, but Muhammad killed him and humiliated his companions. The killing of an envoy infuriated Genghis, who resolved to leave Muqali with a small force in North China and invade Khwarazmia with most of his army.
Muhammad's empire was large but disunited: he ruled alongside his mother Terken Khatun in what the historian Peter Golden terms "an uneasy diarchy", while the Khwarazmian nobility and populace were discontented with his warring and the centralisation of government. For these reasons and others he declined to meet the Mongols in the field, instead garrisoning his unruly troops in his major cities. This allowed the lightly armoured, highly mobile Mongol armies uncontested superiority outside city walls. Otrar was besieged in autumn 1219—the siege dragged on for five months, but in February 1220 the city fell and Inalchuq was executed. Genghis had meanwhile divided his forces. Leaving his sons Chagatai and Ögedei to besiege the city, he had sent Jochi northwards down the Syr Darya river and another force southwards into central Transoxiana, while he and Tolui took the main Mongol army across the Kyzylkum Desert, surprising the garrison of Bukhara in a pincer movement.
Bukhara's citadel was captured in February 1220 and Genghis moved against Muhammad's residence Samarkand, which fell the following month. Bewildered by the speed of the Mongol conquests, Muhammad fled from Balkh, closely followed by Jebe and Subutai; the two generals pursued the Khwarazmshah until he died from dysentery on a Caspian Sea island in winter 1220–21, having nominated his eldest son Jalal al-Din as his successor. Jebe and Subutai then set out on a 7,500-kilometre (4,700 mi)-expedition around the Caspian Sea. Later called the Great Raid, this lasted four years and saw the Mongols come into contact with Europe for the first time. Meanwhile, the Khwarazmian capital of Gurganj was being besieged by Genghis's three eldest sons. The long siege ended in spring 1221 amid brutal urban conflict. Jalal al-Din moved southwards to Afghanistan, gathering forces on the way and defeating a Mongol unit under the command of Shigi Qutuqu, Genghis's adopted son, in the Battle of Parwan. Jalal was weakened by arguments among his commanders, and after losing decisively at the Battle of the Indus in November 1221, he was compelled to escape across the Indus river into India.
Genghis's youngest son Tolui was concurrently conducting a brutal campaign in the regions of Khorasan. Every city that resisted was destroyed—Nishapur, Merv and Herat, three of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, were all annihilated. This campaign established Genghis's lasting image as a ruthless, inhumane conqueror. Contemporary Persian historians placed the death toll from the three sieges alone at over 5.7 million—a number regarded as grossly exaggerated by modern scholars. Nevertheless, even a total death toll of 1.25 million for the entire campaign, as estimated by John Man, would have been a demographic catastrophe.
=== Return to China and final campaign (1222–1227) ===
Genghis abruptly halted his Central Asian campaigns in 1221. Initially aiming to return via India, Genghis realised that the heat and humidity of the South Asian climate impeded his army's skills, while the omens were additionally unfavourable. Although the Mongols spent much of 1222 repeatedly overcoming rebellions in Khorasan, they withdrew completely from the region to avoid overextending themselves, setting their new frontier on the Amu Darya river. During his lengthy return journey, Genghis prepared a new administrative division which would govern the conquered territories, appointing darughachi (commissioners, lit. "those who press the seal") and basqaq (local officials) to manage the region back to normalcy. He also summoned and spoke with the Taoist patriarch Changchun in the Hindu Kush. The khan listened attentively to Changchun's teachings and granted his followers numerous privileges, including tax exemptions and authority over all monks throughout the empire—a grant which the Taoists later used to try to gain superiority over Buddhism.
The usual reason given for the halting of the campaign is that the Western Xia, having declined to provide auxiliaries for the 1219 invasion, had additionally disobeyed Muqali in his campaign against the remaining Jin in Shaanxi. May has disputed this, arguing that the Xia fought in concert with Muqali until his death in 1223, when, frustrated by Mongol control and sensing an opportunity with Genghis campaigning in Central Asia, they ceased fighting. In either case, Genghis initially attempted to resolve the situation diplomatically, but when the Xia elite failed to come to an agreement on the hostages they were to send to the Mongols, he lost patience.
Returning to Mongolia in early 1225, Genghis spent the year in preparation for a campaign against them. This began in the first months of 1226 with the capture of Khara-Khoto on the Xia's western border. The invasion proceeded apace. Genghis ordered that the cities of the Gansu Corridor be sacked one by one, granting clemency only to a few. Having crossed the Yellow River in autumn, the Mongols besieged present-day Lingwu, located just 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the Xia capital Zhongxing, in November. On 4 December, Genghis decisively defeated a Xia relief army; the khan left the siege of the capital to his generals and moved southwards with Subutai to plunder and secure Jin territories.
== Death and aftermath ==
Genghis fell from his horse while hunting in the winter of 1226–27 and became increasingly ill during the following months. This slowed the siege of Zhongxing's progress, as his sons and commanders urged him to end the campaign and return to Mongolia to recover, arguing that the Xia would still be there another year. Incensed by insults from Xia's leading commander, Genghis insisted that the siege be continued. He died on either 18 or 25 August 1227, but his death was kept a closely guarded secret and Zhongxing, unaware, fell the following month. The city was put to the sword and its population was treated with extreme savagery—the Xia civilization was essentially extinguished in what Man described as a "very successful ethnocide". The exact nature of the khan's death has been the subject of intense speculation. Rashid al-Din and the History of Yuan mention he suffered from an illness—possibly malaria, typhus, or bubonic plague. Marco Polo claimed that he was shot by an arrow during a siege, while Carpini reported that Genghis was struck by lightning. Legends sprang up around the event—the most famous recounts how the beautiful Gurbelchin, formerly the Xia emperor's wife, injured Genghis's genitals with a dagger during sex.
After his death, Genghis was transported back to Mongolia and buried on or near the sacred Burkhan Khaldun peak in the Khentii Mountains, on a site he had chosen years before. Specific details of the funeral procession and burial were not made public knowledge; the mountain, declared ikh khorig (lit. "Great Taboo"; i.e. prohibited zone), was out of bounds to all but its Uriankhai guard. When Ögedei acceded to the throne in 1229, the grave was honoured with three days of offerings and the sacrifice of thirty maidens. Ratchnevsky theorised that the Mongols, who had no knowledge of embalming techniques, may have buried the khan in the Ordos to avoid his body decomposing in the summer heat while en route to Mongolia; Atwood rejects this hypothesis.
=== Succession ===
The tribes of the Mongol steppe had no fixed succession system, but often defaulted to some form of ultimogeniture—succession of the youngest son—because he would have had the least time to gain a following for himself and needed the help of his father's inheritance. However, this type of inheritance applied only to property, not to titles.
The Secret History records that Genghis chose his successor while preparing for the Khwarazmian campaigns in 1219; Rashid al-Din, on the other hand, states that the decision came before Genghis's final campaign against the Xia. Regardless of the date, there were five possible candidates: Genghis's four sons and his youngest brother Temüge, who had the weakest claim and who was never seriously considered. Even though there was a strong possibility Jochi was illegitimate, Genghis was not particularly concerned by this; nevertheless, he and Jochi became increasingly estranged over time, due to Jochi's preoccupation with his own appanage. After the siege of Gurganj, where he only reluctantly participated in besieging the wealthy city that would become part of his territory, he failed to give Genghis the normal share of the booty, which exacerbated the tensions. Genghis was angered by Jochi's refusal to return to him in 1223, and was considering sending Ögedei and Chagatai to bring him to heel when news came that Jochi had died from an illness.
Chagatai's attitude towards Jochi's possible succession—he had termed his elder brother "a Merkit bastard" and had brawled with him in front of their father—led Genghis to view him as uncompromising, arrogant, and narrow-minded, despite his great knowledge of Mongol legal customs. His elimination left Ögedei and Tolui as the two primary candidates. Tolui was unquestionably superior in military terms—his campaign in Khorasan had broken the Khwarazmian Empire, while his elder brother was far less able as a commander. Ögedei was also known to drink excessively even by Mongol standards—it eventually caused his death in 1241. However, he possessed talents all his brothers lacked—he was generous and generally well-liked. Aware of his own lack of military skill, he was able to trust his capable subordinates, and unlike his elder brothers, compromise on issues; he was also more likely to preserve Mongol traditions than Tolui, whose wife Sorghaghtani, herself a Nestorian Christian, was a patron of many religions including Islam. Ögedei was thus recognised as the heir to the Mongol throne.
Serving as regent after Genghis's death, Tolui established a precedent for the customary traditions after a khan's death. These included the halting of all military offensives involving Mongol troops, the establishment of a lengthy mourning period overseen by the regent, and the holding of a kurultai which would nominate successors and select them. For Tolui, this presented an opportunity. He was still a viable candidate for succession and had the support of the family of Jochi. Any general kurultai, attended by the commanders Genghis had promoted and honoured, would however observe their former ruler's desires without question and appoint Ögedei as ruler. It has been suggested that Tolui's reluctance to hold the kurultai was driven by the knowledge of the threat it posed to his ambitions. In the end, Tolui had to be persuaded by the advisor Yelü Chucai to hold the kurultai; in 1229, it crowned Ögedei as khan, with Tolui in attendance.
== Family ==
Börte, whom Temüjin married c. 1178, remained his senior wife. She gave birth to four sons and five daughters, who all became influential figures in the empire. Genghis granted Börte's sons lands and property through the Mongol appanage system, while he secured marriage alliances by marrying her daughters to important families. Her children were:
Qojin, a daughter born c. 1179, who later married Butu of the Ikires, one of Temüjin's earliest and closest supporters and the widower of Temülün.
Jochi, a son born c. 1182 after Börte's kidnapping, whose paternity was thus suspect even though Temüjin accepted his legitimacy. Jochi predeceased Genghis; his appanage, along the Irtysh river and extending into Siberia, evolved into the Golden Horde.
Chagatai, a son born c. 1184; his appanage was the former Qara Khitai territories surrounding Almaligh in Turkestan, which became the Chagatai Khanate.
Ögedei, a son born c. 1186, who received lands in Dzungaria and who succeeded his father as ruler of the empire.
Checheyigen, a daughter born c. 1188, whose marriage to Törelchi secured the loyalty of the Oirats to the north.
Alaqa, a daughter born c. 1190, who married several members of the Ongud tribe between 1207 and 1225.
Tümelün, a daughter born c. 1192, who married Chigu of the Onggirat tribe.
Tolui, a son born c. 1193, who received lands near the Altai Mountains as an appanage; two of his sons, Möngke and Kublai, later ruled the empire, while another, Hulagu, founded the Ilkhanate.
Al-Altan, a daughter born c. 1196, married the powerful Uighur ruler Barchuk. Shortly after the accession of Güyük Khan in the 1240s, she was tried and executed on charges that were later suppressed.
After Börte's final childbirth, Temüjin began to acquire a number of junior wives through conquest. These wives had all previously been princesses or queens, and Temüjin married them to demonstrate his political ascendancy. They included the Kereit princess Ibaqa; the Tatar sisters Yesugen and Yesui; Qulan, a Merkit; Gürbesu, the queen of the Naiman Tayang Khan; and two Chinese princesses, Chaqa and Qiguo, of the Western Xia and Jin dynasties respectively. The children of these junior wives were always subservient to those of Börte, with daughters married off to seal lesser alliances and sons, such as Qulan's child Kölgen, never a candidate for succession.
== Character and achievements ==
No eyewitness description or contemporaneous depiction of Genghis Khan survives. The Persian chronicler Juzjani and the Song diplomat Zhao Hong provide the two earliest descriptions. Both recorded that he was tall and strong with a powerful stature. Zhao wrote that Genghis had a broad brow and long beard while Juzjani commented on his cat's eyes and lack of grey hair. The Secret History records that Börte's father remarked on his "flashing eyes and lively face" when meeting him.
Atwood has suggested that many of Genghis Khan's values, especially the emphasis he placed on an orderly society, derive from his turbulent youth. He valued loyalty above all and mutual fidelity became a cornerstone of his new nation. Genghis did not find it difficult to gain the allegiance of others: he was superbly charismatic even as a youth, as shown by the number of people who left existing social roles behind to join him. Although his trust was hard to earn, if he felt loyalty was assured, he granted his total confidence in return. Recognised for his generosity towards his followers, Genghis unhesitatingly rewarded previous assistance. The nökod most honoured at the 1206 kurultai were those who had accompanied him since the beginning, and those who had sworn the Baljuna Covenant with him at his lowest point. He took responsibility for the families of nökod killed in battle or who otherwise fell on hard times by raising a tax to provide them with clothing and sustenance.
The principal source of steppe wealth was post-battle plunder, of which a leader would normally claim a large share; Genghis eschewed this custom, choosing instead to divide booty equally between himself and all his men. Disliking any form of luxury, he extolled the simple life of the nomad in a letter to Changchun, and objected to being addressed with obsequious flattery. He encouraged his companions to address him informally, give him advice, and criticise his mistakes. Genghis's openness to criticism and willingness to learn saw him seeking the knowledge of family members, companions, neighbouring states, and enemies. He sought and gained knowledge of sophisticated weaponry from China and the Muslim world, appropriated the Uyghur alphabet with the help of the captured scribe Tata-tonga, and employed numerous specialists across legal, commercial, and administrative fields. He also understood the need for a smooth succession and modern historians agree he showed good judgement in choosing his heir.
Although he is today renowned for his military conquests, very little is known about Genghis's personal generalship. His skills were more suited to identifying potential commanders. His institution of a meritocratic command structure gave the Mongol army military superiority, even though it was not technologically or tactically innovative. The army that Genghis created was characterised by its draconian discipline, its ability to gather and use military intelligence efficiently, a mastery of psychological warfare, and a willingness to be utterly ruthless. Genghis thoroughly enjoyed exacting vengeance on his enemies—the concept lay at the heart of achi qari'ulqu (lit. '"good for good, evil for evil"'), the steppe code of justice. In exceptional circumstances, such as when Muhammad of Khwarazm executed his envoys, the need for vengeance overrode all other considerations.
Genghis came to believe the supreme deity Tengri had ordained a great destiny for him. Initially, the bounds of this ambition were limited only to Mongolia, but as success followed success and the reach of the Mongol nation expanded, he and his followers came to believe he was embodied with suu (lit. ''divine grace''). Believing that he had an intimate connection with Heaven, anyone who did not recognise his right to world power was treated as an enemy. This viewpoint allowed Genghis to rationalise any hypocritical or duplicitous moments on his own part, such as killing his anda Jamukha or killing nökod who wavered in their loyalties.
== Legacy and historical assessment ==
Genghis Khan left a vast and controversial legacy. His unification of the Mongol tribes and his foundation of the largest contiguous state in world history "permanently alter[ed] the worldview of European, Islamic, [and] East Asian civilizations", according to Atwood. His conquests enabled the creation of Eurasian trading systems unprecedented in their scale, which brought wealth and security to the tribes. Although he very likely did not codify the written body of laws known as the Great Yasa, he did reorganise the legal system and establish a powerful judicial authority under Shigi Qutuqu.
On the other hand, his conquests were ruthless and brutal. The prosperous civilizations of China, Central Asia, and Persia were devastated by the Mongol assaults, and underwent multi-generational trauma and suffering as a result. Perhaps Genghis's greatest failing was his inability to create a working succession system—his division of his empire into appanages, meant to ensure stability, actually did the reverse, as local and state-wide interests diverged and the empire began splitting into the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Yuan dynasty in the late 1200s. In the mid-1990s, the Washington Post acclaimed Genghis Khan as the "man of the millennium" who "embodied the half-civilized, half-savage duality of the human race". This complex image has remained prevalent in modern scholarship, with historians emphasising both Genghis Khan's positive and negative contributions.
=== Mongolia ===
For many centuries, Genghis was remembered in Mongolia as a religious figure, not a political one. After Altan Khan converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the late 1500s, Genghis was deified and given a central role in the Mongolian religious tradition. As a deity, Genghis drew upon Buddhist, shamanistic, and folk traditions: for example, he was defined as a new incarnation of a chakravartin (idealised ruler) like Ashoka, or of Vajrapani, the martial bodhisattva; he was connected genealogically to the Buddha and to ancient Buddhist kings; he was invoked during weddings and festivals; and he took a large role in ancestor veneration rituals. He also became the focus point of a sleeping hero legend, which says he will return to help the Mongol people in a time of great need. His cult was centred at the naiman chagan ordon (lit. '"Eight White Yurts"'), today a mausoleum in Inner Mongolia, China.
In the 19th and early 20th century, Genghis began to be viewed as the national hero of the Mongolian people. Foreign powers recognised this: during its occupation of Inner Mongolia, Imperial Japan funded the construction of a temple to Genghis, while both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party used the memory of Genghis to woo potential allies in the Chinese Civil War. This attitude was maintained during World War II, when the Soviet-aligned Mongolian People's Republic promoted Genghis to build patriotic zeal against invaders; however, as he was a non-Russian hero who could serve as an anticommunist figurehead, this attitude swiftly changed after the war's end. According to May, Genghis "was condemned as a feudal and reactionary lord [who] exploited the people." His cult was repressed, the alphabet he chose was replaced with the Cyrillic script, and celebrations planned for the 800th anniversary of his birth in 1962 were cancelled and denigrated after loud Soviet complaints. Because Chinese historians were largely more favourable towards him than their Soviet circumstances, Genghis played a minor role in the Sino-Soviet split.
The arrival of the policies of glasnost and perestroika in the 1980s paved the way for official rehabilitation. Less than two years after the 1990 revolution, Lenin Avenue in the capital Ulaanbaatar was renamed Chinggis Khan Avenue. Since then, Mongolia has named Chinggis Khaan International Airport and erected a large statue in Sükhbaatar Square (which was itself renamed after Genghis between 2013 and 2016). His visage appears on items ranging from postage stamps and high-value banknotes to brands of alcohol and toilet paper. In 2006, the Mongolian parliament officially discussed the trivialization of his name through excessive advertising.
Modern Mongolians tend to downplay Genghis's military conquests in favour of his political and civil legacy—they view the destructive campaigns as "a product of their time", in the words of the historian Michal Biran, and secondary to his other contributions to Mongolian and world history. His policies—such his use of the kurultai, his establishment of the rule of law through an independent judiciary, and human rights—are seen as the foundations that allowed the creation of the modern, democratic Mongolian state. Viewed as someone who brought peace and knowledge rather than war and destruction, Genghis Khan is idealised for making Mongolia the centre of international culture for a period. He is generally recognised as the founding father of Mongolia.
=== Elsewhere ===
The historical and modern Muslim world has associated Genghis Khan with a myriad of ideologies and beliefs. Its first instinct, as Islamic thought had never previously envisioned being ruled by a non-Muslim power, was to view Genghis as the herald of the approaching Judgement Day. Over time, as the world failed to end and as his descendants began converting to Islam, Muslims began to see Genghis as an instrument of God's will who was destined to strengthen the Muslim world by cleansing its innate corruption.
In post-Mongol Asia, Genghis was also a source of political legitimacy, because his descendants had been recognised as the only ones entitled to reign. As a result, aspiring potentates not descended from him had to justify their rule, either by nominating puppet rulers of Genghis's dynasty, or by stressing their own connections to him. Most notably, the great conqueror Timur, who established his own empire in Central Asia, did both: he was obliged to pay homage to Genghis's descendants Soyurgatmish and Sultan Mahmud, and his propaganda campaigns vastly exaggerated the prominence of his ancestor Qarachar Noyan, one of Genghis's lesser commanders, depicting him as Genghis's blood relative and second-in-command. He also married at least two of Genghis's descendants. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India, in turn derived his authority through his descent from both Timur and Genghis. Until the eighteenth century in Central Asia, Genghis was considered the progenitor of the social order, and was second only to the prophet Muhammad in legal authority.
With the rise of Arab nationalism in the nineteenth century, the Arab world began to view Genghis increasingly negatively. Today, he is perceived as the ultimate "accursed enemy", a "barbarian savage who began the demolition of civilization which culminated in [the Siege of Baghdad in 1258]" by his grandson Hulegu. Similarly, Genghis is viewed extremely negatively in Russia, where historians have consistently portrayed the rule of the Golden Horde—the "Tatar Yoke"—as backwards, destructive, inimical to all progress, and the reason for all of Russia's flaws. His treatment in modern Central Asia and Turkey is more ambivalent: his position as a non-Muslim means other national traditions and heroes, such as Timur and the Seljuks, are viewed more highly.
Under the Yuan dynasty in China, Genghis was revered as the nation's creator, and he remained in this position even after the foundation of the Ming dynasty in 1368. Although the late Ming somewhat disavowed his memory, the positive viewpoint was restored under the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911), who positioned themselves as his heirs. The rise of 20th-century Chinese nationalism initially caused the denigration of Genghis as a traumatic occupier, but he was later resurrected as a useful political symbol on a variety of issues. Modern Chinese historiography has generally viewed Genghis positively and he has been portrayed as a Chinese hero. In contemporary Japan, he is most known for the legend that he was originally Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a samurai and tragic hero who was forced to commit seppuku in 1189.
The Western world, never directly affected by Genghis, has viewed him in shifting and contrasting ways. During the 14th century, as shown by the works of Marco Polo and Geoffrey Chaucer, he was seen as a just and wise ruler, but during the eighteenth century he came to embody the Enlightenment stereotype of a tyrannical Oriental despot, and by the twentieth century he represented a prototypical barbarian warlord. In recent decades, Western scholarship has become increasingly nuanced, viewing Genghis as a more complex individual. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Gauff | Coco Gauff | Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff ( GAWF; born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 2 in singles and of world No. 1 in doubles by the WTA. Gauff has won eleven career singles titles, including two majors at the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open, as well as the 2024 WTA Finals. She has also won ten doubles titles, including the 2024 French Open, partnering with Kateřina Siniaková.
Gauff made her WTA Tour debut in March 2019 with the 2019 Miami Open at the age of 15. She received a wildcard into the qualifying draw for the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, where she became the youngest player in the tournament's history to qualify for the main draw. There, she defeated Venus Williams and reached the fourth round. Gauff won her first WTA Tour singles title at the 2019 Linz Open. She reached her first major final in women's doubles at the 2021 US Open and reached her first major singles final at the 2022 French Open. In 2023, Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open and her first major singles title at the US Open, followed by the WTA Finals title the following year. In 2025, she won her second major singles title at the French Open.
== Early life ==
Gauff was born at West Boca Medical Center in Boca Raton, Florida, on March 13, 2004, to Candi (née Odom) and Corey Gauff, both from Delray Beach. She has two younger brothers. Her father played college basketball at Georgia State University and later worked as a health care executive. Her mother was a track-and-field athlete at Florida State University and worked as an educator. Gauff lived her early years in Atlanta. She began playing tennis at the age of six. When she was seven, her family moved back to Delray Beach to have better training opportunities. She worked with Gerard Loglo at the New Generation Tennis Academy starting from the age of eight.
Gauff recalled, "I wasn't much of a team person. I loved tennis. I was so-so about it in the beginning because when I was younger I didn't want to practice at all. I just wanted to play with my friends. When I turned eight, that was when I played 'Little Mo' and after that I decided to do that for the rest of my life."
Gauff's parents gave up their careers to focus on training their daughter. Her father later became her primary coach, while her mother oversaw her homeschooling. Her father had limited experience playing tennis growing up. At the age of 10, Gauff began to train at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France run by Patrick Mouratoglou, longtime coach of Serena Williams. Mouratoglou commented, "I'll always remember the first time I saw Coco. She came over to the Mouratoglou Academy in 2014 to try out and she impressed me with her determination, athleticism and fighting spirit.... When she looks at you and tells you she will be number one, you can only believe it." He helped sponsor Gauff through his Champ'Seed foundation, which he created to provide funding for talented juniors who did not have the financial resources to afford high-level training.
Gauff won the USTA Clay Court National 12-and-under title at the age of 10 years and three months to become the youngest champion in the tournament's history.
== Juniors ==
=== French Open singles and US Open doubles champion ===
Gauff is a former world No. 1 junior. She entered the prestigious Les Petits As 14-and-under tournament in 2016 at age 12 and made it to the semifinals. Gauff began playing on the ITF Junior Circuit at the age of 13, skipping directly to the highest-level Grade A and Grade 1 tournaments. She finished runner-up to Jaimee Fourlis in her third career event, the Grade 1 Prince George's County Junior Tennis Championships in Maryland. At her next event, Gauff made her junior Grand Slam tournament debut at the 2017 US Open and finished runner-up to Amanda Anisimova. Gauff did not drop a set before the final in either tournament. She became the youngest girls' singles finalist in US Open history at 13 years, 181 days old.
After beginning 2018 with a semifinal at the Grade 1 Traralgon Junior International in Australia, Gauff lost her opening round match at the Australian Open. She did not enter another tournament in singles until the French, where she won her first career junior Grand Slam tournament title at the 2018 French Open. She did not drop a set until the final, where she came from behind to defeat Caty McNally in three sets. With the title, Gauff became the fifth youngest girls' singles champion in French Open history at 14 years, 89 days old. A month later, following another final win against McNally at the Grade 1 Junior International Roehampton, she became the No. 1 junior in the world.
Gauff reached the quarterfinals in singles at the final two majors of the year. She fared better in doubles at both tournaments, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon with partner María Lourdes Carlé and winning her first junior Grand Slam tournament doubles title at the 2018 US Open with McNally. Gauff and McNally defeated compatriots Hailey Baptiste and Dalayna Hewitt in the final, in straight sets. In September 2018, Gauff represented the United States at the Junior Fed Cup with Alexa Noel and Connie Ma. The team reached the final against Ukraine. After Gauff won her singles rubber and Noel lost hers, Gauff and Noel won the Junior Fed Cup by defeating Lyubov Kostenko and Dasha Lopatetskaya 11–9 in a match tiebreak. Gauff finished the year with another Grade A title in singles at the Orange Bowl. She ended the season ranked world No. 2 behind Clara Burel.
== Professional ==
=== 2018–19: First titles, top 100 ===
Gauff made her debut on the ITF Women's Circuit in May 2018 at the age of 14 as a qualifier in the 25k event at Osprey, where she won her first professional match. She received a wildcard into qualifying at the US Open, but lost her opening match five months after turning 14 years old. In her first 2019 tournament, she finished runner-up in doubles at the 100k Midland Tennis Classic alongside Ann Li. Two weeks later, Gauff played her next event at the $25k level in Surprise and reached the finals in both singles and doubles. She finished runner-up in singles and won her first WTA Tour title in doubles alongside Paige Hourigan. In March, at the Miami Open, she recorded her first WTA Tour match win against Caty McNally.
Gauff lost the second round of qualifying at the French Open. At Wimbledon, she defeated Aliona Bolsova and Greet Minnen. Gauff became the youngest player to reach the main draw at Wimbledon by qualifying in the Open Era at the age of 15 years and three months. In her main-draw debut, she upset five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in straight sets. Gauff won over Magdaléna Rybáriková and No. 60 Polona Hercog, saving two match points against Hercog. The hype surrounding Gauff's first-round match win led to her third rounder moving to Centre Court. She was eliminated with a fourth-round loss to eventual champion Simona Halep. All four of Gauff's matches were most-watched matches on ESPN on their respective days during the first week of coverage. With this performance, she rose to world No. 141.
Gauff played in one US Open Series tournament at the Washington Open, where she qualified for the main draw but lost in the first round. She entered the doubles event with McNally and defeated Fanny Stollár and Maria Sanchez in the final for their first career WTA title in their first joint WTA. At the US Open, Gauff wild-carded into the singles and doubles main draws. She continued her success in major singles with two three-set wins over Anastasia Potapova and Tímea Babos, both on Louis Armstrong. She was defeated in the third round by world No. 1 and defending champion, Naomi Osaka. In doubles, Gauff and McNally won two matches, including an upset over ninth seeds Nicole Melichar and Květa Peschke. They lost in the third round to eventual runners-up Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka. Although Gauff lost in qualifying at the Linz Open, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser and won the title, notably upsetting top seed Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals for her first top-10 victory. She defeated Jeļena Ostapenko in the final to become the youngest WTA player, at 15 years, 214 days old, to win a singles title since 2004. With this title as well as a semifinal in doubles with McNally, Gauff made her top-100 debuts in both the WTA singles and doubles rankings. Gauff and McNally ended their year with a second WTA doubles title at the Luxembourg Open over Kaitlyn Christian and Alexa Guarachi.
=== 2020: Australian Open fourth round ===
Starting 2020 at the Auckland Open ranked No. 67 in the world, Gauff defeated Viktória Kužmová before losing to Laura Siegemund in the second round. Playing doubles with McNally, Gauff reached the semifinals.
At the Australian Open, Gauff defeated Venus Williams in straight sets in the first round and Sorana Cîrstea in the second round, making it three straight majors where she reached the third round. She defeated defending champion Osaka in the third, becoming the youngest player to defeat a top-5 player since Jennifer Capriati beat Gabriela Sabatini at the 1991 US Open. In the fourth round, she lost to the eventual champion, Sofia Kenin. In doubles, Gauff and McNally recorded their best result in a major championship to date, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to second seeds and eventual champions, Kristina Mladenovic and Tímea Babos.
Gauff beat two top-50 players at the Lexington Challenger, before losing in straight sets to world No. 49, Jennifer Brady. At the Western and Southern Open, played in New York, Gauff lost in the first round to world No. 21, Maria Sakkari. At the US Open, Gauff was defeated in the first round by Anastasija Sevastova.
Gauff, ranked 53, beat world No. 34, Ons Jabeur, in the first round of the Italian Open before losing to two-time major champion Garbiñe Muguruza. At the French Open, Gauff defeated the ninth seed and world No. 13, Johanna Konta, in the first round, but went on to lose to eventual quarterfinalist Martina Trevisan in a second-round match in which Gauff hit 19 double faults. At the Ostrava Open, she qualified for the main draw and was defeated by world No. 12, Aryna Sabalenka, in the second round.
=== 2021: French Open quarterfinals, top 20 ===
Starting the year ranked No. 48, in the Abu Dhabi Open, she beat Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri before falling in the next round to Maria Sakkari. At the Australian Open, in singles, Gauff again beat Teichmann in the first round, but fell in the round of 64 to the fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina, in straight sets. In doubles, she and McNally failed to Demi Schuurs and Nicole Melichar in the quarterfinals.
At Adelaide, she fell to second-seeded Belinda Bencic. In doubles, she partnered with Canadian Sharon Fichman, and they bowed out in the first round to Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai. This run brought her to a then-career-high of No. 38 in singles. After the Dubai Championships, she reached a career high of No. 35 in singles.
In the Miami Open, she played her first WTA 1000 event while seeded (as the 31st). In May, Gauff reached the first semifinal at a WTA 1000 in her career at the Italian Open due to then-No. 1, Barty's retiring with a right arm injury in their quarterfinal match. As a result, she entered top 30 for the first time. She then lost to the eventual champion, Iga Świątek.
Gauff won her second singles and third doubles (with McNally) titles at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma. She became the youngest player to win both the singles and doubles titles at an event since Maria Sharapova won both titles at the 2004 Birmingham Classic. Gauff thus rose to new career-high rankings of world No. 25 in singles and No. 41 in doubles. She became the youngest American to make her top-25 debut in nearly 23 years (since Serena Williams, June 8, 1998).
Seeded 24th at the French Open (her first time being seeded at a major), she beat Aleksandra Krunić and Wang Qiang in straight sets, received a walkover when leading one set to love against 13th seed and Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady, and beat 25th seed Ons Jabeur in just 53 minutes to reach her first major quarterfinal. As a result, she became the youngest female player (17 years, three months) to reach a major quarterfinal since Nicole Vaidišová at the 2006 French Open, the youngest American to reach a quarterfinal at the French Open since Jennifer Capriati in 1993 and the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals of any major tournament since Venus Williams reached the 1997 US Open final. Subsequently, Gauff was eliminated after losing in straight sets to the eventual champion, unseeded Barbora Krejčíková. As a result, she reached a new career-high of No. 23.
At Wimbledon, Gauff reached the fourth round for a second consecutive time defeating Elena Vesnina in straight sets in 70 minutes, and Kaja Juvan in straight sets in the third round. Gauff lost her next match to Angelique Kerber in straight sets, eliminating her from the tournament. She also reached the third round in doubles with Caty McNally and as a result entered the top 40 in the doubles rankings at No. 38 on 12 July.
At 17 years old, she was selected for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, becoming the second youngest American player after Jennifer Capriati competed at 16 in 1992, and the youngest Olympic tennis player of any gender since Mario Ančić in 2000. However, she tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw.
At the Cincinnati Open, Gauff reached the second round and lost to second seed, and world No. 2, Naomi Osaka.
At the US Open, Gauff beat Magda Linette in the first round, before falling to Sloane Stephens in the next. In the women's doubles, Gauff and McNally stormed into their first major semifinal without dropping a set and in the finals, they lost to Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai.
=== 2022: French Open final, singles top 5, doubles No. 1 ===
Seeded 18th at the Australian Open, Gauff lost in the first round against Wang Qiang in straight sets.
In February, Gauff reached the quarterfinals at the Qatar Open by defeating Shelby Rogers, Caroline Garcia and third seed Paula Badosa. In the quarterfinals, Gauff lost to sixth seed Maria Sakkari. In doubles, Gauff paired with Jessica Pegula to win her first WTA 1000 doubles title, beating third-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens in the final. With the win, she climbed to a career-high No. 10 in the doubles rankings on 28 February 2022.
Gauff reached her first major singles final at the French Open, defeating Rebecca Marino, Alison Van Uytvanck, Kaia Kanepi, 31st seed Elise Mertens, Sloane Stephens, and Martina Trevisan, before losing to Iga Świątek in straight sets. She reached the final in doubles with Jessica Pegula where they were defeated by Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. As a result, she secured a new career-high of world No. 13 in singles and the top 5 in doubles.
After winning her first two matches at Wimbledon Championships as the 11th seed against unseeded Romanians Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Mihaela Buzărnescu, Gauff lost in the third round to 20th seed Amanda Anisimova, in three sets. As a result, she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 11 on 11 July 2022.
Seeded sixth at the Silicon Valley Classic, she reached the quarterfinals defeating Anhelina Kalinina in the first round, and next Naomi Osaka who saved seven match points. In her quarterfinal match, she struggled with her serve and lost in straight sets to Paula Badosa.
At the Canadian Open, she became the youngest player to reach back-to-back quarterfinals in Canada since Jennifer Capriati in 1990 and 1991. She beat sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, a day after ousting Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, winning both matches in a third-set tiebreak. She lost to eventual champion Simona Halep, in straight sets. Seeded third in doubles at the same tournament she reached the semifinals with Pegula defeating fifth seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs. Next they defeated Madison Keys/Sania Mirza in the semifinals and Nicole Melichar/Ellen Perez in the final to win their second WTA 1000 title together. As a result, Gauff became the No. 1 doubles player in the world.
At the US Open, she reached the quarterfinals of this major for the first time with wins over 20th seed Madison Keys and Zhang Shuai becoming the youngest American woman to achieve this feat since 2009, when Melanie Oudin was 17. As a result, she guaranteed herself a top 10 debut in the singles rankings at world No. 8 on 12 September 2022, after the tournament. Subsequently, Gauff was defeated by Caroline Garcia, in straight sets. Seeded second in doubles, Gauff and partner Pegula were defeated in the first round by Leylah Fernandez and Daria Saville.
In October, Gauff became the youngest player in singles since Maria Sharapova in 2005 to qualify for the year-end WTA Finals. She and partner Jessica Pegula also both qualified for the doubles championships. Gauff and Pegula were the first Americans since Serena and Venus Williams in 2009 to qualify for both the singles and doubles year-end championships.
=== 2023: US Open singles champion, world No. 3 ===
Gauff started her 2023 season at the Auckland Open, where she defeated Rebeka Masarova in the final in straight sets. At the Australian Open, Gauff advanced to the fourth round, where she lost to Jeļena Ostapenko in straight sets. At the Qatar Ladies Open, Gauff reached the quarterfinals after defeating two-time champion Petra Kvitová in the second round. At the same tournament in doubles, Gauff and Jessica Pegula defended their title, defeating Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jeļena Ostapenko in a three-set match. At Dubai, Gauff reached the semifinals by defeating Madison Keys in the quarterfinals, before losing to Iga Świątek. At Indian Wells, Gauff lost in the quarterfinals to second seed and eventual runner-up, Aryna Sabalenka. In Miami, Gauff lost against 27th seed Anastasia Potapova in the third round. In doubles at the same tournament, Gauff won her fifth overall and third WTA 1000 team title with her partner Jessica Pegula. They became the first all-American duo to win the Miami Open doubles title in 22 years, defeating Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend in the final.
In August, Gauff won the Washington Open title, beating Maria Sakkari in the final. It was Gauff's first WTA 500 singles title, and her biggest singles title to date. She became the first teenager to win the tournament. Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title at the 2023 Cincinnati Open, defeating world No. 1, Iga Świątek, in the semifinals and world No. 10, Karolína Muchová, in the final.
In September, Gauff won the US Open, her first major singles title, beating world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka, in three sets and becoming the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999. As a result, she reached world No. 3 in the rankings on 11 September 2023 and was nominated at the Laureus World Sports Awards for Breakthrough of the Year.
Gauff and Pegula returned to the world No. 1 doubles ranking on 23 October 2023, after qualifying for the 2023 WTA Finals as a pair and also individually, becoming the first players to qualify in both disciplines in back-to-back years since Sara Errani in 2012–13.
=== 2024: WTA Finals title, French Open doubles win ===
At the Italian Open she reached the semifinal for the second time at this tournament and second at the WTA 1000 level for the season defeating Magdalena Fręch, Jaqueline Cristian, Paula Badosa and seventh seed Zheng Qinwen. With the win, she passed Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA 1000 wins before turning 21. She lost to world No. 1 Iga Świątek, in straight sets. At the same tournament, partnering Erin Routliffe, she reached a consecutive final in doubles.
At the 2024 French Open with new partner Katerina Siniaková, she lifted her first major tournament doubles trophy defeating 11th seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the final. In singles, also at the French Open, she reached the semifinals and was defeated by eventual champion, Iga Świątek, but despite the loss reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 2 in singles on 10 June 2024.
At the Wimbledon Championships, Gauff went out in the fourth round to Emma Navarro. Gauff was chosen by her Olympic teammates to be the female flag-bearer for the United States at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, alongside LeBron James. She became the youngest athlete to be so honored. In singles, she lost in the third round to Donna Vekić in straight sets.
In October, Gauff won the 2024 China Open title, beating Karolína Muchová in the final. It was Gauff's second WTA 1000 singles title. She became the first player to win each of her seven WTA hardcourt finals in the Open era and the second American to win the championship, following Serena Williams' title runs in 2004 and 2013.
On November 9, Gauff became the 2024 WTA Finals singles champion, becoming the youngest player to win the year-end championships since Maria Sharapova in 2004 and the first American to win the finals since Serena Williams in 2014. She beat Iga Świątek, the No. 2 seed and defending champion of the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She then defeated Sabalenka in the semifinals and Zheng Qinwen in the finals to capture her first year-end singles championship title.
=== 2025: United Cup, French Open, and Wuhan Open titles ===
To begin the 2025 season, Gauff participated in the United Cup, where the United States team won the title against Poland. In the final, she defeated world No. 2, Iga Świątek, in straight sets. Gauff was undefeated across the tournament.
At the Australian Open, she advanced to the quarterfinals where she was defeated by Paula Badosa, in straight sets. After the Australian Open, Gauff lost both of her opening matches in the Middle East at the Qatar Open and the Dubai Championships, totaling three consecutive losses. She then reached the 4th round at both the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open.
During the clay season, Gauff began to rediscover her form. She reached the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open, losing to Jasmine Paolini. At the Madrid Open, she reached her first final at the tournament, losing to world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka. Next at the Italian Open, she again reached the final, falling to Jasmine Paolini. At the French Open, Gauff became the youngest woman to reach the finals of the three biggest clay court tournaments (Madrid Open, Italian Open, and French Open) in the same year. She went on to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in the final to win her first French Open title and her second major title. It was the first French Open singles triumph for an athlete from the United States since Serena Williams in 2015.
At Wimbledon, Gauff lost her first-round match to Dayana Yastremska, in straight sets.
In October, Gauff won the 2025 Wuhan Open title, beating compatriot Jessica Pegula in the final. It was Gauff's third WTA 1000 singles title. She became the first American to win the title since Venus Williams in 2015 and the first player to win her first nine hardcourt finals.
=== 2026 ===
Gauff's 2026 season would start in Australia at the United Cup, where she would help the defending US team advance to the semifinals to face Poland. In the semifinals, Gauff would defeat Iga Swiatek in straight sets, however, Team United States would eventually fall to Poland 2–1.
At the Australian Open, Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals where she was defeated by Elina Svitolina, in straight sets.
Gauff would then move onto the 2026 WTA Qatar Open, where Gauff would lose in her opening round to Lucky Loser, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, in straight sets. After that, Gauff entered the 2026 Dubai Open, where she was seeded third. She would defeat Anna Kalinskaya, Elise Mertens, and Alex Eala on her way to the semifinals before falling to Elina Svitolina 6–4, 6–7(13), 6–4 in just over three hours.
Gauff would then enter Indian Wells as the fourth seed, where she would face Eala once again in the third round. Gauff would have to retire for the second time in her career due to an injury in her arm. She would proceed to play in Miami, where she would win her second round rematch against Cocciaretto in three sets. Gauff would then defeat compatriot, Alycia Parks, in three sets to advance to the fourth round.
== Rivalries ==
=== Iga Świątek ===
Gauff and Iga Świątek have met 16 times since 2021, with Świątek controlling the head-to-head 11–5. Gauff lost to Świątek in her first major final at the 2022 French Open championships. They met again in the 2023 French Open quarterfinal, and the 2024 French Open semifinal, with Świątek winning each time. Gauff has won their last four meetings, including the 2024 WTA Finals and most recently at the 2026 United Cup.
=== Aryna Sabalenka ===
Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have developed a noteworthy rivalry, competing in multiple Grand Slam finals. Their contrasting demeanors and styles of play shine throughout in their matches. The two have met 12 times since 2020, with their head-to-head record tied at 6–6. Gauff won her first major title by defeating Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open final. Sabalenka would then defeat Gauff on her way to defending her title in the 2024 Australian Open semifinal. Gauff would defeat Sabalenka in the 2024 WTA Finals semifinal on her way to winning the tournament. Gauff would then win her second major title at the 2025 French Open by defeating Sabalenka in three sets. After a close first set, Sabalenka avenged her French Open loss by knocking Gauff out of the 2025 WTA Finals where Gauff was the defending champion in straight sets.
== Playing style and coaching ==
Hard courts and clay are Gauff's favorite surfaces. Although many analysts would describe her as an "opportunistic counterpuncher," she describes herself as having a highly aggressive playing style and a powerful serve, while on the defensive side she uses her athleticism and speed to remain in points.
From July 2023 to September 2024 her coach was Brad Gilbert. Gilbert encouraged Gauff to put high, heavy topspin on her ball and to chase down balls in every corner of the court. In September 2024 Gauff hired coach Matt Daly, who has focused on improving her serve and forehand with a grip on her racket that is closer to the eastern backhand style rather than the more frequently used continental style. On August 20, 2025, Gauff replaced Daly with Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics specialist who helped rescue world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka's serve.
== Endorsements ==
Gauff uses a Head Boom MP 2022 racket with 16 main and 19 cross strings. She wears New Balance clothing and tennis shoes. In October 2018, Gauff signed her first multi-year sponsorship contract, with New Balance. At the 2021 French Open, Gauff wore a New Balance outfit of bold mismatched color splotches to contrast with the all-white ensemble of doubles partner Venus Williams. In March 2019, Gauff announced a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Italian food company Barilla, which also sponsors Roger Federer. In January 2023, Gauff was announced as a brand ambassador for advisory CPA firm Baker Tilly US, LLP. In January 2024 at the Australian Open, Gauff debuted a new New Balance pair of shoes with geographical coordinates specially inscribed on the soles. She revealed in a post-match interview that the coordinates (26 28 0.75" N 80 5' 1.4" W) pointed to public tennis courts in Delray Beach where she grew up and trained.
In 2025, Gauff became the face of a collaboration between Miu Miu and New Balance, blending luxury fashion with performance wear in a campaign that highlighted her crossover appeal.
== Personal life ==
Gauff is a Christian. Since she was eight years old, she has prayed with her father before every match that she and her opponent would be safe. After winning the Cincinnati Open in August 2023, she said: "... I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I spent a lot of nights alone, crying trying to figure it out. I still have a lot to figure out, but I thank Him for covering me." After winning her first major title in September 2023, she said: "... I don't pray for results, I just ask that I get the strength to give it my all and whatever happens happens. I'm so blessed in this life."
Gauff's tennis idols are Serena and Venus Williams. "Serena Williams has always been my idol...and Venus," she has said. "They are the reason why I wanted to pick up a tennis racquet." Gauff first met Serena when she won the Little Mo national tournament at the age of eight, and later met her again to film a commercial for Delta Air Lines and at the Mouratoglou Academy. After defeating Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019, Gauff expressed her respect when they shook hands at the net. "I was just telling her thank you for everything she's done for the sport," Gauff said. "She's been an inspiration for many people. I was just really telling her thank you."
Gauff stated in 2020 that she had experienced depression and stress related to her sporting career, though her parents clarified that she was not diagnosed with depression in the clinical sense, and had not sought medical attention relating to her psychological well-being.
Gauff is a fan of anime, including My Hero Academia.
Gauff is a fan of popular YouTubers and streamers Ludwig Ahgren, Valkyrae, and Kai Cenat.
In July 2023, Gauff and actress Storm Reid helped fund a new playground and purple-painted tennis courts in East Atlanta's Brownwood Park.
== Career statistics ==
=== Grand Slam tournament performance timelines ===
==== Singles ====
==== Doubles ====
=== Grand Slam tournaments ===
==== Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up) ====
==== Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups) ====
=== Year-end championships (WTA Finals) ===
==== Singles: 1 (title) ==== |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab_Province_(British_India) | Punjab Province (British India) | The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Khyber Pass to Delhi; and from the Babusar Pass and the borders of Tibet to the borders of Sind. Established in 1849 following Punjab's annexation, the province was partitioned in 1947 into West and East Punjab; and incorporated into Pakistan and India, respectively.
Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company on 29 March 1849 following the company's victory against the Sikh Empire's army at the Battle of Gujrat in northern Punjab, a month prior. The Punjab was the last major region of the Indian subcontinent to fall to British imperialism.
Immediately following its annexation, the Punjab was annexed into the Bengal Presidency and administered separately by a board of administration led by the head of province. After 1853, the board was replaced by a chief commissioner as the Punjab was separated from the Bengal Presidency and established as a Chief Commissioner's Province. In 1858, the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the rule of the British crown. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Punjab became a lieutenant-governor's province under the Bengal Presidency. After the Government of India Act 1919, Punjab was turned into a governor's province. It had a land area of 358,355 square kilometers.
The province comprised four natural geographic regions – Indo-Gangetic Plain West, Himalayan, Sub-Himalayan, and the North-West Dry Area – along with five administrative divisions – Delhi, Jullundur, Lahore, Multan, and Rawalpindi – and a number of princely states. In 1947, the Partition of India led to the province's division into East Punjab and West Punjab, in the newly independent dominions of the Indian Union and Pakistan respectively.
During the colonial-period, the appellation "province" was used somewhat indiscriminately but usually referred to lieutenant-governor provinces (which Punjab was after 1859) but also to chief-commissioner provinces (which Punjab was from 1853–1859).
== Etymology ==
The region was originally called the Sapta Sindhu Rivers, the Vedic land of the seven rivers, originally: Saraswati, Indus, Sutlej, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Beas. The Sanskrit name for the region, as mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, for example, was Pañcanada, which means literally "Five Waters", and was translated from Sanskrit to Farsi as Panj-Âb after the Islamic conquests. The later name Punjab is thus a compound of two Farsi words Panj (five) and āb (water) and was introduced to the region by the Turko-Persian conquerors of India and more formally popularised during the Mughal Empire. Punjab literally means "(The Land of) Five Waters" referring to the rivers: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas. All are tributaries of the Indus River, the Chenab being the largest.
== Geography ==
Geographically, the province was a triangular tract of country of which the Indus River and its tributary the Sutlej formed the two sides up to their confluence, the base of the triangle in the north being the Lower Himalayan Range between those two rivers. Moreover, the province as constituted under British rule also included a large tract outside these boundaries. Along the northern border, Himalayan ranges divided it from Kashmir and Tibet. On the west it was separated from the North-West Frontier Province by the Indus, until it reached the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District, which was divided from Baluchistan by the Sulaiman Range. To the south lay Sindh and Rajputana, while on the east the rivers Jumna and Tons separated it from the United Provinces. In total Punjab had an area of approximately 357 000 km square about the same size as modern day Germany, being one of the largest provinces of the British Raj.
It encompassed the present day Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and some parts of Himachal Pradesh which were merged with Punjab by the British for administrative purposes (but excluding the former princely states which were later combined into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union) and the Pakistani regions of the Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In 1901 the frontier districts beyond the Indus were separated from Punjab and made into a new province: the North-West Frontier Province. Subsequently, Punjab was divided into four natural geographical divisions by colonial officials on the decadal census data:
Indo-Gangetic Plain West geographical division (including Hisar district, Loharu State, Rohtak district, Dujana State, Gurgaon district, Pataudi State, Delhi, Karnal district, Jalandhar district, Kapurthala State, Ludhiana district, Malerkotla State, Firozpur district, Faridkot State, Patiala State, Jind State, Nabha State, Lahore District, Amritsar district, Gujranwala District, and Sheikhupura District);
Himalayan geographical division (including Sirmoor State, Simla District, Simla Hill States, Bilaspur State, Kangra district, Mandi State, Suket State, and Chamba State);
Sub-Himalayan geographical division (including Ambala district, Kalsia State, Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur District, Sialkot District, Gujrat District, Jhelum District, Rawalpindi District, and Attock District;
North-West Dry Area geographical division (including Montgomery District, Shahpur District, Mianwali District, Lyallpur District, Jhang District, Multan District, Bahawalpur State, Muzaffargarh District, Dera Ghazi Khan District, and the Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract).
== Administrative divisions ==
=== Maps of administrative divisions ===
== History ==
=== Company rule ===
Delhi and the areas of Gurgaon, Hisar, and Karnal districts were conquered by the British in 1803. On 30 December 1803, the Daulat Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the British after the Battle of Assaye and Battle of Laswari and ceded to the British, Hisar, Panipat, Rohtak, Rewari, Gurgaon, Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat and the fort of Ahmmadnagar. The area of Shimla district was obtained by the British in 1815.
After the conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–46, the areas of the following districts were annexed by the British: Ambala, Firozpur, Hoshiyarpur, Jalandhar, Kangra, Ludhiana districts. After the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–49, the areas of the following districts were annexed by the Britishers: Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Bannu, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hazara, Jhang, Jhelum, Kohat, Lahore, Montgomerty, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Shahpur, and Sialkot districts.
On 21 February 1849, the East India Company decisively defeated the Sikh Empire at the Battle of Gujrat bringing to an end the Second Anglo-Sikh War. Following the victory, the East India Company announced the annexation of the conquered territory through a durbar proclamation on 30 March 1849 and annexed the Punjab on 2 April 1849 and incorporated it within British India. The deposed child-monarch Duleep Singh was given a pension and forced to live outside Punjab.
For the task of organization of the conquered region, Henry Lawrence was the prime candidate to take up the task, yet Dalhousie did not agree with Lawrence's views fully. Thus, the compromise was the establishment of a three-member board of government/administration to administer the new territory. The province whilst nominally under the control of the Bengal Presidency was administratively independent. Lord Dalhousie constituted the Board of Administration by inducting into it the most experienced and seasoned British officers. The Board was led by Sir Henry Lawrence, who had previously worked as British Resident at the Lahore Durbar and also consisted of his younger brother John Lawrence and Charles Grenville Mansel. Below the Board, a group of acclaimed officers collectively known as Henry Lawrence's "Young Men" assisted in the administration of the newly acquired province. The Board was abolished by Lord Dalhousie in 1853; Sir Henry was assigned to the Rajputana Agency, and his brother John Lawrence succeeded as the first Chief Commissioner. Thus, Punjab became administered by a chief commissioner.
Recognising the cultural diversity of the Punjab, the Board maintained a strict policy of non-interference in regard to religious and cultural matters. Sikh aristocrats were given patronage and pensions and groups in control of historical places of worship were allowed to remain in control.
During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Punjab remained relatively peaceful, apart from rebellion led by Ahmad Khan Kharral. In May, John Lawrence took swift action to disarm potentially mutinous sepoys and redeploy most European troops to the Delhi ridge. Finally he recruited new regiments of Punjabis to replace the depleted force, and was provided with manpower and support from surrounding princely states such as Jind, Patiala, Nabha and Kapurthala and tribal chiefs on the borderlands with Afghanistan. By 1858, an estimated 70,000 extra men had been recruited for the army and militarised police from within the Punjab.
=== British Raj ===
Following the Indian mutiny, Punjab became a lieutenant-governor's province, still under the Bengal Presidency. The governor-general of India, the highest seat of local authority, ruled the Bengal Presidency through its lieutenant-governors and chief-commissioners. Both the lieutenant-governors and chief-commissioners presided over commissioners of divisions, with those commissioners having authority over deputy-commissioners of districts.
In 1858, under the terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British Crown. The East India Company was abolished, along with its court of directors, replacing that administrative set-up with the council of India. Delhi Territory was transferred from the North-Western Provinces to the Punjab in 1858, partly to punish the city for the important role the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, and the city as a whole, played in the 1857 Rebellion.
In 1859, Punjab became a lieutenant-governor's province. Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner, was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor on 1 January 1859. In 1866, the Judicial Commissioner was replaced by a Chief Court. The direct administrative functions of the Government were carried by the Lieutenant-Governor through the Secretariat, comprising a Chief Secretary, a Secretary and two Under-Secretaries. They were usually members of the Indian Civil Service. The territory under the Lieutenant consisted of 29 Districts, grouped under 5 Divisions, and 43 Princely States. Each District was under a Deputy-Commissioner, who reported to the Commissioner of the Division. Each District was subdivided into between three and seven tehsils, each under a tahsildar, assisted by a naib (deputy) tahsildar.
In 1885 the Punjab administration began an ambitious plan to transform over six million acres of barren waste land in central and western Punjab into irrigable agricultural land. The creation of canal colonies was designed to relieve demographic pressures in the central parts of the province, increase productivity and revenues, and create a loyal support amongst peasant landholders. The colonisation resulted in an agricultural revolution in the province, rapid industrial growth, and the resettlement of over one million Punjabis in the new areas. A number of towns were created or saw significant development in the colonies, such as Lyallpur, Sargodha and Montgomery. Colonisation led to the canal irrigated area of the Punjab increasing from three to fourteen million acres in the period from 1885 to 1947.
The beginning of the twentieth century saw increasing unrest in the Punjab. Conditions in the Chenab colony, together with land reforms such as the Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900 and the Colonisation Bill, 1906 contributed to the 1907 Punjab unrest. The unrest was unlike any previous agitation in the province as the government had for the first time aggrieved a large portion of the rural population. Mass demonstrations were organised, headed by Lala Lajpat Rai, a leader of the Hindu revivalist sect Arya Samaj. The unrest resulted in the repeal of the Colonisation Bill and the end of paternalist policies in the colonies.
During the First World War, Punjabi manpower contributed heavily to the Indian Army. Out of a total of 683,149 combat troops, 349,688 hailed from the province. In 1918, an influenza epidemic broke out in the province, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 962,937 people or 4.77 percent of the total estimated population. In March 1919 the Rowlatt Act was passed extending emergency measures of detention and incarceration in response to the perceived threat of terrorism from revolutionary nationalist organisations. This led to the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919, where Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered detachments of the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the 59th Scinde Rifles under his command to fire into a group of some 10,000 unarmed protesters and Baisakhi pilgrims, killing 379.
=== Administrative reforms ===
The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms enacted through the Government of India Act 1919 expanded the Punjab Legislative Council and introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. The first Punjab Legislative Council under the 1919 Act was constituted in 1921, comprising 93 members, seventy per cent to be elected and rest to be nominated. Some of the British Indian ministers under the dyarchy scheme were Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk and Lala Hari Kishen Lal.
The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy to Punjab replacing the system of dyarchy. It provided for the constitution of Punjab Legislative Assembly of 175 members presided by a Speaker and an executive government responsible to the Assembly. The Unionist Party under Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan formed the government in 1937. Sir Sikandar was succeeded by Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana in 1942 who remained the Premier till partition in 1947. Although the term of the Assembly was five years, the Assembly continued for about eight years and its last sitting was held on 19 March 1945.
=== Partition ===
The struggle for Indian independence witnessed competing and conflicting interests in the Punjab. The landed elites of the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities had loyally collaborated with the British since annexation, supported the Unionist Party and were hostile to the Congress party led independence movement. Amongst the peasantry and urban middle classes, the Hindus were the most active National Congress supporters, the Sikhs flocked to the Akali movement whilst the Muslims eventually supported the All-India Muslim League.
Since the partition of the sub-continent had been decided, special meetings of the Western and Eastern Section of the Legislative Assembly were held on 23 June 1947 to decide whether or not the Province of the Punjab be partitioned. After voting on both sides, partition was decided and the existing Punjab Legislative Assembly was also divided into West Punjab Legislative Assembly and the East Punjab Legislative Assembly. This last Assembly before independence, held its last sitting on 4 July 1947.
== Population ==
The first British census of the Punjab was carried out in 1855. This covered only British territory to the exclusion of local princely states, and placed the population at 17.6 million. The first regular census of British India carried out in 1881 recorded a population of 20.8 million people. The final British census in 1941 recorded 34.3 million people in the Punjab, which comprised 29 districts within British territory, 43 princely states, 52,047 villages and 283 towns.
In 1881, only Amritsar and Lahore had populations over 100,000. The commercial and industrial city of Amritsar (152,000) was slightly larger than the cultural capital of Lahore (149,000). Over the following sixty years, Lahore increased in population fourfold, whilst Amritsar grew two-fold. By 1941, the province had seven cities with populations over 100,000 with emergence and growth of Rawalpindi, Multan, Sialkot, Jullundur and Ludhiana.
The colonial period saw large scale migration within the Punjab due to the creation of canal colonies in western Punjab. The majority of colonists hailed from the seven most densely populated districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Ambala and Sialkot, and consisted primarily of Khatris, Brahmins, Jats, Arains, Sainis, Kambohs and Rajputs. The movement of many highly skilled farmers from eastern and central Punjab to the new colonies, led to western Punjab becoming the most progressive and advanced agricultural region of the province.
The period also saw significant numbers of Punjabis emigrate to other regions of the British Empire. The main destinations were East Africa - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Southeast Asia - Malaya and Burma, Hong Kong and Canada.
== Religion ==
The Punjab was a religiously eclectic province, comprising three major groups: Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. By 1941, the religious Muslims constituting an absolute majority at 53.2%, whilst the Hindu population was at 30.1%. The period between 1881 and 1941 saw a significant increase in the Sikh and Christian populations, growing from 8.2% and 0.1% to 14.9% and 1.9% respectively. The decrease in the Hindu population has been attributed to the conversion of Hindus mainly to Sikhism and Islam, and also to Christianity.
In 1941, the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs made 30.1, 53.2 and 14.9 per cent of the total population of Punjab but
made 37.9, 51.4 and 8.4 per cent of its urban population respectively.
=== Subdivisions ===
== Language ==
As with religion, Punjab was a linguistically eclectically diverse province and region. In 1837, Persian had been abolished as the official language of Company administration and replaced by local Indian vernacular languages. In the Sikh Empire, Persian continued to be the official state language. Shortly after annexing the Punjab in 1849, the Board of Administration canvassed local officials in each of the provinces's six divisions to decide which language was "best suited for the Courts and Public Business". Officials in the western divisions recommended Persian whilst eastern officials suggested a shift to Urdu. In September 1849 a two-language policy was instituted throughout the province. The language policy in the Punjab differed from other Indian provinces in that Urdu was not a widespread local vernacular. In 1849 John Lawrence noted "that Urdu is not the language of these districts and neither is Persian".
In 1854, the Board of Administration abruptly ended the two-language policy and Urdu was designated as the official language of government across the province. The decision was motivated by new civil service rules requiring all officials pass a test in the official language of their local court. In fear of potentially losing their jobs, officials in Persian districts petitioned the board to replace Persian with Urdu, believing Urdu the easier language to master. Urdu remained the official administrative language until 1947.
Officials, although aware that Punjabi was the colloquial language of the majority, instead favoured the use of Urdu for a number of reasons. Criticism of Punjabi included the belief that it was simply a form of patois, lacking any form of standardisation, and that "would be inflexible and barren, and incapable of expressing nice shades of meaning and exact logical ideas with the precision so essential in local proceedings." Similar arguments had earlier been made about Bengali, Oriya and Hindustani; however, those languages were later adopted for local administration. Instead it is believed the advantages of Urdu served the administration greater. Urdu, and initially Persian, allowed the Company to recruit experienced administrators from elsewhere in India who did not speak Punjabi, to facilitate greater integration with other Indian territories which were administered with Urdu, and to help foster ties with local elites who spoke Persian and Urdu and could act as intermediaries with the wider populace.
=== 1931 census ===
According to the 1931 Census of British Punjab Province, Punjabi was the most widely spoken language, with 50.94% of the population reporting it, and 50.49% declaring it as their mother tongue (MT). Lahnda followed with 25.90% total speakers (25.66% MT), and Hindustani accounted for 14.00% (13.75% MT). Other languages included Western Pahari (5.93%), Rajasthani (2.15%), Pashto (0.32%), Balochi (0.21%), and Kashmiri (0.08%). Additionally, 0.47% of the population spoke languages categorized as 'Others'. The table below presents the full linguistic distribution, including both total speakers and those who reported each language as their mother tongue.
Summary of the table above 1931 language census of Punjab:
In pre-partition Punjab, the linguistic landscape was divided into major zones based on dominant languages and influence: Punjabi-Dominant Regions: These districts were overwhelmingly Punjabi-speaking — Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala State, Malerkotla, Jullundur, Sialkot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Faridkot State, Ferozepore, Lahore, Patiala, and Nabha State. Punjabi with Lahnda Influence: Districts where Punjabi was dominant but there was also significant Lahnda influence included Shekhupura, Lyallpur, Gujranwala, and Gujrat.Lahnda with Punjabi Influence: Regions like Jhelum, Multan, Shahpur, and Montgomery were Lahnda-dominant but retained a strong influence of Punjabi.Lahnda-Dominant Regions: These districts were primarily Lahnda-speaking — Muzaffargarh, Jhang, Attock, Rawalpindi, Mianwali, Jhelum, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur State, and Multan. And Mianwali, and Attock showed a small influence of Pashto while Dera Ghazi Khan had influence of Balochi, especially in their western parts.Hill Regions: The hill districts namely Kangra, Simla, and Simla Hill states & other hill States with few part of Patiala State(2.33%) specially its kandaghat tahsil were dominated by Western Pahari speakers. while some part of Simla Hill states(10.72%) also have influence of Punjabi. Hindustani and Rajasthani Zones: In Ambala Division, districts such as Delhi, Karnal, Rohtak, and Gurgaon were primarily Hindustani- and Rajasthani-speaking. However, Ambala (35.6%) and Hissar (24.4%) had significant Punjabi-speaking populations with Hindustani and Rajasthani Majority. Additionally, the majority of Jind State and parts of Patiala and Nabha State that geographically surrounded the Ambala Division were linguistic enclaves of Hindustani and Rajasthani. A very small part of Ferozepore had influence from Hindustani and Rajasthani languages.
=== 1911 census ===
As per the 1911 census, speakers of the Punjabi dialects and languages, including standard Punjabi along with Lahnda formed just over three-quarters (75.93 per cent) of the total provincial population.
== Literacy ==
Literacy Rate by Religious Community in Punjab Province 1941
== Education ==
In 1854, the Punjab education department was instituted with a policy to provide secular education in all government managed institutions. Privately run institutions would only receive grants-in-aid in return for providing secular instruction. By 1864 this had resulted in a situation whereby all grants-in-aid to higher education schools and colleges were received by institutions under European management, and no indigenous owned schools received government help.
In the early 1860s, a number of educational colleges were established, including Lawrence College, Murree, King Edward Medical University, Government College, Lahore,
Glancy Medical College and Forman Christian College. In 1882, Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner published a damning report on the state of education in the Punjab. He lamented the failure to reconcile government run schools with traditional indigenous schools, and noted a steady decline in the number of schools across the province since annexation. He noted in particular how Punjabi Muslim's avoided government run schools due to the lack of religious subjects taught in them, observing how at least 120,000 Punjabis attended schools unsupported by the state and describing it as 'a protest by the people against our system of education.' Leitner had long advocated the benefits of oriental scholarship, and the fusion of government education with religious instruction. In January 1865 he had established the Anjuman-i-Punjab, a subscription based association aimed at using a European style of learning to promote useful knowledge, whilst also reviving traditional scholarship in Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. In 1884, a reorganisation of the Punjab education system occurred, introducing measures tending towards decentralisation of control over education and the promotion of an indigenous education agency. As a consequence several new institutions were encouraged in the province. The Arya Samaj opened a college in Lahore in 1886, the Sikhs opened the Khalsa College whilst the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam stepped in to organise Muslim education. In 1886, the Punjab Chiefs' College, later renamed Aitchison College, was opened to further the education of the elite classes.
== Tribes ==
Punjab Province was diverse, with the main castes represented alongside numerous subcastes and tribes (also known as Jāti or Barādarī), forming parts of the various ethnic groups in the province, contemporarily known as Punjabis, Saraikis, Haryanvis, Hindkowans, Dogras, Paharis, Potoharis, Himachalis, Bagri people and other non related ethnicities were Kashmiris, Balti people, Ladakhi people, Pashtuns, Baloch people, Marwaris.
== Agriculture ==
Within a few years of its annexation, the Punjab was regarded as British India's model agricultural province. From the 1860s onwards, agricultural prices and land values soared in the Punjab. This stemmed from increasing political security and improvements in infrastructure and communications. New cash crops such as wheat, tobacco, sugar cane and cotton were introduced. By the 1920s the Punjab produced a tenth of India's total cotton crop and a third of its wheat crop. Per capita output of all the crops in the province increased by approximately 45 percent between 1891 and 1921, a growth contrasting to agricultural crises in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during the period.
The Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute became the first higher educational agricultural institution in the Punjab when established in 1906. Rapid agricultural growth, combined with access to easy credit for landowners, led to a growing crisis of indebtedness. When landowners were unable to pay down their loans, urban based moneylenders took advantage of the law to foreclose debts of mortgaged land. This led to a situation where land increasingly passed to absentee moneylenders who had little connection to the villages were the land was located. The colonial government recognised this as a potential threat to the stability of the province, and a split emerged in the government between paternalists who favoured intervention to ensure order, and those who opposed state intervention in private property relations. The paternalists emerged victorious and the Punjab Land Alienation Act, 1900 prevented urban commercial castes, who were overwhelmingly Hindu, from permanently acquiring land from statutory agriculturalist tribes, who were mainly Muslim and Sikh.
Accompanied by the increasing franchise of the rural population, this interventionist approach led to a long lasting impact on the political landscape of the province. The agricultural lobby remained loyal to the government, and rejected communalism in common defence of its privileges against urban moneylenders. This position was entrenched by the Unionist Party. The Congress Party's opposition to the Act led to it being marginalised in the Punjab, reducing its influence more so than in any other province, and inhibiting its ability to challenge colonial rule locally. The political dominance of the Unionist Party would remain until partition, and significantly it was only on the collapse of its power on the eve of independence from Britain, that communal violence began to spread in rural Punjab.
== Army ==
In the immediate aftermath of annexation, the Sikh Khalsa Army was disbanded, and soldiers were required to surrender their weapons and return to agricultural or other pursuits. The Bengal Army, keen to utilise the highly trained ex-Khalsa army troops began to recruit from the Punjab for Bengal infantry units stationed in the province. However opposition to the recruitment of these soldiers spread and resentment emerged from sepoys of the Bengal Army towards the incursion of Punjabis into their ranks. In 1851, the Punjab Irregular Force also known as the 'Piffars' was raised. Initially they consisted of one garrison and four mule batteries, four regiments of cavalry, eleven of infantry and the Corps of Guides, totalling approximately 13,000 men. The gunners and infantry were mostly Punjabi, many from the Khalsa Army, whilst the cavalry had a considerable Hindustani presence.
During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, eighteen new regiments were raised from the Punjab which remained loyal to the East India Company throughout the crisis in the Punjab and United Provinces. By June 1858, of the 80,000 native troops in the Bengal Army, 75,000 were Punjabi of which 23,000 were Sikh. In the aftermath of the rebellion, a thorough re-organisation of the army took place. Henceforth recruitment into the British Indian Army was restricted to loyal peoples and provinces. Punjabi Sikhs emerged as a particularly favoured martial race to serve the army. In the midst of The Great Game, and fearful of a Russian invasion of British India, the Punjab was regarded of significant strategic importance as a frontier province. In addition to their loyalty and a belief in their suitability to serve in harsh conditions, Punjabi recruits were favoured as they could be paid at the local service rate, whereas soldiers serving on the frontier from more distant lands had to be paid extra foreign service allowances. By 1875, of the entire Indian army, a third of recruits hailed from the Punjab.
In 1914, three fifths of the Indian army came from the Punjab, despite the region constituting approximately one tenth of the total population of British India. During the First World War, Punjabi Sikhs alone accounted for one quarter of all armed personnel in India. Military service provided access to the wider world, and personnel were deployed across the British Empire from Malaya, the Mediterranean and Africa. Upon completion of their terms of service, these personnel were often amongst the first to seek their fortunes abroad. At the outbreak of the Second World War, 48 percent of the Indian army came from the province. In Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Attock, the percentage of the total male population who enlisted reached fifteen percent. The Punjab continued to be the main supplier of troops throughout the war, contributing 36 percent of the total Indian troops who served in the conflict.
The huge proportion of Punjabis in the army meant that a significant amount of military expenditure went to Punjabis and in turn resulted in an abnormally high level of resource input in the Punjab. It has been suggested that by 1935 if remittances of serving officers were combined with income from military pensions, more than two thirds of Punjab's land revenue could have been paid out of military incomes. Military service further helped reduce the extent of indebtedness across the Province. In Hoshiarpur, a notable source of military personnel, in 1920 thirty percent of proprietors were debt free compared to the region's average of eleven percent. In addition, the benefits of military service and the perception that the government was benevolent towards soldiers, affected the latter's attitudes towards the British. The loyalty of recruited peasantry and the influence of military groups in rural areas across the province limited the reach of the nationalist movement in the province.
== Communications and transport ==
In 1853, the Viceroy Lord Dalhousie issued a minute stressing the military importance of railways across India. In the Punjab, however, it was initially strategic commercial interests which drove investment in railways and communications from 1860.
Independent railway companies emerged, such as the Scinde, Punjab and Delhi railways to build and operate new lines. In 1862, the first section of railway in the Punjab was constructed between Lahore and Amritsar, and Lahore Junction railway station opened. Lines were opened between Lahore and Multan in 1864, and Amritsar and Delhi in 1870. The Scinde, Punjab and Delhi railways merged to form the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway in 1870, creating a link between Karachi and Lahore via Multan. The Punjab Northern State Railway linked Lahore and Peshawar in 1883. By 1886, the independent railways had amalgamated into North Western State Railway.
The construction of railway lines and the network of railway workshops generated employment opportunities, which in turn led to increased immigration into cantonment towns. As connectivity increased across the province, it facilitated the movement of goods, and increased human interaction. It has been observed that the Ferozpur, Lahore and Amritsar began to develop into one composite cultural triangle due to the ease of connectivity between them. Similarly barriers of spoken dialects eroded over time, and cultural affinities were increasingly fostered.
== Government ==
=== Early administration ===
In 1849, a Board of Administration was put in place to govern the newly annexed province. The Board was led by a President and two assistants. Beneath them Commissioners acted as Superintendents of revenue and police and exercised the civil appellate and the original criminal powers of Sessions Judges, whilst Deputy Commissioners were given subordinate civil, criminal and fiscal powers. In 1853, the Board of Administration was abolished, and authority was invested in a single Chief Commissioner. The Government of India Act 1858 led to further restructuring and the office of Lieutenant-Governor replaced that of Chief Commissioner.
Although The Indian Councils Act, 1861 laid the foundation for the establishment of a local legislature in the Punjab, the first legislature was constituted in 1897. It consisted of a body of nominated officials and non-officials and was presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor. The first council lasted for eleven years until 1909. The Morley-Minto Reforms led to an elected members complementing the nominated officials in subsequent councils.
=== Punjab Legislative Council and Assembly ===
The Government of India Act 1919 introduced the system of dyarchy across British India and led to the implementation of the first Punjab Legislative Council in 1921. At the same time the office of lieutenant governor was replaced with that of governor. The initial Council had ninety three members, seventy per cent of which were elected and the rest nominated. A president was elected by the Council to preside over the meetings. Between 1921 and 1936, there were four terms of the Council.
In 1935, the Government of India Act 1935 replaced dyarchy with increased provincial autonomy. It introduced direct elections, and enabled elected Indian representatives to form governments in the provincial assemblies. The Punjab Legislative Council was replaced by a Punjab Legislative Assembly, and the role of President with that of a Speaker. Membership of the Assembly was fixed at 175 members, and it was intended to sit for five years.
=== First Assembly Election ===
The first election was held in 1937 and was won outright by the Unionist Party. Its leader, Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan was asked by the Governor, Sir Herbert Emerson to form a Ministry and he chose a cabinet consisting of three Muslims, two Hindus and a Sikh. Sir Sikandar died in 1942 and was succeeded as Premier by Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana.
=== Second Assembly Election ===
The next election was held in 1946. The Muslim League won the most seats, winning 73 out of a total of 175. However a coalition led by the Unionist Party and consisting of the Congress Party and Akali Party were able to secure an overall majority. A campaign of civil disobedience by the Muslim League followed, lasting six weeks, and led to the resignation of Sir Khizar Tiwana and the collapse of the coalition government on 2 March 1947. The Muslim League however were unable to attract the support of other minorities to form a coalition government themselves. Amid this stalemate the Governor Sir Evan Jenkins assumed control of the government and remained in charge until the independence of India and Pakistan.
== Coat of arms ==
Crescat e Fluviis meaning, Let it grow from the rivers was the Latin motto used in the coat of arms for Punjab Province. As per the book History of the Sikhs written by Khushwant Singh, it means Strength from the Rivers.
== Administrative timeline ==
1849–1853: Punjab administered by a board of administration
1853–1859: Punjab administered by a chief-commissioner
1859–1919: Punjab administered by a lieutenant-governor
1919–1947: Punjab administered by a governor |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Girl#Episodes | New Girl#Episodes | New Girl is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Century Fox Television for Fox that aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around quirky teacher Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) after she moves into a Los Angeles loft with three men, Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris). Former roommate Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Jess's best friend Cece Parekh (Hannah Simone) later join the characters. The show combines comedy and drama elements as the characters, who are in their late 20s and early 30s, deal with relationship issues and career choices. New Girl is a joint production between Elizabeth Meriwether Pictures and 20th Century Fox Television and is syndicated by 20th Television.
Produced in Los Angeles as a single-camera comedy, New Girl is an ensemble show aimed at a general audience. New Girl received acclaim from critics and was named one of the best new comedies of the 2011 fall season. The pilot episode drew 10.28 million U.S. viewers and a 4.8 adults 18–49 demo rating, making it the highest-rated fall debut for a Fox scripted show since 2001. Particular praise has been given to the performances of Deschanel, Greenfield, Simone, Johnson and Morris. The show has garnered increased mainstream viewership following its inclusion on Netflix, becoming one of the most popular shows on the platform. The series concluded its seven season run in May 2018.
== Plot ==
Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel), a bubbly and quirky teacher, comes home from vacation to find her boyfriend, Spencer (Ian Wolterstorff), with another woman and leaves him immediately to look for somewhere else to live. After Jess answers an ad for a new roommate on Craigslist, she moves into a loft in Los Angeles with three men around her own age: Nick, Schmidt, and Coach. After the pilot episode, Winston, a former roommate and Nick's childhood friend, replaces Coach, who leaves the apartment to live with his girlfriend. Jess's childhood best friend, Cece, is a fashion model who frequently visits Jess and the guys.
The series follows the group's interactions with each other as they become closer friends and develop romantic relationships. Midway through season 1, Schmidt and Cece become involved in a mostly sexual relationship but break up at the end of the season. In Season 2, Jess is laid off from her teaching job; she and the others get involved in mostly temporary relationships however, Cece enters an arranged marriage engagement with Shivrang (Satya Bhabha) that is broken up at their wedding in the season 2 finale when Cece realizes she loves Schmidt. Schmidt had recently started dating his old college girlfriend Elizabeth and has to choose between Elizabeth and Cece. Meanwhile, Nick and Jess develop feelings and start dating at Cece's wedding, making their relationship official at the end of season 2,and it lasts through most of season 3 until they realize that ultimately, they want different things in life.
Coach returns to the loft in season 3, revealing that he had broken up with his girlfriend and rejoins the gang, and even has a short fling with Cece after ending the short relationship with Schmidt. He stays through season 4 until he moves out to be with another girl, May (Meaghan Rath) and moves to New York. At the end of season 4, Schmidt proposes to Cece, and they marry at the end of season 5. Meanwhile, after bouncing around several random jobs and several dating choices throughout the series, Winston works to become a police officer with the LAPD, and falls in love with his partner Aly (Nasim Pedrad). At the beginning of season 5, Jess is called away to jury duty resulting in the group bringing in a temporary roommate Reagan Lucas (Megan Fox), who becomes Nick's love interest for the rest of the season. Shortly after returning from jury duty, Jess realizes that she loves Nick and wants to be with him.
At the end of season 6, Nick and Reagan break up and shortly after, Nick and Jess get together, Cece and Schmidt are pregnant, and Winston is engaged to Aly and is trying to meet his father. Season 7 advances the storyline three years later where Schmidt and Cece have a three-year-old daughter named Ruth, Winston and Aly are expecting their first baby, and Nick proposes to Jess. The story advances further to a timeline where Nick and Jess have a child.
== Cast and characters ==
Zooey Deschanel as Jessica Day: a bubbly, offbeat teacher in her early thirties who is originally from Portland, Oregon. In the premiere episode, she moves into the guys' apartment where Nick, Schmidt, and Coach help her move on from a painful break-up with her boyfriend, Spencer. She later dates Nick on-and-off eventually becoming engaged in the final season. Jess was not specifically written for Zooey Deschanel but the producers found her a great match to the character. Deschanel became a producer on New Girl and helped build Jess's character, specifically concentrating on not making her the classic wife character being ignored by the men and trying to keep out of trouble.
Jake Johnson as Nick Miller: Jess's roommate who works as a bartender at a nearby bar. At the start of the series, he struggles with a break-up with his long-term girlfriend Caroline. He and Jess have an on-and-off relationship but ultimately end up together.
Max Greenfield as Schmidt: Jess's roommate, a seemingly confident ladies' man. He is a successful marketing associate in a female-dominated office. Schmidt dates Cece in the earlier seasons, but this ends after he cheats on her. However, they later reconcile, marry, and have a child, Ruth.
Lamorne Morris as Winston Bishop: a former basketball player and Nick's childhood friend from Chicago. Returns to the loft after playing for the Latvian Basketball League, in the second episode. He later becomes a cop and meets his wife on the force. He is very close to his cat, Furguson, and sometimes is mocked for this.
Hannah Simone as Cece Parikh: a fashion model and Jess's best friend since childhood. In spite of their differences, Cece is a very loyal and protective friend to Jess. Initially skeptical of Jess's new roommates, Cece becomes interested in Schmidt and integrates herself more and more socially with the others as time progresses.
Damon Wayans Jr. as Coach (pilot, season 4; special guest seasons 3 & 5–7): a cocky and driven former athlete who works as a personal trainer. He appears briefly in the "Pilot" episode as a roommate but leaves in the second episode. After a break-up with his girlfriend, Coach returns to the loft two years later and reintegrates himself back into the lives of his former roommates, becoming a coach at the middle school Jess teaches at.
Danielle and Rhiannon Rockoff as Ruth Parikh-Schmidt (season 7): Schmidt and Cece's three-year-old daughter.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
20th Century Fox Television first approached playwright Elizabeth Meriwether in 2008 to develop a pilot that was eventually shelved. After Meriwether's success with the 2011 romantic comedy film No Strings Attached, 20th Century Fox approached her once more, and she pitched an idea for a TV sitcom about an "offbeat girl moving in with three single guys", inspired by her experience of "bouncing from Craigslist sublet to Craigslist sublet, for four years in L.A." when she was in her twenties. This show was initially called Chicks and Dicks with two of the characters similar to the final characters of Jess and Schmidt. The initial idea was a Will & Grace-style comedy inspired by Meriwether's close friendship with a guy after their exes started dating each other. The Fox network liked the script and pursued Zooey Deschanel for the role of Jess, to whose story Meriwether felt most connected. As the script developed, the plot moved on from being about the sexual endeavors of the roommates and became more socially oriented, so the title was changed to New Girl.
The show attempts to combine "comedy and drama as the five characters explore the difficulties of the decade between 30 and 40, which is when many people take their biggest steps toward maturity" with regard to relationships and careers, which, unlike Friends, is giving the show a "built-in biological clock". Producer Jake Kasdan said that "Their lives are moving forward, [but] they're still trying to hang on to some kind of crazy youth" although he does not "want them ever to seem pathetic."
On April 9, 2012, New Girl was officially renewed for a second season of 24 episodes; Fox ordered one more episode during the second half of the season.
=== Casting ===
Movie actress and singer-songwriter Zooey Deschanel was in the process of developing an HBO show when she read the New Girl pilot script and responded to the material. The character of Jess was not specifically written for Deschanel, but the producers found it a great match and adjusted it to better fit the actress. With the support from Fox, Meriwether wanted to make Jess a unique, interesting and funny female character that would have been the side character on other shows. Deschanel became a producer on the show and helped build the character, requesting to not play the classic wife character who would be ignored by the guys she tries to keep out of trouble. Meriwether's goal was to write about herself from an honest perspective, with Jess mirroring her at the start and later Deschanel until Jess turned into a "hybrid of me and Zooey, the writers, and the editor". Deschanel described Jess as a part of her, especially with regard to "the sort of enthusiasm and optimism" of her youth. She does not shy away from playing embarrassing scenes or being unattractive. As Kasdan said, "This show advocates for the attractive dork." Although Meriwether had always imagined the show as an ensemble show, Fox would later focus its first marketing push on Zooey Deschanel and gave the show the promotional tagline "Simply Adorkable." The show's tone evolved after critiques of Jess’s “adorkable” persona. Creator Elizabeth Meriwether addressed these concerns with episodes like “Jess and Julia,” which depicted Jess defending her quirky identity, deepening the character's development and the show's humor.
Basing Nick Miller on a friend also surnamed Miller, she originally imagined Nick as the smartest one of the group who doesn't need to say that and thought of him as "the everyman one, who's stepping away and commenting on what all the crazy people are doing around him." She sent the New Girl pilot script to movie actor Jake Johnson, with whom she had enjoyed working on No Strings Attached and guided him through the audition process. Johnson auditioned with Max Greenfield, who impressed the producers in his first audition as Schmidt. The actors auditioning for Schmidt were more varied in appearance than those auditioning for Nick, and Johnson and Greenfield were initially worried that they looked too much alike. However, both men were cast the same day.
Meriwether originally envisioned Coach as "a fat Jewish guy, like a manchild" and later as "this dumb jock [with] crazy rage problems". David Neher (who would play Schmidt's so-called "fremesis," Benjamin, in four episodes) was among the 400 actors auditioning for Coach before the producers settled on Damon Wayans Jr. who was expecting his show, the ABC sitcom Happy Endings, to be cancelled. When that show was renewed for a second season, Wayans' spot was replaced with Lamorne Morris, who had also read for Coach but had been unavailable for filming the pilot. Meriwether estimated that about 80 percent of the pilot would have needed to be re-shot in order to remove Wayans from the episode, since he was in one of the leading roles of the show. As the producers also liked reflecting the frequent apartment changes in young people's lives, Meriwether, 20th Century Fox and the studio decided to keep the characters and the plot of the pilot episode as they were. Morris joined the show in the second episode of the series when the producers had already broken seven episodes without knowing what the actor was going to be able to do. Wayans returned to New Girl in season 3 for a season-long arc after Happy Endings had been cancelled, and was officially added as a regular for season 4.
=== Writing ===
New Girl had 11 writers during its first season and 15 during the second season—including Elizabeth Meriwether, Brett Baer, and Dave Finkel. Stories were developed in a collaborative effort and aimed at viewers of any gender. Writers intended to keep actors and audiences on their toes by planning very few story arcs and focusing on setting up characters in the first couple seasons .
The writers challenged themselves to create new stories and change the show's dynamics to keep things fresh, while aiming to be "as emotionally real as possible." The humor in the show often comes from characters breaking normal conversation rules, such as saying things that are too much, not enough, or off-topic. This leads to comedic misunderstandings or over-the-top reactions. As the show's jokes rely on the actors' performance instead of perfectly constructed punch lines, Meriwether looked for the actors' strengths before writing. The A story generally revolved around Jess and had an emotional core. Still, Meriwether saw the show as an ensemble about friendship with "everybody having their own stories and people being interested in all of the characters."
Each New Girl episode started out as a pitch page, went through stages of an outline and a final draft before being filmed and edited, a process which could take weeks. The writers were broken up to rework drafts until they found the funniest and most emotionally resonant version. All characters were aimed to be tied into the story, and determining their motivation was the major goal so that people would laugh. During the first season, Meriwether usually made a final pass at the draft alone because of her film and theater background. The actors' performance influenced new story ideas with the actors also handing in story ideas.
=== Filming and editing ===
The main set built for the pilot was to represent a factory-turned-loft in downtown Los Angeles. It was reused once the show was given a full season. The apartment building exterior is the Binford Building, located at 837 Traction Avenue in the city's Arts District, with interior shots done in a studio set. The exterior shots for the bar where Nick works is of The Griffin (now The High Low), located in Atwater Village. The interior shots of the bar are originally from a restaurant called The Prince in Koreatown, and were recreated in a studio set after the first season.
As a single-camera comedy, New Girl is neither performed in front of a studio audience nor has a laugh track. Some scenes are cross-covered (i.e. are filmed with a shooting camera on each person at the same time), to allow for better improvisations. Handheld cameras are avoided for a more filmic look.
The actors first perform scenes as written, then act out the alternatives or improvise, to later allow the producers and editors to choose the gags that ultimately work best. Morris estimated that 20 percent of each episode is improvised.
=== True American ===
True American is a fictional, convoluted drinking game that the New Girl characters first played in the season 1 episode 20, "Normal". After "Normal" aired, internet sources began to summarize the rules for True American, which the characters described as a mix of a drinking game and Candy Land where the floor is lava; it also involves shouting the names of American presidents. The idea of True American came from a New Girl writer who played a similar game in college. As she could not remember the game's exact rules, the writers focused on making the game as funny on the page as possible, but only established chanting "JFK! FDR!" and walking on chairs. Throughout the series, the writers created new rules on the spot in order to keep the actors improvising and encouraged them to "have fun, dig in, jump in".
The game's second appearance in season 2's "Cooler" was played with the strip-poker version called "Clinton Rules", but the exact rules remain unclear even to the actors. True American with updated rules and the resulting hangover were featured in season 3's "Mars Landing". The writers started to do new True American episodes once each year without ever giving explicit rules for the game. Liz Meriwether said the game would not be easier to comprehend in later appearances, as the writers' goal is to actually make it harder to understand. In the final episode, a children's version of True American is shown.
=== Relationships ===
Creator Elizabeth Meriwether sees Nick, Schmidt and Winston "on the weirder side of things". The producers started learning more about the characters by seeing the actors' work and that "We probably rely on them more than we should" to define the characters. Each of the actors improvisations allowed for the characters to switch traits around in the first season before solidifying their characters. Producers found more variety in Nick's character in season 1 and enjoyed Johnson's improvisations, so they relayed Coach's previous attributed rage issues to Nick. Nick's character connects the most with the other roommates, childhood friends with Winston and college roommates with Schmidt, allowing him to be more involved in their stories.
Writers developed the Nick–Winston dynamic in season 1 and sought to figure out Winston's relationship with the other loft mates in season 2. The writers noticed late during the first season that Morris seemed better suited to play a smart character and act as the loft's voice of reason, although Meriwether found that when Winston "finally does blow up, he's crazier than all of them" and that he works better "in these kind of crazy, comedic runners, small pieces of the episode" that contrast the relationship dramas of the other main characters. The Winston–Schmidt friendship was developed significantly in the second half of season 2 when the story focus moved to Nick and Jess. The Nick–Jess relationship affects the three guys' friendship as Nick starts being more considerate of Jess' feelings regarding shenanigans. Damon Wayans Jr. was planned to reprise his role as Coach in at least four episodes in the third season, according to Meriwether "at a time when the roommates are at odds with each other".
With Meriwether's openness regarding straight and gay communities, New Girl also plays with the guys' sexual orientation for humor. One of Winston's recurring alternate persona is Nick's gay lover "Theodore K. Mullins", which started out as an improv of Morris. Johnson thought that Nick and Schmidt had "a pretty funny bromance" with "their own little weird will-they-won't-they". Greenfield improvised kissing Nick a lot in season 1 until the writers started putting Schmidt–Nick kisses into the script, so that they shared more kisses than Nick and Jess did in the first two seasons.
== Episodes ==
== Release ==
=== Broadcast ===
The New Girl pilot was released via on-demand, iTunes, and TiVo on September 6, 2011 before its September 20 premiere on Fox in the United States and on City in Canada. Other international broadcasters include Channel 4 and E4 in the United Kingdom, RTÉ2 in the Republic of Ireland, Network Ten and Eleven in Australia, and Four in New Zealand.
=== Syndication and streaming ===
New Girl was added to TBS in 2015 and was removed in 2022. Additionally, the sitcom was added to MTV in 2015 and was removed in 2016. After 10 years on Netflix, the show became exclusively available on Hulu and Peacock since April 17, 2023.
=== Home media ===
=== Tie-ins ===
A 2012 book, The Douche Journals: The Definitive Account of One Man's Genius, compiled the many Schmidtisms from The Douchebag Jar, before Jess moved into the apartment. ISBN 9780062238672
in January 2022, iHeartRadio launched the New Girl rewatch podcast Welcome to Our Show, hosted by Deschanel, Simone, and Morris, who reminisce on their experience filming the show and provide behind the scenes details on its production. In July 2024, the podcast was relaunched as The Mess Around with Hannah and Lamorne with Deschanel no longer a regular on the show.
== Reception ==
=== Ratings ===
The pilot episode drew 10.28 million U.S. viewers and a 4.8 adults 18–49 demo rating, making it the highest-rated fall debut for a Fox scripted show since The Bernie Mac Show in 2001. The second episode made New Girl the top-rated show on television in the marketing-important 18–49 demographic, improved the rating of its lead-in hit series Glee and beat the long-running hit series NCIS and Dancing with the Stars. At this time, Fox ordered 11 additional episodes to the initial 13-episode order, bringing the first season to 24 episodes.
The ratings dropped when the show took a break for baseball, falling almost 30 percent to a 2.1 rating in the 18–49 audience group. During the 2011–12 television season, New Girl averaged 8.22 million viewers and a 4.2 adults 18–49 demo rating. In 18–49 demo, it ranked as the fifth highest rated show on Fox and 13th overall.
=== Critical response ===
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, season one holds an approval rating of 84% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 6.83/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 66 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
In June 2011, New Girl was one of eight honorees in the "most exciting new series" category at the 1st Critics' Choice Television Awards, voted by journalists who had seen the pilots. Robert Bianco of USA Today considered New Girl "fall's most promising new series" and praised how Deschanel and Meriwether "have shaped Jess into something we haven't quite seen before – a woman who is sweet yet crass, innocent yet sexy, beautiful yet clumsy, and brash yet irresistibly adorable." However, he noted how "Some people will be resistant to Deschanel's doe-eyed charm; others have a congenital need to insult anyone who most everyone else is praising, particularly if doing so gets them attention." The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman saw the show as a "mostly romantic comedy", and although Jess' adorability "might seem like a thin premise, [...] Meriwether manages to make the situations funny and lets Deschanel channel her charm – a winning combination." David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle would rather see the show tone down. He felt "the show's fundamental setup isn't all that inspired, but it could work with smarter writing and better direction, especially with regard to Deschanel", who, in his opinion, overplayed Jess' weird habits "to the point of overkill within the first 10 minutes of the show".
Alan Sepinwall of HitFix considered New Girl "the best new comedy of the fall season, and the only new show I genuinely enjoyed from start to finish" because it was so well developed from the start. He praised Deschanel's "wonderful comic performance" and said that while the supporting actors "all bounce nicely off of Deschanel", the scenes without Deschanel around them fell flat for him. Writing for the Daily News, David Hinckley lauded how none of the characters "settle in as the stereotypes they could easily become", and presumed that all of them would evolve and get smarter as the show progresses. Lori Rack of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the actors' comedic timing and playing off each other. Despite the guys sounding "like nightmares" on paper, "they have endearing, vulnerable cores that make them likable, and occasionally, lovable. [...] New Girl didn't give me as many laugh-out-loud moments as some comedies", but instead made her "feel warm and fuzzy". Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said the show's pilot was "more charming than hilarious" and "cuter than it is funny, but when it does conjure laughs, its style of humor is reminiscent of ABC's Happy Endings".
Many critics considered Max Greenfield the show's breakout star in season 1; The A.V. Club even named Greenfield's Schmidt "the year's breakout TV character" as a "douchebag with a heart of gold". Salon described Schmidt as "a sort of self-created alpha male and a collection of beta male qualities [... which] are performed with such conviction they congeal into a sort of deranged machismo, one slathered in sandalwood-scented lotion. As part of this transition, Schmidt has gone from being a douchebag in the classic model—a guy who, in the pilot, constantly wanted to show off his pecs and scam girls, and seemed capable of doing so—to a douche of a more unique variety." The Huffington Post's Maureen Ryan said how "Schmidt could have easily been 'the dumb guy', or the show could have exploited his status as an eminently mockable douche. But thanks to Max Greenfield's endearing depiction of the would-be lady-killer, there's a lot more the writers have been able to do with the character."
On Rotten Tomatoes, season two holds an approval rating of 88% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 6.56/10. After the teasing of the Nick–Jess relationship in the first season, critics named Jake Johnson the breakout star of season 2 as the characters' romance unfolded. Saying that "Not since Ross and Rachel's tango on Friends has watching a comedy romance been so satisfying", The Hollywood Reporter said the producers "did the impossible by engaging their leads in a love story, which only strengthened the artistry of the single-cam comedy". The New York Times said season 2 "erupted in fantastic and bizarre fits and starts" because of the characters' unmatched personalities, and lauded the writers for not playing up the will-they-or-won't-they dynamic. By emphasizing how the characters got together, the show "made for hilarious setups [that occasionally led] to high-level Abbott and Costello slapstick. The continued Nick–Jess relationship was criticized in season 3 for dropping the characters' personalities, lack of tension, and for neglecting the show's female friendship between Jess and Cece.
On Rotten Tomatoes, season three holds an approval rating of 88% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 6.46/10. Season four holds an approval rating of 100% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.67/10. The series' seventh and final season has an approval rating of 100% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.78, and a critical consensus of, "After seven years of friendship, New Girl signs off with a thoughtful, funny final season that bids a proper adieu to its colorful cast of characters."
=== Awards and nominations ===
The show has been nominated for several awards, including five Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad# | IPad# | The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. Since then, the iPad product line has been expanded to include the smaller iPad Mini, the lighter and thinner iPad Air, and the flagship iPad Pro models. As of 2022, over 670 million iPads have been sold, making Apple the largest vendor of tablet computers. Due to its popularity, the term "iPad" is sometimes used as a generic name for tablet computers.
The iPhone's iOS operating system (OS) was initially used for the iPad, but in September 2019, its OS was switched to a fork of iOS called iPadOS that has better support for the device's hardware and a user interface tailored to the tablets' larger screens. Since then, major versions of iPadOS have been released annually. The iPad's App Store is subject to application and content approval. Many older devices are susceptible to jailbreaking, which circumvents these restrictions.
The original iPad was well-received for its software and was recognized as one of the most-influential inventions of 2010. As of the third quarter of 2021, the iPad had a market share of 34.6% among tablets. Beside personal use, the iPad is used in the business, education, healthcare, and technology sectors. There are two connectivity variants of iPad; one has only Wi-Fi, and one has additional support for cellular networks. Accessories for the iPad include the Apple Pencil, Smart Case, Smart Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, Magic Keyboard, and several adapters.
== History ==
=== Background ===
Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said in a 1983 speech: What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes ... and we really want to do it with a radio link in it so you don't have to hook up to anything and you're in communication with all of these larger databases and other computers.
In 1993, Apple worked on the Newton MessagePad, a tablet-like personal digital assistant (PDA). John Sculley, Apple's chief executive officer, led the development. The MessagePad was poorly received for its indecipherable handwriting recognition feature and was discontinued at the direction of Jobs, who returned to Apple in 1998 after an internal power struggle. Apple also prototyped a PowerBook Duo–based tablet computer but decided not to release it to avoid hurting MessagePad sales.
In May 2004, Apple filed a design trademark patent in Europe for a handheld computer, hypothetically referencing the iPad, beginning a new round of speculation that led to a 2003 report of Apple-affiliated manufacturer Quanta leaking Apple's orders for wireless displays. In May 2005, Apple filed US Design Patent No. D504,889 that included an illustration depicting a man touching and using a tablet device. In August 2008, Apple filed a 50-page patent application that includes an illustration of hands touching and gesturing on a tablet computer. In September 2009, Taiwan Economic News, citing "industry sources", reported the tablet computer Apple was working on would be announced in February 2010, although the announcement was made in that year's January.
The iPad's concept predates that of the iPhone, although the iPhone was developed and released before the iPad. In 1991, Apple's chief design officer Jonathan Ive devised an industrial design of a stylus-based tablet, the Macintosh Folio, which led to the development of a larger tablet prototype project codenamed K48 that Apple began in 2004. Ive sought to develop the tablet first but came to an agreement with Jobs that the iPhone was more important and should be prioritized.
=== iPad ===
The first generation of iPad was announced on January 27, 2010, and pre-ordering began on March 12. Initial reaction to the product name, which struck some women as a menstrual pun "indicative of a male-helmed team oblivious" to the connotations, was negative.
A Wi-Fi-capable version was released in the United States on April 3 and a 3G-capable version was released on April 30. Apple released iPad models internationally on May 28, July 23, and September 17. The first iPad has a 1 GHz Apple A4 CPU with 256 MB of RAM and a PowerVR SGX535 GPU. It has four buttons; a home button that directs the user to its homepage, a wake-and-sleep button, and two volume-control buttons. Its multi-touch-based display has a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels.
The second generation of iPad was announced on March 2, 2011, and released on March 11. It is 33% thinner and 15% lighter than its predecessor, and uses a dual-core Apple A5 chip consisting of a twice-as-fast CPU and a nine-times-faster GPU. It has one camera each on the front and the back, both of which support Apple's video-telephony service, FaceTime. Apple slimmed the iPad by eliminating the display's stamped-sheet-metal frame, using thinner glass for the screen overlay, and eliminating some space between the display and battery.
The third generation of iPad was announced on March 7, 2012, and released on March 16. It uses a dual-core Apple A5X chip embedded with quad-core graphics. Its Retina Display is 2,048 by 1,536 pixels and its pixels are 50% denser than those of standard displays. Unlike the iPhone and iPod Touch's built-in applications, which work in portrait, landscape-left and landscape-right orientations, the iPad's built-in applications support the upside-down orientation of the device. Consequently, the device has no "native" orientation; only the relative position of the home button changes.
The fourth generation of iPad was announced on October 23, 2012, and released on November 2. It has an Apple A6X chip, replaces the 30-pin dock connector with a Lightning port, has improved LTE and WiFi connectivity, a five-megapixel, rear-facing camera that is capable of recording 1080p videos, and a 720p front-facing FaceTime HD camera. Its display has a resolution of 2,048 by 1,536 pixels.
The fifth generation of iPad was announced on March 21, 2017, and released on March 24. It uses an Apple A9 chip with an accompanying M9 motion coprocessor, and its cameras can capture low-light and HD-quality shots. Despite using the same Apple A9 and M9 processors as the 2015 iPhone 6S, it lacks support of the always-on "Hey Siri" voice recognition, a feature advertised as being made possible by low-power processing in those chips.
The sixth generation of iPad was announced and released on March 27, 2018. It uses a dual-core Apple A10 Fusion chip and feature a 1080p and 30fps rear mounted 8-megapixel iSight camera, and a 720p FaceTime HD camera. It was the first non-Pro iPad to support the Apple Pencil. It also had faster FaceTime HD, LTE connectivity, Touch ID, and multitask functionalities.
The seventh generation of iPad was announced on September 10, 2019, and released on September 25. It uses a 64-bit Apple A10 Fusion chip, with a 4-core CPU and 6-core GPU. Its slightly larger 10.2 in (260 mm) Retina Display has a resolution of 2,160 × 1,620 (3.5 million pixels). It added support for the Smart Keyboard accessory.
The eighth generation of iPad was announced on September 15, 2020, and released on September 18. It uses an Apple A12 Bionic chip, which has a 40 percent faster 6-core CPU and a 2-times faster 4-core GPU than its predecessor. The Apple A12 also included an embedded Neural Engine, and is capable of processing 5 trillion operations per second.
The ninth generation of iPad was announced and released on September 14, 2021. It uses an Apple A13 Bionic chip, which has a 20% faster CPU and GPU and an embedded, artificial intelligence–immersed Neural Engine. Its 12-megapixel ultra wide front camera adds support for Apple's "Center Stage Mode" technology, which locates people in the frame and tracks the camera view to keep them centered. Its Retina Display added support for the True Tone technology, which automatically adjusts the screen color temperature according to the ambient lighting.
The 10th-generation of iPad was announced on October 18, 2022, with pre-orders starting immediately and availability set for October 26. It uses the Apple A14 Bionic chip, has a larger 10.9 in (280 mm) screen, and replaces the Lightning connector with USB-C. Unlike all previous models in the iPad range, as well as the sixth-generation iPad Pro announced the same day, this model's front-facing camera is placed along the device's long edge, making it more suitable for video calling applications. Despite having a USB-C connector, it is not compatible with the second-generation Apple Pencil that can be used with all other USB-C iPads, instead using the first-generation Pencil with a USB-C-to-Lightning adapter, which will be included with new Pencil purchases. While lacking the Smart Connector of the Pro and Air lines, it is compatible with a new Magic Keyboard Folio announced alongside the device. This model did not immediately replace the 9th-generation iPad; Apple continued to sell the older model at the same price, while the price for the newer 10th-generation model was increased.
The 11th-generation of iPad was announced on March 4, 2025, with the general availability set for March 12, 2025. It uses the A16 Bionic chip and starts with the 128GB storage capacity option and added the new 512GB storage capacity option. The "iPad" branding and regulatory information have been removed from the back of the device.
=== iPad Mini ===
The first generation of the flagship, smaller iPad Mini was announced on October 23, 2012, and released on November 2. The 7.9 in (200 mm) display has a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels. The tablet uses a dual-core Apple A5 chip, and has hardware resembling that of the second generation of iPad. It has a FaceTime HD camera, a 5-megapixel iSight camera, an ultrafast wireless LTE range, and a 802.11a/b/g/n standard Wifi connectivity. It targets the emerging sector of mini tablets, such as Kindle Fire and Nexus 7.
The second generation of iPad Mini was announced on October 22, 2013, and released on November 12. Its hardware resembles that of the first generation of iPad Air.
The third generation of iPad Mini was announced on October 16, 2014, and released on October 22. It uses an Apple A7 chip with an embedded M7 motion coprocessor, and its 7.9 in (200 mm) Retina screen display has a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels. It includes a 1080p HD camera, a FaceTime HD camera, and a 5-megapixel iSight camera.
The fourth generation of iPad Mini was announced and released on September 9, 2015. It uses a dual-core Apple A8 chip with an embedded Apple M8 motion coprocessor. Its headphone jack was re-positioned with the removal of a mute switch.
The fifth generation of iPad Mini was announced and released on March 18, 2019. It uses an Apple A12 Bionic chip, with a 3-times faster CPU and a 9-times faster GPU than its predecessor. It features a Truetone-based Retina screen display with 25% wider Color and higher pixel density.
The sixth generation of iPad Mini was announced and released on September 24, 2021. The display size was increased to 8.3 in (210 mm). It uses an Apple A15 Bionic chip, with a 40% faster 6-core CPU and 80% faster 5-core GPU. Its 16-core Neural Engine and AI accelerators within the CPU delivers a 2× boost of AI performance. Its 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front camera featured Apple's "Center Stage Mode" technology, while its 12-megapixel back camera had larger apertures, True Tone flash, and Smart HDR automatic shadow and highlight recovery. It includes a USB-C port, capable of transferring up to 5 gigabits per second of data; improved landscape stereo speakers; and a brighter Liquid Retina Display.
The seventh generation of iPad Mini was announced on October 15, 2024. It is powered by an Apple A17 Pro chip, which Apple says has 30 percent faster CPU, 25 percent faster GPU and a neural engine twice as fast as the previous generation. This model is marketed by Apple as built for Apple Intelligence, its upcoming artificial intelligence features. The storage on the lowest priced variant has increased from 64GB of previous generation to 128GB. The new Wi-Fi 6E chip is faster, the USB-C port is faster compared to previous generations. Like the iPad Pro (M4) and the iPad Air (M2), it is only compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro alongside the lower-entry Apple Pencil with USB-C port, making it incompatible with the Apple Pencil (2nd generation). It is not compatible with the Magic Keyboard for iPad and Smart Keyboard Folio due to its smaller form factor.
=== iPad Air ===
The first generation of iPad Air was announced on October 22, 2013, and released on November 1. It used an Apple A7 chip with an embedded Apple M7 Motion coprocessor; the chip included over a billion transistors and comprised a 2× faster CPU and GPU. It debuted the 802.11n-based MINO technology used in its Wi-Fi connectivity, and it had an extended range of LTE telecommunication. It also came with a Retina Display.
The second generation of iPad Air was announced on October 16, 2014, and released on October 22. It used an Apple A8X chip with a 2.5× faster CPU. Its 8 MP iSight Camera had 1.12-micrometer pixels and a f/2.4 aperture, while its FaceTime Camera had an f/2.2 aperture and 81% light capacity. Its display had a revised 56% lower reflective rate. It also had an extended range of LTE telecommunication service.
The third generation of iPad Air was announced on March 18, 2019, and released on March 25. It used an Apple A12 Bionic with an embedded Neural Engine, 6-core CPU and 4-core GPU. Its 866 Mbit/s WiFi connectivity are LTE-based, and it is equipped with a 1080p HD video camera.
The fourth generation of iPad Air was announced on September 15, 2020, and released on October 23. It used an Apple A14 Bionic chip, which comprised 11.9 billion transistors, a 40% faster 6-core CPU, a 30% faster 4-core GPU, and an embedded Neural Engine that can process 11 trillion operations per second. Its 10.9 in (280 mm) Liquid Retina Screen display has a resolution of 2360 by 1640 pixels (3.8 million pixels). Its front 7-megapixel FaceTime Camera is of 1080p and 60 fps, while its 12-megapixel webcam featured f/1.8 aperture, 4K, 60fps, and video stabilization. The fourth generation iPad Air replaces the Lightning connector with USB-C.
The fifth generation of iPad Air was announced on March 8, 2022, and released on March 18. It used an Apple M1 chip.
The sixth generation of iPad Air was announced on May 7, 2024, with the general availability on May 15. It used an Apple M2 chip. It is the first iPad Air to have the available two display size options of 11 in (280 mm) and 13 in (330 mm). It features the Apple Pencil hover which is previously featured on the iPad Pro (6th generation) and the landscape oriented front-facing camera which is previously used on the tenth-generation iPad. Like eight generation of iPad Pro, it is only compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro alongside the lower-entry Apple Pencil with USB-C port, making it incompatible with the Apple Pencil (2nd generation). Unlike eight generation of iPad Pro, it is only compatible with the Magic Keyboard that was designed for the iPad Pro 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th generations.
The seventh generation of iPad Air was announced on March 4, 2025, and was released on March 12. It uses the Apple M3 chip. The "iPad Air" branding and regulatory information have been removed from the back of the device.
The eighth generation of iPad Air was announced on March 2, 2026, and is going to be released on March 11. It uses the Apple M4 chip with 12 GB of RAM.
=== iPad Pro ===
The first generation of the high-end and professional flagship iPad Pro was announced on September 9, 2015, and released on November 11, (12.9 in (330 mm)h version) and March 31 (9.7 in (250 mm)). It used an Apple A9X chip, with a 2× higher memory bandwidth and a 1.8× faster CPU than its predecessor. Its audio system consisted of 4 audio ports and its volume were more 3× more efficient than the second generation of iPad Air, and its 12 in (300 mm) screen display had a resolution of 2732 by 2043 pixels.
The second generation of iPad Pro was announced on June 5, 2017, and was released on June 13. It used an Apple A10X Fusion chip, with a 6-core CPU and 12-core GPU. It can process 120 Hz HDR quality medias, 2× higher quality than its predecessor. Its ultra-low reflective Retina Display featured a 50% optimized True Tone technology (which automatically adjust the screen accordingly to its ambient color and brightness rates), Wide Color Integration, and up to 500 nit brightness rates. It also had a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 7-megapixel front-facing camera.
The third generation of iPad Pro was announced on October 30, 2018, and released on November 7, and it is the first iPad to support 1 TB of storage. It used a 7 nm Apple A12X Bionic chip, which comprised 11 billion transistors, an 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU and an embedded Neural Engine capable of processing 5 trillion operations per second. Apple replaced the Touch ID fingerprint recognition biometric authentication with its facial counterpart, Face ID.
The fourth generation of iPad Pro was announced and released on March 18, 2020. It used an Apple A12Z Bionic chip, with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. Its Gbit-class Wi-Fi connectivity is 60% faster than that of its predecessor. It introduced a 10-megapixel ultra-wide camera, alongside its 12-megapixel wide camera, capable of capturing 4k video. These cameras allow it to capture medias with wider visibility, and its audio system automatically detects and attracts any orientation nearby.
The fifth generation of iPad Pro was announced on April 20, 2021, and released on May 21. It used an innovative desktop-class Apple M1 chip, which comprised a 40% faster 8-core CPU, a 4× faster 8-core GPU, and a 4× higher bandwidth. It featured a ƒ/1.8 aperture 12-megapixel wide-angle pro camera (captures high quality shots) and a ƒ/2.4 aperture 10-megapixel ultrawide camera (captures enhanced Augmented Reality interactive experience). It debuted Apple's "Center Stage mode" technology, which pinpoints the positions of the users and automatically tracks the camera view accordingly to perspectivally centralize them. The 12.9 in (330 mm) version had a mini LED-based Liquid Retina XDR display, compared to the 11 in (280 mm) model's lesser IPS LCD-based Liquid Retina display.
The sixth generation of iPad Pro was announced on October 18, 2022, and released on October 26. It used an Apple M2 chip, with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU.
The seventh generation of iPad Pro was announced on May 7, 2024, a release on May 15, 2024. It uses an Apple M4, making it the first Apple device to use this chip. It is the first iPad Pro to use OLED display, called Ultra XDR Retina Display. The chassis design is about 5.3 mm thin on the 11 in (280 mm) model and 5.1 mm thin on the 13 in (330 mm) model, thinner than previous models. It features a Tandem OLED display, an updated Pro Cameras (which lacks the ultra-wide camera lens), and a landscape oriented front-facing camera, previously used in the iPad (10th generation). It is only compatible with the Apple Pencil Pro, the lower-entry Apple Pencil with USB-C port and the new, thinner Magic Keyboard, making it incompatible with the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) and the Magic Keyboard that was designed for the 3rd through 6th generations.
The eight generation of iPad Pro, announced on October 15, 2025, with a release of October 22 features an Apple M5 chip. While keeping the same design as the previous model, iPad Pro (M5) features new fast charging with a 50 percent charge in 30 minutes using the 40-watt Dynamic Power Adapter. The Apple C1X modem and Apple N1 networking chip enable Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 7 on iPad for the first time. The "iPad Pro" branding and regulatory information have been removed from the back of the device.
== Hardware ==
=== Overview ===
=== Cellular connectivity ===
The iPad comes in two variants: Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi with cellular support. Unlike the iPhone, the cellular variant did not support voice calls and text messages, but only data connectivity; it also had an additional micro-SIM circuit slot attached on the side. The 3G-based iPad is compatible with any GSM carrier, unlike the iPhone which is usually sold 'locked' to specific carriers. For the first generation of iPad, cellular access from T-Mobile was limited to slower EDGE cellular speeds because T-Mobile's network at the time used different frequencies.
The second generation of iPad introduced a third tier of CDMA support from Verizon, which is available separately from the AT&T-based version. The fifth generation of iPad used a nano-SIM circuit slot, while its predecessors used micro-SIM. The iPads used two frequency bands; both support the same quad-band GSM and quad-band UMTS frequencies. One supports LTE bands 4 and 17 (principally intended for use on the U.S. AT&T network), and the other supports LTE bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25 and CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B.
Apple extended the range of cellular compatibilities worldwide with the release of the fifth generation of iPad and the second generation of iPad Mini, worldwide and all major carriers across North America. The iPad Air and iPad Mini come in two cellular sub-variants, all of which featured nano-SIMs, quad-band GSM, penta-band UMTS, and dual-band CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and B. One supports LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25 and 26, and the other supports LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 18, 19, 20 and TD-LTE bands 38, 39 and 40.
== Accessories ==
Apple offers many accessories for its iPad models, ranging from keyboards, styluses, cases, to adapters; a 10 W power adapter is bundled with the device. In addition to a camera connection kit which consists of two adapters for the iPad's dock connector, one of USB Type A and one of SD card reader; these adapters can transfer photographs and videos and connect USB audio card and MIDI keyboard.
Apple's list of accessories included the Apple Pencil ― a wireless stylus pen, Smart Cover ― a magnetic screen protector that align to the face of an iPad with three folds that is convertible into a stand, Smart Case ― a fine case combining the functions of a Smart Cover and a back-protection case, Smart Keyboard Folio ― an externally-paired keyboard and a combination of a Smart Case and its predecessor, a Smart Keyboard, Magic Keyboard, ― an externally-paired keyboard similar to the formers but with integrated trackpads which the Smart Keyboard Folio and Smart Keyboard lack.
== Software ==
Since its introduction in 2010, the iPad runs on the iPhone's iOS mobile operating system, but it was later replaced with an optimized derivation, iPadOS, in September 2019. It shares the former's development environment and many of its applications and features. The iPad is compatible with nearly every iPhone application through iOS, and developers can optimize these applications to take full advantage of the iPad's software. They used iOS SDK, a software development kit.
The iOS user interface is based upon direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch. Interface control elements include sliders, switches, and buttons. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching between portrait and landscape mode). Various accessibility described in § Accessibility functions enable users with vision and hearing disabilities to properly use iOS.
iOS devices boot to the homescreen, the primary navigation and information "hub" on iOS devices, analogous to the desktop found on personal computers. iOS homescreens are typically made up of app icons and widgets; app icons launch the associated app, whereas widgets display live, auto-updating content, such as a weather forecast, the user's email inbox, or a news ticker directly on the homescreen.
Along the top of the screen is a status bar, showing information about the device and its connectivity. The status bar itself contains two elements, the Control Center and the Notification Center.
iOS' Control Center can be "pulled" down from the top right of the notch, giving access to various toggles to manage the device more quickly without having to open the Settings. It is possible to manage brightness, volume, wireless connections, music player, etc. A homescreen may be made up of several pages, between which the user can swipe back and forth, one of the ways to do this is to hold down on the "dots" shown on each page and swipe left or right. To the right of the last page, the App Library lists and categorizes apps installed on the device. Apps within each category are arranged based on the frequency of their usage. In addition to a category for suggested apps, a "recent" category lists apps recently installed alongside App Clips recently accessed. Users can search for the app they want or browse them in alphabetical order.
iOS' multitasking API included Background audio – application continues to run in the background as long as it is playing audio or video content, voice over IP – application is suspended when a phone call is not in progress, Push notification, Local notifications – application schedules local notifications to be delivered at a predetermined time, Task completion – application asks the system for extra time to complete a given task, Fast app switching – application does not execute any code and may be removed from memory at any time, Newsstand – applications can download content in the background to be ready for the uses, External Accessory – application communicates with an external accessory and shares data at regular intervals, Bluetooth Accessory – application communicates with a Bluetooth accessory and shares data at regular intervals, and Background application update.
iPadOS features a multitasking system developed with more capabilities compared to iOS, with features like Slide Over and Split View that make it possible to use multiple different applications simultaneously. Double-clicking the Home Button or swiping up from the bottom of the screen and pausing will display all currently active spaces. Each space can feature a single app, or a Split View featuring two apps. The user can also swipe left or right on the Home Indicator to go between spaces at any time, or swipe left/right with four fingers.
In iPadOS, while using an app, swiping up slightly from the bottom edge of the screen will summon the Dock, where apps stored within can be dragged to different areas of the current space to be opened in either Split View or Slide Over. Dragging an app to the left or right edge of the screen will create a Split View, which will allow both apps to be used side by side. The size of the two apps in Split View can be adjusted by dragging a pill-shaped icon in the center of the vertical divider and dragging the divider all the way to one side of the screen closes the respective app. If the user drags an app from the dock over the current app, it will create a floating window called Slide Over which can be dragged to either the left or right side of the screen. A Slide Over window can be hidden by swiping it off the right side of the screen, and swiping left from the right edge of the screen will restore it. Slide Over apps can also be cycled between by swiping left or right on the Home Indicator in the Slide Over window and pulling up on it will open an app switcher for Slide Over windows. A pill-shaped icon at the top of apps in Split View or Slide Over allows them to be switched in an out of Split View and Slide Over.
== Restrictions ==
=== Digital rights management ===
The iPad does not employ digital rights management (DRM), but the OS prevents users from copying or transferring certain content outside of Apple's platform without authorization, such as TV shows, movies, and apps. Also, the iPad's development model requires anyone creating an app for the iPad to sign a non-disclosure agreement and pay for a developer subscription. Critics argue Apple's centralized app approval process and control of the platform itself could stifle software innovation. Of particular concern to digital rights advocates is Apple's ability to remotely disable or delete apps on any iPad at any time.
Digital rights advocates, including the Free Software Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and computer engineer and activist Brewster Kahle, have criticized the iPad for its digital rights restrictions.
In an article published by NPR in April 2010, Laura Sydell, concluded that "as more consumers have fears about security on the Internet, viruses, and malware, they may be happy to opt for Apple's gated community."
In 2014, the Russian government switched from iPads to Android devices over security concerns.
=== Jailbreaking ===
Like other iOS devices, the iPad can be "jailbroken", depending on which version of iOS or iPadOS it is running, thus allowing applications and programs that are not authorized by Apple to run on the device. Once it is jailbroken, users are able to download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia, as well as illegally pirated applications. Apple claims jailbreaking "can" void the factory warranty on the device in the United States even though jailbreaking is legal. The iPad, released in April 2010, was first jailbroken in May 2010 with the Spirit jailbreak for iOS version 3.1.2. The iPad can be jailbroken on iOS versions 4.3 through 4.3.3 with the web-based tool JailbreakMe 3.0 (released in July 2011), and on iOS versions including 5.0 and 5.0.1 using redsn0w. Absinthe 2.0 was released on May 25, 2012, as the first jailbreak method for all iOS 5.1.1 devices except the 32 nm version of the iPad 2.
=== Censorship ===
Apple's App Store, which provides iPhone and iPad applications, imposes censorship of content, which has become an issue for book publishers and magazines seeking to use the platform. The British newspaper The Guardian described the role of Apple as analogous to that of British magazine distributor WH Smith, which for many years imposed content restrictions.
Due to the exclusion of pornography from the App Store, pornography companies changed their software to produce content designed specifically for the iPad. In an e-mail exchange with Ryan Tate from Valleywag, Steve Jobs claimed that the iPad offers "freedom from porn", leading to many upset replies including Adbustings in Berlin by artist Johannes P. Osterhoff and in San Francisco during WWDC10.
== Original reception ==
Media reaction to the original iPad was mixed. The media noted the positive response from fans of the device, with thousands of people queued on the first day of sale in a number of these countries.
The iPad was quickly successful and sold in large numbers after its 2010 launch. Analysts have noted that while Apple's previous iPod and iPhone launches took some time till taking off, the iPad was commercially popular from the beginning and faced little market competition during its first year.
=== Reaction to the announcement ===
Media reaction to the announcement of the original iPad was mixed. Walter Mossberg wrote, "It's about the software, stupid", meaning hardware features and build are less important to the iPad's success than software and user interface, his first impressions of which were largely positive. Mossberg also called the price "modest" for a device of its capabilities, and praised the ten-hour battery life. Others, including PC Advisor and the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote that the iPad would also compete with proliferating netbooks, most of which use Microsoft Windows. The base model's $499 price was lower than pre-release estimates by the tech press, Wall Street analysts, and Apple's competitors, all of whom were expecting a much higher entry price point.
CNET also criticized the iPad for its apparent lack of wireless sync which other portable devices such as Microsoft's Zune have had for a number of years. The built-in iTunes app is able to download from the Internet as well.
=== Critical response ===
Reviews of the original iPad have been generally favorable. Walt Mossberg, then of The Wall Street Journal, called it a "pretty close" laptop killer. David Pogue of The New York Times wrote a "dual" review, one part for technology-minded people, and the other part for non-technology-minded people. In the former section, he notes that a laptop offers more features for a cheaper price than the iPad. In his review for the latter audience, however, he claims that if his readers like the concept of the device and can understand what its intended uses are, then they will enjoy using the device. PC Magazine's Tim Gideon wrote, "you have yourself a winner" that "will undoubtedly be a driving force in shaping the emerging tablet landscape." Michael Arrington of TechCrunch said, "the iPad beats even my most optimistic expectations. This is a new category of device. But it also will replace laptops for many people." PC World criticized the iPad's file sharing and printing abilities, and Ars Technica said sharing files with a computer is "one of our least favorite parts of the iPad experience."
The media also praised the quantity of applications, as well as the bookstore and other media applications. In contrast they criticized the iPad for being a closed system and mentioned that the iPad faces competition from Android-based tablets, that outsold iPads in 2013, surpassing iPads in the second quarter of 2013, and have overtaken iPad's installed base, and has lost majority of web browsing to Android, by StatCounter estimates, in South America, Africa, most of Asia – many large countries there and in Eastern Europe. The Independent criticized the iPad for not being as readable in bright light as paper but praised it for being able to store large quantities of books. After its UK release, The Daily Telegraph said the iPad's lack of Adobe Flash support was "annoying."
=== Recognition ===
The original iPad was selected by Time magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year 2010, while Popular Science chose it as the top gadget behind the overall "Best of What's New 2010" winner Groasis Waterboxx.
== Usage ==
=== Market share ===
The iPad had a relatively stable tablet global market share. It received a significant drop in the third quarter of 2012 but gradually recovered, although not as abundant as before. As of the third quarter of 2021, it had a market share of 34.6%.
=== Business ===
While the iPad is mostly used by consumers, it also has been taken up by business users. Within 90 days of its release, the iPad managed to penetrate 50% of Fortune 100 companies. Some companies are adopting iPads in their business offices by distributing or making available iPads to employees. Examples of uses in the workplace include attorneys responding to clients, medical professionals accessing health records during patient exams, and managers approving employee requests.
A survey by Frost & Sullivan shows that iPad usage in office workplaces is linked to the goals of increased employee productivity, reduced paperwork, and increased revenue. The research firm estimates that "The mobile-office application market in North America may reach $6.85 billion in 2015, up from an estimated $1.76 billion [in 2010]."
Since March 2011, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the iPad for in-cockpit use to cut down on the paper consumption in several airlines. In 2011, Alaska Airlines became the first airline to replace pilots' paper manuals with iPads, weighing 680 g (1.50 lb) compared to 11 kg (24 lb) for the printed flight manuals. It hopes to have fewer back and muscle injuries. More than a dozen airlines have followed suit, including United, which has distributed 11,000 iPads to cockpits. Also, many airlines now offer their inflight magazine as a downloadable application for the iPad.
=== Education and healthcare ===
The iPad has several uses in the classroom, and has been praised as a valuable tool for homeschooling and distance education. Soon after the iPad was released, it was reported that 81% of the top book apps were for children. In 2025, the use of iPads for notetaking in classroom settings was steadily replacing alternative methods, including traditional pen-and-paper. The iPad has also been called a revolutionary tool to help children with autism learn how to communicate and socialize more easily.
In the healthcare field, iPads and iPhones have been used to help hospitals manage their supply chain. For example, Novation, a healthcare contracting services company, developed VHA PriceLynx (based on the mobile application platform of business intelligence software vendor MicroStrategy), a business intelligence app to help health care organizations manage its purchasing procedures more efficiently and save money for hospitals. Guillermo Ramas of Novation states, "Doctors won't walk around a hospital with a laptop. With an iPad it's perfect to walk around the hospital with as long as they have the information they need."
In 2013, Gianna Chien (aged 14) presented to more than 8,000 doctors at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting that the Apple iPad 2 can, in some cases, interfere with life-saving heart devices (pacemakers) because of the magnets inside. The iPad User Guide advised pacemaker users to keep iPads at least 6 in (15 cm) away from a pacemaker. A study in 2014 found that the iPad 2 could cause electromagnetic interference (EMI) in implantable cardioverter defibrillators.
=== Consumer usage ===
In the United States, fans attending Super Bowl XLV, the first Super Bowl since the iPad was released, could use an official National Football League (NFL) app to navigate Cowboys Stadium. In 2011, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first NFL club to discontinue the use of paper copies of playbooks, and instead distributed all players their playbook and videos in electronic format via an iPad 2.
The iPad is able to support many music creation applications in addition to the iTunes music playback software. These include sound samplers, guitar and voice effects processors, sequencers for synthesized sounds and sampled loops, virtual synthesizers and drum machines, theremin-style and other touch responsive instruments, drum pads and many more. Gorillaz's 2010 album, The Fall, was created almost exclusively using the iPad by Damon Albarn while on tour with the band. The music video for Luna Sea's 2012 single, "Rouge", was filmed entirely on an iPad.
Due to its popularity, the term "iPad" is occasionally used as a generic name for tablet computers.
== Timeline ==
Source: Apple Newsroom Archive. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_Max_II | Mayor Max II | Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller II (May 6, 2013 – July 30, 2022) was a golden retriever dog who served as the second unofficial mayor of Idyllwild, part of the census-designated place of Idyllwild–Pine Cove, California. His deputy mayors, Mitzi and Mikey, were his cousins. After his death Mayor Max II was succeeded by his cousin Max III, who was sworn in on December 10, 2022.
== Mayorality ==
In 2012, the non-profit organization Idyllwild Animal Rescue Friends (ARF) hosted an "election" for mayor of Idyllwild (which, as part of an unincorporated community, has no local government) as part of a fundraising event for the organization. Fourteen dogs and two cats ran, and Max, a Golden Retriever, was elected as Idyllwild's first mayor. On April 2, 2013, Mayor Max died, and Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller II, another Golden Retriever, arrived in Idyllwild on July 21 to complete the remainder of the term. In March 2014, as the end of Max's term approached, ARF solicited the town's interest in holding another election. The people overwhelmingly pled for Mayor Max's continuation in perpetuity.
Mayor Max was recognized by the County of Riverside, California. The mayor's duties included visiting with locals and out-of-town visitors, attending business grand openings and other town functions, participating in the town's two annual parades, and promoting Idyllwild. Max's popularity had spread the world over, and he has represented the town through appearances on news programs, talk shows, advertisements, billboards, and a game show.
== Death ==
Mayor Max died in the city of Temecula on July 30, 2022, after suffering a brief medical issue. He was succeeded by Mayor Max III, who formally took office on December 10, 2022. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bell_(baseball) | David Bell (baseball) | David Michael Bell (born September 14, 1972) is an American former professional baseball infielder, coach, and manager who most recently managed the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). Over the course of his 12-year MLB playing career, Bell appeared at all four infield positions while playing for the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Milwaukee Brewers, but played primarily at third and second. Bell made his MLB debut for the Indians in 1995.
After his retirement as an active player, Bell served as a coach for the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. After managing the Triple-A Louisville Bats and (former) Double-A Carolina Mudcats, both of which are or were in the Reds organization, Bell was chosen as the Reds manager in 2018. Bell spent six seasons with the team before he was fired just before the end of the 2024 season.
The grandson of Gus Bell, son of Buddy Bell, and brother of Mike Bell, David Bell is a member of one of five families to have three generations play in the Major Leagues. In addition, David and Buddy are the fifth father-son pair to serve as major league managers, joining Connie and Earle Mack, George and Dick Sisler, Bob and Joel Skinner, and Bob and Aaron Boone.
== Amateur career ==
Bell attended Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Playing for the school's varsity baseball team for three years, where he ranks in the Top Ten in five career categories including doubles and plate appearances. He ranks among the top in Single Season Doubles and Most Doubles in one game. He also played Mickey Mantle and Connie Mack Baseball National Championship teams in 1988 and 1989 respectively as well as leading Moeller to a state championship in 1989. Bell was also a member of the Moeller boys' basketball team. Bell committed to play baseball at the University of Kentucky as a junior.
== Professional career ==
=== Cleveland Indians ===
After the Cleveland Indians selected Bell with their pick in the seventh round (190th overall), Bell decided to forgo his commitment to Kentucky.
Bell made his major league debut on May 3, 1995 as a pinch hitter for Jim Thome and stayed in the game in a defensive replacement. He was optioned to the Buffalo Bisons on May 8, 1995. He hit .272 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs in 70 games.
=== St. Louis Cardinals ===
On July 27, 1995, Bell was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Pepe McNeal and Rick Heiserman for Ken Hill.
=== Return to Cleveland ===
On April 14, 1998, Bell was claimed off waivers by the Indians. On April 15, he hit the first inside-the-park home run in Jacobs Field history, and the first for the Indians since 1989.
=== Seattle Mariners ===
On August 31, 1998, Bell was traded to the Seattle Mariners for Joey Cora. Bell was re-signed on December 19, 2001.
=== San Francisco Giants ===
On January 25, 2002, Bell was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Desi Relaford so he could have a chance to play every day. Bell scored the 2002 NLCS winning run for the San Francisco Giants from second on Kenny Lofton's single. Bell was the runner bearing down on home plate in Game 5 of the 2002 World Series when J. T. Snow lifted 3 year old batboy Darren Baker out of harm's way. Near the end of the season, he won the 2002 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership – as voted on by his teammates and coaching staff.
=== Philadelphia Phillies ===
On December 2, 2002, Bell signed a four-year $17 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. He made Major League history on June 28, 2004, by joining his grandfather, Gus Bell, as the first grandfather-grandson combination to hit for the cycle.
=== Milwaukee Brewers ===
Bell was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Milwaukee Brewers on July 28, 2006, in a deal that swapped him for minor league pitcher Wilfrido Laureano. The Brewers chose not to re-sign Bell after the 2006 season, and he became a free agent.
== Coaching career ==
On October 31, 2008, the Cincinnati Reds named Bell the manager for their Double-A affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats. Bell spent three seasons as the Mudcats manager. In November 2011 he was named manager of the Reds' Triple-A affiliate Louisville Bats.
On October 23, 2012, the Chicago Cubs named Bell the third base coach for the Major League club.
On December 17, 2013, the St. Louis Cardinals announced hiring Bell as their new assistant hitting coach.
From 2015 through 2017, Bell served as the Cardinals' bench coach. He left the team on October 20, 2017, to become the vice president of player development for the San Francisco Giants.
== Managing career ==
=== Cincinnati Reds ===
On October 21, 2018, the Cincinnati Reds announced Bell had been hired as the 63rd manager in franchise history. The contract spans three years with a club option for a fourth.
In an April 7, 2019, game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bell was ejected after his role in a bench clearing incident involving Chris Archer, Derek Dietrich, Yasiel Puig, Amir Garrett, Keone Kela, and Felipe Vázquez. This was Bell's first career managerial ejection. Bell received a one-game suspension following the incident on April 9. On July 30, 2019, another bench-clearing mash-up occurred between the Reds and Pirates, with Bell (who had been ejected from the game in the previous half-inning) involved in it. On August 1, 2019, Bell received a 6-game suspension without eligibility to appeal.
On September 22, 2021, Bell agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Reds.
On July 28, 2023, Bell agreed to a contract extension with the Reds through 2026. However, on September 22, 2024, the Reds fired Bell with five games left in the season.
=== Managerial record ===
As of September 22, 2024
== Front office career ==
On November 15, 2024, the Toronto Blue Jays hired Bell to the concurrent roles of vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%ABl_Retornaz | Joël Retornaz | Joël Thierry Retornaz (born 30 September 1983 in Chêne-Bougeries, Genève, Switzerland) is an Italian curler from Cembra. He was the skip of the Italian men's Olympic curling team in 2006, 2018, 2022, and 2026.
== Career ==
Retornaz gained sudden renown in Italy during the 2006 Winter Olympics. Although Italy has little curling tradition, and the sport was practiced only by a few hundred amateurs, Retornaz led the semi-professional Italian team to several unexpected victories over strong teams, including Canada. This breakthrough inspired a sudden national curiosity for curling, previously almost unknown in Italy.
Retornaz returned to the Olympics in 2018, skipping the Italians again while throwing third rocks. The team finished 9th with a 3-6 record. The team finished 3–6 again at the 2022 Olympics, placing 9th again.
Retornaz has represented Italy in eleven World Curling Championships, in 2005, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 skipping the team in each event except 2005. They have twice won bronze medals at the 2022 and 2024 World Men's Curling Championship, Italy's first medals at the curling worlds of either gender.
Retornaz has competed for Italy in 16 European Curling Championships (as of 2024), finally winning a bronze medal in his 11th try in 2018, skipping the rink of Amos Mosaner, Sebastiano Arman, Simone Gonin and Fabio Ribotta. Retornaz won a second bronze in 2021 and a third in 2022.
== Personal life ==
In addition to curling, Retornaz breeds and races quarter horses. He is employed as a businessman. He is currently married and lives in Lugano, Switzerland. Retornaz speaks five languages, his first language is Italian, which was spoken to him by his mother, his father is from Switzerland and from whom he learned French when he was raised in Geneva, he also speaks English, German and Chinese, which he learned in school.
== Grand Slam record ==
Retornaz won Italy's first Grand Slam championship at the 2022 Masters. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon#Blue_moon_dates | Blue moon#Blue moon dates | A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects.
The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unconnected to the other meanings. It is often referred to as "traditional", but since no occurrences are known prior to 1937 it is better described as an invented tradition or "modern American folklore". The practice of designating the second full moon in a month as "blue" originated with amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett in 1946. It does not come from Native American lunar tradition, as is sometimes supposed.
The moon—not necessarily full—can sometimes appear blue due to atmospheric emissions from large forest fires or volcanoes, though the phenomenon is rare and unpredictable (hence the saying "once in a blue moon"). A calendrical blue moon (by Pruett's definition) is predictable and relatively common, happening 7 times in every 19 years (i.e. once every 2 or 3 years). Calendrical blue moons occur because the time between successive full moons (approximately 29.5 days) is shorter than the average calendar month. They are of no astronomical or historical significance, and are not a product of actual lunisolar timekeeping or intercalation.
== Phrase origin ==
A 1528 satire, Rede Me and Be Nott Wrothe, contained the lines, "Yf they saye the mone is belewe / We must beleve that it is true." The intended sense was of an absurd belief, like the moon being made of cheese. There is nothing to connect it with the later metaphorical or calendrical meanings of "blue moon". However, a confusion of belewe (Middle English, "blue") with belǽwan (Old English "to betray")) led to a false etymology for the calendrical term that remains widely circulated, despite its originator having acknowledged it as groundless.
Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Alastor" (1816) mentioned an erupting volcano and a "blue moon / Low in the west." It was written at a time when the eruption of Mount Tambora was causing global climate effects, and not long before the first recorded instances of "blue moon" as a metaphor.
The OED cites Pierce Egan's Real Life in London (1821) as the earliest known occurrence of "blue moon" in the metaphorical sense of a long time. ("How's Harry and Ben?—haven't seen you this blue moon.") An 1823 revision of Francis Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, edited by Egan, included the definition: "Blue moon. In allusion to a long time before such a circumstance happens. 'O yes, in a blue moon'." An earlier (1811) version of the same dictionary had not included the phrase, so it was likely coined some time in the 1810s. "Once in a blue moon" is recorded from 1833.
The use of blue moon to mean a specific calendrical event dates from 1937, when the Maine Farmers' Almanac used the term in a slightly different sense from the one now in common use. According to the OED, "Earlier occurrences of the sense given in the Maine Farmers' Almanac have not been traced, either in editions of the Almanac prior to 1937, or elsewhere; the source of this application of the term (if it is not a coinage by the editor, H. P. Trefethen) is unclear." The conjecture of editorial invention is further supported by the spurious explanation the almanac gave:
The Moon usually comes full twelve times in a year, three times in each
season... However, occasionally the moon comes full thirteen times in a year.
This was considered a very unfortunate circumstance, especially by the
monks who had charge of the calendar. It became necessary for them
to make a calendar of thirteen months, and it upset the regular arrangement
of church festivals. For this reason thirteen came to be considered an
unlucky number. Also, this extra moon had a way of coming in each of
the seasons so that it could not be given a name appropriate to the time
of year like the other moons. It was usually called the Blue Moon... In olden times the almanac
makers had much difficulty calculating the occurrence of the Blue Moon
and this uncertainty gave rise to the expression "Once in a Blue Moon".
There is no evidence that an extra moon in a month, season or year was considered unlucky, or that it led to 13 being considered unlucky, or that the extra moon was called "blue", or that it led to the phrase "once in a blue moon". There is good reason to suspect that the 1937 article was a hoax, a practical joke, or simply misinformed. It is however true that the date of the Christian festival of Easter depended on an accurate computation of full moon dates, and important work was done by the monks Dionysius Exiguus and Bede, explained by the latter in The Reckoning of Time, written c725 CE. According to Bede, "Whenever it was a common year, [the Anglo-Saxons] gave three lunar months to each season. When an embolismic year occurred (that is, one of 13 lunar months) they assigned the extra month to summer, so that three months together bore the name Litha; hence they called [the embolismic] year Thrilithi. It had four summer months, with the usual three for the other seasons." The name Litha is now applied by some Neo-Pagans to midsummer.
The 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac article was misinterpreted by James Hugh Pruett in a 1946 Sky and Telescope article, leading to the calendrical definition of "blue moon" that is now commonly used, i.e. the second full moon in a calendar month. "A blue moon in the original Maine Farmers' Almanac sense can only occur in the months of February, May, August, and November. In the latter sense, one can occur in any month except February." This later sense gained currency from its use in a United States radio programme, StarDate on January 31, 1980 and in a question in the Trivial Pursuit game in 1986.
Several songs have been titled "Blue Moon", seen as a "symbol of sadness and loneliness."
== Visually blue moon ==
The moon (and sun) can appear blue under certain atmospheric conditions – for instance, if volcanic eruptions or large-scale fires release particles into the atmosphere of just the right size to preferentially scatter red light. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, scattering is the cause of "that epitome of rare occurrences, the blue Moon (seen when forest fires produce clouds composed of small droplets of organic compounds)."
A Royal Society report on the 1883 Krakatoa eruption gave a detailed account of "blue, green, and other coloured appearances of the sun and moon" seen in many places for months afterwards.. The report mentioned that in February 1884 an observer in central America saw the crescent moon as "a magnificent emerald-green" while its earthlit part was "pale green". Venus, bright stars and a comet were also green. The report authors suspected that green moons were a contrast effect, since in those cases the surrounding sky was seen as red.
People saw blue moons in 1983 after the eruption of the El Chichón volcano in Mexico, and there are reports of blue moons caused by Mount St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
The moon looked blue after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and 1951, On September 23, 1950, several muskeg fires that had been smoldering for several years in Alberta, Canada, suddenly blew up into major—and very smoky—fires. Winds carried the smoke eastward and southward with unusual speed, and the conditions of the fire produced large quantities of oily droplets of just the right size (about 1 micrometre in diameter) to scatter red and yellow light. Wherever the smoke cleared enough so that the sun was visible, it was lavender or blue. Ontario, Canada, and much of the east coast of the United States were affected by the following day, and two days later, observers in Britain reported an indigo sun in smoke-dimmed skies, followed by an equally blue moon that evening.
Ice particles might have a similar effect. The Antarctic diary of Robert Falcon Scott for July 11, 1911 mentioned "the air thick with snow, and the moon a vague blue".
The key to a blue moon is having many particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micrometer)—and no other sizes present. Ash and dust clouds thrown into the atmosphere by fires and storms usually contain a mixture of particles with a wide range of sizes, with most smaller than 1 micrometer, and they tend to scatter blue light. This kind of cloud makes the moon turn red; thus red moons are far more common than blue moons.
== Calendrical blue moon ==
Blue moon as a calendrical term originated with the 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac, a provincial U.S. magazine that is not to be confused with the Farmers' Almanac, Old Farmer's Almanac, or other American almanacs. There is no evidence of "blue moon" having been used as a specific calendrical term before 1937, and it was possibly invented by the magazine's editor, Henry Porter Trefethen (1887-1957). As a term for the second full moon in a calendar month it began to be widely known in the U.S. in the mid-1980s and became internationally known in the late 1990s when calendrical matters were of special interest given the approaching millennium. It created a misapprehension that the calendrical meaning of "blue moon" had preceded the metaphorical one, and inspired various folk etymologies, e.g. the "betrayer" speculation mentioned earlier, or that it came from a printing convention in calendars or a saying in Czech. A 1997 Taiwanese movie, Blue Moon, had the log line "There is usually only one full moon every month, but occasionally there are two – and that second full moon is called the Blue Moon. It is said that when a person sees a blue moon and makes a wish, he will be granted a second chance in things."
In 1999 folklorist Philip Hiscock presented a timeline for the calendrical term. First, the August page of the 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac ran a sidebar claiming that the term was used "in olden times" for an extra full moon in a season, and gave some examples (21 November 1915, 22 August 1918, 21 May 1921, 20 February 1924, 21 November 1934, 22 August 1937, and 21 May 1940). Six years later, Laurence J. Lafleur (1907–66) quoted the almanac in the U.S. magazine Sky & Telescope (July 1943, page 17) in answer to a reader's question about the meaning of "blue moon". Then James Hugh Pruett (1886-1955) quoted it again in Sky & Telescope (March 1946, p3), saying "seven times in 19 years there were — and still are — 13 full moons in a year. This gives 11 months with one full moon each and one with two. This second in a month, so I interpret it, was called Blue Moon". In 1980 the term was used (with Pruett's definition) in a U.S. radio program, Star Date, and in 1985 it appeared in a U.S. children's book, The Kids' World Almanac of Records and Facts ("What is a blue moon? When there are two full moons in a month, the second one is called a blue moon. It is a rare occurrence.") In 1986 it was included as a question in Trivial Pursuit (likely taken from the children's book), and in 1988 a forthcoming blue moon received widespread press coverage.
In 1999 U.S. astronomer Donald W. Olson researched the original articles and published the results in a Sky & Telescope article co-authored with Richard T Fienberg and Roger W. Sinnott. From the examples given by Trefethen in the 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac they deduced a "rule" he must effectively have used. "Seasonal Moon names are assigned near the spring equinox in accordance with the ecclesiastical rules for determining the dates of Easter and Lent. The beginnings of summer, fall, and winter are determined by the dynamical mean Sun. When a season contains four full Moons, the third is called a Blue Moon." They termed this the "Maine rule" for blue moons, as distinct from Pruett's 1946 definition that was seen to have been a misinterpretation.
In popular astronomy the Maine rule is sometimes called the "seasonal", "true" or "traditional" rule (though of course no tradition of it exists prior to 1937). Blue moons by Pruett's definition are sometimes called "calendar blue moons". The "seasonal" blue moon rule is itself ambiguous since it depends which definition of season is used. The Maine rule used seasons of equal length with the ecclesiastical equinox (March 21). An alternative is to use the astronomical seasons, which are of unequal length.
There is also reference in modern popular astrology to "zodiacal blue moons".
=== Blue moon dates ===
The table below has blue moon dates and times (UTC) calculated according to Pruett's "calendar" rule (second full moon in a calendar month) and two versions of the "seasonal" rule (third full moon in a season with four). The Maine rule uses equal-length seasons defined by the dynamical mean sun, and is presumed to have been the original rule of Trefethen. The "astro-seasonal" rule uses the unequal astronomical seasons defined by the apparent sun. All calculations are by David Harper.
The fourth column shows blue moon dates that were actually printed in the Maine Farmers' Almanac, as found by Olson, Fienberg and Sinnott in 1999. They studied issues published between 1819 and 1962, and found that all mentions occurred between 1937, when H.P. Trefethen introduced the term, and 1956, when Trefethen's editorship ended (consistent with it being Trefethen's own invention). Occasional discrepancies between the Maine rule and the almanac's printed dates can be ascribed to clerical errors or miscalculation. In one case (August 1945) Trefethen appears to have used the apparent rather than mean sun.
The table shows that in 200 years there are 187 full moons that could be called "blue" by some definition – an average of nearly one per year. Two Pruett blue moons can occur in a single year (1915, 1961, 1999, 2018, 2037, 2094). 1915 had four blue moons (two Pruett, one Maine, one astro-seasonal). 1934 and 2048 have three (one of each type).
Despite the 187 blue moons appearing across the 200 years in this table, only 146 years have any of these 3 types of blue moons, leaving 54 years (thus averaging just over 1 year in every 4) which have none of the 3 rules represented in that calendar year.
While not totally unexpected (given the overlapping frequencies of these 3 rules), it so happens there are not any 2 sequential years (at least within these 200) wherein none of the 3 types of blue moon occur.
Conversely, despite the preponderance of years with blue moons (of at least 1 type) occurring in this 200-year range, there are no instances of more than 4 sequential years having a blue moon, of any of these 3 types. In other words, at least 1 year out of every 5 sequential years has none of the 3 types appearing.
=== Remarks ===
One lunation (an average lunar cycle) is 29.53 days. There are about 365.24 days in a tropical year. Therefore, about 12.37 lunations (365.24 days divided by 29.53 days) occur in a tropical year. So the date of the full moon falls back by nearly one day every calendar month on average. Each calendar year contains roughly 11 days more than the number of days in 12 lunar cycles, so every two or three years (seven times in the 19 year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon in the year. The extra full moon necessarily falls in one of the four seasons (however defined), giving that season four full moons instead of the usual three.
Given that a year is approximately 365.2425 days and a synodic orbit is 29.5309 days, then there are about 12.368 synodic months in a year. For this to add up to another full month would take 1/0.368 years. Thus it would take about 2.716 years, or 2 years, 8 months, and 18 days for another Pruett blue moon to occur. Or approximately once in 32.5 months on an average.
When there are two Pruett blue moons in a single year, the first occurs in January and the second in March or April, and there is no full moon in February.
The next time New Year's Eve falls on a Pruett blue moon (as occurred on December 31, 2009 in time zones west of UTC+05) is after one Metonic cycle, in 2028 in time zones west of UTC+08. At that time there will be a total lunar eclipse. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paducah,_Kentucky | Paducah, Kentucky | Paducah ( pə-DOO-kə) is a city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,137, up from 25,024 in 2010. Twenty blocks of the city's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Paducah is the principal city of the Paducah metropolitan area, which includes McCracken, Ballard, Carlisle and Livingston counties in Kentucky and Massac County in Illinois. The total population of the metro area was 103,481 in 2020. The Paducah–Mayfield combined statistical area had a total population of 140,138. Paducah is a home-rule class city under Kentucky law.
== History ==
=== Early history and etymology ===
Paducah was first settled as "Pekin" around 1821 by European Americans James and William Pore. The town was laid out by explorer and surveyor William Clark in 1827 and renamed Paducah.
Although local lore long connected this name to an eponymous Chickasaw chief "Paduke" and his band of "Paducahs", authorities on the Chickasaw have since said that there was never any chief or tribe of that name, or anything like it. The Chickasaw language does not have related words. Instead, historians believe that Clark named the town for the Comanche people of the western plains. They were known by regional settlers as the Padoucas, from a Spanish transliteration of the Kaw word Pádoka or the Omaha Pádoⁿka.
=== Incorporation, steamboats and railroads ===
Paducah was formally established as a town in 1830 and incorporated as a city by the state legislature in 1838. The city charter was drafted by Quintus Quincy Quigley and H. Clay King in 1856.
By this time, steam boats traversed the river system, and its port facilities were important to trade and transportation. In addition, developing railroads began to enter the region. A factory for making red bricks, and a foundry for making rail and locomotive components became the nucleus of a thriving "River and Rail" economy. Paducah became the site of dry dock facilities for steamboats and towboats, and thus headquarters for many barge companies. Because of its proximity to coalfields further to the east in Kentucky and north in Illinois, Paducah also became an important railway hub for the Illinois Central Railroad. This was the primary north–south railway connecting the industrial cities of Chicago and East St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico at Gulfport, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Illinois Central system also provided east–west links to the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railways (which later merged to become the BNSF Railway).
In 1924 the Illinois Central Railroad began construction at Paducah of their largest locomotive workshop in the nation. Over a period of 190 days, a large ravine between Washington and Jones streets was filled with 44,560 carloads of dirt to enlarge the site, sufficient for the construction of 23 buildings. The eleven million dollar project was completed in 1927 as the fourth-largest industrial plant in Kentucky. The railroad became the largest employer in Paducah, having 1,075 employees in 1938.
As steam locomotives were replaced through the 1940s and 1950s, the Paducah shops were converted to maintain diesel locomotives. A nationally known rebuilding program for aging diesel locomotives from Illinois Central and other railroads began in 1967. The shops became part of the Paducah and Louisville Railway in 1986. In the early 21st century, they are operated by VMV Paducahbilt.
=== Civil War ===
At the outset of the Civil War, Kentucky attempted to take a neutral position. However, when a Confederate force occupied Columbus, a Union force under General Ulysses S. Grant responded by occupying Paducah. Throughout most of the war, Col. Stephen G. Hicks was in charge of Paducah, and the town served as a massive supply depot for Federal forces along the Ohio, Mississippi, and Tennessee river systems.
On December 17, 1862, under the terms of General Order No. 11, US forces required 30 Jewish families to leave their long-established homes. Grant was trying to break up a black market in cotton, in which he assumed Jewish traders were involved due to racial stereotyping associated with anti-Semitic tropes. Cesar Kaskel, a prominent local Jewish businessman, dispatched a telegram of complaint to President Lincoln and met with him. As there were similar actions taken by other Jewish businessmen and loud complaints by Congress about the treatment of their constituents, Lincoln ordered the policy to be revoked within a few weeks.
On March 25, 1864, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest raided Paducah as part of his campaign northward from Mississippi into Western Tennessee and Kentucky. He intended to re-supply the Confederate forces in the region with recruits, ammunition, medical supplies, horses and mules, and especially to disrupt the Union domination of the regions south of the Ohio River. Known as the Battle of Paducah, the raid was successful in terms of the re-supply effort and in intimidating the Union, but Forrest returned south. According to his report, "I drove the enemy to their gunboats and fort; and held the city for ten hours, captured many stores and horses; burned sixty bales of cotton, one steamer, and a drydock, bringing out fifty prisoners." Much of the fighting took place around Fort Anderson on the city's west side, in the present-day Lower Town neighborhood; most buildings in the neighborhood postdate the war, as most of the neighborhood was demolished soon after the battle to deny any future raids the advantage of surprise that they had enjoyed during the battle. Among the few houses that were not destroyed is the David Yeiser House, a single-story Greek Revival structure.
Later having read in the newspapers that 140 fine horses had escaped the raid, Forrest sent Brigadier General Abraham Buford back to Paducah, to get the horses and to keep Union forces busy there while he attacked Fort Pillow in Tennessee. His forces were charged with a massacre of United States Colored Troops among the Union forces whom they defeated at the fort. On April 14, 1864, Buford's men found the horses hidden in a Paducah foundry, as reported by the newspapers. Buford rejoined Forrest with the spoils, leaving the Union in control of Paducah until the end of the War.
=== 1937 flood ===
In a far-reaching flood, on January 21, 1937, the Ohio River at Paducah rose above its 50-foot (15 m) flood stage, cresting at 60.8 feet (18.5 m) on February 2 and receding again to 50 feet on February 15. For nearly three weeks, 27,000 residents were forced to flee or to stay with friends and relatives on higher ground in McCracken or other counties. The American Red Cross and local churches provided some shelters. Buildings in downtown Paducah still bear historic plaques that define the high water marks.
Driven by 18 inches (460 mm) of rainfall in 16 days, along with sheets of swiftly moving ice, the Ohio River flood of 1937 was the worst natural disaster in Paducah's history and elsewhere in the Ohio Valley. The earthen levee was ineffective against this flood. As a result, Congress authorized the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build the flood wall that now protects the city.
=== Enrichment uranium facility ===
In 1950, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission selected Paducah as the site for a new uranium enrichment plant. Construction began in 1951 and the plant opened for operations in 1952. Originally operated by Union Carbide, the plant has changed hands several times. Martin Marietta, its successor company Lockheed-Martin, and now the United States Enrichment Corporation have operated the plant in turn. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), successor to the AEC, remains the owner. The plant was closed in June 2013, and the Department of Energy began the process of decontaminating and shutting down the facilities.
In August 2025, General Matter, an American uranium enrichment company, signed a lease with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Plans for the $1.5 billion updated facility include uranium enrichment technology for the production of fuel needed for the next generation of nuclear energy, which are vital for future growth of manufacturing, artificial intelligence and other key industries.
In January 2026, General Matter received a $900 million contract from the U.S. Department of Energy for reshoring to produce American enriched uranium.
=== Quilt City ===
On April 25, 1991, the National Quilt Museum opened in downtown Paducah. Paducah has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art since November 2013. The national quilt show takes place yearly at the Schroeder Expo Center. The American Quilter's Society hosts a week of quilt shows with quilt classes, fabric shops and a variety of vendors. They host a variety of award-winning quilts from across the country. The show features exhibits that include hand pieced and appliqued quilts, Kentucky heritage quilts, and Paducah contest quilts.
=== The Heath shooting ===
On December 1, 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal brought five loaded guns to Heath High School and shot a group of fellow students in the school's lobby as they were leaving a prayer group before school. Three students, all girls, were killed and five others were wounded; one of the wounded was left a paraplegic. Carneal subsequently received a sentence of life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. In 2022, the Kentucky Parole Board denied his bid for parole.
== Geography ==
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.0 square miles (52 km2), of which 19.9 square miles (52 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2), comprising 0.52%, is water.
=== Climate ===
Paducah has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with four distinct seasons and is located in USDA hardiness zone 7a. Spring-like conditions typically begin in mid-to-late March, summer from mid-to-late-May to late September, with fall in the October–November period. Seasonal extremes in both temperature and precipitation are common during early spring and late fall; severe weather is also common, with occasional tornado outbreaks in the region. Winter typically brings a mix of rain, sleet, and snow, with occasional heavy snowfall and icing. The city has a normal January mean temperature of 34.6 °F (1.4 °C) and averages 13 days annually with temperatures staying at or below freezing; the first and last freezes of the season on average fall on October 25 and April 8, respectively. Summer is typically hazy, hot, and humid with a July daily average of 78.9 °F (26.1 °C) and drought conditions at times. Paducah averages 48 days a year with high temperatures at or above 90 °F (32 °C). Snowfall averages 8.9 inches (23 cm) per season, contributing to the average annual precipitation of 50.32 inches (1,280 mm). Extremes in temperature range from 108 °F (42 °C) on July 17, 1942, and June 29, 2012, down to −15 °F (−26 °C) on January 20, 1985. Paducah is prone to river flooding from the Ohio River, and as of late February 2018, the river had been expected to crest at 49 feet on February 28.
== Demographics ==
=== 2020 census ===
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 27,137 people, 11,330 households, and 5,561 families residing in the city.
=== 2010 census ===
As of the census of 2010, there were 25,024 people, 11,462 households, and 6,071 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,251.0 inhabitants per square mile (483.0/km2). There were 12,851 housing units at an average density of 642.5 per square mile (248.1/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 70.99% White, 23.67% African American, 0.22% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.07% from other races, and 3.01% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.68% of the population.
There were 11,462 households, out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.5% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.0% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 41.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,220, and the median income for a family was $42,645. Males had a median income of $36,778 versus $27,597 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,430. About 18.1% of families and 22.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.3% of those under age 18 and 12.8% of those age 65 or over.
=== 2000 census ===
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,307 people, 11,825 households, and 6,645 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,350.2 inhabitants per square mile (521.3/km2). There were 13,221 housing units at an average density of 678.6 per square mile (262.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 72.78% White, 24.15% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.64% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.38% of the population.
There were 11,825 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.8% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,137, and the median income for a family was $34,092. Males had a median income of $32,783 versus $21,901 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,417. About 18.0% of families and 22.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.8% of those under age 18 and 16.8% of those age 65 or over.
== Economy ==
Dippin' Dots, the Paducah & Louisville Railway and several barge companies have their headquarters in Paducah.
The river continues to be a prominent source of industry for Paducah. Twenty-three barge companies have their operating or corporate headquarters in Paducah. In 2017, the city of Paducah opened a 340-foot transient boat dock that provides space for transient boaters to tie up for a few hours or several nights, increasing tourism in the city. Amenities include fuel (diesel and marine grade gasoline), water, power pedestals, and a sewer pumpout station (seasonal for water and sewer amenities).
A federal National Weather Service Forecast Office is based in Paducah, providing weather information to western Kentucky, western Tennessee, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Indiana.
=== Top employers ===
According to Paducah's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were entities in healthcare and education services:
Source:
Several employers in McCracken County call Paducah home, although their facilities are located outside the city limits. Paducah and McCracken County jointly operate Greater Paducah Economic Development ("GPED"). GPED lists the top employers in McCracken County, several of which include employers within the City of Paducah limits, and is more reflective of the true top employer situation as perceived by citizens of Paducah, as:
== Arts and culture ==
=== Art ===
==== Murals ====
In 1996, the Paducah Wall to Wall mural program was begun by the Louisiana mural artist Robert Dafford and his team on the floodwall in downtown Paducah. They have painted more than 50 murals addressing numerous subjects, including Native American history, industries such as river barges and hospitals, local African-American heritage, the historic Carnegie Library on Broadway Street, steamboats, and local labor unions.
In May 2003, photographer Jim Roshan documented the painting of the Lewis and Clark Expedition mural during the America 24/7 project. One of the images was used in the book Kentucky24/7, published in 2004.
By 2008 the mural project was completed and being maintained. Muralist Herb Roe returned to the city each year to repaint and refurbish the panels. Roe is the only muralist associated with the project to have worked on all of the panels. Roe added a new mural to the project in the summer of 2010. It shows the 100-year history of the local Boy Scout troop, Troop 1. Troop 1 is one of only a handful of troops who share their centennial with that of the national scouting organization itself. The dedication for the mural was held on National Scout Sunday, February 6, 2011.
In 2017, artist Char Downs debuted the newest addition to the Wall to Wall mural program: a series of murals of award-winning quilts on the floodwall facing Park Street. Downs invested nearly 500 hours recreating Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry's historic award-winning quilt Corona II: Solar Eclipse—the first quilt in the series—in her studio in Paducah's Lower Town Arts District.
The Paducah Art Alliance has a program of Artist in Residencies to bring respected artists in to the city. In 2018 British Artist Ian Berry came and put on an exhibition to great acclaim. Ian is famed around the world with his art in denim, and fitted in with the textile art that Paducah is known for.
==== Lower Town Artist Relocation Program ====
In August 2000, Paducah's Artist Relocation Program was started to offer incentives for artists to relocate to its historic downtown and Lower Town areas. The program has become a national model for using the arts for economic development. It has received the Governors Award in the Arts, the Distinguished Planning Award from the Kentucky Chapter of the American Planning Association, the American Planning Association's National Planning Award, and most recently, the Kentucky League of Cities' Enterprise Cities Award.
Lower Town, home of the Artist Relocation Program, is the oldest neighborhood in Paducah. As retail commerce moved toward the outskirts of the city, efforts were made to preserve the architectural character, and historic Victorian structures were restored in the older parts of the city. The artists' housing program contributed to that effort and became a catalyst for revitalizing the downtown area. The Luther F. Carson Center for the Performing Arts was completed in downtown Paducah in 2004.
==== UNESCO Creative City ====
On November 21, 2013, Paducah was designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art. Arts and cultural initiatives have included the Lower Town Artist Relocation program, the National Quilt Museum, Paducah "Wall to Wall" floodwall murals, and the Paducah School of Art and Design. Participation in the program has been criticized by local business owners and by Paducah's economic development council due to the financial cost to the city, and because the "UNESCO Creative Cities Network only benefits a small portion of Paducah's economy".
=== Music ===
The Luther F. Carson Center for the Performing Arts was completed in downtown Paducah in 2004. From Crosby, Stills & Nash to Garrison Keillor, Shanghai Circus to STOMP, the Carson Center hosts touring Broadway productions, well-known entertainers, dramas, dance and popular faith-based and family series.
In September 2004, plans came together to highlight Paducah's musical roots through the redevelopment of the southern side of downtown. The centerpiece of the effort is the renovation of Maggie Steed's Hotel Metropolitan.[28] Prominent African-American musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chick Webb's orchestra, B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Ike and Tina Turner and other R & B and blues legends have performed here as part of what has become known as the "Chitlin' Circuit". Supporters want to promote Paducah's role in the history of American music.
Paducah is the birthplace and residence of musicians in various genres. Rockabilly Hall of Fame artists Ray Smith, whose recording of "Rockin' Little Angel" was a hit in 1960, and Stanley Walker, who played guitar for Ray Smith and others, grew up in Paducah. Terry Mike Jeffrey, an Emmy-nominated songwriter, is a resident of Paducah. Nashville, Tennessee–based composer–violinist, Mark Evitts, is also from Paducah. The most prominent mainstream artist is Steven Curtis Chapman, the top-selling Christian artist of all time.
Paducah is one of only two cities named in the world-famous song "Hooray for Hollywood", which is used as the opening number for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (the Oscars). The 1937 song, with music by Richard Whiting and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, contains in the second verse: "Hooray for Hollywood! That phony, super Coney, Hollywood. They come from Chilicothes and Padukahs..."
Both cities were misspelled in the original published lyrics, though that may have been the fault of the publishers rather than Mercer. He was noted for his sophistication and the attention to detail he put into his lyrics. The correct spellings are "Chillicothe" and "Paducah".
Paducah is also mentioned in the song "Paducah", sung by Benny Goodman and Carmen Miranda, from the 1943 musical film The Gang's All Here.
== Sports ==
Paducah was home to professional baseball's minor league Class D Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League (or KITTY League) Paducah Paddys (1903), Paducah Indians (1904–06, 1910, 1914, 1922–23, 1936–41), Paducah Polecats (1911), Paducah Chiefs (1912–13, 1951–55), and Paducah Redbirds (1935). The Chiefs competed in the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League from 1949 to 1950.
The Chiefs played in J. Polk Brooks Stadium from its opening in 1948 until the KITTY League folded after the 1955 season. Since then, the ballpark has served as the home venue for Paducah Tilghman High School and American Legion Post 31 baseball teams, as well as various special baseball games and tournaments. In recent years, Brooks Stadium hosted the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament (2001–2009) and the National Club Baseball Association World Series (2015 and 2016).
Brooks Stadium currently is the home field for the Paducah Chiefs of the Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League.
In 1969, the Paducah Community College Indians won the National Junior College men's basketball championship.
The Paducah International Raceway is a 3/8-mile motorsport racetrack built in 1972.
== Government ==
Paducah operates under a council–manager form of city government. The Paducah Board of Commissioners is made up of the mayor and four commissioners elected at-large by the citizens on a non-partisan basis. The mayor is elected for a four-year term and commissioners each for a two-year term. The mayor and council select and appoint a city manager to operate the city.
== Education ==
Paducah Public Schools operates public schools serving most of the City of Paducah. Three K-5 elementary schools, Clark Elementary School, McNabb Elementary School and Morgan Elementary School, serve the city. All district residents are zoned to Paducah Middle School and Paducah Tilghman High School.
Parts of the city and surrounding county are instead served by the McCracken County Public Schools. Concord Elementary School and Reidland Elementary/Intermediate serve students through the 5th grade; Lone Oak Elementary School and Hendron–Lone Oak Elementary School end at the third grade, with 4th and 5th grade students in those schools' attendance zones attending Lone Oak Intermediate School. Middle school students in those areas may be zoned into Heath, Lone Oak, or Reidland Middle School. The county district began operating a single, consolidated McCracken County High School on August 9, 2013. The Paducah city district did not participate in this consolidation and Paducah Tilghman High School remains separate.
Paducah is also home to two private school systems, St. Mary High School and Community Christian Academy.
=== Higher education ===
West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) is a member of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and is a public, two-year, degree-granting institution serving the Western Region of Kentucky. There are approximately 6,200 students enrolled at the college. WKCTC was rated as one of the top 10 community colleges in the United States by the Aspen Institute for 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
There is a Paducah campus of the University of Kentucky College of Engineering located on the WKCTC campus.
There is also a Paducah campus of Murray State University, which offers approximately 20 bachelor's and master's degree programs. It has a 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) facility located on a 23-acre (9.3 ha) campus adjacent to WKCTC that was opened in 2014.
=== Public library ===
Paducah has a lending library, the McCracken County Public Library.
== Media ==
=== Broadcast ===
Paducah is one of three principal cities of the Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg media market. Locally, television stations in Paducah include NBC affiliate WPSD-TV, MyNetworkTV affiliate WDKA (a sister station to Cape Girardeau-based Fox affiliate KBSI), and Kentucky Educational Television satellite station WKPD. Paducah is also served by Harrisburg-based ABC affiliate WSIL-TV and Cape Girardeau-based CBS affiliate KFVS-TV. Paducah was also previously home to WQWQ-LD, which served as the area's affiliate of The CW. That station now operates from Cape Girardeau as the market's Telemundo affiliate, but is still nominally licensed in Paducah.
Six radio stations are located in Paducah; half of the stations are owned by Bristol Broadcasting Company.
=== Print ===
The main print outlet is the regional daily newspaper The Paducah Sun, owned by Paxton Media Group, which owns WPSD. The weekly newspapers, the West Kentucky News and The Good Neighbor, enjoy significant readership.
The bi-monthly magazine Paducah Life debuted in 1994 and continues publication today. The magazine features articles about life and residents in and around Paducah. Purchase Area Family Magazine, a monthly publication distributed throughout Western Kentucky and Metropolis, Illinois, debuted in 2003. The magazine features a comprehensive calendar of events for the Purchase Area as well as unique articles about events, organizations and activities for families in the region.
== Infrastructure ==
=== Transportation ===
==== Port Authority ====
The Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority was established in 1964 by the legislative bodies of the County of McCracken and the City of Paducah under an equal ownership agreement. The Riverport Authority is a quasi-government agency that provides essential maritime services for the rural regions of Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, and Northwestern Tennessee. The agency specializes in bulk, agricultural, general, and containerized cargoes, and operates Foreign Trade Zone No. 294. It is the only United States Maritime Administration Marine Highway Designation on the Ohio River and the only Marine Highway port on the river that is designated for container on barge service. The authority owns the largest flat-top crane in North America.
==== Air service ====
Barkley Regional Airport (PAH) serves the area offering regional jet service to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). CLT is ranked among the world's top 10 busiest airports, offering nonstop service to 178 destinations, including 36 international. Barkley Regional Airport is served by one airline, Contour Airlines. Barkley Regional Airport is concluding a multi-million dollar construction/relocation of its terminal.
==== Transit ====
The Paducah Area Transit System (PATS) provides fixed-route transit and paratransit service in and around the city.. Fixed-route services operate from Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 7 pm on four routes.
==== Roadways ====
Interstate 24 is a four-lane freeway that routes west to St. Louis and east to Nashville. The highway has a business loop that runs through downtown Paducah.
Interstate 69 is a U.S. Interstate that has recently been constructed and designated as I-69 through Kentucky which follows the route of the retired Purchase Parkway to the south starting in Fulton, running south encircling Paducah to the east and heading towards Evansville where a I-69 crossing is currently being completed. When the full interstate route is completed, it will connect north to Indianapolis and south to Memphis.
US 60 is a major east–west highway that runs through the Paducah business district.
US 45 enters the city from the north via the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge from Brookport, Illinois, and runs south down to Mayfield.
US 62 connects to Cairo, Illinois, to the west and Calvert City to the east.
US 68 connects the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, Hopkinsville and Bowling Green to the east-southeast.
== Notable people == |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom | Presidential Medal of Freedom | The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the joint-highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President for award of the Medal or any person selected by the President upon his own initiative", and was created to recognize people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to
the security or national interests of the United States, or
world peace, or
cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
The award is not limited to U.S. citizens, and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform. It was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, superseding the Medal of Freedom that was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to honor civilian service.
Occasionally, the medal award is further denoted as "with distinction." There are no specific criteria for receiving the award with distinction; Executive Order 11085 simply specifies that the award should come in two degrees, and hence any decision to award the higher degree is entirely at the discretion of the president. In 2017, President Barack Obama stated that receiving the award with distinction indicates "an additional level of veneration" in a class of individuals already held in the highest esteem. As of June 2024, the medal had been awarded with distinction at least 55 times, amounting to approximately 8% of all awards. A total of 674 awards have been given.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the supreme civilian decoration that can be awarded in discretion of the president, whereas its predecessor, the Medal of Freedom, was inferior in precedence to the Medal for Merit; the Medal of Freedom was awarded by any of three Cabinet secretaries, whereas the Medal for Merit was awarded by the president, as is the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
== Overview ==
President John F. Kennedy established the presidential version of the decoration in 1963 through Executive Order 11085 (signed February 22, 1963), with unique and distinctive insignia, vastly expanded purpose, and far higher prestige. It was the first U.S. civilian neck decoration and, if awarded with Distinction, is the only U.S. sash and star decoration (the Chief Commander degree of the Legion of Merit—which may be awarded to foreign heads of state only—is a star decoration but without a sash). The executive order calls for the medal to be awarded annually on or around July 4, and at other convenient times as chosen by the president, but it has not been awarded every year (e.g., 2001, 2010). The recipient selection process is not made public, but the Trump administration stated that it included recommendations and nominations from the public, Cabinet, White House senior staff, and other presidential advisory bodies, which were then vetted prior to presentation to the President. The order establishing the medal also expanded the size and the responsibilities of the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board so it could serve as a major source of such recommendations.
The medal may be awarded to an individual more than once. Colin Powell received two awards, his second being with Distinction; Ellsworth Bunker received both of his awards with Distinction. It may also be awarded posthumously; examples include John F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, Pope John XXIII, Lyndon Johnson, John Wayne, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Thurgood Marshall, Cesar Chavez, Walter Reuther, Roberto Clemente, Jack Kemp, Harvey Milk, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Elouise Cobell, Grace Hopper, Charlie Kirk, Antonin Scalia, Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth. Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, civil rights workers murdered in 1964, were awarded their medals by President Obama 50 years later.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon awarded the medal to the entire Apollo 13 mission operations team, as well as to the mission's crew.
Athlete and activist Simone Biles is the youngest person to receive this award at the age of 25.
== Insignia ==
The badge of the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in the form of a golden star with white enamel, with a red enamel pentagon behind it; the central disc bears thirteen gold stars on a blue enamel background (taken from the Great Seal of the United States) within a golden ring. Golden bald eagles with spread wings stand between the points of the star. It is worn around the neck on a blue ribbon having white edge stripes. Women may choose to receive the award as a bow worn on the left chest (as for Margaret Thatcher).
A special and rarely granted award, called the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, has a larger version of the same badge, which is worn as a star on the left chest. It comes with a sash that is worn over the right shoulder (similarly to the Grand Cross of an order of chivalry), with its rosette (blue with a white edge, bearing the central disc of the badge at its center) resting on the left hip. When the medal with Distinction is awarded, the star may be presented hanging from a neck ribbon and can be identified by its size, which is larger than the standard badge.
In addition to the full-size insignia, the award is accompanied by a service ribbon for wear on military service uniforms, a miniature medal pendant for wear on mess dress or civilian formal wear, and a lapel badge for wear on civilian clothes, all of which comes in the full presentation set. There is a silver bald eagle with spread wings on the miniature and service ribbon, or a golden bald eagle for a medal awarded with Distinction.
The Insignia was designed by the Army's Institute of Heraldry, led by Col. Harry Downing Temple.
== Revocation ==
There is no process for the award to be revoked. This issue has been raised regarding certain recipients, in particular regarding the award given to actor and comedian Bill Cosby.
== Recipients ==
=== Gallery === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_the_Valiant | Sword of the Valiant | Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (often shortened to Sword of the Valiant) is a 1984 dramatic fantasy film directed by Stephen Weeks and starring Miles O'Keeffe, Trevor Howard, Lila Kedrova, Cyrielle Clair, Leigh Lawson, Peter Cushing, and Sean Connery. The film is loosely based on the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written in the late 14th century, but the narrative differs substantially. It was the second time Weeks had adapted the traditional tale into a film. His first effort was Gawain and the Green Knight (1973).
== Plot ==
During Yuletide, a knight in green armor enters King Arthur's castle and challenges its knights to a game - they can decapitate him in one swing of his ax, with the caveat that he can return the blow. None of the knights volunteer. Arthur shames them for their lack of courage and accepts the challenge himself. Finally, Gawain, a young squire, accepts the challenge in lieu of Arthur, and is knighted. He beheads the green knight. The knight picks up his head and returns it to his neck. Gawain kneels to be stricken, but the green knight refuses due to the former's youth. Promising to return in one year to claim his side of the bargain, the green knight gives Gawain a chance to solve a riddle to save his life:
With Arthur's blessing, Gawain leaves with squire Humphrey in search of the riddle's answer. Morgan le Fay instructs Gawain to blow a horn near the seashore, and to go to the lost city of Lyonesse. Upon blowing the horn, a knight in black armor reveals himself to be the guardian of Lyonesse, and challenges Gawain to a duel. Despite the guardian's dishonorable conduct in the duel, Gawain wins. The guardian, dying, asks to be brought home to Lyonesse. Gawain rides there with the guardian, and Humphrey gets separated from Gawain. At Lyonesse, before dying, the guardian accuses Gawain of murdering him. Pursued by the city guard, Gawain escapes with the help of maiden Linet, who gives him her ring, which makes him invisible. Gawain attempts to escape Lyonesse with Linet, but she is captured. While held by the guards, Linet gives her ring to Gawain. Abruptly appearing in an empty field, Gawain is told by the green knight that the game he accepted has rules which have been broken by meeting Linet at the wrong time, and taking her ring. Encountering a group of monks, Gawain asks friar Vosper for help with the riddle; Vosper tells Gawain to see the sage at the rock of wisdom.
Gawain agrees to follow the game's rules and is transported to Lyonesse by the sage. Lyonesse now is decrepit, and the denizens are old and frozen in time. Gawain carries the frozen Linet to a small house outside of Lyonesse, revives her and restores her youth using the ring. Gawain encounters Humphrey, but while away from the house, Linet is kidnapped by the lustful prince Oswald and the army of his father, Baron Fortinbras. To save Linet, Gawain and Humphrey sneak into Fortinbras's castle by blending in with prisoners being transported there. Inside, Gawain rallies the prisoners to help escape the castle and rescue Linet. Meanwhile, Sir Bertilak, a rival of Fortinbras, arrives and threatens the latter with war if certain demands are not met. While the prisoners escape, the rescue fails when a fire breaks out in Linet's prison, leading Gawain to wrongfully believe that she is dead. Mournful, Gawain leaves Humphrey and the escaped prisoners, wandering aimlessly before stumbling across Bertilak's castle. Bertilak allows Gawain to rest and recover in his castle. There, Bertilak accepts Linet as a tribute from Fortinbras to prevent war. Linet gives Gawain a green sash, saying that no harm will befall him while he wears it.
The year given by the green knight comes to an end. Gawain, meeting with Humphrey and the former prisoners, goes out seeking the green knight. Oswald and Fortinbras's army attack Gawain. Oswald challenges Gawain to a duel with his champions. After defeating several of Oswald's champions, Oswald himself fights Gawain while the former prisoners fight his army. Gawain wins the duel, and the army retreats. The green knight then approaches Gawain. Gawain fails to solve the riddle's final line within the time limit, and must allow the green knight one swing at his neck. The green knight strikes Gawain, who is unharmed due to the sash. The two duel, and while suffering a mortal wound, the knight asks Gawain to stop the battle, realizing that he has already lost.
Gawain returns to Linet, who says that she must return to Lyonesse alone. As he touches her cheek, she transforms into a dove, and flies away.
== Cast ==
== Production ==
The film was copyrighted in 1983 and released the following year. Filming took place in Wales and Ireland, as well as the Château de Pierrefonds and the Palais des Papes in France. The period wardrobe was culled from the collections of stock rooms of the Royal National Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic as well as Berman's and Nathan's, the French Aristide Boyer and the Spanish Cornejo.
Director Stephen Weeks hoped to cast Mark Hamill as Gawain, but producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus insisted on Miles O'Keeffe for the role. The film also stars Emma Sutton who would later appear in another film about the Arthurian legends, Merlin of the Crystal Cave.
Steptoe and Son actor Wilfrid Brambell made a guest appearance. This was his last performance.
The current USA DVD release has received negative reviews as it is mastered in a 4:3 pan and scan picture. However, the Polish release has the film in the original 2.35:1 Cinemascope ratio which has proved more popular. This film is currently unreleased in the United Kingdom. The film received a Blu-ray release in the United States on October 14, 2020, by Scorpion Releasing.
== Reception ==
Reviewing the film, Time Out London magazine gave it a negative review. It described Sword of the Valiant as "underwhelming" and added "Dreary jousting, production values that make Monty Python and the Holy Grail look lavish, and an excruciating synthesizer score make this a real trial." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 12 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "Overwhelming dislike". |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birut%C4%97_Galdikas | Birutė Galdikas | |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Pendlebury | Andrew Pendlebury | Andrew Scott Pendlebury (born 1952) is an Australian guitarist-songwriter. From 1977 to 1981 was a member of The Sports and from 1986 to 1988 he joined Slaughtermen. He has undertaken other projects and issued four solo albums. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1993, Pendlebury's solo work, Don't Hold Back That Feeling, won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album. From 2003 he has been a member of The Mercurials.
== Early years ==
Andrew Scott Pendlebury was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1952 and grew up there. His father, Laurence "Scott" Pendlebury (1914–1986); and mother, Eleanor Constance "Nornie" Gude (8 December 1915 – 24 January 2002); were both visual artists. His older sister, Anne Lorraine Pendlebury (born 21 August 1946), became a stage, film and TV actress. In May 1953 Scott won the Dunlop Art Contest, with a first prize of A£300, ahead of Arthur Boyd.
From the age of four years Pendlebury studied classical violin learning Bach and Vivaldi. After completing secondary education, Pendlebury followed his parents into visual arts and exhibited art works, which were "mainly impressionistic-style landscapes". Inspired by Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix, Pendlebury taught himself guitar and began a career in music. By 1979 Anne appeared in the ABC-TV drama series, Twenty Good Years. Scott's portrait of his two children, Anne and Drew Pendlebury (actress and musician respectively), was a finalist for the 1979 Archibald Prize.
In the mid-1970s Pendlebury was a member of The Sharks with Peter Crosbie on keyboards. In 1976 he joined an R&B, country outfit, The Myriad Band, with Carrl Myriad on guitar and vocals, Mark Ferrie on bass guitar, Phil Smith on drums, and Chris Wilson on organ. This line-up provided three live tracks, "Ballad of the Station Hotel", "Rock 'n' Roll Highway" and "Glenrowan", for a Various Artists album, Live at the Station (1977).
== Career ==
=== 1977–1987: The Sports, The Dugites, Slaughtermen ===
In August 1977 Andrew Pendlebury left Myriad to join an R&B, rockabilly group, The Sports. The Sports had formed a year earlier with Stephen Cummings on lead vocals, Ed Bates on guitar, Paul Hitchins on drums, Robert Glover (ex-Myriad) on bass guitar and Jim Niven on piano. Upon joining Pendlebury also assisted Cummings with songwriting. The band released their first album, Reckless, in 1978 on Mushroom Records, which peaked at No. 43 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. It provided four charting singles. "Who Listens to the Radio", co-written by Cummings and Pendlebury, peaked at No. 45 on the United States Billboard Pop Singles chart in November 1979.
Their second album, Don't Throw Stones, consolidated their Australian chart success, peaking at No. 9, Their third album, Suddenly, featured a slicker, more pop sound, and charted at No. 74. During his time with The Sports, Pendlebury worked on side projects, including The Gentlemen with Bates, Wayne Duncan (Daddy Cool) on bass guitar, and Freddie Strauks (Skyhooks) on drums. The Sports fourth album, Sondra (No. 20), was released in 1981. By the end of 1981 The Sports had disbanded.
Pendlebury spent a year with The Dugites alongside The Sharks' bandmate, Crosbie on keyboards and backing vocals, and Lynda Nutter on lead vocals. During his brief tenure they issued the related mini-album, No Money (August 1982). In 1983 he joined the Stephen Cummings Band reuniting with Cummings and Ferrie. Pendlebury played on Cummings' first solo album Senso (released August 1984) and subsequent three albums, This Wonderful Life (September 1986), Lovetown (January 1988) and A New Kind of Blue (March 1989). Pendlebury also toured Australia with Stephen Cummings' Lovetown.
From 1986 Andrew Pendlebury joined a post-punk, Southern gospel group, Slaughtermen, with Ferrie, Ian Stephen on vocals, piano and organ; and Des Hefner on drums. The group released two albums, Still Lovin' You (1986) and Melbourne, Memphis and a Mansion in the Sky (1988), before Pendlebury began to focus on his solo career.
=== 1987–2000: Solo albums ===
In July 1987 Pendlebury released his debut solo album, Between the Horizon and the Dockyard, on Cleopatra Records which was co-produced by Pendlebury with Mark Woods. For the album he was backed by Ferrie and drummer Peter Jones, with Cummings guesting on lead vocals for "She Set Fire to the House", which was issued as a single in September. According to Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, the album showcased "an eclectic mix of styles from country swing, Spanish, Bluegrass, jazz and rock".
In 1988 Pendlebury released his second solo album, Tigerland, which was followed in 1990 by Zing Went the Strings on WEA Records. On both albums Pendlebury worked with Pete Linden (pedal steel), Paul Grabowsky (piano), Stephen Hadley (bass), J. J. Hacket (drums), Shane O'Mara, Nick Smith, Cummings, Doug de Vries and Michael Williams.
For his fourth solo album, Don't Hold Back That Feeling (1992), Pendlebury enlisted guest vocalists including Chris Wilson, Deborah Conway, Kate Ceberano and Dave Steel. The album was critically acclaimed and, the following year, won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 1993.
In 1993 he collaborated with De Vries on an album Karate and again in 1995 to record Trouble and Desire for ABC Music.
In 1999 McFarlane had described Pendlebury as having "pursued a career that garnered him much critical acclaim, but little in the way of mainstream success. Although occasionally compared with Tommy Emmanuel, Pendlebury has preferred to follow a more low-key, highly specialised path away from the limelight".
=== 2002–present: The Mercurials ===
In 2002 Pendlebury reunited with Ferrie and formed a twin guitar duo; the following year they released an album, Late Night at the Nicholas Building. When they added a third member, Adi Sappir, an Israeli cellist, they were named, The Mercurials. Their first performance was at the Ian Potter Gallery in the National Gallery of Victoria in December 2003.
In March 2004 they appeared at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, which was followed by appearances at the 2006 Port Fairy Folk Festival and Mt Beauty Music Muster. In July 2005 The Mercurials released their debut self-titled album. This was followed by a second one, Tangents in 2008, and a third album, Silver and Gold in 2009.
== Discography ==
=== Albums ===
=== Singles ===
== Awards and nominations ==
=== ARIA Music Awards ===
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. Pendlebury has won one award from two nominations. |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu-Tang_Clan | Wu-Tang Clan | Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, Ol' Dirty Bastard. Close affiliate Cappadonna later became an official member. They are credited for revitalizing East Coast hip hop and are widely regarded as one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time.
After signing to Steve Rifkind's label Loud Records in 1992, Wu-Tang Clan released their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993; initially receiving positive reviews, it has since garnered widespread critical acclaim and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Members of the group released solo albums between 1994 and 1996. In 1997, the group released their second album, Wu-Tang Forever. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards. The group later released the albums The W (2000), Iron Flag (2001), 8 Diagrams (2007), and A Better Tomorrow (2014), to less popularity. The only copy of their seventh album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin (2015), was purchased for $2 million by former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, making it the most expensive work of music ever sold. In 2026, the group was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Wu-Tang Clan has introduced and launched the careers of a number of affiliated artists and groups, collectively known as the Wu-Tang Killa Bees.
== History ==
=== Founding ===
In the late 1980s, cousins Robert Diggs, Gary Grice, and Russell Jones formed a group named Force of the Imperial Master, also known as the All in Together Now Crew. Each member recorded under an alias: Diggs as Prince Rakeem or The Scientist, Grice as The Genius, and Jones as The Specialist. The group never signed to a major label, but caught the attention of the New York City rap scene and was recognized by rapper Biz Markie. By 1991, The Genius and Prince Rakeem were signed to separate record labels. The Genius released Words from the Genius (1991) on Cold Chillin' Records and Prince Rakeem released Ooh I Love You Rakeem (1991) on Tommy Boy Records. Both were soon dropped by their labels. They then adopted new monikers; The Genius became GZA (pronounced "jizza"), and Prince Rakeem became RZA (pronounced "rizza"). The Specialist also took on a new name and became known as Ol' Dirty Bastard.
RZA began collaborating with Dennis Coles, later known as Ghostface Killah, another rapper from the Stapleton Houses in Staten Island. The duo decided to create a hip hop group whose ethos would be a blend of "Eastern philosophy picked up from kung fu movies, Five-Percent Nation teachings picked up on the New York streets, and comic books". Wu-Tang Clan assembled in late 1992, with RZA as the de facto leader and the group's producer. RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard adopted the name for the group after the film Shaolin and Wu Tang. The group developed backronyms for the name (as hip hop pioneers such as KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane did with their names), including "We Usually Take All Niggas' Garments", "Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game", and "Wisdom of the Universe, and the Truth of Allah for the Nation of the Gods".
=== 1992–96: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and solo albums ===
Wu-Tang Clan became known in 1993 following the release of the independent single "Protect Ya Neck", which helped gain the group a sizable underground following. Though there was some difficulty in finding a record label that would sign the Wu-Tang Clan while still allowing each member to record solo albums with other labels, Loud/RCA finally agreed, releasing their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), in November 1993. The album loosely adopted a Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang theme, dividing the album into Shaolin and Wu-Tang sections. The album received critical acclaim, and to date is regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The success of their debut album established the group as a creative and influential force in the 1990s, allowing individual members to negotiate solo contracts. RZA spoke on the Wu-Tang Clan's unorthodox business model:
We reinvented the way hip hop was structured, and what I mean is, you have a group signed to a label, yet the infrastructure of our deal was like anyone else's [...] We still could negotiate with any label we wanted, like Meth went with Def Jam, Rae stayed with Loud, Ghost went with Sony, GZA went with Geffen Records, feel me? [...] And all these labels still put "Razor Sharp Records" on the credits [...] Wu Tang was a financial movement. So what do you wanna diversify...? [...] Your assets?
In 1994, RZA founded the group Gravediggaz with Prince Paul, Frukwan (both of Stetsasonic) and Poetic. In August of the same year, the group released 6 Feet Deep, which became one of the best known works to emerge from the horrorcore subgenre.
RZA held the role of primary producer for the first wave of the group members' solo albums, producing out of his basement studio in Staten Island. In November 1994, Method Man's debut album, Tical, was released. RZA's hands-on approach to Tical extended beyond his merely creating the beats to devising song concepts and structures. The track "All I Need" from Tical was the winner of the "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" at the 1995 Grammy Awards. Ol' Dirty Bastard's debut album, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, was released in March 1995, and is considered a hip hop classic. Raekwon's debut studio album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., was released in August 1995. It featured all but one member of the Wu-Tang Clan, and featured the debut of Cappadonna, who later joined the group. The album is also credited with reviving the mafioso rap subgenre. GZA's debut album, Liquid Swords, was released in November 1995. Liquid Swords features guest appearances from every Wu-Tang Clan member, and is linked together by excerpts from the 1980 movie Shogun Assassin. Ghostface Killah released his first solo album, Ironman, in October 1996. Ironman was critically acclaimed and is widely considered to be one of the best of Wu-Tang solo albums.
=== 1997–2000: Wu-Tang Forever, diversification and second string of solo albums ===
Wu-Tang Clan re-assembled and released their second studio album, Wu-Tang Forever, in June 1997; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album's lead single, "Triumph", is over five minutes long, features nine verses (one from each member plus Cappadonna and excluding Ol' Dirty Bastard who appeared on the intro and bridge), and no hook or a repeated phrase. The album was produced by RZA and his protégés True Master and 4th Disciple. The group's lyrics differed significantly from those of 36 Chambers, with many verses written in a dense stream of consciousness form heavily influenced by the teachings of the Five-Percent Nation. Wu-Tang Forever was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards, losing to Puff Daddy; Ol' Dirty Bastard infamously protested the loss by interrupting Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech for Song of the Year.
Killah Priest, a close associate of the group, released Heavy Mental in March 1998. That same month, Cappadonna released his debut album The Pillage. Affiliated groups Sunz of Man and Killarmy also released well-received albums, followed by Wu-Tang Killa Bees: The Swarm—a compilation album released in 1998, showcasing these and more Wu-affiliated artists, and including new solo tracks from the group members themselves. The Swarm sold well and was certified gold. There was also a long line of releases from secondary affiliates such as Popa Wu, Shyheim, GP Wu, and Wu-Syndicate. Second albums from Gravediggaz and Killarmy, as well as a greatest hits album and a b-sides compilation, were also released.
The second round of solo albums from Wu-Tang Clan members included second albums from the five members who had already released albums, as well as debuts from all the remaining members, with the exception of Masta Killa. In the space of two years, RZA's Bobby Digital In Stereo, Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day and Blackout! (with Redman), GZA's Beneath the Surface, Ol' Dirty Bastard's Nigga Please, U-God's Golden Arms Redemption, Raekwon's Immobilarity, Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele and Inspectah Deck's Uncontrolled Substance were all released (seven of them being released in the space of seven months between June 1999 and January 2000). RZA also composed the score for the film Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, directed by Jim Jarmusch, while he and other Wu-Tang members contributed music to a companion "music inspired by the film" album.
The frequent release of Wu-Tang Clan content between 1997 and 2000 was considered by some critics to have resulted in an oversaturation that was responsible for the group's decline in popularity.
=== 2000–01: The W and Iron Flag ===
The group reconvened again for their third album, The W. Despite his incarceration in California for violating the terms of his probation, Ol' Dirty Bastard was on the song "Conditioner", featuring Snoop Dogg. Ol' Dirty Bastard's vocals were recorded via prison telephones.The W was released in November 2000, and was mostly well received by critics, and included the single "Gravel Pit". The album reached platinum status.
In 2001, Wu-Tang Clan released their fourth album, Iron Flag. While originally featured on the cover of Iron Flag, Cappadonna was airbrushed out of the artwork and largely absent from the album entirely. This may be related to tension that arose within the group when it was revealed that Cappadonna's manager was, or had been, a police informant, a revelation that also brought on the manager's subsequent firing. Cappadonna continued collaborating and touring with the group in the following years.
=== 2004: Issues and resurgence ===
In early 2004, U-God allegedly left the group. A DVD titled Rise of a Fallen Soldier was released detailing his problems, which were mostly with his treatment by RZA, who he claimed had hindered his success as a solo artist. U-God formed a group of young protegés called the Hillside Scramblers with whom he released the album U-Godzilla Presents the Hillside Scramblers in March 2004. The dispute culminated in a heated phone conversation between RZA and U-God on live radio, which ultimately saw the two reconcile. He has since returned to the group.
In 2004, the group embarked on a short European tour before coming together as a complete group for the first time in several years to headline the Rock the Bells festival in California. The concert was released on CD under the name Disciples of the 36 Chambers: Chapter 1. On October 26, 2004, the group released a greatest hits album, Legend of the Wu-Tang: Wu-Tang Clan's Greatest Hits.
==== Death of Ol' Dirty Bastard ====
Ol' Dirty Bastard's career was tumultuous. His run-ins with the law were well publicized—he was arrested several times for offenses including assault, shoplifting, wearing body armor after being convicted of a felony, and possession of cocaine, and he missed multiple court dates. In April 2001, he was sentenced to two to four years in prison. Once released from prison, he signed a million-dollar contract with Roc-A-Fella Records.
On November 13, 2004, Ol' Dirty Bastard collapsed at Wu-Tang's recording studio in New York City, and was pronounced dead later that night. Wu-Tang Clan paid him homage a number of times: in August 2006, one of his sons came out at a Wu-Tang concert at Webster Hall and rapped "Brooklyn Zoo", along with his mother, and during a concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom the Clan brought his mother out on stage for a sing-along to "Shimmy Shimmy Ya".
=== 2005–10: Solo albums and 8 Diagrams ===
In 2005, RZA released a book titled The Wu-Tang Manual. In the same year, U-God's second album, Mr. Xcitement and a collaboration between GZA and producer DJ Muggs, entitled Grandmasters were also released.
On March 28, 2006, Ghostface Killah released Fishscale, to much critical acclaim and some commercial success. The entire group, including Cappadonna and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, appeared on the track "9 Milli Bros". The same year, Ghostface Killah released More Fish.
On June 25, 2006, Inspectah Deck released an album entitled The Resident Patient. Also released in 2006 were Masta Killa's second studio album, Made in Brooklyn, and Method Man's 4:21... the Day After. Ghostface Killah released his seventh full-length album, The Big Doe Rehab, in December 2007.
In 2007, Wu-Tang Clan released their fifth album, 8 Diagrams, on Steve Rifkind's new label SRC Records. This album marked the inclusion of Cappadonna as an official member of the group. In an interview with MTV.com, Ghostface Killah stated that he was upset with RZA for starting the 8 Diagrams project while he was in the middle of writing and recording The Big Doe Rehab, as well as giving 8 Diagrams the same release date as The Big Doe Rehab, for which RZA rescheduled a release date one week later. The outcome of 8 Diagrams received mixed views from both fans and critics, and is regarded as being RZA's most experimental work to date. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah were unhappy with the album, and proposed recording a group album titled Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tan without RZA production. That album would eventually become Raekwon's fifth solo album Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang.
In 2008, RZA released Digi Snacks, under the name Bobby Digital. The album included lesser-known Wu-Tang Clan affiliates such as Freemurder, Killa Sin, Black Knights, and others. In the same year, GZA released the album Pro Tools. In September 2008, RZA announced that he had signed a deal with digital music company The Orchard to release the Wu-Tang Clan's back catalogue worldwide digitally, for the first time. In addition to forthcoming material, the Wu-Tang Clan's catalogue includes 13 previous releases that have been previously unavailable digitally, including recordings by the group as a whole, U-God, Wu-Syndicate, Killarmy, Shyheim, West Coast Killa Beez, Black Knights and others, and would be available online beginning September 23. RZA said: "The time is right to bring some older Wu material to the masses digitally. Our fans have been dedicated and patient and they're hungry to hear the music that has set us apart from so many others. Hip-hop is alive in Wu Music, and with The Orchard, we've got a solid partner that understands our audience and is committed to doing all they can to help us reach the fans. I'm definitely looking forward to working with them to see what else we all come up with. There's much more to come".
In 2009, U-God released his third solo album, Dopium, which features guest appearances from several Wu-Tang Clan members, and affiliates, among others, and was met with mostly lukewarm reviews. Wu-Tang Chamber Music was released in the same year, a side project executively produced by RZA, featuring live instrumentation from a Brooklyn soul band The Revelations. The album features appearances from five Wu-Tang Clan members, along with AZ, Kool G Rap, Cormega, Havoc, Sean Price, and M.O.P. Its first single, "Harbor Masters" featured Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, and AZ. RZA spoke about the album to Billboard.com: "I think the Chamber Music title is very fitting. This music is totally in the chamber, or in the mind-frame of Wu-Tang like in the [Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)] days. But it's not a Wu-Tang album. The whole Clan's not on this album. But it couldn't be in any other category but Wu-Tang".
Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II was released in September 2009, which features guest appearances from several big-name artists, and Clan members, with Ghostface being the most prominent, and also production from RZA, Dr. Dre, Pete Rock, and J Dilla, among others. The album was initially intended to be released on Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and at number 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and has been praised by most music critics. Several weeks later, Ghostface Killah released Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City.
Talk of the album Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang re-surfaced in July 2009; originally planned as a Wu-Tang album without RZA's input. The project evolved to include RZA only vocally, with no contribution to production. Raekwon stated "[It'll] be alter egos challenging each other, really allowing RZA to fall back on the production and allowing us to give him a flashback memory to the things we know we need from the abbot [RZA]. We want him to be involved [with the album as an MC], but the concept was for him not to be involved production-wise". Speaking to MTV.com, Method Man revealed his, Ghostface Killah's and Raekwon's plans to record a separate album as a trio: "I don't want to say it's written in stone, but it's in discussion. I want some feedback from the fans to see how they would take that. RZA produced tracks, some other outside producers, of course, and we gonna have Wu-Tang members on the album, but it'll be a Rae, Ghost and Meth album". Soon after, Ghostface Killah cemented the details: the record, featuring other Wu-Tang Clan members, was to consist primarily of him, Method Man, and Raekwon. The title, as announced in three separate trailers (directed by Rik Cordero) promoting the upcoming release, is Wu-Massacre. Speaking on their willingness to complete the album, Ghostface Killah estimated the release date of the album to be the end of 2009 or January 2010. It was then announced that the album would be pushed back from December to March 30, 2010; the single, "Meth vs. Chef Part II", was released after the announcement. Produced by Mathematics, it is an update of the song "Meth vs. Chef" from Method Man's first solo album, Tical, featuring verses by only Method Man and Raekwon. It had been confirmed by Raekwon that Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang would in fact be his next solo album and that Wu-Massacre is a separate album, while the rapper stated that he himself had petitioned to have Wu-Massacre's release date postponed in order to yield more studio time.
On February 25, 2011, Wu Tang Live At The Palladium NYC was released through the group's official Facebook page as a collectors digital download. This included exclusive, unreleased freestyles. It was limited to 100 downloads before the page was disabled after this figure was reached.
=== 2011–present: A Better Tomorrow, and Once Upon a Time in Shaolin ===
==== A Better Tomorrow ====
On June 29, 2011, Raekwon announced that the group were working on a new studio album, still in early stages. Ghostface Killah later said that the album would be released in May 2012.
Members went back and forth on the issue. While GZA hinted that a new album was unlikely, the RZA said a new Wu-Tang Clan album might happen after all, on the occasion of the group's 20th anniversary, though Raekwon doubted it.
On January 9, 2013, work on the sixth Wu-Tang Clan album was announced via the group's official Facebook page. In early March 2013 Method Man announced that the Clan was working on a sixth studio album and it would be released during 2013 in celebration of their 20-year anniversary since 36 Chambers. Cappadonna has said the album is in recording process taking place in New York, Los Angeles and the Wu mansion in New Jersey. RZA has also said he had talked to Adrian Younge about working on a song for the album. On April 11, 2013, it was announced via a press release that their upcoming sixth studio album would be titled, A Better Tomorrow and was set to be released in July 2013. During late April 2013, the Clan performed at the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. On May 17, an unreleased Wu-Tang song titled "Execution in Autumn" was released for purchase through RZA's record label Soul Temple Records. They performed at the 2013 HOT 97 Summer Jam at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, twenty years after they performed at the first annual Summer Jam concert. On June 5, 2013, the first promotional single "Family Reunion" featuring Masta Killah, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and RZA was released via the Soul Temple Records website.
In June 2013 RZA said so far every member of the Clan except Raekwon and GZA had put in work on the A Better Tomorrow album and that recording was being done at the Wu-Mansion, and the Wu-Mansion West. Unreleased verses from Ol' Dirty Bastard will also be featured on the album. He also stated he was hoping to release the album in November 2013. In July 2013 Cappadonna indicated the album was half way finished. Once November 2013 arrived, RZA gave an update on the album, saying that not every member had been significantly working on the album. He gave credit to Method Man, Cappadonna, U-God and Masta Killa for working hard on the album, while saying he needed more effort from Ghostface, Raekwon and GZA. Shortly after Method Man stated that Raekwon had not worked on the album at all, and Ghostface had only recorded two songs for the album so far. In late November, RZA suggested that the album was approximately six weeks from completion. In January 2014, the group posted a message on their Facebook page, saying: "The new Wu album 'A Better Tomorrow' coming soon." After several disputes between Raekwon and RZA about the direction of the group and album, they reconciled, with the latter agreeing to record verses for A Better Tomorrow. On October 3, 2014, it was announced that the album will arrive December 2, 2014, courtesy of a new deal with Warner Bros. Records. The album was released late 2014.
==== Once Upon a Time in Shaolin ====
In March 2014 it was reported that in addition to work on A Better Tomorrow, a Wu-Tang Clan compilation album entitled The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin had been recorded, with Wu-Tang-affiliated producer Cilvaringz as the primary producer instead of RZA. The album, a double album consisting of 31 tracks, was not given a conventional commercial release and only one copy has been produced; the copy toured in museums, art galleries and music festivals before being sold at a high price to a single individual. In August 2014, a reporter from Forbes traveled to Marrakesh to meet Cilvaringz and hear a 51-second snippet of a song from the album, which featured Cher. The snippet was subsequently put on their website. The album is encased in a handcrafted silver-and-nickel box made by British-Moroccan artist Yahya and features never-before-heard music recorded over years. RZA stated he has been receiving multiple million dollar offers for the album. Despite the album's exclusivity it made an appearance in electronic dance music producer Skrillex's music video for his song "Fuck That" even though he did not purchase the project. The album was sold through Paddle8, an online auction house, for $2 million to Martin Shkreli. When the FBI arrested Martin Shkreli on December 17, 2015, they did not seize the Wu-Tang Clan album. Following the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Shkreli broadcast excerpts from the album on streaming platforms Periscope and Hitbox.tv.
In July 2021, it was announced that the album had been again sold by the US government for an undisclosed amount (later revealed as $4 million USD), following Shkreli handing it over to the FBI in 2018 after being convicted of defrauding investors. The new owner of the album is the PleasrDAO group.
==== The Saga Continues ====
On August 25, 2017, Wu-Tang Clan released the song, "People Say", which featured Redman. RZA announced that the song would be part of an upcoming album, titled The Saga Continues. The album was released on October 13 under the name "Wu-Tang", as U-God was absent from it. The Saga Continues was primarily produced by Mathematics, and debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200.
==== Las Vegas residency and Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman ====
In December 2023, it was announced that Wu-Tang Clan would host "Wu-Tang Clan: The Saga Continues… The Las Vegas Residency" at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Paradise, Nevada; in the process, they became the first hip-hop act to ever receive an artist residency. The collective started performing at the residency in February 2024.
On February 6, 2025, Wu-Tang Clan announced that they would release a new joint project with producer and tour DJ Mathematics, titled Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman, on April 12 of the same year, in coincidence with Record Store Day. The distribution of the album, which was inspired by Blaxploitation movies and marked the first release to feature the entire formation of the collective since 2014, would be initially limited to 5,000 2xLP copies sold at participating Record Store Day retailers.
==== Final tour ====
On February 24, 2025 the group announced their final tour, "Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber" with performance dates across North America from June through July of 2025. The final concert was held in Philadelphia on July 18, 2025.
== Members ==
RZA (Robert Fitzgerald Diggs) – vocals, production (1992–present)
GZA (Gary Eldridge Grice) – vocals (1992–present)
Ol' Dirty Bastard (Russell Tyrone Jones) – vocals (1992–2004, his death)
Method Man (Clifford Smith Jr.) – vocals (1992–present)
Raekwon (Corey Woods) – vocals (1992–present)
Ghostface Killah (Dennis David Coles) – vocals (1992–present)
Inspectah Deck (Jason S Hunter) – vocals (1992–present)
U-God (Lamont Jody Hawkins) – vocals (1992–present)
Masta Killa (Jamel Irief, born Elgin Turner) – vocals (1993–present)
Cappadonna (Darryl Hill) – vocals (2007–present)
== Artistry ==
=== Production ===
RZA's production was described by AllMusic as "consisting of stark, booming beats and chilling samples (heavily drawing from vintage soul records as well as kung fu movies)," summarizing it as "lean, menacing." According to RZA, he tries to have no more than 20–25% sampling on a record, something starkly different from many other major hip hop groups. He uses "the sampler more like a painter's palette than a Xerox. Then again, I might use it as a Xerox if I find rare beats that nobody had in their crates yet". He played much of the piano, with Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk as major influences; he created the piano part to "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" after watching the Thelonious Monk documentary, Straight, No Chaser.
RZA's production technique, specifically the manner of chopping up and/or speeding or slowing soul samples, has been picked up by producers including Kanye West and Just Blaze. West's take on RZA's style briefly flooded the rap market with what was dubbed "chipmunk soul", the pitch bending of a vocal sample to where it sounded as though the singer had inhaled helium. Several producers copied the style, creating other offshoots. West has admitted that his style was distinctly influenced by RZA's production and RZA has acknowledged his influence in an issue of Scratch magazine, saying he wished he had produced "Jesus Walks" and "Breathe", two 2004 hits produced by Kanye West and Just Blaze, respectively. Kanye West commented:
Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time... We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement. From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that.
=== Lyrics ===
Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... helped (with the likes of Kool G Rap) popularize mafioso rap, which remained widespread for more than half a decade. The landmark album touted a lifestyle patterned on drug dealing, regrets of living in harsh conditions, and partying (including popularizing the Cristal brand of champagne) which Nas, Mobb Deep, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and other popular artists all borrowed and/or expanded upon these themes at points in their respective careers.
The Wu-Tang Clan's slang has long been a staple of their music, wherein members would blend Five Percenter concepts, themes from kung fu and other martial arts, as well as comic books and street slang to create their own nicknames for actions, people, places, and things (such as the christening of Staten Island as "Shaolin Land" and money as "C.R.E.A.M."). RZA noted in The Wu-Tang Manual that Raekwon was the resident "slang-master" and responsible for a large number of the slang terms used by the group.
== Syndication ==
=== Video games ===
All nine original members of the group were featured in the game Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, released for the PlayStation on October 31, 1999, as well as a special collector's edition controller. Ghostface Killah and Method Man play themselves in all three games in the Def Jam series Def Jam Vendetta, Def Jam: Fight For NY, and Def Jam: Icon. The video games also feature Wu-Tang affiliate Redman.
Method Man is an avid fan of video games himself and has publicly stated that he loves playing SOCOM online with other PlayStation 2 users, and is part of an online clan ("KMA/Kiss My Ass"). His SOCOM II name is "ICU". He has a fellow SOCOM player featured on a skit on his album 4:21... The Day After.
In Army of Two, main character Salem talks about Wu-Tang asking his teammate Rios who the best member is. Salem says it's RZA but he says Ghostface Killah is pretty good himself. In the ending cut scene, a reference is made when Salem says "Survey says?" and Rios replies "You're dead". The exchange referenced the lyric, "And the survey says? / You're dead!" from "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin' Ta F' Wit", from the album Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers).
Several tracks by Clan members and affiliates such as Method Man, Ghostface, Cappadonna, Trife, DJ Mathematics and others were featured in the 2006 game Saints Row.
Afro Samurai, based on the TV series, was released in January 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Its soundtrack, like the show, was produced by RZA.
In June 2025, the group announced cooperative action RPG Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver.
=== Clothing line ===
Oliver "Power" Grant was one of the first to move from music to clothes. The Clan's executive producer, Grant began making clothes in the early 1990s, with little success. But in 1995, after the platinum success of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), manufacturers who earlier wouldn't extend Power credit saw the potential. He opened four Wu Wear stores, in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Norfolk, Virginia. The line was carried in Macy's, Rich's, and d.e.m.o, among others. Power says he earned $10 million in 1998.
Method Man was unhappy with the decision to bring Wu-Tang into the fashion world with Wu Wear, despite the brand being a major money-maker for the group. "When Wu-Wear started making shoes and sneakers and pants, it was shoddy material. I never rocked that shit."
"I'm going to bring out Dirty Wear," declared ODB. "A set of ready-worn clothes: 'Dirty Wear, for the girl who likes to wear her panties three days in a row.'"
In 1999, Nike released a Wu-Tang Clan themed dunk high. The shoes were produced in low quantities. Their rarity and popularity makes them very sought after, with reseller prices as much as $7,500.
A partnership between Wu-Tang and the Alife NYC clothing group took place in 2007 through 2008 for an exclusive series of custom sneakers, T-shirts, hoodies and other accessories for men and women. The collection was named "A Wu-Tang Life".
== Television ==
=== Documentaries ===
Wu-Tang Revealed, a GZA-directed documentary, promised to show behind the scenes of the Clan, has yet to be released.
U-God: Rise of a Fallen Soldier details U-God's side of the struggle between him and RZA circa 2004–2005.
Gerald K. Barclay directed the Wu-Tang documentary, entitled Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan, which premiered on BET on November 13, 2008. The documentary was released on DVD on November 18, 2008.
On November 10, 2009, a documentary on Ol' Dirty Bastard was released, entitled Dirty: The Official ODB Biography. The documentary features interviews and stories from his family members, Wu-Tang members, and affiliates, as well as old interviews with Ol' Dirty, and live performances.
Wu Tang Saga, starring Cappadonna and featuring footage of the Clan dating back to the early nineties through their most recent tours was released on February 25, 2010.
In May 2019, Showtime premiered the four-episode documentary series Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men. The documentary was created by Sacha Jenkins and tells a story of the New York-based hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan from their earliest times to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the group. The series features interviews from all living members of the Wu-Tang Clan. A 7-track EP was released on May 17, 2019, one week after the documentary premiered.
On September 16, 2025, German television broadcaster NDR released the documentary Evil-E. - Eva Ries und der Wu-Tang Clan, revolving around the story of the group's longtime manager Eva Ries and her role in its rise to fame. The documentary contains many exclusive interviews and long-lost original footage from touring and recording sessions.
=== Wu-Tang: An American Saga ===
On September 4, 2019, Hulu released Wu-Tang: An American Saga, a fictionalized account of the formation of the Wu-Tang Clan. The drama web series was created by RZA and Alex Tse. In January 2020, Hulu renewed the series for a second season. In November 2021, the series was renewed for a third and final season which premiered on February 15, 2023 and concluded on April 5, 2023.
== Collaborators ==
The Wu-Tang Clan has a wide range of collaborators and associates. Close collaborators to individual members or the group as a whole include or have included mainly East Coast–based artists, including Redman, Mobb Deep, Busta Rhymes, Erick Sermon, Nas, Pete Rock, and others.
== Discography ==
=== Studio albums ===
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
Wu-Tang Forever (1997)
The W (2000)
Iron Flag (2001)
8 Diagrams (2007)
A Better Tomorrow (2014)
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin (2015)
=== Wu-Tang releases ===
Some Wu-Tang Clan projects have been billed under the abbreviated name "Wu-Tang," typically for compilation-style albums that do not feature all official Clan members or are not approached as full-group efforts. These releases credit all participating artists individually, regardless of whether they are core members or not.
Chamber Music (2009)
Legendary Weapons (2011)
The Saga Continues (2017)
Of Mics and Men (2019)
Black Samson, The Bastard Swordsman (2025) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–21_Bundesliga | 2020–21 Bundesliga | The 2020–21 Bundesliga was the 58th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 September 2020 and concluded on 22 May 2021. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 21 August 2020 and conclude on 15 May 2021, though this was delayed due to postponement of the previous season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fixtures were announced on 7 August 2020.
Bayern Munich were the defending champions and successfully defended their title, winning their record-extending 9th consecutive title and 31st title overall (30th in the Bundesliga era) on 8 May with three games to spare. By winning their thirtieth Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich are honoured with a fifth gold star on their team badges and shirts.
Bayern's Robert Lewandowski set a new record for goals scored in a season with 41, surpassing the previous record of 40 goals set by Gerd Müller in 1971–72.
== Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic ==
On 3 September 2020, the DFL General Assembly voted to extend the use of five substitutions in matches to the 2020–21 season, which was implemented at the end of the previous season to lessen the impact of fixture congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of five substitutes, based on the decision of competition organisers, had been extended by IFAB until 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season began with matches behind closed doors or at reduced capacity due to restrictions across German states. Leipzig allowed up to 8,500 spectators to begin the season, while regulations in Berlin allowed for up to 5,000 supporters.
== Summary ==
Bayern Munich began the season less than a month after defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, as the match had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In their first game, they beat Schalke 04 8–0, and were the dominant side early on in the season. After a 3–2 away victory over title contenders Borussia Dortmund in November, many pundits praised Bayern as the best team in Europe. This praise continued all season long, with former Bayern manager Pep Guardiola proclaiming them the best club in Europe in March. Bayern mathematically confirmed their ninth consecutive Bundesliga title on 8 May 2021 with three matches to spare, following closest contender RB Leipzig's 2–3 loss to Dortmund. The title was Bayern's 30th Bundesliga and 31st German championship overall, which would see them add a fifth star to their badge in the following season.
Meanwhile, Schalke 04 endured a disaster season, failing to win a game in nine consecutive months dating back to the previous season, before defeating a fourth-tier club in the German Cup. They failed to win thirty Bundesliga matches in a row, falling one short of the all-time record set by Tasmania Berlin in 1965–66, before a 4–0 win against 1899 Hoffenheim in January. Schalke had announced before the season that they had debts of over 200 million, which led them to slash spending. The poor results led to departures for executives and managers. Former Schalke star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar returned to Schalke from Ajax in January in an attempt to stave off relegation, but he was unable to prevent Schalke from being relegated for the first time in over thirty years.
A hot start to the season for Robert Lewandowski led to early talk that he could break Gerd Müller's 49-year-old record of 40 goals scored in one Bundesliga season, with teammate Thomas Müller suggesting it could happen back in October. Lewandowski capped off a successful year in December by winning his first FIFA Men's Player of the Year award. As Lewandowski continued his strong performances, interest in him overtaking Müller's record grew from various media outlets. However, a knee injury suffered whilst on international duty on 31 March threatened Lewandowski's record-chase and kept him out of action for a month. Lewandowski returned to action in April, just five goals away from equalling the single-season goal record. On 15 May 2021, Lewandowski scored his 40th goal of the season against SC Freiburg with one match to spare, therefore equalling Gerd Müller's record tally from 1971–72. In the last match of the season the following week, Lewandowski scored his 41st league goal in the final minute of the match against FC Augsburg to break Müller's record.
== Teams ==
A total of 18 teams participated in the 2020–21 edition of the Bundesliga.
=== Team changes ===
=== Stadiums and locations ===
=== Personnel and kits ===
=== Managerial changes ===
== League table ==
== Results ==
== Relegation play-offs ==
All times are CEST (UTC+2).
=== Overview ===
=== Matches ===
1. FC Köln won 5–2 on aggregate, and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.
== Statistics ==
=== Top scorers ===
=== Hat-tricks ===
4 Player scored four goals.
=== Assist providers ===
=== Clean sheets ===
== Awards ==
=== Monthly awards ===
=== Annual awards === |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajaraja_I | Rajaraja I | Rājarāja I (Middle Tamil: Rājarāja Cola; Rājarāja Śōḷa; 3 November 947 – January/February 1014), also known as Rajaraja the Great, was a Chola emperor who reigned from 985 to 1014. He was known for his conquests of southern India and the Anuradhapura kingdom of Sri Lanka, as well as increasing Chola influence across the Indian Ocean. Rajaraja's birth name is variously given as Arul Mozhi Varman and Arulmoli Varman.
Rajaraja's empire encompassed vast territories, including regions of the Pandya country, the Chera country, and northern Sri Lanka. He also extended his influence over strategic islands such as Lakshadweep, Thiladhunmadulu atoll, and parts of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. His conquests were not limited to the south; he also launched successful campaigns against the Western Gangas and the Western Chalukyas, extending Chola authority as far as the Tungabhadra River. In the east, Rajaraja faced fierce opposition from the Telugu Chola king Jata Choda Bhima over control of Vengi. This region held significant strategic importance due to its access to resources and trade routes. The conflict between the two rulers intensified as they vied for dominance in the region, resulting in significant battles and shifting allegiances.
Rajaraja I commissioned the construction of the Rajarajeshwaram Temple in the Chola capital of Thanjavur, revered as one of the most prominent examples of the medieval South Indian architectural style. Additionally, during his reign, important Tamil literary works by poets such as Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar were gathered and compiled into a single collection known as the Thirumurai. This earned him the title of 'Thirumurai Kanda Cholar' (lit. 'The One Who Found Thirumurai'). He initiated a project of land survey and assessment in 1000 which led to the reorganisation of Tamil country into individual units known as valanadus. Rajaraja died in 1014, and was succeeded by his son Rajendra Chola I.
== Early life ==
Rajaraja was the son of the Chola king Parantaka II, also known as Sundara Chola, and his wife Vanavan. As recorded in the Thiruvalangadu copper-plate inscription, his birth name was Arun Mozhi Varman, meaning "The Word of Sun Clan". He was born around 947 during the Tamil month of , under the Sadhayam star. The Government of Tamil Nadu recognises his birthdate as 3 November 947. Rajaraja had an elder brother, Aditha II, and an elder sister, Kundavai.
Rajaraja's accession marked the end of a period of competing claims to the Chola throne, following the reign of his great-grandfather Parantaka I. After Parantaka I, his elder son Gandaraditya became king. However, upon Gandaraditya's death, his son Madhurantakan was still a minor, so the throne passed to Parantaka I's younger son, Arinjaya. Arinjaya soon died, and his son Parantaka II (Sundara Chola) succeeded him. It was decided that Sundara Chola would be succeeded by Madhurantakan, likely due to Sundara's preference. However, according to the Thiruvalangadu inscription of Rajaraja's son, Rajendra I, the succession plan may have been made by Rajaraja himself.
Aditha II died under mysterious circumstances, with inscriptions suggesting he may have been assassinated. Shortly afterwards, Sundara Chola also died, enabling Madhurantakan to assume the throne with the title Uttama Chola. Following Uttama Chola's death, Arul Moli Varman ascended the throne in mid-985 and adopted the regnal name Rajaraja, meaning "King among Kings."
== Military conquests ==
When Rajaraja came to power, he inherited a small kingdom centered around the Thanjavur–Tiruchirappalli region, the heart of traditional Chola territory. He transformed this kingdom from one that was recovering from attacks by the Rashtrakuta Empire into one that was a well-organised empire with a powerful army and navy. Under his rule, the northern kingdom of Vengi became closely allied with the Cholas, and their influence expanded along the eastern coast all the way up to Kalinga in the north.
Rajaraja Chola Thiruvalangadu plates states that, Arulmolivarman :
(performed tulabhara captured the town Vilinda; conquered the Pandya Amarabujanga and burnt the lord of Lanka; defeated Satyashraya; killed Andhra Bhima; conquered the country of Parasurama(i.e.,Chera) and subdued the kings of Ganga, Kalinga, Vengi, Magatha, Aratta ,odda,Surashtra and Chalukya).
The Larger Leiden plates States that Rajaraja,
"conquered the Pandya, Tulu, Kerala, Simhalendra and Satyashraya ; destroyed ships at Kandalur-Salai , captured Vengainadu(Vengi), Gangapadi, Nulambapadi, Tadigaipadi, Kudamalainadu, Kollam, Kalingam, and Ilam(Sri Lanka ) ; and removed the splendour of the Seliyas(i.e.,Pandyas)."
=== Against Kandalur Salai ===
Rajaraja's earliest inscriptions commemorate a significant triumph at Kandalur Salai, located in present-day Kerala, around 988. He is acclaimed as 'Kāndalūr śālai Kalam-arutta', which translates to 'the one who destroyed Kandalur Salai'.
Originally, this area was under the control of the Ay chief, who served as a vassal to the Pandya king of Madurai. However, it remains uncertain whether warriors from the Chera or Pandya dynasties were involved in this conflict. The Thiruvalangadu inscription suggests that Rajaraja's general captured Vizhinjam (Viḷinam), which could have been part of the Kandalur Salai campaign. It appears that this engagement involved the Chola navy, or possibly a joint operation involving both the navy and the army.
=== Conquest of Kerala and the Pandyas ===
Rajaraja's inscriptions begin to appear in Kanyakumari district in the 990s and in Thiruvananthapuram district in the early 1000s. The Chola subjugation of Kerala can be dated to the early years of the 11th century. The Senur inscription, dated to 1005 and attributed to Rajaraja, records his military achievements. It mentions the destruction of the Pandya capital, Madurai, as well as the conquest of several regions. These include defeating the formidable rulers of Kollam (Venad), Kolla-desham (Mushika), and Kodungallur (the Chera Perumals of Makotai). Some triumphs in the region of Malainadu were possibly achieved by Rajaraja's son, Rajendra Chola.
Following his victory over the Pandyas, Rajaraja assumed the title of Pandya Kulashani, which translates to 'Thunderbolt to the Race of the Pandyas'. As a result of his conquest, the territory of the Pandyas became recognised as "Rajaraja Mandalam" or "Rajaraja Pandinadu". When recounting Rajaraja's military expedition in Trisanku Kastha (the southern region), the Thiruvalangadu Grant of Rajendra I mentions the capture of a certain royal figure named Amarabhujanga. However, the specific identity of this individual—whether he was a prince of the Pandya dynasty, a general serving the Pandya king, or a prince of the Kongu Chera dynasty—remains a matter of debate. According to the Kongu Desa Rajakkal, a historical record of the Kongu Nadu region, it is suggested that this general eventually changed his loyalty to Rajaraja. He is said to have participated in the ritual of kanakabhisheka, where gold is poured over the Chola king, symbolising an act of royal anointment or coronation.
Once Rajaraja had consolidated his authority in the southern regions, he took on the title of Mummudi Chola. This title, which means "Three Crowned", symbolised his power over three important Tamil kingdoms: the Cholas, the Pandyas, and the Cheras.
=== Conquest of northern Sri Lanka ===
During the reign of King Mahinda V, the Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura experienced a significant military revolt around 982 CE, primarily as a consequence of the monarch's economic policies. The armed forces of the Anuradhapura capital predominantly consisted of Tamil mercenaries recruited from coastal regions. By 982, tensions escalated into a full-fledged uprising led by these mercenaries, resulting in a protracted civil conflict. The ensuing turmoil compelled the vulnerable Sinhala ruler to seek refuge in the Rohana principality, thereby plunging the capital city of Anuradhapura into an extended period of civil unrest lasting approximately eleven years, marked by widespread disorder and lawlessness.
The disruption of central governance exacerbated the financial strain on the kingdom, particularly in meeting the obligations to the Tamil mercenaries. Consequently, the mercenaries, feeling aggrieved and disillusioned, turned their allegiance towards the Chola empire. This strategic shift left Anuradhapura vulnerable to the incursions of the Chola forces, who exploited the internal strife to mount invasions in 993. These events, documented in historical sources, underscore the intricate interplay of economic policies, military dynamics, and regional power struggles during this period in the history of Anuradhapura.
In 993, Rajaraja achieved the conquest of Anuradhapura, known as Pihiti rata in local context, situated in Sri Lanka. This territory was subsequently designated as Ila-mandalam in Chola historical records. The military campaign led to the sacking of Anuradhapura by the Chola army, resulting in the acquisition of the northern portion of Sri Lanka by the Chola empire. As part of their administrative efforts, the Cholas established a provincial capital at the strategic military outpost of Polonnaruwa, renaming it Jananathamangalam in honour of Rajaraja's title.
Under Chola administration, the official Tali Kumaran oversaw the construction of a significant Shiva temple known as Rajarajeshwara, meaning "Lord of Rajaraja", within the town of Mahatirtha, now recognised as modern-day Mantota. Consequently, Mahatirtha was renamed Rajarajapura in commemoration of the Chola monarch's conquest and establishment of authority in the region.
The Thiruvalangadu Plates directly compare Rajaraja's campaign to the invasion of Lanka by the legendary hero Rama:
"Rama built with the aid of monkeys, a causeway across the sea, and then with great difficulties defeated the king of Lanka using sharp-edged arrows. But Rama was excelled by this king whose powerful army crossed the ocean by ships and burnt up the king of Lanka."
=== Chalukyan conflict ===
In 998, Rajaraja annexed Gangapadi, Nolambapadi, and Tadigaipadi (present-day Karnataka). During this campaign, he subdued the Nolamba dynasty, who were previously vassals of the Ganga dynasty. These territories were initially under the suzerainty of the Rashtrakutas, who had been defeated by the Western Chalukyas in 973. Consequently, the Cholas found themselves in direct conflict with the Chalukyas.
=== Battle of Gangavadi ===
By 1004, Rajaraja had conquered the Gangavadi province. He established control over the western part of Gangavadi, ruled by the Changalvas, and over Kodagu, governed by the Kongalvas, who were then made vassals of the Chola Empire. In 1004 AD Raja Raja Chola encamped in Gangavadi province, and soon Chalukya army invaded. In the Battle of Gangavadi, Raja Raja Chola defeated the invading Chalukya army and secured Gangavadi Province.
=== Battle of Annigeri ===
Raja Raja Chola led the campaign in Ratta Padi in 1003–1004 AD and achieved victory in many battles. Raja Raja Chola I defeated Satyashraya in the Battle of Annigeri and successfully conquered Annigeri Province. In this battle Satyashraya was assisted by his brother Dasavarman and General Dandanayaka Kesava. Dandanayaka Kesava was governor of the Belvola-300 and Puligere-300 divisions, which are located in Annigeri Province. The Tiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra Chola state that Raja Raja defeated Satyashraya who "fled to avoid misery from the attack of his (i.e., Arulmolivarman's) ocean-like army; (still) misery found a (permanent) abode in him. In this battle Satyashraya's brother, Prince Dasavarman, was killed, and Chalukya general Dandanayaka Kesava was taken prisoner. After Raja Raja Chola returned to his capital with booty of some gold flowers and treasures, which he dedicated to the temple of Thanjavur.
=== Siege of Unkal ===
Raja Raja Chola diverted attention from Vengi affairs to the Satyashraya to counteroffensive and sent an army under Crown Prince Rajendra Chola in Chalukya Country. Rajendra marched with a 900,000-strong army and Captured Santalige, Kadambalige, Banavasi, Kogali and besieged the fort of Unkallu in the modern Unkal district located in the Dharwad district. In this ensuing battle, the Cholas defeated the Chalukyas, and the Chalukya commander, Lenka Keta, was killed. After Rajendra Chola successfully captured Unkallu Fort and then encamped at Donur.
=== Battle of Donur ===
Following the Siege of Unkallu Fort, Rajendra battled against Satyashraya, who was opposing him in Donur. In the Battle of Donur, Rajendra chola defeated Satyashraya and successfully raided Banavasi, Donur (in the Bijapur region), Unkal (near modern Hubli), Kudala Sangama and parts of the Raichur Doab and secured Gangavadi and Nolambavadi. But this conquest and all raids in Chalukya country only lasted until Satyashraya reconquered all territories up to Thungapathra.
An inscription attributed to Irivabedanga Satyashraya from Dharwar acknowledges his allegiance to the Western Chalukyas and highlights the Chola incursion. He accuses Rajendra Chola of leading a massive force of 955,000 soldiers and causing havoc in Donuwara(Donur in Bijapur district), blurring the ethical boundaries of warfare prescribed by the Dharmaśāstras. Historians such as James Heitzman and Wolfgang Schenkluhn interpret this confrontation as indicative of personal animosity between the rulers of the Chola and Western Chalukya kingdoms, akin to historical conflicts between the Chalukyas of Badami and the Pallavas of Kanchi.
=== Vengi kingdom ===
Meanwhile, the Vengi kingdom was under the rule of Jata Choda Bhima, a member of the Eastern Chalukyas Dynasty. However, Rajaraja emerged victorious in battle against Bhima, and Saktivarman was appointed as a viceroy under the Chola Dynasty. Despite a brief period of Bhima's recapture of Kanchi in 1001, Rajaraja swiftly restored Saktivarman to power. Notably, Rajaraja cemented an alliance between the Chola Dynasty and the Eastern Chalukya kingdom by arranging the marriage of his daughter, Kundavai, to the next viceroy of Vengi, Vimaladitya. This strategic union ensured the future succession of Rajaraja's descendants to the throne of the eastern Chalukya kingdom.Satyashraya retaliated by invading the Vengi country in 1006 A.D. and placed Saktivaiman on the Vengi Throne. Raja Raja Chola diverted the Chalukyas to send a big army under Prince Rajendra Chola in Chalukya country. So Satyashraya, without having reinforcement to deal with the Chola army, called back his general Bayal Nambi, who advanced up to Chebrollu. Satyastraya did not permanently recapture Vengi. He made attempts, but the Cholas successfully defended their influence.
=== Victory over Hoysalas ===
Narasipur, dated to 1006, records that Rajaraja's general Aprameya killed Hoysala generals and a minister identified as Naganna. Additionally, a similar inscription in Channapatna describes Rajaraja defeating the Hoysalas.General Aprameya defeated Hoysala leaders manjaga, kaliga(or kali – ganga),Nigavarma and others in the Battle of Kalavur .winning by his valour in the plain of Kalavur a name to endure for ever.
=== Kalinga conquest ===
The invasion of the kingdom of Kalinga occurred after the conquest of Vengi. This conquest marked the northern boundary of the Chola Empire at that time and established their control over the entirety of south and south-east India.
=== Conquest of Kuda-malai-nadu ===
In multiple historical accounts, there are mentions of Rajaraja's conquest of a place called "Kuda-malai-nadu" around the year 1000. In certain inscriptions found in Karnataka, the term "Kudagu-malai-nadu" is used instead of "Kuda-malai-nadu". Scholars generally believe that this region corresponds to Coorg (Kudagu).
The king's conquest of Malainadu is described in the Vikrama Chola Ula, where it is said that he achieved it in just one day, crossing 18 mountain passes. According to the Kulottunga Chola Ula, Rajaraja was depicted as beheading 18 people and burning down Udagai. Additionally, the Kalingathupparani references the establishment of Chadaya Nalvizha in Udiyar Mandalam, the seizure of Udagai, and the plundering of several elephants from the area. The Tiruppalanam inscription from 999 records the king's offering of an idol obtained as spoils from Malainadu.
=== Naval expedition and Conquest of the Maldives ===
The naval campaigns of Rajaraja formed a reassertion of Chola power in the Indian Ocean.
"A naval campaign led to the conquest of the Maldive Islands, the Malabar Coast, and northern Sri Lanka, all of which were essential to the Chola control over trade with Southeast Asia and with Arabia and eastern Africa. These were the transit areas, ports of call for the Arab traders and ships to Southeast Asia and China, which were the source of the valuable spices sold at a high profit to Europe."
The Cholas controlled the area around Bay of Bengal with Nagapattinam as the main port. The Chola Navy also played a major role in the invasion of Sri Lanka. The success of Rajaraja allowed his son Rajendra Chola to lead the Chola invasion of Srivijaya, carrying out naval raids in South-East Asia and briefly occupying Kadaram.
Rajaraja I and Rajendra I are described as the greatest Chola rulers because of these conquests.
== Personal life ==
Rajaraja married several women, including the following: Vanathi aka Thiripuvāna Mādēviyār, Dantisakti Vitanki aka Lokamadevi, Panchavan Madeviyar, Chola Mahadevi, Trailokya Mahadevi, Lata Mahadevi, Prithvi Mahadevi, Meenavan Mahadevi, Viranarayani and Villavan Mahadevi. He had at least three daughters and two sons. The older son, Rajendra, was born to Thiripuvāna Mādēviyār. The younger son was named Araiyan Rajarajan, and the identity of his mother is unknown. He had his first daughter Kundavai with Lokamadevi who eventually married Chalukya prince Vimaladithan. Rajaraja had two other daughters. Rajaraja died in 1014 in the Tamil month of Maka and was succeeded by Rajendra Chola I.
== Administration ==
Before the reign of Rajaraja I, portions of the Chola territory were ruled by hereditary lords and princes who were in a loose alliance with the Chola rulers. Rajaraja initiated a project of land survey and assessment in 1000 which led to the reorganisation of the empire into units known as valanadus. From the reign of Rajaraja I until the reign of Vikrama Chola in 1133, the hereditary lords and local princes were either replaced or turned into dependent officials. This led to the king exercising closer control over the different parts of the empire. Rajaraja strengthened the local self-governments and installed a system of audit and control by which the village assemblies and other public bodies were held to account while retaining their autonomy. To promote trade, he sent the first Chola mission to China. Furthermore, his elder sister Kundavai assisted him in the administration and management of temples.
== Officials ==
Towards the end of his reign, Rajaraja appointed Rajendra Chola I as co-regent, who served as the supreme commander of the northern and northwestern territories. Under his rule, the administrative system was expanded, resulting in a greater number of offices and officials documented in Chola records compared to previous eras. Villavan Muvendavelan, one of Rajaraja's top officials, figures in many of his inscriptions. Other officials named in inscriptions include the Bana prince Narasimhavarman, the general Senapathi Krishnan Raman, the Samanta chief Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, the revenue official Irayiravan Pallavarayan, and Kuruvan Ulagalandan, who organised the country-wide land surveys.
== Religious policy ==
Rajaraja was a follower of the Shaivite denomination of Hinduism, but he also dedicated several temples to Vishnu. Rajaraja called himself Shivapada Shekhara (IAST: Śivapāda Śekhara), literally, 'the one who places his crown at the feet of Shiva'.
The Buddhist monastery of Chudamani Vihara was constructed in the 11th century in Nagapattinam by the Sailendra king of Srivijaya, Sri Mara Vijayattungavarman, with the support of Rajaraja I. It was named Chudamani (or Chulamani) Vihara after King Sri Mara's father. According to the small Leyden grant, this Vihara was known as Rajaraja-perumpalli during the reign of Kulottunga I.
== Arts and architecture ==
After hearing short excerpts of the Tevaram in his court, Rajaraja embarked on a mission to recover the hymns. He sought the help of Nambiyandar Nambi. It is believed that by divine intervention Nambi found the presence of scripts, in the form of cadijam leaves half-eaten by white ants in a chamber inside the second precinct in Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram. The brahmanas (Dikshitars) in the temple opposed the mission, but Rajaraja intervened by consecrating the images of the saint-poets through the streets of Chidambaram. Rajaraja thus became known as 'Tirumurai Kanda Cholan', meaning 'One who saved the Tirumurai'. In his work Nambiyandar Nambi Puranam (alias Tirumurai Kanda Puranam), Nambi identifies his patron as "Rasarasamannan-Abhayakula-sekharan" (lit. 'King Rajaraja, the best of the race of Abhaya'). At that time, Shiva temples only had images of god forms, but after the advent of Rajaraja, the images of the Nayanar saints were also placed inside the temple. Nambi organised the hymns of three saint poets—Sambandar, Appar, and Sundarar—as the first seven books. He included Manickavasagar's "Tirukovayar" and "Tiruvacakam" as the 8th book, and the hymns of nine other saints as the 9th book. The "Tirumandiram" of Tirumular was designated as the 10th book, while 40 hymns by 12 other poets constituted the 11th book. Additionally, Nambi added Tirutotanar Tiruvanthathi, the sacred anthathi of the labours of the 63 Nayanar saints, along with his own hymns as the 12th book. The initial seven books were later recognised as the Tevaram. With the addition of Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (1135) as the twelfth book, the entire Saiva canon became known as Tirumurai, the holy scripture. Consequently, Saiva literature now encompasses approximately 600 years of religious, philosophical, and literary development.
There are no existing contemporary portraits or statues of Rajaraja. The bronze figure purportedly depicting him at the Thanjavur temple is spurious and of recent origin.
=== Brihadisvara Temple ===
During 1010, Rajaraja built the Peruvudaiyar Temple (also known as Periya Kovil, RajaRajeswara Temple, and Rajarajeswaram) in Thanjavur and dedicated it to Shiva. The temple and the capital were centres of both religious and economic activity. The temple is one of the largest temples in India and is an example of Dravidian architecture of the Chola period. Along with Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple, Peruvudaiyar temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".
== Coins ==
Prior to Rajaraja's reign, Chola coins featured the tiger emblem on the obverse, along with the fish and bow emblems representing the Pandya and Chera Dynasties, while the reverse side displayed the name of the King. However, a new type of coin emerged during Rajaraja's rule. These new coins showcased the figure of the standing king on the obverse side, while the reverse side depicted a seated goddess. The coins spread across much of southern India and were copied by Sri Lankan kings.
== Inscriptions ==
Due to Rajaraja's desire to record his military achievements, he recorded the important events of his life in stone. An inscription in Tamil from Mulbagal in Karnataka shows his accomplishments as early as the 19th year. An excerpt from such a Meikeerthi, an inscription recording great accomplishments, follows:
Hail Prosperity! In the 21st year of (the reign of) the illustrious Ko Raja Rajakesari Varma, alias the illustrious Rajaraja Deva, who, while both the goddess of fortune and the great goddess of the earth, who had become his exclusive property, gave him pleasure, was pleased to destroy the kalam at Kandalur and conquered by his army, which was victorious in great battles, Vengai-nadu, Ganga-padi, Nulamba-padi, Tadigai-padi, Kudamalai-nadu, Kollam, Kalingam and Ira-mandalam, which is famed in the eight directions; who, while his beauty was increasing, and while he was resplendent (to such an extent) that he was always worthy to be worshipped, deprived the Seriyas of their splendour, and (in words) in the twenty-first year of Chola Arumoli, who possesses the river Ponni, whose waters are full of waves.
Rajaraja recorded all the grants made to the Thanjavur temple and his achievements. He also preserved the records of his predecessors. An inscription of his reign found at Tirumalavadi records an order of the king to the effect that the central shrine of the Vaidyanatha temple at the place should be rebuilt and that, before pulling down the walls, the inscriptions engraved on them should be copied in a book. The records were subsequently re-engraved on the walls from the book after the rebuilding was finished.
== In popular culture ==
Ponniyin Selvan: I – a 2022 film based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan, which deals with the succession troubles during the reign of Sundara Chola and the death of the elder prince, Aditha Karikalan, portrayed by Tamil actor Vikram. The role of the younger prince, Arulmozhi Varman, also known as Ponniyin Selvan and the future Rajaraja I, was played by Tamil actor Ravi Mohan. The sequel, Ponniyin Selvan: II, was released in 2023.
Rajaraja Cholan – a 1973 Tamil film starring Sivaji Ganesan.
Ponniyin Selvan – a novel by Kalki, which revolves around the early life of Rajaraja, the mysteries surrounding the death of Aditha Karikalan, and the subsequent accession of Uththama Chola to the Chola throne.
Nandipurathu Nayagi by Vembu Vikiraman revolves around the ascension of Uttama Chola to the throne and Rajaraja's naval expedition.
Rajaraja Cholan by Kathal Ramanathan.
Kandalur Vasantha Kumaran Kathai by Sujatha, which deals with the situations leading Rajaraja to invade Kandalur.
Rajakesari and Cherar Kottai by Gokul Seshadri deal with the Kandalur invasion and its after-effects.
Bharat Ek Khoj – a 1988 historical drama that depicts Rajaraja Chola (played by Om Puri) in episodes 22 and 23.
Kaviri Mainthan – a 2007 novel by Anusha Venkatesh.
Udayaar – a book by Tamil author Balakumaran, which deals with Rajaraja's later years and Rajendra Chola I's ascension. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.